Jelly Nails: How to Get the Glassy Look with Gel, Plus 10 Designs

Jelly nails are tinted but see-through, with a high gloss, like boiled sweets or coloured glass. With gel, you can use a sheer jelly gel polish or, if the gel maker allows mixing, clear gel tinted with a little colour. Each thin coat deepens the shade.

This guide covers both methods, the prep a see-through colour needs and ten jelly nail designs, from pink to stained glass.

How to do jelly nails with gel

The simplest route is a ready-made jelly gel polish. Sheer shades seem much darker in the bottle than on the nail, so judge them from a swatch.

The second route is to tint clear gel with a little colour, but only if both gels' instructions allow mixing: not every gel is designed for it. Opaque shades such as 020 Raspberry, a juicy pink, or 092 Lagoon, a turquoise, only turn jelly this way.

A tinted builder also strengthens the nail, with the colour deepest at the apex, where the gel is thickest. To add strength without mixing, build the nail with B025 Poussière De Diamant, a transparent builder gel whose subtle shimmer shows through the jelly colour on top. For a completely clear layer, choose a builder without shimmer. Builder gel is filed off, not soaked off.

How to make your own jelly gel polish

If your gels allow mixing, put a bead of clear gel on foil and add a dot of colour with a brush tip. Stir slowly until no streaks remain, as whipping traps bubbles that show in a translucent layer. Swatch the mix on a clear tip and hold it against your nail, since the pink nail bed changes the shade.

Add colour a dot at a time, because more pigment makes the mix less see-through and blocks more of the lamp's light. Mix enough for one hand and keep it away from daylight and the lamp, which start to set it. Tint a clear base or builder gel rather than a no-wipe top coat, which leaves no tacky layer for the next coat to grip.

Jelly nails step by step

A plain jelly needs no drawing, but ridges, white spots, leftover cuticle and the white free edge all show through it. Prep must leave the nail smooth and spotless.

1. Prep the nail. Push back the cuticle and remove it from the nail plate, then lightly buff off the shine and brush away the dust. Cleanse with a lint-free wipe, dehydrate and use an acid-free primer on oily nails. Check under a bright light that no film of cuticle remains.
2. Apply a thin base. Brush on a base coat, capping the free edge, and cure for the time in your gel's instructions. Level any ridges with a thin layer of clear builder gel rather than buffing, which thins the nail, and cure.
3. Apply the first coat of colour. Lay the gel on in a few strokes without going back over it, as every overlap shows as a darker streak. Stop a hairline short of the skin and cap the free edge. Clean any gel off the skin before curing: it causes lifting, and uncured gel on skin is the main cause of gel allergy.
4. Build the depth. Add one or two more thin coats, capping and curing each, until the colour is deep enough.
5. Seal with top coat. Finish with Diamond Top Coat, a no-wipe, high-shine top coat, capping the free edge, and cure.

10 jelly nail designs

Each design works with a jelly gel polish or, where your gels allow mixing, with tinted clear gel.

1. Pink jelly nails

Pink is the easiest jelly to wear: a sheer pink is close to the nail bed's own colour and works on every skin tone. One coat, ready-made or mixed with a little Raspberry, gives bare nails a healthy flush, discreet enough for the office. Two or three coats deepen it to a see-through raspberry. Our pink nail designs include opaque pinks for an accent nail.

2. Red jelly nails

Deep and clear like redcurrant jelly, a red jelly suits winter parties. If you tint your own, use very little red, as the pigment is strong. For contrast, paint one accent nail in B021 Rouge Capucine, an opaque, slightly coral red builder gel, beside warm red jelly nails that match it. Our red nail designs range from cherry to wine.

3. Amber jelly nails

Amber jelly flatters warm, olive and deep skin, especially with gold rings. Use a sheer amber gel polish or clear gel tinted with golden brown; each coat moves it from honey towards cognac. The same amber layer gives tortoiseshell its depth, and our tortoiseshell nails guide shows how to layer brown markings under and over it.

4. Blue glass nails

A sheer turquoise jelly, or clear gel with a little Lagoon, gives a colour like shallow sea over white sand. For the glass effect, cure a thin layer of Poussière De Diamant between two coats, so the shimmer glints inside the colour. Wear them with silver jewellery on a winter sun holiday.

5. Green jelly nails

Green jellies run from emerald for December evenings to pale mint for spring. Over the pink nail bed, a sheer green can turn murky, as pink and green partly cancel out. A pale base, such as the nude in design 8, avoids this. Emerald needs very thin coats, since dark pigment lets less of the lamp's light through.

6. Jelly French tips

Jelly French tips keep the colour to the free edge, over a clear base or a sheer nude. On the white tip, a translucent colour shows brighter than on the nail bed, so even pale tints stand out. Draw the smile line with a fine liner brush, fill the tip, cure and add a second coat. To keep the curve even, follow our French manicure guide.

7. Jelly nails with glitter

For New Year's Eve, set fine glitter between two coats of jelly so it seems to float inside the colour. Over the cured first coat, dab loose glitter into a thin layer of clear gel and cure. The next coat tints the glitter, and top coat seals it, capping the free edge. Gold glitter goes with red and amber jellies, silver with blue.

8. Jelly nails over a nude base

A nude base hides the white spots, stains and free-edge band that a plain jelly reveals. Apply 017 Silk, a light nude, in thin coats until the nail is evenly covered. Pale shades can streak, so let each coat level for a few seconds before curing. One coat of pink or amber jelly on top adds warmth and depth, for a polished finish at work or a wedding.

9. Short jelly nails

Short jelly nails are the most forgiving, because little of the white free edge shows through. File a rounded square or oval just past the fingertip. If your nails break before reaching that length, a thin overlay of clear builder gel protects them while they grow.

10. Stained-glass jelly nails

Stained-glass nails divide each nail into patches of jelly colour outlined in black, like a church window. Paint a few irregular pink patches and cure, then fill the gaps with turquoise and amber, curing after each colour so they can't bleed. Draw thin black lines over the joins with a fine liner brush and black gel polish, then cure and seal with top coat. The lines hide untidy joins but take a steady hand, so start with one accent nail.

How to avoid bubbles and streaks in jelly nails

• Bubbles. Shaking the bottle fills the gel with tiny bubbles, so roll it between your palms instead. Before curing, check each nail at an angle and lift out any bubble with a clean brush.
• Dark edges. Gel that pools at the cuticle, sidewalls or free edge cures darker. Wipe the excess off the brush before capping the tip.
• Uneven colour. One extra coat makes a nail visibly darker than its neighbours, so count the coats on each nail. Matching all ten takes practice.
• Thick coats. Thick layers can wrinkle and stay soft underneath, which leads to lifting.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between jelly nails and glass nails?

The names overlap and often describe the same manicure. Jelly usually means a stronger tint, while glass nails are paler and clearer, often with a fine shimmer. Poussière De Diamant under Diamond Top Coat makes a simple glass nail.

What do I ask for to get jelly nails at a salon?

Ask for a jelly or sheer gel colour and show a photo of the depth you want, as jelly ranges from a faint tint to a deep red. Weak nails can have a clear builder gel overlay underneath, and a nude base hides the white free edge.

Are jelly nails more expensive?

Not usually: a plain jelly is a one-colour gel manicure and is priced like one. A builder gel overlay, custom mixing or nail art such as stained glass takes longer and usually costs more.

How long do jelly nails last?

As long as any gel manicure: usually two to three weeks with good prep and capped edges. Regrowth shows less through a sheer colour, so a jelly set grows out more discreetly than an opaque one. Our guide to how long gel polish lasts explains why gel lifts early.

Poussière De Diamant and Rouge Capucine are in our builder gel range, with Raspberry, Lagoon and Silk in our gel polish collection.