The cat eye look is a very recent one. It only became popular in the late 2010’s. It is actually supposed to resemble the cat eye gemstone more than an actual cat’s eye.
However, you can make it resemble either one. Just pull your second color into a wide circular shape to look like an actual cat’s eye. This one can be a little tricky at first but once you get the hang of it, the sky’s the limit.
It involves a special apply-and-cure process. First, the base coat and then the first coat of the solid color is applied. The base coat should preferably be a dark one, such as black, navy blue or blue violet. Cure with a UV LED lamp in the 30’s range.
Then your cat’s eye should be a bright color such as gold, a tint of purple, blue, etc. Once the cat’s eye coat is applied, the magnetic pen is then applied to make the cat’s eye shape.
Again, you can make it vertical or round. Once you apply the top coat, go ahead and use your UV lamp to cure in the 60’s range for about 30 seconds. The cat’s eye can’t be done with traditional polish. It’s called magnetic nail polish because it reacts to the magnetic pull of the pen.
The catch is that you have to use the pen while it’s still wet. Magnetic nail polish has iron particles in it, which the pen pulls on.
Please check out some of my catty ideas below!