Limited shelf life due to pigment settling and the formation of hard packs in pigmented UV curable nail gels is solved by the present invention which describes a composition, method, and use of a UV curable, thixotropic, radiation curable, low viscosity gel comprised of a formulation containing thixotropic additive(s) and in some cases dispersants for additional dispersion stability. The thixotropic pigmented gel has prolonged shelf life and long time storage at ambient conditions. It also contains negligible amounts of unreactive solvent. The thixotropic additive also changes the rheological properties of the gel, which allows the nail gel to be easily applied to nails at a lower viscosity due to shear thinning.
