Nails Inc Houses of Parliament

2011 was the year of the crackle polish. For 2012, it looks like there are two trends that might spread like the crackle “virus”. One is flakie polish. The other, magnetic polish. Already, China Glaze has announced a whole magnetic polish collection for this year.

Magnetic polish tends to be pricey. Some brands sell the magnets separately from the polish and charge high prices for both. I was reluctant to spend on that. Nails Inc, however, packages them together at a relatively reasonable price, so I bought one of their current three colours – Houses of Parliament – to try.

Nails Inc Houses of Parliament is a smoky red-toned purple.

Nails Inc Houses of Parliament

The magnet is found at the top of an outer cap, which is removable, so it’s separate from the cap holding the brush. There is a small protruding part on one end, which you are suppose to rest on your cuticle to ensure that the magnet is held close enough to the nail without touching the polish.

Nails Inc Houses of Parliament

Instructions on application are found under the sticker around the cap. Basically, start by applying one coat of the polish to all nails first and let them dry. Next, apply a thickish coat to one nail and immediately hold the magnet over it for about 10 seconds. This is to be done one nail at a time.

The magnetic pattern of Houses of Parliament is a crescent shape. On the middle nail, I rotated the magnet around to get an “upside-down” pattern.

Nails Inc Houses of Parliament

This was my first time using a magnetic polish so I was anxious about following the instructions exactly. As such, I was not as careful in applying this metallic polish. You can see that the streaks on the ring finger are wavy rather than straight. Small matter. It was quite fun to see the pattern appearing just after seconds.

Nails Inc Houses of Parliament

I had a short discussion with Eugenia of Ommorphia Beauty Bar regarding magnetic polish after I read her post on Trafalgar Square, another Nails Inc magnetic polish. According to her, the first coat need not be the magnetic polish and could be a regular polish in a matching colour. I have yet to try that for myself though.

Have you tried any magnetic polish yet? Any tips and experience to share, if you have?

Tweet