Frequently asked questions
What is painting gel and what does ND carry?
Painting gel is a thick, pigment-dense gel used with a brush or sponge rather than from a bottle; it stays where it is placed, does not self-level, and cures under UV/LED. ND stocks around 85 listings: LAVIS Pat Pat Gel palettes P01 to P21 and the 3 In 1 Pat Pat pots, A'DOR cushion palettes in Soft Nude and Soft Pink, LAVIS Emboss Gel in Clear, White, Black, Gold, and metallics, LDS Draw Painting Gel 01 to 12 with its 12-color set, and LAVIS glitter gels.
How do I do blush or aura nails with Pat Pat Gel?
Cure the base color, then load a sponge applicator from the pot and pat the color onto the center of the nail, letting the edges fade out; cure, and pat a second layer for depth. The A'DOR cushion palette does the same with a mesh that controls how much gel the sponge picks up. Finish with a no-wipe top coat over the whole nail.
What is the difference between painting gel and line art gel?
Painting gel is thick and worked from a pot with a separate brush or sponge for filled shapes, one-stroke flowers, ombre, and raised 3D work. Line art gel is thinner and sold in a bottle with a long liner brush in the cap for outlines, stripes, French, and lettering. Most stations keep one Pat Pat palette, White and Clear Emboss, a few Draw Painting colors, and liner bottles for the lines.
How is emboss gel used for 3D designs?
Apply it thick with a fine brush or a dotting tool onto a cured, wiped base, shape the pattern, and cure in place; build height in layers with a cure between each so nothing slumps. White Emboss gives lace and raised French, Clear gives a glass-drop effect and works as the bed under rhinestones and stickers. Float the top coat over the finished piece so the texture stays sharp.
Is painting gel sold at wholesale?
Yes. Every pot, bottle, and set at ND Nails Supply is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee. A pot lasts months at one station because each design uses a fraction of a gram. Orders $100+ ship free, and in-stock items ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.
Painting gels: the art gels that hold a shape
Painting gel is the thick, pigment-dense gel a tech uses with a brush rather than out of a bottle: it stays where it is placed, does not self-level, and cures under UV/LED, which makes it the medium for one-stroke flowers, French tips, emboss and 3D work, and the patted ombre that has replaced the sponge. ND Nails Supply stocks around 85 painting gel listings at wholesale in four families: LAVIS Pat Pat Gel palettes, LAVIS Emboss Gel, LDS Draw Painting Gel, and LAVIS Nail Art Glitter gels, plus the A'DOR cushion palettes. All of them sit over cured gel, acrylic, dip, or natural nails and finish under a standard top coat.
What is on this page
| Line | Format | Shades | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAVIS Pat Pat Gel (Ver 2) | Pot palette, patted on with a sponge or brush | P01 Petal Pop through P21 (Soft Serve, Afterglow, Bahama Bae, Sepia Kiss, Terra Pop, The Neutral Code, Earth and Ember, Buttercreme, Suede Season, Flora Fae, Chromatique); also sold as a single listing with the P number as the option | Full-coverage color, blush and aura ombre, gradients, pop-art designs |
| LAVIS 3 In 1 Pat Pat Gel | Pot, P01 to P12 and beyond | Matches the Ver 2 numbers | The same shade as solid color, ombre, and art in one pot |
| A'DOR Pat Pat Gel | Flip-top compact with an air-cushion mesh | Soft Nude, Soft Pink | Controlled pickup for ombre, aura, and blush nails; less waste |
| LAVIS Emboss Gel | 5 g and 15 g pots | Clear, White, Black, Gold, and metallic shades | Raised 3D patterns, lace, and a base for stones and stickers |
| LDS Draw Painting Gel | 0.5 oz bottles, 01 to 12, and the 12-color set with a LAVIS double-head liner brush | White, Black, Red, Green, Orange, Pink, Yellow, and more | Brush-painted designs, characters, florals |
| LAVIS Nail Art Glitter gel | Bottle, 01 to 12 | Glitter in a gel base | Glitter accents without loose glitter |
Which painting gel for which design
- Blush, aura, and ombre nails: Pat Pat Gel or the A'DOR cushion palette. Load a sponge applicator from the pot, pat the color onto the center of the nail, and let the edges fade; cure and repeat for depth.
- One-stroke flowers and characters: LDS Draw Painting Gel with a flat or detail brush. It holds a stroke and blends two colors on the brush.
- 3D lace, raised French, and textured art: Emboss Gel, applied thick with a fine brush or a dotting tool and cured in place; White Emboss for lace and Clear for a glass-drop effect.
- Setting stones: Emboss Gel or Clear as the bed under rhinestones and stickers; cure with the stone pressed in.
- Sparkle: the glitter gels for a glitter tip or accent without the mess of loose glitter and encapsulation.
- Fine lines and outlines: not this page; the line art gels with the liner brush in the cap are built for that.
How to use painting gel
- Base. Apply and cure the base color; wipe the tacky layer for a crisp design, or leave it for a softer blend on ombre work.
- Pick up a small amount. Painting gel is dense, so a little on the brush or sponge covers more than it looks.
- Shape, then cure. Because it does not level, there is as much time as needed to place and adjust the design before the lamp; cure 60 seconds under LED once the shape is right.
- Build in layers. For emboss work, cure between layers to build height without slumping.
- Top coat. A no-wipe top over the finished design and cure; for 3D emboss, float the top coat so the texture stays sharp.
Why a pot beats a bottle for art
A bottle gel is formulated to flow and level so a coat looks even; that same flow is the enemy of a painted petal or a raised dot, which spreads before it is cured. Pot gels are thicker and more pigmented, so one pass gives full color, a stroke keeps its edge, and the tech controls the amount on the brush. The trade-off is that pots need brushes, and brushes need cleaning between colors, which is why a station usually keeps one pot palette for ombre, an emboss pot in white and clear, and a handful of Draw Painting colors, then uses liner bottles for the lines.
Stocking painting gel for a salon
Start with one Pat Pat palette in a nude and a pink for blush and aura sets, White and Clear Emboss Gel, and the 12-color LDS Draw Painting set, which ships with the double-head liner brush. Add Pat Pat shades by P number as the chart asks for them: the neutral and terra shades (The Neutral Code, Sepia Kiss, Earth and Ember, Suede Season) for fall aura nails, the pops (Petal Pop, Bahama Bae, Poppy Parade) for summer. A pot of painting gel lasts months at one station because each design uses a fraction of a gram.
Can painting gel go over dip and acrylic?
Yes. Painting gel bonds to any buffed, wiped surface that then takes a gel top coat, so a dip set, an acrylic set, a poly gel extension, or a soft gel tip all take Pat Pat, emboss, and Draw Painting designs the same way as a gel manicure. On dip, finish the powder, buff smooth, and top with a gel top before painting so the art has a gel layer to grip; on acrylic, file and buff, wipe, and paint directly, then top. The only surface that does not work is regular air-dry lacquer, because the painting gel has to be cured and a lacquer base will not hold it.
The Pat Pat method, step by step
Pat Pat Gel is the palette on this page that sells most, and it is used differently from a brush-painted gel. The technique that gives the soft gradient:
- Cure the base (LAVIS Base, one thin coat, 60 seconds).
- Lay the first color from the cuticle to about a third of the way down the nail with the sponge or ombre brush.
- Lay the second color from two-thirds down to the free edge.
- Pat the middle third. Tap the transition zone lightly with the sponge or brush; the dense, high-pigment gel blends itself where the two colors meet, so the tech pats rather than paints. Nothing sets until the lamp, so the blend can be adjusted.
- Cure 60 seconds, then repeat for depth if the shades are sheer.
- Optional bloom. A drop of LAVIS Blooming Gel on the patted zone before the cure spreads the gradient wider for the aura and watercolor looks.
- Seal with Diamond Top and cure; it keeps the gradient from dulling and adds the gloss the aura nail depends on.
Because the gradient forms in the patting rather than in brushwork, a tech with no art training produces a clean ombre on her first attempt, which is the reason the P-coded palettes are the entry point for a salon adding art to the menu.
Painting gel through the year
| Months | What clients ask for | Reach for |
|---|---|---|
| January and February | Red and gold accents, hearts | LDS Draw Painting Gel red and white, Emboss Gel gold for raised hearts |
| March and April | Pastel aura, blush nails, Easter florals | Pat Pat pastel palettes with Blooming Gel; painting gel white for daisies |
| May to August | Neon ombre, tropical florals, pop art | Pat Pat brights, painting gel in orange, yellow, and green for leaves and fruit |
| September and October | Moody browns, reds, tortoiseshell | Pat Pat brown and red palettes (Sepia Kiss, Suede Season, Earth and Ember) |
| November and December | Glitter, snowflakes, 3D bows | LAVIS Nail Art Glitter gel, painting gel white, Emboss Gel for raised bows and lace |
The pots keep for a year or more sealed and out of the lamp's light, so a salon buys the seasonal palettes as they drop and keeps the core white, black, red, and gold painting gels all year.
Emboss gel and non-sticky gel: which does the 3D work?
Both hold a shape, and the difference decides which pot to open. Emboss gel is worked with a brush or a dotting tool into raised patterns that sit close to the nail: lace, a raised French, a heart in relief. Non-sticky builder gel in the jar is stiffer, releases from a silicone tool or a fingertip without slip solution, and is pinched and pulled into freestanding petals, bows, and charms with real height. A station that does mostly drawn texture keeps a white and a gold Emboss Gel; a station that sculpts flowers adds the non-sticky jars, and uses the 00 Clear jar as a transparent bed under the 3D piece so it stands off the nail rather than sitting in a blob.
Wholesale pricing at ND Nails Supply
Every painting gel pot, bottle, and set is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee. Free shipping on orders $100+, and in-stock items ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.