According to Ché Monroe, also known as Class Act Nails on YouTube, you’ll need a few things to get started: blooming gel, gel polish, and a top coat. If you want to make your crocodile nails three-dimensional, you’ll also need builder gel and a brush to apply it with. Crocodile nails, also known as #crocnails on Instagram or reptile nails, are a kind of blooming nail, which Allure named one of the top trends of 2021.
You can find Monroe’s tutorial on YouTube, but the basics are simple: You start with a coat of blooming gel — but don’t cure it. Instead of curing, you’ll reach for your color gel and begin doting it in rows along the length of the nail. You’ll notice the color bleeds across the nail, forming a row of scale-like ovals. Doing this across your nail will give it that crocodile-effect. Once you’re satisfied with your crocodile pattern, you can leave it at that, cure it and apply a top coat. Or, you can use builder gel to dot little “bumps” into your “scales.” Monroe’s tutorial advises you to cure the nail every few bumps to prevent them from bleeding into each other. Once you learn the technique, the options and variations are endless.
Also on YouTube, Tabitha Scott Nails explains how this crocodile nail technique is one of five basic techniques every nail artist should have and explained that it can be used to make roses and other patterns.
