Best glow-in-the-dark nail polish: 8 amazing options that work

Looking for the best glow-in-the-dark nail polish?

Then this post is for you.

I’m gonna share my top 8 options for glow-in-the-dark nail polish that apply easily, look great, and actually work.

I’ll also answer some of your questions, and give you my best tips and advice for rocking glow-in-the-dark nails.

Let’s get started.

Gel nail polish set

Gelike Glow in the Dark Gel Nail Polish (click to check price)

Whether you want neon green, fluorescent pink, bright blue, or vibrant orange, this six polish set has you covered.

It’s fluorescent gel polish so it’s long-lasting (up to 2 weeks of wear) and will need to be cured with a UV lamp and soaked off.

These glow-in-the-dark polishes charge by natural sunlight or UV light.

If you want something super bright that will work for going to bars, clubs, parties, and for Halloween, this set is a great choice.

The colors are highly pigmented and look great during the day too.

These polishes are also low-odor and non-toxic.

The only downside with these is that the polish goes on a little transparent.

You might be tempted to apply thicker coats but this will cause peeling.

So my advice is to do several (3 or 4) very thin coats to get the best results.

Pros:

• Very bright and vibrant glow
• Good selection of colors that work well together
• Highly pigmented colors that look good during the day too

Cons:

• Needs UV light to cure
• Needs UV light to charge/re-charge
• you’ll need several thin coats to get the right look

Best glow-in-the-dark gel polish

Vrenmol Glow in The Dark Gel Nail Polish (click to check price)

Here is another of my favorite glow-in-the-dark polish sets from Vrenmol.

This set is very similar to the previous one, but the colors are a little brighter, happier, and more summery in my opinion.

This is a gel polish set so it does need to be cured under a nail lamp and it also needs UV light to activate and re-charge the glow.

These polishes apply well, but you may want to use several thin coats to get full opacity.

The glow on these polishes is amazing – probably the brightest I’ve seen.

I also tried a white gel polish under these colors and the colors really popped!

The green and yellow are the brightest, the blue was the least vibrant.

Pros:

• Super bright fluorescent glow
• Happy summery colors
• Smooth application
• Charges up fast

Cons:

• Needs to be cured under a UV lamp
• Must be exposed to UV light to re-charge
• Goes on a bit transparent

Best glow-in-the-dark polish colors

TOMICCA Glow in The Dark Gel Nail Polish Set(click to check price)

A lot of the glow-in-the-dark gel nail polish sets come in standard colors like neon green, yellow, pink, and orange.

I love that the colors in this set are completely different.

These polishes look amazing and you’d never guess that they glow in the dark!

The glow is strong and long-lasting and these are just so much fun to wear.

This is a gel polish set that needs to be cured under a UV or an LED nail lamp and soaked off.

This polish lasts for at least 2 weeks with proper nail prep and application.

The only negative with this set is that the nail polish formula is a bit on the thick side.

Pros:

• Unique colors for glow-in-the-dark polish
• Look fabulous and classy during the day
• Good quality long-lasting gel polish
• Glows very well

Cons:

• Consistency is a little thick
• Needs UV light to cure
• The bottles are small-sized (8 ml)

Best non-gel glow-in-the-dark polish set

UV Glow Blacklight Nail Polish (click to check price)

If you’re looking for a regular, glow-in-the-dark nail polish that doesn’t need to be cured then this set could be for you.

It comes with 6 colors – yellow, pink, green, orange, purple, and blue.

It’s easy to apply and remove and it glows really well under blacklights!

This polish is very bold and eye-catching, particularly in the warmer colors.

I found that the blue and purple in this set weren’t quite as bright as the other colors.

This polish applies well, dries pretty fast, and doesn’t chip right away which is great.

You do need to expose these polishes to UV light to activate them, so do keep that in mind.

Pros:

• Easy to remove
• Doesn’t need to be cured under a nail lamp
• Bright vibrant colors and a nice glow
• Good value for money

Cons:

• Doesn’t last as long as gel polish
• Needs UV light to activate it
• Not the best quality nail polish in the world

Glow in the dark top coat nail polish

Glow in the dark nail polish top coat (click to check price)

My next recommendation is this glow-in-the-dark top coat.

This is a soak-off gel topcoat that needs to be cured under a UV or an LED lamp.

It’s designed to be used on top of any glow-in-the-dark gel nail polish.

Now, you may be able to get away with using your regular top coat.

Some people have tried this and it has worked out ok.

But if you’re worried about the topcoat dampening the effects of the glow then this specially designed top coat can give you peace of mind.

This polish is designed to maximize and intensify the glow of your nails, so you should get amazing results.

Pros:

• Can be used on top of any gel nail polish
• Glows brilliantly
• Nice application brush and bottle

Cons:

• The glow has a sort of greenish tinge
• You need 2 coats to get a good result with this

Polygel glow in the dark nail polish

Saviland Poly Gel Nail Set – Glow in the Dark Nail Extension Kit (click to check price)

This is a great glow-in-the-dark set for anyone who’s into sculpting their own nails with polygel.

This polygel kit is fantastic value for money.

You get 12 different colors that look completely different from day to night.

The glow is super strong, even on the blue (which is hard to find).

You do need a UV lamp to both cure and activate/re-charge this poly gel.

This kit has great reviews overall, even from beginners, so it’s a good one to think about if you’re ready to try out poly gel for the first time.

Pros:

• Easy to work with
• Nice color selection
• Strong vibrant glow
• Highly pigmented colors

Cons:

• There’s a learning curve (especially for beginners)
• Some people find the gel a little sticky

How to make your own DIY glow nails

Glow in the dark pigment powder

If you’re into DIY nail projects, you might wanna give this method a try.

This is amazing stuff!

It’s basically a powder that adds a bright glow to anything you mix it with.

It’s commonly used in crafting, where it’s mixed with acrylic paint or resin.

But you can add glow-in-the-dark powder to acrylics, or hard and soft gels for amazing results.

This set comes with 10 colored powders and a portable UV light for charging.

Pros:

• Mixes great with acrylics and gels
• Glows super bright
• Holds the charge for a long time

Cons:

• Can be a little grainy/gritty which means lots of filing

Glow in the dark set with pretty colors

Saviland Glow in The Dark Gel Nail Polish Set (click to check price)

This luminous 12-color gel polish set is very affordable and the colors are super pretty.

These are gel polishes, so you will need to cure them under a UV or LED nail lamp and soak them off to remove them.

You will also need to charge up the polish using UV light.

But once you do, the glow is amazing!

The quality of these polishes is very good. They are long-lasting and don’t chip easily.

The colors do go on a little transparent with this set so I’d recommend either doing 3 to 4 thin coats or adding a white base to make the colors pop.

Pros:

• Beautiful colors
• Charges well, even in the sun
• Glows BRIGHT!
• Long lasting glow

Cons:

• Small-sized bottles (7.5 ml)

Best glow-in-the-dark gel liners

RARJSM Nail Art Gel Set, Glow In The Dark Gel Liner Polish (click to check price)

Sometimes, you don’t want the whole nail to glow.

So, my last recommendation for you is these glow-in-the-dark gel polish liners.

These are great for adding details to your nail art that will glow up in the dark.

You get 12 different colors, all of which are highly pigmented.

The thin brush tips are easy to use and you can create some super cute and fun designs.

If you like to create amazing hand-drawn details, you need these in your life!

Pros:

• Good selection of pretty colors
• Nice thin brushes
• Decent glow
• Good price

Cons:

• You do need UV light to cure and charge these.

Does glow-in-the-dark polish work?

Glow-in-the-dark nail polish divides people.

Some see it as a novelty or a gimmick product that doesn’t really work very well.

Others love its bold attention-grabbing look.

A lot of the bad reputation is down to the fact that people don’t understand how glow-in-the-dark nail polish works.

They don’t know how to activate it or how to re-charge the glow when it runs out.

While it’s true that there are some dodgy and disappointing glow-in-the-dark nail polishes out there, there are also some great ones.

All of the polishes in this article glow well if properly treated.

How long does glow-in-the-dark nail polish last?

jessiemonroenailcare

Glow-in-the-dark nail polish doesn’t last forever.

The glow will eventually fade at which point you’ll need to recharge it.

The vibrancy, type, and length of your glow, as well as the best way to activate it, depend on what type of glow-in-the-dark nail polish you are using.

There are 2 main types of glow-in-the-dark polish.

The first type is a natural glow-in-the-dark polish that doesn’t require exposure to UV or Black lights to work (this is phosphorescent polish).

This first kind of polish gives a soft, more natural-looking glow that lasts for a long time but that does need exposure to some kind of light once it fades.

This can be natural sunlight, your mobile phone flashlight, or any other light source.

The best thing about this type of polish is that it can be charged by any kind of light.

The second type (fluorescent polish) glows much brighter but needs to be exposed to UV light specifically to activate it.

This second type of nail polish is super vibrant and very eye-catching but it can’t be charged with your phone for example.

With fluorescent polish, how long your glow lasts depends on how long you expose your nails to UV light.

The longer you charge, the longer your nails will glow.

When the glow fades, simply recharge using a UV light like a nail lamp.

Does glow-in-the-dark nail polish work with a top coat?

You might be able to get away with using a regular topcoat over your glow-in-the-dark nails.

But it can dampen the effect and the polish might not charge as well or as quickly.

I recommend getting a special topcoat that is designed to work with glow-in-the-dark polish.

The results will be much better and it’s totally worth the investment.

Scroll up for my glow-in-the-dark gel soak-off top coat polish recommendation from Crea8tion.

Final thoughts

That’s it my lovelies!

I hope that you found this post helpful and that I was able to de-mystify glow-in-the-dark nail polish a little bit for you.

I think that a lot of people are put off because of reviews saying that the glow doesn’t last, but if you know how to charge it then you can keep the glow alive!

The trick is really in knowing how to charge your polish so that it glows really brightly.

Thanks for reading.

You might also like our best neon pink nail polish article

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