Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish

Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish. 2 coats and topcoat. Ring finger magnet
by China Glaze. All other finger magnets by Nabi.

When I first read about magnetic nail polish, I didn't believe it could do what it said it could do. It was one of the weirdest things I'd heard about. I decided I wanted to try it for myself but at the time there was only one brand that offered magnetics and that was Sephora, 18 dollars a bottle and available in 3 colors. Grey, Dark Grey and Light Grey. I'm not dropping that kind of money on polish I didn't think would work and was in boring colors.

Then one day it happened.



Back in April, I was trolling my local Walgreen's and stumbled across Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish. Under 5 bucks a bottle and available in more than 30 colors! I was in love! I bought one bottle right there and rushed to play with it. I actually slapped it on right there in the car before heading to work. And oh my god, it actually worked!! Off to work I went on a nail polish high (though that might had less to do with finding new polish and more to do with paint fumes in the car. Seriously kids, don't paint your nails in the car. Unless you are over excited and just can't wait.)

1 coat Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish. No base coat, no top coat
Done in the car on my way to work :)

The next day I skipped off to Walgreen's intent to buy more and tragedy had struck. There were none. In about 24 hours Walgreen's had pulled them from the shelves. I asked if they had been recalled and looked pointedly at my nails. Should I be concerned? The cashier said it was nothing to worry about and that they were introducing a larger fixture. I'm sorry, but that sounded like Bull. To this day I don't know why they were pulled but 2 months later they started carrying Sally Hansen Magnetic Polish. I wonder if it was a competing brand thing or contract thing with Sally Hansen. Crushed I went home.

Well I'm happy to report that this story does have a happy ending. Walking about my local Jewel-Osco grocery store last September, I spied a familiar fixture. It was Nabi! The fixture was kinda beat up and they didn't have all the colors I remembered, but there it was. Under 5 bucks still.

Nabi Magnetic Nail Polish

I've amassed a bit of a collection, and Nabi is no longer the only magnetic polish out there. China Glaze released their Magnetix and Magnetix II collection (the second one is better than the first in my opinion  but look into the magnet that came with each set. The magnet was the best thing in both collections) and Wet n Wild even has a collection. I'm sure there's more but that's what I've seen with my own eyes.

By now, if you've never heard of magnetic polish your thinking "OK, so what is the deal with it?" Well I'll tell you how it works. Suspended in the polish is a metal powder that aligns itself with magnets. Weird, right?

Optional-but-encouraged Step One: Paint your nail with a thin coat. This helps prevent possible bald spots after step three.

Step Two: Paint a thicker coat on one nail. I strongly recommend one nail at a time as you have to work while the paint is wet.

Step Three: Built into the cap of Nabi and most magnetic polishes is a magnet (China Glaze had a magnet sold separately) Hold this magnet over the wet polish as close as you can with out touching the wet polish. I prefer to hold it there for a while and blow into the little gap to get the polish to set up faster. The metal powder will flow into a pattern and the polish will dry holding it in that pattern. Nabi dries pretty fast so you don't have to hold the magnet all that long. A note for China Glaze users however, China Glaze dries slower so if you move the magnet away too soon and the polish is still wet, the design from the magnet can flow back into nothingness.

And there you go. Easy nail art. Top coat it to bring out the cat's eye like effect and you're good to go!

Magnets on the top of the bottles

If you are familiar with magnetic polish it should be mentioned that there are 3 different types of magnet from Nabi, lines, diagonal lines and chevrons. And there is no nail rest so be careful you don't bump your wet nail with the magnet.

And a Special Bonus Picture for today. Someone decided he wanted to help me take pictures. Actually I think he was somewhat irritated I used His window to photograph my bottles.

This is Draven helping me to arrange bottles for a photo shoot.