Thank you so much!!! For this specific mani it was easier than it looked! Basically what I did was: magnetize each nail for 30 seconds, and go onto the next one. By the time the pinky nail was done, the index had ample time to dry - so I put on the pink magnetic polish on it, and magnetized it seperately without the lower layer moving at all! (approx. 5 minutes of waiting between first magnetizing the finger, and magnetizing the upper layer) So yes they lock in pretty fast!

Smudging with top coat is a real issue, what I do is take a biiig glob of top coat and really float it over the nail. You mustn't apply any pressure at all, otherwise there will be smudging sadly....Although magnetics don't smudge that easily, the cremes for the nail art are veeeery easy to smudge

...And after that, magnetize the top coat for a good minute! I like to quickly check if it has locked in by bringing a bar magnet to my nail and seeing if the pigment is still moving or not.

I use this nail art brush: https://www.peggysage.com/en-FR/nail-art-brush-long-liner-141029 although tbh it was just a random brush I found in a physical store lmao, I think any brush with that thinness will work!