Chrome, cat-eye and glitter: the finishes explained
What chrome, cat-eye and glitter gel actually are, how each finish is made, how it wears, and how to ask for it when you book a set with Leah.
Some of the most-asked-about sets in the gallery aren’t painted designs at all. They’re finishes: the mirror shine of chrome, the moving stripe of cat-eye, the depth of a glitter gel. They photograph beautifully, they suit every shape, and they’re often the thing people screenshot without knowing the name. Here’s what each one is and how it’s done.
Chrome
Chrome is a powder, not a polish. After the color gel is cured, a fine pigment powder is rubbed over a special top layer until it turns into a smooth, mirrored surface, then it’s sealed under a top coat. The result reflects like metal. Silver chrome over a clear or nude base is the classic version, but chrome comes in every color, and it changes character depending on what’s underneath: over black it looks like polished steel, over red it looks like candy.
Chrome is also the finish that makes French tips feel new again. A thin chrome line on the free edge reads as a French from across the room and as jewelry up close.
How it wears: the same as any gel, because it lives under a top coat. It doesn’t chip or fade on its own.
See it: the red chrome with snowflakes and the silver chrome frenchies.
Cat-eye
Cat-eye gel has tiny magnetic particles suspended in it. While the gel is still wet, a magnet is held over the nail and pulls the particles into a line or a curve. Cure it and the effect is locked in: a band of light that seems to move as the hand turns, like the pupil of a cat’s eye. The same bottle can give a sharp stripe, a soft glow at the tip, or a diagonal flash depending on where the magnet sits.
Cat-eye is a good choice if you want a set that looks like it has art on it without any painting. It works as a whole set, as accent nails alongside a solid color, or as the base under a French tip.
How it wears: like any gel. The particles are sealed in, so the effect lasts the life of the set.
See it: the gold and cat-eye set, the gold and turquoise cat-eye nails, and the pink cat-eye French.
Glitter gel
Glitter gel is a color gel with glitter suspended in it, applied and cured like any other color. Fine glitters give a uniform sparkle; chunkier ones read as individual flecks. Because the glitter is inside the gel rather than on top, the surface stays smooth once it’s sealed, and it doesn’t shed the way loose glitter over polish does.
On Leah’s menu a full set includes one solid color, and glitter gel counts as a solid color. So a full glitter set, or a glitter French, is a base-service booking with no art tier needed.
How it wears: the same as a solid color. Glitter also hides growth at the cuticle better than a flat color does, which helps a set look fresh a little longer.
See it: the Hello Kitty manicure, which pairs pink glitter French tips with painted accents.
Mixing them
Finishes stack well with each other and with painted art. A cat-eye base under a chrome French. A glitter accent nail beside chrome. A hand-painted design over a cat-eye so the background moves behind it. The gold and cat-eye set does exactly that, with foil and painted gold over the magnetic base.
How to book it
Glitter gel is part of the base. For chrome and cat-eye, or for any finish combined with painted art, check the art tiers or send a reference photo by Instagram DM before you book and Leah will tell you which tier it falls into. Base services are on the services page, and the estimator adds a base and a tier together so you can see the total and the appointment time.