Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color

Today I'd like to share my swatches of and thoughts on Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color.  If you are unfamiliar with the concept, magnetic polishes are somehow formulated (don't ask me how, I don't know the science behind it) to work in conjunction with magnets to make patterns on your nails.  I have three colors to share with you, *Ionic Indigo, *Electric Emerald and *Red-y Response.  Let me begin with the pics:

From thumb to pinky, two coats of Ionic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response, Ionic Indigo, Electric Emerald, shot outdoors, no flash.

Shot indoors, with flash.

The bottles: Ionic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response.  The outer caps feature a wave design, representing the pattern the magnets make on your nails.

An overhead shot of the bottle, showing the removable outer cap, which contains the magnet.  The little lip you can see along the bottom side of the magnet rises vertically from the cap and acts as a guide to keep the magnet close to your wet nails without touching them.  

Here are the directions from the bottle:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/30/4525461/introducing-magnetic-nail-color.html#storylink

Step 1 – Apply 1 coat of base coat. Shake Magnetic Nail Color to activate. Remove overcap with magnet and set aside. Apply 1 coat of Magnetic Nail Color to all 10 nails and let dry.
Step 2 – Apply a thick second coat of color to 1 nail and immediately hold the built-in magnet over the nail. Rest the guide just below the cuticle without touching the wet nail polish. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat for all 10 nails and let dry. Finish with a top coat.

I chose to skip the base coat, just for time's sake, and went directly to the one coat of Magnetic Nail Color. It went on really smoothly and dried relatively quickly and, honestly, could be worn without even utilizing its magnetic qualities as a very pretty polish.  But, of course, the magnetic qualities are what make them extra special.  I followed the directions to the letter, applying a much thicker coat than I typically would with ordinary polish, then held the magnet as close to my nail as I could without touching the polish (I'll admit, I goofed a few times on my right hand and had to re-do them when the magnet touched the polish.)  I also left the magnet there for more like 12 - 14 seconds, just to be on the safe side.  Unfortunately, because the cap and magnet covered my entire nail, I couldn't actually watch the magic happen.  But, when I moved the lid away from my nail and saw the end result, I was quite impressed.  Not only did it make a fun wavy pattern on my nail but the "waves" looked significantly darker than the rest of the polish.  I was afraid the effect would be super-subtle and difficult to see but it wasn't at all.  My husband was SUPER impressed and he is getting a bit jaded by my polish obsession, though he's still really supportive, bless his little heart.  I found that I had varying success with each nail in terms of how distinct the pattern appeared.  I suspect that tinkering with the time I hold the magnet there and how close the magnet gets to each nail would account for that, not to mention the size and shape of each particular nail.  Overall, however, I am really happy with how these polishes worked for me and I'm looking forward to trying them at different angles to try to get vertical and diagonal patterns next time.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on these polishes in particular and the magnetic polish trend in general.  Thanks for reading!

xoxo,
K

*Disclosure: Where indicated by an asterisk, the product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for review. Please click my disclosure tab for further information.