Manicure Monday: Barry M Limited Edition Boots Summer 2016 Nail Polish

Here we go again, Barry M putting out yet another new range of polishes, not that I'm complaining! They're releasing so many polishes that I literally cannot keep up, I had no idea these were coming so it was a complete surprise to see them sitting there on the shelves of Boots in all their peachy/nudey goodness.




There are actually four new summer 2016 polishes in the range, two of which are exclusive to Boots and two are exclusive to Superdrug. I definitely think Boots got the better of the two shades. Beachy Keen is a dark nude colour but Golden Sands is the showstopper as it is such a lovely peach shade with a hint of gold shimmer.

These aren't your typical summer colours. When you think of summer polishes you think of the ones I featured last week from Orly, brightly coloured and very out there but these polishes are the complete opposite, yet they've still got a lovely summery vibe.



Beachy Keen applies like a dream as most Barry M polishes do. It has a lovely glossy finish too, while Golden Sands dries matte. You need a couple of layers to build up a nice finish and so you can't see the nail underneath but the finished look is so, so pretty and it catches the light really well. Individually both polishes are gorgeous but together they work so well. They're the perfect alternative summer shades too, ideal if you're going bright with your outfit or bikini and want something a bit more subtle for your nails.

Have you tried the new Barry M Limited Edition Boots Summer 2016 Nail Polish? Let me know in the comments.

Manicure Monday: Barry M Molten Metals

Firstly, a very happy Bank Holiday Monday to you! I hope you're enjoying a relaxing morning!

I am so, so in love with the latest release from Barry M. The brand has tackled metal style polishes in the past with the foil effects polishes but these are definitely a couple of steps up! The range consists of four polishes, a copper, bronze, silver and a gold.

I just had to go for Bronze Bae and Copper Mine, which are both perfect if you want to introduce the bronze/copper trend to your nails as it's a trend that is definitely not going away anytime soon. These polishes are not just plain old metal looking shades, they come with a foil, almost speckled glittery finish, which catches the light so well.

As per usual they applied really nicely. I'm a big fan of the Barry M nail polishe brushes these days, they coat the nails so easily and you can even get away with just one coat of each shade or you can add more to build up the finish. In the photos above I used two coats of polish and I'm really happy with how they look. I found the Bronze Bae shade came out a little lighter than expected but it's still absolutely dreamy looking and don't get me started on Copper Mine, it's just the perfect copper nail polish and I absolutely love it.


The polishes dried super quickly and although they have a glittery/speckled finish, they aren't rough to the touch, which I was expecting. They have a lovely glossy finish too, you could add a top coat if you want but I found there was really no need.

What I'm most impressed with is the staying power of these polishes. I've been wearing them for just under a week and there is still only very minimal chipping. Some nails have no chipping at all. It's quite a contrast to last week's post where the £6 Topshop nail polish chipped within one day. Barry M is a fraction of the price and lasts twice as long so I know which brand I'll be sticking to in the future. You just cannot go wrong with Barry M.

Have you tried the new Barry M Molten Metals polishes? Let me know in the comments.

Manicure Monday: Barry M Speedy Spring Collection

Back in the autumn I wrote about Barry M's Speedy Quick Dry Autumn Nail Shades and I had nothing but good things to say about them so I was thrilled when I spotted a new spring range in the same speedy drying formula.

The shades in the collection are not too far from the ones in the Gelly Spring Collection so you could buy either range and be happy, however, as a beauty blogger I just had to get both ranges and give them a thorough testing.

The Speedy Quick Dry range includes the shades 'In a Flash', which is a very pretty pink, 'Personal Best', which is a soft purple/lavender shade, 'Winning Streak', which is a creamy nude and 'Freestyle', which is a soft pink. All of them are super pretty and feminine as well as being the perfect shades for spring.

I found 'In a Flash' and 'Winning Streak' to both be a bit thin and streaky on application, which meant I needed quite a few more layers to get a good finish. This didn't effect the drying time though as all of the polishes dried in super quick time, more than living up to their namesake.

I was super impressed with these four polishes. I painted my nails on a Sunday and they were still chip free on the following Thursday and even on the Friday/Saturday there was still only very minimal chipping so they lasted really well. I thought because a couple of them needed more layers it meant they would chip easier but that definitely wasn't the case.

Have you tried the Barry M Speedy Spring Collection? Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Manicure Monday: Barry M Nail Care Range

Last week's Manicure Monday post, featuring Barry M's new Gelly Spring Collection, went down a treat with you guys so I'm pretty pleased to be bringing you another range from the budget highstreet brand this week. If you've had your head under a rock then you might have missed the release of the new Nail Care range from Barry M. It's a collection of four polishes that aim to have your nails looking in top condition in no time.

Each polish is £3.99 each, but I'm sure they will be on sale/offer in Boots and Superdrug so you can pick up the whole collection at a more purse friendly price. Included in the range is the Super Mani 7-in-1 Treatment, which is a twice weekly basecoat and treatment that aims to encourage growth, strengthen with Keratin, nourish with Argan Oils, promote shine, hydrate with Vitamin E, smooth the nail surface and protect from breakage. If you only buy one of the polishes from the range I would encourage you to get this one because it pretty much does everything you need. I have seen great improvement in my nails since using this polish, after only two to three weeks of use my nails aren't breaking nearly as much as they were before and they definitely feel smoother, when previously they were prone to flaking a fair bit.

Also in the collection is the Iron Mani, which is a nail hardener, working to strengthen, smooth and protect nails from breakage. It does a lot of similar things to the Super Mani but is much more targetted to strengthening, so a great one if you're nails are particularly weak.

Lastly are two polishes, Mani Masks, which camouflage, colour and condition. These two polishes are perfect for when you want to give your nails a little break from vibrant colours. They come in two shades 'Bashful', which is a light pink and 'Birthday Suit', which is a more creamy nude. Using these mean you can have your nails painted without them looking painted as the finish is very natural looking. They give the nails a nice, just manicured look and they're perfect if you're not allowed nail polish at work or at school.

Overall this is a great budget nail care range. You can really pay through the nose for some nail care products but this range has pretty much everything you need. You could even pick up the Super Mani treatment and that would be more than enough to leave your nails in great shape. I have seen a great improvement in my nails so I'd really recommend giving this a try and treating your nails to some TLC every now and then!

Have you tried the new Nail Care Range from Barry M? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

*This post contains PR samples.

Manicure Monday: Barry M Gelly Spring Collection

From L to R: Pink Lemonade, Acai Smoothie, Butterscotch Sundae, Cream Soda





I've been waiting for Barry M's spring offerings to hit shelves for SO long. A few lucky bloggers received them early so I'd been seeing some good reviews and seeing how pretty they were and couldn't wait to get my hands on them. I think I'm officially ready for spring/summer now and I've had enough of the dark winter colours. My nails are well and truely ready for these pretty spring colours as well, they look fab! I just can't stop staring at my nails, the shades are so fresh and bright!

The Gelly Spring Collection is just one of the new ranges to have been released by Barry M recently. It includes four new Gelly shades, Acai Smoothie, which is a dusky pink, Pink Lemonade, which is a really pretty peach/pink, Cream Soda, which is a very pretty off-white and beige/Butterscotch Sundae, which is a gorgeous creamy butterscotch shade and by far my favourite.

As with the other polishes in the Gelly range, these have wide angled brushes to aid application of the polish. The polish also dries really fast, however as these shades are pretty light they do need a couple of coats, which can cause them to chip/smudge a lot easier. I found the Cream Soda and Butterscotch Sundae shades to be slightly thick on application, but I managed to make them work and get a nice finish.

If you've been reading my nail posts for a while now you'll now I usually really put polishes to the test with either the housework or washing up test. You can usually tell if a polish is good or not if it can hold up to potential chipping from dishes and cutlery or harsh chemical sprays. These polishes held up really well under the washing up test, with only very, very slight chipping on one or two nails so I'm super impressed. Once again Barry M have pulled out a fab range from their bag of tricks. The yummy ice-cream/sorbet shades are the perfect pick-me-up on duller days and make me really look forward to spring.

Have you tried the Barry M Gelly Spring Collection? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Traditional Christmas Nails from Barry M

How gorgeous is this red and purple colour combination? I just realised it actually matches my Christmas tree...

In contrast to my Alternative Christmas Nails posts last week, I thought this week I'd go for something a bit more traditional in time for the big day.

I finally picked up these two new, sparkly shades from Barry M, which I discovered are actually Superdrug exclusives. I discovered that after spending day after day checking my locals Boots store, oops!

There are just two glitter polishes in the range, Sparkling Ruby and Sparkling Amethyst. It's actually the first time we've seen glitter in the brand's Gelly range, but I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more shades coming in the future though.

I thought these polishes might be similar to the ones you can get where you can actually feel the glitter after you've applied it, but as these are part of the Gelly Hi-Shine range, the glitter is actually smooth to the touch once it's on the nail, meaning you get a really gorgeous, sparkly finish and it won't take you until next Christmas to remove it.

You can probably already tell that I'm super impressed with these polishes. Barry M's gelly polishes are some of my favourite just because they have really wide brushes, which really helps application, they dry quickly, have great staying power and a super shiny finish, even in the case of these glitter versions, which shine and sparkle in the light.

They're super tough and strong too. After applying and letting the polish dry I went ahead and did all of my housework and there was not a chip in sight!

What are your go to traditional Christmas nails? Let me know in the comments.

Alternative Christmas Nails from Barry M

Most years I dedicate a blog post to Christmas/festive nails and this year is no different, but I also thought I'd include a post for 'alternative' Christmas nails for those who want dark and moody nails to match their soul at this time of year. I'm joking obviously, it's for those that don't fancy going down the traditional red/green/glitter route and want something a bit different.

Sitting among the usual festive shades were a couple of Gelly polishes from my good 'ol faves Barry M, that I thought would be perfect for this alternative look. I picked up Black Grape, which is a deep, dark blue, Black Pistachio, which is actually a green, but not your traditional Christmas tree green, it's much darker and Plum, which is pretty much what its namesake says.

These shades are perfect if you're not feeling particularly festive. They're very dark shades and it's pretty tricky to tell the green and blue apart from a distance but they all work really well together or even used individually.

Black Grape and Black Pistachio are newer shades to the range as they had much wider brushes than the Plum shade. I much prefer the wide brush versions as you can coat the whole nail in one go. They all apply really nicely though and dry super quick, leaving a really glossy, shiney finish.

Overall I'm loving the alternative option when it comes to festive nails, it's a nice change from glitters, but for those who do like something mroe traditional, I'm hoping to have something to suit you nail-wise coming soon!

What are your go-to alternative Christmas nails?

A look back: Barry M autumn polishes

2015

2014

2014

2013
Recently I featured a couple of autumn nail shades from Barry M's new Quick Dry range, then while I was browsing my blog photo folders I came across last year's autumn range and was inspired to put together this little post, featuring my favourite autumn ranges from Barry M's past. I'm sure there are ranges dating back to before 2013, but this was all I could find in my archive posts.

By far my favourite range is the gorgeous Autumn Gelly Range. It's like the creators of the nail polish went out and picked up some colourful autumn leaves, blended them up and made a nail polish with them. The colours are just SO spot on for autumn and I am definitely digging all of these out of my nail polish boxes ready to rock them once again! My favourite colour combination has got to be the Mustard and Chai. Gorgeous.

Following close behind is the new 2015 Quick Dry autumnal range, which I blogged about only last week. The colours are again on point for autumn and interestingly, they're completely different from the 2014 shades. I'm absolutely loving berry shades this year and these polishes were really impressive to, as you'll find out if you read the post!

It looks like Barry M actually release two different autumn ranges in 2014. Alongside the Gelly range was the Silk range, another one that I absolutely loved. I haven't used Barry M's silk paints in forever but I remember they were absolutely dreamy to apply...very silky in fact! The finish on them was great as well and they lasted ages. Interestingly there's a couple of berry shades alongside a green, more lovely combinations!

Looking back through my archives I came across a post about a couple of Matte polishes, which were released in 2013. After a little research it looks like the matte polish was Barry Mn's 2013 autumn offering and the two shades pictured above were two of five brown/nude and coffee-esque shades. Again, quite a difference from other autumn ranges not only in the shades but in the matte finish too. Again these were lovely to apply although they took a bit longer to dry than most. The finish is great though and if I remember correctly, the following spring/summer a range of great colours came out. There's also now a matte top coat so you can get matte nails with any shade!

I've been a Barry M fan for years and years and it's actually been really interesting to look back over its autumn ranges from the past few years. I would have loved to have gone even further back - are there any ranges you remember specifically? Let me know in the comments.

Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Autumn Nail Shades

I am more than ready to embrace the autumnal season. While other people are clinging onto the last hints of summer, I'm already loving life in my slippers and dressing gown. To match my mood I picked up a couple of shades from the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry new autumn line. It was a difficult choice but I went for the beautifully berry/pomegranate toned 'Sprint Finish' and the dark and moody 'Dragster.' If I remember correctly they were buy one get one free!

Both polishes just scream autumn and I thought they might look quite nice together. I've been using a lot of nude polishes through the summer so it's definitely time to goth it up a bit with something darker. I was totally right that the two shades would go well together - they more than go well together in my opinion and I'm absolutely loving the colour combination.

They apply like a dream aswell. They're not too thin so you only need one or two coats and the wider brush helps so much when evenly distributing the polish. Sure enough, they dried pretty speedily too.

What impressed me most about these polishes was that they passed not only the washing up test but also the household cleaning test too. If you're a regular reader of this blog then you might have heard me mention these two thorough nail polish testing methods. I've found that washing up is a good test of a polish as it can chip due to being scraped against washing up spongers/knocked against cutlery/bowls and plates etc. I've also found the same thing can happen when cleaning the house and using household cleaning products too. However, I was really surprised that these polishes survived both and four days since application, there is only very minimal chipping.

I'm quite over the moon with how these polishes have performed. It's been a long time since I've used a polish that hasn't chipped within an afternoon of it being applied. I'm 100% going to pick up a few more colours from the range. It seems as if my autumn polish needs have been fully met!

Have you tried the new Barry M Quick Dry autumn polishes? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Barry M Sunset Daylight Curing Nail Polish

Barry M Sunset Daylight Curing Nail Polish - £4.99 each




I feel like Barry M sneaked up on us a bit with this launch. All was quiet in the Barry M camp after the release of the Quick Dry polishes and then bam, they go and drop the new Sunset Daylight Curing Nail Polish range.

Don't be confused by the word 'Sunset' in the title, this represents the range of shades, which are all lovely summery, sunset shades. The polishes aim to give the look of professional gel nails at a fraction of the price and without the need of a UV lamp. The range consists of seven shades and a topcoat.

Personally I feel Barry M has been a bit cheeky here with the topcoat as apparently the shades only cure like gel nails if you've used the topcoat. No other topcoat will create the desired effect but I feel like the shades could have come with the topcoat 'magic' within them, instead of us having to spend another £4.99 on a separate bottle. The range of polishes are the most expensive in the Barry M brand at £4.99 so you have to spend at least £10 for this special gel like finish, unless, like me, you can find them on offer. They were buy one get one half price when I picked these up so not too bad. As I said, a little bit cheeky but it's business at the end of the day!

I picked up the shade Fuchsia Generation, which is a gorgeous deep fuchsia colour. It applies really nicely, with a really fanned out brush, making it easy to cover the entire nail in one swoop. It's recommended you use two coats. It dried super quick, as did the top coat and once cured, your nails are left super shiny and gel like.

Now here's where things take a turn for the worse as after not even 24 hours my nails started to chip, and I don't mean little chips either, I mean great big flakes were coming off. I'm pretty sure I did everything right (how hard is it to apply nail polish?) and I've seen such great reviews about these elsewhere so I'm pretty disappointed that they didn't even survive 24 hours.

I guess from now on I will be ditching the top coat and using the Fuchsia Generation on its own as it's such a lovely shade. I might give another shade a try with the topcoat in case I've just got a duff bottle but if I do, then it was almost £10 not very well spent.

Have you tried the Barry M Sunset Daylight Curing Nail Polish? Let me know in the comments how you got on with it.

Barry M Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette

Barry M Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette - £6.49





If you read this week's review of the Barry M Starry Eyed palette you would know that I was a bit disappointed with the application/blendability of the shadows, so I was a bit hesitant to try out the Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette, however I really like it.

It's mostly made up of shimmer eyeshadows with a little eye primer on the end. The shadows themselves are really pigmented and apply really nicely, despite there being quite a bit of fall out. I really love the sparkly copper/red colour - it's great for a smokey eye and I actually added some of the gold sparkle shade, which looked great.

The green shade, as pictured above, is also really vibrant. Probably not something I'd wear on a daily basis but it would be great for a special occasion.

Overall I really like this palette. It's kind of autumnal but isn't completely full of nude/brown shades, which is nice. All of the shades are really wearable and last absolutely ages too. There is a teeny tiny downside and that is that the fall out of the eyeshadow goes all over the primer, making it unusable, which is a shame.

I would recommend this palette if like me you want to wear shades that are a bit different from your usual ones.

Have you tried the Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette? Let me know your thoughts.

Barry M Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette

Barry M Limited Edition Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette - £6.49





I recently bought the three new Barry M palettes and this is the first of three posts about them. I absolutely adored the original Natural Glow & Blush Palette and the more recent Summer Love Palette so I was really excited when I heard there were some new launches.

I recently gave the Limited Edition Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette a try, which is full of gorgeous autumnal colours in mattes and shimmers.

While the shadows are gorgeous to look at, especially the shimmering ones, I found them a tad disappointing to apply. The first look above is made up of the rich red/gold and brown but I found they didn't blend together very well. You can't really see the gold shimmer in this look. I even added the shimmering red/brown shade at the end of the palette and I don't think this really worked either, which is a shame. The brown has really dominated the look, which isn't a problem if, like me, this is your usual go-to colour but it would be nice to see that spakle coming through. I think the shimmers work much better on their own or you could try adding a drop of water to create a more vibrant colour. I've actually seen them swatched on people's arms on other blogs and they look great individually.

I used the shimmering blue colour on its own in the second look above and this looks really great and vibrant, however this wouldn't really be a colour I'd wear on a regular basis. There was quite a bit of fall out on application with these shadows as well, which is a tad annoying.

Overall I think the palette is really pretty, with some great shades and a fab blusher to boot but it didn't really give the results I was looking for. It's fine if I want a brown/autumnal look but the blendability of the shadows left me feeling disappointed. There's no doubt I'll use it every now and then though.

Have you tried the Limited Edition Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette yet? What did you think?