Nail Polish Lingo

When I first entered the indie nail polish world. I was ridiculously confused about the lingo used.  Here you will find a cheat sheet to this world.

Crelly - A crelly is similar to a jelly but it has more pigment.  The base is opaque like a creme formula and it has additives such as glitter.  These are thicker formulas and are usually opaque in 2 coats.

Creme - A creme is a smooth, creamy, and relatively opaque nail polish.  They do not have any additives in their base color.  They dry to a shiny finish and are usually opaque in 1-2 coats.

Flakie - A flakie is a type of polish with flake additives.  Flakes are a larger style of glitter, and they are randomly shaped vs other glitter shapes like hexagons or dots.

Holographic Linear - When holographic glitters that are densely packed in a nail polish.  They create a prism effect is when the glitter fragments work together to create a whole rainbow effect. So, it looks like the whole nail is a rainbow.

Holographic Scattered - When the holographic glitters are more sparse in a nail polish and they do not line up to create a full rainbow effect.  Instead each glitter piece shifts between colors independent to one another.

Jelly - A jelly is a type of nail polish that has a slightly pigmented base and additives such as glitter.  It is pretty transparent and takes many coats to become opaque.  The benefit of a more transparent base is that any additive will show up better with less base pigment.

Topper - Toppers are a style of polish that is best when painted on top of a colored base coat.  Generally toppers are in a clear base and have glitter or flakes dispersed in it.  Toppers usually still need a top coat if they are not labelled as a top coat.

5-Free - A nail polish that does not contain Toluene, DBP, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, or Camphor. 

 

Confused about a word? Send me an email at atomicpolishmn@gmail.com and I will add it to this definition list!