we’ve been hearing a buzz building about magnetic nail polish for a little while now, and last week a pretty little parcel from barry m arrived on our doorstep to test out. exciting! behold the magical magnetic manicure…

the barry m magnetic nail paint comes in four colours – black, burgundy, blue and violet, with a different magnet pattern on each bottle.

i tried out the black, which creates silver wiggles on your manicure.

once you get the hang of it, creating this look is really easy. paint on a layer of the nail polish, and allow to dry. for your second coat, work quickly – paint on the polish, then immediately hover the magnet over your nail.

now, it took me a few tries before i realised that the handy little ridge on the bottle top is actually a guide for you to lean against your finger, allowing the magnet to get as close as possible to the nail without touching it.

i had been hovering it about two centimetres too high (see photo below) and wondering why i was seeing no results. it needs to be mere millimeters away.

if you carefully touch the ridge on the bottle cap to your finger just above the nail bed and hold for five seconds, your wavy pattern appears – as if by magic! all swirly and pearly, it’s easy nail art that looks like it took ages to achieve.

another tip – i found it easier to leave the removable magnet bottle top attached to the brush so i could quickly flip it around to hover, rather than placing one down and picking up the other.

i can’t wait to try out the other colours and designs. for uk residents, the barry m magnetic nail paint is available from boots or here for £4.99. for overseas, other brands that have released magnetic products are nails inc and layla. have fun creating magic!