Barry M: Majesty

Hello all,

As you may know I have been doing a Barry M month this March, and as it's the last day on the month this is my last post of my self set theme.  I love Barry M and have really enjoyed using lots of my polishes that I hadn't got round to trying before now.

What better way to finish off than with the super sparkly Majesty from the Royal Glitter collection?

I think this might be my favourite of the Royal Glitters as a stand alone colour as it's so jazzy and fun!  Princess is a close second and I love pairing that one with Strawberry Ice Cream which you can see here.

Majesty is packed with champagne gold glitter.  The base is fully of tiny glitter specks and then has larger glitter particles to create a multi dimensional look to the polish and adds to the textured effect.  The polish dried to a slightly matte finish but I have added two coats of gloss topcoat over the top here.  The main reason for this is because the Royal Glitters are really textured so this helps to smooth it out slightly, whilst not losing the texture feeling completely.  I also love a bit of shine over glitter, although even when my gloss topcoat had dried the overall look isn't as shiny as you might expect.

Which is your favourite from the Royal Glitter collection? I wasn't sure about using a matte topcoat so I would love to see if you have. Leave me a link in the comments so I can see the different effect.  I hope you have enjoyed my Barry M month as much as I have! I'd love feedback to let me know your favourite post

Polish Party: Spring - Pastel Flowers

Hello all,

It's Polish Party time again! Yay! This month we have voted for spring as our theme.  This is a really great theme and I think there will be lots of different designs as there's so much that you can do for spring.

I decided to go with pastel flowers.

If you read my blog regularly you will know know that this March I am doing a Barry M month, using lots of the colours that I haven't had chance to use yet.

I started with a base of Blueberry Ice Cream on my thumb, index and ring finger.  Then on my middle finger and little finger I used a base of Strawberry Ice Cream.  I did two coats of my base colours and waited for the to dry.  To create the pink flowers I used a dotting tool dipped into Pink Flamingo.  I dotted the polish on my nail and then dragged the polish inwards and repeated this five times to create the full flowers.  To add more interest I added in some flowers at the edges of some nails.  I did the same for the blue flowers using Blueberry Ice Cream.

At this stage the flowers looked more like starfish, particularly the pink ones, so to finish them off I used my Barry M nail art pen in white.  I added a dot in the middle of each flower and white details on the petals.  For the final touch I added in tiny white dots over my background colours.

I'm so excited to see what the other girls do for their spring designs.  Don't forget to visit their blogs as well to see all their designs by clicking the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Barry M: Caramel with Dolly Mixture

Hello all,

This is just going to be a quick one today as this wasn't the manicure I had planned this week.  Just a note to you all, stamping with matte polish does not work!

After my ruined plans I decided to go for a fairly neutral combo as I was sulking a bit after my mini fail.  I used Caramel from the matte range for my base and topped it with Dolly Mixture from the Confetti range.

I really love the Confetti polishes as they add tiny flecks of colour to an otherwise plain manicure.  Dolly Mixture has a range of pastel flecks in it making it perfect for spring.  I used a glossy top coat over this which made my Caramel base slightly darker than it's true colour.  Overall I am not sure how I feel about this manicure.  I like it close up but from a distance it seems a bit lacking. Perhaps it's because it was a second choice, that I am not crazy about it, I don't know!  What do you think?

Barry M: Strawberry Ice Cream and Princess

Hello all,

Continuing my Barry M month I have Strawberry Ice Cream with Princess glitter today.

I had originally been planning a different design, but the sun was shining over the weekend which put me in the mood for this pretty spring combination.  Strawberry Ice Cream is such a pretty pink and is just perfect for spring.  It's very sheer with the first coat, but I have done two here.  The first one was a thin coat, the second was thicker and I think this gave the right amount of coverage.  To add a bit of sparkle to this I added a diagonal tip using Princess.  This is one of my Barry M colours that I haven't had a chance to use yet and wow is it pretty.  It's jam packed with loads of flecks of glitter in pink, silver, gold and black. 

I am loving the contrast of the smooth finish of the pink vs the texture of the glitter polish.  What do you think?  What spring colours have taken your fancy this week? Leave me a link in the comments so I can take a look and get some more spring inspiration

Models Own: Speckled Eggs* - Swatches and Comparison

Hello all,

I have a been lucky enough to get three of the new Speckled Eggs collection from Models Own to review (and a tube of yummy Mini Eggs - they didn't last long!).  This is a new collection of pastel shades perfect for spring, but with added black matte glitter particles in different sizes to give the speckled effect.  Now I don't know about you, but when these were first announced I wondered how similar the colours would be compared to other pastel shades from Models Own in the collections like Ice Cream Sundae and Fruit Pastels, so along with the swatched I got a bit of a comparison with the others where I have the corresponding colour.  Lets take a look shall we?

Left to right I have Goose,  Duck and Magpie.  Out of the three I have to say that Magpie is my favourite, so I'll leave that one to the end!

* Press sample - sent to me for review

Barry M: Passion Fruit and Crystal Glaze

Hello all,

I have decided that this March will be all about Barry M.  I have lots of pretty colours that I haven't had a chance to use yet, so I thought it would be the perfect excuse to try them all out.

How pretty is this Gelly?  I was very lucky to get this as a RAK from Rachel from The Imperfect 10.  I had been thinking about getting it for a while so it was such a perfect little pressie! Thanks Rachel.

The Barry M Gellys are super shiny and glossy, but to add to this I topped it off with Crystal Glaze and I am so glad I did as it adds just the right amount of shimmer to this manicure.  Crystal Glaze is full of iridescent flakes of glitter in a slightly pink base.  The flakes of glitter aren't overpowering but really catch the light nicely.  And it;s given me an idea for a design to try out next.

Which Gellys are your favourites? What other looks have you tried with Crystal Glaze? I'd love to take a look, so leave me a link in the comments and don't forget to stop by for the rest of Barry M-arch