Tag Archives: Barry M

Mani Monday | Shark Week

Mani Monday Shark Week

I’ve not done a Mani Monday post for ages but I thought one was due. I’ve actually not had nail polish on my nails for about three weeks which is crazy for me. Well, not crazy, just incredibly lazy! And nail art? Pfft… I think it’s been an entire year since I did anything. So I’m dipping my toe back in the water with a super quick shark week look.

Mani Monday Shark Week

I’m too out of practice to go for anything to rival some of the Shark Week looks by artists like Dull Like Glitter, or Miss Jen Fabulous, so I had to rely on some good old nail decals. These ones are from YRNails and are just £1.50 for 23 in three different sizes. I teamed it with Road Rage from the Barry M Speedy range and topped it off with the Gelly topcoat.

I like it. Might try a proper Jaws-like one soon.

Barry M Gelly Plumpy Topcoat

Barry M Gelly Plumpy Topcoat

Building on their success with the Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints, Barry M have released their first topcoat from the range. The Plumpy Topcoat promises to give any mani the high shine finish of the Gelly nail polishes and a plumped up, gel effect that you would expect from a salon manicure. Being a big fan of the Gelly range I was excited to try this and was hoping for a possible Seche Vite dupe.

Barry M Gelly Plumpy Topcoat

I found that it certainly delivers in terms of shine. My nails looked very glossy and polished as you can clearly see from the above photo. I also love the shape the brush which is flat and wide – but not too wide. I have small nails beds and my pinky is tiny but the brush is the exact same width so by happy coincidence is pretty perfect for me.

A couple of negatives – I did find this to be very slow at drying. I think that the 3D plumped effect would only be noticeable with two or  three coats which is fine… if you have the time. This took at least 30 mins to dry all the way through which is way too long for a topcoat in my mind. It also has the tendency to peel, I’ve used the same (Barry M) polish with and without the Plumpy Topcoat and sadly it lasts longer without.

So, a good topcoat if you’re looking for a high shine (I think this would look amazing over glitter, shimmer or matte shades like the Barry M Silk collection) for a short time, but not one for people in a hurry or looking for a long-lasting mani.

At £2.99 you can’t grumble about the price but unfortunately I would say to save your pennies and invest in the Seche Vite.

Have you tried the Barry M Plumpy Topcoat? What is your favourite topper?

 

New From Barry M | Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint

Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint

Barry M are gearing up for a pastel spring with their new Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paints. The collection offers nine soft shades with a fast drying formula and a new, wide brush. They are priced at £3.99 each and currently available in Superdug at two for £7.

Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint

Left to right: “Pole Position” (mint green); “In a Heart Beat” (coral pink); “Road Rage” (pale blue/green); “Full Throttle” (creamy orange).

The names and lids are obviously inspired by racing  and make a nice point of difference to their other collections. As well as the colours above there is a pale pink, a lilac, a greige, pale yellow, and a sky blue so they have created a capsule collection with all the colours you’ll need for spring.

Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail PaintBarry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint

These apply best with several thin coats. The green and the blue definitely need three to even out streaks but the stronger hued coral was fine with just two. And thankfully, they do live up to their quick-drying promise. I found them to be touch dry within minutes and fully dry within 15. Again, this was with thin layers that dried between coats.

The new flat brush is a great addition too. It’s wider but not too wide (I have tiny pinky nails!) with a curved tip so allows for a neat, even application.

Overall, I’d say this collection is a winner. Good formula, great colours. I hope that they will continue to add to the collection seasonally as they have with the Gelly range, and introduce the new shape of brush throughout.

What do you think of these new colours? Are they making you feel like Spring has sprung?

Barry M Gellys | New Autumn Shades

Barry M Gelly Nail Polish Autumn Shades

Well hellooo autumn! The season of cosy knits, fallen leaves and pumpkin lattes. Aaannd the new Barry M Gelly nail polish shades. Six new shades were launched: a grey, red with a brownish tone and a chocolate brown as well as the three I have above. I think this collection perfectly captures the autumn season, I’m so impressed.

Barry M Gelly Nail Polish Autumn Shades

This is ‘Cardamom’. It’s a muted, forest green and is just lovely. I don’t have anything like it in my collection (OK, maybe OPI’s ‘Mermaid’s Tear’ is the closest, but this is definitely darker).

Barry M Gelly Nail Polish Autumn Shades

Next up is ‘Paprika’. From other pictures I had thought that this would be more orange but it’s more of a orangey brown. I think that it’s surprisingly flattering on my skintone.

Barry M Gelly Nail Polish Autumn Shades

Lastly, my favourite of the bunch: ‘Mustard’. It’s a “what it says on the tin” kind of shade – straight up mustard. I’m so glad that they have finally done a yellow Gelly, more please, Barry!

The formula on all these is great. I did two thin coats as that’s my habit, but one thick coat would self level and be opaque. The finish is shiny as you would expect and lasts a good few days with a base coat.  They are £3.99 each and on 3 for 2 in Superdrug now – go, go, go!

Barry M Gelly Nail Effects | New Pastel Shade

Barry M Pastel Gelly shadesHello gorgeous pastels! The Barry M Gelly range is probably my most favourite nail polish collection so I was most excited to see three new shades added. So much so that I wrote the release date in my diary. Yep, I’m that sad. The three shades in question are milky pastels, a notoriously difficult formula to master so I was interested to see how they’d perform.

Barry M Gelly Sugar AppleThis is ‘Sugar Apple’, a mint green which is actually brighter on the nails than I expected it to be. This is with three coats. I found it a lot harder to apply evenly than the brighter shades in the range but it looked ok by the third coat. I didn’t use a top coat, the high shine finish means this step isn’t necessary.

Barry M Gelly Rose Hip‘Rose Hip’ is my favourite of the bunch and is a delicate baby pink. Again, this was three coats but was much more even on application than the other two.

Barry M Gelly HuckleberryLastly, ‘Huckleberry’, a lovely pale blue. I struggled with this one the most and had to apply four coats to ensure it was even. However, the colour is beautiful so worth it if you have the patience.

Overall, the result is pretty much what I was expecting. Trickier to handle than the brighter colours but the final colour makes up for the additional time you have to spend over it and they deliver the high-shine, gel-like finish as promised. I love all three colours, especially ‘Rose Hip’ which is quite different to anything else I own.

Barry M Gelly CollectionThis is my complete collection. Top row, left to right: ‘Papaya’; ‘Prickly Pear’; ‘Dragonfruit’; ‘Guava’; ‘Greenberry’; ‘Blueberry’. Bottom row, left to right: ‘Key Lime’; ‘Mango’; ‘Lychee’; ‘Sugar Apple’; ‘Rose Hip’; ‘Huckleberry’.

Next on the shopping list is ‘Grapefruit’ – the bright pink. No such thing as too many nail polishes.