Frequently asked questions
What dried flowers for nail art does ND carry?
Two lines, around 17 live boxes: the Natural Real Dry Flower Charm boxes sorted by palette (Summer Glow, Spring Blossom, Autumn Hedgerow, Fruit of the Forest, Meadow Fantasy, Winter Wonder, Green Ava, Yellow Mellow, Red Romance, Orange Frenzy, Blue Blush) and the Dried Flowers for Nail Art GH series sorted by flower and color. Every box is real pressed blooms that work over gel, acrylic, and natural nails.
How do I apply dried flowers under gel?
Apply base coat and cure, then apply gel color and leave it uncured, or cure it and add a thin clear gel bed. Lift the bloom with tweezers, lay it on the wet gel, press the petals flat with a silicone tool, and cure. Encapsulate with clear builder gel or a thick top coat so the petal edges are sealed, cure, and finish with top coat. On acrylic, lay the flower on a thin clear bead and cover with a second clear bead before filing.
Why do dried flowers lift or catch after a few days?
The petal edges were not fully encapsulated. A whole bloom sits proud of the surface, so it needs a layer of clear builder gel over it before top coat, cured with the flower fully covered. Using single petals or the smallest blooms in the box keeps the nail thin and makes sealing easier.
Which base color shows dried flowers best?
Sheer pink, milky white, or nude. Pressed petals are thin and semi-translucent, so they lose their color on a dark base. For a seasonal accent nail, match the box to the chart: pastel boxes for spring, Summer Glow and Orange Frenzy for summer, Autumn Hedgerow and Red Romance for fall, Winter Wonder for December, Green Ava for St. Patrick's Day.
Are dried flowers sold at wholesale?
Yes. Every box at ND Nails Supply is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee. One box covers dozens of accent nails. Orders $100+ ship free, and in-stock boxes ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.
Dried flowers for nail art: real pressed blooms under gel
Dried flower nail art is a real pressed bloom laid into a wet gel layer, cured, and sealed under top coat, so the finished nail shows a flower with true petal texture and color that no sticker or hand-painted design matches. ND Nails Supply stocks around 17 live boxes at wholesale in two lines: the Natural Real Dry Flower Charm boxes, sorted by palette (Summer Glow, Spring Blossom, Autumn Hedgerow, Fruit of the Forest, Meadow Fantasy, Winter Wonder, Green Ava, Yellow Mellow, Red Romance, Orange Frenzy, Blue Blush), and the Dried Flowers for Nail Art GH series, sorted by flower and color. Every box works over gel, acrylic, and natural nails.
What is on this page
| Line | What is in the box | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Real Dry Flower Charm (S220 series) | A mixed box of pressed blooms in one palette: warm summer tones, spring pastels, autumn reds and browns, forest berries, meadow mixes, winter whites, greens, yellows, reds, oranges, blues | A seasonal accent nail; pick the box that matches the season's gel chart |
| Dried Flowers for Nail Art (GH series) | One flower type or one color per box | Repeating the same bloom across a set, or a single-color floral French |
Pressed flowers are also used off the nail for resin, cards, and invitations, which is why a box goes further than the nail count suggests; one box covers dozens of accent nails.
How to apply dried flowers under gel
- Base. Prep and apply base coat, cure. Apply the gel color; do not cure yet if the flower sits directly on the color, or cure the color and add a thin layer of clear or builder gel as the bed.
- Place. Lift the bloom with tweezers, lay it on the uncured gel, and press the petals flat with a silicone tool. Small flowers and single petals sit flatter than whole heads.
- Cure. Cure under the UV/LED lamp with the flower in place.
- Encapsulate. Cover with a layer of clear builder gel or a thick top coat so the petal edges are sealed, cure, then finish with top coat. Petals left proud of the surface catch and lift.
On acrylic, lay the flower on a thin bead of clear acrylic and encapsulate with a second clear bead, then file and buff before top coat.
Which flowers and colors to stock
- The year-round box: a mixed pastel box (Spring Blossom or Meadow Fantasy) covers the sheer pink and milky nude accent nail that sells in every season.
- Seasonal boxes: Summer Glow and Orange Frenzy for June to August, Autumn Hedgerow and Red Romance for fall, Winter Wonder for December, Green Ava for St. Patrick's Day sets.
- Single-color GH boxes: when the design repeats the same bloom on every nail, a single-flower box gives ten matching petals.
- The base underneath: pressed flowers read best over sheer pink, milky white, or nude; on a dark base, petals lose their color.
Why dried flowers over floral stickers or foil?
Because the client can see the petal texture and the natural color variation. A floral sticker or transfer foil is flat and identical on every nail; a pressed flower has a slightly different shape on each finger, which is the look that gets asked for by name. The trade-off is thickness: a whole bloom needs an encapsulation layer, so the flower nail sits slightly thicker than its neighbors. Using single petals or the smallest blooms in the box keeps the profile close to a plain gel nail.
Dried flower designs that work at the salon pace
- The single-petal accent: one small petal on the ring finger over sheer pink, encapsulated in a thin clear layer. Five minutes added to a gel manicure and the most-requested version of the look.
- The floral French: a plain French tip with two or three tiny blooms along the smile line, sealed under builder gel. Works on the natural nail and on a soft gel tip.
- The full garden: whole blooms and leaves across the whole nail on a milky base, on one or two nails only, because a full set of encapsulated flowers is thick and slow.
- The seasonal pair: a red or orange bloom from Autumn Hedgerow with a gold flake beside it for fall, a white bloom from Winter Wonder with a touch of glitter for December.
- The bridal set: Spring Blossom or Meadow Fantasy petals on a sheer nude, one nail per hand, matched to the bouquet.
Price the flower nail as an add-on per nail, the way charms and rhinestones are priced, so the encapsulation time is covered and the client can choose one accent or a full hand.
How to store dried flowers
Pressed petals are brittle and fade in light. Keep the boxes closed in a drawer away from the lamp and the window, handle the petals with tweezers rather than fingers so skin oil does not darken them, and keep the lid on between clients because the petals curl if the box sits open in a humid salon. A box lasts a season in normal use; if the petals in an old box have gone brown at the edges, they still encapsulate but read as autumn tones rather than spring, so match them to the fall chart instead of throwing them out.
Matching the box to the season's gel chart
| Season | Box | Over |
|---|---|---|
| Spring and bridal | Spring pastel mixes, meadow mixes, the white and blue GH boxes | Milky white, sheer pink, and the pastel jellies |
| Summer | Warm summer tones, yellows, oranges | Sheer corals and clear jelly for the pressed-flower aquarium nail |
| Fall | Autumn reds and browns, forest berries | Nude and amber jellies for the botanical fall accent |
| Winter and holiday | Winter whites, greens, reds | Deep green and burgundy creams for a wreath or holly accent |
A mixed S220 box gives a palette; the single-flower GH boxes give repetition, which is what a French with the same bloom on every nail needs. Salons that sell floral sets by name keep one mixed box per season and two or three GH boxes in the colors their charts lean on.
Encapsulating a real flower without air pockets
- Choose thin blooms and trim them. A flower with a thick center holds air; the petals are pressed flat under a finger or the center is trimmed with fine scissors before it goes on the nail.
- Set into wet gel, not onto a cured surface. A thin layer of uncured clear gel on the cured base, the flower placed with tweezers and pressed with a silicone tool until the gel wets the whole petal.
- Flash cure, then lay a second thin clear layer and work it into any pocket with the brush tip before the full cure; a bubble left under a petal turns white after the top goes on.
- Build to level. One or two more clear layers, cured between, until the surface runs smooth over the flower, then top coat and cap the edge.
Real petals fade under strong UV over weeks, so the encapsulation is finished under a UV-blocking top where the salon has one, and the client is told the color softens slightly over the wear of the set.
Dried flowers under a builder or a tip
The flower reads best with depth over it, which is why floral sets are often done on a clear builder overlay or a clear soft gel tip: the bloom is set into the first clear layer, the builder is built over it to the apex, and the flower appears to float inside the nail. On a natural-nail gel manicure the same look is built in two or three thin clear coats instead of a builder, which keeps the nail thin enough for daily wear.
Dried flowers at salon pace
A pressed-flower nail is slower than a sticker and faster than a painted floral, and the salons that make it pay do it on one or two accent nails rather than ten. The flower goes on while the rest of the hand is being done, the clear layers cure in the same lamp cycles as the other nails' color, and the whole set finishes together. A client who wants florals on every nail is offered the single-flower GH box, where the repetition speeds placement, or a floral foil or sticker for the other eight nails with the real bloom on the two accents.
Wholesale pricing at ND Nails Supply
Every dried flower box is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee. Free shipping on orders $100+, and in-stock boxes ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.