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    Infuriating bubbles!!!


    More magnetic experimenting. (Sorry for weird lighting- it’s late and my house is poorly lit.)

    I feel like I’m getting closer to a nice glass bead look. My thumb here is about as perfect as I can honestly expect. But the rest of my fingers have these INFURIATING bubbles that ruin what would otherwise be a very satisfying mani.

    The process and products:

    1.) Seche Clear base coat on all fingers. Let it dry.

    2.) Cracked matte top coat on all fingers. Let it dry. (I read somewhere on here this helps with streaks?? Idk if accurate or necessary.)

    3.) 2 coats BKL Give Me My Agony on all fingers, unmagnetized.

    4.) One finger at a time: DRK Magic Effect, then swipe with neodymium bar magnet, then 5D spinner (size L base even though my fingers fit in S) for 90-120 seconds. Let dry for a couple of minutes. Next finger.

    5.) DRK Seal Glaze, magnetized 30 seconds (idk if necessary or even helpful to magnetize this, did it anyway). Let dry at least 30 min.

    6.) Sally Hansen insta-dri top coat, red bottle. Not magnetized.

    Bubbles appeared BEFORE the Sally Hansen in step 6, so it’s not that.

    A few nails are a little streaky, but I would otherwise be in love with this if it wasn’t for the STUPID BUBBLES.

    Is it the Seal Glaze? Can I thin it? Do I need to use a special thinner? Am I just applying it too thick in my effort to float it on? How do I fix this?!

    Or is it the Magic Effect? What do I do?! 😭

    At least my thumb is pretty. 🥲



    by loudoutdoors

    View 7 Comments

    7 Comments

    5. SalaciousBookWyrm on

      Following this because I’ve had bubbles every darn time I’ve used either drk product which is so frustrating because I love the results otherwise.

    6. doilysocks on

      I have this polish and use a lot of BKL’s magnetics: while I don’t know if this is specific advice, my usual process is a thin coat of polish, magnetize it, then I do another coat and float it like you would a top coat, magnetize it, a second coat applied similarly if I feel like the color needs to be built up a bit more, then use a QDTC that’s usually been thinned out ( I use the I’m Fast, Very Fast from BKL as well) and magnetize that. I only occasionally get bubbles and it’s always when I use a top coat that’s not thin enough and that I don’t float enough. My general approach is to not let the coats dry too much inbetween, but they also can’t be too tacky? it’s a delicate balance for sure but I find the floating technique really helps to not pull the polish in a way that makes bubbles, that way they tend to rewet better and be more cohesive. YMMV as always but this had worked for me.

    7. renomegan86 on

      In my limited experience I don’t think it’s the Magic Effect – I did mine today and do not have bubbles, and didn’t have them the last time I used it either.

      ETA: I used Orly bonder base, two coats of the Penelope Luz Vampire’s Blood (PPU), magic effect one by one and magnetized for about 30 seconds. One coat Cuticula QDTC.

      *this nail polish is supposed to change colors when you put top coat over it and go from dusty pinky to a deeper red, and the Magic Effect blocked that. It also picked up some color during application which I wasn’t a fan of.*

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