Trends Spotted at Cosmoprof: One and Two-Step Gels & Long Lasting Lacquers

I’m home from the Cosmoprof North America cosmetic trade show in Las Vegas and am on information overload!  I’ve been reviewing my notes and photos from the show, trying to digest it all and figure out the best way to report it to you.  This was my first time attending the show and it was an absolutely amazing experience… I’m already counting down the days until next year!  While there, I met with the majority of the polish brands that have gel polish lines and learned about many new products and upcoming collections.  I will write about the upcoming gel polish collections in a separate post, but today I want to focus on a couple of the trends that I spotted.

One-Step and Two-Step Gel Polishes:

There are already a few one and two-step gel lines in the market, but this seems to be the wave of the future with soak-off gels.  I’m noticing many brands coming out with gel polishes that require less steps, which saves time when doing a gel manicure.   I’m very curious to try some of these new polishes to see how they wear, and to test the shine factor.

Cácee introduced their new one-step gel polish at the show, called ONE Gel Polish.  With this polish you prep the nail by buffing and filing and apply the ONE Gel Polish Prep, which is a bonding agent and dehydrator that helps the polish adhere to the surface of the nail.  You then apply the ONE Gel Polish color directly onto the nail, and cure each coat.  ONE Gel Color is a base, top and color all in one and will last up to 2 weeks.  I asked whether the shine dulls over time, and they showed me that you can use a smooth buffer to bring the shine back to the nail if it starts to dull.  The ONE line will be released with 66 colors.

I also learned of a new 2-step gel polish line called Kiara Sky that is being released by Glam and Glits.  Kiara Sky colorbase has the base and color in one bottle.  You can use it with or without a base coat, and the polish will last up to 21 days.  I was told that these polishes have a new non-solvent formula which means that they don’t smell bad, and they won’t yellow or thicken.  The Kiara Sky line will be launching in 1-2 months with 87 color choices, and each color also has a matching nail lacquer.  There were some really unique colors and glitters in this line.  I was fortunate to receive a few samples, so I will be writing more about this line in the near future.

Dashing Diva also had an all-in-one colorgel that didn’t have a tacky layer.  I have to admit that they were one of the first companies that I met with and my interviewing skills weren’t quite up to par yet, so I have very little info about this line.  They talked to me a lot about another innovative product that they are releasing called the Nail Guard, which is another trend I’ll be writing about soon.

Other one-step brands that you may already know about are Bioseaweed Gel UNITY, and LacQit.  Other two-step brands that you may know about are Gel II and Gelaze.  I plan to separately review the Bioseaweed Gel UNITY line and some of the Gel II Reaction gels.

Long-Lasting Hybrid Nail Lacquers:

There are a couple of new polish lines coming out that claim to be as tough as gel with long lasting wear, but have the application and removal of a regular nail lacquer and don’t require curing lamps.  CND Vinlylux is a good example of this type of polish.  Two new lines were announced at Cosmoprof.  The first is called Ever Glaze by China Glaze, which will be launching in January with 36 shades.

Young Nails also revealed their new line of long-lasting nail lacquer called Caption.  I actually received a demo of this product and had a couple of my nails painted (over top of my gel polish).  The Caption line has a base that contains nail strengthening agents.  The colors are super pigmented and only require 1-2 coats.  They demonstrated the pigmentation with their black polish by painting it over a glittery gel nail and you seriously couldn’t even see what was under the black with just one coat!  I also had a really pretty purple shade applied to two of my nails with two different effects.  Caption is supposed to dry 3 times faster than regular nail lacquer, not dent after 15 minutes of drying, and wear for 7-14 days.

The Caption line has 60 pigment rich colors and 18 topper effects.  I have a couple samples of this product and will be sure to put it to the test!