New (and disappointing) Barry M Chameleon polish

Hi everyone,

So, I'm a little disappointed today. I popped into Superdrug earlier and was shocked to find the 'New Barry M Chameleon nail paints' as I hadn't seen much hype about them online - did I miss something?

I still hadn't bought anything to get my free 80's style polish so thought 'go on then, let's try this out', so picked up the pink (middle) and blue (right).

Oh my. I wish I hadn't bothered.

Unless I'm getting this completely wrong, this is what you're supposed to do:

I used the blue polish and the Barry M Basecoat, topcoat and hardener.. just to be safe!

Step one: Apply a basecoat - CHECK
Step two: Apply a coat of the 'Chameleon' polish of choice - CHECK
Step three: Wait for this to dry, then go crazy with your choice of topcoat (apparently any topcoat works although not sure how true this is?) and make pretty designs/patterns - CHE..wait, what :|

I was doing this quickly as I wasn't in a patient mood but wanted to try this out... Now, unless you have the steady hands of a surgeon, are amazingly talented with a small brush and/or have the patience of a saint, I'm not sure how this will work for you as it doesn't for me.

The colour of the blue is amazing BUT it's then ruined by this horrible, dull mauvey colour. Some of you may love it, but it really isn't my colour at all, especially not for this time of year. On top of that, you will probably need a stencil or some tape to create any design as most topcoat brushes are thick and not made for 'nail art'.

I'm also a little confused as to how you're supposed to seal your design in, as you can't pop a topcoat on to protect it. Since I didn't wait any longer than two minutes after painting, I can't tell you what the chipping is like but if it's like regular Barry M paint, i'm thinking you possibly have 2-3 days before it starts looking tatty.

I was so excited to try this but it's a big fat fail for Barry M in my book. I will still buy their regular paints but this for £3.99 isn't worth it in my book.

Have you tried any of these polishes yet & what do you think?

xxxx

Nails, nails, nails...

Hi everyone :]

Just thought i'd post quickly about a couple of things!

Today when I popped to Boots, I thought I would actually use the £5 No.7 voucher for once as Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter had recently shown a gorgeous glitter nail polish in her latest haul. As I'm not a massive fan of gold (and they didn't have any left), I decided to pick up the last silver one!

'Silver'

I'm sure it's from a special range... either way, I cannot wait to use it!

I also received this in the post today :] It's one of my latest eBay purchases and I think I only paid £3 for it, which is even better.

'Fly Away'

This looks a little sheer but we'll see... Maybe a NOTD?

More nails related news... I recently realised that you could search health & beauty products on mysupermarket.co.uk. Did anyone else know this? It's amazing!!!!

As you'll see, this compares products and prices between Boots, Superdrug and all (or most) UK supermarkets! I thought I'd have a quick nose at the 'nail' section and found that everything is on 3 for 2 which makes me a little more likely to try some Essie polish.

I'm not sure who is promoting the 3 for 2 offer, possibly Boots? Either way, my local store doesn't stock the 'big brands' so this is a great way to compare and find deals.

Hope you're all enjoying the weather :]

xxx

Nails Inc. Oxford Circus

Hiya,

Just a teeny nail polish post for you on a colour that I can't help but pay attention to. I got this as a sampler in one of the Feel Unique beauty boxes and gave it a pop. I completely love this colour, it's a ridonkulous, Nicki Minaj baby pink but I have to say it was an absolute PAIN to apply. The colour is so vivid that any minor errors are pretty noticeable and, being a sampler, the brush was smaller than usual which didn't offer much help. I'm really not a Nails Inc. girl, personally I view them as overpriced (£11 pounds people?) for the quality you get but there's no denying that this colour would be fantastic in spring and summer. You can buy this polish here. What are your thoughts? Have you used this polish?

Snowman nails

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post tonight about SNOWMAN NAILS!

They're not the best but I fancied something different and wanted to get into the festive spirit. This was inspired by Cutepolish. Let me know what you think :]

Blue 'snow' dots and a snowman.

The nose was super tricky!

One snowman really is better than the other - haha.

Nose isn't perfect up close *at all* but you get the general idea (sorry about the icky finger..got a sore dry bit at the moment :( but this was the better of the two)!

I know I don't have the best hands/nails ever but I thought i'd give it a go.

The polish I used:

Basecoat: Barry M basecoat - Clear

Base colour: elf - White

Snowman eyes/mouth: elf - Black

Snowman nose: Barry M - Peach Melba

Snow dots: Avon - Vintage Blue

Glitter on snow dots: Andrea Fulerton's 'Petrol in Water' glitter coat

Topcoat: Barry M topcoat - Clear

Hope you all enjoyed :] i'll be trying something different every week on the run up to Christmas!

xxxx

e.l.f ♥ Love or hate?

This morning I was so pleased to received my massive parcel of goodies from e.l.f but after opening the packaging and swatching, i'm not so sure.

I kept seeing e.l.f splashed over Youtube and figured maybe I should start wearing makeup properly again, so why not start with a brand everyone loves? That's when I realised pretty much 98% of makeup on their website it only £1.50 - BARGAIN...Right?

So, £32.00 later, lots of pictures and my first impressions...

Nail Polish

First impressions: I think they'll need a couple of coats as they don't look very pigmented.

L-R: Metal Madness, Nude.

L-R: Gum Pink, Blush.

Matte Finisher - Clear.

L-R: Metal Madness, Nude, Gum Pink & Blush.

Concealer, Eyeliner, Primers & Eyeshadows 

First impressions: The colours look natural/nude, so hopefully i'll like them once they're on.

Tone Correcting Concealer in Ivory

Liquid Eyeshadows in Cream Dream and Sultry Satin. Cream Dream arrived dry and isn't useable :[

Eyelid primers in Pearl, Sheer and Champagne.

L-R clockwise: Ivory concealer, Champagne primer, Sheer primer, Pearl primer and Sultry Satin eyeshadow.

Brightening Eye Colour in Ethereal

As far as i'm aware, each colour doesn't have a name but you get the general idea.

Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black

Swatch of the eyeliner, not very pigmented.

 Other bits & pieces

These are mostly tools and random bits :]

First impressions: The quality doesn't seem too bad, but i'll have to really try them before I can comment.

Blending Eye Brush

Balm in Vanilla Creme

Cuticle Pushers x 2

Nail buffer :] looking forward to using this!

Last item, Zit Zapper.. apparently this is good, so bring on the spots!

  

Overall thoughts?

For products that are £1.50 each, they're not that bad but I think I was expecting something different. All I can do now is try them out and see how I get on!

Has anyone else used e.l.f before? If you have, what were your experiences like? Please let me know!

xxxx

Barry M Nail Paints

Hello lovely people :)

Here's a little review to show you all the Barry M Nail Paints I own, as out of my whole nail polish collection these are the most reliable colours I have and always turn to. They're easy to apply and so long lasting. After years of biting my nails to next to nothing, I’ve finally grown them to a healthy length so these are my rewards for doing so! Hope you enjoy.

(310 Mushroom / 290 Spring Green / 66 Matt White / 307 Lemon Ice Cream)

                   

(262 Bright Red / 291 Cobalt Blue / 292 Navy / 294 Cyan Blue)

( 289 Gold / 244 Hologram Hexograms / 316 Nail Effects White / 311 Nail Effects Black)

As you can see in the bottom picture, the 'Hologram' polish is clear with large glitter, this can be applied on it's own as shown but also looks great over colour (I'd recommend black). The two nail effects featured are over red varnish, and after a few experiments with these I've found they need to be painted over another polish, and won't crackle when directly placed on the nail.

All of these products are available from the Barry M website, or alternatively from Boots and Superdrug in the UK. The regular colours retail at £2.99, while the nail effects sell for £3.99. If you order with Barry M by Friday 7th October you can receive 20% off all products with the discount code 'DISCOUNT'! I have a serious love affair with this brand so if you are already a fan or just fancy exploring something new, I'd forever recommend them.

Two other products I used today are Rimmel 5-in-1 Base and Top Coat (available here), as well as Avon's Liquid Freeze.

The Rimmel varnish is the best base/top coat I've come across as it goes a long way and provides the protection I look for. Rimmel claims the varnish provides "smoother, stronger, longer, more moisturised and shinier nails" - personally, I haven't noted a huge change myself so I can't support that claim, but it does the job that I bought it for which is to stop chipping and provide shine. 

Avon's Liquid Freeze comes in the form of a liquid in a spray bottle, which, after applying your polish, you spray directly onto the nail for to speed up the drying process. I work for Avon myself, and when I purchased this I was a little skeptical, but as someone who forever smudges their nails after hours of patient concentration, I thought I'd give it a go. Much to my surprise it's a fab product and dries my nails within about 10 seconds. Unfortunately this product has sadly been discontinued from Avon so cannot be bought directly from them, but is available through Ebay if you fancy one for yourself :)

Hope you've all had a great day!

xxx