Magnetic Spiral Tutorial!

Here is a video where I narrate through some of my process and attempts with different polishes.

Products used:

I bought this magnet set and I used the first two magnet wands shown in the photo: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DY19VGV4?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_mob_b_fed_asin_title_2_2

The polish I'm using in the tutorial is Wayward Spirits from BKL

Clear Elmer's glue

Essie Gel Couture top coat

Key points:

1. I've only gotten this to work with fine magnetic particle polishes. That means that the magnetic particles cannot be too chunky as they will move too slow to achieve this effect. You want to look for polishes that look super silky when magnetized, that's a good indication that the particles are fine enough. BKL magnetics worked the best for me, just keep in mind that not all of their magnetics have fine particles.
2. Try using both wands. When I magnetized Wise Witch Winter, I only used the black wand as this is a thicker polish due to the reflective glitter in it's base. Wayward Spirits is more reactive, so I used the weaker pink magnet wand to initially magnetize, and then went in with the black wand to refine the design.
3. I did not find it necessary to draw the magnet particles to the surface before drawing the spiral. This just slowed down the process for me and this is a bit of a race against time since we're not working with gel.
4. You'll want coats of polish that are thick enough that they don't dry down too fast, but not too thick that they take forever to dry or dry down unevenly.
5. One of things that was giving me the most trouble was adding the top coat. These magnetics are pretty reactive, so when I went in to remagnitized sometimes I'd push the particles too far away and the design would blow out. Even when I remagnitized the design well, after several minutes it would usually disperse more than I would like. I experimented with different top coats and waiting to apply top coat until the next day (this worked okay), but what I decided to try today was applying a layer of clear Elmer's glue before applying top coat. A water based topcoat should also work. It won't reactivate the polish under it, although this does mean it won't adhere to the polish as well. Try not to apply the glue to the tips or edges of your nail — this will help keep it from peeling off once you add your top coat.

Here are some videos I was inspired by. Keep in mind the polishes shown are gel.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ42770hO2F/?igsh=cXloMXBucHJ5ZmNm

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT-fIhQEuLj/?igsh=eGE5ZG1waWZmamFi

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIyny7CsMFD/?igsh=OTJtMjJkdHBianNp

Please let me know if you have any questions, and be sure to share pics of you give it a try!