Monday 30 April 2012

Barry M Shocking Pink Swatches

Hi! First of all an apology for my blog being a bit quiet lately. It's hard to find the time and, to be honest, the motivation at the moment to update. Not to mention all my nails snapping and splitting. I'm trying though. I do love this little blog and keeping up to date with everyone else. :)

Today I've got a nice squishy jelly-creme from Barry M. This post shall also be a memorial for my dear middle nail. I miss it so. It was a good nail. :-P

Barry M Shocking Pink

This is Shocking Pink. I'd say it's actually more jelly than creme. It looks so squishy and shiny!

Barry M Shocking Pink

The formula is a dream as I've come to expect from Barry M. Opaque in two coats and glides on smoothly. This is definitely the best hot pink I've tried.

Barry M Shocking Pink

Barry M Shocking Pink

I love having stupidly bright nails. Maybe I should wear this all year round!

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Thursday 26 April 2012

Revlon Emerald City Matte Swatches

Hi! I picked this polish up in a pound shop, first time I've ever seen a Revlon in there. I wouldn't normally have bought it for the full price of £6.99, but for £1, well why not. 

Emerald City is labelled as matte, and the finish is certainly some degree of matte, although not as much as it could be.

Click to enlarge


Revlon Emerald City

It's a deep forest green with some shimmer shot through it, and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it is. The formula is quite lovely too, highly pigmented and smooth. My pictures are two coats. 

Revlon Emerald City

Revlon Emerald City

Revlon Emerald City


Definitely worth a quid! I also tried it with a glossy topcoat, click the jump to see :)

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Monday 23 April 2012

Models Own Ibiza Mix - Swatches (+matte!)

Ibiza Mix is from the new Models Own Hed Kandi collection (Hed Kandi was originally a record label/style of dance/house music but is now has it's own clothing range, nightclubs, etc.etc.) I'm a big fan of chunky glitter and was so happy to see they'd released one!

In my pictures I've layered two coats of Ibiza Mix over two coats of Barry M Black.

Click to enlarge

Models Own Ibiza Mix

It's a multi-coloured mix of small and large hexagonal glitter pieces, all in a clear base. It's quite densely packed for a chunky glitter. Two coats of topcoat should smooth the surface out.

This is what it looks like by itself:

Models Own Ibiza Mix

Copper, gold, turquoise, blue, lilac...lots of colours!

Models Own Ibiza Mix

Models Own Ibiza Mix

It looks so good over black! 

I also tried out a matte topcoat. Click the jump to see

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200 Followers Giveway Winner!

My giveaway is now over. Thank you so much to everyone who entered! Sorry to those who didn't win, I really wish I could give you all something just for being awesome! I'll be having plenty more giveaways in the future though :)

Click the jump to see the winner!
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Friday 20 April 2012

Barry M Indigo Swatches

Hi to all my new followers! Hopefully you'll all stick around :) I'm super grateful to you all for following. There's still 1.5 days to enter my giveaway!

Let me start by saying I am SO EXCITED because I'm going to the Harry Potter studio tour in May, seeing Lady Gaga for the 4th time in September, and also seeing my darling Ed Sheeran in November. I can't wait! Already thinking of nail designs to wear to each....the mind of a lacquerhead. 

Anyway, I have Indigo by Barry M today. 

Click to enlarge

Barry M Indigo

Indigo is a deep deep blue creme/jelly, some say with purple undertones but I don't see that. Do you? Either way it really is gorgeous, it looks like you could dive into it.

Barry M Indigo

Barry M Indigo

Application is wonderful, opaque in two coats with a super glossy finish and serious staying power for a £2.99 polish. I've never met a Barry M I don't like!

Barry M Indigo

SO shiny! Also, does anybody know how to add a Pinterest "pin it" button to my posts?


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Wednesday 18 April 2012

Barry M Dusky Mauve Swatches

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, if you haven't already! Go do it!

This is Dusky Mauve, from Barry M. Yes, the Chanel Paradoxal dupe! It is pretty much identical in terms of appearance, and although I can't comment on formula I can't imagine it being any better than this.

Dusky Mauve is, well, mauve...with pink and purple shimmer. I'd call it hidden shimmer, as you really need to be in bright light to see it.

Direct sunlight (click to enlarge) -

Barry M Dusky Mauve

Barry M Dusky Mauve

How gorgeous is that shimmer! The formula is another wonderful one from Barry M. I used two coats and topcoat. 

This is what it looks like in shade - 


Not as exciting but still a nice colour.


Barry M Dusky Mauve

Beautiful, definitely one of my favourites from Barry M.


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Sunday 15 April 2012

200 Followers Giveaway!!



Finally, here is my belated 200 followers giveaway. I was going to wait and do it at 250, but I love giveaways so much I wanted to do it NOW! So I'm calling it belated. Next one will be on time...I swear!

Click the jump for details!


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Friday 13 April 2012

Barry M Silvery Lilac Swatches

Well well, where did Barry M spring this one on us from? I hadn't heard anything about new shades, but when I went into Superdrug yesterday (who also had a brand new Essie stand, might I add!!) I found three new colours and some magnetic polishes too. Of course I picked up all three, having no self control and already pouting because the Illamasqua counter didn't have Scorn in stock.

This is Silvery Lilac, which reminds me of Butter London Knackered.

Click pics to enlarge

Barry M Silvery Lilac

It's a lovely shimmery duochrome sparkle-fest! It flashes from silver to lilac and is packed with silver shimmer. I think this is Barry M's first duochrome polish?

Barry M Silvery Lilac

Formula is wonderful and glides on smoothly and streak-free. It's a little sheer but not too much, I used three coats and top coat in my pictures.

Click the jump for more pictures and some strange camera angles...

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Sunday 8 April 2012

Easter Bunny!

Happy Easter! I did a quick mixed mani for today.

Click to enlarge


The base colours, from top to bottom, are Barry M Lemon Ice Cream, Barry M Berry Ice Cream, Models Own Beth's Blue and Models Own Pastel Pink

The detailing was done with a small nail brush, a dotting tool and mix of acrylic paints and polish.



Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

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Friday 6 April 2012

Models Own Purple Blue Swatches

Here's another polish from the Models Own Beetlejuice collection. They did so good with this collection, I've been really impressed with it so far. 

This is Purple Blue, a glassfleck finish multichrome. The main colours, as the name suggests, are purple and blue, and they shift between a coppery colour and there's also some pink in there. I've heard Purple Blue is very similar to Formidable from the MAC Venomous Villains collection, and also ORLY Galaxy Girl. 

Click to enlarge.

Models Own Purple Blue

Models Own Purple Blue

The formula is very easy to work with. My pictures are three thin coats plus top coat. It spreads out evenly and dries quickly.

Click the jump for more pic spam!

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Thursday 5 April 2012

Ed Sheeran Nail Art

Hi! I am irrevocably in love with Ed Sheeran (if you know me you will already be annoyed by it) everybody in the UK probably knows who he is whether they like it or not, but maybe not everywhere else...anyway he's a singer/songwriter and this mani is based on his newest album, Plus. 

Click for full size.

Ed Sheeran Nail Art


The orange is Spring Street by NYC, but it was too dark for what I wanted, so I adjusted the colour. The black and white are both Barry M and I used a tiny brush and acrylic paint to paint on "kiss me" (one of my favourite songs on Plus).

Ed Sheeran Nail Art

I love him to death, but all my best friends are metal heads so I just get mocked for it. Pfff!

P.s. my giveaway is coming soon, I promise! I have ongoing health issues which have left me basically house bound for a while, but I'm okay at the moment. Going giveaway shopping asap. :)

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Tuesday 3 April 2012

ORLY Emberstone Swatches

Before I start, UK girls...where do you buy your acetone!? I swear I cannot find any anywhere! Help!

Okay, here is another one I got in my swap with Melissa, Emberstone by ORLY, from the 2011 Mineral FX collection. Is it red? Is it orange? I've looked around and everyone has a different opinion. Personally I would say orange, or coral. 

Don't forget to click the pictures for full size!

ORLY Emberstone

It's a jelly-like foil (I think that's another finish I just made up) packed with gold flecks, and some smaller pink/purple particles.

ORLY Emberstone

The formula is wonderful, glides on easily and is opaque in 2 coats. It's so eye-catching, shimmers loads in the sunlight and is like nothing else I own, very unique! 

ORLY Emberstone

It looks like I want to EAT IT. Or lick it. Of course I will actually be doing neither.

Click the jump to see it with a matte topcoat!

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Monday 2 April 2012

Comparison - Illamasqua Stance and Models Own Purple Passion



Hello! This is my first comparison post. I don't have a massive collection of polishes so I don't often end up with two that are very similar (yet). As soon as I put on Stance though it reminded me of Purple Passion. 


When you first apply Purple Passion, it looks almost identical to Stance. However when it begins to dry, it ends up a little darker and almost has a matte finish, while Stance is a jelly/creme. 


PP is definitely more purple and Stance more fuchsia, but at first glance on my nails you can barely see a difference. It's a lot more obvious on camera. Stance is also much easier to apply. PP is a good enough formula itself, but can't stand up to Illamasqua.

Models Own retail for £5/14ml, and Illamasqua £13.50/15ml, so there's quite a difference in price, but Illamasqua definitely wins this one.

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