China Glaze Magnetix versus Flormar Magnetic Twist

Hello again! This is my second post for the day. Since it's Saturday and I have a lot more time than during the week, I thought I should do a little comparison for you. I'm comparing the widely known China Glaze magnetics to the new and less famous Flormar magnetics. Let's see what we're talking about. 

left: China Glaze Pull Me Close and China Glaze magnet; right: Flormar MG06 and Flormar magnet

The polish

The China Glaze Magnetix collection has 6 shades. Pull Me Close is a charcoal-blue with shimmer. The consistency of the polish is a little thick. It does cover pretty well with one coat but I wouldn't say that it's enough. After using the magnet, you can see the nail trough the lighter lines. My swatches are all with one coat. Application is ok despite the thick formula. It dries to a shiny finish (swatches are without top coat). 

The Flormar Magnetic Twist collection has 8 shades. MG06 is the blue one, also with a lot of shimmer. It's a lot more blue than the China Glaze. I would say that this is slightly more pigmented than the China Glaze one. It's also less thick and dries just as fast. The design showed up better on the Flormar nails, probably because I applied a thinner coat. With magnetics it is better to apply medium coats rather than thick ones because it will magnetize better.

I've done some skittles showing the two polishes and testing the different magnets on each. They are all 1 coat and no top coat. While they are both shiny, I think these both need top coat if you want to use them as a full mani.

The magnets

The China Glaze magnet is sold separately and has 3 designs (diagonal, chevron and star). The three magnets are placed on the U-shaped holder. They are flat and stiff. Each magnet has a little plastic ledge next to it which rests on the cuticle and helps you keep the magnet steady and not bump it on the nail. Because of its flatness I cannot get the design to show up on the sides of my curved nails. 

The Flormar magnet is sold together with the polish in a little box. There's only one design available (the diagonal lines). The magnet is made out of a bendable material and it's already curved. It is housed by a little plastic holder with a very unusual shape. I have no idea how this is supposed to be held because there is no ledge to rest on the cuticles. The picture in the instructions isn't very clear. I tried to hold it like in the picture (literally in the air) and I either bumped it on the nail or didn't get the design to show up at all. 

you can see it has polish from when I bumped it on the nail

So my first attempt with this magnet was a total failure. I even took a picture of the nails. I had to wipe those nails and start again. 

the index and ring finger are the fingers where I used the Flormar magnet

I then remember that I saw on a blog that somebody removed the little magnet from the plastic holder. It was very easy to slide out. Here's how it looks.

After this it all went on very smooth. It's easier to hold this over the nail because it's smaller and you can hold it by the edges. It's still not perfect but the design shows up pretty well. 

Because the magnet is curved, I was able to get the design to show up on the sides of my nail. This is the only reason why I like this magnet. Other than that, it's a pain in the behind to use. I also don't like the fact that it only has one design available. 

you can see here the lines go all the way to the cuticles on the nails where I used the Flormar magnet

As a conclusion I would say that these are both a great buy. The China Glaze Magnetix have great colors and the magnet is easy to use, the only disdvantage being its flatness. The Flormar Magnetic Twist also have a great formula, wide color range and the magnet works well in the end, although it's not easy to use at all. Of course the price of Flormar is cheaper (3.5$ for 11 ml of polish and the magnet), while China Glaze is pricier (from 5 to 10$ for 15 ml of polish and about the same price for the magnet).

China Glaze Magnetix Drawn To You

Hello dears! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. My throat is a little sore and my nose is starting to misbehave so it's not such a fun day for me. On the plus side it's sunny (after a rainy day yesterday) and the snow leftovers are melting! I want to show you one of the China Glaze Magnetix in detail today, but I'll keep it pretty short. I have another post coming with a comparison between the China Glaze and the Flormar magnetics. Hopefully I'll have time to write it and get it up by the end of today. 

China Glaze Drawn To You indoors, artificial light

Drawn To You is the light purple polish from the Magnetix collection (you can see skittles of the ones I have in this post). It's the only one I wore so far as a full mani. I chose this because unexpectedly it was my favorite when I first swatched them. I was expecting for the blue-charcoal one to be my favorite but instead it was this. I used the diagonal lines magnet as you can see. The first photo is in my light box and the next ones are in the sun. Although the color varies a lot in these pictures I have to say they are all somewhat accurate. This polish looks different depending on the light. 

China Glaze Drawn To You in the sun

What made me love this a lot was the tiny pink-ish shimmer it has. This can be visible in the sun or in bright light. I've tried to capture it in the next photo. 

You are welcome to click it and make it bigger! I also like this a lot because the contrast between the lines is very evident and gives a nice effect to the nails when you look at them from a distance. Being a magnetic the polish is very pigmented and pretty thick but easy to apply. I'm pretty sure I've used 2 coats for this mani, just because I'm not able to apply the first coat nicely. It dries fast and to a shine.  I still added top coat to give it a glass-like finish. 

I think the pink shimmer is pretty evident in this macro shot. As stated previously, my only complain with these is the flat magnet, which makes it impossible for me to get the design to show up on the sides of my fingers. I tried moving the magnet around but besides bumping the polish on the magnet occasionally, that didn't work because the polish dries too fast. I will show you the curved Flormar magnet in my next post. Stay tuned! 

China Glaze Magnetix - first look

Hello my lovelies! Today I want to talk to you about magnetic nail polish. I'm sure most of you have heard of it already and seen a lot of swatches. Some of you have also tried it. But for those that don't know about it, it's a type of nail polish with magnetic particles in it. By placing a magnet with a certain pattern over your nail, the particles gather to form a beautiful, effortless design. It's the most accessible form of nail art in my opinion, because it doesn't require any special skills. It also looks great and the metallic finish of these polishes is really edgy. I'm really glad that this trend is getting popular because famous brands are jumping on the magnetic bandwagon more and more. This means it becomes accessible to a lot of people. The China Glaze Magnetix collection is the first collection I had access to in terms of magnetic polish. I was so excited to finally be able to order these! 

L-R: China Glaze Magnetix Instant Chemistry, Drawn To You, Pull Me Close, Cling On

The collection has 6 shades but I only got the 4 above. The other ones Attraction (silver) and You Move Me (brown) didn't seem that unusual to me. I almost didn't get the purple one either, but I'm glad I did now because it ended up being one of my favorites. 

Unlike other brands, China Glaze has only one magnet that has to be purchased separately. If you have magnets from other brands you can use those and not purchase this one at all. What I do love about it is that it has 3 designs: diagonal lines, chevron and star. This way you only need to purchase the magnet once and get 3 designs that can be used with all the magnetic polishes you have. 

Here are the 3 magnets with the different designs on the U-shaped holder. Each magnet has a little plastic ledge that rests on your cuticle, making it easier to hold the magnet over the nail without touching it. What I don't like about these magnets is the fact that they are flat. My nails are very curved and the sides are not close enough to the magnet, so the design only shows up on the middle part of the nail. I have not found a solution for this problem yet, but I'm still practicing. 

These are my first attempts using the Magnetix. It's the first time I use magnetic polishes in my life, so the results are less than perfect. I do think they turned out pretty well though. The polishes are: 

• index - Cling On with chevron pattern - a green that needs at least two coats to be opaque
• middle finger - Drawn To You with diagonal lines - a gorgeous purple that could be opaque in one coat
• ring finger - Instant Chemistry with star - maroon/dark purple, the most opaque of the bunch (one coat) 
• pinkie - Pull Me Close with chevron pattern- silver/blue that could be opaque in one coat

China Glaze claims that these require only one coat, but you have seen above that it can vary a lot. Instant Chemistry is the only one opaque enough to be a one-coater. With the others it depends on the thickness of your coats (except for Cling On that needs at least two coats). I held the magnet for about 15 seconds over each nail. I don't have other magnets, but I've read on other blogs that these magnets are not as strong as others. I'm waiting for magnetic polishes to show up on the local market and then I'm gonna do a comparison. I'm also going to swatch these separately and do a different post on each. What's your take on magnetics? Have you tried them and if so, is it love or hate?