Barry M - Gelly Hi Shine, Spring Releases

I adore the whole range of Gelly nail paints from this brand. If like me you change your nail colour like you change your clothes than UV gel nail polish is not something that you automatically think about investing in.
With this kind of polish not only can you change the colour when you wish, you can do so at a fraction of the price, while creating the same effect.

The Gelly nail paints are so easy to work with and with most you can even get away with one coat to full opaque coverage, they have an amazing high gloss finish just like professional salon UV polish. I've tried many different brands and I always come back to Barry M as they don't chip or wear as easily.
This year they have released three new Spring Gelly paints, which made me very excited, so excited I was at Superdrug the morning they were released; picking them off the selves as the staff was placing them on. Yes! I couldn't wait, I was like a child on Christmas morning.

The three new shades are beautiful, soft pastels, perfect Spring trend colours.

• Sugar Apple - A soft light mint green.
• Rosehip - A baby pink/ powder pink.
• Huckleberry - A soft egg shell blue.

The colours look great alone; but I like to mix the three colours on different nails, the colours look divine as a set. They are as hard wearing as the rest of the Gelly range and also have the same great finish. I can see me wearing these colours in the Summer months too.

Stunning new additions. I highly recommend all three, I honestly cannot choose a favourite shade. Well worth the money.

Barry M Nail Paint - Birthday

The high street store Superdrug are celebrating their 50th birthday. In honour of this event they have come together with several companies to create Limited Edition products, Barry M being one of them.
As you already know; if you are a regular reader to my blog, I adore Barry M nail paints.
Their products have brilliant staying power, great pigmentation (sometimes fully opaque in one coat), fab formula's and a huge range of colours and textures to try. Not forgetting they are affordable and easy to obtain.

The nail paint by Barry M for Superdrug's 50th birthday is aptly named 'Birthday' and is Limited Edition, so I suggest picking one up the first chance you get as they will not be around for long - and it's amazing!

The base is a beautiful hot pink/ cherise colour which has tiny black specks running through it.
It has a party popper effect to it, which is a mix of different shaped, coloured and sized pieces.
Pink, white and purple hexagonal shaped pieces with even smaller round shaped pieces of the same three colours are within the polish.

A true party on the nail, Barry M sure knows what they're doing when it comes to creating a great nail polish. I used two coats to create the layered effect with a clear base coat and a clear top coat, but I think you could probably intensify the effect with a dark or black undercoat if you wanted to. Well worth a few pounds, I highly recommend picking one up!

Barry M Silk Nail Paints

I very briefly touched on these in an earlier post here: 'The Monthly Nail'. However, I thought I would do a full review of the Silk collection.
The new silk nail paints come in 6 different shades, Meadow, Heather, Mist, Pearl, Truffle and Blossom.

They are all very Spring/ Summer looking shades. They have a very unique finish, A cross between a pearl and a matte effect. All are pastel hued and very attractive on both long and short nails.
The first coat dried in around a minute and the second coat took around three-five minutes drying time. So fast too dry and provides a nice even coat. I didn't need a third coat as it was fully opaque in two coats.

As I didn't use a top coat the polish only lasted only 4 days on the nails before chipping/ peeling. You could probably use a matte top coat and keep the polish neater for longer but you may lose some of the silk effect finish.

The one and only real problem I found with these polishes was the streaking effect. It was quite difficult to achieve a nail that did not have brush stroke patterns included. So you have to be very careful and neat when painting your nails with these paints.
It can be achieved but only if you have a while to do your nails, so if you're watching a movie these are the perfect polishes to be using whilst your relaxing.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the new silk nail paints with me and have seen what the effect and colours are like. I would definately recommend these for Spring/ Easter. I really enjoyed these colours and the effect they created. If you want something different, these are definately worth a try!

Ciao x

The Monthly Nail - March

This March my nails were looking very dry and brittle so I decided too only polish my nails once a week. For someone who changes nail polish like clothes this restriction was torture, I kept seeing pretty polishes and my will power was truly put to the challenge. I snapped a picture of each weeks polish for your pleasure. This is my month in nails!

This beautiful polish is one of the Royal Texture paints by Barry M in Countess. As with any glitter polish getting a true picture of the polish is incredibly difficult so I've tried my best, but this is one that is to be experienced first hand to really see how stunning it is. It has a dark purple base that contains lots of glitter particles in gold and pink. Opaque in two coats and lasted all week without even a small chip, which really impressed me.

I used Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Plum and for the accent nail I used Morgan Taylor in New York State Of Mind. I recently discovered Morgan Taylor and was seriously in adoration for the ones that I tried, so my collection has promptly and hugely expanded since. This is one of the new ones I was trying and again impressed me greatly. It has a black base with pink, red, blue and gold glitter particles - two coat opaque glitter coverage.

Wow, ok I think I have a Barry M problem. Again these are all Barry M polishes, this time the new Silk Nail Paints. I felt like having an early Easter treat so I picked up these and donned them on the nails as soon as I was home and loved them immediately. The colours looking at the left hand pictures - from left to right, Truffle, Blossom, Mist, Heather and Meadow. All have a beautiful finish, like a soft pearl matte effect. These did chip by the fourth day though but not excessively.

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Plum and the accent nail is Barry M Royal Texture in Majesty. Plum is a true dark Damson Plum shade and Majesty is a gold glitter that has full glitter coverage in just two coats. Majesty has a mix of glitter particles, some are large and some are really tiny so it gives it a beautiful jewelled effect. These lasted all week on the nails.

I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to my goal of polish only once a week, if only I could do that with chocolate. I've now discovered doing this blog I use mainly Barry M nail polishes. I don't mind this fact as I really do admire the formula's, they are very affordable and are really hard core, (as I flail and bang my hands about a lot) these stood up to the test of being adopted by a rough gal. If you would like to see this as a monthly blog, let me know in the comments below. (I will snap a pic each time I change my nail polish and post them all at the end of each month.)

Ciao x

Much Loved - March

This month I've been sticking with Winter shades. (Where I live it's raining every day, colder than ice and wind that makes you think you'll end up in Oz) I'm ready for S/S seasons, I even have all my new products ready and waiting. Fingers crossed for a little sun so I can break out the pastel nail colours.

I have been obsessed with OPI nail polish in the shade 'From A to Z-urich'. For me personally this is the perfect red shade for winter months as it's a deep red, without hitting the burgundy scale. It's very wearable day and night and seems to go with every outfit. I've had this on my nails more times than I can count these past few months and I've never bored of it. It's beautiful paired with a true red lipstick.

Floris - Hand Treatment Cream in 'Rosa Centifolia', has been a must for me. I usually use Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream through colder seasons, but after trying this and loving the results it has been firmly placed on the top spot for excellent repairing hand cream. (Sorry Clarins) Not only does it leave your hands soft, supple and nourished but it smells so good, I've become addicted to sniffing my hands like a strange person when I've applied this. A fair few odd looks have been cast my way recently. It smells like a rose garden in Summer, pure nose happiness.

Soap & Glory - Lid Stuff / 'What's Nude'. My Naked Basics and Mac palette have all been forgotten about in a draw because of this palette. It has been in my personal makeup bag for months and I adore it. I even placed one in my kit and others have been converted to the S&G side. It really is an amazing palette, the quality for the price you pay (£10) is astounding. It's finely milled, creamy powder is highly pigmented, it blends so easily and lasts all day without creasing or smudging. A true pleasure to work with and to wear.

Lila 'lli - Line, Define, Fill in the shade 'Chinatown'. A lovely plum/ red creamy pencil that is multi tasking. You can use this as an eyeliner, as a lip liner or to line and fill the lips all in one. I use this as a liner for the lips mainly to keep lipstick looking sharp. It's lasting power is amazing and it does not feather which is a thumbs up. It's a creamy formula which doesn't snag or drag. This has been my go to liner for both reds and purples this Winter season and probably will continue to be so for many a year. Pure love for this product.

Revlon - Colourburst Matte Balm in 'Elusive'. I won't go into loads of detail surrounding this lip balm crayon as I've seen many blogs written about these lately, I would hate to bore you on what you may have been reading about already. But I will add that I enjoyed these colours and the texture of them. I've been using mine almost daily and have loved it so far. Although in summer I probably will stray with all the new beauty products that are going to be released.

That's my round up of products that I used most and loved in March, I hope you enjoyed them and you are having more joy with the weather where you live. What are your Spring beauty items going to be this year? Leave a comment and let me know below!

Ciao x

Sally Hansen - Sugar Coat, Textured Nail Colour

£6.99 each/ 11.8ml.
Made in the USA.
Available on the high street.
8 different shades to choose from.

I chose the shades:
600 - Sour Apple, A lovely mint green.
400 - Sweetie, A buttery yellow.
300 - Cherry Drop, A pillar box red.
200 - Sugar Fix, A brilliant white.

As you can see from the swatches, all the shades have a 3D texture to the nail colour, making it appear that the nail is coated in sugar, as indicated in the name.
I really liked how all of the colours were opaque in two thin coats, the formula has a slight rubber like finish. This did prove a little harder when I came to remove the polish from the nail. I had to soak the nail in acetone for a little longer than I normally would have too.
The polish dried fairly quickly, around 1 minute on the first coat 4-5 minutes on the second coat.
Good lasting power, it remained without chipping or wearing for a good 4-6 days; depending on how rough I was with my nails.
The colours aren't particularly unique but the finish is something I have not encountered before. This was the main reason I liked them so much.
My favourite was the white 'Sugar Fix'. It was the most unique, which people commented on. It gave me personal memories of growing up in the 90's. A good white opaque nail polish was rarer than a unicorn; we would use Tippex of all things. So this one really impressed me and made me smile the most. Definite thumbs up!

Overall, I liked these nail effect colours. They stood out from all the effects polishes that have recently flooded the market. Not for the colour or formula but for the unique factor and the two shade opaqueness.

No 7 - Stay Perfect Nail Colour

 £6.00/ 10ml
www.boots.com
Available in 45 different colours.

I bought this for a Valentine's date night with my other half; because of our schedules we had to have our Valentine's this weekend.
Shopping for items perfect for my outfit and the occasion I found this beautiful colour. 110 - Milan is a medium rose pink, jam packed with pink glitter. I fell head over heels when I saw the colour as I had a dusky rose lipstick the same shade that I was going to wear and honestly who doesn't love masses of glitter shimmering on our digits.

On application the formula was easy to work with as it's a medium viscosity, it had a large flat brush so it applied in 2-3 strokes; making application flawless, streak free and quick. One coat was all I needed as the pigment rich colour was opaque in a single stroke. The formula dried almost instantly, essential for me as I never have time to sit and let them dry for too long.

The colour lasted 4-6 days on my nails (with a base and top coat) without any signs of chipping or flaking. I am really impressed by the lasting power of the polish and I have already popped a few more on my shopping list to try out.

I also enjoy that it didn't smell too strongly, I tend to suffer migraines with strong chemical scents being a trigger, so a sigh of relief was given on applying the colour.

For the price, I think you are getting a nail polish that is comparable to more expensive high end pro polishes. So brilliant value for money!

I added a couple of swatches, so you can see the polish with flash (top) and without flash in natural light (bottom).

I would recommend them too anyone looking for a professional quality nail polish at a lower price.They have a wide selection of shades to choose from; so whatever colour you are searching for they may have what you need.

Leighton Denny Nail Varnish

£11.00/ 12ml     www.leightondenny.com
Made in the EU.
Shade/colour: Vamp.
Suitable for long and short nails.

A modern classic, rouge-noir with slightly more black in the undertone. Vamp looks good on short and long nails alike.

The varnish has a great formula, it wasn't too runny nor too thick. It was a joy to work with.
Fast drying and hardened quickly.
The colour I would describe as more a chocolate/ red rather than black/ red.
Definitely needs two coats as the first applied streaky and uneven.

Lasting time of varnish:
2 coats of varnish: 3 days.
Base coat and 2 coats of varnish: 4 days.
2 coats of varnish and top coat: 4 days.
Base coat, 2 coats of varnish and top coat: 7-9 days.

With a base and top coat this is a beautiful nail varnish with a nice formula, low odour and brilliant staying power. Even flatters short, small nails.
Fantastic value for money, I will be purchasing other colours.