review | Craftynail

I spotted this scented polish at Forever 21 clothing store and I just couldn’t resist! I’ve always wondered how smelly these polishes really are! I assumed they’d be disappointing for some reason… so I went for the glitziest color on the display. If it doesn’t smell good- well at least it looks good, right? I decided on Love & Beauty by Forever 21 Scented Nail Polish in Raspberry.

My first instinct was to open the bottle and take a big whiff. 😀 Uhhh… so where’s the yummy raspberry scent? Instead it smelled like chemicals and alcohol (well, I guess for some people that might smell good. LOL)! As it turns out, the raspberry aroma doesn’t pop up until the polish is drying. I applied one coat and within a minute or so I could smell the fake fruity smell. I immediately recognized it and it didn’t take long for me to make the connection. This polish smells just like the magenta Mr. Sketch scented markers from the 80’s! Ahhhh… I feel like a kid again! 😀

I like the surprise retro scent of this polish… but the formula is just plain weird! It forms a thin and rubbery layer over your nail that’s very susceptible to bumps and gouges. I lightly banged my hands a couple times and it really messed up my paint job! It took forever to dry and then I had to go for a third coat to fix the dents and cover some bald spots. With three coats there’s no way that the polish would set before bedtime. So to cut down on dry-time I had to go over it with a topcoat of Seche Vite. I figured the clear coat would totally mask the scent… but surprisingly, I can still smell the Mr. Sketch markers a little bit! Yippee. I can’t wait to sniff my nails all day at work.

<Warning! Felines do not like this scent.>

I have been eyeing this magentic polish in Rite Aid for about a month now! I already have a few magnetic polishes in my stash, but this snakeskin effect is way different than anything I own. Yesterday the display was really picked through so I finally broke down and bought a bottle before I missed my chance! This gorgeous green shade is called Force Field. I totally messed up the first mani I did… so here’s some tips that I learned:

apply a basecoat and then one thin coat of the magnetic polish
wait for that first coat of color to dry
apply a healthy second coat and place the magnet over the nail
the magnet may not reach all areas of your nail, but DO NOT rotate your finger from side to side to get better magnetic coverage- this will just mess up the crispness of the design
wait for the magnetized second coat to dry before putting a topcoat on or else you’ll ruin the cool snakeskin effect

The manufacturers website says that the Sinfully Magnetic Snakeskin collection is available exclusively at Rite Aid. I picked up my bottle for $4.99. I bet the magnet that came with it will work awesome with other brands of magnetic polish too (some of the other magnets I own are puny and don’t even cover the length of your nail). Plus, this one has a nailguard to prevent you from accidentally smushing your wet nail into the magnet.

I give this polish 5 stars 🙂 Here’s a close-up…