Matte Nail Paints by Barry M

I've been loving matte nails for a while now and usually add the Rimmel Matte Top Coat to my chosen colour of nail polish so I was excited to hear that Barry M where bringing out a matte range. Barry M are definitely one of my favourite drug store nail polishes with me being a big fan of the Gelly range, however these gorgeous colours have definitely taken over from them as my new favourites. I love neutral coloured nails so when I went into Superdrug the other week I couldn't decided between these 3 gorgeous shades so I went for all 3. The colours I picked up are; Vanilla, Caramel and Mocha (I love the names). 

The forumla of these nail polishes is amazing, it applies smoothly and dries quickly. It's fully opaque after 2 coats and to make it last longer I add my Rimmel Matte Top Coat again so I don't lose the matte finish. Vanilla is a gorgeous purple toned nude/grey colour which I love as it's not similar to any other colours I have in my collection. Caramel, which is what I'm wearing on my nails at the moment is the perfect light brown/nude in my opinion. Finally, Mocha, which I think is my favourite out of the three as it's really different and not a colour I'd usually go for on my nails as it's a cool toned brown. 

I am completely sold on these nail paints and I think they're the perfect shades for all year round. They also come in a black and a berry colour which I think will be great for the Autumn/Winter months. I can see these being on my nails constantly for the next while and willl possibly pick up the other two shades. The Barry M Matte nail paints cost £3.99 and you can buy them online or at Boots and Superdrug.

Are you a fan of matte nails and have you tried these nail paints yet?

American Apparel Nail Lacquer: Neon Yellow

Yellow is my all time favourite colour and right now I'll pretty much buy anything that's yellow and/or neon. I've got my blazer, H&M jumper and have just bought a skater skirt from Missguided, the only thing missing was a nail polish. I was reading Zoe's blog the other day and my eyes lit up when I came across this amazing AA nail polish - exactly the colour I was looking for! Yesterday while I was in town I popped in to American Apparel to pick one up.

This is my first AA nail polish even though I've had my eye on them for quite a while. I could have went crazy, there were so many colours that I wanted but I was sensible and just stuck to this one. A tip I read on Zoe's blog was to put a base coat on to make the colour really pop, so I went for Rimmel Lemon drop which is a really pale, almost white yellow. Once that dried, I put on two coats of the Neon Yellow which dried matte so I used a top coat to give it a glossy finish.

I'm really impressed with how bright this is, I've found that with a lot of neon polishes the quality isn't great. This is now a new favourite for Spring/Summer and a subtle way to work this seasons Neon trend. I know neon's not for everyone but I personally love it. AA nail polishes cost £7 and I'll definitely be buying more!

Have you tried any of the American Apparel nail lacquers?

Neutral Nails: My Top 5

I have quite a large nail polish collection but never really blog about it much. At the moment I'm loving neutral nails so I thought I'd share my top 5 favourite neutral nail polishes I use all year round.

• Essie Ballet Slippers - Essie is one of my favourite nail polish brands, they have such an amazing range of colours. At first I wasn't too sure on this colour but I've grown to love it. It's such a pale pink, almost a sort of cream colour which is perfect if you want natural looking nails. I did a full review on this a while ago, you can read it here.

• Chanel Frenzy - I got this nail polish as a gift when I left my old work and I'd been lusting over it for ages. I even bought a few dupes, althought nothing can compare to this! It's a gorgeous light grey colour and applies like a dream. This is my second Chanel nail polish and I think they'er just such great quality, although a little pricey. 

• Topshop Mink - I've had this nail polish for about 2 years and it's still fine to use, no lumps at all. It really reminds me of Barry M Mushroom, a sort of greyish/brown colour. This is my one and only Topshop nail polish but I've seen so many of you bloggers blogging about other colours in the collection so I definitely need to get my hands on more. I think they're really good quality for a high street brand.

• Essie Fiji - This is actually my sister's nail polish but I love it so much and I use it all the time, I really should buy my own soon as it's probably my favourite out of the 5. It's an opaque pale pink, a few shades darker than Ballet Slippers and it looks so amazing with a tan. Like I said, I love Essie! 

• Chanel Jade Rose - This was my first Chanel nail polish which I bought with birthday money one year, I wouldn't usually just spend this much on a nail polish. I thought I'd go for a really wearable shade so I went for a nude. This really is such a perfect nude but it's running out, does anyone know any more affordable nudes that are similar? 

Hopefully I'll start doing more nail polish posts in the future. What are you're favourite neutral nail polishes?

Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint by Barry M: Blood Orange

While I was in Superdrug today I thought I'd pick up one of the new Barry M Gelly nail paints as I've seen them on a few blogs recently and can never resist trying a newly launched product, I also love the current Barry M nail paint range. The new Gelly range comes in 9 different colours - I decided to go for a red as it's a colour that seems to be missing from my current collection and it's such a classic. The colour is #234 and is called "Blood Orange." I love the colour, its such a timeless red and I'll be wearing it a lot this Autumn and Winter, especially at Christmas time.

I really love the formula of this polish and it applied so well. In the photo I'm wearing fake nails as mine are a mess at the moment and I've applied two coats. The 'gelly' formula is meant to give the look of a gel manicure, it's so glossy and has such amazing shine. You can definitely see the difference between these and the original nail paints. The Gelly nail paints cost £3.99 which I think is such a reasonable price for a nail polish these days. I'll definitely be stocking up on more colours and I really recommend these!

Have you tried these nail paints?

Melissa
xxx

Essie 'Muchi Muchi'

 


Just a short post to say that last week I was lucky enough to win Louise's twitter competition. The lovely prize was an Essie nail polish in the shade Muchi Muchi. I'm loving pale Essie nail polish's at the moment, they're all I wear and my favourites are Fiji and Ballet Slippers. You can see my post on Ballet Slippers here.

Muchi Muchi is a gorgeous pale pink colour. It's slightly more pink than Ballet Slippers and more sheer than Fiji, in the photo above I'm wearing three coats to make it look more opaque. It still looks lovely with two coats but I prefer it with three. It doesn't take long to dry so I don't mind having to do that many coats! I've had this on for three days now and its not chipped at all. This is definitely a colour I'll be wearing a lot from now on.

It was posted out so quickly and came with a cute cupcake tag attached to it with a lovely message - so thank you Louise! What does everyone think of Muchi Muchi? What's your favourite Essie nail polish?

Melissa
xxx

Essie: Ballet Slippers

While I was in Boots the other day, I was tempted as usual by the Essie stand. I was originally going to buy Fiji but my sister had already bought it so I thought I'd try a similar one. Ballet Slippers is a very,very pale pink colour. It's quite similar to Fiji, but a few shades lighter.

My favourite thing about the Essie nail polish is the brush which gives a really easy application. However, it took me three coats before this polish started to look opaque. With Fiji, it only took two coats.

Overall, I like the colour of it, but think I still prefer Fiji. I was also a little disappointed as it took so many layers to get a decent colour. Even with three coats, it is still a bit sheer.

You can buys this from selected Boots and Superdrug stores and it costs £7.99, which is a bit more than I usually spend on a nail polish.

Have you tried this colour?

Melissa
xxx

Neon Acid Wash Nails

Recently on a few beauty blogs I've seen acid wash nails and decided to give it a go! I've gave it my own little spin by using a neon which is a must have at the moment.

What You Need:

• 2 nail polishes the same colour, but different shades
• Cotton wool
• Nail polish remover
• Clear top coat

The two polishes I used were Nina Ultra Pro in 'Fuschia Rage and Nicki Minaj for O.P.I in 'Pink Friday'.
I created the look firstly by painting my nails with Fuschia Rage and leaving them to dry then putting on a coat of Pink Friday. Once my nails were fully dry, I soaked the cotton wool in nail polish remover and dabbed it on my nails to create the acid wash effect. I then finished off with a clear top coat. I found this really quick and easy to do and I really like the effect it's given. So if you want to try something different on your nails and don't have much spare time, I definitely recommend you have a go!
Have you tried acid wash nails?
Melissa
xxx

China Glaze Capitol Colours

Hey!

I'm obsessed with The Hunger Games, (you should definitely read the books) so I was so excited when I heard China Glaze were bringing out their 'Capitol Colours' collection. The collection has 12 nail polishes, each one representing the 12 different districts. Each Nail Polish relates to it's district, for example District 4 specializes in Fishing and their nail polish is called 'Hook & Line.'

I found it really difficult to choose which ones to buy as I love them all, so I ended up choosing District 11 - 'Agro' and District 12 - 'Smoke & Ashes.' My friend Jacqueline bought District 1 - 'Luxe & Lush' and let me photograph it!

My favourite out of the two I purchased is definitely Agro as I've not got a colour similar to it. It's a sort of Khaki Green colour and has a lovely shimmer to it. I like Smoke & Ashes too but wish it was sparklier as it's quite subtle and from a distance it just looks plain black. However, I needed a new black nail polish so I'm happy with it. I only needed to apply one coat of each as it's quite thick and it dried really quickly!

I think both these colours go well together!

Here is a few pictures of my friend Jacqueline's nails with Luxe & Lush. This polish is more of a top coat that can go over another colour. Jacqueline has put it over Rimmel - Apricot Punch. This is only one layer of Luxe & Lush but you could add more for a different look. I really like this nail polish as it's different from my usual glitter top coats. 

I'll definitely be buying another couple of the Capitol Colours, I've got my eye on Electrify & Dress Me Up.

Have you tried any of the Capitol Colours?

Melissa

xxx

I Heart Neon

Hey Guys, it's Melissa
This is my first post so be kind!

So everyone that knows me knows I have an obsession with everything neon right now. At first I wasn't brave enough to go out and purchase something full on neon so I started with my nails.

The first two I bought were Ultra Pro - Fuchsia Rage and China Glaze - Orange Knockout. I got these both from Sally's and as I have a trade card the Ultra Pro was about £2.50 and the China Glaze £6. Both these polish's have a matte finish as you can see in the first photo, which personally I like. However, they also look good with a shiny top coat which I have applied in the bottom picture. They go on reasonably thick and I only had to apply two coats.

The next two are from the Nicki Minaj O.P.I collection (I know I'm a bit behind getting these) and they are 'Did It On 'Em' which is a green/yellow and 'Fly' which is a green/blue. I got them in a mini 4 pack collection from ASOS which cost £12.95. The large ones separately are £11.00. I love these colours and again only had to apply two coats. In real life they aren't as bright as they look in the photo which I'd of liked. I think I'm going to buy a large 'Did It On 'Em' as it is definitely my favourite.  

The Nicki Minaj set also came with two other colours - 'Pink Friday' and 'Metallic For Life' which I'll probably do a post on in the future.

Hope you liked my first post!
what do you think of neon - love it or hate it?
Melissa
xxx