Manicure "Cat's eye" with gel polish: options, application technique

• October 7, 2018
• Nail care
• Tatiana Pekha

If you like to be the center of attention, then a shimmering manicure with cat eye gel polish will help you complement any of your looks and highlight your nails. This varnish got its name for its resemblance to the stone of the same name - cat's eye or cymophane. The peculiarity of cymophane is the refraction of light, causing glare running across the surface of the stone. The mesmerizing lights of a cat's eye are so beautiful that they contributed to the creation of gel polish with a similar effect. The gel polish contains tiny metal shavings, which, when applied to the nail, react to a special magnet. As a result, the metal particles are arranged into three-dimensional patterns. Further in the article we will look at how to properly apply cat eye gel polish and what to combine such a manicure with.

What is good about the shimmering effect of gel polish?

Coating with cat eye gel polish allows your imagination to run wild: you can fill the design with rhinestones, patterns and sparkles. To get a bright and colorful manicure with magnetic gel polish, you need to understand a little about its composition. Gel polish with a shimmering effect contains a different number of metal particles, different in color, size and shape. It is these parameters that you need to pay attention to when choosing a certain type of cat eye gel polish.

So, let's look at what affects the quality and depth of the glare:

• The pearlescent shade of gel polish is very convenient, as it can be combined with many colored coatings. Thanks to this, a special depth and volume of the manicure appears.
• Pearl “cat's eye” consists of a large number of iridescent particles. This gel polish is applied without any substrate and has a pronounced neon highlight.
• “Cat eye” with golden shimmer looks great on any main shade of gel polish.

All types of cat eye gel polish look harmonious when creating original nail art. To add tenderness to your manicure, you can draw designs, monograms on the surface of the “stone,” or decorate it with rhinestones.

How to apply cat eye gel polish?

A manicure with a shimmering effect lasts longer than regular gel polish. What is this connected with? First of all, with the presence of metal particles in the composition of this coating.

Also, shimmer and small sparkles help maintain the structure of the nail, preventing it from bending and peeling. For a smooth coat of cat eye gel polish, stir the contents of the bottle thoroughly to dissolve any metal particles that have settled to the bottom. But it is important not to overdo it and not to fill the gel polish with air, so the bottle should be rotated and not shaken. So, let's look at the technique of applying cat eye gel polish:

1. A base layer of gel or base is applied to the nails and dried in a UV lamp.
2. If the “cat's eye” is enlightened, then before the main coating you need to apply a substrate (black or colored).
3. We cover the nails with cat eye gel polish and bring a special magnet to the nail plate, holding it at a distance of 5 mm.
4. You need to hold the magnet for 5 seconds, as a result of which a lunar glare will appear.
5. The “cat eye” has a rather dense texture, so when using a base, you can get by with one layer of shimmering gel polish. Dry this layer in a UV lamp for about 2 minutes.
6. The final stage of manicure is coating with a finishing agent, and then drying it.
7. After polymerization, using a special liquid and a cotton pad, you need to wipe off the dispersion layer.

Use cuticle oil to prevent the skin from growing back too quickly and ruining the look of your manicure.

Drawing a cat's eye with shadows

Let's look at the technique of making a "cat's eye" using the example of brown shadows and their shades.

First, apply a café-au-lait eyeshadow to your upper eyelid. Then we shade the upper eyelid with mocha-colored shadows to form the correct angle. Shade the resulting borders.

Mocha shadows should also be applied to the lower eyelid, drawing a neat arrow. Well, the final part will be tinting the eyelashes with mascara to give them expressiveness.

Features of magnets for gel polish

When working with shimmering gel polishes, the most common magnet is used. A strong magnet can successfully collect the glare, but this does not guarantee that after a second the metal particles will not spread across the nail plate. It is better to use a special magnet for cat eye gel polish. How to make a manicure neat and at the same time attractive? You can use magnetic pens to create more complex designs. Special magnets for gel polish have their advantages:

• A high-quality magnet has a durable and comfortable handle that allows you to maintain the required distance and the correct tilt of the magnetic plate. The handle allows you to conveniently control the direction of the pearlescent highlight.
• The ideally flat surface of the magnet allows you to get a deeper glare effect.
• The intensity of the glare depth depends on the degree of concentration of metal particles in the gel polish.

The location of the magnetic stripes on the nail plate depends on the type of magnet.

Magnet patterns

Once you become familiar with the technique of applying shimmering gel polish, you will be able to perform various manicure designs. Next, let's look at unusual types of magnetic flare:

• If you hold the magnetic plate strictly parallel to the nail, you will get a direct highlight that can be moved along the nail plate in any direction (diagonally, along and across the nail).
• If you hold the magnet perpendicular to the nail plate, you will get a gradient overflow. The ombre effect looks especially beautiful if you apply a “cat’s eye” to a black base.
• When the magnet is placed edgewise along the center of the nail, blurry and dark edges are formed. This effect allows you to visually lengthen the nail plate.
• If you install a magnetic plate edgewise along half of the nail, in the upper or lower part, you will get a shining arched jacket.

When using a magnetic pen, you can practically draw with metal shavings, creating sinuous patterns. The print imitating crocodile skin is very popular.

Instructions for implementation

So, how to do cat eye makeup step by step? To do this, you will need to strictly follow the simple steps and tools described above.

Below is a step-by-step creation of “cat” makeup in the classic version:

1. It is necessary to prepare your facial skin. To do this, it needs to be cleaned and moistened. After these manipulations, foundation and powder are applied.
2. Let's start creating a magnetic look. To do this, distribute light shadows over the entire upper eyelid.
3. Using darker shadows, draw an arrow from the outer corner of the eye to the eyebrow. Dark shadows are applied above the top fold, which emphasize the outer corner of the arrow.
4. Using a soft brush, carefully blend the edges of the shadows. This will avoid sudden transitions. Light shades of shadow are applied under the eyebrow - the look becomes more open.
5. The upper eyelid is lined with eyeliner or pencil, and the lower eyelid is lined with dark shadows.
6. The finishing touch is applying mascara.

Voila! Now, thanks to the correct step-by-step implementation, you have become the happy owner of beautiful cat-eye makeup and a sensual look. Get ready for rapt attention!

Photo with step-by-step application of cat eye makeup.

Important! Shadows must be chosen in the same color scheme, otherwise beautiful and correct execution will not work! Many girls and women may have a question: should they paint their lips or not?

This makeup technique means that the emphasis is on the eyes, so if you make your lips a bright shade, then the whole image will turn out tacky and vulgar. If you can’t do without gloss or lipstick, choose light shades.

When doing cat eye makeup, you shouldn’t focus on your lips.

Cat eye makeup is not at all difficult to do, especially with step-by-step instructions. And if it doesn’t work out the first time, then definitely the second time!

Video: cat eye makeup step by step.

Video: step-by-step cat eye makeup on the looming eyelid.

Adviсe

You need to work with cat eye gel polish carefully so as not to spoil the impression of the manicure. Here are some recommendations:

• The highlight should be identical on all nails, so that the angle of the shining line is the same and located in the same direction, so the manicure will look more harmonious.
• If necessary, adjust the direction of the highlight, and only then send the gel polish layer for polymerization.
• The intensity and depth of the glare does not depend on the degree of proximity of the magnet to the nail plate. Therefore, you should not bring the magnet closer than a couple of millimeters, otherwise you risk smearing the uncured coating.
• With each subsequent layer of cat eye gel polish, the highlight will be more blurred. Try to get the perfect shine after the first coat.

It is also worth paying attention to the quality of the gel polish itself.

Inlay

Manicure with cat eye gel polish, in addition to rhinestones, looks royally beautiful. Come up with a pattern of stones, rhinestones and bouillons in advance so that the decor differs in color from the main coating. The size of the rhinestones can vary to give the inlay more volume. A cat-eye manicure with rhinestones can be complemented with broths. It is better to plant rhinestones on a hard gel so that they do not fall off prematurely. If you are not afraid to experiment, then use special decorations for nail art, so the depth of the metallic shine will become even brighter.

What will you need to do makeup?

To create cat eye makeup and create an attractive look, your makeup bag must have the necessary products. To do make-up you should follow the recommendations:

• You must have eyeliner, a cosmetic pencil or a felt-tip pen;
• if you are not sure that you can draw beautiful arrows, you can limit yourself to shadows;
• “cat eyes” will lose all their charm if the skin of the face with such makeup looks unkempt. Take makeup base, foundation, powder, blush;
• Mascara will help complete the spectacular look.

You might be interested in reading this article: Winter Makeup

Important! If you are new to drawing with a cosmetic pencil, then give preference to a soft product. Eyeliner lines made with liquid eyeliner are more expressive, but you need to have skill in using this tool; it’s best to leave felt-tip pens and gel-based products to professionals.

Matte cat eye

A standard application of cat eye gel polish can be completed with an unexpected solution - covering the amazing highlights with a matte topcoat. What will come of this? If you choose a deep emerald, burgundy or blue gel polish color with a pearlescent highlight, then the matte texture will add restraint to this design. The glare does not shimmer, and you get the impression that you are looking at a picture of space. It will be interesting to apply drops of glossy top on a matte surface to imitate rain or dew. Or you can paint monograms with gel paint without a sticky layer.

Combination with other colors

Trendy cat eye colors are: burgundy, blue, emerald, brown, gold and turquoise. In tandem with such bright colors, you can always add a pair of marigolds with a white coating. Casting or inlay looks ideal on a white background. The dark colors of the “cat’s eye” look original, that is, the highlight has a tint, and the rest of the coating remains the color of the base. With these varnishes you can create a gradient highlight: apply a black base, dry it thoroughly, and cover the nail lengthwise with two types of shimmering gel polish. These shades must be applied carefully so as not to stain the brush. Under the influence of a magnet, a highlight of different shades is collected. Don’t forget that a single-color coating of shimmering gel polish can be a great addition to any look, try and experiment.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Girls love to create the brightest and most intense eye makeup so much that they completely miss an important point. You do a gentle, but at the same time daring cat eye makeup, rather than explosive oriental makeup. The main thing is to understand what effect you want to achieve!

Note! If you see that there are too many shadows of different shades on your eyes and at the same time very wide arrows, and even the lower eyelid is lined and not shaded - wash it all off and apply makeup again! Even neutral lips will not be able to take your eyes away from your rich eyes; moreover, neutral lips will not even be visible against the background of such makeup.

Based on the next point, remember - if you use shadows on a fixed eyelid as a continuation of makeup - draw a very neat arrow. If your makeup has a smokey element, then you shouldn’t draw a huge arrow .

Choose one thing. Or the emphasis on the arrow, or on a shaded wide arrow, or on the play of shadows (when the shadows behind the eyelashes create the image of large arrows on a motionless eyelid). You can see examples in the photo above.

Important! Don't forget about foundation and concealer. After any eye makeup where you work with shadows or eyeliner, it is important to make sure that you do not smear anything or that nothing is falling off. As a rule, concealer helps to remove all excess and only highlight the eyes. And if you focus on the eyes, but do not even out the color and tone of the skin, your makeup will look unfinished.

Bright lipstick and bright eyes. You may have already noticed this warning above, but repetition is the mother of learning, so remember it once and for all. No bright lipsticks and very bright eyes at the same time! We are talking specifically about colorful, rich, overly bright makeup. Try to use moderate make-up on both your eyes and lips, or emphasize one or the other.

Don't use mascara in large quantities - just highlight your eyes . Without mascara, your makeup will look very strange, so you definitely shouldn’t forget about it. However, many believe that if the eye makeup is bright, then there should be correspondingly more mascara on the eyelashes. This is a wrong conclusion! Mascara should highlight the look and not stand out on the eyelashes.