Barry M Textured Nail Effects Nail Paints

Hi! Today you get a look at my terrible stubby fingernails. I've been trying out these new Textured Nail Effects polishes by Barry M and I really like 'em!

 

These are pastel coloured polishes with a special gritty effect. The pink is called Kingsland Road, the yellow Station Road, the green Ridley Road and the blue is Atlantic Road.

They retail for £3.99 each but I picked them up at 2 for £6 from Superdrug (at the same time they were at 3 for 2 in Boots which would have saved me about 3p :P If you shop around you can usually find a deal on Barry M somewhere)

Now have a look at them and please ignore my poor ravaged cuticles. I've posted lots of photos to try and show the textured effects.

  

I don't know if you can see in the pictures but the yellow has a slight shimmer to it, the others are matte.

The effect is very easy to apply, you just paint it on like any polish and the grit gets more pronounced as it dries. Applying it really feels no different from a regular polish either. These photos all show 2 coats of polish over a base coat (they were all nearly opaque in 1 but the extra coat made the grit more defined as well as making it completely opaque). Oddly I found that, though the bottle specifies to use one, the effect is much more pronounced if you don't use a base coat so in the future I probably won't bother with one. I've heard some people say these are a nightmare to remove but I didn't have a problem at all, it's much easier than glitter!

The feeling of these on the nails is an acquired taste. At first I felt really creeped out touching them but then I got a bit obsessed with it! It doesn't feel too gritty, just sort of bumpy, and luckilly they didn't catch on my tights at all. These lasted about 4-5 days before the started chipping, which was pretty good considering you can't really use top coat on them. Oddly the different colours had different rates of chipping, the yellow was the first to go, then green, then blue and finally pink.

Anyway I really like these. I love the easter-egg colours and the gritty texture takes them away from being too pastel and ice-creamy. £3.99 is a good price for a polish but like I said shop around. If you like the effect but are interested in other colours then in the US Milani have just released some (see swatches here at Nouveau Cheap) or Nails Inc have a few but they are much more expensive (still might get the pretty grey one though). What do you think?

Yellow Eyes Silver Toes

Hooray, my keyboard is fixed! I can type like a normal person and not a 13 year old Avril Lavigne fan again!

I was going through my blog pictures folder and came across this look from several months ago. it's not particularly exciting but I still thought I'd post it because I love yellow eyeshadow. I think it looks particularly good with blue eyes and not actually too over-the-top at all.

 

   

 

I cannot remember what's on my lips or face but my eyes are Sugarpill Buttercupcake and Tako, a colour from the MUA Heaven and Earth pallette and Illamasqua Paint Medium Pencil on the waterline.

And finally I had glittery nail polish on my toes the other day and decided to use the silver-foil trick to remove it. I just thought it looked quite hilarious.

NOTD

I absolutely love my nails at the moment. I decided to use my Barry M Nail Effects for the first time and absolutely love it! Now I want crackle varnish in every colour of the rainbow. I neeeed the China Glaze ones but am poor :(
Anyway here they are:

 

 

I used Sinful Colors Let's Meet which is a shimmery yellow with a tiny hint of pink to it's pearl, then the Nail Effects.

I Loooove watching the Nail Effects crack, it's so cool, I could watch it forever! It hypnotises me. 

I actually preferred it without the top coat because then the black shatter is matte which, against the contrasting shimmery glossy polish underneath, looks amazing. But I wanted it to last a long time so i put on a shiny top coat. It still looks great.

Here's a picture of it sans top coat:

 

I love this. The black crackle look both classy and grungy at the same time and looks a bit like leopard print from a distance. Not only that but it covers up any problems in the application of the base coat (if you look very closely you can see some air bubbles in the yellow) :P

But of course now I want to get rid of it to have a valentines mani! But as it's still perfect I won't.

What you wearing on your nails at the moment? What are your feelings on shatter/crackle polish?

New addition!

Hello everyone. I just wanted to share with you the newest member of our family - Weevil the Kitten!

 

Lookit that face! (I swear i wasn't strangling him)

 

Sleeping <3

 

Cobweb head!

 

PAW!!!

 

It's wuv!

We got him just last week from family friends who needed a home for him.

Weevil is about 8 weeks old and an absolute delight. He alternates between zipping around the room like a complete mental (trying to attack feet, practicing his pounce [like Simba in The Lion King!], literally climbing the walls, playing with his toys, chasing Digby etc) and falling fast asleep. While he does tend to scratch when he's play-fighting with your feet he is a real sweety, very affectionate and loving already. He's settling in nicely, he's made friends with Digby (though the poor puppy is a bit scared of him, despite being about 3 times the size of Weevil) and ignores Minnie as much as she ignores him. Our old grumpy cat Omelette is still unsure of him but no longer spits when she sees him and old grumpy Jim is too senile to care.
I'm also amazed at how clean he is! He's learned to use his new litter tray so quickly. It's a vast contrast to Digby who still has the occaisional accident.

So yeah, kitten joy! :D

And i thought i'd share my face and outfit while I had actually got off my lazy bum to write a post :P

 

My dress and tights are from the New Look sale, shoes are Irregular choice, crown headband is from the Asos sale :)

 

I look a bit weird here!
Eyes: Sleek Bohemion palette (light cream and bright yellow colours), MUA neon yellow glitter eyeshadow, black mascara

Lips: NYX Chaos

I apologise for being a bit rubbish at posting lately! I'm trying to tidy my bedroom which is a mammoth task. Sometimes it takes weeks on end to clear the floor, let alone sort things out! Anyway i have lots of posts planned so hopefully will get them written soon. And will be going back through and replying to comments ASAP :)

can't remember what blush it was