Cover Tech Contest 2012: An Eye for Beauty

First there were a dozen finalists, now there’s one winner. Nail tech Ruth Deruddere of Belgium captured the most votes in this year’s Cover Tech Contest with her oh-so-lovely nail design that employs a water-marbling technique.

Matte Top Gel

This topcoat transforms any gel color or design to a shine-free matte finish.

Eschewing Obfuscation

If I could get the entire industry together and talk us all into agreeing on one thing, today that one thing would be to come up with clear, distinct terms for services and products. Specifically, gels. At

Gel-Polish Fill

Luciana McGee shows how she performs a gel-polish refill. She also uses the Aerovex Systems nail source capture system to remove nail dust and vapors during services.

Colour FX Gels

Colour FX gels from Gelous are rich and creamy with a triple dose of organic pigments,

IBD Gel Roses

UK-native Sam Biddle of IBD, shows how to do some nail art roses uses IBD gel.

Gelée Mood Powder

Use LeChat’s versatile Gelee 3in1 Mood Color Powder to create strong, durable, flawless nails.

Oval Gel Brush

Star Nail’s New Oval Gel Brush is great for applying all types of UV gel products to your nails. Helps to create great smile lines with ease and is fantastic for sculpturing.

My Exasperated Gel Rant

My number-one irritation with doing gel nails is the CLIENTS. They come in with these absurd notions that gel is so much "better" for their nails than acrylic and THEN they REFUSE to shut up and