A girl and her love of nail polish

Posts tagged ‘Magnetic’

30 Day Challenge Day 8 – Metallic: Layla Magneffect Purple Galaxy

It’s metallic day in the 30 Day Challenge, so today I’m showing you Layla Magneffect magnetic nail polish in Purple Galaxy. This was my first time using it, so it fits the bill for 30 Days of Untrieds too.

Layla Magneffect Purple Galaxy

I picked this up with my Ulta Rewards last month had have been anxious to compare it to Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color, which I recently tried.

I used one coat of Loreal Jet-Set in Nightlife as a base to reduce the amount of the Layla Magneffect I would need to use (at $15.50 a bottle, it’s not cheap). Loreal Nightlife is a grape purple shimmer polish that’s similar in shade to Purple Galaxy.

Next I applied a thick coat of Layla Magneffect Purple Galaxy to one nail and held the magnet as close to the nail as possible for about 10 seconds. The directions say to do it for 5 seconds, but just wanted to be on the safe side. I finished it with one coat of Poshe fast-dry top coat.

Layla Magneffect Purple Galaxy

The magnet is attached to the top of the the brush handle so you just turn it upside down to use. The magnet creates a straight line pattern,and there’s a line across the magnet to show you the direction of the pattern. So if you want vertical lines instead of horizontal or you want them at a diagonal across your nails, just turn the magnet accordingly before you use it.

Layla Magneffect Purple Galaxy

The polish went on very smoothly, but I did have a little trouble with the magnet. On one nail the pattern didn’t show very well the first time, so I did another coat and tried again. Turned out better the second time.

The magnet wasn’t able to cover my full thumb; perhaps the curvature was too much but the pattern just didn’t show up on one side of my nail, even after I tried it a second time. Next time I’ll try rotating my nail as it’s under the magnet to see if that helps.

Layla Magneffect Purple Galaxy

I do like this polish quite a bit; the color is deep and rich, very eye-catching. I’d be curious to try it with different magnet patterns. I thought this one was a little harder to use than the magnet that comes with Sally Hansen Magnetics. Sally Hansen includes the magnet as part of a separate cap that goes over the top of the bottle, so it’s not attached to the brush. I like that better: no worries that the polish will run or drip down the brush as you turn it over to get to the magnet. Sally Hansen also has added a small lip to the magnet cap that rests against your finger and acts as a guide. It makes it easier to hold the magnet steady and shows you how far away to hold it for best results.

What’s your take on magnetic polish? Have you found one that’s easy to use?

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30-Day Challenge, Swatches

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Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements

Today I’m showing you Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color in Silver Elements, my first foray into the world of magnetic nail polish.

I actually don’t own this one but was able to borrow it (sorry, no bottle shot!). We were at a family gathering in Rhode Island when all of the pre-teen/barely-teen cousins started an impromptu polish party on the front porch. I of course had to check it out to see what they were doing, and what they were doing was putting on this polish, which one of their moms had purchased for them.

This was the tail end of our gathering, and all of the menfolk were champing at the bit to go home, so this was a very quick application for me. Really I just wanted to see how it worked, and I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised.

The polish went on very easily and looked great on its own (like a silver foil). But then the magnet creates darker black holographic-ish waves, eye-catching but not too flashy.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements Magnetic Nail Polish

The magnet, which comes as a separate cap over the top of the bottle, has a small guide to help you line it up at the cuticle end and not hit the top of your nail. I found it very easy to use. My trick was to turn my finger so that I was basically pointing at myself; that let me see where to place the guide and how far it was from the top of my nail so that I could make sure it was level.

I followed the instructions on the bottle: put one coat on all of your nails, apply a thick second coat to one nail and then hold the magnet over it for 10 seconds. Move onto the next nail and repeat.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements magnetic nail polish

I happened to have a small stash of polish, including my Poshe topcoat, so this is two coats of Silver Elements plus one coat of Poshe. I got a little over-confident in Poshe’s drying ability — maybe not taking into account that it was a thick second coat — so I ended up dinging my index finger in the bathroom, which is why it’s not included in these photos. *sigh*

But all in all I really liked this polish. It’s an easy way of applying “nail art” without requiring too much time, energy or skill.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements magnetic nail polish

I recently used my Ulta Rewards to procure a bottle of Layla Magneffect, so we’ll see how that one goes. Right off the bat, the magnet on it looks like it will be harder to use than the Sally Hansen one, but who knows. Will show you what I end up with!

What magnetic polishes have you tried? Any favorites?

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