NaillyEvery word the salon assumes you know.
BIAB, cat-eye, slip solution, smile line — nail vocabulary in plain English, one honest minute per term. No account needed, no jargon left standing.
3D charms
Small decorative pieces — bears, bows, hearts — applied to the nail and sealed under gel.
GlossaryAura nails
A soft airbrushed glow — colour blooming from the centre of the nail with no hard edges.
Builder in a BottleBIAB
A soak-off builder gel worn as a strengthening overlay on natural nails.
GlossaryBuilder gel
Thick, structural gel used to strengthen, build an apex, or sculpt extensions.
GlossaryCat-eye
Magnetic gel polish — a magnet pulls a ribbon of light through the wet colour.
GlossaryChrome
Ultra-fine metallic powder burnished over cured gel — a true mirror finish.
GlossaryCuticle oil
The highest-leverage habit in nail care — flexible skin at the seal edge protects the seal.
SNSDip powder
Colour built by dipping into pigmented powder over resin — no lamp needed.
Electric file, efile, nail drillE-file
The electric rotary tool used for removal, refill prep and cuticle work.
GlossaryEncapsulated
Art sealed inside clear product — flowers, foil or glitter suspended in the nail.
GlossaryFreehand
Art painted directly with a brush — no stamps, no stickers, pure brushwork.
GlossaryFrench tip
A line at the free edge dividing the nail into base and tip — grammar, not one manicure.
Soft-gel extensions, full-cover gel tipsGel-X
Full-cover soft gel tips bonded over the whole nail — extensions without sculpting.
GlossaryGlazed donut nails
Sheer milky base + fine pearl powder + gloss — a glow that seems to come from inside the nail.
Glitter ombréGlitter fade
Glitter dense at the tip dissolving toward the base — the modern way to wear sparkle.
Hydroxyethyl methacrylateHEMA
The acrylate monomer in most gel systems — and the most common trigger of gel manicure allergies.
Glass nails, syrup gelJelly nails
A translucent colour finish — your nail stays faintly visible through the polish, like sea glass.
GlossaryMatte top coat
A top coat that scatters light instead of bouncing it — any colour becomes velvet.
Baby French, skinny FrenchMicro French
A French manicure with a hairline tip band of one to two millimetres.
Milk bath nailsMilky white
A sheer, cloudy white — white with light in it, your nail line faintly visible through.
Acrylic liquidMonomer
The liquid half of acrylic — mixed with polymer powder to sculpt a bead that air-cures.
GlossaryNail prep
The unglamorous first ten minutes that decide whether a set lasts three weeks or one.
GlossaryOmbré
A smooth gradient from one colour to another along the nail, with no visible seam.
GlossaryOverlay
Product over your natural nail at its natural length — strength without extension.
GlossaryPress-ons
Pre-made nails applied with adhesive — the zero-commitment set.
Fill, infillRefill
The ~3-week maintenance appointment: regrowth filled, structure rebalanced.
GlossarySculpted
Extensions built freehand on a form — no plastic tip, pure shaping skill.
GlossarySlip solution
The wetting liquid that makes polygel workable — slip for the brush, not a solvent.
GlossaryStamping
Transferring engraved designs onto the nail with a squishy stamper — crisp pattern, fast.
Smile line depthTip depth
How far down the nail a French tip's colour band reaches — micro, classic or deep.
GlossaryTop coat
The clear seal over everything — where gloss, matte and durability actually live.
Tortoise nailsTortoiseshell
A marbled amber, brown and black nail look that mimics real tortoise shell, built with blended gel polish rather than paint.
Velvet cat-eyeVelvet nails
A magnetic-polish finish worked into an all-over fabric-like shimmer instead of a single band.
Fluent already? Go design something.
Every finish and technique worth knowing is easier to picture in your own design. Nailly is live on the App Store for the US and Canada.