The Autumn Nails Edit

Without a doubt dark nails are my thing. I always get really excited for this time of year when it’s completely acceptable to start bringing out the deeper and darker shades. It’s not all dark plums and berries though as I do love the neutrals and all of those shades that feel super cosy and warm, if that makes any sense? In line with all my autumnal inspired posts I thought it was about time to share my favourite nail shades for this time of year.

The Neutrals 

Barry M Matte Nail Paint Caramel – Matte nails were never really much my thing but I was so obsessed with this matte range from Barry M a few years back. The collection had the best lineup of fall shades and the shade Caramel is one of my favourites. A beautiful beige nude colour, this shade goes with anything and looks super sophisticated.

Essie Sand Tropez – A new shade in my collection, this nude shade sits more as a grey-ish shade to Caramel, think greige. The sand hued shade fits as a perfect nude and you can always rely on the formula of Essie.

The Warm Browns 

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint Cocoa – The shade name really sums this colour up. Think a deep warm brown that conjuncts images of drinking hot chocolate by a roasting fire. Sheer Bliss. A very autumnal shade in another one of my favourite formulas, expect a great finish with this one.

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint Paprika – Same formula, another brown based shade but a different hue. Paprika is such a typical Autumn like colour. An orange-y brown reminiscent of pumpkins and Halloween. I mean just imagine wearing this shade with a Pumpkin Spiced Latte in hand, Autumn goals right there!

The Berries and Plums 

Essie Bahama Mama – Another newbie in my collection, this gorgeous plum purple-y shade is currently chipping it’s way off my nails as we speak. No need to worry though as this has been on my nails for a little too long now! The colour though is gorgeous and pretty different from anything I’ve already got. It falls more into the purple side of things rather than the usual red which I love. A new favourite of mine for sure.

Nails Inc Grosvenor Crescent – I picked up this shade as part of the Nails Inc A/W collection from last year although I actually haven’t tried this shade out yet but I can’t wait to get this on my nails! This is such a perfect Autumn shade, a deep plum-y aubergine shade that appears to be the darkest shade in my lineup. I love a good dark nail and I am currently loving Nails Inc so this one I know I will love!

Essie Shearling Darling – I only have a little mini of this shade but it is one I definitely recommend. A must have fall shade, the perfect deep burgundy that everyone needs in their collection for this time of year. This is definitely one of my favourites.

Barry M Matte Nail Paint Crush – Another one from the matte range, this shade lies more on the red spectrum and is a fail safe deep berry shade. Again I really like the formula of these and the matte finish is a little different than the usual glossy style.

The Winter Blues

Essie Parka Perfect – Since wearing nail polish for many years I’ve took my time in realising the shades I truly love. Grey-ish blues are definitely one of my favourites, pretty specific there I know! Parka Perfect is a gorgeous blue-y grey shade that is slick and looks polished but still offers something more unique than a simple nude.

Essie Maximillian Strasse Her – One of my favourites, a similar shade to Parka Perfect although this runs a little lighter and appears to have a slight green-ish hue running though it. I spoke fully about this shade here but it’s a colour I will forever be coming back to no matter what season.

What are your favourite nail shades for Autumn? 

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The Summer Nails Edit

When July hits it finally feels like Summer. With warmer weather and holidays approaching it is time to get Summer ready. With my summer wardrobe a little on the neutral side, the best way to add a splash of colour to any outfit is through some brightly coloured nails. I have a small but sweet selection of great summer appropriate nail shades that will look super vibrant and help enhance a tan.

First row

Barry M Gelly High Shine Dragon Fruit – This is a super pretty light but bold pink shade. I actually bought this originally to go with an all white outfit and it adds a little pop of colour. Such a pretty shade and you really can’t go wrong with the Barry M Gelly formula!

Barry M Nail Paint Coral – You can’t have Summer without wearing a little bit of coral! The neon-like pink-y orange-y hue is so perfect for Summer and one of those shades that will make you look even more tanned, bonus!

Essie Avenue Maintain – Now blue is a shade that you may think is more of a colder season colour but a bold blue hue is perfect for Summer. A shade like Avenue Maintain which I talked about in more detail here is the perfect blue shade. It is basically the perfect blue sea in a bottle!

Bottom Row

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston – A red is one of those shades that can work all year round. It adds a bold vibrant colour to any look but still manages to look uber chic. I talked about this shade before here but it really is a great colour and the formula is spot on too!

Barry M Gelly High Shine Key Lime – The name of this polish just gets me hungry, anyone else? Now this takes bright to the next level. I find green one of those tricky colours to work but this beautiful lime green works great at adding a little vibrancy. Either teamed with a neutral outfit for a pop of colour or with a Technicolor dream-coat look going on this brings it all together.

Barry M Gelly High Shine Grape Fruit – You might be able to tell by now that I am a fan of the Barry M Gelly polishes! Another one perfect for Summer is this bold pink shade that again will look great with a tan. The bright shade would be a great addition to any neutral outfit to give it a touch of colour.

What nail colours will be you wearing this Summer?

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5 Beauty Products Under £5

There is no denying we all love a good bargain, am I right!? Quite often many of us especially myself are guilty of overlooking the sea of options available in the drugstore and instead turn to high end counters with higher expectations and a world of beautiful packaging. Although the drugstore holds so many amazing products at really amazing prices. Today I want to share 5 products to be exact from the drugstore that all come under the £5 mark and all deserve a round of applause!

Barry M Nail Polish – How could I not mention Barry M nail polish! With a wide collection of different shades and top notch formulas all under £5 you really cannot miss out on these wonderful creations! Every-time I pop into Boots I always have to have a little look at the Barry M display. You really don’t need to fork out a lot of money for a good nail polish, the drugstore have great options and Barry M is definitely one of my favourite brands for nails.

Rimmel Stay Blushed Liquid Cheek Tint – This cream/liquid blush from Rimmel really is great value for money! Rimmel are such a great affordable brand and still create really great products, ideal if you are on a budget. I have had this cheek tint for so long now and I still have a lot of product left. For a 14ml tube, you only need a tiny amount of this to create a lovely flush of colour on the cheeks.

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover – Back to nails. This nail polish remover from Bourjois really is a game-changer. For ages now I relied on the old school method of a cotton pad and the usual bottle of nail polish remover then this entered my life and changed everything. It makes life so much easier, you simply put your nail into the pot and twist it around and magic, all the nail polish is removed. It really is magic!

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Gel Eyeshadows – Probably one of my favourite products from the drugstore, if not my favourite. The formula of these are probably one of my favourites too, they are super creamy and glide on to the eyes super easily. The shades are also great and super pigmented! On and On Bronze and Metallic Pomegranate are my two favourites in the line and definitely worth picking up!

Nivea Lip Butter Raspberry Rose – You may know I am a big fan of this after mentioning it in my April Favourites. For only £2, yes I did say £2, this stuff is amazing! The raspberry scent is heavenly but more important the texture is super smooth and soft on the lips. I wear this at night and it keeps my lips super hydrated and moisturised. It really is a great buy!

What are your favourite drugstore products?

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The Spring Edit: Nails

It feels like Spring has finally sprung. I don’t know about anyone else but with the colder and horrible weather during Winter, it makes me feel like we will never get any good weather. Gladly we are past that stage now and its time to overload on pastels and lighter colours. I have selected 9 nail polishes from my stash that I will be wearing over the warmer season, some of which are the obvious light pastel shades for spring or a little different. Please be aware some of the swatches above appear a little darker than they actually are.

Top Row

Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Road Rage – I’ve spoken more about this one before here with better swatches. This is part of the new quick dry range from Barry M which comes in a range of pretty spring pastel shades. This one is a lovely duck egg shaded blue-y green.

Chanel Tenderly – Again you may have heard me mention this before here. This is part of Chanel’s Spring 2015 range and it is quite different for Spring with a mauve-y plum toned shade but I am loving it!

Essie Ballet Slippers – This is a shade I am currently rocking on my nails and its different to anything I have ever owned. It really is as nude as nude can be. If you are wanting a moment of having natural looking nails this pale sheer pink gives your nails a nice little boost of prettiness.

Middle Row

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Rose Hip – This is a beautiful pastel pink shade perfect for Spring and the Barry M gelly formulas are one of the best around.

Essie Under Where? – This is a beautiful lilac-y lavender shade with a hint of pink from one of the resort collections in the main Essie line.

Essie Master Plan – This is a new addition to my stash and its a beautiful light grey shade that will go with anything. Everyone needs a good grey in their collection and its such a sophisticated shade that doesn’t need to be dull.

Bottom Row

Essie Maximillian Strasse Her – Weirdest name ever. Despite that it is a favourite of mine at the moment. Its quite hard to pin point the colour, its a blue-y, green-y toned grey-ish kinda colour. Its a pretty unique shade and one that is a great addition to any collection.

Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Full Throttle – Another one from the quick dry range that I reviewed before here. This is a colour that usually wouldn’t appeal to me but its such a pretty shade on the nails. It’s a very soft apricot colour perfect for the warmer months.

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine HuckleBerry – Another one from the Barry M gelly range and yet again it’s a lovely pastel shade. This is a beautiful light baby blue that is pretty versatile and could be worn from Spring to Winter.

What nail shades will you be wearing this Spring?

 

 

 

 

New Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Polish Review

 

 

When it comes to nail polish there is one brand I turn to who I know will always offer the best colour selection at an incredibly affordable cost. It is of course Barry M. Whenever Barry M launch a new range of polishes to their collection I have to admit I get that bit excited at seeing the new shades they have on offer. After hearing of their latest launch, it is safe to say I got pretty excited.

This time it wasn’t particularly just the shades, there was a winning formula. Introducing the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry range. I am sure you can tell from the name what these polishes are set out to do. As the most impatient person when it comes to nail polish drying these definitely are the best thing Barry M could offer on the table. There is also a broad shade range adored by a range of pretty pastels perfect for Spring.

I popped into Boots not too long ago to pick up some and unfortunately they only had two shades left which came in the form of Road Rage and Full Throttle. Road Rage is a pretty duck egg shaded blue with slight green undertones, a polish that is pretty unique to my collection. A notable feature of the new polishes is the updated brush which is now much thicker meaning it is now much easier to apply polish over the nail. The other shade I picked up is Full Throttle, an apricot like soft orange shade which if I’m honest wasn’t a stand out colour in the collection, I was stuck with it though. However after applying it I have fell in love with this shade, Its such a different but pretty soft tone that will look perfect in spring alongside some fresh white clothing.

The formula is definitely a winner. After applying Full Throttle at the last minute before heading out into town and rushing around non-stop to get ready it definitely lives up to the speedy dry claim. The lasting power of these polishes is also pretty decent. Barry M polishes usually suffer a weakness in the lasting power but these have lasted pretty well on my nails lasting nearly a week with hardly any chipping.

Probably my favourite range from Barry M without a doubt. If you are impatient like me when it comes to nail polish then these deserve a try. Now what shade should I get next?

Are you a fan of Barry M nail polishes?

 

Barry M Paprika

One thing I love about this time of year is dark and kinda unusual nails. I picked up the shade ‘Paprika’ not too long ago as part of the Barry M Gelly Autumn 2014 collection. Its very different to what I would normally wear, I don’t tend to go into the browns but this shade was screaming at me to buy…pretty much. Its such the perfect A/W shade, it reminds me of autumn leaves and weirdly enough Pumpkin spiced lattes (I know Pumpkins are orange but …coffee is brown!). Lovely shade 🙂

Beauty Haul: YSL, Mac, Barry M

Happy weekend everyone 🙂 So yesterday I got up to a little shopping and I wanted to share with you what I bought. Firstly I went into House of Fraser as I had to return a Mac lipstick. If you read my post on the Naked 3 palette you may have seen I mentioned that I bought a lipstick to receive the deal.. well after buying Mac Cyber I was quite unimpressed with the colour which was far too dark so I went into Mac to exchange it for another one; Mac Twig which is the perfect fall colour, its of a brownish pink/light red shade and is in a satin finish. Paired with lip liner the Kylie Jenner look is nailed!

I then noticed a deal at YSL which had 20% off everything and also a great deal on their iconic Touche Eclat highlighters which were selling for £15 each rather than its usual £25. So i thought it was well worth the investment into such a raved about product however lets just say they have very good sales people who persuaded me to purchase 2 as it would only be £30 and after having quite the makeover I was incredibly drawn by their beautiful gold packaged Rouge Volupte Shine lipstick. I picked up shade 13 Pink in Paris for a discounted £20, but it is one of those items you need in your collection.

And last but not least I went to Boots and picked up two Gelly Barry M Nail polishes in the shades Cocoa and Paprika. There was a buy one get one half price offer so I picked up these two which are the perfect autumn shades. Hopefully once I do my nails I will make a blog post so stay tuned! All I can think of when I look at these shades is hot chocolate and autumn leaves .. bliss 🙂

Nails of the Day: Nice ‘n’ Nude

// Nail Polish: Barry M Matte Caramel \\

// Rings: Topshop, Ebay \\

// Watch: Michael Kors \\