Mani Monday: Barry M Crystal Rock Textured Nails!

 

Hi guys! Yes it's another Mani Monday, sorry not sorry! I got this Barry M Crystal Rock Textured Nail Paint from Priceline in a 40% off storewide sale and I'm just too excited to try it, so here we are. It was so hard to pick a colour, because they were all so pretty, but in the end I decided on Pink Tourmaline. Having a look at the Barry M website now, I'm thinking I should have picked up Amethyst, Emerald Green and Fluorite too lol!

So this textured finish means it will be an absolute bitch to remove, and if there's ever a time to apply a base coat, this would be it. However, I can't find my base, so I guess I'm royally fucked. The good news is at least you don't need a top coat. These paints are super glittery and meant to change as they dry. Pink Tourmaline applied really well, but was a bit thin after one coat, so I applied two. The rough texture finish means it would be more forgiving with smudges. I found that the paint can get a little gloopy/thick on the brush towards the end of an application, but this really wasn't a problem.

I will say that rough finish, non-shiny, colour-shift type polishes are a nightmare to photograph! I found it so hard to get good shots of both the bottle (especially since it also had gold font on the packaging) and my mani. The camera just doesn't pick up all the glittery shifty goodness. This was the best I could do.

I really love this look! The colour is so pretty and all the gold glittery particles as you move your nails are stunning. The non-smooth finish take a little getting used to, but I would definitely pick up more from the Crystal Rock collection from Barry M to try more colours.

I will now leave you with pics of my textured look nails. The last pic is of some of the Crystal Rock collection, taken from the Barry M website. Have a great week!

Credit: Barry M website

Mani Monday: Sally Hansen Mauve It

 

Hi guys! Hello to the start of a new month (I can't believe it's May aleady!) and another Mani Monday. This week I'm wearing Mauve It (213) from the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri range of polishes. How weird that up until now I've always thought it was Insta-Dry, only just noticing it is, in fact, Insta-Dri?!

Anyway I love this range because it's designed to dry very quickly, which is great if you're pushed for time or just can't be bothered spending long painting your nails. The bottle also features a flat, wide brush, making it much quicker and easier to cover the entire nail in polish in fewer strokes. I also like the smooth bottle design; the curved triangular shape fits really well in my hand for those mani shots!

I did a little bit of research and apparently Insta-Dri is formulated with a built in base and top coat for extended wear and full coverage, streak-free shine. I agree that this formula is impressive. Only one coat gives beautiful, smooth, even results. This is one of the nail polish ranges I reach for most often.

Mauve It is a really pretty pale pink shade that's flattering and easy to wear. It's kind of a pinky neutral/nude shade that's quite versatile. A classic colour! Also guys, side note - I have been super lucky with not really having a bad nail break in quite a while now. I hope I don't jinx it!

Mani Monday: Essie Island Hopping

 

Hi guys! I'm back with a quick Mani post today. I've gone off the glitters for now and have been wearing more neutral shades lately. I chose Island Hopping by Essie for an event I was going to, because I wanted a flattering, classic shade that would go with anything and look good in photos. This shade is a rich plum mauve that 'takes you anywhere you want to go. Villa today, spa tomorrow'. LOL how many of us are going from the villa to the spa I don't know... certainly not me! But anyway, it's a versatile shade, so it served its purpose and I like how it turned out.

Also, my nails are quite long at the moment, and I haven't had a major break in quite a while, so I'm happy with that, too. Fingers crossed I don't jinx myself haha.

Mani Monday: Ulta3 Colour Bomb!

 

Hi guys. I've never felt as burnt out as I do right now. This week has been hectic to say the least and I really need a break. Monday I published my blog post, took a 1 hour 20 minute each way bus trip to a food invite collab, came home, then got another post published on Instagram from an event I'd attended over the weekend. Tuesday I had to prep all work for a beauty collab, put away so many groceries from an online delivery and post my Boost Lab Haul photo on Instagram, as well as prep work for Monday's food collab. Wednesday I posted Monday's food visit collab to Instagram, washed my hair and continued working on my beauty collab, writing the caption and researching some hashtags. Thursday I went into town and edited some photos for another post. By this stage I was mentally exhausted and put off posting my beauty collab photo, but did do some Stories for it. I also did a quick giveaway on my food account Stories of some codes for fairy floss I was gifted but couldn't use. Friday (edit - the day I wrote this) I finally got my beauty collab work finished and posted on Instagram, did some housework, did some prep for a food collab I'm going into the city for tomorrow and wrote this blog post. I think I might be taking on too much!

This week's post features the newly released Colour Bomb shades from Ulta3. I got sent these nail polishes in December last year, but the launch date kept getting delayed. Finally I can post about them! I love these pretty colours, and decided to apply all of them in the one epic mani lol.

These colours are playful, fun and light-hearted and are inspired by the nostalgic tones of the early 2000's. The shades are Frost, Aquamarine, Acid Lime and Marmalade. I hope you enjoy this mani!

Disclaimer: These products were PR gifted.

Mani Monday: Frosty Cactus

 

Hi guys! I'm going to drop a #truthbomb and say I really wasn't feeling the blog last week. I wasn't motivated to write today's post and basically just opted for a manicure post because I can whip those up pretty quick. Blogging is one of my hobbies and it's meant to be fun for me. So I'll keep this one short and sweet and fingers crossed next week I'll be more excited about writing.

The shades I've chosen for this mani reflect my current mood: dark and kind of left of field but still sparkly 'cos I always like shiny things. I'm using Ghost Cactus from Julisa on most of my nails with my ring finger painted with Frosty from I Scream Nails as a feature nail. I had to do 3-4 coats of Frosty as it was way more see-through than I anticipated! I've applied two coats of Ghost Cactus.

Looking at the Julisa website now, my bottle must be quite old, because the current ones are completely redesigned and are no longer square. I like this fat, square bottle though. Ghost Cactus is a signature mermaid shade featuring a silvery blue opaque base with holographic glitter. To me it looks a bit green. I kind of wish it was more black. Still, magical!

Frosty from I Scream Nails is from one of their Christmas collections, and I'm guessing it's at least two years old as I can't find it on their website. I do tend to keep my polishes way longer than I should, so this makes sense. It's a silvery white shade with micro rainbow glitter as well as larger silver glitter pieces throughout.