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Saturday, March 3, 2012

China Glaze Magnetix versus Flormar Magnetic Twist

Hello again! This is my second post for the day. Since it's Saturday and I have a lot more time than during the week, I thought I should do a little comparison for you. I'm comparing the widely known China Glaze magnetics to the new and less famous Flormar magnetics. Let's see what we're talking about. 

left: China Glaze Pull Me Close and China Glaze magnet; right: Flormar MG06 and Flormar magnet

The polish

The China Glaze Magnetix collection has 6 shades. Pull Me Close is a charcoal-blue with shimmer. The consistency of the polish is a little thick. It does cover pretty well with one coat but I wouldn't say that it's enough. After using the magnet, you can see the nail trough the lighter lines. My swatches are all with one coat. Application is ok despite the thick formula. It dries to a shiny finish (swatches are without top coat). 

The Flormar Magnetic Twist collection has 8 shades. MG06 is the blue one, also with a lot of shimmer. It's a lot more blue than the China Glaze. I would say that this is slightly more pigmented than the China Glaze one. It's also less thick and dries just as fast. The design showed up better on the Flormar nails, probably because I applied a thinner coat. With magnetics it is better to apply medium coats rather than thick ones because it will magnetize better.


I've done some skittles showing the two polishes and testing the different magnets on each. They are all 1 coat and no top coat. While they are both shiny, I think these both need top coat if you want to use them as a full mani.

The magnets

The China Glaze magnet is sold separately and has 3 designs (diagonal, chevron and star). The three magnets are placed on the U-shaped holder. They are flat and stiff. Each magnet has a little plastic ledge next to it which rests on the cuticle and helps you keep the magnet steady and not bump it on the nail. Because of its flatness I cannot get the design to show up on the sides of my curved nails. 


The Flormar magnet is sold together with the polish in a little box. There's only one design available (the diagonal lines). The magnet is made out of a bendable material and it's already curved. It is housed by a little plastic holder with a very unusual shape. I have no idea how this is supposed to be held because there is no ledge to rest on the cuticles. The picture in the instructions isn't very clear. I tried to hold it like in the picture (literally in the air) and I either bumped it on the nail or didn't get the design to show up at all. 

you can see it has polish from when I bumped it on the nail
So my first attempt with this magnet was a total failure. I even took a picture of the nails. I had to wipe those nails and start again. 

the index and ring finger are the fingers where I used the Flormar magnet
I then remember that I saw on a blog that somebody removed the little magnet from the plastic holder. It was very easy to slide out. Here's how it looks.


After this it all went on very smooth. It's easier to hold this over the nail because it's smaller and you can hold it by the edges. It's still not perfect but the design shows up pretty well. 


Because the magnet is curved, I was able to get the design to show up on the sides of my nail. This is the only reason why I like this magnet. Other than that, it's a pain in the behind to use. I also don't like the fact that it only has one design available. 

you can see here the lines go all the way to the cuticles on the nails where I used the Flormar magnet
As a conclusion I would say that these are both a great buy. The China Glaze Magnetix have great colors and the magnet is easy to use, the only disdvantage being its flatness. The Flormar Magnetic Twist also have a great formula, wide color range and the magnet works well in the end, although it's not easy to use at all. Of course the price of Flormar is cheaper (3.5$ for 11 ml of polish and the magnet), while China Glaze is pricier (from 5 to 10$ for 15 ml of polish and about the same price for the magnet).

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