Chrome is in and to perfect the application, it takes practice. Houston-based AII educational consultant Sean Phan says you have to play and explore in order to grow. The cure time of your gel base is crucial, he says. If you don’t cure it properly, the pigment will turn into glitter and if you cure it too much, the pigment won’t stick or shine. The beauty of chrome, he says, is its versatility. “The chrome pigment is very thin, so play with different base colors to change the effect on the nails to create your own chrome color.” Beyond creating a spectrum of shades, Phan discovered you can coat 3-D creations with chrome. Follow these steps to see how.
1. Apply IBD Soak-Off Pure Gel in Carte Blanche and cure. Remove the inhibition layer with IBD Cleanser Plus.
2. Paint more than half of the nail using IBD Soak-Off Pure Gel in Black Lava and cure.
3. Apply no-cleanse gel top coat over the painted black area and flash cure. Use an EzFlow Stripe Brush and no-cleanse gel top coat to paint a swirl design over the black area and flash cure. Burnish chrome pigment powder over the design. The chrome pigment should only adhere to the part of the nail with no-cleanse top coat.
4. Create a 3-D rose with EzFlow Acrylics Systems and coat the flower with chrome pigments using similar steps mentioned above. Attach the rose over the white area of the nail, using a small blob of IBD gel builder. Cure.
Follow Phan on Instagram: @seanphan1979
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