Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Magnetic Layering Fun

Hi everyone! Is anyone else hardcore slacking on their Christmas presents? I think I am just barely keeping my head above water! :) I have been trying to keep up with my posting but I am afraid I am just a touch behind.

Today's nails started off with a base of Ulta Grin and Berry It, which is a lovely pink color that leans towards the reddish side. Then I added on a coat of Nails Inc. Trafalgar Square, which is a gunmetal colored magnetic polish.


For those of you unfamiliar with magnetic polish, here is the explanation offered by Nails Inc.
This unique formula has been specially developed with metallic particles to create a pattern on the nail using magnetic forces. As the magnet is held over the nail, the iron powder in the formulation gravitates toward the magnet forming the pattern/design secretly hidden in the magnet for an astonishing finish! 
So you hold the magnet over the wet polish and this wavy sort of design that you see in my photos will show up! It's very cool. It can be kind of tough when you are first learning though. I kept touching my nail with the magnet and it would totally ruin it! If you are just using the magnetic polish instead of layering like me, though, you could just paint on another layer and try again, instead of removing the nail and starting over.

I figured that if I put a color underneath the magnetic polish, when it got all magnetized the underwear polish would show through. I was right... BUT I quickly learned that the magnetic polish will "loosen up" as it dries.

Here is a cell phone pic comparison of a nail RIGHT after I removed the magnet versus a minute later. It continued to spread out and finally settled how you see it in the rest of this post's photos.


I tried holding the magnet on for a long long time as well as immediately applying Seche Vite (the fastest drying topcoat ever)... no matter what I tried the particles would continue to spread out. Oh well!


To add to my troubles, I didn't get a chance to take photos of this manicure until the next day, and I had developed some shrinkage at the cuticles by then. I'm not sure if it was user error or if the polish just doesn't play nice with SV.


Still though, for all of my trial-and-error experiments and minor problems, I love this manicure! The magnetic effect is unlike anything else and it really gets noticed. I had a lot of people ask me what it was and, when I explained it, they were really wowed and impressed by the effect.

I purchased Trafalgar Square at Sephora, where it retails for $16.
Share:

32 comments

  1. This is so cool! I love it, great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would have never thought of experimenting with magnetic polishes like this, it's genius! and the result is lovely too :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks so cool like that! I think they look better spread out anyway! Gorgeous mani!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It never occurred to me to layer magnetic polish! It's an awesome way to expand their "useability." Looks fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  5. actually, i like that it continued to spread. awesome nails!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So cool! And what an original way to use it! I really like the outcome, it almost looks like feathers to me :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this idea! I was going to bypass the magnetic polishes, but seeing this makes me rethink my decision!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey, I'd call this a 'happy accident' sort of like Ivory brand soap (ya' know the soap that floats)! I think this looks amazing and I think NOW I'll have to give in and get some of those magnetic polishes!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I wanted to try this!
    It's very nice :) Thanks for showing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great idea! I've only used magnetic polish once but after I eventually got the hang of it, I loved it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. oh wow that looks so cool, rather than buying all the dif magnetic colors!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I sure hope I get a magnetic polish for Christmas! I need to try this. It looks a lot like feathers to me. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  13. You're a genius!!! I'm not a fan of the magnetic colours... but this one I will just HAVE to try... it looks really intriguing!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. i had no idea it would do that. Its so thick that i never even dreamed you could put another colour under it. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, what a smart idea! I've never heard of anyone layering with magnetic polishes.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Interesting...I never would have thought to layer the magnetic polish over another color. It looks super nice, even if it gave you trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  17. i gotta try this! i have this nail polish! thank you for the great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  18. SOOO fun! I love it Sarah!

    ReplyDelete
  19. PS I've given you an award on my blog :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I actually prefer the more feathery look when it spreads out! Good idea about the layering too, looks great

    ReplyDelete
  21. Am not sure I am loving this trend-but I do appreciate you tweeting me about the Canon-when I DO get a new one-would really appreciate some help with the settings-I'll let you know!

    ReplyDelete
  22. It's super cool what you did with the magnetic polish! I have to try that!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is so nice! I didnt know you could do something like this with a magnetic nail polish! I'm sure to try it. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  24. thanks for showing this! it's GORGEOUS!!!!!

    layering magnetic polish is my new favorite thing EVER!

    there are so many different combinations I want to try now! It does tend to work better if you use a shimmer/foil/glitter base color, though. for example, I tried to make a teal with silver effect by layering a gunmetal mag. over a teal cream polish- in the end you could see the iron particles too well (b/c they didn't blend into the bg color at all) and it just looked kinda dirty.

    ah well, live and learn! there are SO MANY polishes that would work beautifully for this though! unlimited possibilities await.... ya for layering! XD

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment! Please avoid link dropping and spamming. I reserve the right to remove any comments that I feel violate this policy.

© Chalkboard Nails | Phoenix, Arizona Nail Artist | All rights reserved.
Blog Design Handcrafted by pipdig