October 23, 2025

Jelly Cat Eye Tutorial

In this tutorial, HONA co-founder Charlotte takes you through the art of creating the perfect Cat Eye finish. Using HONA’s clear-based Cat Eyes including Silky, Velvet and Rainbow, she demonstrates how each one creates a unique reflective effect, from silky smooth shine to crushed velvet depth and holographic dimension.

Charlotte also shares how to customise your Cat Eye designs by layering, mixing and experimenting with base shades to achieve endless looks. Whether you’re going for soft, subtle shimmer or bold, glassy depth, this step-by-step tutorial will show you how to master the magnet and create truly mesmerising Jelly Cat Eye nails.

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Products Used

 

Top Tips For Cat Eye Application 

  • Keep it even: Apply your Cat Eye layer smoothly and evenly to avoid uneven pigment distribution.

  • Work with it wet: Always magnetise before curing to get clean, defined movement in the particles.

  • Experiment with angles: Try sweeping the magnet from side to side or in circular motions to create different effects.

  • Layer for depth: Apply tinted base or jelly layers over your Cat Eye to transform the tone and add dimension.

  • Fix over-magnetising: If you lose your particle lines, don’t panic. Either move the magnet gently back and forth to bring them back or reapply a thin layer of gel and start again.

Whether you’re creating subtle shimmer or a bold, dimensional glow, this tutorial shows just how versatile Cat Eye gels can be.

Transcript 

Hi everyone and welcome back to another Home Nail Art Tutorial. And this time we are gonna talk all things cat eye. So I have picked out our top three Cat Eyes , which are silky, velvet, and Rainbow. So all through of these are set in a clear base, so they're absolutely perfect for working over any color.

So here I'm just showing you Silky and you'll be able to see when I activated. The magnet that the particles are quite close together, given that really silky smooth effect. Now with velvet here, the particles are slightly larger, given again that sort of crushed velvet look. Finally we have Rainbow. Now Rainbow is absolutely beautiful because it's based with holographic particles.

Again, these are super, super fine. And if you love our hollow top coat, then you will love Rainbow. So these were the first three ties that we started out with as this. So versatile. But as you may have seen, we have now ventured into some colored cat eyes, this one here Being Fur Coat, which is from our latest Mob Wife collection.

So [00:01:00] let's go through some effects and how you can use them. So here I'm just gonna start out with a base color of Stormy, an absolute classic, and I'm gonna go in with one thin layer of our velvet Cat Eye . Now, make sure that when you are doing your Cat Eye, that you are really even in your application, if you're uneven in your application, it may result in more pigment being dispersed in certain areas.

So with Cat Eye, you want to make sure that you are leaving the product wet before then activating it with your magnet. So using my ho magnet here, what I like to do personally is just swipe up and down each side of the nail as this creates a really nice effect where it pulls all the particles into the center point, almost still reflecting the original color on the outer sides as well.

As you can see, like I say, these are slightly larger particles, so we'll give that crushed velvet look to the nail, and this is how it's looking. I'm absolutely in love with this effect. Once [00:02:00] I'm happy with how that, that's sitting on the nail, you can then cure for 60 seconds and then finish off with your top coat.

So next step here, then I'm going to be using Stormy again. But this time we're gonna use a layer of silky over the top. And as you can see here, as I'm applying it, you can already see the difference in the particle size. This is much more of a sort of mirrored look. For me, this one would be an absolute staple in my kit if I was going to start off with any cat eye because as you can see, as I then magnetize it, you can see a lot more of the color underneath because those particles are so much closer together.

Cat Eye is all about patients as well. I feel the more time you sort of spend having a little play around with it and moving the magnet into different positions, you can get so many versatile looks from it. You don't always have to stick to those side to side sweeping motions. You can do circles. You can wait from bottom to top, have a play around and be experimental.

[00:03:00] Next step. Then we have the rainbow cat eye. So as I mentioned, again, these are really, really tiny little particles and they're of a holographic nature rather than that sort of silver hue. Now, for me, this is one that really comes to life in the natural daylight. You'll see now as I've magnetize it, it comes together to create that beautiful rainbow effect on top of the nail.

And again, because it is based in that clear base coat. You are not losing any of the original color underneath. In fact, it depends on what color that you use Underneath the. Really shows through. Then within these rainbow particles, as I say, be experimental in your magnet placement. Go up and down the nail, wiggle it from side to side.

You don't have to do the long sweeping motions up and down the side of the nail. This is just how I like to do mine. This is a perfect choice for somebody that wants a little bit of sparkle, nothing too much, but will really, really dazzle then in the natural daylight, as [00:04:00] I 

say. So these are the These Cat Eyes that we have just done. Velvet being the first one here, as you can see next. To silky, they are larger particles. Given that velvet effect silky in the middle, creates that beautiful mirrored shine and then rainbow on the end to give a really subtle rainbow mirror finish. Having all three of these ties will give you a really versatile Cat Eye collection.

Now moving on to fur coat as well. I've already painted out two layers of this, so the first layer I usually cure without magnetizing, and then the second layer, then I will leave wet before then magnetizing, and as you can see, it gives that beautiful sort of glassy finish. Again, for this, I love using that side to side motion because you get to that gorgeous amber color at the sides with all the particles pulled into the middle.

Now for this, I'd just show you really quickly how you can use your clear Cat Eye to almost create any colored [00:05:00] Cat Eye that you wanted. So here I've mixed a little bit of stormy in with my base coat, and then I'm just going to apply a really sheer thin layer over the top of my already cured cat. Now what this is gonna do is actually tone down that silver white hue and add a little bit more vibrancy to stormy underneath.

This technique can be used with any of your colors, so it is a really, really handy option to have. If you don't want to go buy in loads of different casi colors. All you need to do is have those clear bases and then you can mix it to your heart's content. You can also do the same effect by using a glass or jelly gel over the top instead of having to mix it with a base or top coat.

It will also give that same effect. Another great option with this would be to also use a Chrome as well. Anything that's set in a clear base, so any of our Pearl Chromes or clear Chromes, they would be absolutely beautiful over the top of cat eye as well before they're [00:06:00] going in with your top coat. Now finally, for this look, I thought I would show you how to create a darker cat eye.

So I'm starting off with a base of black jar polish, and then I'm going in with my velvet here. Again, like I say, we're gonna leave that wet before using my magnet to pull all the particles into the position that I want them to be in.

Now just before I continue with this, look, I do get a lot of questions of, I think I've over magnetized. I can't see any of my particles, so just to show you here, yes you can over magnetize. So. If you are placing your mag and you can see that all of your particles have disappeared, there are two ways to get this back.

You can either be a little bit patient and then go back in with your side to side sweep in motion as I'm doing here. So waiting until all those particles come back to the surface and then again maneuvering them into the position that you want them to be [00:07:00] in. This can take a little bit of time to, again, like I say, just be patient.

Or if you are not happy with how this is looking, there is option two, which is where that you can go back in with a really thin layer again of your wet gel polish. So, like I say, I was using velvet here, so I'm just going to take whatever was left on my brush and brush it back through and just restart the process again.

Because you're working with wet gel polish, it's absolutely fine. You can make mistakes. You can just wipe back over it and just start fresh. So do not panic if you think, oh, I've lost my particles. There are these ways to get them back. Now that I'm happy with how that that's looking, I'm going to cure that for 60 seconds.

I'm then going to take a mix of a darker gel polish again with my base coat, and I'm just gonna run that over the top. And because we have used the black underneath, it's gonna give that. Gorgeous depth to the cat eye. As I say, you don't have to do the mixing if you don't want to. If you [00:08:00] already have glass or jelly colors, you can certainly use this as a replacement.

I just think that if you are already doing a mix, it gives you that custom color blend as well, which is really, really lovely to be able to then offer your clients, and this is how it's looked after it's cured and top coated. As you can see here, the black really picks up underneath. And here are all of the finished Cat Eye looks that we have created all together.

The top four looks we obviously created using the clear cat ice, so you can see how versatile that you can get from those. And then fur coat, then on the right hand side. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and can't wait to see your Cat Eye creations.

Written by Grace Evans