Are you competitive about having the brightest, sparkliest nails around? You will get left behind if you’re not wearing reflective nail polish. Glitter nail polish and even holographic nail polish are shiny, but nothing is as striking and dramatic as reflective glitter polish.
Is it really that different? Yes. Unequivocally, yes. I have tried both standard reflecting polish and reflective gel polish and it’s like no glitter you’ve ever worn. The flash is blinding. You have to see it for yourself.
EDITOR’S CHOICE: KBShimmer’s reflective polishes are my favorite by far. I’m highlighting the shade Love You Brunches, but you really can’t go wrong. I’ve been able to swatch most of their reflective shades myself and test out how they wear and I find I come back to them again and again.
Love You Brunches is a gorgeous iris purple shade that can lean blue in certain lights. In addition to the reflective quality, which it has in spades, this shade also has a shimmer element with an orchid-pink and copper flash as you move your hands in the light.
But we’re here for the light reflection and it delivers. In the right lighting, this polish appears almost white with how much light it reflects. It’s the sort of bright flash that when the light catches it, my partner across the room would look up startled by it. It’s that stunning. Your nails look like they are glowing from within. You have to watch this swatch video of the shade to see it in action.
The formula is surprisingly easy to work with, especially for a base that is this jam-packed with glitter particles. They are opaque in two coats but you can get away with one with some of these shades. Most reflecting shades dry matte but a glossy top coat will bring out all that luster.
Are you here for that gemstone sparkle? Beetles’ Royal Diamond Gel Set is six jewel-toned shades of gel polish that are loaded with highly reflective glitter in the colors silver, obsidian, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, and emerald.
Beetles is the brand of gel polish I wear most often. I’ve been able to try several of their collections as media samples and I’ve bought their gel polish on several occasions with my own money. Their formula isn’t too thick and isn’t too thin.
Once in bright lights, the Royal Diamond Set lights up like you flipped a light switch. Honestly, it’s like magic every time. It never gets old.
What I love about this set is that when in normal lighting these really glitter like gemstones. Some polishes that really shine in sunlight can look dull the rest of the time but these perform no matter your lighting. They remind me of druzy, those tiny crystals that you find on the inside of a geode. (They’re so small, according to Geology In, because they were deposited when water bearing minerals washed over the stone and then evaporated.)
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Whats Up Nails makes a couple of really nice reflective polishes and The Glint of Life is such a great example of pure, bold shine. It uses densely packed holographic flakes and glitter to bounce back just an overwhelming about of light as well as refracted rainbows of light from the holographic.
This will take at least two coats to get good coverage to create the bounce back of light you’re looking for. I like that it’s holographic because it will still look shiny and interesting even when not in perfect lighting. You’ll also want a solid top coat to cover the texture of the flakies.
Holographic nail polish, as explained by Lab Muffin Beauty Science guru Dr. Michelle Wong, uses a carefully crafted surface to change the way light interacts with the object, splitting white light into its component colors, the same way a prism or rainbow works. It’s a fun type of polish to wear because it always is shifting and changing in the light.
If you’re not into silver polishes, they also make a reflective purple polish called Plumingo Party.
If a glittery flash isn’t enough for you, this Born Pretty Shimmer Gel Polish Set adds a flash color changing pearlescent shimmer onto the base color.
The fun world of color changing gel nail polish includes things like this iridescent shimmer reminiscent of mermaid scales or butterfly wings. Shimmers appear like a changeable overlay over your color, so the polish is one shade but with a turn of your hand, the colors can flash slightly and shift the way the base color looks.
It’s a nice addition if you’re obsessed with color changing polish because reflective polish isn’t at its most dramatic and head-turning in all lighting situations. Shimmers need light to show off their pretty colors too, but not nearly as much as reflective polish.
In this set you get six seven-milliliter bottles of gel polish in rose to fuchsia, aqua to gold, orange to pink, violet to purple, dark blue to blue, and teal to green. The bottles might be smaller than average, but there’s still plenty of product in there. I have bought myself my fair share of seven-milliliter Born Pretty polishes as well as tested out some media samples and I haven’t run out of one yet.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Disco-ball levels of reflection is only the frosting on the cake of this Magnetic Cat-Eye Reflecting Gel Polish Set. They’ve combined disco gel with magnetic polish and, going a step farther, the reflecting glitter is the part that’s magnetic so you can affect it with a magnet and create patterns with the reflective glitter. I love that they include a dual-ended magnet for people just getting into magnetic polish.
Magnetic nail polish works by suspending magnetically charged particles in polish and then using magnets to move those around in the fluid polish before it dries or cures. Because air-drying polish has you racing against the clock to get your design right, the majority of cat eye polish is gel which will only dry when you want it to.
This set gives you 12 bottles of magnetic polish, each with 10 milliliters of lacquer. While that’s smaller than standard bottles (15 milliliters) it’s partway between that and what you typically see for a mini bottle which is closer to seven milliliters.
The downside to this set is that there are several colors that are pretty close to each other, like four different shades of gold. They are distinct colors–they didn’t just stick four of the same color in there, but if you’re hoping for a wide variety of colors, this might not be for you.
If you haven’t worked with magnetic varnish before, you’ll want to hold the magnet as close to the surface of the polish for at least 15 to 30 seconds before curing and you’ll want to do that with each layer. Magnetic polishes work best when used over a black base color.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Want blinding reflection? Go with Meet Across’ Disco Gel Set. They start with slightly lighter shades that are like muted pastels which allow for the light to really penetrate the polish and connect with the silver glitter suspended in the lacquer. This allows them to be so reflective that it becomes hard to tell the different shades apart in the sun because they are so close to white light.
In case the idea of this muted color scheme doesn’t appeal to you, Meet Across has absolutely filled the polish with holographic glitter so in less than optimal lighting you’re still getting an intense sparkle and color-shifting effect.
The six-piece gel polish set comes with six eight-milliliter polish bottles for a surprisingly low price compared to other gel sets you tend to find. This set comes with rose gold, gold, cornflower blue, silver, periwinkle, and dark blue/black.
This Six-Piece Set of Disco Gel Polish has some really great contrast between its darker, normal lighting colors and the bright flashy versions that come out when in the sun. You’ll really be able to surprise and startle some people with how different your nails will look. Plus the high glitter load means that you only need one to two coats for full opacity.
Half the shades are lighter tones (silver, gold, rose) and the other half are deep fall and winter shades of coffee, midnight blue, and ruby. Don’t get me wrong, any polish in this set will light up bright enough to turn heads, but the darker three are the ones that are going to really baffle folks who were sure you were sporting a darker manicure.
All colors have a measure of sparkle to them even in dimmer lighting to keep the shades interesting.
They come in 10-milliliter bottles which I’d call medium-sized compared to the standard 15-milliliter bottles. Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
This is Born Pretty’s second inclusion on the list but I had to include their Non-Gel Disco Polish Set for all those air-drying folks out there. You get four mini seven-milliliter bottles packed with reflecting glitter and you can see from the comparison in the photos that the change is dramatic.
The set includes a jewel-tone blue, bronze (which flashes to bright gold), silver, and silver with a color-changing shimmer giving it tones of gold, green, and pink.
The Supwee Reflecting Gel Nail Art Set is a tool to add that reflective glow to all your current favorite nail polish shades. This is not meant for painting your entire nail. The brush is narrow, closer to a detail nail art brush, and allows you to draw designs on your manicures.
The brushes are narrow and nice and long, making creating stripes and straight lines much easier. This brand has an impressive amount of flash, which makes sense because you want your nail art design to still be able to turn heads and it only has a narrow glittery surface area to do it in. They deliver the brightness and you won’t be disappointed.
You get eight colors with 10 milliliters in each bottle. Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Aimeili has this 12-Shade Disco Gel Polish Set for people who love to have a variety of colors to choose from. There are shades for every season in this gradient of polishes (from coffee to spring green to ruby to gold) so you’ll be set for a while. Aimeili’s reflecting lacquers hold onto their colors more than other brands so if you like the idea of a glittery disco ball type polish but don’t want your blue polish to stop being blue, this is a good brand to go with.
Each bottle is eight milliliters of polish which works out to the set containing 6.4 standard nail polish bottles worth of nail polish. It’s a really good value for money plus you get a huge range of shades.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Green Light by LolliPolish is a vibrant shade for those who are looking for non-gel, air-drying polish. It’s a brilliant true green perfect for the holiday season, spring, and summer. (You can wear it in fall too if you want to. It’s not illegal. Go wild.)
The green color lightens up in bright light as the glitter reflects that white/silver light. The green is too deep for the color to completely disappear but it looks studded by diamonds, an effect that reminds me of a lit-up Christmas tree.
LolliPolish shades are vegan, cruelty-free, and free from five of the most common toxic ingredients. They offer several other shades of reflecting glitter, but their flashes are not as impressive to me.
This is a 10-milliliter bottle which is less than standard (15 milliliters) but more than most mini-size bottles.
Burano Disco Gels have an impressive level of contrast from the regular lighting to its polishes in bright light. Even their darker, more pigmented shades glow a much lighter shade when in sunlight. That said, I’m highlighting their silver shade because of just how much of a flash it emits in bright light. This is one of those polishes that looks almost completely white in the right kind of lighting.
I appreciate being able to buy these shades individually and pretty cheaply. The bottles are each 7.3 milliliters which is around average for mini bottles.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
You’ve heard of sleeper cars (cars that look average but are souped up to race), this is a sleeper polish. In regular lighting, the polishes in this Gaoy Six-Piece Set look nice. They appear to be muted glitter shades that are edging over into neutral territory. (And yes, you can get a gorgeous nude nails look with glitter polish.)
But in the sunlight? A couple of the colors light up so bright they almost look white. Your darker, more pigmented shades on here will keep their color more when they light up, but they still bring the glamour.
This set comes with six half-size polishes in silver, gold, peacock teal, bright red, rose, and midnight blue.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Just because unlit reflective shades are not as bright as they will be, that doesn’t mean you have to settle for drab base colors. Check out Meet Across’s Neon Reflective Gel Set: six highlighter-worthy bright colors that only get brighter in the sun.
You get nearly a full rainbow with pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. (Neon red is a rare find.) While the bottles are not full sized, they are eight milliliters which is slightly more than half-sized and larger than the typical mini bottles which tend to be seven milliliters.
As I explained in my Neon Nails post, neon shades look like they are glowing because they literally are. Neon is able to absorb lightwaves invisible to us and convert it into visible light. They are creating light where we couldn’t see it before. How neat is that?
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
UR SUGAR’s individual disco gel polishes cost a little bit more per bottle than some of the other polishes that are sold in sets, but I like that you have the freedom to only choose colors that you want and that you will actually wear.
I’m highlighting their reflective holographic black polish because I think it has dramatic contrast between the deep black polish and the glaring white of the flash under bright lights. The shade is described as the night sky and that is pretty accurate.
When the reflecting properties are not activated, the glitter in the dark polish has a holographic sparkle giving off flecks of all sorts of colors. Under bright lights, it loses this holographic coloring in favor of just blinding white light.
It’s a 7.5-milliliter bottle which is exactly half the size of a standard polish bottle. UR SUGAR has several colors to choose from as well as a couple of different sets of six that are comparable in price to other sets.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
Rarjsm’s Summer Candy Gel Collection offers 22 different shades of reflecting disco gel polishes, each sold separately. The formula is a mix of micro-glitter and reflective flakies creating a glimmer of different types of sparkle.
I’ll be honest, I’m pretty annoyed that the brand photo-edited in fake sparkle starbursts in all their product images. They look cartoony and take away from just how bright the glitter shines on its own. Try to disregard anything with those eight-spike, asterisk-esque shines of light. Those aren’t real.
One thing I like about this brand of gel though is that they make it really easy and quick to tell what shade each bottle is with a swatch on the very top of the cap.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
This UV Diamond Gel Set from Fannyc comes with six mini (eight-milliliters) bottles in the shades blue, bronze, copper, gold, midnight blue, and ruby. While they all flash near white in good lighting, the shades vary from delicately pigmented soft blue and golds to dark blue and a deep, almost oxtail red.
I like that this brand has a nice, wide brush and a heavy glitter load. It does however have a fairly strong smell to it that might bother some. The description says something about a magnet–ignore that. That’s an error on their part.
Keep in mind that these are gel nail polish and will need a nail lamp to cure.
