Collection: Lavis Rhinestones

What are BlingStones?

Rhinestones sorted into looks. Instead of a bag of one size and one color, each BlingStones Pro box is an assortment of stones put together for a look, and the name is the look: Wedding Day, Ballerina, Candies, Showgirl, Razzle Dazzle. Open the box and the stones for the set are already together; you place them rather than pick them.

There are 20 boxes, every one $8.00 and made in the USA, and they sit on top of any finished nail, dip, gel or acrylic, held down with a gel top or a nail glue and sealed. They're the last step of a set, and the one clients photograph.

The 20 boxes

The names are the brief. A box called Wedding Day is the quiet one; a box called Liberace is not. The photo on each listing shows the mix, and that is what to pick from; the boxes are assortments, so the exact count and sizes vary by box.

How do you put rhinestones on nails?

The stones go on last, after the color and before, or under, the final seal. Two ways, depending on what the set is made of.

1. Finish the set. Dip, gel or acrylic, filed and buffed, with the color cured or set. Leave the final top coat off the nails that get stones.
2. Plan the placement. Lay the stones out on a mat first. A cluster at the cuticle, a line down one side, a single stone on an accent nail: decide before anything is wet.
3. Glue or gel. For a gel set, a dot of thick gel top or builder gel where each stone goes, uncured. For a dip or acrylic set, either a dot of gel top over a cured gel top layer, or a dot of nail glue. Pick the stone up with a wax pencil or the tip of an orange stick and set it into the dot.
4. Cure or dry. Gel: a full cure under the UV/LED lamp with the stones in place. Glue: leave it to set.
5. Seal the edges. Run a thin line of gel top around the base of each stone, not over the top of it, and cure. Sealing over the face of a stone dulls it; sealing around it is what keeps it on.

Gel tops are under Base & Top Gel, builder gel under Builder Gel, the lamp under tools and accessories, and the brush-on glue under Dip Essentials.

Which box for which set?

Grouped by name, since the name is the brief. Check the listing photo for the actual mix before you buy for a specific design.

• Bridal: Wedding Day, Diamond Anniversary, Endless Diamonds. Over a sheer pink or a pearl gel.
• Soft and pretty: Ballerina, Butterflies. Over a nude or a pastel.
• Party and stage: Showgirl, Razzle Dazzle, Liberace, Back Up Singer. Over a dark or a chrome, where stones catch the most light.
• Color and fun: Candies, Gemstones, Harem, Temptress. Over a cream base, or one stone color picked out to match the polish.
• Pageant and occasion: Miss America, Beauty Queen, Trophy, New Money, Country Club, Ice Diva, Dancer.

A salon usually keeps three boxes at the desk: a clear-and-pearl box for bridal, a pink box, and one loud box for the client who wants to be seen. The other 17 are for a shop where nail art is the menu.

Placements that hold

• Cuticle cluster: three to five stones in a fan at the base of the nail. The most protected spot on the nail and the classic bridal placement.
• Side line: a row of small stones down one sidewall, stopping short of the free edge.
• The single stone: one stone, centered, on a ring finger. The lowest-snag placement and the one that suits an everyday set.
• Along the smile line: a row of small stones on the curve of a French. Sits well over a glitter French because the sheer layer gives it a level bed.
• Avoid: the free edge, the index finger of the working hand, and any stone larger than the nail is wide. Those three are where stones are lost.

Stones over glitter, chrome or cat eye

Rhinestones stack on any of our other effects. A single stone at the cuticle over a cat eye line, a row along the smile line of a glitter French, a cluster on a chrome accent nail, or a scatter down an Air Ombre fade. The base finish cures first, sealed; the stones go on over the seal with their own gel and are sealed around the edges. Everything else on the nail is done before the first stone is placed.

Wear and removal

• Wear: a stone sealed around its base stays for the life of the set. One sealed over its face dulls, and one with no seal at all is gone in a week.
• Snags: keep large stones off the free edge and off the index finger of the working hand; those are the two places stones catch.
• Removal: the stones come off with the set. File the seal around them, lift with an orange stick, then soak the set underneath as normal. Stones from a gel set can often be cleaned and reused; glued stones usually cannot.

Related collections

• All Nail Art Air Ombre, glitter and chrome in one place.
• Glitter Nail Art French and ombre glitters for dip.
• Chrome Powder The mirror finish stones sit best on.
• Cat Eye Gel The magnetic line, two lines of 24.
• Base & Top Gel The gel top that holds and seals a stone.

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