Pearlescent Seashells

Hello all and happy Sunday! Todays Glam Nails Challenge July prompt is seashells, which was very well timed as I have recently purchased the Seashells Aplenty stamping plate from UberChic Beauty. There are so many possibilities with shell nail art, and I went with something quite subtle and a bit pearlescent.

I started with three coats of Barry M's Mani Mask in 'Bashful' to give a natural look, but built it up again so it was nice and pink too. For the shells I used a different image from the Seashells Aplenty plate on each nail. I made decals on my Uber Mat using white stamping polish, and filled in each one with a different shimmery nail polish from Barry M's Under the Sea collection, colours listed below the pictures. I finished the look off with a shiny top coat, though they did look nice a bit matte too before I put the top coat on.

Overall I like these but wonder if I should have gone for more of a nude background rather than pink. I think the shimmery polishes work well for the shells though. There are a lot of shells on the new stamping plate so I will have to come up with some more shell nail art soon!
Colours used: Bashful - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Angelfish - Barry M, Butterflyfish - Barry M, Moonfish - Barry M, Jellyfish - Barry M, Pinktail - Barry M

Nails Inc Self Made Mermaid Duo

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good weekend. I'm having a quiet evening in so far but will see what happens. Today I've been trying out Nails Inc's new nail polish duo, the 'Self Made Mermaid' duo. This is the fourth duo they have done, following the very successful unicorn duo they released last year. I've managed to resist their space themed and champagne themed duo's (which both look lovely), but this one was too me to ignore!

First up is Ocean Ever After, and I am so pleased I managed to get decent pictures with my left hand! This is a metallic blue with a tiny bit of gold running through for the extra metallic shimmer. There's also a hint of green in the bottle but that didn't really transfer to my nails. The formula is good and I love Nails Inc's brushes. It does look a slightly deeper/brighter blue in the Instagram pictures, so I might try it over some dark grey or something to see if I can get that effect. That said it is also lovely as it is. This one is perfect in 2-3 coats (I've used three here).
Next is Mermaid Parade, a pearlescent pastel blue. This has a hint of purple-ish shimmer running through it as well but it's only visible in certain lights. The formula is also good in this one, though is is not as opaque as Ocean Ever After. I used 3 coats in my swatches but I'd say you'd need 4-5 for full opacity, that or try it out over some other base colours. It is a stronger more opaque colour than the recent Barry M sea themed shades (review a few blog posts back).

So my favourite is Ocean Ever After, as I expected, as it's just more my sort of thing. I love a good blue, especially when it's shiny! They are both lovely polishes though and I love the packaging. I can't resist keeping them in it as it makes them look special and more expensive, even though these are cheaper than normal Nails Inc polishes (it's £15 for the two). Looking forward to seeing which duo they bring out next, and if I can resist it!

Barry M Under the Sea

Hello world! Happy Friday! Today I'm excited to bring to you my review of Barry M's new Under the Sea collection: four sheer pearlescent shades in adorable sea themed bottles.

From left to right we have Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Jellyfish and Pinktail. In my swatches I've applied three coats over naked nails, with no top coat. Tempted to do a follow up post with some over black or white as I think that could magical mermaid and unicorn-esque looks!

First up on my nails was Angelfish, a pale unicorny champagne shimmer. This looks a bit whiter than I expected it to, as it's more champagne coloured in the bottle.
Next up is Butterflyfish, a pearlescent pale blue. This one is slightly more sheer than Angelfish but otherwise has a similar finish. In certain lights and angles there's a bit of a bronzy-pink shade running through it as well.
Jellyfish is a pale purple with a hint of green polish in the bottle but does come it out a bit more pink on the nail. I think it would purple up a bit with more layers! This one is quite sheer as well.
And finally, Pinktail is very pink in the bottle, and comes out a coral-ish pink on the nails. All of the polishes are sheer but this one and Angelfish are a little less so. There's a hint of pale gold running through this one in certain lights/angles as well.
Overall  my verdict is these are lovely, and quite unusual! I think they will look particularly good over white or possibly black so may have to do a follow up post with those. I'm also thinking these would look great in a mermaid scale pattern. The bottle design makes these look very young I think, which isn't want I would always go for, but they also look very sea themed, which is definitely what I go for, so I guess they cancel each other out!

Let me know what you think!