I recently purchased some BarryM Nail Paint, something I had never used before. If anyone entered my recent giveaway you’ll remember I gave one of them away, a lush pink colour. But another of the shades that I kept for myself was this incredibly bright turquoise colour. Like the shade that the sea is in faraway climates. I adore these sorts of colours; in fact the majority of my nail varnish collection is a mixture of blues, greens and reds.
Having read the packaging attached to the bottle I noticed that it said to apply a base coat underneath this polish. So I prepared my nails, filed and buffed, before applying two coats of my usual top coat, Rimmel London’s clear 60 seconds polish. I felt I was ready to apply the nail paint and braced myself for what the brush would be like. It was a regular size brush (I have quite slim nails) and the bristles seemed firm and durable as I applied the first brush stroke to my left thumb.
When I initially began to apply the BarryM Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint the first thing I noticed was how thick and shiny the polish was. It looked good inside the glass bottle, but sometimes the look of nail varnish can differ once applied. However with this the colour was not only accurate but it was bright and super glossy.
After I applied two coats of the nail paint I allowed my hands to dry for around 10 minutes, when I lightly touched the polish it still wasn’t completely dry in places. So I would recommend that you stay in a ventilated room or wave your hands up and down to dry out your nails. Honestly, I am used to the quicker nail polishes so I wasn’t sure what else to do. I have since read that sunlight or warmth helps, however it was a grey day when I applied it, so waving my arms around like a lunatic was my solution.
Once dry I attempted to remove the excess that almost always spills over on my small dainty finger nails. My hack for you (if you have the same issue) is to gently use the pointed end of a toothpick to nudge the dried varnish away from the skin. It can then be gently pulled off without disturbing the manicure.
So how impressed am I by this nail paint? Well I will begin by saying it looks amazing, the quality of it once fully dried is impressive because it is so shiny and smooth. When I tried to take photographs of my nails there were reflections on almost all images. This simply enhances the fact that I think my nails were the shiniest they have ever been with any kind of polish or paint! Another wonderful thing is the colour, it was vibrant and what you see in the bottle is a matte version of the shiny shade you’ll receive on the nail itself. I am more than happy with the experience that I have had with this new purchase, and I would definitely consider getting more colours of this type of nail paint, in my opinion the quality is worth the price in this case. My only criticism is how long it takes to dry, I did have to redo one nail because I thought it was dry, only to crease it and have to reapply the nail paint to the ruined nail and then wait again for it to dry completely. You of course cannot do anything during this time in fear of damaging the fresh manicure. So this type of nail paint is only good if you have the time and patience to apply and allow for it to dry.
Comparing this nail paint to the reviews I did of Rimmel London’s Super Gel and the Essie nail lacquer I would say that BarryM Gelly Hi Shine stayed shiny for longer. The initial application of all these polishes made my nails smooth and shiny, but the BarryM seems harder wearing. I didn’t wear it for anywhere near as long as I did the Rimmel London however, so I cannot review this on a length of time versus quality comparison. What I can tell you is that the BarryM took a lot more effort to remove than any of the other polishes I have reviewed. And I feel that the glossy and vibrant look of this nail paint speaks for itself in both quality and appearance.
My final review on this BarryM Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint is;
Quality 5/5
Value 5/5
Appearance 5/5
Durability 4/5
Convenience 3/5
I hope you have enjoyed this review, if you use Barry M I would love to hear your recommendations, leave me a comment.
If you haven’t read my other nail varnish reviews perhaps you can take a look at the photography on them and decide for yourself which brand looks better http://severnwishes.co.uk/category/nail-varnish/
✩ Sabrina ✩
No7 Mystery Prize Gift Bag
When I opened the tape on the beautiful purple bag and looked inside, I saw a selection of items inside including samples, No7 items and what looked like some full sized products too. I decided to photograph all of the items together before testing or using any of them, so the next image depicts a flat lay of the things inside the prize. This is the reveal of what was contained in this prize.
Item 1. Estee Lauder – New Dimension Serum Sample
I’m looking forward to trying these products and the samples, if I’m impressed with anything I will probably write a blog post about that specific item. Although most of what was included seem to have one time uses unfortunately.
I’ve been very lucky this month because I have another Treatbox reveal for you all! I am happy to share this months theme with you first of all which is a Tropical theme.
As I carefully opened up the tissue paper I noticed the smell getting stronger and I could see something made of material, what I guessed was the party bag with spots on and in the corner was something covered in pineapples!
Inside this months box you will find some wonderful items including the little party bag mentioned in the description in celebration of a year of TreatBoxes, which had bubbles, confetti and sweets inside it (cute!), a ‘Hooray’ flag (which is great for any celebrations), a badge that has melons on it, a lovely makeup bag which has the slogan ‘and so the Adventure begins darling’, a heart and arrows sign which reads ‘Go Your Own Way’, a bracelet from Wish Upon A String which is a Pineapple, an inspirational card that says ‘Oh The Places You’ll Go’, and a candle which is Pina Colada scented from Simple Candle Co. (it made the whole box smell lovely).
My favourite item in this months box has to be the quote bag. I really like the delicate font on the front. I’m a huge fan of storage items no matter what the material, and I’m positive that this little bag will go away with me on holidays and long weekends. It’s a versatile size and I love that it can fit a lot of different items in, because it isn’t designed to be makeup specific for example, but I would most likely use it for that, or perhaps weekend accessories such as jewellery and things of that nature.
I have thoroughly enjoyed all four of my TreatBox experiences. Although I haven’t loved every item in every box, the great thing about these wonderful items is that the gifts that you receive that are unwanted, can become gifts for others who will love them. I know I won’t be purchasing too many little presents on the run up to this years festivities because I am saving a few of my TreatBox items to give away.
I hope you have enjoyed this reveal and review of the July Treatbox, who knows, we may have more of them in the future. If you do decide to subscribe then please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you think of TreatBox.
I’ve wanted a kitchen notes board for quite some time, but I wanted to be sure of the quality I was getting. I didn’t want to settle for anything and wanted to ensure it would last me many years of use. So when I came across Chalkboards UK on Twitter, a Midlands based company, I decided to contact them explaining what I was after. Luckily they were more than accommodating and did a wonderful chalkboard that sounded the perfect size for my little kitchen. In exchange for a review I’ve been sent this wonderful product.
So what I noticed first of all was the quality of the board. The item is very well made and the detail that has been undertaken is excellent. Chalkboards UK sell a variety of sizes and various titled boards. This one simply reads ‘Notes’ which is perfect for my needs, but they make others which have different headings and titles. It’s a versatile chalkboard that is easy to write on and easy to clean, simply a wet cloth followed by a dry one gets it looking like new within seconds. A chalkboard is an addition every house should have.
Thank you to Chalkboards UK for allowing me to review this wonderful product, I will not only be recommending you within my blog but within my personal life as well. And I couldn’t imagine not having my chalkboard up in my kitchen now, you have given me a missing piece of my home life puzzle.
It’s been some time since I’ve been to Primark, and by that I mean I haven’t shopped there since about October last year. I would usually pop in every quarter of the year to look at the latest trends and update my wardrobe. But due to circumstances beyond my control I have had to wait several further months before I could get any true retail therapy in there.
I will now outline my favourite pieces from my haul, and I’m throwing in some photo’s too for a little outfit inspiration!
Dress-tops, as I like to call them, are a staple in my wardrobe. I haven’t had many new ones in the past year though and when I saw a pair with a dip hem back I just loved the style. I wasn’t sure how they would look on me because I’m classed as the top top end of a petite, just shy of standard height. I usually have issues with lengths of clothing especially jeans and things. But I loved how these tops looked on my figure and were perfect on my shoulders. They were only £7.00 each which I thought was a decent price for the length of them.
There were two styles, one white with a black pattern that reminded me of a Buddhist mandala. And the other was black and had the pattern of the moon cycle and read, ‘Crescent Moon, Half Moon, Full Moon’. I was and still am a huge twilight fan, so although I wasn’t looking to buy anything black I loved the idea of this design, so I tried on both, and loved both.
Along with all of the items above I also bought a long yellow t-shirt that had a nice rounded hem, and I also had a t-shirt that had a ‘Hogwarts’ design, I grew up with the Harry Potter books and so I thought it was about time I had something to express my joy of them. Another tee that I loved was a plain white one with tiny hearts on it, I had a pinafore dress at home that I wanted to wear over the top of this one. And we cannot forget the hat I spoke about earlier.
Here is an image of me holding my sample that had just arrived in the post. I have no makeup on here, and I wanted to keep that a running theme throughout this trial and review. Any photographs in this blog post with me in them have not been enhanced and I decided I wouldn’t wear any products on my skin to show the full effect of the use of these capsules.
I won’t lie to you the capsules were pretty large to swallow, but then if you realise how much is encased within one they are actually quite small, and I would say they were an average size for a larger capsule. They are a similar length to the vitamins you can get with a great number of nutrients in them. Easy enough to swallow if you’re used to taking any tablets around this size.
I had no problems or side effects with this product and I had no issues in sticking to the routine of having the capsule every day.
In this image I was down to my final two tablets. I must admit that by the final few days I had begun to notice a slight difference in my skin, it seems a little firmer than it was a month ago. On my face I have seen a reduction in the bags under my eyes. Before anyone asks if that means I have just gotten more sleep then the answer is no. Throughout May I have been working my usual shifts at my day job and I haven’t had any time off this month in order to rest.
As you can see the dark circle under my eyes are slightly reduced in the final image compared to that on day one. The final image (right) was taken 30 days after taking the first capsule. I have noticed as well that the lines around my eyes such as crows feet (when I smile broadly) are also slightly fainter than they were a month ago.
I would like to end this post by saying how much I appreciate the opportunity that I have been given in reviewing this product and would like to thank Regime London for choosing me and my blog to write a review.
June has arrived with some sunshine and a treat box which is filled with baking theme items! I have to admit that I love to bake even though I’m not very good at it, I have perfected brownies but with cake I am still learning! The items in this box will no doubt be of great use to me over the summer months as I continue cooking and making the perfect recipe.
So it’s time for the big reveal! I have chosen to photograph the products in more detail this month so you can really see the quality of things you are getting from the treat box.
I’m very pleased with all of the items in this treat box and once again so impressed with the effort and the presentation that these lovely gifts are sent out in.
I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, the nail polish applied smoothly and had a lovely shine to it. The colour I chose suited my skin tone and looked very flattering with a range of outfits as I wore it over the weekend.
Do you have any essie shades that you’ve purchased this year that you can recommend? I would love to hear other peoples experiences too.
I love the shabby chic and vintage style of this tray. It is very sturdy and the colours are vibrant. The detail in the flowers and the cupcakes really bring the piece to life. I feel very lucky to have won such a nice item, and it will be used in the summer months for sure when we have tea and cake to share.
I have always enjoyed playing games that have unique and complex storylines. I love to get lost in the imagination of them, and feel as though I am inside the game and not just playing it. Having played some of the other Call of Duty campaigns I felt like this one would of course be similar, but I was wrong. Not only is this game graphically spectacular but I have found myself becoming so immersed in the action that all aspects of the world around me disappear for a time. The reason for this is because the gameplay is so intense at times, and concentration is paramount to succeeding.
The developer Treyarch returns to this video game to show what three years of hard work can achieve, and I believe they have done a fantastic job with this one. Set in the future, where life is both dark and difficult, you find your chosen character immersed in a world filled with futuristic technology and robotics. Aspects that will play a huge role in the entirety of this game.
Throughout the game I couldn’t fault the onscreen view, everything was clear and concise, maps and objectives were all easy to understand and follow. The graphics were clear and routes were easy to determine. Even in scenes of chaos the game allowed you to know where to go, often combining your movements with those of other characters and objectives.