I have a colleague who always wears fun nail varnishes and effects and one day was wearing a magnetised nail varnish. The one she was using was from Nails Inc but as they cost around £11, I thought that was a bit pricey for a nail varnish. I then discovered that Boots did a similar one in their own 17 range so decided to purchase that one instead.

---About the range:
Boots 17 range is a low-cost, mid-range product set that includes a good range of beauty products including nails, lips and eyes. They have on-trend colours and products and produce new mini-ranges within the 17 name. I have used several of their nail varnishes in the past and have been pleased with the results.

---About the product:
The 17 magnetised nail varnish comes in only 4 colours: Gun Metal, Lilac, Blue and Teal. When I went to purchase this product, they were obviously really popular because they only had the blue left. I was happy to purchase that though as I love bright colours, except red!

This product at first doesn't look much different from any other bottle of nail varnish. It comes in a 10ml bottle but has a second lid over the normal one which has wavy lines on the side of it and a flat magnet on the top. It also has a small lip on the top of it which is used to keep the magnet off the nail when you are using it. The bottle has the 17 logo on it and tells you it is magnetised nail varnish. The nail varnish contains very fine indistinguishable metal filings which when used in conjunction with the magnet make wavy patterns appear on the nail in a light and dark pattern. The blue one that I bought is actually a very dark blue that produces light and dark waves with the magnet.

---Applying the product:
There are many different ways of applying this product, but I have found the best way is to do two coats. I apply the first coat to all nails and wait for it to dry a bit before applying the second coat. I then do each nail individually. After each nail, I use the magnet to add the effect. You have to use the magnet quite quickly as the polish begins to dry within about 20 seconds and you won't be able to do the effect after this point. The way to use the magnet is to hold the magnet over the nail using the small lip on the lid of the bottle to put on your skin at the base of the nail to keep the magnet raised off your nail. You leave is for about 5 seconds and when you take it off a pattern is revealed. You can turn the magnet to hold at a different position over the nail to give different designs. I then applied a clear top coat to prevent it from chipping as fast.

---My experiences:
I love the effect this nail varnish gives and have been very pleased with the number of compliments I received when I wore this. It gives quite a subtle effect when viewed from a distance, but when viewed from closer, it has a striking effect. The nail varnish was easy to apply and dried quite quickly once I had finished. Using the magnet was a lot easier than expected and produced a great result. I did find it hard to hold the magnet at the correct distance and did end up touching it to my nail a couple of times, but I was still able to achieve a good look.

I generally find nail varnishes don't last very long on me and this one was not much different. I tried adding a top coat each evening but I still found it started chipping after two days on. I did manage to touch it up slightly for a day but I had to remove the varnish after three days as it was looking quite bad. This wasn't much different than other varnishes so I wasn't too bothered by this. It was easy to remove as well and didn't leave too much extra varnish on the nails.

---And finally:
Although this didn't have too much staying power on my nails, I will still be trying to buy some of the other colours as I love the effect it produces. I will also try using a base coat next time to see if that helps it to stay longer. At £5.99 each, it is quite a reasonable price and I am happy to pay that for such a beautiful effect. I got a lot of comments about it and have since recommended this product to others. I would definitely recommend this product if you want your nails to look a little different from all the rest!