China Glaze Magnetix II - Sparks Will Fly

Today I've got a magnetic polish to show you: China Glaze Sparks Will Fly. I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but only got around to it now. This is part of the Magnetix II collection, and here's a look at the new magnet designs. I was pretty excited about two of them; the circular pattern and the criss-crossing lines are both unique in my collection. 

The magnetic patterns turned out really well on my thumb nails, probably because it offers a flatter surface for the design to take effect. Here you can see the criss-crossing lines pattern- it makes me think of a quilt.

I think the circular one is even better... it reminds me of ripples in a pond. I'm also really happy with the colour contrast- a light blue shifts to a vibrant cool-toned deep blue when the magnet is applied. I love this shade!

Unfortunately, this didn't work as well on the rest of my fingernails- they're quite curved, so the design couldn't really wrap around the whole nail. You can see where it fades towards the tips of my nails. Nonetheless, I still think it looks pretty cool. Left to right, you can see the pattern with straight lines, criss-cross lines, circles, and the criss-crossed pattern once again on the pinky nail.

What do you think of Sparks Will Fly? Are you still attracted to magnetic polishes, or have they lost their hold on you? Myself, I'm still kinda charged up by them. ;)

Color Club Magnetic Lacquer - Cop An Attitude

Today I have a good magnetic polish to share with you; this is Color Club Magnetic Nail Lacquer in Cop An Attitude. This shade is a rusty gold shade with bright red fleck shimmer that appears after the magnet is applied. 

The magnet, which is on the removable cap, forms a wavy design. I found the magnet quite easy to use, and it has the same handy finger guide that the Nails Inc magnetics have. Overall, the bottle design is a good one.

The design formed quite easily, and turned out to be fairly crisp. I love the red shimmer that appears once the design has formed! You can see it quite well in the following pictures (click to enlarge them).

If you're looking for a good magnetic polish, this is a great option, and the price point is quite a bit cheaper than many other magnetic lacquers. I also find that this particular colour combination- rusty gold with bright red shimmer- is pretty unique! What do you think of Color Club Cop An Attitude?

Nails Inc Piccadilly

Nails Inc Piccadilly is a fishnet design magnetic polish. While I usually really like the Nails Inc magnetic polishes, in this case, I found the design hard to successfully create. As you can see, the fishnet pattern doesn't cover my whole nail, possible because my nails are quite curved. 

This is a shot of what the lacquer looked like at one coat (before applying the magnet after the second coat). 

While I was really excited about having a new magnetic pattern to play around with, this might not be the best one for my nails- on someone with flatter nails, I think it would probably work much better.

Here's a bonus picture- Piccadilly is such a bronze-y colour (a deep green-leaning bronze with golden shimmer), I thought it perfectly matched a bronze bodhisattva statue I have.

What do you think of Nails Inc Piccadilly? Is it a success or failure?

Claire's Magnetix - the best magnetic polish I've ever tried!

I'm really loving the magnetic polish trend; I think the pattern created usually looks interesting, and frankly, the whole concept is just cool. They can be a bit hit and miss, though: the Nails Inc design is great, and very user-friendly, while on the other hand, China Glaze kind of missed the mark with their magnetic polishes (awkward to use, hard to get a clear design).

Unfortunately, magnetic polishes are often a good deal more expensive than regular lacquer. That's why I'm thrilled that my new favourite magnetic lacquer is also the cheapest I've ever come across! Claire's Magnetix line costs about half the price of a Nails Inc or Layla magnetic polish, and applies as well or even better.

Have a look at the green polish from Claire's Magnetix line:

Sadly, this colour doesn't have a specific colour name assigned to it; I guess I'll just have to call it "awesome". Because it is, isn't it? Great application, easy to use design, vivid colour, crisp magnetic pattern. All in an affordable polish! I'm a happy, happy lacquer tracker.

If you like magnetic polish, or want to try it for the first time, this is the one to pick up. Now all you have to do is muster up the courage to actually go INTO Claire's... I know I always feel utterly conspicuous going in there to peruse cosmetics along with all the pre-teens. Luckily, this is well within the boundaries of "things I will do for pretty nail lacquer".

What do you think of Claire's Magnetix green?

Color Club Sci Fi

I have another Color Club magnetic polish to show you today- this time it's an olive green with brilliant gold sparkle. The magnetic design combined with the sparkle in this makes for a really cool effect- when the magnet separates the pigments, the gold sparkle in this really comes to life. 

This was two coats of Sci Fi (with the magnet applied immediately after the second coat of lacquer).

As I mentioned in my last post about Color Club Magnetic Force, the magnet is really easy to use, and creates a wavy pattern design. If you're new to magnetic lacquers, I would highly recommend trying one of the Color Club polishes.

The finished effect on this polish kind of reminds me of a favourite bracelet of mine (interestingly enough, the bracelet is also "magnetic" in the sense that the small beads stringing it together are magnetic- I suppose that makes them a really good match!).

Overall, Sci Fi was a huge winner for me- the gold sparkle in this makes it a stunner. What do you think of Color Club Sci Fi?

Color Club Magnetic Force

I have a magnetic polish to share with you today! This time I'll be showing you Magnetic Force, a deep blackened eggplant-burgundy shade, from the Color Club magnetic collection. This is what two coats of Magnetic Force looks like:

The magnetic pattern that is created is a wavy design (as seen on the cap), which is neat, but I do find myself wishing for more new shapes! Hopefully magnetic polish designs will become more diverse in the near future.

The magnetic design, and actually the whole bottle, is very similar to the Nails Inc. magnetic lacquers. In fact, I'd say it's an exact match to the Nails Inc. bottle (although the colour of lacquer is different, of course).

I'm still crazy about magnetic polishes and the cool effect that results with the application of the magnet. In this case I found it very convenient to use- as you can see, the cap has a magnet in it, which you can remove from the brush for ease of use, and it comes with a raised cuticle guide to help with placement.

What do you think of Color Club Magnetic Force? Are you planning on trying more magnetic lacquers?

Layla Magneffect Glamour Lilac / China Glaze Cling On

I'm a huge fan of the magnetic polish trend (they're far more appealing than the crackle polishes, in my opinion), and I'm a huge fan of the Layla magnetic lacquers in particular. Today I have Layla Magneffect in Glamour Lilac to share with you. Layla is an Italian brand, and they first introduced about 12 different magnetic lacquers (mostly in shades of purple, blue and gold/silver) last year. Recently I spotted another 12 or so colours that have been added to their line of Magneffect lacquers, and this time there is a greater variation in colour. I picked up two (a sparkly lilac which you'll see today, and a vibrant red to show later on), and I also saw a deep green, an orange, and several others shades.

The magnet on the Layla Magneffect polishes is on the top of the cap; while I wish it had the little ridge that Nails Inc and China Glaze have to assist with magnet placement, I still find this to work fairly smoothly (although steady hands will definitely help). I also appreciate that the Layla magnet is quite strong; I don't find I have to hold the magnet to the wet polish for more than 5-10 seconds to be sure that a good pattern will form. I struggled a bit with the China Glaze magnets for this reason, and you'll see my less than stellar attempts at working with those towards the end of this post.

For these pictures I applied two coats of Glamour Lilac, and on the second coat, after immediately applying the polish, I held the magnet on the cap close to the wet polish for several seconds. I waited a slightly longer time than usual to allow the pattern to dry before applying topcoat. The good thing is, if you don't like the pattern you've created, you can just paint over it and try again.

I really love the large shimmer particles in Glamour Lilac; the overall effect is very striking, and the shimmer actually shifts in colour from purple to gold (only visible at some angles/in some lights, but you can see it in the above photo).

The magnet in the Layla polishes creates a straight line pattern; even though there is a line drawn on the cap to show you which way the pattern will form, I do find it challenging to get all the nails exactly the same (you can see my index finger and pinky are straight, and my other two nails are more angled).

I love the process of using magnetic polish; it's like NAIL LACQUER combined with SCIENCE. And who didn't love playing with magnets in elementary school science class? It's like that, but for your nails. Awesome.

That said, when I tried the China Glaze "Magnetix" line, I was less than thrilled. I had an unexpectedly tough time using the magnet effectively. My patterns didn't show up evenly, and they weren't very crisp. Here are some pictures of my attempts at using China Glaze "Cling On":

This is what the magnet looks like close up- you can see the ridge on which you are supposed to rest at the base of your nail; unfortunately, I felt like it was too short, and often my nail would make contact with the magnet, smudging the design.

My nails were also too curved, or perhaps the magnet too weak, to create an even pattern over my whole nail. Here you can see where the star pattern doesn't reach to the end of my nails, particularly on the ring finger.

This is what the China Glaze  magnet looks like. The bonus is that it comes with three patterns, although I've found them to be a bit tricky to use compared to other magnets. I did manage to get a clear star pattern on my thumb nail, which was easier to achieve as my thumb nail is not as curved as my other fingernails.

If you're trying magnetic polishes for the first time, I'd recommend reading Scrangie's helpful post on how to successfully apply magnetic polish. It's very helpful and very thorough.

What do you think of magnetic polish? Are you as much as fan of this trend as I am? Do you have a favourite brand of magnetic lacquer?