The System
Clarity — our clear base and builder — is available in all four: 10ml, 30ml, jar and 8oz.
The question we get more than any other: is the gel in the 30ml different from the gel in the 10ml?
No. It's the same Multi-Flex in the 10ml, 30ml, jar and the 8oz back bar. Same formula, same behavior, same cure.
The sizes have nothing to do with chemistry. They're about application — a thin base and a structured layer.
Once that clicks, the whole system makes sense and picking what to buy stops being a guess.
A Multi-Flex set consists of
First, a thin base layer. Barely any product, applied like a polish, straight from the bottle brush.
Then a structure layer. Now you need a real bead — enough to place an apex and let it self-level.
Those two jobs want completely different things from a container. A polish bottle is perfect for a thin layer and hopeless for grabbing a bead. You've fought that bottle neck, we all have — that's exactly why the jar exists!
The sizes exist so you never have to fight your product to get it where it needs to go.
Note: the amount of product on the nail here is exaggerated for demonstration and to show the color. Your bead should not be this thick.
What each size is actually for
Your base layer, and your working brush
This is what you reach for to lay the thin base layer. It's also the brush that stays in your hand for the structure layer — scoop the bead from the jar, then place and work it with the 10ml brush. It's the low-commitment way to try a color, too, and the right size for the ones you only pull out now and then.
The refill for both
Same product. This is what tops off your 10ml when it runs low, and what fills your empty jar so you've got something to scoop from. Once a color has earned a permanent spot on your desk, this is the size you keep on hand.
Ease of application — this is the one that changes your day
We built the jar because getting enough product out of a polish bottle is the single most annoying part of building structure. Scooping a bead out of an open jar is faster, cleaner, and gives you exactly the amount you meant to pick up.
Jars ship empty and you fill them from your 30ml. Buy them empty, or get one already full in our Starter Kits — in the color you choose: Clarity, Peace or Serenity. Diamond Pros and Color Bundles include empty jars too.
So what should you actually buy?
Trying Luminary for the first time? Start with the Starter Kit. It has everything you need for a full set except primer, and the jar comes filled with the color you pick — so you can work exactly the way we've described here from your very first client.
After that it's simple: 10ml on the desk for base layers, a 30ml of whatever you reach for constantly, a jar kept filled for structure, and an 8oz on the back bar once there are a few of you working out of the same stock.
The rest of the system
The gel is the center of it, but it isn't the whole thing. Every step around it exists to protect the one next to it.
Prep — mechanical first, then chemical. Refine the plate, remove the shine, then Purity to take off surface oil and dust. Most of the lifting we get blamed for starts right here!
Commit primer — the layer that holds gel exactly where you put it. Protection on an easy client, and the difference on a lifter.
Pulse 2.0 — engineered to fully cure Multi-Flex. Undercuring is not only a retention problem: repeated contact with product that has not fully cured is a known cause of sensitivity and allergic reaction, for your client and for yourself. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on layer thickness and cure time, every time.
Empower top coat — no-wipe, high shine or matte. No dispersion layer to wipe means we're straight to photos!
Prep gives the primer a clean surface. The primer gives the gel a bond. The gel is built for the lamp. The lamp cures it all the way through, so the top coat sits on a finished structure. Five steps holding each other up.
The recommended application method
This is the method we teach and the one we support. Cure times are specific to the Pulse LED.
Prep the nail properly — cuticle work, file down existing product.
Apply a coat of Commit primer if you plan to file down and fill. If you plan to soak off at the next service, you can apply Commit to the free edge only, or skip it — your choice. The gel has strong adhesion on its own, but every client is different, so some experimentation may be needed if you prefer not to use primer.
Apply a thin base layer of Multi-Flex and cure 60 seconds.
Apply a thin layer of Multi-Flex. Do not cure.
Grab a bead of gel — this is where a jar alongside your 10ml makes life much easier. Do not apply it too thick.
Float the product onto the nail and let it melt into the layer you just laid down. Grab more product with your brush as needed, or work in a few thin layers.
Turn your client's hand upside down and let the gel self-level into a perfect arch, moving it with a detail brush as necessary.
Turn the hand back over, let the gel settle, check your line of light, then take the hand flat into the lamp: the PULSE setting followed by a full 60 second cure once all fingers are completed. Multi-Flex cures best in the Pulse. Other high-quality professional lamps may work, but the Pulse is the only lamp we officially support and recommend, because it was designed around this product. Replace your Pulse every year, or as needed by proper testing. You can watch our recommended at-home testing procedure here.
Apply gel polish if the service calls for it.
Apply Empower No Wipe Top Coat and cure 60 seconds.
Wear gloves for any chemical nail service. If you want to finish-file after applying Multi-Flex you can — cleanse with Purity before and after to remove dust. If you remove the inhibition layer to finish file, be careful with hybrid polishes: replace that layer with a very thin coat of Multi-Flex and cure, or a layer of Commit left uncured, before applying the hybrid gel.
You can watch this entire process on our YouTube channel, where Kelly VanDahl, Master Educator Tara Robinson and special guests walk through it — including sets on short nails and on long nails. The full written version lives in the Help Center.
Give the system a try
The Starter Kit has everything you need except primer — including a jar filled with Clarity, Peace or Serenity, your choice.
