Customizing with Nail Polish...?

[ChocolateStarfire]

Hi all,

I was wondering...customizing with nail polish has been the "in thing" lately on YouTube. For years, I've had the notion that customizing with nail polish is a no-no, because the lacquer/varnish could affect the pony's plastic.

So...why is this a new thing?

I've found acrylic paint by Folk Art that has glitter or holographic glitter in it...so...why go for nail polish? Dollar for dollar, acrylics last a lot longer and I find them very durable, even without sealant.

Is nail polish as bad as I once thought? Is it ok to customize with it?

Thoughts??

[cannibalism]

i have noticed lots of people on youtube customizing with nail polish. I think the point is that nail polish is much cheaper than paint, and most kids' parents have nail polish laying around the house, or might even have some themselves, and so can customize with it. The people who are using it on video might not know its bad for the ponies. I think its to make it more accessible for little kids to customize ponies.

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

Nail polish only needs a few coats, and from my perspective it's the "lazy" way to paint your pony, plus it has a shone that not all people might want.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Definitely don't do it.  I've seen so many ruined ponies at the thrift store.  They hang there, the paint and plastic reacting, melting their hair, their bodies, the plastic bag they come in...  eventually they get thrown in the trash...


1. lack of education about plastics and customizing MLP's
2. apathy towards said education
3. feelings of youthful superiority versus tried-and-true-know-how artist techniques. 

Also parents FREAK right out when you ask them to spend further money on expensive art supplies to "deface" toys that they already spent money on.  Some parents are irrationally fearful of their child using chemicals.  Some parents know that their child's temperament just won't allow for the project to become a multi-room disaster, only to damage furniture, walls, carpet, etc.

  in a nutshell... 

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

ChocolateStarfire are you talking about MandaPandaToyCollector on youtube, because if you are, she makes her customs in ways that many wouldn't. Hers are made fast, and sometimes not very much care is put into them. I am not saying that she is bad at customizing, it's just that she is doing things that will cause problems in the future.

[Snapdragon]

YIKES, I hope this isn't going to become a popular trend!! I mean, I guess each new generation has to learn by repeating the mistakes of the old, but ...!!

I think it's always worthwhile to experiment with new techniques and mediums (my friend taught me to dye Barbie hair with acyrlic paint!!), but for stuff that's intended to go on human bodies, it can generally be assumed that it won't work for pony plastic! Nail polish goes tacky, eye shadow/makeup dries up or fades, hair spray destroys pony hair ... Heck, even dollar store paints might work better than nail polish!

[Taxel]

Kids or people trying to "save money" often try and substitute nail polish for part when it comes to art stuff. Usually it ends up being a lot more expensive than just buying a couple $1 safe-for-what-you're-doing paints or a basic little paint set.

[Gingerbread]

Nail polish is not made to last, so it won't. As has been said it becomes tacky, and ruins hair and plastic by reacting to the vinyl. Pony ends up in landfill.

Lazyness, pure and simple. And a little bit if stupidity - surely even a kid would research "painting pony with nail polish" through Google before starting anything?

[ChocolateStarfire]

So many replies!!   

I agree with cannabalism and Taxel that this technique is probably directed at children because nail polish is rather cheap.

ChocolateStarfire are you talking about MandaPandaToyCollector on youtube, because if you are, she makes her customs in ways that many wouldn't. Hers are made fast, and sometimes not very much care is put into them. I am not saying that she is bad at customizing, it's just that she is doing things that will cause problems in the future.

Yeah...her customs are questionable in that sense. Some of CookieSwirlC's later videos (from this year versus last) also focus on repainting Breyer stablemates with nail polish because it color changes...and she also uses nail polish on Shopkins, too.

The thing is, MandaPanda and CookieSwirlC are very popular YouTubers for kids, and I worry that these techniques may lead to disastrous results, as lovesbabysquirmy, Gingerbread and Taxel can attest. I love CookieSwirlC in general, but I don't know if she realizes that nail polish, even if sealed, can react to the plastic? Even so, both posters are spreading misinformation that a Google/YouTube search will show as legitimate. 

Thanks for the replies! Any other thoughts welcome! Has anyone been successful at all with nail polish?!

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

So many replies!!   

I agree with cannabalism and Taxel that this technique is probably directed at children because nail polish is rather cheap.

ChocolateStarfire are you talking about MandaPandaToyCollector on youtube, because if you are, she makes her customs in ways that many wouldn't. Hers are made fast, and sometimes not very much care is put into them. I am not saying that she is bad at customizing, it's just that she is doing things that will cause problems in the future.

Yeah...her customs are questionable in that sense. Some of CookieSwirlC's later videos (from this year versus last) also focus on repainting Breyer stablemates with nail polish because it color changes...and she also uses nail polish on Shopkins, too.

The thing is, MandaPanda and CookieSwirlC are very popular YouTubers for kids, and I worry that these techniques may lead to disastrous results, as lovesbabysquirmy, Gingerbread and Taxel can attest. I love CookieSwirlC in general, but I don't know if she realizes that nail polish, even if sealed, can react to the plastic? Even so, both posters are spreading misinformation that a Google/YouTube search will show as legitimate. 

Thanks for the replies! Any other thoughts welcome! Has anyone been successful at all with nail polish?!

Te only thing that MandaPanda does remotely correctly is her rehairs, I was surprised that she did rehairs at all because the rest of the toy looks like a disaster. Oftentimes she reroot a very thin, and cut off a lot of the hair after she reroots, so she wastes a lot of hair. And she hardly ever styles it.

I assume that she is an adult (her hands look like an adult, plus her voice) but her customs look as if a young teenager, or a little kid who didn't know what they were doing made them.

I appreciate her for trying, but she really should have researched more before making a whole youtube channel on how to make pony customs.

This doesn't apply to MandaPanda, but so any people use rare G4s as baits!! It's like they haven't even researched their pony before customizing it.

[Snapdragon]

You know, I just realized something; I started customizing with nail polish!!

I, too, was a foolish child, led astray! Thankfully, this was before Youtube videos telling me it was an okay option, and I knew well enough to use a fakie for my experiments - I think I must have figured, "well, maybe nail polish will work for me even though everyone else says no," due to the fact that my mom didn't want to spring for a bunch of 'expensive' acrylic paints. So it was nail polish or nothing, basically! Poor thing, I still have her! (She's where my username comes from, in fact!) She also managed to smear tacky, non-sealed nail polish all over several other collection ponies accidentally! The Snapdragon legacy lives on!

I do worry that, as great as Youtube can be, one of the downfalls is dealing with well-known folks who advocate for unsustainable customizing practices, like the nail polish. YT can spread a lot of good information, just as easily as it spreads misinformation.

[ChocolateStarfire]

I do worry that, as great as Youtube can be, one of the downfalls is dealing with well-known folks who advocate for unsustainable customizing practices, like the nail polish. YT can spread a lot of good information, just as easily as it spreads misinformation.

I assume that she is an adult (her hands look like an adult, plus her voice) but her customs look as if a young teenager, or a little kid who didn't know what they were doing made them.

I appreciate her for trying, but she really should have researched more before making a whole youtube channel on how to make pony customs.

Yeah...here's what I don't understand...shouldn't most adults on YouTube, since it is a site millions of people visit, be careful with the methods they use for customizing?! Some customizers are kids, and I get that...but if you're an adult, I think you should always caution "Get an adult or your parents to help you" and use the right materials/tools like CookieSwirl and MyFroggyStuff do?! In addition, these YouTubers mean a lot to kids, and I don't know if MandaPanda realizes this or not...she's a role model in every sense. Why would you purposely spread misinformation?!

Snapdragon-what a horror story! At least you learned from your mistake...I hope the kids who choose to customize do so, too...

[cannibalism]

So many replies!!   

I agree with cannabalism and Taxel that this technique is probably directed at children because nail polish is rather cheap.

ChocolateStarfire are you talking about MandaPandaToyCollector on youtube, because if you are, she makes her customs in ways that many wouldn't. Hers are made fast, and sometimes not very much care is put into them. I am not saying that she is bad at customizing, it's just that she is doing things that will cause problems in the future.

Yeah...her customs are questionable in that sense. Some of CookieSwirlC's later videos (from this year versus last) also focus on repainting Breyer stablemates with nail polish because it color changes...and she also uses nail polish on Shopkins, too.

The thing is, MandaPanda and CookieSwirlC are very popular YouTubers for kids, and I worry that these techniques may lead to disastrous results, as lovesbabysquirmy, Gingerbread and Taxel can attest. I love CookieSwirlC in general, but I don't know if she realizes that nail polish, even if sealed, can react to the plastic? Even so, both posters are spreading misinformation that a Google/YouTube search will show as legitimate. 

Thanks for the replies! Any other thoughts welcome! Has anyone been successful at all with nail polish?!

cookieswirlc is HUGE with kids, my niece is only 4 and she has been watching her videos for about two years straight. nothing distracts that toddler like sticking a phone in front of her with youtube open to cookieswirlc! i don't know if she's at all interested in customizing anything, shes probably still too young, but all the toys and big sets she shows on her channel have lead to many a "can you buy that for me?"

[babyblueducky]

Has anyone left a comment to both of the youtubers and let them know the hazards and effects of using nail polish on custom toys?

I never used nail polish when I started customizing, I was able to get my hands on acrylic paints but I used embroidery thread for the hair.

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

Has anyone left a comment to both of the youtubers and let them know the hazards and effects of using nail polish on custom toys?

I never used nail polish when I started customizing, I was able to get my hands on acrylic paints but I used embroidery thread for the hair.

I never have, but they probably wouldn't notice, they get thousands of comments. I dont have a youtube account, but i guess one of us could try.