NOTD: Birds in the Sky

Late last night, I had a sudden nail art idea. I wanted to try out some more of my Skin Art Nail Tattoos and thought up a cute idea, using the bird tattoos and some old nail polishes that I haven't used in a while, Barry M's Blueberry Ice Cream and 17's Mini Skirt.

This is such a simple, yet great nail art design to do.

Firstly, apply the blue base, I used Barry M's Blueberry Ice Cream (which is the same colour as my car! Pretty cool.).

Once the base is dry, get a small piece of sponge, I tore a little piece off a bath sponge that I bought especially for nail art. Paint the white polish on to the sponge, I used 17's (now known as Seventeen) Mini Skirt. Then simply dab the sponge over the nails.

When the white has dried, clear up any mess around the nails. I used a cotton bud with a little nail polish remover to clear up the white that had gone beyond my nails.

Next, apply the birds. (If you have patience and a steady hand, you can create birds using nail polish or a nail art pen!). I used Skin Art's Nail Tattoos, which were in my goodie bag from the #NorthMeetUp. I used my tweezers to pick the tattoos from the backing sheet, then applied them to my nails, pressing firmly to secure.

Finally, apply a top coat to finish and seal. I used Barry M's All in One.

I found that the top coat improved the look of the sponged white polish, giving it a smoother, more cloud-like look.

Here's what the clouds looked like before applying a top coat.

and here's everything I used:

I'm really impressed with how well this nail art came out and I love Skin Art's Nail Tattoos! I have many more to use, so expect to see more nail art very soon.

xXx

Disclaimer: The Skin Art Nail Tattoos were in the goodie bag from the #NorthMeetUp. Everything else was purchased by me.

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint 'Greenberry'

In my last blog post, I reviewed one of my 2 new Barry M nail polishes, Atlantic Road Textured Nail Paint and now I bring you the second polish, Greenberry Gelly Nail Paint.

Greenberry is one of 4 new Gelly shades, all four of which are perfect spring/summer shades, just like the new Textured Nail Paints.

2 coats, fantastic application and a lovely smooth glossy finish.

I am IN LOVE with this shade. Seriously, it is the most beautiful green/turquoise! Bring on the summer!

I already have one polish from the first collection of Gelly Nail Paints, Pomegranate, which I got when they first came out. I'm not overly fussed on the shade and wish I'd got a different one but again, as with this one, it is a great product.

I love the 4 new shades, they are gorgeous. Dragon Fruit (Pink), Papaya (Coral), Lychee (Nude) and Greenberry (green).

I originally planned to buy Lychee but when I saw Greenberry in store, I had to have it! I will most probably buy Lychee very soon. Dragon Fruit is lovely but I have many pink polishes and rarely wear pink. Papaya is pretty but looks quite like a couple of polishes that I already have (H&M Minnie Mouse and No7 Spice look similar).

There are still a couple of shades that I would like from the old Gelly collection too.

Really, if I had the money, I would buy every Barry M nail polish (and pretty much every other Barry M product...). Oh, a girl can dream!

Boots currently have an offer of buy 2 save £1, so I got both for £6.98.

Barry M's new Gelly and Textured Nail Paints are available now in Boots, Superdrug and online at www.barrym.com

Have you tried the new Barry M Gelly polishes?

To add to these 2 new polishes and my growing collection/obsession...yesterday evening I went to Merry Hill, as I was bored so decided to browse shops...I ended up making a few purchases and 2 of those being more nail polishes. Oh dear! Keep tuned for reviews on those very soon :)

xXx

Barry M Textured Nail Paint 'Atlantic Road'

When I heard that Barry M were releasing some textured nail polishes, I was very excited! I love that Barry M are always thinking of and bringing out new products. Barry M is a brand that I have loved for so long, their products are always great and their prices remain cheap!

I almost purchased one of Nails Inc's Concrete nail polishes during my Boxing Day spree in Liverpool but did not want to part with that much money on a product that I may not like, so Barry M is a great alternative.

Barry M Textured Nail Paints were released in Superdrug last week (13th Feb) and in Boots yesterday (20th Feb) - so I made a lunch break trip to Boots, of course!

The shades are great for summer, with Atlantic Road (blue - as in this review), Ridley Road (mint green), Kingsland Road (light pink) and Station Road (yellow).
The names come from famous haunts where Mr Barry Mero began his early working days in the markets of South and East London - what a great idea.

Originally, I planned to get Ridley Road, but in store, Atlantic Road stood out more. I like Kingsland Road but I have so many pink polishes and rarely wear pink. Station Road, I tried to find cool but it just isn't working for me. It's a very umm shade. I'm not sure if I like it or not really. Yellow nail polish...

The shades remind me of Barry M's Ice Cream collection.

Application was easy. I used 3 coats. 2 coats was good, but the third coat added that extra bit of texture.

At first I was not overly blown away, I painted my nails last night and only did 2 coats to begin with...but once adding a third coat this morning and seeing the polish in the daylight, I LOVE IT!

What I did notice (which you can see in my last photo) is that the third coat that I did last night (thumb nail) doesn't look as textured as the other nails (that I painted today). I think that the start of the polish isn't great but once you have used it a little, it is more gritty/textured. Perfect!

The polish has a glossy finish, which seems weird with a textured, rather gritty polish but it works and really adds something.

When I say gritty, don't think this leaves nails rough, it doesn't. It leaves a very soft gritty texture on the nails.

You know a nail polish is good when a stranger compliments it! The salad girl in Subway today noticed them through the glass and said she loved the shade and asked what it is.

This really is a fantastic polish.

(Note - I haven't tried removing it yet...)

I may have to purchase some of the other shades...

I have bought a fair few nail polishes already this year but hey, a girl can never have TOO many nail polishes :)

Barry M Textured Nail Paints are available in Boots, Superdrug and online at www.barrym.com

I purchased mine from Boots, they have a deal on, save £1 when you buy 2 Barry M Nail Paints.

I'll be blogging about my other new Barry M polish in the next couple of days. It's one of the new Gelly shades :)

Have you tried textured nail polish?

What do you think of textured nails?

In other, non-nail related news, I have booked a night in a hotel in Edinburgh! Yay :) 4 weeks time, I'll finally be venturing in to Scotland! Exciting times. I have so many adventures planned over the next month, I can't wait.

xXx

Festive Nails No.4 - Barry M LE Christmas Glitter

Barry M Cosmetics Limited Edition 'Christmas Glitter' Nail Paint

- free when you spend £6 or more on any other Barry M products in Superdrug! GO GETCHA SOME!

When I first heard about this polish, I was so excited and couldn't wait for it's release. Then, I couldn't find any, horror.

This Christmas, Barry M have brought out 4 Limited Edition nail paints - 2 in Superdrug and 2 in Boots. This one is available in Superdrug, along with 'Christmas Blue', while Boots have 'Christmas Pink' (which I have also picked up) and 'Christmas Gold'. All are available as freebies (1 per customer), when spending £6 or more on any other Barry M products. I picked up a lipstick for my friend and an eyeliner for my mum, both for Christmas, then got myself the nail polish FREE :) The eyeliner I got for mum is the Bold Waterproof Eyeliner in 'Black', as I swear by the stuff and mum is always asking "What eyeliner do you use?". It's great!

I love this polish, just 1 coat used over 17 'Garnet' (mentioned in my last Festive Nail post).

And I love the cute coloured metallic lids, because simple things...

I've now removed this nail polish, ready for my next nail look. I'm thinking I'll have a day off festive nails and do some cute fimo, even though it's getting late now. Shower time with Lush and Soap & Glory, then I may have some fimo fun and watch a DVD. What DVD though? Decisions.

Oh yeah, I'm currently listening to Kids in Glass Houses 'Secret Santa', for the 5th (maybe 6th or 7th...) time tonight - I'm cool.

If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen. It's such an uplifting Christmas song and not the usually cringey bs. Watch the video too, it'll make you smile and feel all Christmassy ;-) Last night's Radio 1 Review Show was totally taken over on Twitter by KIGH fans tweeting like crazy for Secret Santa to be played, as Aled was on the show. So much love for this song and band. They don't get the recognition they deserve.

xXx

New Barry M Nail Paints: Web Effects, Amethyst Glitter and Pomegranate Gelly

Today I walked up to town on my lunch break, in search of new Barry M Cosmetics nail polishes, out today. Surprisingly, my local Superdrug had EVERYTHING IN! Spoilt for choice.

For today, I just bought 3 nail polishes, Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in GNP 9 Pomegranate (235), Jewel Glitter Nail Paint in Amethyst Glitter (354) and Limited Web Effects (239).

There is currently an offer on in Superdrug, free Croc or Web Effects with any 2 Barry M purchases. I picked up Limited Web Effects as the free polish. This is one that I didn't even know about, so it was exciting to find it and I was excited to try!

I have tried all the polishes tonight (especially to share on here! Dedication, haha!), below are some reviews and photos.

Limited Web Effects (free with any 2 Barry M products)

Sadly, this is very disappointing.

I used this over Barry M Black Nail Paint, as it was the obvious choice and combination that would look good. Barry M Black Nail Paint is the best black nail polish I have ever tried, btw :)

The polish is very thin and goes on really light coloured.

The effect is more Crackle than Web. To be honest, I don't see any webbing in there!

I would not buy this.

It was free, so I am ok with that. Not sure I'll use it again though.

I tried a second coat, which made it more orange, yet still did not 'web'.

This is the only Barry M product that I have ever been disappointed in, I believe! Well, except for Acid Yellow Nail Paint, as I just did not like the stuff!

Have you tried this?

If you have tried this, I'd love to know how you found it.

Pomegranate Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint

I really could not choose what shade to buy, they all looked nice. There are some dark, autumn shades and some light summery shades. I originally picked up the blue one but put it back, as I have a similar polish at home. So I got Pomegranate, though I don't usually wear pinkish polishes. I do wish I chose a different colour, just because this shade isn't really 'me'.

However, review of the polish...

I like these, very glossy and just one coat required.

Jewel Amethyst Glitter

Well, it is glitter-full and just amazing.

If you have read my blog for a while, you will know that I LOVE glitter and glitter polishes, I own a lot!

There are a bunch of new glitter polishes out now. Too many for me to cope with! I stood there today like 'Oh wow. Oh my. Where do I start?!'. I could have easily bought every single one! However, Amethyst Glitter immediately caught my eye, so I picked this.

Lots of colours of glitter in this polish, it's just beautiful!

I've only done one nail at the moment, as I'm sporting Pomegranate Gelly for tonight and tomorrow.

I used 2 coats for this, though one provides really good coverage for a glitter polish.

I'll do a proper review post of this when I get round to using it on all my nails :)

The new Barry M Nail Paints are available from today (26th September 2012), in Superdrug and from October 3rd in Boots.

Also available online at www.barrym.com

There is also the new Blink Precision Eyeliner Pen out today.

and coming soon - new Ultra Moisturising Lip Paints - which I shall be buying!

Have you tried any of Barry M's new Nail Paints yet??

Any recommendations?

xXx

Nail Art: Fruity Fimo Fun

Tonight I decided to finally try out the fimo that I have had since July!

Fruity fimo fun :)

I used orange, lemon and lime (though the photo doesn't display the true colours).

This literally took me a few minutes.

How to:

- Finely slice fimo cane

- Paint nails

- Lick finger to pick up fimo slice

- Place slice on to wet nail

- Hold down

- Apply top coat

What I used:

- Fimo cane slices

- Jack Wills 'Electric Pink' polish

- No7 'Spice' polish (Limited Edition Spring 2011 collection)
- Barry M 'All in One' as a topcoat/sealant

 

I have a set of fimo canes which my sister bought me for my birthday.

50 designs, wowee! Going to have fun with these.

There are even Hello Kitty's in there!

Donna bought mine from Amazon.

Have you tried fimo nails before?

xXx

Hauling - More Shoes and More Nail Polish

So, I went hauling yesterday...

I got 6 nail polishes, not like I don't have millions of polishes but hey, a girl can never have TOO many nail polishes, right?

GOSH £4.99 each (3 for 2), Barry M Magnetics £4.99 (2 for £8), Burgundy Croc Effect £3.99
All Superdrug

Nail Art Set £1, Asda

£12, Primark. How amazing? I know every blogger will have these but I love them, very 'me'.

Love the mini spikes.

 So, 6 more nail polishes to add to my mahoosive collection.  I really need to get them all together, tidy and count them!

GOSH Holographic Hero is now available in Superdrug.  There's a 3 for 2 offer on GOSH, so I got 2 HH and Galaxy polish.  I have the original Hologram polish by GOSH but just had to get the new one, though it doesn't look as good on photos that I have seen online.  I will review it when I get round to trying mine.

Whilst I'm on the subject of nail polish, an addicts dream...

Models Own have just Tweeted about their new Mirrorball collection and OMAG...

AMAZEBALLS.

Check these out!

Photo from Models Own Twitter

Taken from Models Own Facebook Page:

NEW! The MIRRORBALL Collection, a completely unique glide-on glitter that will revitalise your entire polish collection! Wear alone or over your favourite colour polish to give a frosting finish, taking nails from boring to BLING! Each polish contains five different chunky colours of hand-cut glitter that are guaranteed to get the party started: Disco Inferno, a glittery gold disco bomb; Hot Stuff, an intoxicating mix of pink and gold sparkles; Freak Out, a crystal shimmer mix of bold blue and purple; Dancing Queen, fabulous flecks of emerald, blue and gold; Boogie Nights, a multicoloured mix of intriguing purple, pink and blue! The Mirrorball Collection launches (with LIMITED EDITION metallic coloured caps!) exclusively at the Models Own Bottleshop on Thursday, September 6th, on the Models Own website from Monday, September 10th and in Boots stores nationwide from Wednesday, October 3rd

I NEED THEM ALL.

Any more nail polish addicts out there?

Will you be rushing to buy Mirrorball polishes?

In other news, it's BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!

I booked today off, so I have 4 beautiful days off, yay!

I was debating going to London today but didn't.  I went to town instead.  Then I decided I will drive to Manchester to stay over with my friend at her uni hall tonight but she is unwell, so looks like I'm not going, boo!

Hope you all have a great weekend :)

xXx

Gaga Style Talon/Claw Nails

How about these for fierce nails?

Lady Gaga would be proud.

Yep, these are my real talons.

You need pretty long nails to do this.

Mine had grown so long...

I was going to mattify my new claws but sadly, my matte topcoat is missing somewhere in my bedroom...

So, I spotted my GOSH Gemstone Overcoat and decided to paint the tips.

GOSH Gemstone is a fab polish which adds various sized specks which shimmer between gold, bronze and green. Gorgeous.

I must warn you - These nails can be very sharp.

Hazard warning!

Now, here's the sad part...

I now have to cut my claws off :(

The reason?

My right hand nails seem to have suffered recently, whilst the left nails grew to monumental lengths, the right currently look like this:

 

Too short to clawify :(

Plus the thumb nail is splitting at the line.

Damn it.

Anyway, here's what I used to create my claws:

 

Barry M '47' Black Nail Paint is one of my favourite of my whole collection, I love black nails.

What do you think?

Have you ever tried this?

xXx