Chrome Butterfly Florals 🌱 | Gel-X Nail Tutorial | Step-By-Step | Sweetie Nail Supply Haul

Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel. Today I'm creating another summer nail set, and here's the inspiration picture we're working from. Before we get started though, I want to unbox some new goodies I received from Sweetie Nail Supply that I'll be using throughout the set today. So let's jump into that first. They sent me this beautiful gel collection called the First Love Series. It includes 12 syrup gels in a gorgeous range of neutral and pink shades, along with this complimentary glass bead chrome powder, which I'll be swatching in a little bit, along with a few other chrome powders that Sweetie Nail Supply recently released. And can we all just appreciate these adorable heart-shaped containers? They're so cute. They also sent me five cat eye gels from Yogurt Nail Korea's Sunshine Collection, but let's start by swatching these syrup gels first. They have a thinner viscosity formula that builds up gradually while still giving you that translucent syrup effect. I really like the variety of shades included in this collection. For my swatches, I applied two coats so that you could see the true color a little bit more clearly on camera. These gels also self-level really well, which makes the application so much more smoother. When a gel self-levels nicely, it's usually a good sign of a high quality formula because it helps you achieve a much more even, flawless finish with less effort. Now let's swatch the chrome powders. I'll be showing you the glass bead chrome powder from the First Love Collection, along with two of the Sweetie Nail Supply's new releases, Sapphire Glow and Fiery Orange. First up is the glass bead chrome. It's this beautiful, pearly white, translucent chrome that gives such a soft, elegant glow. I absolutely love this one, and I think it would look stunning layered over any of those syrup gels. Next is Sapphire Glow, which is a gorgeous, deep blue chrome with warm undertones that gives this really unique look. And finally, we have Fiery Orange, a rich, vibrant orange chrome. Here's what all three look like side-by-side for comparison, and with that, let's jump right into today's tutorial. I'm going to start by trimming my natural nails short, as I usually do, just to make sure they don't peek out from underneath my extensions, but if you're trying to grow out your natural nails, you can definitely skip this step. After clipping them, I like to lightly file the edges to smooth everything out, and make sure that the shape is nice and even before moving on. I always reach for a glass hand file because it's a little gentler on my natural nails, but honestly, you can use whichever file you prefer. Next, I'm going to soften my cuticles and dissolve the dead skin that's attached to the nail plate using this instant cuticle remover. I just apply it around the cuticle area, let it sit for about 10 seconds, then gently push everything back with a metal cuticle pusher. This helps lift away that dead skin from the nail plate. Once I'm finished, I wash my hands with soap and water to remove any remaining cuticle remover, then I'll go in with my cuticle nippers and trim away any loose or excess dead skin around the cuticle area. This step is completely optional, I mainly do it for a cleaner, more polished look. Now it's time to size out my nail tips. Today I'm using the Sculpted Long Almond Gel X Tips from Apray. I personally prefer the sculpted tips over the natural ones because my nails have a bit more of a natural curve. That said, sculpted tips work really well on flat nail beds too, so they're a great all-around option. To size them, I push each tip all the way up to the cuticle since I'm doing a full coverage extension rather than an overlay. I'm making sure each tip fits snugly from sidewall to sidewall without putting any pressure on the natural nail. Once I find the perfect size for each finger, I'll set them aside. Before applying them, I'm going to prep the inside of each extensions using my e-file with a small sanding band at around 5,000 RPM. I'm just lightly etching the back of the extensions to create a better surface for adhesion. I like using a small sanding band for this step because it gets into all those little crevices much more easily than a larger sanding band. It just makes the process more quicker and more precise. This step is also really important because it creates a textured surface, giving the gel something to grip onto, and improving the adhesion behind the extension and your natural nail. Definitely don't skip this step if you want the best retention. Next, I'm going to lightly buff the surface of my natural nails using a small buffing block. Since I do my nails so often, I'm very gentle with this step because I don't want to over-file my natural nails. You can absolutely use an e-file instead if you prefer. Just keep it at a low speed of around 5,000 RPM. Personally, I like to use a buffing block because it just gives a little bit more control while achieving the same result. I'm simply removing the surface shine until the nail has a smooth, matte appearance. Once that's done, I'm applying my dehydrator. This is the Protein Prep Vitamin Dehydrator from Sweetie Nail Supply. I'll brush it onto each nail and let it air dry completely, and this helps remove any oils from the nail plate so that the products can adhere better. Next, I'll apply one coat of the Young Nails Protein Bond to each nail. This helps maximize adhesion and gives your extensions the best possible retention. This next step is completely optional, but I'm going to apply a layer of Jello Jello Peel Off Base Coat so that I can remove this set easily later without having to soak everything off. I'll apply one thin coat, cure it for 60 seconds, and I personally like to apply a second coat as well and cure that too. However, if you aren't using a peel off base coat because you plan on doing a fill later or maybe you just want to remove the set yourself, simply just skip this step. Instead, apply a thin layer of your Gel Ex Glue or your Builder Gel to your natural nails and cure that. Since I've already applied a peel off base coat on my natural nails, I'm not going to do that. I don't need that additional cured layer of gel. Now it's time to apply the extensions. I'll set up my Gooseneck Flash Cure Nail Lamp, apply my Gel Ex Glue to the inside of each extension, and then put my extensions into place. I like to start by lightly touching the free edge of my natural nail first to put some of that gel glue down, and then I'll slowly lower the extension from the cuticle area at a 45 degree angle, and this allows the gel to gradually flow towards the free edge, helping minimize air bubbles and creating a much cleaner application. Because I'm using sculpted nail tips, I like to use a little extra gel glue to make sure it completely fills the natural curve of the extension and leaves no gaps underneath. Once I'm happy with the placement, I'll flash cure each nail for about 15 seconds using my UV Gooseneck Nail Lamp before moving on to the next one. After all the extensions are applied, I'll cure my entire hand in my full size nail lamp for 90 seconds. This step is extremely important because a flash cure lamp is only designed to hold the extensions in place, it isn't powerful enough to fully cure Gel Ex Glue or any other gel adhesives. I'll always finish a full cure in a proper nail lamp to ensure that the gel is completely cured. Now it's time for filing. I'm setting up my e-file to around 8,000 RPM, nothing higher than that, and I'm using a 240 grit sanding band to thin and seal the cuticle area. I'm making a few gentle passes around the cuticle area to ensure that the extensions sit as flush to my natural nail as possible. I also make sure to keep my e-file parallel to the nail so I'm not digging into the surface or creating rings of fire. I'm also going to etch the rest of the extension, paying extra attention to the sidewalls and the free edge. These areas are the most prone to gel lifting, so I like to make sure that every inch is properly etched. Next I'm using a 180 grit hand file to slightly refine the shape of the free edge and making that almond shape a little softer and more rounded. And once I'm happy with the shape, I'll wipe everything down with some rubbing alcohol to remove all the filing dust. Now for one of my favorite parts of doing gelx nails, I'm taking this oval brush from Sweetie Nail Supply and applying a small amount of acetone around the cuticle area and where the extension meets the natural nail. The acetone slightly melts the surface of the gel tip, helping to blend it seamlessly into the natural nail. It gives such a smooth, flawless finish and honestly it's one of the most satisfying steps. For my base color, I chose shade number 5 from the First Love Collection. It's this beautiful sandy nude syrup gel. I also decided to try something I've been seeing a lot of other nail artists do. I'm using this potted gel from my collection. It's from McCart on Amazon. It happens to match the syrup gel very closely. I applied a very small amount of that over the area where my natural nail ends. You know that little line that sometimes becomes visible through translucent or jelly nails? And the idea is to just camouflage that transition before applying the syrup gel. And it actually kind of worked. I do think I could have blended it in a little bit better. I mostly concentrated it in one spot when I should have feathered it further towards the cuticle and the free edge. But overall, I did a great job disguising the natural nail line. As you can see, once everything is applied, that transition is much less noticeable. For the green, I'm using Yogurt Nail number 83. At first, I wasn't completely sure if it matched the inspiration picture closely enough. It was a really pretty shade, but I felt like it needed to be just a little bit darker. So eventually, I decided to layer a deeper green cat eye gel over top. And I ended up loving that combination. So I used that same layering technique throughout the rest of the design to keep it consistent. Whenever I needed the green, I started with one layer of the lighter shade and then applied the darker cat eye over top. So on my middle pinky and thumbnails, I created an ombre, while on my ring finger, I added a full coat of the layered green. And using my magnet, I positioned the cat eye particles exactly where I wanted them to be. For the ombre nails, I just pulled the magnetic effect towards one side to enhance the gradient. And on my ring finger, I moved the particles towards the center by hovering the magnet along both sides of my nail. After positioning the magnetic particles, I gave each nail a quick flash cure to lock the effect in place before the particles had a chance to shift back. This helps preserve the exact look we're creating. For my index finger, I needed to recreate that butterfly shape from the inspiration photo. I placed both green shades onto my palette and used one of my favorite detail brushes, this adorable candy swirl brush I got on Amazon, to paint the butterfly design. I'll keep the inspiration pictures on screen for reference so you guys can follow along with me while we create the shape together. For demonstration purposes, I'm only flash curing between the lighter and darker green layers so that I can continue filming, however, you're actually going to want to fully cure each layer of gel polish, typically for around 60-90 seconds before applying the next layer over top. I know this is more of an immediate nail art design, so most people watching probably already know that you need to cure each layer before applying more on top, but I always like to mention it in case someone newer to nails is trying to follow along. And once all the cat eye details are finished and fully cured, I'm applying a layer of the glass top gel from Mayo, which I also picked up from Sweetie Nail Supply, and I used this as my chrome top coat. I wanted a smooth, glossy surface for my chrome to stick to because I wasn't completely sure whether the inspiration picture used chrome, but it definitely looked like it had some different undertones, so I wanted to recreate that as best as I could. I applied the top coat all over the cat eye areas, blending it into the ombre sections as well, and then I cured it for 30 seconds so that it would be ready for the chrome. And I went in with the fiery orange chrome powder from Sweetie Nail Supply. At first, I applied it pretty heavily, and I thought the effect looked pretty cool, but once I started to look at the blended ombre section, it looked a little bit streaky. I'm not sure if it's really picking up on camera, but I wasn't really dicking it, so I decided to wipe it away, and I just changed my approach. Instead of applying a full-on, saturated chrome effect everywhere, I reserved that for my index finger and the butterfly designs, since those areas are more solid than ombre, and I thought the bold chrome look looked much cleaner there, and it just made sense. But for the ombre nails, I only used the leftover chrome powder that was already on my eyeshadow applicator, and I focused most of it along the very tips of my nails, and then lightly blended it up towards the ombre, and this created a much more softer effect without overpowering the gradient, and I ended up liking it a lot more than before. So once I was happy with my chrome placement, I cured my nails for another 30 seconds just to finish the cure, and then I used the clean side of my applicator to gently buff away any excess chrome powder on my nails. Now it's time for some chrome isolation. For this technique, you'll need either a matte top coat or a base coat with the inhibition layer wiped away. Today, I'm using my favorite matte top coat. I'll apply an even layer all over my nails and fully cure it for 60 seconds. After curing, I lightly buff the surface using the same buffing block from earlier. This is more of a preventative step to make sure that the chrome doesn't stick anywhere where I don't want it to. You don't need to remove the entire matte layer, just give the surface a very light buff. Then I'll wipe away all the dust with some rubbing alcohol before moving on to the isolation gel. For the isolation outlines, I'm using the Gen B Crazy Thick Top Gel, and I'm placing a generous amount onto my glass palette and mixing it in using a very small amount of black gel polish. Tinting the gel with black helps the chrome stand out just a little bit more when it's applied, and it'll also make it easier for you guys to see where I'm placing everything. I'll start by outlining the butterfly and curing each section as I go so nothing has a chance to shift or self-level out of place. I also like to flick the tips of the butterfly wings to add a little bit more detail and make the design look a little bit more delicate. And like I mentioned before, I'm curing each section as I go, usually for about three to five seconds so that nothing has a chance to move. I really want all of these designs to stay nice and crisp, and I'll also add the butterfly's little antenna and give that a quick flash cure as well. Next I'm moving on to the middle nail, and I'm recreating the linework from the inspiration picture, starting with the thicker detail near the bottom, left corner, and then extending the lines outwards. It's a little bit difficult to explain this part in words, so I'll just leave the inspiration photo on screen and you guys can follow along easily with me. I'm basically just mimicking the original linework and flash curing after every few lines to keep everything sharp and in place. For the ring finger, I'm creating those two rounded sections from the inspiration photo. I start by visually dividing the nail in half and then using the gel to outline each section with smooth, curved lines around the perimeter. I'm not exactly sure what this style or shape is called, but hopefully you guys can see what I mean as I work through. I guess it's kind of like bubble sections. And on the pinky, I'm adding those random raised streaks that you guys can see in the inspiration picture. And I'm doing something similar on my thumb as well. This design used a lot of edge detailing and flowing linework, so there's definitely room to get creative here. Since I couldn't actually see the thumb in the original picture, I just interpreted a design that might have been done while keeping the overall style cohesive. And once all the raised details are fully cured, I'm taking my gold chrome powder. This one is from a cart I picked it up off of Amazon. I'm not sure if it's still available, but if it is, I'll link it, and if it's not, I'll link a similar alternative that I like in the description. I'm gently rubbing the chrome all over the raised gel details because I tinted the gel with black gel polish earlier. The chrome really stands out more and gives a much more richer metallic finish. And as you guys can see, none of the chrome is sticking to the rest of the nail, which is exactly what we want. That's thanks to the matte top coat and the light buffing step we did beforehand. If you don't have a matte top coat, you can achieve a very similar result with base coat. Simply apply a layer, flash cure it, wipe away the sticky inhibition layer with alcohol or acetone, and then lightly buff the surface before applying your chrome. That should give you the same isolated chrome effect. Now it's time for the 3D flowers. I'm using this white sculpting gel and placing a generous amount onto my nail palette. Then I'll divide it into evenly sized pieces and place them directly onto the nail. One quick safety tip, this is uncured gel, meaning you don't want to handle it with your bare hands. Always use tools whenever possible or if you prefer shaping the gel with your fingers, be sure to wear nitrile gloves to avoid direct skin contact. If you do get it on your hands, make sure to wipe it away with acetone. For the thumb, I'm just interpreting the design since I wasn't able to see the inspiration picture like I said, so I just added a flower to the corner and it kind of fit the overall look. On my middle nail, I'm placing 5 equal sized pieces of gel to create a 5 petal flower. Using the silicone tip of my tool, I gently press each ball down, concentrating most of the pressure in the center and this naturally allows the edges to spread out into petal shapes. And once the petals are flattened, I use the very tip of my silicone tool to gently drag each one outwards and creating that soft, wispy flower petal effect. Then I'll use the edge of my tool to sharpen and refine each petal so that they look a little bit more defined before curing. As a final touch, I like to lightly smooth out the center of my flower and it helps everything flow more together and it makes it a little bit more natural instead of leaving a deep indentation in the middle, if you guys know what I mean. But after curing that flower, I'll repeat the exact same process for the smaller flower in the corner here, flattening the gel, concentrating the pressure in the center, pulling out the petals and refining the edges before curing. Next I'm picking out some medium sized caviar beads along with a few pearl embellishments in different sizes. The pearls I'm using today are fully round rather than using those flatback pearls, simply because this is just what I had on hand. I'll see if I can find some flatback alternatives and link those instead in the description since they're generally a little easier to work with. To apply them, I'm using the GinBee Crazy Thick Top Gel as my adhesive. You can add your embellishments either before or after your final top coat. I decided to apply everything before top coating, but either method works because the GinBee Crazy Thick Top Gel is a no wipe gel so that means there's no sticky inhibition layer left behind after curing like there is with many of the traditional rhinestone gels on the market. And that also means you have a little bit more flexibility with the order of your application. I actually ended up doing all of my 3D line work before applying my top coat. If you want your 3D designs to look as crisp as possible, I'd recommend applying your top coat first and then adding the 3D gel and embellishments afterwards, as long as you're using the GinBee Crazy Thick Top Gel. If you're using a different rhinestone gel, just keep in mind that many of them cure with a sticky inhibition layer, and if you wipe that layer away, the gel can lose its shine and appear cloudy, so you'll usually need to finish with another layer of top coat over top. Just follow the recommendations for whichever product you're using. I also realized the flowers in the inspiration picture had a soft pink center, so I grabbed a little bit of pink eyeshadow and lightly dabbed it into the center of my flower. Since the flower itself had a sticky inhibition layer, the pigment adhered really easily. After that, I added my caviar beads and my pearls to finish the flower's centers. Next I went back in with the Crazy Thick Top Gel to create those raised details on my ring finger, basically adding these globs of gel on top of the chrome, just like in the inspiration picture. But before curing, I flipped my hand upside down for a few seconds to let the gel self-level and create a smoother, more dimensional shape. I also added a few raised details to the butterfly to give it more depth, along with some subtle 3D accent lines throughout the rest of the design. For my final top coat, I'm using McCart's new Non-Wipe Top Gel from Amazon. I've really been enjoying this one lately. It stays super glossy, resists yellowing, and gives the finished set a beautiful glass-like shine. Once everything is complete, I'll cure my nails for a full 60 seconds to fully set the design. Since I know a lot of you guys enjoy watching me do my other hand as well, I went ahead and filmed that too. I won't be walking through every single step again since it's essentially the same process, just on a different hand with a few different pattern placements. But the biggest difference is probably the index finger, where I created more of a butterfly-winged French design. I'll also have a close-up reference photo of that on the screen so you guys can see exactly what I'm recreating. But other than that, sit back and enjoy the rest of the process. You can watch me finish my second hand in real time and maybe watch me struggle just a little bit. Just kidding, it wasn't too difficult. But it definitely took a little bit of patience. It was definitely a little bit tedious having to constantly flash cure with my non-dominant hand. I think that was the most tiring part of doing my other hand. But overall, it wasn't too bad. As someone who does their dominant hand pretty regularly, my biggest tip is to keep your wrist steady and let your dominant hand do most of the work. If you're newer, I'd recommend keeping your brush as steady as possible and guiding the line work with small, controlled movements from your dominant hand. And honestly, don't stress too much about perfection. Your first few tries aren't going to be flawless. Unless you're incredibly lucky and already super experienced, just go with it, embrace any little imperfections, and keep moving. Most people don't even notice the small details we tend to focus on, and you can still create something really beautiful without everything being perfectly precise. Just have fun with it, take your time, and don't put too much pressure on yourself. And of course, always be careful not to get any gel on your skin. If you do, make sure that you wipe it off with acetone before curing. Now, I'll let you enjoy the rest of the footage while I put on some music. I'm going to finish with my favorite cuticle oil. This is the Rose Blossom Cuticle Oil. And I'm just going to massage it in and rehydrate my surrounding skin and nails after all the dehydrator, acetone, alcohol we used throughout the process. And here are the finished nails! I'm honestly so happy with how this set turned out. I've already gotten so many compliments on it, and a lot of people can't believe I did it myself. But honestly, it wasn't as difficult as it may look. With a little bit of patience and enough time, anyone can give this a try. Let me know what you think, and if you decide to recreate this set or have any questions, leave them down below and I'll do my best to answer. I'll see you guys in my next video, bye!