Boots 17 Magnetized Polish

I'm not a fan of this metallic nail polish trend. I just don't like the finish of metallic polishes, it feels a bit childish and cheap to me - this  Boots 17 magnetized polish, however, is one aspect of this trend that I can fully get on board with, I LOVE IT. Maybe I'm just a sucker for novelty (I love my Del Sol colour changers for example), but I really love how the effect looks! It's like crazy robot fingers, they look so 3D! Like the recent crackle trend, this technique is maximum nail art effect, with minimum effort.

Magnetized polish works by formulating the lacquer with iron particles, and by holding a magnet with a pattern polarized into it over the nail, the iron particles become attracted to the patterned magnet, and the design appears in the polish. It's pretty innovative and scientific! Don't let anyone tell you the beauty industry is dumb haha!

17 are not the first company to bring these out, LCN, Fashionista and Essence both have a magnetized polish range, and in the UK, Nails Inc have bought some out too. Nails Inc magnetic polish retails for £13.00, however, and my 17 version cost me £4.99 and they literally look exactly the same. (I also bought the blue one, and 17 are giving away a free gift with 2 products bought - WINNER. Any way to justify my addiction).

Here is the finished look. Definitely took me a bit of practice, but I nailed it after a couple of tries! (Pun intended, haha):

The polish comes with the patterned magnet slotted on top of the polish handle, and it just lifts off:

This is what the polish looks like when un-magnetized (this is an option, don't forget! You can still just use it as a gunmetal, metallic polish! 2 for the price of 1!). It's a shimmery, gunmetal silver that is actually very pretty, and bang on trend. I took this photo with flash so you can see how sparkly it is, as well as how amazingly 3-dimensional the magnetized nails look:

The magnet has to be held over the polish while it's wet, and the best way to get the most pronounced effect, that I found, was to apply a thick layer and immediately place the magnet over the top as quickly as possible. The wetter the polish, the more defined the effect will be. The magnet has a little lip on one side, so you can rest it on your finger while you magnetize. It takes 5 seconds, maximum, to create the pattern :

And voila!:

I also bought the blue one, but I couldn't get it to work as well. I need to keep experimenting I think! I'm not sure these polishes are in every single boots, the advantage of living in Nottingham (where Boots originates from) is that they usually stock absolutely everything. You can, however, buy them online very easily. I really want to try out some different magnet patterns, I know LCN did a starburst one - now THAT would look awesome. Has anyone tried these magnetic polishes from 17? How do they compare to Nails Inc or Fashionista? I absolutely love them, and am so glad I bought 2 different colours!

On a side note, the voting for Cosmopolitan's Blog Awards is now closed, thank you to every single one of you who both nominated and voted for me, I really appreciate it! I'm up against some incredible, incredible blogs with thousands of subscribers, so don't get too excited haha. It is a great achievement for me just to be nominated, and never imagined this little blog would come so far. (This is starting to sound like an acceptance speech!) The reveal party is next week, cross your fiercely manicured fingers for me!


xxxxx