Frequently asked questions
What is in an LDS gel and lacquer duo?
Two 0.5 oz bottles of the same shade: an LDS Healthy Gel polish that wears up to 14 days, cures in 60 seconds under LED or UV, and is odorless and flexible, and the matching LDS Nail Lacquer, a vegan, cruelty-free, breathable, 9-free air-dry polish that wears up to 7 days. LDS runs more than 170 shades and ND stocks around 130 of the duos, plus 36-color sets.
Is LDS gel polish HEMA-free?
The LDS Color Craze (Healthy) line is the HEMA-free and TPO-free formulation. The duos on this page carry the LDS Healthy Gel tag and the standard LDS claims (odorless, no damage, flexible, up to 14 days). For a client with a confirmed HEMA sensitivity, check the product page for the Color Craze marking or shop the HEMA-free and TPO-free gel hub, where every listing is confirmed.
How do I apply LDS gel and lacquer?
Gel side: prep, one thin layer of LDS Base Gel cured 60 seconds, one layer of color cured 60 seconds, repeat the color, then one thin layer of LDS Top Gel cured 60 seconds with the free edge capped. The color only sets under the lamp, so take the time to fix each coat first. Lacquer side: base coat, two thin coats, top coat, air-dried between coats. A full 60-second cure on each coat holds the color longer than a flash cure.
Why are some LDS duos marked clearance?
About half the duos on this page are tagged for clearance: those are sold until gone and are not restocked, while the rest of the LDS duo library stays in regular stock. The bottles are identical. Take two of any clearance code that is a regular on your chart; regular-stock codes can be reordered as singles or in the 36-color sets.
Are LDS duos sold at wholesale?
Yes. Every LDS duo at ND Nails Supply is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee, and clearance duos are not restocked once they sell through. The 36-color sets and the LDS Buy in Bulk and Save tier are the whole set in one order. Orders $100+ ship free, and in-stock duos ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.
LDS Healthy Gel and lacquer duos
LDS is ND's sibling house brand, and its gel and lacquer duo is the volume pair on many salon charts: an LDS Healthy Gel polish and the matching LDS Nail Lacquer of the same shade, each 0.5 oz, sold together. The gel wears up to 14 days without chipping, breaking, or peeling, cures in 60 seconds under LED or UV, is odorless, very flexible, and self-correcting until it is cured, so a tech has as long as needed to paint and fix the color before the lamp. The lacquer is vegan, cruelty-free, breathable, and 9-free (no formaldehyde, toluene, ketones, DBP, phthalates, BHA, polyurethane, camphor, or petrochemical solvent), air-dries, and wears up to 7 days. The line runs more than 170 shades, and ND stocks around 130 of the duos at wholesale.
What is on this page
- LDS Gel Nail Polish Duos by number and name: 012 Pink Vottage, 014 Bare Skin, 015 Aqua Blue, 016 Cloudless Skin, 018 Bee-Leaf In Yourself, 026 Mauvelous, 027 Blue Or Green, 034 Vitamin Sea, 035 Bittersweet, 063 Appleblossom, 076 Mint My Mind, 078 Moody Sky, 088 Powderblue, 102 In The Lime Light, 104 Wanderlust, 120 Iceland, 169 Star Memoir, 171 Love Note and more.
- Every listing is a single duo: there are no multi-shade duo sets on this page, so a chart is built number by number or through the LDS Buy in Bulk and Save tier.
- Season tags: winter, summer, fall, and spring groups, plus a St. Patrick's green set.
Around half the duos on the page are currently tagged for clearance; those are sold until they are gone and not restocked, while the rest of the LDS duo library stays in regular stock.
Why the LDS duo is a chart workhorse
- Price to shade depth: 170-plus shades at the house-brand tier, so a salon can put 100 matched duos on the chart for what a few dozen premium bottles cost.
- Healthy Gel formula: odorless, flexible, and easy to apply, with an open working time until it is cured.
- Clean-label lacquer: the 9-free, vegan lacquer is the half the salon retails and the half the client reads the label on.
- Mani-pedi match: gel on the fingers, lacquer on the toes, same number on both bottles.
- Dip match: LDS also runs dip powder and 3-in-1 combos on the same shade codes.
How to apply an LDS duo
- Prep. Push back cuticles, lightly buff, dehydrate.
- Base. One thin layer of LDS Base Gel, cured 60 seconds.
- Color. One layer of LDS gel color, cured 60 seconds; repeat for the second coat. Take the time to fix the coat before curing, since the color only sets under the lamp.
- Top. One thin layer of LDS Top Gel, cured 60 seconds, free edge capped. Wipe with 99 percent isopropyl if the top leaves a tacky layer.
- Lacquer side. Base coat, two thin coats of LDS Nail Lacquer, top coat, air-dried between coats.
Pro tip: LDS notes that a longer cure holds the color longer. If a client is hard on her nails, give each color coat the full 60 seconds rather than a flash cure, and cure the top a second time from the side for the free edge.
How does an LDS duo compare with the other duo lines at ND?
LDS and LAVIS are the house-brand tier and carry the deepest matched duo libraries; LDS states up to 14 days for its gel and runs 170-plus shades, LAVIS runs a similar range with its Deluxe Gel as the HEMA-free option. DND, DND DC, and DND Diva are the mid tier with a large shade library and a 21-day claim on DC. OPI is the premium tier with the Intelli-Gel duo. For a salon building a chart from scratch, the usual pattern is LDS duos as the foundation for volume and mani-pedi matching, one premium brand for the clients who ask by name, and the seasonal drops from whichever brand is current.
Is LDS Healthy Gel HEMA-free?
The LDS Color Craze (Healthy) line is the HEMA-free and TPO-free formulation; the duos on this page carry the LDS Healthy Gel collection tag and the standard LDS gel claims (odorless, no damage, flexible, up to 14 days). For a client with a confirmed HEMA sensitivity, check the individual product page for the Color Craze marking or shop the HEMA-free and TPO-free gel hub, where every listing is confirmed.
Wear, care, and removal
- Gel: up to 14 days by LDS's claim, and often to the 3-week mark with daily cuticle oil, gloves for cleaning, and a capped free edge. Lacquer: up to 7 days, refreshed with top coat at home.
- Removal: a 100 percent acetone foil wrap for about 10 minutes, then push the softened gel away. Never peel.
- Store bottles upright, sealed, at room temperature, out of sunlight.
- The lacquer half is the retail bottle: sell it to the client after the service and the toe touch-up between visits stays on the same shade as the gel manicure.
One LDS number, four formats
The three-digit number on an LDS duo is the same number across the classic LDS line, which is what makes the duo useful beyond the pedicure. Take 170 Young Attitude: it exists as this gel and lacquer duo, as a gel single, as a dipping powder in 1 oz and 1.5 oz, and as a 3-in-1 combo of all three. A client who wears 170 as a dip set in winter, a gel manicure in spring, and lacquer on her toes all summer stays on one number, and the salon restocks each format from its own page without a swatch.
| Format | What it is | Buy it when |
|---|---|---|
| Gel and lacquer duo (this page) | The gel bottle and the matching lacquer of one number | The salon runs mani-pedi pairs or retails the lacquer |
| Gel single | The gel bottle alone | Refilling the gel side of a duo, or a gel-only chart |
| Dipping powder, 1 oz or 1.5 oz | The same number as powder | The dip client who wants her gel shade |
| 3-in-1 combo | Powder, gel, and lacquer of one number in one listing | Opening a number in every format at once |
The four-digit LDS Color Craze numbers are a separate, gel-only chart and are not part of this system; a Color Craze client who wants lacquer on her toes is matched to the nearest classic number by swatch.
How close the match is, and how to sell it
LDS makes the gel and lacquer of a number to the same shade, and in practice they land about 80 to 85 percent alike, with neons and deep creams closest and sheer nudes furthest apart, because a lacquer film and a cured gel film hold pigment differently. For hands and toes in one sitting the difference does not show; for the client who asks for an exact pair, the tech swatches both bottles on one stick and keeps the stick at the desk. The duo is also where the retail sale lives: the lacquer bottle goes home with the client for touch-ups and, because it carries the same number as her gel, she asks for that number at the next visit.
Where the duos fit against the rest of the LDS wall
Most LDS salons treat the duo page as the pedicure and retail side of the classic chart and the Color Craze sets as the seasonal gel side. The classic numbers are year-round staples (the nudes, pinks, reds, and blues clients wear repeatedly), so the duo wall changes slowly and is restocked by number; the Color Craze 36 and 72-color sets turn over by season. Salons with a lifting problem add the LDS Bouncy Blush rubber base under the gel side, which flexes with the nail and holds the color three to four weeks where a rigid base lets go at the free edge in the second week.
Wholesale pricing at ND Nails Supply
Every LDS duo is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee, and the clearance-tagged duos are not restocked once they sell through. The LDS Buy in Bulk and Save tier put a whole palette on the wall in one order, and the duo itself costs less than the same number's gel and lacquer bought as two singles. Free shipping on orders $100+, and in-stock duos ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.