How to Make UV Gel Nail Polish

If you are wondering what the recipe is for the gel nail polish that cures with low powered LED lamps, you have come to the right place. I will describe the chemicals needed and you will find a link to a video where I show you how. And if you want to start a business making UV basecoat, gel nail polish, and topcoat you can download those here:

Get the Formulas

This type of nail polish is really acrylate based but since "gel" sounds cooler, that's what stuck! I have been formulating UV coatings for almost 30 years and will share the chemistry with you.

Formulations can be built on acrylate or methacrylate polymers, the latter being preferred. By blending monomers, oligomers, colorants, and photoinitiators you can make a basic formula. The addition of crosslinkers will make the cured nail polish harder while lower levels allow for easier removal by soaking.

A common photoinitiator used is 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl diphenyl phosphine oxide (or TPO) which allows the nail polish to cure using a combination of light emitting diodes (LED). Recently this chemical has come under scrutiny. I have provided safer alternatives in my formulation guides.

Formulations typically include a shelf life stabilizer as well such as hydroquinone.

Here is a basic recipe I put together which you can make easily by simply mixing the ingredients together:

UV Gel Nail Polish Formulation:

• Urethane acrylate monomer: 64 parts

• Polyester Acrylate: 20 parts

• HDODA crosslinker: 15 parts

• TPO: 5 parts

• Red Dispersion: 8 parts

The curing system I used was one my daughter purchased from Amazon: https://amzn.to/4crAMVi. It operates of dual wavelengths and worked well with my recipe.

Here you can find a video of how the UV Gel Nail Polish is made and how I tested it:

Now if you have a business and would like to produce and sell UV gel nail polish, you are going to want to offer the basecoat and the topcoat as well. I will write more about those in another post. I have put together formulations for all 3 products. I also include manufacturing instructions and information on where to source all your ingredients. You can find all that here:

Get the Professional Formulation Guide