Barry M - Silver Multi Glitter

Today I have another of the new Barry M glitter polishes to show you.

Silver Multi Glitter is another densely packed micro glitter in a clear base much like Pink Silver Glitter.

But whilst it is mostly silver there are tiny little specks of colour in there which are pretty tricky to see.

 I definitely saw a bright pink, red, turquoise and yellow before I went cross eyed trying to focus but there may well be more!

When on the nail it appears mostly silver but mix of other colours give it a subtle sparkle which is really pretty.

Again like Pink Silver Glitter I was happy at two coats.

It applied evenly without any dragging or rearranging of glitter and dried to the usually grainy glitter finish, which is easily rectified with a couple of layers of topcoat. My photos show it without.

I like this polish a lot.

It's another understated glitter polish but the mix of colour gives it a really pretty edge making it interesting and unique.

♥ A ♥ 

Water Colouring - NOTN

 If I know I have a night out coming up I always try to plan my manicure to match my outfit. Sad maybe, but as a nail person it's just as important to me as having the right pair of shoes, and last nights NOTN just happened to be inspired by a new pair of shoes and earrings I bought recently.

Here are the nails...

And here is my inspiration.

I was mostly inspired by the mix of colours, but I also really liked the random smudgy pattern on the shoes.

I had a look around on Google and YouTube for a few different techniques I could try to achieve something similar and decided on water colouring.

The water colouring technique is where you mix your chosen colours with some acetone to water the colour down, then apply random blobs to your nail. I used a tutorial by The Polished Mummy HERE.

I used two coats of white polish for the base then for the water colouring I used Barry M Black, China Glaze  Sun Kissed, Love's A Beach, Splish Splash and Beach Cruise-R from the Summer Neons Collection.

I was really happy with how they turned out, but I did actually prefer my right hand as it seemed to be more pink even though I added the colours in the same order.

I thought I'd add a close up of my right hand too as I liked it so much! 

No thumb though as I still can't paint it and it's not very attractive to look at either.

This look was so easy to do using the tutorial and has me thinking up loads of other colour combinations which I'm looking forward to trying out.

♥ A ♥

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 12 - Stripes

It wasn't until this challenge came up that it occurred to me I have never done stripes on my nails before.

I've done zebra stripes but never actual straight line stripes, so this was new to me!

I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do so I just picked some colours and decided as I went, but I was pretty happy with the outcome.

I used two coats of Essie Mint Candy Apple as the my base colour. Then with a nail art brush I added a stripe of Barry M Berry Ice Cream, Pink Silver Glitter and Peach Melba, then I decided it needed something else so I added the two stripes of Barry M Gold Foil and topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite.

♥ A ♥

Barry M - Pink Silver Glitter

I have another Barry M glitter to show you today.

Pink Silver Glitter is exactly what it says it is. Pink and Silver glitter.

This one is a mix of rose pink and silver micro glitter which is densely packed in a clear base.

It's a little too dense to be a topcoat, but why would you want it to be? Two coats and look how pretty it is! However I am looking at these pictures now and thinking why didn't I add a third coat, in person I was happy with two.

I love how understated this is for a full on glitter polish.

Another perfect day to night polish from Barry M.

♥ A ♥

Barry M - Magenta Glitter

Barry M Magenta Glitter is a Superdrug exclusive.

It is similar to Aqua Glitter in that it has two sizes of glitter. However, unlike Aqua Glitter the larger glitter doesn't stand out quite as much after more than one coat.

That's not necessarily a negative point, merely an observation worth making.

I still think it is a stunner. 

Again, like Aqua Glitter, one coat will make a very pretty topcoat to jazz up a more ordinary polish.

I stopped at three coats even though it wasn't fully opaque, a forth would have done it but I was afraid of losing sight of those hex glitters altogether.

  Application was nice and easy, it went on evenly so no having to faff around arranging the glitter. Always a plus point, I think you'll agree! And I adore the colour, I'd say it's a more dark magenta, but magenta none the less. It will look gorgeous layered over a nice turquoise or teal to contrast against. I already have some combinations I want to try out with this one so you can expect to see it popping up again on here in the near future! 

♥ A ♥

Barry M - Aqua Glitter

Barry M glitters have always been a favourite of mine.

Densely packed and super sparkly, you can't go wrong.

Which is why I was more excited about the release of the new Barry M glitter polishes than I was for any of the other new releases.

The new glitters are Pink Silver Glitter (337), Silver Multi Glitter (338), Gold Glitter (339) , Aqua Glitter (340). The you have the Magenta Glitter (336) which is a Superdrug exclusive and Jewel Britannia which as far as I am aware will only be available online on the Barry M website and the Boots website.

The glitter I have to show you today is Aqua Glitter.

All my photos show it on it's own with no topcoat.

Aqua Glitter has two sizes of glitter, a micro glitter then small hex glitter which appears to be a slightly darker blue to the micro glitter. The overall effect gives a more 3D look and is obviously super sparkly.

At one coat it would make a great topcoat to add some sparkle to another polish.

At three coats I was happy enough with the opacity to stop.

I think you'll agree this is a gorgeous polish.

It dried quickly but if you are like me and don't like the grainy glitter finish you will want a layer of topcoat or two.

I just love the colour and texture the two different sizes of glitter give and I can't wait to try it layered over some other polishes.

♥ A ♥

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 11 - Polka Dots

I am on Day 11 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge and Day 11 calls for Polka Dots.

I love polka dot nails.

They are so quick and easy to do and always look good. 

Plus it's such a versatile design it can never get boring!

For mine I used Essie Mint Candy Apple as my base colour then used my dotting tool with the largest round tip to make the white dots. The white I used is just a nameless white from a French Manicure kit I have.

Then I used GOSH Gold and a smaller dotting tool to do smaller dots in the center of the white ones.

So simple but pretty.

♥ A ♥

Barry M - Copper... An OPI Dupe?

Today I have Barry M Copper to show you all.

Copper is a beautiful and interesting polish.

From a distance it looks like a copper foil nail polish as expected, but up close you see so much more.

It has flecks of gold and rose pink glitter, which on the nail makes it flash a gold/pink duochorome, sometimes I swear I even see an olive green!

It's so pretty!

Application was good too, the consistency was thin but the photos show two coats without a topcoat so as you can see it was no problem.

Whilst applying I did have a slight feeling of deja vu.

So I went rummaging through my stash and pulled out my mini OPI Warm & Fozzie to do a comparison.

Deja vu indeed.

As you can see the differences are almost indiscernible.

The only slight differences I can see is the flecks in Warm & Fozzie being slightly larger maybe, and it could just be me but I think the OPI flashes more pink and the Barry M more gold.

But as far as I'm concerned it's a dupe and a rather good one at that!

♥ A ♥

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 10 - Gradient Nails

I have only done gradient nails once before. Seen here.

I did them by painting the base colour then sponging the tip colour on in layers.

It took me a whole Saturday afternoon, while the kids were out and MrGT was being entertained by his Xbox.

These afternoons are hard to come by in my house so when I saw day 10 was gradient nails I did consider doing a nice easy glitter gradient, but this is a challenge, and a glitter gradient is no longer a challenge for me.

Knowing it was going to take an age to do I had been putting it off and putting it off. 

Until I got my China Glaze Summer Neons Collection 2012 order through.

They were just asking to be a gradient nail.

(Please 'scuse the shoddy clean up attempt! I had the smallest dribble of acetone left!)

For this I applied two coats of white polish (Boots 17 Mini Skirt) then applied with a kitchen sponge I used CG Sun Kissed (yellow) Orange You Hot? (obviously orange) and Beach Cruise-R (purple) then topped it off with Seche Vite.

I actually painted the colours straight onto the sponge to get this affect, it was a bit messy but the gradient is much better than my first attempt and took a few minutes rather than hours!

If you would like me to have a go at a tutorial for the method I used let me know in the comments and I'll give that a go for you as I'm desperate to try the rest of the CG polishes I bought in a gradient and maybe even try a pastel gradient.

♥ A ♥

Barry M - Cappuccino

I've just got back from the doctors after having quite a nasty run in involving my right thumb and a taxi door last night.

I went for a meal round a friends house, jumped in a taxi home with my best friend but when I got out I managed to shut my thumb in the door. I quickly opened the door to free said thumb and walked over to my house only to look down and discover my thumb was bleeding quite heavily!

When I got inside I grabbed a towel to wrap round it, still laughing a joking with my friend about how I'm always telling my children to mind their fingers getting in and out the car and how I should follow my own advice. Then I think the shock wore off and I started to realise how much it was hurting. My friend had a look at it for me and suggested I didn't look until the bleeding stopped and she had cleaned it up a bit for me, then went off to the kitchen with MrGT to gather what was needed to clean it up a bit. I had to go lay down as I'd suddenly started to feel dizzy and sick from the pain, I really thought I was going to faint!

It was agony I tell you! And I've given birth to two babies over 8lb with just the aid of gas and air, my pain threshold is pretty high!

Anyway, It's looking pretty gruesome, I've split my nail across the bottom right over the Matrix and I have some nasty looking cuts around the nail fold. I've managed to get away with no bruising though and the doctor has given me antibiotics and said that I should be able to leave it to grow out rather than having the nail pulled off under anesthetic (was nearly sick again at the thought) which is a relief to say the least!

Now I'm just pissed off that I have seven of the China Glaze Neons and the new Barry M Glitters that I'm yet to try and I can't paint my nails!

Right, now I'm done grossing you all out I'll get on to what you are actually here for, nail polish!

Today I have Barry M Cappuccino.

Cappuccino is a purple taupe créme.

The photos show two coats with no top coat.

Look how beautifully glossy it is!

I found Cappuccino to be a little thin in consistency but it still applied easily and evenly.

It's the sort of shade I'd wear if I hadn't decided on an outfit yet because it would look good with almost anything.

I just love these sort of shades, they are so classy and flattering.

♥ A ♥

Barry M - Denim

Today I bring you another of Barry M newer shades Denim.

Denim is a mid-toned blue with teeny tiny flecks of silver glitter/shimmer.

Denim dries to a satin finish, not glossy but not entirely matte either.

Application was great, the photos show just one coat!

What I really like about Denim is the glitter/shimmer. It makes fot a rather unique and interesting shade without being in your face over the top.

It also looks lovely with a topcoat although for once I think I prefer the original finish!

Which do you prefer?

♥ A ♥