Get ready for some visual ASMR with this kaleidoscopic nail art trend: Blooming gel nail art has been growing in popularity because of how satisfying it is to create, Austrian nail artist Johanna Schüßleder tells Allure. Seeing blobs of color expand before your eyes is like watching a lava lamp warm up or a flower blossoming — and the results are as mesmerizing as they are psychedelic.
Depending on the bold hues added to your nails, blooming gel nail art can produce a variety of gorgeous effects, says Schüßleder. Some end up looking like glowing orbs, while others resemble snakeskin, tie dye, tortoiseshell, flowers, water ripples, or even the look of spray paint. The possibilities are endless.
Blooming gel nail art even pairs beautifully with other trending nail embellishments such as butterflies, rhinestone accents, and chrome topcoats for a bouquet of maximalist manicures. Best of all, this versatile nail art technique also works with just about every nail shape and length, so everyone can experiment with it.
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What is blooming gel nail art?
Blooming gel nail art gets its name from the specific product it requires: blooming gel. British nail artist Imarni explains to Allure that the special translucent gel formula causes colorful gel nail polish to float around and bloom, a process akin to dipping a paint-covered brush in a cup of clean water and capturing that swirly, marbleized moment on your nails. The coolest part, Imarni adds, is how the colors hardly ever spread out into the same shapes and sizes twice.
What is the blooming gel nail art process like?
Nail artists always start blooming gel nail art with two layers of a cured base color before painting one coat of blooming gel polish over nails. Before curing, the nail artist will add regular polish, either as drawn on shapes or drops from a brush, that will start moving and blooming on its own. Once you’ve decided you like where the colors end up, you put your hands in the salon’s LED nail lamp and cure.
Schüßleder likes to freestyle with her blooming gel nail art, randomly dotting on colors with a nail-dotting tool. Then, to make the blooming gel nail art look more multidimensional, she adds another layer of colors after the first round is cured, occasionally adding gems or pearls.
How to do blooming gel nail art at home
If you have the right gel nail supplies at home, Schüßleder and New York City-based nail artist Alex Smith say you can easily master the blooming gel nail technique. In addition to the standard gel nail staples, such as a base coat, LED lamp, and gel nail colors of your choice, you’ll need blooming gel polish. From there, simply follow the steps above.