So ICYMI I did a youtube video all about how I do my nails. In my nearly 30 years of life, this has got to be the #1 question I get asked, so now I have a lovely tutorial to show! The style that I featured for this video was the Hailey Beiber Glazed Doughnut mani that has taken the internet by storm.

Now as I’m not a licensed nail tech, I’m not able to purchase the exact products that were used for Hailey Beiber’s iconic manicure, but I’ve been doing my nails long enough that I figured out how to get pretty close. So here’s my guide on how to get her lewk:

Things You’ll Need

If you’re looking for the specific products used, here are the links to either the exact products or something super similar (in the case of unavailable items):

Step 1: Remove Product

The obvious first step to any manicure is remove the previous manicure. In my case I’m wearing gel so this required a soak off and file method. I tend to get impatient and pull of the foil, so I end up doing a lot of alternating between pushing the gel off with a cuticle pusher and soaking off with acetone. Also it bears mentioning, I usually wearing a Builder In A Bottle (BIAB) gel under my polish so I have a few more layers of gel to get through than what’s in a typical gel manicure.

At this stage you’ll also need to file your nails down and lightly buff the surface (specifically around the cuticle). I use an e-file or glass file for this depending on how long they are (re: how impatient I am lol).

Step 2: Push and Cut Cuticles (optional)

I know there’s various schools of thought on whether you should cut your cuticles. I have the kind of cuticles that turn into hang nails if I don’t trim them, so whether it’s the right thing to do or not, I do it 🤷🏾‍♀️. Even if you skip this step I would highly recommend pushing you cuticles back with an orange wood stick. Gel needs 2 main things to have lasting power, the surface of your nail needs to be clean and slightly buffed. So be gentle, but make sure all the dead cuticle is gone from the nail.

Step 3:Clean the nail plate & apply base gel

As I said, I always opt for a BIAB to give my natural nails a tougher protective layer. If you’d rather skip the BIAB then you can skip right to the base gel.

Step 4: Apply gel builder/BIAB (Optional)

There are soooo many great videos on how to apply builder gel. I’ve linked a great by Nail Career Education in my How to: Holographic Nails blog post. I also show a bit of how to do this in my video on this same manicure (you can find the video at the end of this post). With the BIAB, it’s a simple process. Kinda like applying a really thick coat of nail polish. And on of my favorite features of it is that it soaks off with acetone, so you don’t have to buy an e-file!

Step 5: File Surface & Apply Gel polish

Once you’ve gotten the gel on and cured, give it a once over with your hand file. You may want to shape it a lil here if it rolled around more than you’d prefer, and you’ll need it rough for you gel color to stick. And I cannot stress enough, if you’ve recently purchased new hand files be sure to score them – essentially file the edges of one file with another – before using them, or you’re very likely to cut your skin.

After you’ve given it a good buffing, go ahead and apply your first coat of gel polish. I usually do 2 coats, even in the case of a french, but depending on the color you use you may need more or less. Use your best judgement.

Step 6: Apply No-Wipe Gel Top coat

This is not a standard step, so if you just did red gel nails along with the tutorial feel free to top coat you nails like normal and stop here. This step is specific to the chrome powder manicure that we’re recreating today. When using any chrome powder, you need to apply a no-wipe gel topcoat. It has to say “no-wipe” as that denotes that the top coat has no sticky layer after curing and so requires – as you may have guessed – no wiping.

Step 7: Apply Chrome Powder

Now for the fun part. If you’re here, then you’ve probably seen this on instagram before. The magical application of fairy dust that turns your nail into a mirror-finished masterpiece. Truly, it never gets old 🤩. This is the stuff that’s going to take this basic manicure to the next level. Most of these come with a eyeshadow applicator, but on the off chance that it doesn’t or you lose it, you can also use your fingertip. Whatever you’re using, go ahead and scoop up a bit of this and rub it into the nail. Then watch as your nail magically adorns a mirror like shine.

Step 8: Seal with Top Coat & Enjoy!

The finish line is in sight! All that’s left is to polish this off – pun intended – with a super shiny gel top coat. After that’s cured, you can clean off the excess chrome powder with some alcohol, and add cuticle oil for that salon-like finish. And voila. You’ve done it! Congratulations on your gorgeous celeb status manicure. I can’t see it but I’m sure it looks amazinggg. Go out into the world and show it off. You deserve it ♡

Watch my video ♡

If you’re like me and need a visual aid, checkout my video which follows these exact steps (but with visuals) so you can more easily see what I’m doing. I love doing my nails, so be sure to checkout my nail hastag on instagram #bykellyrosenotd.

- Kelly Rose

How To: Hailey Beiber Glazed Doughnut Nails