Collection: Chrome Powder, All Brands

What is chrome powder?

A pigment so fine it behaves like a mirror. It is not painted on: you rub it into a cured gel layer with a soft applicator until the surface goes from matte to metal, then seal it. The powder itself does nothing on its own, which is the one thing worth knowing before the first order. It needs a base layer to grip, and it needs a top coat over it, or the finish rubs away within a day.

This page holds every chrome pigment we carry, across four finishes and several brands. The chips above jump to the art categories that sit beside it.

The four finishes

Two more sit slightly apart: the Lavis Super Clear, which lifts the shine of whatever is underneath rather than adding a color of its own, and the SNS UniChrome rub-on palette, six prismatic colors in one palette, made in the USA.

Why does the base color change the result?

Because chrome is a reflective layer, not an opaque one. It takes on what it sits over: a silver chrome on black reads as a hard mirror, the same silver on white reads soft and pearly, and on a mid pink it reads rose gold. That is why one jar of powder covers many looks and why shade names matter less here than the bed underneath. When a client shows you a chrome photo, the first question is what color is under it. Beds come from SNS Gel Only or any cured gel color.

How do you apply chrome powder?

1. Build the nail and cure the color. Chrome goes on last, over a finished nail.
2. Apply the layer chrome grips. A chrome base, or a no-wipe top coat, cured but not wiped, so the surface is still slightly tacky. Without this layer the pigment will not stick; it is the single commonest reason a first attempt fails.
3. Rub, do not brush. Pick the powder up on a silicone applicator, an eyeshadow-style sponge tip or a soft applicator, and burnish it in small circles until the matte turns to mirror. Keep working the same spot rather than adding more powder.
4. Dust off and tidy the edges. Brush the loose pigment away with a soft dust brush and clean the cuticle line before sealing.
5. Seal with a no-wipe top. Cure. An unsealed chrome dulls within a day; a wipe-off top can drag the pigment, so use a no-wipe where you can. Tops are under Base & Top Gel.

Chrome, foil or a chrome liner?

Three different products for a metallic nail. Chrome powder is a loose pigment burnished into a tacky layer and gives a full mirror across the nail. A transfer foil from Nail Foil is a printed pattern on a carrier film pressed onto foil gel: use it when you want marble, leopard or a metallic print rather than a plain mirror. A chrome liner gel from LDS Line Art Gel is a gel you draw with, for a metallic line rather than a whole nail. They stack: a chrome nail with a foil accent and a liner outline all sit under the same top coat.

Looks worth stocking for

• Full mirror set: classic silver or gold over black on every nail. The request that never stops.
• Rose gold: silver or gold chrome over a mid-pink bed; no separate rose pigment needed.
• Aurora over cat eye: an Aurora chrome over a cured cat eye nail, so the magnetic band shows through the shift.
• Glazed-donut nails: a pearl or white bed with a light chrome burnished thin, sealed glossy.
• Accent only: one chromed nail against four plain ones, which is the fastest way to sell the service without adding time to every finger.
• Holiday: Aurora Galaxy on black, or laser holographic for the party weeks.

Removal and wear

A chromed nail comes off exactly like the gel underneath it, because the pigment is sealed inside the top coat rather than sitting on the surface. File the shine off to break the seal, wrap in acetone, wait, and push the softened layers away; the chrome does not need its own step. Wear is the same as any gel manicure too, with one caveat: a chrome finish shows growth at the cuticle more plainly than a cream does, because the mirror breaks at the regrowth line. Clients who want the longest-looking wear from a chrome set are better served by an accent nail or two than by ten.

Care, storage and stocking

• Keep jars closed and dry. Chrome pigment clumps once it picks up moisture, and a clumped powder will not burnish flat.
• One applicator per finish. Aurora pigment carried into a silver jar dulls the silver; wipe or swap the tip between colors.
• Work over a mat. The powder travels, and it will show up on the next client's cuticle if the station is not wiped down.
• A little goes a long way. Most of a first order is wasted by loading too much on the applicator; burnish what is there before adding more.
• Opening order: a silver, a gold and one Aurora covers the requests a salon gets first. Add the Galaxy set and the laser holographics once chrome is on the menu by name.

Related collections

• Nail Foil Printed metallic patterns for a nail chrome cannot do.
• Glitter Nail Art Glitter to layer beside a chromed accent.
• LDS Line Art Gel Chrome and metallic liner gels for lines.
• Base & Top Gel The tacky layer chrome grips and the no-wipe top that seals it.
• Nail Art Every nail art product on the site.

Related reads

• Chrome nails: how the mirror finish works
• Easy nail art trends you can do at home
• Holiday nails for the party weeks
• Nail art for your next music festival