Barry M Nail Paint Croc Effects

Nail varnish, again, I know… I treat myself to a new nail varnish way too often lol. Anyway, I really liked Barry M Cracking Nail Effects so I thought I might want to try Croc Effects to see if it is any different to the one mentioned above. I don’t think it made such exciting coming as the cracking and magnetized nail varnishes but it is definitely still worth giving it a go. And I thought: how can it be different from the cracking one?

Well, after quite a few attempts – most of them failures (the nail varnish that I used as a base colour was probably dry and it supposed to be slightly wet) I managed to get a considerably nice effect of croc skin on my nails.

First, I applied a thin layer of a clear base coat, waited for my nails to be dry and applied two thin coats of Bourjois So Laque! in Lime Catwalk to my nails. I wanted something bright so the effect would be more visible. Then, I waited for about 2 minutes for my nails to be dry but not 100% dry. That's when the croc effect will look the best. Then I applied a THICK coat of Barry M Croc Effect, not thin like it says on the bottle. And I waited and waited… (yes, you have to be patient) and after a while (about 3-5 minutes) the effect started to appear. Yeey! And finally, I finished off with a top coat.

I can easily tell that it looks different from the cracking one but is it worth it? You decide ;) A.

Barry M Nail Paint in Mint Green and Ice cream Berry plus free Limited Edition in Silver Glitter

Yesterday I bought two pastel shades of Barry M nail paints from Boots and got one free (when you buy any 2 products from Barry M you get a free limited edition nail varnish). And I decided to experiment with all three of them. I wanted to create a new spring ‘do’ on my nails. I’ve been using glittery and very sparkly nail varnishes for the last couple of weeks and I need a change.

At the moment I love new Dior make up collection, especially their nail polishes and that inspired me to so something that does have a spring feel.

I applied two coats of Berry Ice Cream first and let it dry. In the meantime I (carefully!) cut out the nail guide strips out of a self-adhesive sheet and placed them across my nails to divide the tips from the rest of the nails. Make sure the guide strips are pressed firmly to the nails. Then I applied two coats of Mint Green on my tips above the guide strips and let it dry (allow at least 15 minutes). After it dried thoroughly I gently lifted the tape from the nails. Finally I applied one coat of Limited Edition in Silver Glitter (I know, glitter again – but it isn’t as glittery as the previous ones I had). 

Final effect – very pretty nails ready for spring. I love it! :-) A.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere – sample review

I’ve been using my favourite Dior Forever foundation for a couple of months now so I wanted to try something new and treat myself to a new foundation to beat any winter blues. I read about the new Chanel foundation last year and finally the samples are in shops so it seems like an ideal time to give it a go! As I absolutely love my Dior Forever I won’t give it up easily for something that isn’t absolutely perfect. And Chanel being Chanel I have quite high expectations. Not to mention the price.

So I picked (with an advise of Chanel consultant) shade 10 Beige and 12 Beige Rose. I have very fair skin so I know I am always the lightest shade or second from the lightest when it comes to any foundation. 

Here is a swatch of both shades and comparison to other two foundations I’ve been using lately (Dior Forever in 020 – Light Beige and Chanel Pro Lumiere in 010 - Nude) I can easily tell that shade 12 Beige Rose is too light and too pinky for my skin and shade 10 is slightly lighter than my favourite Dior but has the same base colour – yellow.

First impressions – it has a gorgeous smell and a slightly thicker formula than Dior Forever but thinner than Chanel Pro Lumiere. It has a light to medium coverage and a matte finish. It evens out my skintone beautifully and covers any blemishes very well and it is great for covering the pores as well. It can be layered easily to medium coverage. A small tab is more than enough to cover your whole face if you want to achieve a light coverage.

It lasted a good couple of hours (not the whole day tho) after about 6 hours it did wear off a little bit.

The downside is that it does make dry patches more visible – that's a bit of let down for me. I like a healthy dewy finish on my skin as well so the matte result doesn’t really work for me. I like it when my foundation looks more natural. So overall, it’s an okay product for me – but I am not sure I will be buying it in when it comes out. I might just stick to Dior for now and wait for the new BB Creams to try them out! A.