The Perfect Nude Nail

When I realised I didn't own the perfect nude nail colour, I went on a hunt. Luckily, my favourite nail range, the Barry M quick dry, had a couple of nude selections  and it was 3 for 2 soo...

This is the first one I tried out of the three I bought yesterday and I feel like it can't get better than this, this is the perfect nudey- beigey- pink colour, and because it's my favourite quick-dry formula I love it even more. The shade name is Winning Streak - all of the quick dry range have racing- related names which is pretty cool. I use two coats to make sure it's super opaque, over the Iron-Mani base coat, also from Barry M, and under the Seche Vite top coat, which is life.

Basically this is a staple, nude polish for a bargain at £3? £4? Less if you're me and you never just get one. Love it, over and out.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Cheap, Quick & Easy Festive Nails

If, like me, you don't have the time - or lets be honest, the budget- to get your nails done properly, here's an easy, painless way to get festive nails quickly.
If you've been to my blog before, you'll know I am a huge HUGE Barry M nail paint fan, especially these new Quick Dry ones. There's a load of different colours to choose from, and you could  do this look with any of them. I chose this deep purple because it's my faavey colour, it's called Slip Stream, and like all the colours, you only need one coat for an opaque colour.
As well as a lovely, rich colour like this, adding a coat of glitter onto one nail adds a festive twist which doesn't require the same level of effort when it comes to removal as ten glittery nails.
In the picture, I've actually used a silver glitter from the brand 17, but Barry M do loads of lovely ones, like this shimmer called Duchess.
Definitely use a quick drying, thick topcoat like Seche Vite, to make sure your festive nails last as long as possible :)

Thanks for reading!
Lou

Nineties Nails

Oh hey! I am back. I have been away moving house, not having wi-fi, and generally doing adult things. BUT. I have returned, and I'm hoping to really crack out some posts over the next few weeks - I have a lot of stuff I want to review.

But first of all, here's a lovely well-lit shot of some really neat nails.
Okay, okay, my camera was running out of battery and I'm a horrible nail- painter but I just wanted to show you this beautiful Barry M Gelly Shine Polish in Coconut. Isn't it creamy deliciousness?
This will definitely look amazing on darker skin tones, and probably is a bit more summer than autumn, but hey, I'm rolling with it.

Anyway, I look forward to cramming some content on here, so look out for it, and I'll speak to you soon!

Thanks for reading,
Lou xo

5 Beauty Things I'm Bad At | Sunday Chat

Soo, obviously I like beauty products. I love make-up and I love skincare, but unfortunately there are other parts of beauty I just can't get excited about, or I just never find time to do. Here is my top five:

1.Styling my hair.
I never ever have time to style my hair. Firstly, I don't know how to. I have two or three "styles" that I can do, but mostly I will leave it down or pull the top half into a bun or a clip. Ya know, standard. I envy those people who manage to straighten or curl, or even just make their hair look good on an everyday basis. How are you people doing this. Sorry guys, I was busy doing my fifteen- step skin care routine, don't mind my crazy bedhead. 

2.Painting my toe nails.
Now I'm not even joking, I have one nail varnish which is my genuine, designated toe colour. And I will never rotate or change that colour. It's a dark red in case youre wondering. And I will never touch up, refresh, or generally sort out my toe colour until I absolutely have to. So most of the time it's a chipped mess and it makes me sad whenever I look at my feet.

3. Fake tanning.
This is something which I really really want to be good at, but I just generally find that I can't really be bothered. It's the smell. And the getting naked, walking around, getting cold, waiting for it to stop being sticky bit. Just inconvenient. 

4. Cutting my sugar intake.
I am the first to moan when my skin is bad, which is all the time really. But I am also the first to eat a cupcake if there is one presented to me. I have the worst, most addictive sweet tooth ever and I love chocolate like a third parent and a first child. And I think even if my skin got astronomically horrible, I would still find it heartbreaking to go a day without a Peanut Butter KitKat. Because. Life.

5.Dying my hair.
Because of a terrifying incident when I was 16 when I got hairdye on my face and ended up in A&E (who am I), I have an irrational fear of dying my hair, even though it has since happened several times and I have been totally fine. I especially fear dying my hair whilst being unsupervised. Luckily, my friend did it for me about a year ago, and I've basically been rocking the grown-out-blonde look since then. Thank fuck that look is sort of okay at the moment, or I'd just look like a mess. I need to sort my shit out and either do it myself or get someone to do it for me.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!
Lou x

The White Nail Game

The white nail thing is definitely happening for Spring/ Summer this year.

I love this trend, because it makes my nearly-white skin look more tanned, and the darker your skin, the better it looks. 

Theres loads of off-white colours around, I know the Nails Inc ones have been really hyped up, but they are price-y.

Check out Barry M, they have a really good selection, and I have my eye on a few of them.

The one I'm wearing here is Easy Going by Sinful Colours, and it's a slightly pink-white. Really opaque consistency, and a nice shiny finish. Takes a fair while to dry which is a bit of a pain, but if you have the patience, it's worth it.

Love this trend, I'll be on the hunt for more off-white shades and I'll surely update the blog when I find some

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

The New Blue

I know that I just did a Spring nails post, but I hadn't yet realised how amazing this nail polish is. 

This is the Maybelline Forever Strong Super stay 7 Day Nail Colour (whoa) in  'Surreal 635. I have to say, for some reason my camera is really brightening up the colour. In reality it's just slightly more muted and ever- so- subtly purple-y hued. I used two coats of this last night ontop of the Barry M Basecoat, Topcoat and Nail Hardener, and then added an extra layer of that this morning to really shine it up. 

So yeah- just a really nice, fresh, pretty way to wear a blue nail varnish. I like the formula of this nail varnish too, I'm not finding that the 'gel' in it makes it thicker or more long lasting than my other nail varnishes if I'm completely honest, but it's pretty good. I'd say a four or five day wear if you aren't doing anything intense with your hands (oo-er)

If you're near the highstreet I would go check this colour out as it is amazing

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

(I apologise for the hideous state of my cuticles. Ain't nobody got time for that level of upkeep.)

Top 5 Spring Nail Picks

Spring has definitely sprung here in the UK, so I've had a rummage through my nail varnish collection and picked my favourite spring shades :)

As you can see, they're all pretty light colours, because I think summer is about really bold but fresh, light shades. Summer is for bright oranges, corals, and neons to compliment your tan, and I've definitely worn out my autumn and winter dark reds and purples... so it's definitely time to change up and go for a fresher look. From top to bottom-

Barry M Nail Paint in Bright Pink (£2.99)

So this is just a classic bright, baby pink. So girly, so fresh and... yeah, spring-y. Looks really nice with all skin tones, but would definitely look amazing on darker skin tones. 

Maybelline Superstay 7 Days Gel Nail Colour in 130 Rose Poudre (£4.99)

This is the newest one to me out of this collection. I tend to stick to Barry M Nail polishes (can you tell?) because I know they're great and have an amazing selection of colours. I think I heard about this formula on youtube and so I had a look in Boots and picked up 2 colours. (The other colour is a dusty blue and is more winter-y.) This one is my new go-to nude shade. It looks quite browny in the swatch but its just a really basic pinky/brown nude, it almost blends in with my skin. The colour is amazing, and the brush on this polish is SO good. Really fat and flat, which makes applying so easy. However, I'm not sure YET if this lives up to the hype. The first time I wore it, it didn't stay chip-free for very long at ALL. (To be fair, none of my nail polishes seem to be staying on at the moment so I'm pretty sure it's a top coat/base coat issue...)

Barry M Nail Paint in Berry Icecream (£2.99)

I think this is my favourite nail polish of all time. It's stays so well, and is such a beautiful colour. It's a really light lilac, which is opaque but really subtle and pretty, especially for spring. If I had to recommend any of these, it would be this one. I get compliments all the time when I wear this, it's just a really nice shade which is just a little bit different.

17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish in Heartbeat

I actually got this in a sale in Boots for a pound, so I am not sure if it's available any more. It's an average formula but it's the colour that's amazing. Look for a really nice iced- light blue shade if you like the look of this one.  This shade looks so pretty, and an easier way to wear a bright white nail polish. Also looks amazing in the summer with a tan, or if you are lucky enough to have skin darker than paper.

Barry M Gelly High Shine Nail Paint in Blueberry (£3.99)

The gel formula from Barry M is really really nice, I would recommend checking it out if you haven't already. It's a bit thicker than the normal formula, so it takes longer to dry, but it leaves a really shiny thick colour on your nails. This colour is so lovely, it's a kind of bright powder-blue (?), bright but not too in-your-face. I think this is great for Spring or Summer, it looks so fresh, and is an easier way to wear a blue nail polish.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x