Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - White Flower - NZ17
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Box of 10 Designs
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Box of 6 Designs
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Leopard Print
Type: Nail Art
Korean Design Nail Foils
Type: Nail Art
Nail Foil - Spring Flower & Pattern M364
Type: Nail Art
Pattern Design Nail Foils
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Marble - TZ0284-05
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Hello Kitty - JSX502
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Hello Kitty - LS201
Type: Nail Art
Nail Transfer Foil - Hello Kitty - LS200
Type: Nail Art
Animal Print Design Nail Foils
Frequently asked questions
Do I need foil transfer gel, or will the foil stick to my top coat?
You need the gel. Transfer foil bonds to a foil transfer gel that has been cured for 30 to 60 seconds, not to a cured color, a tacky layer or a top coat; pressed onto anything else it transfers in patches or not at all. Apply the Lavis Foil Transfer Gel where you want the pattern, cure, wipe nothing, press the foil design-side up, peel, and seal the whole nail with top coat. One bottle of the gel serves a station for a long time because each nail takes a thin coat.
What is the difference between transfer foil, foil flakes and the chrome grids?
Transfer foil is a pattern on a clear carrier film that is pressed onto cured foil gel and peeled away, leaving the print. Foil paper and the chrome-and-foil grids are loose pieces with no carrier: you tear or pick a flake and set it into wet clear gel, then cure and cap it, which gives a cracked-metal or encapsulated look rather than a print. Both are sealed under top coat; only the transfer foil needs the foil gel.
Can I use nail foil over dip powder or acrylic?
Yes. The foils are rated for natural nails, gel polish, dip powder, acrylic, poly gel and builder gel, because the foil bonds to the foil gel rather than to the surface underneath. On a dip set, finish the powder and activator, buff smooth, then foil gel, foil and top coat. On acrylic, file and buff, then the same steps. The surface only needs to be smooth and clean; texture under the gel shows through a full transfer.
Why is my foil coming off in patches?
Four usual causes. The tacky layer was not wiped before the foil gel went on; the foil gel was under-cured and still wet, so the foil slid; the pressure was too light, so only the high points transferred; or the nail was not sealed, so the foil rubbed off in wear. Wipe with alcohol first, cure the gel for the full time, rub firmly over the whole area with a silicone tool, peel quickly, and top coat the same day.
What is nail transfer foil?
A printed pattern on a clear carrier film. Press the film onto a nail coated with a cured foil gel, rub, peel the film away, and the pattern stays on the nail while the carrier comes off clean. A whole design goes on in seconds without a brush: marble, leopard, lace, a field of flowers, a metallic that would take three coats of chrome. The foils on this page are transparent with a clear backing, so you can see the nail through the film and line the pattern up before you press.
The one thing every foil needs is the gel it sticks to. Nail foil does not bond to a cured color or to a tacky layer on its own; it bonds to a foil transfer gel that has been cured to the right tack. The one we stock is the Lavis Foil Transfer Gel, and it is the first thing we put in the basket with any foil order.
What is on this page
| Item | What it is | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Single transfer foils | One design per roll, numbered by series (M, W, LS, TZ, RY and the 2030 series): marble (W35), leopard (LS94), snake, lace (TZ21), spring florals, daisies, butterflies (RY017), holiday prints (W21), and the numbered set of metallics and holographics | Full or partial transfer over a cured base color |
| Box of 6 and box of 10 | Assorted designs in one box | A salon's first foil drawer; mixed transfers |
| Korean design foils | Illustrated prints: small animals, bows, cats, spring patterns | Accent nails, character work |
| Ultra thin foil paper, 12 pieces | Loose foil flakes, not a carrier film | Torn and pressed into wet gel for a cracked-metal or encapsulated look |
| Chrome and foil grid sets | Six compartments of mixed chrome flakes and foil pieces (metal, purple and red, aurora, green) | Encapsulation under clear builder gel; scattered accents |
| Lavis Foil Transfer Gel | The clear gel a foil bonds to; cured 30 to 60 seconds before pressing | Required for every transfer foil above |
How do you apply nail foil?
- Base color, cured. Any cured gel color, dip, acrylic or builder gel works; a cream from SNS Gel Only or a HEMA-free cream from A'DOR is the usual bed. The foil shows the base wherever it does not transfer, so choose the base as part of the design.
- Wipe the tacky layer. Alcohol on a lint-free pad. Foil pressed onto an inhibition layer sticks in patches.
- Foil gel, thin, cured 30 to 60 seconds. Brush the Lavis Foil Transfer Gel where you want the pattern: the whole nail for a full transfer, a tip or a diagonal for a partial one. Cure under a UV/LED lamp; Lavis lamps are under Lavis Nail Lamp.
- Press. Lay the foil on the nail design-side up, the clear backing facing you, and rub firmly with a silicone tool or a fingertip over every part you want to transfer. Firm pressure is what moves the pattern off the film.
- Peel. Pull the film away in one quick motion. Where it skipped, press again; where you want the base to show, leave it.
- Seal. Top coat over the whole nail, cured. Unsealed foil rubs off in days; sealed, it lasts as long as the manicure. Base and top are under Base & Top Gel.
Full, partial and mixed transfers
- Full transfer: foil gel over the whole nail, one design edge to edge. Marble and lace foils are made for this; a marble foil over a white base is the ten-minute stone nail.
- Partial transfer: foil gel on part of the nail only, so the base color shows through. A leopard foil on the tip of a nude nail, a lace foil on one side, a holiday print across a diagonal.
- Mixed transfer: two foils layered, the second pressed over fresh foil gel on top of the first. A metallic under a floral, a snake print under a marble.
- Flakes and grids: not pressed but placed: tear a piece of foil paper or pick a chrome flake from a grid, set it into wet clear gel, and cure. A layer of clear non-sticky builder gel over the flakes gives the encapsulated glass look.
Foil, chrome powder or sticker?
Three ways to put a finish on a nail without painting it. Foil transfers a printed pattern or a metallic sheet through a carrier film onto foil gel; the finish can be a print, a hologram or a mirror. Chrome powder is a loose pigment rubbed over a chrome base for a mirror finish only, no pattern. A nail sticker is a die-cut decal peeled off a sheet and placed; it does not need foil gel but it has an edge that must be sealed. Foil is the choice for pattern over the whole nail; chrome for a plain mirror; stickers for a single motif you want to place exactly. All three go under the same top coat, and line work from LDS Line Art Gel or a painted detail from Emboss & Painting Gel can sit on top of any of them.
Stocking and care
- Buy the box first. A box of 10 designs plus the foil gel covers a season of accent nails; add single rolls of the prints clients ask for by name, which are usually the marble and the leopard.
- Keep foil rolls flat and dry. A creased film transfers with a line through the pattern. Store rolls in the box, out of sun; heat and light dull the metallics.
- One foil gel bottle per station. The gel is thin and goes a long way; the failure mode is a bottle that has thickened from being left open next to a lamp.
- Cure time matters. Follow the 30 to 60 second cure on the foil gel and press as soon as the hand comes out of the lamp; a foil that slides was pressed onto wet gel, a foil that skips was pressed too lightly or over an unwiped tacky layer.
- Clean the silicone tool between designs so flakes of the last foil do not press into the next.