China Glaze Magnetix Collection Review and Swatches

China Glaze Magnetix Collection Review and Swatches

I got my hands on the entire Magnetix Collection today!  I was so thrilled that I got it and inspected the polishes and was quite please that even WITHOUT the magnet, these are all wearable colors.  The magnet itself was different than I expected.  I thought it would be 3 magnets that were separate but its actually one U shaped magnet with all 3 designs on it (the orange horseshoe in the picture, thats the top of the magnet under is each design, one on each end of the U shape and one down in the center).

I got home and started swatching.  My magnet box came with an insert with instructions and said to apply 1 coat of China Glaze Magnetix polish and then hold the magnet over it for 10-15 seconds.  Easy enough… well not as easy as I had hoped.  My nails are curved a lot in both directions.  From left to right there is a deepish curve and from cuticle to tip there is enough curve that the magnet was irritating me.  I finally got the hang of it, but the Arrow design (at the bottom of the “U” shape) would not come out right for me.  I thought it was the magnet so Nick, being the good sport that he is, tried it on his perfectly flat nails and got a PERFECT ARROW DESIGN.  So it was the shape of my nails that caused issues with that design.  Either I would get a nice arrow effect JUST in the center of my nail or I would get a wonky wavy C shape instead.  Also the smell of the polish is a little different than other polishes, but not so much that its disgusting.. just different.

I touched the magnet to my nail more times than I care to count.  If you watch your polish while holding the magnet, you can actually SEE a droplet of polish gravitate towards the magnet.  So half of those attempts I didn’t actually touch the magnet, my polish jumped out to give the magnet a hug.

For those of you new to Magnetic Polishes (I actually am still relatively new to them!) they are a a polish that has metallic particles in them that (while still wet) will react to the magnet and a pattern will appear.   If you wait too long for the polish to dry, the magnet will have no effect on the polish.

The smell of the polish is a little different than other polishes, but not so much that its disgusting.. just different.

Here are all 6 colors swatched from China Glaze Magnetix.  On each color I used the diagonal lines on my pointer finger, arrow design on my middle finger and the starburst on my ring finger.

You Move Me was probably one of my favorite of the bunch.  It reminds me of a Tiger Eye stone!  LOVE IT.  You Move Me came out as a nice medium golden brown with a lighter golden design.  This one scared me a bit because when I used the magnet over it, part of my nails looked bare!  But one I let it dry the polish spread out again and evened out.  Whew.

Cling On is a green metallic color with a lighter silvery green design.  The magnet designs on this one faded quick for me and I actually thought I screwed up until I put a top coat on but then they reappeared again!

Pull Me Close is a crytal blue metallic and this one was hard to photograph for me.  There is more blue in person and doesn’t look quite this silver.  Probably the hardest of the colors to work with in general.  The formula seemed runnier than the others (they all seem runnier than normal polishes though).

Attraction was a beauty!  This is a silver metallic and it went on dark and the magnet pulled up gorgeous medium silver.  The designs on this one (except the Arrow that hates me) showed up quick and flawlessly while applying.  Probably the quickest swatch I was able to do.

Instant Chemistry is another one of my favorites of this collection.  This is a gorgeous metallic berry color.  The designs aren’t as “stand out” on this one as they were on some of the others, but they were still noticeable.  The color without the magnets was amazing.  I will do a non magnetic mani using this color again.

Last but not least is Drawn to You.  Another one I loved from the collection.  This is a lilac metallic polish and another great color to wear without using the magnets.  This was another one that the design disappeared almost completely as it was drying and only reappeared after using a top coat!

Overall I am pleased with this set.  The colors are really nice and as I said earlier, very wearable even without using a magnet.  The arrow magnet was a huge thorn in my side, but I do think it is because of my nail shape more than anything.  I went through A LOT of nail polish remover while swatching these between a design not showing up right or the polish touching the magnet.

As I stated earlier all of these polishes seemed runnier than most China Glaze polish, but on the nail it didn’t pool up in the cuticle or anything.  I almost dripped on my work space a hundred times though!  The plastic part of the nail brush kept forming a drip (I caught 4 drips with my hand last night!).  The magnets do take a little practice as far as what distance to hold them, centering them and covering the whole nail (or at least 75% of it).  What is really frustrating is when you think you have it and all of a sudden you feel the magnet touch your nail… then you see your nail and besides the new smudge the design was PERFECT!  Ugh.

China Glaze Magnetix polish can be found at select beauty retailers and retails for $10.00 per bottle and $10.00 for the Magnet (contains 3 designs).  I purchased mine online for $4.08 per bottle and $4.08 for the magnets.

**I purchased the product in this review with my own money.  All opinions are my own.**