Playing with magnets

Until now i'd resisted the urge to buy a magnetic nail polish. I've never really been too much of a fan of nail effects, I don't like shatter nail polishes except for the silver one the I picked up by mistake not realising it was shatter, I didn't expect magnetic polish to be anything but a trend that would soon be gone. That being said, when I saw that Barry M had started doing magnetic nail polishes I decided to have a little bit of a play, and I must say i'm pleasantly surprised. It's very simple to do so immediately I prefer it over water marbling which I found really fussy and quite time consuming.

2 coats of Barry M number 347 and seche vite fast dry topcoat

I got two of the magnetic polishes and the one i'm going to talk about is number 347 'Magnetic Multi Sparkle' which is a gunmetal silver colour with plenty of multi-coloured sparkle in it. This colour is beautiful, I have to say even if I do get bored of wearing this as a magnetic polish I will wear it on its own because its really lovely.

2 coats of Barry M number 347 and seche vite fast dry topcoat

When magnetised this polish has a striped pattern in a darker grey colour. It was really very simple to get the effect and I think it looks pretty cool, I don't think i'll be doing it too often but it was fun to try and maybe I will use it to jazz up a plainer outfit sometime. The polish itself went on pretty well, wasn't too sheer or streaky, you have to apply one coat, let it dry and then magnetise the second coat as soon as you've painted it on.

The finished effect after magnetisation and top coat

The magnet is contained within the top of a squared off lid which means that its easy to tell this apart from other Barry M nail paint which have a smaller top and that the magnet is of a nice large size which makes the magnetising process simpler and less fiddly. One of the main criticisms I had heard of magnetic polishes is that the magnets that came with some of them were too small and it made it hard to get a uniform effect over a nail and made it quite difficult to work with.

In the process of magnetising the nail polish on my thumb

Like I said earlier, I was pleasantly surprised with how this magnetic polish turned out, it was simple to do, didn't sacrifice the quality of the polish and looked very cool. I think I might see what other magnetic polishes Barry M has, I know that there are some where  you get a sort of firework effect which I think would be great for bonfire night which is rapidly approaching.

Louise Gray for Topshop

Recently, scottish designer Louise Gray released a cosmetics collaboration with Topshop, and after seeing the promo images I was excited to check it out. Whilst none of the make-up items excited me enough to make a purchase, some of the nail polishes absolutely did.

My picks from the Louise Gray for Topshop collection

There were four nail polishes in the collection, all of which were glitter. The two that I didn't pick up were a pumpkin orange colour ('Dart') and a muted green ('Hat Trick') which were pretty but to me just didn't seem like polishes that i'd ever really wear. These two polishes were also finer glitter which I find doesn't look as pretty for layering which is what I principally use glitter polishes for because they tend to be on the sheerer side.

Louise Gray for Topshop nail polish in 'Dart'

Louise Gray for Topshop nail polish in 'Hat Trick'

Now onto the polishes that I did get; firstly, I picked up 'Pinch Punch' which is a pinky red jelly base with pink and silver micro shimmer and much chunkier silver hexagonal glitters.The second polish that I purchased is 'Junk Yard' which is a very sheer blue base with multiple sizes of glitter in bright blue and green colours, really reminds me of the ocean or something.

Louise Gray for Topshop nail polish in 'Pinch Punch'

Louise Gray for Topshop nail polish in 'Junk Yard'

I'm not the biggest fan of 'Pinch Punch' if i'm honest, it's too sheer to be worn on it's own if you want more than a few flakes of glitter on each nail but when you put it over a different colour, I put it over OPI's 'Pinking of you', it changes the base colour because of the jelly base. I tried seeing if 2 coats of 'Pinch Punch' over a bare nail would give my nails any colour from the jelly base alone and they just ended up looking like i'd worn a red polish without a base coat and it had stained my nails. I'm not a fan of this one but it was fun to try, negativity over.

1 coat of 'Pinch Punch' over 2 coats of OPI 'Pinking of you'

To me, 'Pinch Punch' has much more bottle appeal

On to 'Junk Yard' and a much more positive review, a rave in fact. I really love this polish, I think it looks so beautiful on   the nail and I think I may run out and purchase a back up right now. The different colours of all the shimmer and glitter give this polish quite a multi-dimensional effect and it's just so pretty when some of the larger glitters hit the light. The base is so sheer that it doesn't tint the base colour you put underneath like 'Pinch Punch' although I didn't try this one over bare nails because I just loved it over the blue colour (2 coats of a blue MUA polish if you were wondering, can't find a name but it says C10 on the bottom?). It looks a tiny bit like scales, but in a good way, a mermaidy way, I can't help but feel that in winter i'll love pairing this over black and in summer over turqouisey blue colours, a read round win for me!

1 coat of 'Junk Yard' over 2 coats of a blue MUA polish

This applies much truer to bottle than 'Pinch Punch'

These polishes were £6.50 each and I bought them in store, they are also available on the Topshop webite. So overall it was a bit of a hat and miss experience for me, but its always fun to experiment.

Barry M 'Mint Green'

This summer I was quite obsessed with 2 colours: mint green and coral. Naturally I went about finding the perfect nail polishes in both of these colours. I looked at the usual suspects to find a green, Essie's 'Mint Candy Apple' which I really do love but was a little lighter than what I was looking for, Nails Inc 'Haymarket' which I also thought was really beautiful but was quite blue based and Revlon 'Minted' which is a beautiful colour that just happens to not really suit my skin tone. 

2 coats of Barry M 'Mint Green'

The search ended when I stumbled upon the Barry M display in Superdrug when I was in Edinburgh. The polishes were 2 for £5 which felt like a bargain and I felt this colour calling my name. It is a true bright minty green and it doesn't look weird on my hands, a success I think! I was also happy that this polish was cheap and readily available, even when it isn't on offer I believe that it's only £2.99 which still makes it the cheapest mint green colour that i've tried. I've previously been a bit of a snob when it comes to Barry M polishes because they were so cheap but I heard some buzz so I decided to check some out.

'Mint Green' in natural light

The formula on this one wasn't perfect; it was a little thick, not unbearable, I just had to be careful with application because I messed up the first nail I did and had to go back and do that one again. I didn't have any problems with streaking though which was good. I used 2 coats in the photos above which was enough to make it opaque and make the colour pop. Considering this is a pastel shade it is really bright which I loved when I wore this colour in the summer, its so eye catching!

This polish lasted for a decent amount of time before chipping, 3 days before I saw a chip which is pretty standard for me. I was impressed  with this polish considering the low price point, I think there are more expensive polishes that have the same quality. I would repurchase it for sure and I think I'll definitely check out some of their darker colours for autumn, I think 'Cappuccino' will be my next purchase.

Barry M nail paint in colour 304 'Mint Green'

Have you tried any of Barry M's nail paints? What did you think of them?

Butter London 'Trout Pout'

'Trout Pout' seems a little darker on the nail then in the bottle

With summer slowly fading away and autumn creeping up on us i've been trying to wear as many bright and happy colours on my nails as I can before I retire them until next spring. 'Trout Pout' was a colour that I heard a lot about before I actually managed to get my hands on it. 

2 coats of 'Trout Pout'

 This polish applies really nicely, 2 coats and it was fully opaque. There was no streaking and the consistency seems just right to me. It also dried to a really glossy finish without a top coat but I added one anyway to make it last a little longer. The colour appears quite creamy on the nail, I think it would suit and flatter many different skin types and be quite versatile.

For some reason this colour reminds me of Mad Men or something. Butter's website describes it as "pale and retro, this opaque cantaloupe nail lacquer looks great on anyone." I totally agree with this; it's a light pink  with a tinge of coral but it's very definitely a pink. It's quite unique to me, the closest things I have to it are Chanel 'Distraction' and Revlon 'Coral Reef' but these are darker with more orange in them.

Close-up of 'Trout Pout'

I think this is a colour that i'll wear for many years, I think it will be particularly lovely for spring-time, I can really imagine this being a good easter colour. Sadly, I think I will be putting this away for the autumn and winter after only using it once but i'll be excited to pick it up again next year. I'm happy to report that this polish well and truly lived up to the hype that surrounds it, it seems to me that is the perfect spring and summer polish, I just wish i'd got my hands on it earlier in the year!

So there you go! What do you think of 'Trout Pout'?

top 10 nail polish picks for autumn - part 2!

My top 10 nail polish picks for autumn!

I already talked about how much I love autumn and autumn colours in part 1 so I won't bore you too much by going on again. Theres some really great nail polish options out there that fit the season and some great collections have been released for autumn and winter (I can't wait to pick up a few colours from the Jessica 'Spicy Dream' collection!) So without further ado, lets dive into the second half of my favourite polishes for autumn!

(left-right) Chanel 'Rouge noir', Deborah Lippmann 'Ruby red slippers', Barry M 'Navy', OPI 'Designer de-better', Deborah Lippmann 'Diamonds and pearls'

2 coats of Chanel 'Rouge noir'

'Rouge noir' was very raved about a few years back, but the hype seems to have died down in the wake of other polishes such as 'Peridot' and 'Paradoxal'. Oh well, I don't care if its hyped about or not, I still love the colour. Its an extremely blackened red creme that in some lighting comes off as flat black. I love this for when I want to have a fairly neutral (odd calling this colour a neutral, but it does seem to go with everything), dark and moody polish. I don't wear flat black nail polish as it can seem a bit harsh against my pale complexion, especially in the winter months, so this polish is a nice alternative.

3 coats of Deborah Lippmann 'Ruby red slippers'

I got this polish rather a long time ago back at the start of spring and just haven't had a chance to wear it throughout spring and summer. Alas, autumn is upon us and I can now don my 'Ruby red slippers'. This is a black jelly base with red hexagonal chunky glitter and small red shimmer particles running throughout. I think i'll wear this one a lot more closer to christmas time actually but it certainly won't go unworn throughout autumn. The sheerness of the black base is a bit of a bummer if i'm honest but the colours pretty, so I will spend the time, it just probably won't be worn as much as shades the require 1-2 coats.

2 coats of Barry M 'Navy'

I wasn't expecting to like this colour half as much as I actually do, I bought it because I thought it looked like a pretty close dupe for Chanel 'Blue Satin' and thought it would be great if I could find a much cheaper alternative. The truth is I like this polish better than the Chanel one, which i'm surprised by. I find Barry M nail paints to be a bit of a hit or miss but with this one the quality is definitely there. Compared to the Chanel this one is a little less blackened; 'Blue satin' can read as black in dim lighting but this is definitely a metallic navy, which is what I was looking for. I feel it's just the right balance of being dark and rich in colour without being too blackened. I may do a separate comparison post on these two as there's much more to say.

2 coats of OPI 'Designer de-better'

When I first thought of including this polish I wasn't sure whether to include this or the oh so hyped about Orly 'Rage' but I included this one because I like the formula better. 'Designer de-better' is a pretty old OPI shade that came out with the Muppets collection. Its a metallic rose gold shade with tonnes of micro-shimmer. I don't know why but shades like these just seem to suit my skin-tone better in the cooler months, plus I generally prefer metallics and shimmery polishes once summer closes in because they make up for the lack of sun and make me happy.

1 coat of Deborah Lippmann 'Diamonds and pearls' over 2 coats of Essie 'Sand tropez'

This isn't really an autumn colour as much as I wear it all the time so i'm sure that it will be on my nails alot during autumn. In the summer time when i'm a tad less pale I can wear 'Sand tropez' on its own but in the autumn and winter I need something to give it a bit of a lift so that its not completely nude and doesn't make my hands look dead. 'Diamonds and pearls' is a light, shimmery warm-toned polish that is very sheer and best worn over another colour. I think this will look good as a jazzier neutral when the weather starts to close in; plus the shimmer will make me happy when the sun goes away.

So there you have it, my top 10 nail polish picks for autumn 2012, i'm excited for the leaves to start falling so I can jump in a big pile of crunchy leafy goodness :D

Top 10 nail polish picks for autumn - part 1!

My top 10 nail polish picks for the autumn!

Autumn is by far one of my favourite seasons, it starts to get chilly but isn't as deeply cold as winter, the clothes are adorable, and the colours associated with it are some of my favourites. i just love taking a walk in the crisp, chilly air bundled up in a nice warm jumper taking in the falling leaves in various shades of red, orange, burgundy and yellow. But enough about my love of the autumn and onto the first half of my top 10 autumn nail polishes!

(left- right) Butter London 'No more waity, Katie', OPI '20 candles on my cake', Deborah Lippmann 'Good girl gone bad', Essie 'Chinchilly', Butter London 'Shag'

The above nail polishes on the nail.

2 coats of Butter London 'Shag'

Butter London ' Shag' is one of the colours from their new A/W 12 collection and the most autumnal looking of the bunch, to me anyway. I was immediately attracted to this when I saw the first press photos of the collection, it just screams autumn to me. Its a deep orange colour with a hint of copper, it has a metallic finish with lots of micro-shimmer running throughout.

3 thing coats of Essie 'Chinchilly'

Essie's 'Chinchilly' is a dark, muted greige creme with a hint of purple. This colour is my favourite neutral for autumn or winter because it  literally goes with everything and it doesn't make my pale skin look too odd as neutral colours sometimes can. In some ways this isn't specifically an autumn colour for me because I do wear it all year round but I get the most wear out of it in autumn.

2 coats of 'Good girl gone bad'

Deborah Lippmann 'Good girl gone bad' is a polish that I bought specifically with autumn in mind. Burgundy is my favourite colour for this time of the year, and to me, shimmery polishes are more suited to the colder weather. I really love this because it is just so shimmery and I didn't really have anything like it in my collection, I had plenty of shimmery reds but nothing a little darker. Its a great way to add a glitzy touch to a more neutral autumn outfit.

2 coats of OPI '20 candles on my cake'

I really don't like to wear pinks as much in autumn and winter and this is as close as I get. '20 candles on my cake' is a red based raspberry creme. I like this shade for the transition between summer and autumn because its still bright enough to look great for those last summer days but its not so bright that it would look silly on a duller day. The finish on this one is really great and it really does provide a bright pop of colour when you wear it with a darker outfit. Its really quite an unusual mix of pink and red that I can't think of any dupes for.

3 coats of Butter London 'No more waity, Katie'

This is a really interesting colour to me, I usually favour darker shades for autumn and winter but this one really appealed to me. It has serious bottle appeal and I really love it on the nail too, its a dirty purpley grey base with pretty lilac shimmer in it.I like that the base has a bit of a dirty quality to it, makes it much more interesting than if it was a lilac base to match the shimmer. I'm not sure this is something that everyone would love but I really enjoy it. It's the only cooler toned polish that i've really chosen, I feel like its the perfect mix of pretty and edgy. A lot of people talk about the horrible formula of this but I didn't find it that bad, it's a 3-coater but that doesn't bother me too much.

My picks from the OPI Germany collection

When I first saw photos of OPI's Germany collection i'll have to admit that I was slightly underwhelmed. I mean, there are definitely pretty shades but they were all highly dupeable, or so I thought. When I actually saw the collection in store, my opinion changed somewhat.

The nude colours were nice and the kind of thing that appeals to me but they all very closely resembled polishes that I already have in my collection. Despite owning similar polishes I slightly regret not getting 'Berlin there, done that' which is a greige creme polish. Its similar to Essie's 'Chinchilly' which is  one of my favourite autumn nail polishes, only the Essie polish is a tad greyer. But now onto my two purchases from the 

collection.

2 coats of OPI's 'Every month is Oktoberfest'

'Every month is Oktoberfest' is an ideal autumnal shade. Its a metallic purple with a hint of red and some red micro-shimmer. It was quite hard to photograph this polish true to how it appears on the nail. In darker lights this looks almost black but in sunlight the shimmer is really beautiful. This kind of colour just screams autumn to me, the purple and red duochrome kind of reminds me of the changing colour of leaves. When I saw the original images of the collection this was the one that really stood out to me that I knew I had to get. I know that Jessica has some very similar colours in the autumn 'Spicy Dream' collection but I haven't actually seen this in UK stores yet.

1 coat of 'Deutsch you want me baby?'

'Deutsch you want me baby?' is a deep orange colour with some micro-shimmer and a metallic finish. I really love this colour, it seems to me like its a autumn/winter version of my favourite summer orange; 'Holiday' by Chanel. This polish seemed like a bit of a miracle actually, in 1 coat it dried to an opaque, streak free and glossy finish - I was amazed and a very happy bunny. The colour isn't as red as it looks in the above photo, in person it is a true deep orange in all lighting situations.

Recent additions to my nail polish collection

(Left-Right) Barry M 'Strawberry Ice Cream', Barry M 'Navy', Barry M 'Peach Melba', Barry M 'Mint Green', Essie 'Cute as a Button', Essie 'Fiji', Essie 'Dive Bar', Essie 'Fear & Desire', Deborah Lippmann 'Across the Universe'

This post is now severely out of date and I have posted on a rather large portion of the polishes mentioned but I thought i should post it anyway just in case anyone was interested in seeing the other polishes that I had been buying and had not yet posted on.

Over the summer I was away from home for quite a while (7 weeks to be exact!) and I was missing the majority of my trusty nail polish stash so I couldn't resist making a few additions to my collection and thought that you might like to have a little look at the polishes that I chose. It may seem like a lot but like I said, I was away for quite a while and some of them were on offer.

Deborah Lippmann 'Across the Universe' which I got from House of Fraser for £16

I've looked for this one for a while now, I saw some swatches online which got me very interested and I finally found it last week. I used it as soon as I got it home and I really like it, its very unique. I've done an individual post on it already so check that out.

Barry M 'Mint Green' which I bought from Superdrug, 2 for £5

I have very few green nail varnishes but this one just attracted my eye straight away and I was hooked, my two favourite colours this spring were mint and coral and it was on offer so I thought, why not? In Superdrug it was 2 Barry M nail paints for £5 and I think Boots may have a similar offer on at the moment.

Barry M 'Strawberry Ice Cream' which I bought from Superdrug, 2 for £5

i really don't have too many light pink colours like this and i thought it would be a very nice, kinda effortless colour for me. I've applied it once and I have to say I didn't love the formula but I was tired so perhaps I was just painting badly. I hope so because I love colours like this I just never really pick them up.

Barry M 'Navy' which I bought from Superdrug, 2 for £5

I thought this one would be great for autumn and winter, as you can probably tell from my past posts I love blues and this is a wintry alternative to my favourite summer turquoises and teals. I also have a sneaky suspicion that this may be a pretty good dupe for Chanel 'Blue Satin' which I also own - i'll keep you updated with a comparison post when I get around to using this.

Barry M 'Peach Melba' which I bought from Superdrug, 2 for £5

I put this on my nails the very first day that I got it. I really love this colour for summer and it reminds me of Essie's 'Tart Deco' which I also really love. Its a pretty light, peachy pink. I've used it and application wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible and I really love the colour.

Essie 'Fiji' which I bought from Boots for £7.99

I've already done a post from this one and I like it, not sure I love it though. It's a nice neutral that's pretty and versatile for summer. I imagine that it would look amazing with a tan but alas my fair skin will probably never know the joy of looking sun-kissed. I

do think i'll end up wearing it a lot though, because it will go with everything.

Essie 'Cute as a Button' which I bought from Boots for £7.99

This is that polish that i've picked up many times, always loved, but never quite got around to buying because I have so many similar shades but I finally got around to buying it when I was away. I love the colour and I love the name. Sadly, it hasn't been worn yet just because of the amount of corally pinks I have but i'm sure i'll get around to wearing it soon.

Essie 'Fear and Desire' which I bought from Boots for £7.99

This polish is lovely and bright, it was perfect for the (unusually) hot UK summer. i wrote about this quite a few posts back, its perfect for us pale girls - its about as bright as I can go without my hands looking dirty. I think that Chanel's 'Holiday' is still my favourite summer orange though.

Essie "Dive Bar' which I bought from Boots for £7.99

I almost can't believe I didn't already have this colour, it screams me in autumn and winter. its a lovely, moody, blackened shimmery teal that I think will be perfect for cold winter days, the shimmer stops it from looking dull. This one has a lot of depth, I really like it.

So a bit of everything really, there were a few shades I didn't really need (although, the eternal question springs to mind - who ever really needs a nail polish?) but i've been working hard so I thought why not treat myself. there have been quite a few additions since this, mainly because of the new Selfridges beauty hall, so i'm sure i'll be doing another one of these posts in the not too distant future.