Common palettes include metallic and iridescent finishes. Typical tones range from light to medium — for example, silvers and lilacs — and many kits blend taupes, blushed warm shades and creamy nudes with added sparkle.

Sparkly effects are available as liquid nail polishes, chrome/powder pigments, and gel products or gel color kits. Chrome powders are applied as powder and then sealed with a gel top coat.

Quick-dry liquid polishes can set in about 60 seconds. Gel coats and gel-cured layers generally require roughly 60 seconds per cure step under a UV/LED lamp. Separately, some chrome or mirror-style finishes are advertised to provide wear for up to about 14 days.

Some mirror- or chrome-style finishes list wear of up to about 14 days. Review summaries for some products also note long-lasting, chip-resistant performance in certain formulas.