Beauty. Fashion. Lifestyle.
Posts tagged £3.99
NOTD: Barry M Glitterati ‘Fashion Icon’
0
2 years
When it comes to nail products, Barry M are one of my favourite brands, so when they announced a flurry of new shades for Autumn/Winter 2014, I was incredibly excited! As well as adding new colours to their Gelly, Silk, Classic and Aquarium ranges, and releasing some gorgeous Christmas glitters, Barry M have also launched the new Glitterati collection. Glitterati features six ‘blinging’ glitter paints, and they really caught my eye when I first saw them on Instagram.
So far I’ve only picked up three shades from the new selection – Rockstar and Fashion Icon from Glitterati, and the new Aquarium Glitter, Atlantis. I’ll be posting about each shade individually over the coming weeks, plus any more that I end up buying, but today’s NOTD is Fashion Icon.
Blue and purple are two of my favourite and most worn colours, so I was immediately drawn to this beautiful shade. Fashion Icon has a purple base with a blue duochrome effect, and is packed full of micro glitter, some of which is holographic. I find this shade so mesmerizing as it looks different every time I look at it. It goes from electric blue to grape purple to bright violet in one movement, whilst all the time remaining strikingly sparkly.
All of my swatches show three thin coats, with no base coat or top coat, which I think looks great, but I bet it’d look just as gorgeous layered over a deep purple shade.
I’ve also found Fashion Icon to be impressively hard-wearing. Despite spending the whole day cleaning, unpacking boxes and generally being busy, my nails look just as good as they did when I first painted them.
I can really see this wonderful shade becoming one of my all time favourite glitters, and I can’t wait to swatch Rockstar to see if it’s as stunning as this one.
Barry M’s Glitterati nail paints cost £3.99 each, and are available in store and online from Superdrug and Boots, and online from Barry M.
Naomi x
Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Greenberry
12
4 years
by Naomi in Nails
Last week Barry M launched four more Gelly Nail Paint shades as part of their Spring collection – Lychee (nude), Dragon Fruit (pink), Greenberry (green) and Papaya (orange). When I saw the new colours advertised on their Facebook page I instantly fell in love with Greenberry, and since I’d never tried a Gelly before I made a special trip into town to pick this up not long after the launch. Barry M’s Gellies are supposed to have a gel effect finish which is highly glossy. I find Barry M’s standard Nail Paints are already very shiny, so I couldn’t wait to put the Gelly to the test to see whether it lives up to its name.
Barry M’s Gelly varnish has a thick but creamy consistency, which applies extremely smoothly with no streakiness. However, if you have too much varnish on the brush it can apply a bit too thickly, so its best to apply as thin a coat as possible and build up from there. I made the mistake of applying fairly thick coats at first so the coverage was instantly completely opaque, but I applied a thinner second coat over the top for good measure. As with all Barry M Nail Paints, the Gelly dries to the touch rather quickly. I put this on not long before I went to bed, but I didn’t wake up with fabric imprints on my nails, which is always a good sign with me!
Greenberry is an extremely beautiful greeny turquoise shade, and is delicately bright. It’s almost a pastel neon if that makes sense! It has a creme finish, and of course, an intense shine which you can almost see your reflection in. In my experience, it’s quite rare for a creme varnish to have such a shiny appearance, so it definitely lives up to its name. It doesn’t even need a top coat!
This Nail Paint lasts really well too. I first applied Greenberry on Sunday, without a top coat, and didn’t remove it until yesterday, and after four days of wear chipping was minimal. There were a few nicks at the ends of my nails on my right hand where I caught them on the zip of my bag, but other than that the varnish still looked as bright, shiny and smooth as it did when I first applied it – just like a gel manicure!
Overall, I am suitably impressed with Barry M’s Gelly Nail Paint as it looks great and lasts long, and to top it off Greenberry is a gorgeous colour. The Gellies cost £3.99 each in Boots and Superdrug, which is £1.00 more than most Barry M’s varnishes, but its well worth it for that extra shine and staying power.
Have you ever tried a Barry M Gelly? What did you think?
Naomi x
Nivea Express Hydration Primer (Dry & Sensitive Skin)
17One of the latest additions to Nivea’s huge range of skin care products is their Express Hydration Primer; a moisturiser which also acts as a make up primer, and which comes tailored for two different skin types – Normal & Combination skin and Dry & Sensitive skin.
The skin on my face is fairly dry and easily irritated, especially in winter, but it can also get quite oily in places if I use heavy moisturisers, so as you can imagine it can be quite difficult for me to find primers and moisturisers which strike the right balance for my skin. When I first heard about Nivea’s new Express Hydration Primer I was very excited and highly hopeful, especially as there was one suitable for Dry & Sensitive skin, so I nipped off down to Superdrug to pick some up. Unfortunately, my local Superdrug store was only stocking the Normal & Combination Primer at the time, so I had to order it from their website and it arrived earlier this week.
The primer is packaged in a fairly large box, which is somewhat deceptive as the pot itself is a lot smaller, and contains 50ml of product. However, at £3.99 I’d say you get a reasonable amount of product for your money, and the pot is made of glass and very sturdy so a lot of care has been put into nice presentation.
The primer itself is light and smooth, almost like a gel, but also very creamy and white. It has a lovely fresh scent to it too which isn’t overwhelming, but leaves your skin delicately scented.
For the last few days I have been using the Express Hydration Primer in place of my usual moisturiser and I have noticed a big difference already. It glides onto the skin effortlessly and you need to use very little at a time so, despite its small size, the 50ml pot should last a fair while. Unlike my usual moisturiser, Nivea’s Primer absorbs almost instantly leaving no greasy residue behind, however, it does create a smooth base for easy make up application, and because it dries so quickly make up can be applied straight away, which is brilliant when you’re in a rush!
So, ‘Does it work?’ I hear you cry! Well, yes, yes it does. As mentioned before, the primer leaves a smooth, non-greasy base on the skin, and since I’ve been using this I have found that my foundation smooths onto my skin far more easily and evenly than usual, without going patchy on any dry bits. The primer keeps my powder and blusher in place too, so on the whole my make up lasts a lot longer, which I think is down to the lack of greasiness. The primer is extremely moisturising and hydrating so my skin stays soft all day without any dryness, but it isn’t oily so my face doesn’t get shiny like it used to with my old moisturiser. This means that there’s no need for blotting paper! In fact, my make up stayed looking fresh until 6pm last night, almost 10 hours after I first applied my make up, with NO touch ups throughout the day!
Thankfully, the Dry & Sensitive formula is perfect for my skin type. So far it hasn’t caused any irritation, and it seems to be working wonders on the dry areas of my face, which is highly impressive for a primer as, in my experience, primers tend to be quite drying. I have also noticed that my complexion has been somewhat clearer and brighter since I started using this primer. Due to the oiliness of the moisturiser I was using before I had been getting a few breakouts, but they seem to be calming down now.
I really can’t recommend Nivea’s Express Hydration Primer highly enough, especially if you suffer from dry, sensitive skin like I do! I think I have found my miracle product and I will be stocking up whenever I get the chance. I hope you believe me when I say that it truly works, but if you don’t I urge you to try it and experience for yourself this amazing moisturising primer!
Naomi x
