Customizing with Nail Polish...?

[ChocolateStarfire]

@Darkhorse--OMG those are some lovely ladies!

If anyone has before and after pics, I am curious to see...Darkhorse, I am assuming you sealed the paint, so I don't think the nail polish would wear off...?

It seems like everyone has discovered that nail polish is toxic and that MandaPanda should use acrylic paint. I agree with both statements. It's especially important that kids use nail polish in an area that's open to the air (well ventilated) and possibly with parent supervision, should they choose to use it at all (preferably on their nails versus a toy).

 

[Taxel]

@Darkhorse--OMG those are some lovely ladies!

If anyone has before and after pics, I am curious to see...Darkhorse, I am assuming you sealed the paint, so I don't think the nail polish would wear off...?

Sealer isn't a magic wand that can protect from stuff - bad customizing supplies, plasticizer leak, Sharpie, etc. In some cases sealer can even make problem stuff worse because it introduces even more potentially incompatible chemicals into the mix.

I used Sculpey Gloss Glaze to seal some polymer clay hearts I painted with nailpolish when I was like 13. A few I left alone at first and glazed after they got tacky, some I left alone. I honestly think the glaze made it all worse... they went tacky fast so I left them in a box for years. Last year or so I pulled them out and they were all stuck together like a giant brick of nasty hearts.

I've also had experience with Sharpie on plastic that was sealed over. It turned dark orangey over time and the words went fuzzy... super nasty. I had to throw the stuff away.

[Wardah]

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?

I wouldn't always chalk it up to laziness. There are some effects that can't be done with the acrylic paints you can find at Walmart. At one point I was even tempted to try and find a way to make nail polish work but then I found this site that sells special effect pigments called solarcolordust.com . I was able to do a color shifting LPS chameleon without using nail polish.

[vampyrefay]

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 did on mandapanda's lisa frank tutorial video and she told me everyone has different styles and one of her hard core fans started on me (i'm eliza belsie on the comments)

[ChocolateStarfire]

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 did on mandapanda's lisa frank tutorial video and she told me everyone has different styles and one of her hard core fans started on me (i'm eliza belsie on the comments)

I saw your comment on the video, and I agree with what you said.

CookieSwirl's customs have been made with acrylics lately, which makes me happy...so I don't feel a need to comment on her vids. I worry that if I comment on MandaPanda's channel it will result in the same response.

[LadyMoondancer]

Nail polish was popular for customizing in the late 90s when custom ponies were a new idea.  My very first customs, I used nail polish for their symbols.  (Used their natural body colors, so no issue there.)  The trouble with nail polish, as others have said, is that it gets tacky over time!  Acrylic paint is so much better.

I also tried to customize a pony using Sharpie marker back then.  Terrible idea, it didn't work at all.

That said, if MandaPanda is determined to use nail polish to customize then she's going to do it, I guess.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

[Shaiyeh]

I looked at some of the videos, and I hate to be mean but omg, I've been cringing so hard at the heavy use of nail polish. Please, do not use it.
In my early days I'd seal my custom ponies' eyes with high-gloss top coat. It yellowed, but didn't go tacky, but yeah... it's not a very becoming look.
I also have a custom made by someone else who I'm sure has pearly nail polish on her symbols, because they have smudged and are super tacky, to the point that she's gotten stuck to a thing she was stored next to Imagine painting a whole pony, eeek. D:

I also want to say, americana acrylics aren't bad for customizing. they're cheap, and look clumpy and bad if you don't thin them down, IMO. Before I switched to warhammer/vallejo/citadel paints (yay higher budget) I used to use Americana, but I'd always thin them down enormously. water works just fine. Sure you have to make a ton of layers, but they're all really thin and smooth, and dry super fast. It's totally worth the end result, instead of trying to speed through things and get a sad looking final product. (I still thin down my citadel paints with thinner+water, tho. but yeah)

I clicked on here with fingers itching to make a custom, but now I'm like nuuuu, what has the world come to ;_;


Also about the "toxic trio" in nail polishes (there's actually a toxic quintet, if we're to be really picky), is not present in many of the bigger brands, and most indie brands use 3-free/5-free polish base. Dollar store nail polishes and generally cheap brands, however, often have them. So for nail polish for your fingernails, stick with reputable brands and indie sellers to stay safe :3

[PJSparkles]

I actually watch mandapanda and cookieswirlc on youtube, but I agree with all of the aforementioned points--nail polish is just a "lazy" way to get solid coats of paint fast. I've made myself nauseous for several hours just trying to paint my nails with my bedroom door closed for 20 minutes or so, I can only imagine how that would affect a small child.

I was considering experimenting with some nail polish, but reading the comments about it eating the plastic on the horse has changed my mind