Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, Magnetic and Web Effect Review

This evening I have frantically been wrapping up items I've sold on ebay. I have terrible hoarding tendencies and so from time to time, having a good purge makes me feel a little bit better! I like thinking that things I don't want yet hold on to, neglecting them, can go to a better home where they will actually be used/worn with a bit of love and care. I will ship these out tomorrow after work along with finding a present for a belated birthday like the terrible sister-in-law that I am...

This will be a three in one review of the nail polishes I showed you a few days ago. I've had time to try them all out now so can offer you my verdict. First up is the magnetic nail paint in Magnetic Sparkle Gold.

 Love this, just LOVE it. I've recently found a whole new love for glittery sparkly nails which, after childhood, I didn't think would happen again, yet here we are...

This is also available in red stripes which I think would look very festive for when the big C word comes around which I won't say now because it's still October! I'm sure you're all over the hype of magnetic nails now but I'm still keen on it. I don't think it's been done to death like certain nail crazes, aka shatter effect nails. Which brings me on to...

Web Effects nail paint? Not really Barry M. It's a croc effect at best. It's OK, as long as you do it over a light colour which might I add MUST not be dry when you do it! Over black, which I thought would be cool for Halloween, it looks horrendous, but here I did it over gold and it looks OK. I can't really say much more about it because I'm just a bit let down by Barry M here. I suppose I could rock this look on Halloween, and when it's passed, this can be my giraffe nail look.

And finally, Gelly Hi-Shine, oooh the Gelly's! I was quite excited about this range. I wanted a pastel purple and do really like this soft lavender shade called Prickly Pear. It is ridiculously shiny too so it lives up to its name. Apart from this one, the colours in the range aren't anything I don't really already have some variation of, apart from maybe the tealy type colour. My main criticism however, is not the limited choice of shades, but in the Hi-Shine on this polish. I don't really think it's worth marketing it as a new effect and selling it for £1 more than the regular nail paints. The overall effect isn't anything you couldn't recreate with a decent top coat which I tend to put on over my nail polish anyway. The only benefit I could see is that you can get away with just two coats of this and no top coat which I would find quite handy if I was going away and didn't want to pack lots of bottles of nail polish. Apart from that, I'm happy sticking with topcoat!

Recent Beauty Buys: Lush, GOSH, Sleek Paraguaya Palette

Here's a few of my recent beauty buys. I wanted to try this bubble bar from Lush called Dorothy. It smelt rather lovely, and sent my bath water a rather rainbowy shade! I also got one of the mother's day flower bath ballistics which I sent to my Mum. I didn't realise it at the time but they are not a new scent, they have used 3 other bath ballistics ingredients, so this one was Space Girl. It came with some seeds that you can plant and grow your own wild flowers, quite a sweet little extra I thought. I got another pair of my favourite lashes which are by Eyelure, I always go for the lengthening ones as I think they make the most impact without looking obviously fake. These are number 050. I also wanted to try another Maybelline mascara as I got on really well with the Falsies mascara and this is equally as good. If I put this one over a coat of the Falsies it actually gives me a false lash effect! This is a really great mascara for thickening your lashes but separating them at the same time, hence the name One-by-one. The wand is very similar to Loreal's Million lashes mascara but this has a lot more impact, I would use the Loreal Million lashes for everyday use if you want a really low-key look. Also in the picture are the GOSH nail polishes I picked up on Superdrug's 3 for 2 offer, they are FABULOUS...more about those below.This palette is Sleek's latest offering, part of their avoir la peche collection which is limited edition. I thought it looked nice for Spring/Summer as they are quite cheery colours. It also has a few shades in there you can use to create a smokey peach eye. I think the peach/orangey pink shades are gorgeous colours in their own right and I won't neccessarily reserve them for eye shadows as I think some would make amazing blush shades, making this palette a perfect multi-use travel kit!Finally the nail polishes, LOVE these! I always tend to buy colours that look good together when I buy 3 for 2's which is silly on nail polishes as I won't wear them all at the same time! This one is called Groovy Grey which is a rather distinctive light beigey grey. I have a couple of grey colours, but they're both quite dark in comparison, it's nice to find a shade like this.Miss Sweety is a very gorgeous girly pink. It does in some lights appear to blend in with my skin so I would recommend it more for a paler skinned person or someone more tanned and olive than myself! It's still a gorgeous shade though and clashing doesn't put me off wearing something if I like it! I think this may be my go-to shade for work after Easter. Finally this is Lavendar Love, and I am pretty much IN love with this. It's a cool, blue based lavendar. It's bright enough for Spring and Summer without screaming neon at you. I can't compare it to any other shade I've seen it's just lush. The consistency of all these polishes is fantastic too, en par with Barry M for there chipping quality, you can get a good 3 days with these chip free, unless you're playing frisbee in the sun like I was when I wore Miss Sweety, dang my frisbee catching skills! They are all also very glossy, Miss Sweety has an incredible shine on it which I couldn't stop looking at in the sunlight, so glossy! This is my first experience of GOSH polishes and I will definetely be buying more of them, not sure why I always overlooked them because they have some quite impressive shades to choose from, they just never really grabbed me before, I don't think it helps that the stand often appears dirtied with makeup, Superdrug seem to be on top of this now so these are in my good books. Have you purchased any of the GOSH polishes? Let me know your faves!

Revlon 3 for 2

I picked up three items by Revlon recently, they are still currently on an offer of 3 for 2 which is always worth taking advantage of. I have to say Revlon is not a brand I spend a lot of time looking at, I've tried a few of their products but always find the choice of colours a little uninspiring and a little overpriced for what they are. Having said that, I think recently they've released much more appealing products, in more fashionable colours so I felt compelled to give them another chance. I'm glad to say I've not been disappointed. I purchased Coral Reef lipgloss which is a gorgeous vibrant coral colour. It was difficult to get an accurate photograph of the gloss, I feel like it's considerably brighter than this in real life. I like the way this product applies, although if you have dry lips you will really need to use a lip balm first as I've noticed the colour concentrates more in the cracks, and I didn't really notice any cracks before I put this on! I don't get this with any other lip gloss I own, but I think that's because this is more pigmented than other glosses. I'd say it's pigmented enough to wear on its own but I recently purchased a coral lipstick I could pair this with which I think will give a great pop of coral. I'd probably wear this as more of a statement lip with a neutral eye. Coral isn't as bright and noticeable as a hot pink or classic red lip, but it's still quite a statement. I love how coral really brightens your face up, and warms your complexion, I think it's a colour that would suit everyone, and is just so perfect for summer.

So much so...I obviously had to buy Tropical Temptation too! The gloss actually looks the same shade as this in the tube but obviously it didn't turn out that bright. This is the perfect shade of coral nail varnish I have ever seen. It's verging on neon in some lights, but not enough to look silly. It's just a beautiful, vivid colour that will perk your fingers and toes up, and make you look summery, with or without a tan. I'm also super impressed at the quality of Revlon nail polishes as this is my first experience of them. I used three coats in the picture above, I had two coats on for about 2-3 days, then decided to top it up with a third coat. It wasn't majorly streaky, but I just felt a third coat would show it's true colour as I hadn't applied my first two coats very liberally. I was surprised that two coats lasted as long as they did, a third should mean I get another couple of days out of them.

So the freebie, was this: the infamous Minted. Why oh why did I wait til now to buy?! I love it! I bought it because I had on outfit I wanted my nails to match with that was a mint green colour, The top was lighter than this shade, but this was the closest I could find, and it complimented it really nicely. I had wanted Barry M's mint green for a while, which is a little darker than this, but this is far nicer in my opinion and would suit a lot more people's skin tones. It's a quirky colour, but the fact that it's still quite light makes it more wearable and not too "out-there! It's a lovely creamy consistency, equally as long lasting as Tropical Temptation, and the picture below is with two coats applied.

The lipgloss is priced at just under £7 I believe, and the nail polishes just over £6, I can't remember the exact amount. The nail polishes may seem overpriced for a drugstore brand, but I actually think it's not too bad since they are a good sized bottle. They are worth buying if there is a specific colour you really like, or use a lot of.

Yves Saint Laurent La Laque Review

I spotted these gorgeous nail lacquers in TK Maxx and was instantly drawn to them, not just for the colours but the amazing price tag. A box of three with a retail worth of £45 being sold for just £16.99! I don’t own any makeup by Yves Saint Laurent but have for some time been keen to try it out. Nail polish is always a good place to start and I liked all the colours that were part of this bundle. There is: number 28 – Starry Rose, number 37 – Dark Blue, and number 38 – Moonlight White.

(without flash)

(with flash)

I spotted the dark blue first and fell in love with the colour, it’s perfect for this time of year, a very deep blue which looks almost black, it’s only when you take the brush out of the bottle you can tell it’s really blue. Starry Rose is a very easy to wear pink, with a touch of glamour with the glitter particles which makes this a nice choice for wearing to go out. In the picture below I am wearing Moonlight White. I used to own a shade very similar to this years ago but failed to replace once I’d used it up. In the bottle it appears white, with a blue shimmer when you move it around. On your nails, the blue really comes out, as does a pink undertone, the overall effect is a pearl finish. It’s very flattering and suitable for any occasion, it makes a nice change to your typical white tipped manicure. The pictures are both taken in natural light.I would highly recommend any of these nail polishes, they dry very quickly, and after three days of wear have shown no signs of chipping. They do give off quite a strong odour when you’re painting your nails, which I guess is the price paid for the quality of the varnish, just make sure you’re in a well ventilated room would be my advice! I’m not sure I’d be willing to pay their RRP of £16 a piece, but for three, I’m very happy. You can look at all the shades available here:
http://www.yslbeautyus.com/make-up-nails/c38_53/p184/la-laque-long-lasting-nail-lacquer/product_info.html
and see that there are many classic shades to choose from. I have my eye on number 1 – sublime red. Has anyone else been impressed by La Laque?

Make-up product of the month

Product of the month for April has to be this new nail polish by Bourjois. This is shade 31 which is called Bleu Violet. A bit of French we can all translate as purple blue which is exactly how to describe this shade, it's not quite purple, not quite blue. It's a gorgeous colour and when I went to pick mine up from Boots it was the last one available, so clearly a popular choice.

Excuse the chipping in the picture, but these are painted nails a day old. For me this a little soon to begin chipping, especially as the varnish is advertised as having lasting hold up to 7 days. I would recommend putting on a thin layer of top coat to make your nails last longer. I opted out of using one this time because the So Laque! range is very shiny so there didn't seem much need for a top coat, but it would be useful just to get extra wear from it. Here I've used two coats of the varnish which is expected from most varnishes and this is definitely enough coverage.

So this is a new shade for spring and I think it will see me through the summer months too as it's much bolder and brighter than the darker shades I tend to wear in autumn/winter. It's described on one fashion website as being "electric", which I think is a perfect term for it and it ties in with the latest neon trend. Great for summer nights with a clashing colour summer dress, experimenting with nail colour is an ideal way to try out trends you might not want to extend to your face make-up.