Frequently asked questions
What is A'DOR Poke Gel?
A thick, high-viscosity art gel that holds its shape: applied like a color gel and then poked, dragged, or dotted while wet, the surface pulls up into peaks, ridges, and domes for bubble letters, 3D flowers, raised French lines, and relief art, and stays there until it is cured under LED or UV. ND carries twelve colors, 01 White to 12 Black, and three metallics, Copper, Silver, and Platinum, in 20 g jars, plus the Set 12.
What goes under Poke Gel?
A finished, cured gel set. The poke gel is an accent layer laid over the cured color or top at the end of the service; a matte top or a cured, wiped top gives it the most grip, and a glossy unwiped top is the usual cause of art lifting. It cures with the same lamp as the color, then a thin top coat seals it, or a matte design is left bare.
How do I keep a raised design from slumping or cracking?
Work one nail at a time and cure straight after shaping, because a thick gel worked too long in a warm room settles; keep the jar cool and closed between nails. A thick piece cured in one pass from above can crack, so cure it in two passes, once from above and once tilted, or build it in two thinner layers. A tacky surface means under-cure; the metallics need a little longer than the colors.
Is the Set 12 cheaper than the jars?
No. The Set 12 is priced as twelve singles, checked on the day of writing, and holds the twelve colors only; the three metallics are bought singly. White, black, and the metallics empty first on most art trays, so those are reordered by number while the set is bought once.
Is Poke Gel HEMA-free?
It belongs to A'DOR's HEMA-free and TPO-free line, and the listing states the gentler formulation applies to select versions. A salon with sensitive clients keeps the A'DOR art gels together so a raised design stays within the HEMA-free line from base to art to top.
A'DOR Poke Gel: twelve colors and three metallics of reactive gel for 3D and raised nail art
This page holds the A'DOR Poke Gel Collection at ND Nails Supply: twelve colors in 20 g jars, 01 White through 12 Black, three metallics, H1 Copper, H2 Silver, and H3 Platinum, and the Set 12 that boxes the twelve colors, sixteen listings in all. Poke Gel is A'DOR's reactive art gel: a thick, high-viscosity gel that is applied like a color and then poked, dragged, or dotted while it is wet, so the surface moves, spreads, and stands up into raised lines, bubble letters, clusters, and abstract relief before it is cured. It cures under LED or UV, sits over any cured gel color as an accent layer, and belongs to the A'DOR line that is HEMA-free and TPO-free; the listing notes the gentler formulation applies to select versions. The twelve colors are the primaries and pastels an art tray needs, white, pastel yellow, light blue, cobalt, lilac, purple, light pink, hot pink, yellow, red, royal blue, and black, and the three metallics add the copper, silver, and platinum that a raised design is outlined in. Everything is wholesale-priced for everyone, no license and no minimum.
What is on this page
| Listing | Count | What arrives |
|---|---|---|
| Poke Gel color, 01 to 12 | 12 | One 20 g jar: White, Pastel Yellow, Light Blue, Cobalt Blue, Lilac, Purple, Light Pink, Hot Pink, Yellow, Red, Royal Blue, Black |
| Poke Gel metallic, H1 to H3 | 3 | One 20 g jar: Copper, Silver, or Platinum |
| Poke Gel Set 12 Colors | 1 | The twelve colors in one box |
Two of the sixteen listings are out of stock at the time of writing. The Set 12 is priced as twelve singles (checked on the day of writing), so it is bought to put the whole color run on the tray in one order; the three metallics are not in the set and are bought singly.
What a reactive gel does
- It holds a shape. A standard color gel levels flat before it is cured; a poke gel is thick enough to hold a dot, a line, or a raised edge exactly where the tool leaves it.
- It responds to the tool. Poking the wet gel pulls it up into a peak; dragging it spreads a raised line; dotting it leaves a dome. The gel moves with the tool and stays.
- It builds height. Layered and cured in passes, it makes 3D clusters, bubble letters, and relief art without an acrylic bead or a builder gel.
- It is an accent layer. It goes over a cured base color or a finished gel set, so the art is added at the end of the service and cured with the lamp already on the desk.
How to work with Poke Gel, step by step
- Base. Finish the gel set as usual, base, color, and top, cured; a matte or a cured, wiped top gives the poke gel the most grip.
- Lay the gel. With a flat art brush or a silicone tool, place the poke gel where the design goes: a dot for a bubble, a stroke for a letter, a small mound for a cluster. Keep it thick; this is not a thin coat.
- Poke, drag, or dot. Touch the wet gel with a dotting tool, a fine brush, or a pin and pull up for a peak, drag for a ridge, or press for a dome. The surface responds and stays. Work one nail at a time so the gel does not settle.
- Cure. Cure under LED or UV as for a color gel; a thick raised piece needs the full cure and a second pass from the side if the lamp is small.
- Layer or seal. Add a second color or a metallic outline over the cured first layer and cure again, then seal with a thin top coat cured, or leave a matte poke design bare for the texture.
Designs from the fifteen jars
| Design | Jars | How |
|---|---|---|
| Bubble letters | 01 White, 08 Hot Pink, 12 Black | Thick strokes for the letter, poked up at the edges for the puff |
| 3D flowers | 07 Light Pink, 02 Pastel Yellow, 05 Lilac | Five dots dragged to a center, a yellow dot poked up in the middle |
| Raised French | 01 White, H2 Silver | A thick smile line dragged along the tip, outlined in silver |
| Abstract relief | 04 Cobalt Blue, 10 Red, 09 Yellow | Mounds poked into peaks, cured, and outlined with the metallics |
| Chrome drops | H1 Copper, H3 Platinum | Domes dotted and cured for a metal-bead look without a stud |
The colors are chosen as primaries and pastels rather than a fashion palette, because a poke design is usually a small piece of high-contrast art over a plain set, and the three metallics are the outline, the drop, and the highlight that finish it.
Why a poke design slumps, cracks, or lifts, and the fix
- The peak slumps before the cure: the gel was worked too long or the room is warm. One nail at a time, and cure straight after the shaping.
- A thick piece cracks in the lamp: it was cured in one pass from above. Cure thick pieces in two passes, once from above and once tilted, or build them in two thinner layers.
- The art lifts off the top coat: it was laid over a glossy, unwiped top. Cure the top, wipe it, or lay the poke gel over a matte top or the color coat.
- The dot spreads flat: the jar was warm or thinned. Keep the jar cool and closed between nails; a poke gel that flows is not doing its job.
- The surface stays tacky: under-cured. A raised piece needs the full cure time, and the metallics a little longer than the colors.
Where poke gel sits on the art tray
Poke gel is the 3D effect for a salon that does not sculpt acrylic art: it gives the raised flower, the puffed letter, and the relief design in a few minutes over a finished gel set, cured with the lamp on the desk and no monomer. It pairs with the rest of the A'DOR art line, a poke-gel highlight over a Wave Gel marble, a metallic drop on a Crack Gel plate, a Mirror Spider line beside a raised shape, and because the line is HEMA-free and TPO-free a raised design for a sensitive client stays HEMA-free from base to art to top. It is an add-on sold by the nail, which is why the twelve colors and three metallics are enough for most menus.
Poke gel, 3D sculpting gel, and acrylic art
Three products make raised art, and they suit different desks. Acrylic art is sculpted from a bead of monomer and powder, sets on its own, and takes an acrylic brush and practice; it is the strongest and the slowest. A 3D sculpting gel is a stiff clay-like gel pressed into shape with a spatula and cured, for flowers and bows with hard edges. Poke gel sits between the two: soft enough to move with a dotting tool, stiff enough to hold the peak, and cured with the lamp already on the desk, so a gel tech with no acrylic training makes raised art in the time a plain set takes. It does not build a whole nail the way acrylic does, and it does not hold a razor edge the way a sculpting gel does; it makes the puffed, rounded, hand-drawn look, bubble letters and blobs and drops, that is the point of the effect. A salon that sells that look keeps this set; one that sells hard-edged 3D flowers keeps a sculpting gel beside it.
Storage and reorder
Keep the jars closed and cool, out of the lamp's spill; a thick gel skins over in an open jar and cures in one left near the lamp. Work from the jar with a clean tool and wipe the rim before closing so the lid seals. White, black, and the three metallics empty first on most trays, so those are reordered as singles while the Set 12 is bought once. Keep a cured swatch tip of each color and a finished sample nail at the desk, because a raised design sells from a sample, not a jar.
Wholesale pricing at ND Nails Supply
Every A'DOR Poke Gel listing is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee. All fifteen jars sit at one price, colors and metallics alike, and the Set 12 is priced as twelve singles. Free shipping on orders $100+, and in-stock jars ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.