Review: Barry M Textured Nails

The textured nail polishes have been out for a while and as I really like them I thought I would do a review. I haven't been able to capture them on my nails (you'll see why later) but welcome the wheel! 

I first got the blue and yellow one from Barry M as the mint was sold out and the pink looked a bit plain for me. I quickly fell in love with these as they are super quick if you're in a hurry to do your nails. It takes two coats but they dry very quick for Barry M. I then found a mint to add to my collection which always gets me tons of compliments when I wear it. Its my favourite by a clear mile. 

 l-r Barry M in Sequin Nail Effects White, Textured Nail Effects in Atlantic Road, Station Road and Ridley Road all £3.99 each  

 There is one negative about these polishes that can't be helped - they attract dirt like a magnet! After a few days mine have collected dirt in the crevices and being pastels it really shows. I could correct this with a top coat but it would most likely remove the textured effect. This for me is the ultimate quick fix as I never have my nails bare so if I am short for time I will wear this for a few days until I have the time to do something more time consuming.

 Although this isn't part of the textured effect range the polish itself is the same textured sandy effect. I loved how pretty this polish was to wear but it is so rough! I was worried I'd scratch myself or my boyfriend pretty bad so I would not recommend this if you are a Mummy! Again this doesn't last very long before it wears down the nail and gets dirty although it wasn't so noticeable amongst the glitter. I think the textured effect acts almost like sand paper and starts to wear down from the tip of the nail as days pass.

Sequin Effects are great for a party or special event but not cut out for everyday or at least a working lifestyle. It was also a nightmare to remove but I had anticipated that!
What do you think of the new Barry M effects? Do I need Kingsland Road to complete my collection?

Bounce

I haven't posted a NOTD in so long, I miss doing it so much but I have taken photos recently just never got round to posting them.

 Models Own Utopia with Boogie Nights 

 Models Own Lemon Meringue, Pink Pop Soda and Lilac Dream with L'Oreal Confetti topcoat

Topshop AWOL with Ice Crush 

I'm majorly obsessed with Iggy Azalea at the moment and have been replaying her mixtape over and over. Her songs are so catchy and are great in the morning when I'm sleepy on my way to work.

Spring Nails

So it may not have been Spring weather in the past fortnight but my nails have been looking very Spring like. I always get so many compliments on my nails and they've definitely brightened those dull grey days.

As soon as I got my hands on the Barry M Gelly paints in Greenberry and Dragon Fruit I immediately had to use them. They are such an amazing product, so glossy, dries quickly and such vibrant colours. They also lasted longer than usual, which could be an improved formula for Barry M.

Barry M Gelly in Dragon Fruit (pink) and Greenberry (green) £3.99 each 

 I went for something different by painting my hands opposite ways. I've become really bored of all one colour nails and like to paint my thumb and ring finger a different colour to the others. As I was trying out these colours I thought it would be nice to do them opposite ways. The pink is lovely for a more subtle look whereas the green is much more in your face. 

This week I really wanted to go for an Easter inspired theme. It took me ages to choose the order of these colours as I never want blue and green next to each other, or pink and purple because they're so close. I intended to add a glitter top coat but had a mad week at work and they've worn down so I'll change them tomorrow. I'm so looking forward to my time off!

 Models Own: Jade Stone, Lilac Dream, Lemon Meringue, Beth's Blue and Soda Pop Pink £5 each

I love this combination! Its so pretty and girlie and perfect for so many occasions. I saw one of the Saturdays pictured with neon colours on different nails. It looked so good I can't wait to re-do it. I bought some more Models Own this week which I'm excited to try. My boyfriend wanted to pick for me but I have so many it was hard! I got one from the scented collection and one of the Ice Neons but I'd like more...

Happy Easter everyone! Hope its full of family time and of course plenty of chocolate on the side

Atlantic Road | Station Road

I was so excited to try the new Barry M Textured Effects polishes that when I spotted them along with the new Gelly colours in Superdrug I did a little squeal inside (the shelve was still being stocked so didn't want to alarm them!). In my new frugal shopper state I allowed myself only two colours out of the eight or so new colours. Silly me as now I can't get the other Textured colours anywhere and the Gellys are also sold out!
Anyway I went for Atlantic Road (blue) and Station Road (yellow).

 The flash has dulled the effect somewhat but you can still see its textured. I'm sure I read somewhere they put sand in the polish to give it this effect. The polish feels fine on and the feel is almost identical to the crackle effects feel. I really like this effect and can't wait to find the pink and green versions. 

I also did my hands opposite ways just because I felt like it. These are perfect pastel shades and I know I'll get a lot of wear from them. I love how easy it is to have a different effect on your nails without spending ages doing coats of a colour and then a crackle effect or glitter coats, a winner for me.

I haven't posted my nails in weeks so here are two other NOTD's for you.

 Topshop in AWOL - The perfect bright blue shade. I had so many comment so this colour probably because it really contrasts with my pale skin. One man at work even questionned me as to why I picked this colour haha. I think I bought this after seeing Jess Wright of TOWIE wearing a bright blue nail polish and I couldn't find one anywhere and then I spotted this. I think they still sell it, my Topshop doesn't sell make-up BOO but sure this is on the website. The wear isn't too bad although its a thin formula so only last three or so days before chips starting occuring. 

Models Own Raspberry Crush and Barry M Superdrug LE Rainbow glitter - Both these polishes aren't for sale as the Models Own was free in a magazine in Boots only and the glitter was free when you spent £6 in Superdrug at Christmas. The glitter would look better on a different base colour as the red particles blended into the nail. This would look great over white in particular. 

Blue Ombré

I'm dying to ombré my hair as its not been overdone in my town. Yet. However there's still so much red dye hanging on I fear it'll look odd so for now have found an alternative which I'm including in my January Favourites post. For the meantime I gave ombré nails a whirl. I was really happy with the outcome and had quite a few comments and compliments on them. The oddest but sweetest compliment coming from a dear old lady in a shopping centre toilets who asked me to work the sensor taps for her. We went along all the sinks until we got one to work so she had plenty of time to admire my nails. I think she thought it was all the same polish however!

 I used my Barry M blues l-r // 291 Cobalt Blue // 294 Cyan Blue // 295 Turquoise // 306 Blueberry Ice Cream // 317 Blue Moon 

The flash has made the blues on fingers 3 and 4 look similar if not the same, but number 3 is a greeny blue whereas number 4 is a pastel blue. I actually thought the Turquoise was a bit out of place tone wise but never mind. You could always do finger 5 as white. It's made me wonder about green, pink and yellow ombré nails. Please link me if you have tried ombré nails as I'd love to see alternative versions.
What do you think?

Utopia Sparkles

This post has been a long time coming as I discovered the beauty of Models Own Utopia last October. I'd seen it pop up on blogs being raved about but to me it always looked such a "blah" colour. Nothing special, exciting, eye-catching or compliment worthy. When Models Own asked for 100,000 likes on Facebook to launch their annual half price sale I was dying to add some more to my collection. Utopia found itself in my basket, for £2.50 it seemed worth the risk and I wanted a neutral colour to go beneath glitter. 

I was absolutely astonished when I got round to applying this as a base for glitter. I was going to my boyfriend's nephew's Christening and wanted something neutral but pretty, see this post.

I wore Utopia for the Saturday until I had a chance that evening to apply the Northern Lights. I kept looking at Utopia, wondering why the hell I'd passed this colour so many times before. 

 Models Own Utopia £5 

Excuse the just done slightly messy look, but Utopia is in fact not a dull nude as I originally first thought but a beautiful milky, pinky white with very subtle lilac tones. It's crazy how much I love this as I am not a nude girl AT ALL! I think the pink tones of this have swayed me. I wore this for a few days, continually looking at it like a lovestruck teenager haha.

Models Own then posted a picture to their Facebook of the beautiful Northern Lights and I just had to wear it too. As Utopia was a few days old by now I only did my thumb and ring finger, it wasn't worth the effort of removing it for only a couple of days wear. I really wish glitter was slightly easier to remove. Northern Lights came off nicely as Utopia was two coats thick, and Northern Lights was a single coat with no top coat. Its my favourite way to wear glitter for ease of removal but sometimes one coat just isn't enough! 

I guess Utopia always got overlooked as all the other brighter colours called to me. Have I changed your mind?

I saw a picture of the new Barry M Gelly polishes today, I simply cannot wait to get my hands on them! Four beautiful spring shades which are released 13th February (online) and 20th February (in store). I've just re-applied Pomegranate :)

Next

I've recently taken the plunge back into Barry M nail polishes and found myself loving the Gelly Hi-Shine range. They passed me by when they were first released even though I saw rave reviews about them. I really wanted a juicy, shiny raspberry pinky red and the Barry M in number 9 Pomegranate was calling my name. They got it spot on with the range name as it really does what it says leaving a super glossy finish. The lasting power isn't too bad either. I really love this shade so much and the fact it could be deemed a winter and a summer shade. Such a beautiful colour.  

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine nail paint in 9 Pomegranate £3.99

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine nail paint in 6 Prickly Pear £3.99

Unfortunately I was ill when I wore this polish and my nails got chipped before I even thought about taking a picture. So for now it's modelled by the nail wheel ha, which according to my boyfriend is cheating. I actually bought them for a post I'm working on but they came in handy for this situation. I know I'll wear this colour again soon as it's such a pretty lilac shade, a true pastel. Its very easy to wear and will look great under a glitter coat. 

I like the look of Blueberry so expect to add more to my collection at some point. I really should start wearing the polishes in my boxes rather than buying new ones...

What's your favourite nail polish right now?

ps. title post inspired by the weeknd's track on the trilogy album of the same name. seriously can't stop listening to it!

Life Of The Party

I bought Models Own Champagne in the 100,00 Facebook Likes sale and took a gamble as I wasn't sure I'd like it. I've always found this type of shade to look horrific on me, they suit other people, but make my nails look cheap and I've found previous formulas to be streaky, chip immediately and wear down on the tips within a few days. I think the quality of Models Own is outstanding for the price tag and decided for £2.50 to give it a try. It looked pretty when it arrived and when I was picking a colour last week I went for this. 

Its a true Champagne colour and gives a foil like finish. I couldn't stop looking at my nails, such a high shine, shimmery, amazing finish. This is absolutely perfect for this time of year. Its simple but eye catching too. If I had a bright or centre of attention outfit this would be ideal without taking the outfit focus away. I'm still a complete glitter obsessive but it can be time consuming to layer up glitter (hence my lack of glittery notds of late) and this was the best stop gap until I make time to go all glittery again. 

This would be a great gift for a lady who tends to wear nail polish for occasions. Its so quick to apply and like all Models Own dries fast. For some odd reason I've been thinking about the type of colour I'd wear for my wedding day, as you do. I never used to think about getting married but now I'm 24 its something I very much hope will happen. I asked my boyfriend and he said I would want you to do something nice on them. I said I couldn't do my usual colourful, different nail different colour, crazy crackle and glitter nails but I would go simple. After all I want my dress to be the focal point and everything else to accentuate it. This is definitely a colour I would consider, if you're interested.  

I have so many Christmas blog ideas but with just a week and a bit to go I might not get them all up. I have so much to do this next week as one of my boyfriends present is taking so much time and I'm making bracelets for friends (not even started those yet!). 

Definitely going to post my nails as I'm in full festive flow. My boyfriend searched for inspiration with me tonight on Google and he picked polka dot nails. Last time I tried them my left hand was so unsteady it looked awful! Lucky me he helped me and they look great so I'll post them in the next few days. Hopefully you'll have a steadier hand than me for your opposite hand or someone to help. I also bought some Christmas fimo for my nails which I was originally doing tonight but its so fiddly!

I may or may not have gone Christmas shopping today and ended up with a large majority of gifts to myself...Merry Christmas to me!

Everything will be on my Sunday Summary...

ps. blog post title is inspired by the weeknd, if I wasn't such a lucky lady with my boyfriend I would most certainly be booking a ticket to LA to find this beautiful man with a heavenly, silky, sexy voice 

pps. you can tell I'm not blogging as much because I'm rambling like mad, apologies 

The Zone

I cannot resist a glitter nail polish. When I saw Barry M 350 Diamond Glitter I just had to buy it. It's a beautiful mix of silver glitter with larger holographic hexagons. They catch the light so well and look amazing. I went for a thin coat with one or two hexagons on each nail which is still pretty but subtle. I'm planning to layer this up as it'll be perfect for pretty sparkling nails. Me and my boyfriend are going to a 50th birthday party next weekend so I'll probably do it for that.

 Models Own Soda Pop Pink & Barry M 350 Diamond Glitter

I'm hating the dark for trying to photograph :( but I'm loving the approach of Christmas. I'm off to my first Christmas market this weekend with my boyfriend which I'm beyond excited for! I don't really know what to expect but I hope to at least get a festive feeling :)
I named this post after The Weekend's track of the same name featuring Drake. I am OBSESSED with it. I think The Weekend is really mysterious and it makes him more alluring. As always Drake is a babe on this and has the most perfectly worded rap.

Night Light

This post title is inspired by the Jessie Ware track of the same name. I saw the video for it last night and to say I was blown away would be an understatement. Its beautifully done and so artistic. She looks stunning and it's nice to see she's finally being recognised for the incredible artist she is.

I couldn't wait to wear another Models Own Wonderland polish so my next pick was Southern Lights. Its a lilac toned polish with holographic glitter suspended within. In terms of sparkle power and eye catcher skills this is on par with Juicy Jules.

 without flash 

 with flash, not in focus

 with flash, in focus

These pictures are day five of the polish being on. I didn't bother with a top coat as I don't think its necessary with these polishes. However if you use Models Own colour glitter such as Emerald Green, Magenta Divine etc I would recommend a top coat as they glitter colour tends to rub off and leave little silver particles. The only signs of wear my nails are showing is the growth at the cuticle.

I seriously love Models Own polishes. All I ever do is rave about them but for £5 a bottle they are so good! Plus Boots often have offers on, ASOS do boxsets and the Models Own website also do their own deals so you don't necessarily have to pay £5 for each one, I know I haven't. I've got quite a collection now and I'm thinking of doing a post on them all so I'll get busy preparing it :)