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?