Sweenly Nail Pen vs. Manucurist Green Flash: Pen or Gel Bottle?

Manucurist's Green Flash is one of the best-known "gel at home" polishes: a bottle with a brush, cured under an LED lamp, removed without filing. Sweenly is a felt-tip pen that air-dries, with an optional UV top coat for longer wear. People compare them because both promise an easier, cleaner at-home manicure. They get there very differently.

A note on fairness: Sweenly makes the Sweenly Nail Pen and Lip Pen, so read this as a comparison written by one of the two brands. Everything about the other product comes from its own website as of September 19, 2026; we have not tested it ourselves and we make no claims about its quality. Brand names belong to their respective owners, and Sweenly is not affiliated with them.

Manucurist Green Flash, in short

According to manucurist.com (September 19, 2026), Green Flash™ is a semi-permanent LED gel polish sold in bottles (listed at €19 per shade on the brand's French store), applied with a brush and cured under the brand's LED lamp. The range is wide, with dozens of shades, and the brand positions it as a gel-like manicure that removes with remover rather than by filing. A lamp is required for every manicure.

Sweenly Nail Pen, in short

• Format: felt-tip pen, 22 shades, $21.99 each. Pick any 5 for the Nail Pen Pack at 50% off ($10.99 a pen).
• Drying: air-dries like classic polish (a few minutes), no lamp required.
• Two ways to wear it: on its own, it wears like a nice classic polish for a few days. With the Long-Lasting Kit ($28.99: UV Top Coat + UV Lamp), the color is sealed under the lamp for longer wear and a gel-like shine.
• Formula: water-based, made without HEMA and without TPO, virtually no smell.
• Removal: the acetone-free Sweenly Remover ($10.99) on a cotton pad; with the top coat, a classic remover.
• Coverage: about 20 to 25 manicures per pen.
• Shipping: free in the US over $65; 3 to 7 business days after dispatch.

Where they differ

1. Brush vs. felt tip

This is the whole point of a pen. A brush spreads a drop of polish and you steer it; a felt tip draws a line that stops where you stop. If your problem with polish is the wobbly edge and the clean-up around the cuticle, especially on your non-dominant hand, the pen addresses exactly that. If you are already neat with a brush, the format matters less.

2. Lamp: required vs. optional

Green Flash needs the LED lamp for every application. The Sweenly Nail Pen does not need a lamp at all: on its own it air-dries like classic polish. The UV lamp only enters the picture if you want the longer-wearing, gel-like finish, and it is a separate purchase ($28.99 with the top coat).

3. Wear

Both are designed to outlast a classic polish, by different routes: Green Flash through its LED gel system, Sweenly through the Long-Lasting Kit, which seals the color under the lamp for a gel-like finish. The difference is flexibility: with the pen, longer wear is a choice you make manicure by manicure, and on the days you want to change shades you simply air-dry and wipe off.

4. Removal

Both brands avoid filing. Sweenly's color comes off with the acetone-free Remover on a cotton pad (classic remover if you used the top coat), without damaging the nail.

5. Cost to get started

With Green Flash you need at least a bottle and the lamp, so the entry price is the starter kit. With Sweenly, a single pen is $21.99 and that is a complete manicure; the kit is optional and can come later.

Which one is right for you?

• You want a bottle-and-brush gel routine with the lamp every time: Green Flash.
• You want precision and zero clean-up, no lamp: the Nail Pen.
• You want to start small and add longer wear later: the Nail Pen, then the Long-Lasting Kit.
• You change shades often: a pen you can air-dry and wipe off is the lower-commitment habit. The 5-shade pack is the way most people start.