WAH Nail Pens by Models Own Review

I had wanted to get into nail art and then heard about these pens which are a collaboration with WAH Nails. They have a nib and a stiper brush and for around £6 I thought that wasn't too bad. They only come in black and white but Models Own are looking to expand to create pens for all of their colours.

When I first got these, I thought the packaging was nice and the actual pens seemed good. I really looked forward to using them. The packaging gives some ideas of designs you could do such as leopard print (pictured), camouflage, zebra, eye balls - all which are WAH Nail designs. The nib has a pin which you need to remove before using it and replace afterwards to stop the nib getting clogged. To get to the striper brush, you twist where the grip is and it unscrews.

The brush itself isn't that fine and tends to splay out or bend during use which doesn't help to get accurate lines. I think a synthetic bristle brush in an artist's rigger style would have been a much better choice as the bristles would spring back into place, keeping it's sharp shape.

To use the nib, you need to squeeze the pen. This has it's pros and cons. It is good because it means you don't need to press the nib down on the nail to activate the polish flow but the bad thing is the pen is quite hard and that makes it difficult to squeeze to get a constant line. Also it can blob polish out if you don't get the pressure exactly right. It would have been a better design to use a more flexible plastic in the squeezable area so you didn't need to excert as much pressure and making the pen easier to use especially with your non dominant hand.

These aren't the only problems with these pens. There is one thing which is a complete FAIL...

Hmmm... that's strange... I'm sure there was meant to be a brush attached to this one... oh yeah, it fell off! After doing a little design on 5 of my nails I noticed the brush wasn't working properly and on closer inspection I saw that it was shedding. I gently removed the loose hair and it seemed to work again. Soon after the same thing was happening, more and more hairs started to come away and then all of a sudden the whole damn thing came off! Useless! I haven't sent it back as I bought it from ASOS and I don't think I've got the invoice anymore and I'm not sure I can send it back to Models Own directly. Besides, I don't want a replacement. I think this product is lacking a lot, even if the brush did stay on. It is difficult to use and badly designed, the brush issue just tops it all off. I'm not the only one who has had a problem with the brush coming away, lots of people have experienced it so there is definitely a design flaw with these. If Models Own are planning to expand to their whole colour range, maybe they should consider actually fixing the problem first, possibly redesigning the whole pen to make it easier?

Whatever you do, don't waste your money on these. Go buy some nail brushes or go to a craft shop for a rigger brush or fine detail brush and that way you can use any colour you want. I am considering getting the Rio Nail Art Pens at some point, they seem to have quite good reviews so if you do want some pens, maybe check out the reviews for these instead.

- Jennifer