On-Trend: Crossed Nail Art!

Nails Inc Gel Effect Polish in Downtown + BarryM Matte Nail Polish in Espresso

Hey Beauty Lovers! Here is a quick way to bring an edge to your pink tips. Crosses never go out of style and they are easy to create, either go for a multiple design or just a singular cross. The crosses don't need to be perfect as they are dotted on in an easy manner. You can use a fine dotting tool or an artist's brush. To create this look I applied two coats of Nails Inc Gel Effect Polish in Downtown and then dotted the crosses on using BarryM Matte Nail Polish in Espresso. Espresso dries matte so you can leave it like that or if you prefer glossy finish go over with a topcoat. 

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Spring Stripes Nailart with BarryM!

 Blueberry + Lychee

from L to R: 

BarryM Gelly Nailpolish in Blueberry + Lychee, BarryM Matte Nailpolish in Vanilla

Hey Beauty Lovers! Here is a good way of updating your mani without needing to take off nailpolish and paint your nails all over again. As you have seen in my Friday's post I was wearing BarryM Matte nailpolish in Vanilla with a glossy topcoat. To update the look I applied two pastel nailpolishes with a fine artists brush creating overlaid stripes. First I applied short strokes of BarryM Gelly Nailpolish in Blueberry, then offsetting the stripes I applied Lychee from the same nailpolish range repeating the whole process. To create depth I went over with opposite colours applying ever shorter strokes over the top of the original stripes. And then of course to make your fresh mani last longer finish with a topcoat!

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BarryM Matte Nailpolish in Vanilla + Topcoat!

Hey Beauty Lovers! I have previously featured BarryM Matte Nailpolish in Vanilla and the other day I felt like taking it from matte to glossy. It looks just as pretty with a topcoat as it does when it dries matte, that's the great thing about matte nailpolishes - you can totally wear them both ways! If you'd like to see the matte version click here! Vanilla is a greyish nude, which is a rather flattering shade. I'm wearing two coats, when applying the BarryM matte nailpolish range make sure the coats aren't too thick because that can ruin the man-i-cure as Alexa Chung calls it. 

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On-Trend: Reversed French Manicure: Blue & Gold!

Hey Beauty Lovers! The Reversed French Manicure nail look has been showcased at a few fashion shows last year, basically it's a fresh take on the dated French tip. There are different ways of wearing a reversed French man-i-cure as Alexa Chung calls it, some more intricate and others more doable. This look is great for anyone who is not a professional nail artist as it's very simple to create but looks pretty neat! So to begin I have primed my nails with a base coat, followed by two coats of BarryM Gelly nailpolish in Blueberry, it is my favourite colour from this range, it looks super chic and has that expensive looking colour saturation! Then I took a super fine artist brush and just doted couple of rows of Essie Good As Gold in the half moon shape. Et voilà!

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On-Trend: Inspired Alexa Chung Daisy Nail Art!

 Zoya Sailor 

 BarryM Limited Edition [BLE 2013] B 330

L to R: Zoya Sailor + BarryM B 330 + Essie Blanc

Hey Beauty Lovers! I'm super excited to share this cute nail art look I have created. This floral nail art was inspired by a pic I saw on Alexa Chung's Instagram last week. On her nails Alexa wore cute white daisy flowers on a dark blue base, her floral nail art I believe was created using dotting tools because the petals were more uniform and round. I decided to go for a more arty version.

To create this daisy nail art I applied two coats of Zoya Sailor, then I took most of the nailpolish off of the Essie Blanc nailpolish brush and freely painted random floral petals to resemble daisies. To finish I painted the classic yellow daisy centres with BarryM Limited Edition B 330. The colour scheme of this floral nail art is perfect for this time of the year, the dark blue base is keeping it rather chic!

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V-Day All-Rounder: Beauty + Hair + Nails!

 Charlotte Tilbury The Rock Chick 

 Estee Lauder Signature Lipstick in Rose Amethyst [discontinued]

a similar shade would be:

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Crystal Lipstick in MOD Pink

BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine in Passion Fruit

Hey Beauty Lovers! If you are not sure what to do with your hair, what kind of make-up look to go for or what colour to paint your nails for the up-coming V-Day here is my suggestion: go for something pretty and innocent with a sexy edge! As a rule wearing too strong colours on the face for a date is not recommended, guys don't like too much make-up. So if you keep everything subtle and soft you than can bust out bright nails, which adds the sexy element to this innocent soft look. Do something cute with your hair, don't over work it yet do put some effort into it. This hair style opens up your face and regardless of what weather it is on the V-Day, you will still look sexy/cute! This entire look would go with a casual outfit or a tip-to-toe black number.

Beauty: This look is all about eyes so the rest is kept neutral. To create this smokey eye I have used Charlotte Tilbury The Rock Chick palette, applying the 2.Enhance eyeshadow shade all over and under the lower lashes and 3.Smoke just into the outer V and also under blending it under the lower lashes. Then I took Charlotte Tilbury Rock 'N' Kohl eyeliner in Bedroom Black and smudged the hard edges with the eyeshadow. And for the lips I chose Estee Lauder Signature Lipstick in Rose Amethyst just because it's a very special lipstick to me and I only pull it out on very special occasions. This lipstick was unfortunately discontinued, but any nude pink with a subtle shimmer will do. A similar shade from the core collection would be Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Crystal Lipstick in MOD Pink.

Hair: Although this hair style looks quite elaborate it's actually very simple to create. To begin with separate hair into two halves each side. Then separate each side into three, do it softly so that you don't have harsh partings. Then loosely braid every part so that you end up with three thin braids on each side. Then take all the braids and pull them back and gently cross them over as though attempting to tie a knot, hiding the ends inside the cross over. Then you will needs lots of bobby pins to secure every braid into place so that it feels quite solid and won't fall apart.

And finally Nails: I'm absolutely obsessed with this BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine nailpolish in Passion Fruit. It's super bright almost a neon coral, and looks ah-mazing on every skin tone, pale or tanned! It's also one of those bright colours that you can absolutely wear both in the summer and winter, it brings the whole outfit together giving it that daring and sexy pop of colour.

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On-Trend: Matte Nails with Chic Vintage Cameo Nail Art!

 BarryM Matte in Vanilla

 Essie in Licorice

 BarryM Matte in Vanilla + Essie in Licorice

 MoYou London Stamping Nail Art Plate 07 from the Tourist Collection

Hey Beauty Lovers! I have been considering getting the nail art stamping plates for a while and finally jumped on the bandwagon. There are a few great brands out there that are favoured by nail artists, however when I found the MoYou London nail art stamping plates I immediately decided to get them because the design and the look of a product is always significant to me, and I just love the concept of these plates. Classically the nail art stamping plates come in round disks, but I prefer these rectangular plates as you get more designs on them and I find them more convenient to work with and more practical. Also the metal plates have a plastic back which prevents you from cutting yourself on the metal edges which often happens with the round plates. And every plate comes in an individual cute vintage paper envelope. 

So to create this chic vintage cameo nail art look, firstly I painted my nails in BarryM Matte Vanilla [2 coats], it's an incredibly flattering pinkish nude, these are my favourite matte nailpolishes, the formula is amazing! Then I tried to stamp my accent nail also using a matte black nailpolish but it didn't work at all, so you have to give it a go and see which nailpolishes stamp best. From my trials it seems the more opaque a nailpolish is the better it stamps. So I changed to Essie Licorice which is a super pigmented cream black and it worked beautifully.

To stamp a design you will need a stamper and a scraper which you can ordered separately. I have ordered two MoYou London plates from Amazon and five from MoYou website directly, and they were delivered in a couple of days. Then you choose which design you want to stamp, paint a nailpolish colour of your choice over the design thickly and quickly, then scrape the excess off holding the scraper at 45 degrees angle and quickly press the stamper over the design and stamp it onto the nail. It will take some practice but it's actually very easy once you get the hang of it. This black cameo vintage silhouette looks particularly chic over matte nude nails!

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Prada SS13 Inspired Floral Nail Art with Essie!

Base: BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine in Blueberry [2 coats]

Nail art: Essie Licorice [black], Lollipop [red], Blanc [white].

L to R: Essie Licorice, Lollipop, Blanc.

Prada SS13

Hey Beauty Lovers! The nailpolish I'm wearing as a base is the BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine in Blueberry, I have featured it in my last blogpost so if you'd like to see more pictures and swatches click here! I decided to take it further and create a floral nail art look inspired by the simplistic and chunky Prada SS13 flowers. 

To create this look I have used a fine artists brush. Starting by drawing a black like with Essie Licorice, it's a super opaque cream black. Then I added the white petals, Prada SS13 flowers either had four or five petals, I went for the five petal design. For the white I used Essie Blanc, it's also very opaque. And finally to finish I added red dots to the centre of the flowers, using Essie Lollipop, which is a cream red, it's not as opaque so I went over it twice. 

LOVE

BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine in Blueberry!

 BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine in Blueberry

Shades L to R: Blueberry, Guava, Greenberry, Lychee

Hey Beauty Lovers! When I still get excited about a nailpolish I know the brand has done a fantastic job! These are a-mazing! I purchased them back in summer [hence the colour choice] when I popped into Boots with a friend who was visiting. We were literally like two kids in a candy store. I have blogged about BarryM Gelly High-Shine nailpolishes before, creating a polka-dot and a sunflower nail art. But it's been a while since I painted my nails with these babies, and the other day I went through my extensive nailpolish collection and couldn't resist them! I went for Blueberry, it's just the most stunning lilac blue. On Instagram it's my most liked nailpolish in history, I'm not kidding! I even got a compliment from my hairstylist, who I believe is straight... 

The formula is just incredible considering how cheap they are!!! I remember BarryM nailpolishes in the old days, I wasn't too impressed, but they have gone up in quality so much in the recent year or two. They last without chipping for days and days, they are super shiny, very smooth and very opaque - I'm wearing two coats btw. I seriously consider these as one of my best beauty discoveries of last year. And I would highly, and I mean highly recommend you get a few, trust me you'll get addicted! The colours I have tried and would recommend are Blueberry and Lychee [the most flattering nude].

LOVE

On-Trend: Holographic Nailart with Ciate Colourfoil Manicure!

 BarryM BLE2013 B330 [Limited Edition]

Ciate Colourfoil Manicure - Holographic foil.

 

Hey Beauty Lovers! Ciate Very Colourfoil Manicure is a rather fun thing to do on a late rainy weekend evening... I have gone for something a little crazy, a bright yellow nailpolish isn't really a winter shade, but I had a serious colour-craving and decided to break the rules. This BarryM yellow is a Limited Edition shade that I got back in the summer, so I'm not sure if it's still available, but I love how glossy and super opaque it is! Ciate Very Colourfoil Manicure come in two styles I believe, one is all metallic foils and the other all holographic foils, each set has six shades. It also comes with a full size Ciate nailpolish in Cream Soda [cream grey], a Foil Fix [glue] and a nail-wheel. 

Basically once your nailpolish has dried you then need to apply a thin layer of Foil Fix in the places where you want the foil to stick, then wait until it has gone from white to transparent and press the foil matte side down and that's it. Very simple and super fun!

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New Ontrend Launch: BarryM Matte Nail Effect Collection!

 Shade: Caramel

 Shade: Crush

Available at just £3.99! How amazing!!

Hey Beauties! I'm so excited that for a change I don't even know where to start... Being lost for words when it comes to a nailpolish is something that doesn't happen that often in my book! First time I have ever tried a matte nailpolish was a couple of years ago, truth be told I wasn't that impressed. And that is why I'm super excited that BarryM is launching this Matte range which I was lucky to get to try before it hits the stores. It is a totally different matte experience, I'd say it's the new re-vamped matte - matte that feels and looks just like velvet!! It doesn't have that odd matte feel on the nails, it feels super smooth. The matte grunge nail look is the hottest trend for AW13, as seen at Alexander Wang, DKNY, and Helmut Lang runway shows for this season.

I am so obsessed with these babies that as soon as they hit the BarryM counters I will go and get the rest of the colours from this Matte Nail Effects Collection!! Speaking of which, this amazing BarryM Matte Collection is launching on the 25th of September, this Wednesday!!! The collection consists of five shades: Caramel - a light and creamy shade, Vanilla - a mixture of pretty pink mink, Crush - a deep, rich burgundy berry, Mocha - a cocoa coloured brown, and Espresso - a deep and dark, classic black.

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