Spring Mermaid Dotticure

Hi Goddesses

Quite a while ago, before car crashes and death's-door pussycats, I was on a pastel kick.  I had assembled a group of pastels which inspired me with their pink-peach-and green subtlety.

Since then I've bought Jessica pastels and the Color Club Pastel Neons, but not had chance to play with either, so for now, let's rejoice in how prettily these polishes play together.

This is a simple mermaid dotticure using 8 polishes lol.  I know that doesn't SOUND simple, but once you get going, it kinda is, and the rhythmn just keeps you going.

I really like how this turned out - it's like petals falling on nails.   And just wait til you see how it looked when I stamped on it :)

Back In Time - Andy Warhol Lips (+ OPI Matte Top Coat)

Hi Goddesses

It’s the middle of the month, which means it’s time for the 2nd Back In Time post, and this time, Missy and I get to recreate each other’s manis.   Missy obviously got up earlier than I did, and has already posted her version of my Wonder Woman mani – you can check her out here.

When it came time to choose what to do, it wasn’t as easy as I expected.  Missy and I like different colours, so anything she did with green or teal or yellow immediately went on the NOOOOOOO pile.  Eventually, I narrowed it down to 2, and finally plumped for this pastel version of Andy Warhol’s famous lips paintings.

For my bases I used all Barry M Gellys

- Thumb – Lychee

- Index – Blueberry

- Middle – Prickly Pear

- Ring – Greenberry

- Pinkie – Dragon Fruit

I stamped using the same polishes and the lips on BM02.   When it was done, I quite liked it, but not as much as Missy’s.  I think the stamps are a little hard to see, and it just doesn’t pop as much as hers (probably cos I couldn’t bear to use yellow lol).

I then thought I should try my new OPI Matte Top Coat before taking the mani off and …… oh yeh, pure heaven!   LOVE this matte top coat.  Not only did it matte it pretty much instantly, it made my nails look like love heart sweets!  All sugary and sherberty lol.

Really impressed with the OPI – effortless application, no streaking, and a lovely powdery soft, almost vinyl finish.  Needless to say, it MADE the mani, proving that sometimes, even though it’s about the polish, it shouldn’t be TOO polished.

Enjoy xx 

Work Wear Wednesday - OPI My Vampire Is Buff Comparison Post

Hi Goddesses

Today's Work Wear Wednesday is a reader request, and also sparked by another reader's comment.

When I posted OPI My Vampire Is Buff and declared it my perfect cream, someone pointed out that Barry M Lychee was similar.  I was sure it was more beige, because I remember dismissing it a few weeks ago :)   

Someone else then asked how Lychee compared to OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons, so there was nothing else to do but line them all up and find out :)

In all the photos, DPMB is on the ring finger, Lychee is on the middle, and MVIB is on all the others.

The initial obvious observation is how much darker DPMB is.  It has much browner undertones, and is positively biscuit-y compared to the 2 other polishes.

MVIB and Lychee ARE similar, but if you look closer, MVIB is definitely lighter, and by quite a few degrees.  MVIB is a true cream, whereas Lychee, although creamy, has a touch of beige to it.   Admittedly it's not much, but for me (and remember I was searching for the "perfect" cream), it was noticeable.

Which one works best for you may well depend on your skin tone.  As I'm super pale, it's MVIB that I'll be using most.  

Enjoy xx :)

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Barry M Gelly Polishes - Spring Releases

Hi Goddesses

Welcome to Part 2 of Barry M's Spring releases.  If you missed Part 1 - the texture polishes - you can view them HERE.

Barry M's Gelly polishes were a massive success last year.  Super saturated colour and a high gloss finish, they were designed to be worn without a top coat and give the "you've just stepped out of the salon" look of a Gel manicure.  Personally, I loved them, and I am delighted that the Spring Collection sees another 4 releases.

A few general points first.  These are often billed as 1-coaters.  Some of them are, some of them aren't.  I've found my Gellys quite temperamental - they can be streaky when first used, until you both get used to each other.  The trick is to not try too hard to make them 1-coaters, as that's where your streaky mess comes from.

Also, I find the first manicure out of the bottle a little diva-ish, so don't worry if your first one doesn't look perfect.   It's the equivalent of a normal polish being really thin on its first outing.

I used between 2 and 3 coats for my manis - 2 thin coats is definitely the best way to go.  Of all of the colours, the pink seemed to glide on the best, whilst the cream game me the most issues (I ending up redoing that mani).  Let's zoom in shall we?

The green one - Greenberry.  I have no idea what a greenberry is, if one even exists, but this a green I really like.   

It's somewhere between a mint and a jade, and the super glossy finish is PERFECT for this colour.   I've had to colour correct some of the photos slightly - it's not as minty as it occasionally looks.

Papaya is a dark peach / a pastel coral.  This is not my dream shade, and it was also a real horror to photograph.   As you can see, it goes on the nail slightly darker than the bottle colour.

Although I don't personally like this colour, I know a lot of you do, and this WILL look awesome on beaches, with bikinis, or just on those who are dreaming of them :)

The Pink one - Dragonfruit, although the base of my bottle only says Dragon.  This is probably my pick of the bunch.  It applied the best, and it's just such a perfect fusion of colour and finish.  Seriously, the colour was *made* to be this glossy.

The other surprise about this polish was that it has a secret shimmer.  Not a lot, but it's there.  I'll be honest, I didn't see it til I edited the photos, but now that I know it's there, I can definitely see it.  Super cute.  Candy cute.

And finally the cream / beige one - Lychee.   I do love this, and I love Barry and his M for doing this shade.  It's so work appropriate and grown up!

This is halfway between a cream and a beige, and it's super creamy.  It's a tone lighter than OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh, but still full of warmth.

And there you go - 4 lovely shades, all perfect for Spring.   I'm not going to lie, they are a little finicky to apply, but you'll be quick to get the hang of them - just remember, less is more.


I have some nail art coming up involving all the colours, and  I'll show you that over the next week or so.  In the meantime, I can't wait for summer to see what electric shades get added to this fabulous range.



All of these polishes will be out in February - they hit Superdrug on the 13th and Boots on the 20th, and will be priced at £3.99.


These polishes were sent to be for an honest review.


Enjoy !!  xxx