Japanese & Korean Gel Nail Brands | Huge Nail Haul

Your Spring-Summer nail haul is here. Bright pinks and neons, hyper-realistic nail gel, Vetro’s chic new curing unit, and so much more! I’m also happy to announce that we now have an affiliate code (PPN10) with Vetro that will not only let them know we sent ya’ but also save you 10%!

Most of the items, as usual, are Japanese Nail brands with a sprinkle of Korean manufacturing also.

In case you’re new here and wondering why Japanese Gel Nail brands?…

After using and trying it all as a newbie nail tech approximately 10 years ago, I became super frustrated with not finding ONE nail system that consistently gave me and my client’s long-wearing results. Inevitably I bought it all. Until one day, I finally decided to “bite the bullet” and invest in something “expensive” that everyone who had tried it pretty much swore by it… potted soft gel.

It was game-changing but most importantly, life-changing.

It seemed like an art gel, but I found affinity towards potted soft gel not by its versatility in art but rather of its strong soft gel builder. It allowed me to do structured overlays and extensions with it too. I never looked back!

Woo-hoo, let’s unbox!

Starting with Kokoist:

Established in 2010 Kokoist is a premium soft gel brand manufactured in Japan from scratch with its own team of designers and chemists. As always, we have a code PPN10 for a 10% discount on any Kokoist products. 

Is this a drop or what!? Here’s what we got:

1.Kokoist Lint Free wipes.  If you struggle to find lint-free towelettes, I always recommend you spray them with alcohol to really keep them lint-free.

2. Four must-have colors: 

–Bluey White: is your liner white. This white has a thicker consistency to ensure you do very thin coats if you do an entire nail with this color; otherwise, you could have curing issues. This is more for line and detail work. 

-White Gradation. This is the color for the baby boomer nail or gradation French or for marbling. This is Kokoist’s #1 selling color in Japan.  

-Peanut Butter Toffee is a super popular nude color. 

-Lychee Nude. This is my ultimate favorite. It’s a white/beige nude sheer color and goes under anything. Kokoist labels their sheer/translucent colors with the letter  “S” next to the color number. 

3. Camellia Dusting Brush. This brush is great at picking up dust. Ensure you use it for personal use because it cannot be disinfected.

4. Platinum Filler Base. This new product is basically a reformulation of the Platinum Bond Series that is, Platinum Bond Duo and Platinum Bond in a Bottle. Now it’s all in one formula. Remember that gel in a bottle form will have a thinner viscosity than the potted form.

5. Silicone brush. Perfect for burnishing Chrome powder pigments or as a molding tool when working with the 3D Boba Gel. 

6. High-Power Magnet. This one is for all your gels. It’s long and powerful for all your nail lengths. It comes with an instructions manual, so if you don’t speak Japanese, snap a picture and translate the instructions before you use it. 🙂

7. Liquid Mirror new shades: Purple, Copper, and Orange. 

8. The Malibu Party Series. This collection comes with two reds and four pinks. 

9. Fixee Gel in Natural and Clear. A Super saver gel to repair your cracked and chipped nails! Firm and strong nylon fiber gels are integrated to repair your cracked and chipped nails. There is no need for a separate Silk wrap. It comes in Two Colors: Natural and Clear

Natural is recommended if you would like to repair past the free edge. Btw, this gel can adhere directly to the natural nail. There is no need for base gel before applying; just finish with a builder gel overlay, and you will be ready. A super cool product! Kokoist got the perfect color for hyper real nail extensions.

10. Markers Line Set Neon Colors. These are thicker color gels for line or detail work and are non-wipe once they are cured. These will be the raised art gels. The collection adds Neon Pink, Neon Orange, Neon Yellow, and Neon Green. 

Before we move on!

Are you still struggling with retention? Are your gel nails lifting? Peeling? Chipping? After servicing over 1000 different clients and helping over 600 students master long wear, I’ve figured out a thing or two when it comes to nails lasting long. And I’m sharing some of these secrets in a brand new free training; RSVP HERE, and I’ll send it over as soon as it is ready!

Moving on to Vetro.

Established in 2012, Vetro is another super special premium soft gel brand manufactured in Japan from scratch, with its own designers and chemists.

Here’s what we got:

1.Vetro LED Light EX. This is a LED light only, which means it will only cure gels labeled LED, but there’s more technicality that goes with that. LED is just the light bulb, but the light emission is within the UV spectrum, so just keep in mind that the lamp will not cure gels labeled as UV only, ok? This unit is manufactured in Taiwan, and I understand that Taiwanese Technology quality is very similar to Japanese quality electronics. 

Again, curing gels becomes very technical. Don’t think that any curing unit you get from Amazon will cure any gel you have because you can easily expose yourself to uncured gel this way, leaving you vulnerable to allergies. 

This unit is very tiny! (super cute, right?) and also, the top charges your phone! The bottom part is detachable. 

2. Colors: 

-Gradation white

-Matte white. This is your detailer white for lines 

-Mixing Mag gold and silver. These are magnetic gold and silver magnetic colors that can be used under or un top of other colors to make your own magnetic color. 

-Eau Nuance color collection of blue and gray tones. All of these colors are one-star labels on the cap, which means they are on the sheer side. 

3. Hybrid base. This is a temporary base that lasts many weeks, and you can peel it off without any damage to the natural nail. This is perfect for content creators or DIYers!

-Fuji Ex base. This is perfect for fills or rebalancing services; this is a base and a builder in one gel. 

4. VIVXUE x Vetro Painter brush. The super-talented portrait nail artist collaborated with Vetro to create brushes for portrait nail art. These are made in Japan, too, and they have a cap so the bristles are protected. 

Next Nashlynails …

A husband and wife duo from Colorado, Steve, and Nashly curate the trendiest European products for you, from an assortment of intricate water decals to disposable files and nippers to quality efile bits and equipment. Nashlynails has done the research for you to buy confidently and with ease when shopping through them.

Here’s what we got…

1. A flat top diamond barrel in medium grit. 

2. Russian flame bits in fine and medium coarse grit. I occasionally reach for these; if you are going to use them, I 100% recommend taking some type of training; otherwise, you will damage the nail. 

3. Fine large cone to go around the skin.

4. Fine cone bit. I often reach for this one instead of the flame bit. It allows me to go over tight areas and also the skin around the nail.

5. I got ceramic bits that I use for removing products and rebalancing. For me, fine and medium cone “corn bits” are my go-to for these services. 

Last but certainly not least, Zillabeau! …

Established in 2020, Zillabeau is not only the USA distributor of one of Japan’s top gels, Leafgel Premium, but it is a pioneer in importing some of South Korea’s most luxurious and fun nail gel products.

Check out our haul…

1. Leafgel’s new Classy Lame Series. Has five new sheer nude colors with a touch of subtle gold sparkle, and the tones are warm and cool pinky-lilac colors.

2. Mithmillo signature brush cleanser. I am trying this one, but it works like paint thinner, the fumes are strong, so if you work in a good-ventilated area, right on! The ingredients here are ethanol (alcohol) and propanol, so just keep that in mind. Kokoist has its own gel brush cleanser, but if you are DIY I wouldn’t want to expose you to ensure hema products, especially if you don’t wear gloves when working. 

Technically you can use any clear gel to clean your brushes. A clear runny gel will flush out the color and condition the bristles; a gel will be more lubricating and moisturizing, which will help maintain your brush for longer. So don’t feel like you need all the products out there. 

3. Lily base gel. If you are wondering what I use for cleaning my brushes, it’s this. Lily base gel is a great base for DIY’ers because it doesn’t have so much monomer and other thinning ingredients that the Pro want in their gels to keep you safe.  Again, these monomers are not bad if you use them properly. 

4. Ink Fit Neon Collection from Fiote. These are alcohol-based neon inks, and the bundle came with clear and white ink. This year is neon everything! 

5. Mithmillo Undying Love Collection. This collection has six spring-inspired polishes. Each color has a soft semi-syrup finish and tiny iridescent gold sparkles to a light touch of shimmer. Wear one coat for a delicate wash of color, or apply two coats for a more opaque look.

Thanks for unboxing with me today!

I’ve used these brands (Vetro, Leafgel, Kokoist) for years in the salon on clients and myself, and I am so happy to have them as affiliate partners. Thank you for also supporting our work and theirs by shopping with code ‘PPN10’ ! XO

Content by Paola and Staff

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