One of our favorite posts is here, the latest haul of premium products I have ordered or received primarily from Japanese and Korean gel nail brands and my favorite items from my efile and implement sources. Let’s begin.
Kokoist
We will start with Kokoist. This is their second to last collection, called the Botanicals glass collection. You have translucent, glass-like colors in brown, yellow, pink, green, red, and blue. Every time Kokoist releases a collection, it comes in six colors. So, if you like jelly nails, these colors are it; the pigmentation is super strong, so you don’t need much for the color to show up.
Next, we have the latest release, the Retro Groove series. This is a collection of muted bring colors; the colors have a vintage-muted feel, and Coles with red, yellow, blue, lilac, pink, and green. Kokoist color jars come with 2.5g of product because you only need the smallest amount when using them because of the great pigmentation. This is a beautiful collection; the colors are very wearable for one-color manicures or nail art.
Hazy Gel this is the Kokoist version of the blooming gel. If you are unfamiliar with blooming gel, all it does is disburses the color gel; this gel is used for trendy aura nails or easy crocodile skin nail look. You would apply hazy gel first, don’t cure; apply the color of your choice, and the color will start spreading; the longer you wait, the more it will spread, so play with the timing to create the nail art style you want and cure when you are happy with the design. Kokoist released a clear hazy gel and a white-tinted one. The hazy white gel is perfect for marble nails.
If you were wondering how this gel is different from Kokoist’s Art Clear gel, the difference is that Art Clear can be used for mixing colors, sealing, and nail art; the hazy gel is only for spreading effect.
Gelip Bond Base. If you use Kokoist’s gel extensions system, Gelip, this gel was created exclusively for the adhesions of the full coverage nail tips; however, this base gel can also be used for soft, flexible nails and to add strength to the nail plate. This gel is not exactly like Mega Stick Base or Platinum Bond Duo; it’s more like in between those gels.
That is it from Kokoist. You must know that most of these products are sent to me because they are new releases and if you want to try these cool new products, you can find them at Kokoist and use code PPN10 for a 10% discount on your purchase.
Vetro
The aesthetic of these is just irresistible. Vetro is another brand I’ve been using for years; it was my first Japanese gel nail brand in 2015, and I started incorporating Kokoist into my nail services the following year. I’ve been an educator with Vetro since 2016 and Kokoist since 2020. Ive have worked with them for many years as a certified gel nail technician and certified educator.
So they released these fun nail art collections. The first one comes with three art gels consisting of clear gel and color specks that look like sea glass color specks, little pieces of things you can find in nature, and you can use it as a 3D rim around the nail. The other two colors are magnetic glitter gels.
The next collection comes with six magnetic gels, part of the Bella nail line. It’s from Vetro, but they separated this line because it has different ingredients. It’s more artsy, youthful, and fun. Vetro likes to change the caps for each collection they release, which I think is super cute.
This next collection from Vetro is super fun and unique. Think sweater-weather-fuzzy nails, yup. When you use this gel, forget about stressing about lint or fuzzies sticking to the nails; instead, let’s make it colorful and nail art. So you could make a tweed pattern and overlay it with these gels.
The Bella Nail line from Vetro is kind of like Leafgel’s Lily line, and keep in mind that you get less product in each jar; even it it’s a 4g jar, these come with 3g of product. Keep that in mind when you are shopping for gels. That’s why I created a comparison chart to see the differences and what you get when you purchase a product from the nails we use the most here. This chart compares the core products from each brand, the sizes, and prices, all in one document, so I would recommend you check it out before your next shopping spree.
Korean Gel Nail Brands
I am true to my Japanese gel nail brands, but I’ve been dabbling with a few Korean brands lately. I get these products from Zillabeau, and if you want to try these too, you can use code PPN10 for a 10% discount on your purchase ;).
Fiote. This is a syrup gel collection, and syrup gel means translucent gel, not thin or thick, but only that it is a color gel that looks like stained glass. This collection is a neon color theme, and it’s called Neonade. It’s super bright neon colors that will give color payoff with one coat. Super fun and juicy for summer nails. I created a whole video on syrup gels only; check it out if you want to try this super cute trend.
I bought these magnetic cases too. These cases are stackable and are designed to hold nail art charms individually. The cases are magnetic, so you can slide the top to the side to open them. This is an awesome idea for showcasing your premium nail art to your clients. It’s very aesthetically pleasing and easy to hand over to the client for them to choose the piece they want to wear, almost like jewelry cases.
Nashly Nails
Staleks. This is a Ukrainian brand, and they create the best efile bits and implements like nail clippers, nippers, cuticle pushers, scissors, and files. These I got are reusable files, and I love them because of the reusable factor, and also, I did the math, and you can’t beat it; these are the bank for the buck. These might not look very exciting, but for the price, they really are.
The cool thing about these is that you buy the metal base, and you can mix and match the files you use on the metal base; for example, there’s a donut dispenser where you rip a piece of file to stick to the base, they also have peelable sponge buffers, lots of different options. I will be doing a video where I do the math for you on reusable hand files and quality (I’m all about quality first), do sign up for the newsletter to be notified as soon as that video uploads.
Now implements! As I said, Staleks is just the best brand for tools by far. If you’re familiar with the dry efile manicure or Russian manicure, these are the tools used for that. If you take good care of these tools, they will last you a lifetime. They are that good.
I got a nail clipper, a cuticle nipper, and a few nail nippers. They have many options available, so it’s really up to your preference which one you should go with; they vary in the size of the cutting area, the grip, and the open/close mechanism. They all work great, and the quality is there, but try a few different ones to see which one feels the most comfortable on your hand and technique.
For example, I like the 5mm sharp area, but if you’re unsure which size is the right for you, I created a free resource for you to see what I prefer and like based on my experience using these professional quality implements.
Saeshin. If you are unfamiliar with Saeshin, let me keep you up to speed. This is a brand from South Korea, the best quality out there and they came out with a portable efile. I want to try this one because I know a lot of you have the Erica’s white portable efile that they no longer carry, so this one is exactly the same thing, the exact same brand as the Erica’s file.
I have a corded efile from Saeshin, but this is the first time I have tried a portable one from them. I’ve mentioned this before in other file videos and blogs, but portable files will always be more expensive than corded ones. Why? Because you are investing in the battery and not the power, the handpiece or the other features; all that is the same regardless if there’s a cord attached or not. To sum up, you are paying for the battery, not because it’s a better machine or it’s higher quality.
This brand has corded efiles that are great quality at a ridiculous price, I’m talking under $200 vs. a portable one that starts around $300. So if you are wondering which one you should buy, I would say, buy the corded one for under $200 that will last you years and then decide if you really need a cordless one; this one is ~$400. Again, you can find these efiles at Nashly Nails. You can use code PPN10 or PPN5 for efiles for a discount on your purchase.
And that is it for this nail haul, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know in the comments bellow which items were your favorite and I’ll see you soon! Bye for now…
Content written by Paola Ponce & Fabiola Saucedo
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