Barry M Magnetic Nail Polish

I've been increasingly curious about magnetic nail polish for an absolute age (ie; ever since they came into my peripherals). But the thing is, they're quite expensive compared with normal polish. Even crackles, glitters and foils are cheaper.

But this week I cracked. It kind of helps that I have a twin who is as much in love with nail polishes as I am. We made a deal to go halves and it was ours thirty seconds later.

As you may know already, I also love Barry M products, so it was the obvious choice for us. The quality of the polish is always good, and it's just the right consistancy to apply. Most of the time, one coat with a top coat on will look great, though I do tend to layer it on thickly. We got 'magnetic dark silver' with a horizontally striped magnet and gosh is it beautiful.

There are some handy instructions on the side of the polish for beginners, but really the process is very easy. You paint it on as normal and let it dry. You then paint another coat and immediately hover the magnet over it. The magent is fully detachable so there's no dripping from the brush! There's a little ridge on the cap that makes this really easy to do. You should see the magnet affecting the polish, if it doesn't either the polish is too dry or the magnet isn't close enough to the surface. And voila, wonderful nails.

The polish is a very wearable colour, and I love the way it has turned out. You may be surprised to know that the surface is perfectly smooth, even though the appearance is textured and 3D. I found the polish really easy to apply and after one nail I got the general idea, so there's not much wastage either. And if you buy lots, you can mix and match the lids!

A couple of heads up though:

• The magnet needs to be quite close to the nail in order to work properly. I managed to dip it in the polish a couple of times and had to redo nails, so I recommend keeping it at eye level to make sure.

• Depending on how much polish you brush on, you may not need two coats. I spread it nice and thick and one coat worked for me perfectly fine.

• If your nails are very rounded, the magnet may not be close enough to the edges to do the whole lot. You may need to twist it around the nail for full coverage. I don't know how well this will work with the other magnetised designs, so it may be trial and error for you.

My next impulse buy will probably be their Chameleon Nail Paint that changes colour when you apply a clear polish on top.


Barry M Magnetic Nail Paint can be found in most health and beauty shops at £4.99, or you can buy online at: www.barrym.com

Front Cover Nail Polish Review

I had a Front Cover nail polish set for Christmas (click here for more details), and I've only just got to trying out a couple of the colours. It is, quite frankly, unbelievable. But that's what the final year of Uni does to you I suppose.

The colours are stunning. I got the Finger Print metallic nail collection, which has the following colours in it: Gold glitter top coat, moonrock, sloe berry, palevioletred, cupric, beetroot and cadet blue. I tend to have favourites when it comes to collections of polishes, but here all the colours are so beautiful that I simply can't say which one is the best.

Anyway, the one I actually have on is Sloe Berry, and it is a royal purple colour with a slightly blue sheen. Unfortunately, the colour doesn't come up well on camera, hence the description. Strangely, it comes out much more blue than it really is, and I didn't even use the flash!

Here are a couple of examples of what it looks like:

The polishes are rather thin, so I needed 2 or 3 coats to get the colour up to the royal purple you see when you look at the bottle. They also chip easily, so I recommend a good top coat to keep it in check. Make sure to pull the top coat over the edge of the nail to seal, because it chips that easily. However, the colour is great. I've had a couple of comments from people saying they loved it. The only big problem is that the nail polish is very difficult to apply due to the packaging design; The lids are large and the brushes are small, meaning that you can see what you're doing... but only just.

The guide price is £14, which means that each polish is less than two pounds as there are also two file/buffers included. I think this is pretty reasonable given the quality of the product is not the best. However, many people have reviewed this item badly, so maybe it is a little overpriced.

I used a glittery top coat on my ring fingers and I have to say that it has lasted very well. And it looks really good. I think I will probably reapply to the chipped parts of my nails and then put the same glitter coat on all of them.
Here it is; just a simple £1.99 pot from Claire's Accessories:

Have you guys tried Front Cover polish? What do you think?

Nail Art - Getting Creative

As you all may have seen, recently I have been a little involved with the world of nails. I have been endlessly following blogs, looking for beautiful nail designs that don't look to difficult to do. In actuality, I have learnt that all it takes is a steady hand and a creative mind to make some really beautiful offerings to the nail art clan.

So without further ado, I want to show you all how my nail art is coming along, and what I hope to be achieving when I have more time on my hands. Any comments and feedback would be really appreciated, as I think I need all the help I can get!

This first one was simple because I've done manicures quite a few times. I also had the help of some very useful stick on guides. I was aiming for a simple and elegant look that was ideal for just about anything, so i went for a natural pink with a black tip. looks kind of classic, doesn't it? My friend liked this one so much that she got me to do it on her too!

For this next one, I wanted to create a look that went with my outfit. We weer dressing up as Moulin Rouge Ladies and my corset was a stunning red one, with an asymmetrical black bit and silver gems. Naturally I went for the asymmetrical part, but I wanted to fit all the colours in. The striper came to the rescue and gave me a clean(ish) line to separate the colours.

This one was a piece of pie, but I was so pleased with it, I took two photos! It was a simple pink coat with little star sequins stuck on. One word of warning, though; If the sequins are coloured don't try putting a top coat on or the colour will run off. The top coat stopped the stars from being pulled off my nails, though. Oh, and another word of warning; These are exceptionally difficult to get off. I advise lots of nail varnish remover, and possibly a crow bar.

So these are my attempts. And this is what I am aiming for:

I still think it's doable.. Do you?

Barry M Foil Effect Nail Polish Review

These little beauties were a Christmas present (see 'It's a Beautiful Christmas' for more), and I tried and tested both around New Years.

They are pretty thick, so ensure that when you paint on the colour you don't have too much on the brush. The colours are excellent, and they certainly do look like foil. The shine on them is brilliant, which is just as well, since you can't apply a top coat to it, as it ruins the foil effect. The only thing to worry about is that, as with most metallics, it creates tiny darker lines on the nail. To keep it neat, you need to keep the brush straight when you apply it and not brush in different directions.

Here's what they look like on:

And here are some nail art ideas:

Want some? You can get it at any good drug store, or from the Barry M website.
Colours come in Lilac Foil, Silver Foil and Gold Foil.

We Love Barry M

Ever since I remember, I have loved glittery, bright things. So when makeup came along, I was entranced by the hues that I could wear, and all the glittery things on offer to me. Something magical happened a few years back: I found Barry M Cosmetics. I was hooked. I couldn't get enough of the lustrous shades of dazzle dust, or the many bright nail paints that could adorn my fingers. Here are some of my absolute favourite products:

Dazzle Dusts - Silver Iridescent, Aqua Gold, Pearly Mauve

Nail Paint - Ice cream Collection
These pastel shades were introduced fairly recently and they're prefect for a spring nail. My favourite has to be the lilac shade in the middle (Berry Ice Cream).

Best Shade: Hologram Hexograms
This probably won't look great on its own, but if you pair it with a bright or a nude colour and splash some hexograms over the top, you'll create something quite wonderful, like below.

Liquid Eyeliner - In all shades, but particularly electric blue and mermaid green.
These eyeliners are great because they dry pretty quickly and are easy to apply. Liquid eyeliner isn't really something you use in a hurry, though, so I suggest you leave plenty of time and get in a lot of practice.

Barry M also make glitter and metallic liquid eyeliner, which look equally as brilliant.

I hope you will love them as much as I have.