Sharpies - the metallic way forward???

Hello lovelies! Its just a quick post today but I had to share a couple of things. Firstly, I found out today that I passed my Nail Diploma with distinction so I'm currently planning a weekend of celebrations - yay!

Secondly, I've seen a few people online talking about using Sharpies for nail art. There seemed to be a lot of debate about which ones worked and which ones didn't but the majority of people said that the Metallics were a good place to start. I went to Hobbycraft more or less straight away, only to come back empty handed when I saw the price in store :/ I checked the price on Ebay from my phone while I was still there and paid about 70% less (even including delivery). I'm an impatient girl and hate waiting for things to be delivered, but when it comes to saving enough to buy at least one polish... As it happens, the Ebay seller was great and I had the pens the very next day!

I painted up a couple of false nails to get a feel for what they could do with zero planning or practice and I'm quite impressed. I don't think they're going to replace the polish or acrylics that I use for most of my nail art, but for a quick pattern or doodle they are fine. They cover any colour pretty quickly and have an almost foil-like finish. The colours I used were Barry M Teal, LA Colors Lilac Frost and Jessica Ruffled Bottoms.

The one thing that I will be using them for is French Tips. Soooooooo easy and they look great. So much so that I'm feeling a black polish with studs and silver tips mani coming on for the weekend ;) Obviously I can't talk about how long lasting they are yet, and on a personal note, the smell of the metallics bothers me a lot (not like the normal ones - I LOVE the smell of those), but that in no way cancels out the positives.

So, they're not the answer to every nail art dilemma, but they're still great! I'm sure with more time and practice I'll be able to work with them a bit better, and they will definitely be in my nail case from now on :)

If you've used Sharpies on your nails, I'd love to know what you thought of them. Also if you've used any other colours/finishes - did they work ok? Let me know here or post a pic on the FingerFood Facebook page :D