Barry M Red Magnetic

Barry M recently jumped on the magnetic bandwagon. The cool thing about their magnetics is that the magnets come in different shapes, not just the standard wavy shape that most British magnetic nail varnishes seem to have. There are magnets with horizontal lines, diagonal lines, a wavy quilted effect, and a sort of star pattern.

This is the Red one, which comes with a diagonal line patterned magnet. The application is like other magnetic polishes - doing one nail at a time, paint the nail and immediately hold the detatchable cap over the nail. There is a little lip on the cap to stop the magnet from touching the nail. I actually did two coats - one on all nails, and then another one nail at a time, using the magnet.

The pattern develops fairly quickly, and changes the nice rich red to a strongly striped brighter red and dark reddish-black pattern. I really like this effect, I think it looks quite stylish. What ISN'T stylish are the dents in my fingers! I didn't notice them until afterwards, but they are the dents from the magnet lip! I must have been pressing a bit hard - plus my hands are feeling very dry and tired at the moment, so I don't think my skin is bouncing back very well. I'm getting old, haha!

17 Magnetized - Lilac

I liked the last 17 magnetic polish so much (see here) that I got another one. 

This is the dark purple version. It's called Lilac, I'm not sure why, as it really isn't lilac in the slightest. 

Application was good, exactly the same as the green version. This is two coats - one coat on all ten nails, left to dry, and then one nail at a time adding a second coat and holding the magnet above the nail.

This dried quite matte and a bit dull-looking, but once I added topcoat, the shine is gorgeous.

 

17 - Magnetized Nail Polish, Green

I don't have a good track record with magnetic nail varnish, so I wasn't holding out much hope for this. Around Christmas time I bought a (quite expensive) Nails Inc magnetic polish in a lovely gold colour. I think I expected it to look like a tiger's eye stone. But it was awful, and not only did NOTHING happen with the magnet, no effect whatsoever, but the polish by itself was also really ugly and rough and unpleasant. It was so bad that I took it back to Boots and got my money back. Nails Inc never did reply to my email asking about it... 

Anyway, this is my very first 17 nail varnish. This is the Boots own brand, and I had quite a bit of their makeup when I was in my teens (way back in the dark ages!) I did want to give magnetic polish another go, and there was no way I was giving any more money to Nails Inc for one.

This is 17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Green. They also sell a silvery grey one, and a dark blue one, both of which look ok, but green is far more my thing. I would really like a dark burgundy red one! This was £5.99, significantly cheaper than the Nails Inc equivalent.


You apply the polish as normal, then immediately hold the lid, containing a magnet, over the nail. The polish dries very quickly, so this has to be done pretty quickly, or it's too late! I found that one coat had a pretty good effect, but that two coats was far better, with a far more defined difference between the two colours.  I did one normal coat which I allowed to dry, then did one nail at a time with the magnet. The initial colour is a greyish green with some shimmer to it, but the magnet turns it into curves of black and brighter green.

I love how it looks in the sunshine! 

(It's nice to have sunshine for once!)