Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Sealer Dry
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Gel Top
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Activator - 0.34oz (DIY)
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Base Coat - 0.34oz (DIY)
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Top Coat - 0.34oz (DIY)
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Gelous Base With Calcium & Vitamin E
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Gelous Base
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Gel Top
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Sealer Dry
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - EA Bond
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Fast Dry Gel Base - 0.5oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Fast Dry Gelous Base - 0.5oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Essentials - Brush Saver
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Brush Cleaner - 0.34oz (DIY)
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Gel Base
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Essentials - Gel Base With Calcium & Vitamin E
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Gel Base
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - UV Protection Top
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - EA Bond
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Signature Serum - 0.34oz (DIY)
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Pro - Gel (Dip Base & Top Thinner) - 2oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Essentials - Brush-On Glue
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Essentials - (8 Bottle) Master Set - 0.5oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Brush Saver
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Essentials - Vitamin Oil
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine Dip Essentials - (7 Bottle) Master Set - 0.5oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Gel Thinner - 2oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine - Vitamin Oil
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS SenShine Dip Essentials - (7 Bottle) Master Set - REFILLS - 2oz
Type: Dip Essentials
SNS Dip Essentials - (9 Bottle) Master Set - REFILLS - 2oz
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Gel Base and Gelous Base?
Which powder goes over them. Gel Base is the French dipping glue, the base for pink and white and French sets, where keeping a pale pink clear is the whole job. Gelous Base with Calcium and Vitamin E is the color dipping glue, the base under any color powder. Both are applied the same way, thin and even, one nail finished before the next. If you only buy one and you do color, buy Gelous Base. If you do pink and white, you need Gel Base.
Do I need an activator for SNS dip powder?
With the standard powders, yes: Sealer Dry is the activator, and it is what turns the layers of base and powder into a hard coating. One coat before you file, a second after. The exceptions are the two Fast Dry bases and the no-activator powders in the Green Book and Yellow Green Book, which set on their own; pair a Fast Dry base with one of those powders and there is no activator step at all.
Why won't my Gel Top dry?
Too much of it. Gel Top has to go on thin and fast: take the brush out, wipe it on a paper towel, and put it back in only a third of the way, so the coat you lay is thin enough to dry. Two thin coats give more shine than one thick one, and a thick one can stay tacky for good. Sealer Dry also dries the top if your routine uses it between the two coats.
What is the difference between the Pro line and the SenShine line?
The same jobs in two lines. Pro is $9.00 for the 0.5oz working bottle and $27.00 for the 2oz refill; SenShine is $10.00 and $30.00, and it has a UV Protection Top that the Pro line does not. SenShine's master set is seven bottles at $70.00, Pro's is eight at $72.00, and each set is its singles added up. Pick one line and stay with it for a table, so the brushes, thinner and refills all match.
How do I stop the bottles gluing shut?
Clean the neck. Base, top and brush-on glue all cure in the threads if a film is left there, and the next day the cap will not turn. Before you close any bottle, wipe the neck and the inside of the cap with acetone. If one is already stuck, do not force it; the bottles are glass. Soak the cap end in hot water for ten to fifteen minutes and try again. Keep the base brush in Brush Saver between clients for the same reason: activator dust hardens a brush fast.
What are dip essentials?
The liquids. A dip set is powder plus four bottles: a bonder that preps the plate, a base (we call it dipping glue) that the powder sticks to, an activator that sets the powder hard, and a top coat for the shine. Everything else on this page is support for those four: brush saver so the base brush doesn't harden, thinner for a bottle that has thickened, a brush-on glue, and oil for the cuticle at the end.
None of it needs a lamp. Dip sets chemically, base to powder to activator, which is the reason the system suits a kitchen table as well as a salon. If you came here looking for the colors, they live on the powder pages: all dip powder, or dip-only powder for the 1,200-plus shade wall. This page is the bottles.
Four lines, one system
We sell the same liquids in four lines. Pro and SenShine are the salon lines, in a 0.5oz working bottle and a 2oz refill. Fast Dry is a pair of bases that skip the activator step. DIY is the same four jobs in a 0.34oz bottle, for the person doing one set of nails rather than forty.
| Bottle | Job | Pro | SenShine | DIY (0.34oz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EA Bond | Preps the nail bed so the base bonds | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | |
| Gel Base | French dipping glue: the base for pink and white and French sets | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | Dip Base Coat $10.99 |
| Gelous Base with Calcium & Vitamin E | Color dipping glue: the base for color powders | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | |
| Sealer Dry | The activator. Sets the powder and the base, and dries the top | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | Dip Activator $10.99 |
| Gel Top | Top coat, two thin layers for the shine | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | Dip Top Coat $10.99 |
| UV Protection Top | SenShine's alternative top | $10.00 / $30.00 | ||
| Brush Saver | Softens the base brush; stops activator hardening it | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | Brush Cleaner $10.99 |
| Brush-On Glue | Brush-on nail glue | $9.00 / $27.00 | ||
| Vitamin Oil | Cuticle oil with vitamins, the last step | $9.00 / $27.00 | $10.00 / $30.00 | Signature Serum $9.49 |
| Gel Thinner (2oz) | Thins a base or top that has thickened | $27.00 | $30.00 |
Prices are 0.5oz / 2oz. The 2oz holds four working bottles' worth for three times the price on both lines, so it is the refill, not the bottle you work from. The two Fast Dry bases, Fast Dry Gel Base and Fast Dry Gelous Base, are $10.00 in 0.5oz and need no activator; they pair with the no-activator powders under SNS Pro No Activator.
Which base do you need?
This is the question that trips people up. There are two bases because there are two kinds of set. Gel Base is the French dipping glue: use it for pink and white, French tips and any set built from the pink and white powders, where a lighter pink going cloudy is the thing you're fighting. Gelous Base with Calcium & Vitamin E is the color dipping glue: use it under any color powder. Both go on thin and even, finished one nail at a time; too much base, or waiting too long between coats, is what clouds a pale pink.
- Starting a salon table: the Pro 8-bottle Master Set at $72.00, or the SenShine 7-bottle Master Set at $70.00. Each is the singles added up, so it's one order rather than a discount.
- Restocking: the 2oz refills, singly or as the Pro 9-bottle refill set ($243.00) and SenShine 7-bottle refill set ($210.00).
- Doing your own nails: the DIY line, or a kit from starter kits that bundles powder with the liquids.
- Skipping the activator: a Fast Dry base with a no-activator powder.
How do the bottles go on?
- Prep, then EA Bond. Cuticle back, shape, buff the shine off, wipe. A thin coat of EA Bond over the plate, no cure.
- Base, then powder. A thin coat of Gel Base or Gelous Base, edge to edge. Dip once, tap the excess off with the finger pointing straight down, and brush the nail clean. Coat the whole powder layer with base again, cuticle to tip, before the second dip; a spot of dry powder with no base over it is where a bubble comes from.
- Sealer Dry. One coat over the whole nail to set the powder. File and shape, buff, brush the dust off, then a second coat of Sealer Dry. With a Fast Dry base and a no-activator powder, skip both.
- Gel Top. Two thin, fast coats. Load only the top third of the brush; a thick coat of Gel Top is the one that never dries.
- Vitamin Oil on the cuticle, and the set is done. No lamp at any point.
Between clients, drop the base brush in Brush Saver so activator dust doesn't harden it. Before you cap any bottle, wipe the neck and the inside of the cap with acetone; cured base in the thread is what glues a bottle shut, and a glass bottle forced open is how people get hurt. If a base or top has thickened, Gel Thinner brings it back.
Removal, and why we don't refill dip
A dip set comes off with an acetone soak: file the top layers thin, wrap or soak, wait, and push the softened product off. Never pry it. We don't recommend filling a grown-out dip set; take the old set off and apply a fresh one, which is also when the plate gets its rest and its oil. The removal guide walks through it, and the professional FAQ and home FAQ cover the troubleshooting: cloudy pinks, bubbles, top coat that stays tacky, caps that won't turn.