Frequently asked questions
What comes in a gel and lacquer starter kit?
Most are six matching gel and lacquer duos together with the base and top, and the LAVIS kits add a bond primer, so a new station can take a client from prep to finish out of one order. LAVIS supplies 36 of the 49 listings, with DND, DND DC, LDS, and OPI making up the rest, and the shade numbers are printed in every listing title so a kit can be matched against the salon's clients rather than bought blind.
Why buy duos rather than gel alone?
A duo is one shade in two formats: a soak-off gel for the hands and an air-dry lacquer for the toes or for a client who does not want a lamp. One purchase covers two services, the toes match the hands without the tech matching by eye, and the station has six numbers to learn rather than twelve. Expect the two finishes to differ slightly, because gel cures harder and glossier and reads a shade deeper, so the lacquer sometimes needs a third coat.
Are the kits cheaper than buying the pieces?
Not as a rule. At ND these sets are priced at or close to what the same bottles cost individually, and any listing that genuinely works out lower per bottle says so. What the kit removes is the risk of arriving at a first appointment with colour but no top coat, or with a primer that does not suit the base. For a station being opened that is the real saving, measured in appointments rather than percentages.
What should be bought after the first kit?
Whatever was actually opened. After a month, three or four of the six numbers usually carry nearly every appointment, and those are the shades to reorder as singles in depth in whichever format sells most. The next purchase should be a second kit or set that fills the gap the first left, typically a deeper colour family or a seasonal group, rather than a scatter of singles chosen from a chart.
What is on this page
49 gel and lacquer starter kits at wholesale, only three of them out of stock as this page was written. LAVIS supplies 36 of the listings, DND four, LDS four, DND DC three, and OPI two. What separates these from a plain colour set is what comes in the box: most are built as six matching gel and lacquer duos together with the base, top, and in the LAVIS kits a bond primer, so a new station can take a client from prep to finish out of one order.
What is in a starter kit
| Kit | Colours | Also included |
|---|---|---|
| LAVIS gel and matching lacquer starter sets | Six duos, numbers listed in the title | Base, top, and bond primer |
| DND gel starter kits | Five numbers | Base and top |
| DND DC gel starter kit | Five numbers | Base and top |
| LDS and OPI sets | Varies by listing | Read the title, which lists the contents |
Why a duo kit suits a new station
A duo is one shade in two formats: a soak-off gel for the hands and an air-dry lacquer for the toes or for a client who wants colour without a lamp. For a station that is still building a client book that matters, because one purchase covers two services and the salon does not have to explain why the toes are a slightly different colour from the hands. It also halves the number of decisions: six numbers, not twelve.
The base, top, and primer in the box matter just as much. A colour set without them is not a working station, and buying them separately from a different brand adds a variable that a new tech does not need while she is still learning her timing.
Choosing which kit
- Look at the numbers in the title. Every listing prints the shades, so the kit can be matched against the salon's clients rather than bought blind.
- Prefer a kit that includes prep. The LAVIS sets add a bond primer, which is what holds a set on a client who lifts.
- Pick one line to learn on. Mixing brands early makes it impossible to tell whether a problem is the product or the technique.
- Check the shade spread. Two neutrals, a red, a pink, and a dark cover more bookings than six shades from one colour family.
- Buy the lamp to match. A kit is no use without enough curing power for its darkest shade.
- Keep the box. The printed numbers are the reorder list once the kit is opened.
What a kit is buying
Selection and completeness rather than a discount. At ND these sets are priced at or close to what the same bottles cost individually, and the ones that genuinely work out lower per bottle say so on their own listing. What the kit removes is the risk of arriving at a first appointment with colour but no top coat, or with a primer that does not suit the base. For a salon opening a station, that is the real saving, measured in appointments rather than percentages.
Running a duo through both services
- Gel on the hands: prep, base, two thin coats of colour cured between, top, and cleanse if the top leaves a tacky layer.
- Lacquer on the toes: prep dry, base coat, two thin colour coats, top, then still air and drying drops.
- Expect a small difference. Gel cures harder and glossier and reads a shade deeper, so the lacquer may need a third coat to sit level.
- Write the number on the card, not the colour name, because names repeat across lines and numbers do not.
- Keep the pair together on the shelf so the tech collects both in one movement.
Where a first set of duos usually fails
Not in the bottle. Product touching the skin at the cuticle or sidewall is the most common cause of an early lift, followed by shine left on the plate where the buffer did not reach the edges, coats laid too thick to cure through, and a free edge that was not capped. On the lacquer side the equivalent list is oil under the base coat, thick coats that skin over, and a top coat that has thickened in the bottle. All of them are sequence problems, which is why learning on a single kit teaches faster than owning a wide chart.
Growing out of the starter kit
After a month, look at which of the six numbers were actually opened. Three or four usually carry nearly every appointment, and those are the shades to reorder as singles in depth, in whichever format the salon sells most. The second purchase is then a set that fills the gap the first left, usually a deeper family or a seasonal group. That pattern builds a wall out of real bookings rather than out of a chart, and it keeps the shelf from filling with shades nobody asked for.
Storage from the first day
Gel cures in ambient light and thickens near heat, so keep the bottles out of daylight, away from the radiator and the window, and capped between clients rather than between appointments. Lacquer needs its neck wiped with remover before the cap goes on or it seizes shut. Store the pair of a duo together, upright, and keep any unopened part of a kit in a cupboard rather than on display until the station is busy enough to use it.
Putting a kit on the menu
Six duos is enough to launch two services and a retail line at once: a gel manicure, a lacquer pedicure, and a bottle a client can take home in the shade she is wearing. Presented on a small display with the numbers visible, that reads as a considered range rather than a short one, and it keeps the first months simple, because every appointment uses the same six numbers and the tech gets consistent quickly. Adding a seasonal set later refreshes the display without doubling the stock.
The decision worth making early is the removal policy. A soak-off takes chair time and product, and a salon that does not charge for it ends up working unpaid for clients who change colour every fortnight. Setting that in the first month is much easier than introducing it later.
Reading the kit listing
These listings are not identical, and the title is the specification. It lists the shade numbers, whether a base and top are included, and in the LAVIS case the bond primer as well. Where a kit is listed in more than one build, the differences sit in the title too. Reading it before ordering avoids the two common mistakes: buying a second kit that repeats shades the salon already owns, and buying a colour-only set on the assumption that the base and top are in the box.
Wholesale pricing at ND Nails Supply
Every kit on this page ships at wholesale pricing for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee. Free shipping on orders $100+, and in-stock kits ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.