Review | Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paints

Barry M has been one of my favourite nail polish brands since my early teens, so when I saw their new Speedy Quick Dry collection in Boots last week I couldn't wait to give them a try.

The collection is made up of the prettiest, delicate pastel colours, and I had a hard time narrowing down which ones to road test first. The polishes were on 3 for 2 in Boots, so of course I just had to buy three. 

I chose a cheerful flamingo pink called 'In A Heart Beat.'

A fresh Spring green called 'Pole Position.'

And a fashionable blue, somewhere between duck egg and mint, called 'Road Rage.'

Three very pretty shades that were made for the perfect Spring manicure!

I wasted no time in trying them out, and used them all in one manicure later that same day. I have to say, I was impressed with how well they handled. The polishes all have wide flat brushes which make applying each coat super easy; the width helps to cover a lot of nail in one swipe, so it takes no time at all to apply each coat.  

I needed 3-4 coats to achieve an opaque finish, and it took less than a minute for each coat to dry! Both hands were done and bone dry within fifteen minutes. I don't know about you, but I hate waiting an age for my nails to set, so this Speedy Quick Dry formula is a God send! 

They're the perfect polishes for anybody who has limited time to get ready, and for people who have a difficult time sitting still long enough for their nails to dry. I've lost count how many times I've smudged my nails because I've not left enough time for them to dry properly, but I haven't had that problem with these three polishes. I'm sold. They even stayed in place for three days without chipping!

My only real issue was that 'Road Rage', the duck egg blue, went on a little bumpy unless the brush was drowned in polish. The brush kept sticking against the nail, instead of gliding over it, which I think was down to the quality of the brush and not the formula.  With a little patience, I worked around it by flooding the brush, but it took a little longer to brush off the excess polish to get an even finish.

Aside from that little issue, I really love these nail polishes. They're easily some of the loveliest pastel polishes I've ever worn. I still can't decide which is my favourite; it changes from minute to minute. I'm leaning towards the pink right now, but in five minutes I'll say green or blue. All three shades are fresh, bright, and cheerful- and you just can't go wrong with pastel polishes like these for Spring.

The Speedy Quick Dry polishes are very affordable at £3.99 each, and should be available in all good pharmacies / drug stores like Boots and Superdrug. 

Have you tried their Speedy Quick Dry nail paints yet?

PS. Apologies for the state of my nails in these photos. I know it's pretty much the worst looking manicure ever. I have really shaky hands these days (from the pain and painkillers), so I currently have the artistic ability of a three year old! I don't have the patience to try again, but I decided just to blog these photos anyway, as I wanted to share these polishes with you.

Pretty Pastels

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There's one thing I really love about summer, and that's the way so many people embrace colour. I find myself a little uninspired during the colder months when most people are content to dress in jeans and dark tones, so it's refreshing to see so many people shedding the muted tones for something a little more colourful whenever the mercury rises.

A heatwave, like the one we're experiencing in the UK right now, is the perfect opportunity to experiment with colour. Almost any colour goes during the summer, and if bold bright shades seem too frightening for you, then why not try pastels? 

Pastels are much softer and far more delicate than bright shades, but they're still so colourful and summery. They're colours which make me think of scoops of ice cream, and they really couldn't be more sweet and lovely. Mint, lemon, and lilac are my pastels of choice, but peach, baby pink, and baby blue aren't without their charm. 

I've put together some of my favourite pastel pieces; items which are all perfect for wearing during this scorching hot heat wave. I guarantee, any of these pieces would make you look like the most summery person in the land! I love all of the items I've displayed here, but in particular the lilac satchel, and the mint cheesecloth dress, both from ASOS. They need to get in my wardrobe pronto!

I don't have many pastels in my collection at the moment, but I really need to work on that as this little lot is all so beautiful!

Which one is your favourite?

Have you been embracing pastel colours this summer?

How to Wear Colour Post Three

The selection of colours available to us in the fashion world these days is incredible, but it can be overwhelming if you're not sure where to start.

My best piece of advice would be to ignore those colour rules that tell you which colours you should wear and which ones you should avoid, and wear the colours which feel right to you.

The best thing to do is experiment with colour. Try as many different colours and shades on and against your skin as possible. I'd recommend doing this in natural daylight where possible. By doing this you should notice what looks good and what doesn't, and what you like and what you don't. Certain colours will look better on you than others, as different skin tones and complexions are flattered by different colours, but it's up to you to decide if you care about "flattering", or if you just want to wear what you like!

My advice? Just experiment with colour. Try on every colour you find, and have fun learning what colours are right for you!

However, if you want to know which colours are said to be the most flattering for your skin tone, read on...

The best colours for your complexion are not only dictated by your skin colour, but more importantly by the under tone of your skin- whether you have a warm or cool complexion.

An easy way to find out if you're warm or cool coloured, is this:

Stand in front of a mirror in a room well lit with natural day light. Hold some white fabric, and then some cream fabric against your face while you look in to the mirror.

If you're warm toned, the cream fabric will give you a warm glow, but the white fabric will make you look drawn.

If you're cool toned, then the white fabric will give you the glow, and the cream fabric is likely to make you look drawn.

A warm complexion means that you have a yellow undertone to your skin. Your complexion may be yellow-beige, golden-brown, peach, or ivory, for instance. Warm complexions suit greens, teals, golds, oranges, reds, browns, and tans.

A cool complexion is a colouring with a blue under tone. Your complexion may be pale, fair, rosy, olive, or black. Cool complexions suit pinks, purples, lilacs, grey, burgundy, blacks, and blues. 

I found a great image which shows the best colours for your skin tone.

[Source]

I'm cool toned, and through years of trial and error, I've discovered that I look best in peacock colours, and brighter shades like cobalt blue, apple green, and turquoise, so in my opinion, the above images are spot on! Although, I don't ever restrict myself to cool colours, as I like wearing warm colours like red and yellow, too.

These are some of the shades and hues you're likely to come across in the fashion world.

Pastel colours are soft, pale shades such as lemon, mint, and lilac, which are typically best worn in Spring time. Pastels are the most subtle way to wear colour, but they can be tricky to pull off if you're very pale like me. I usually find pastel colours wash my very fair skin out. However, pastels are a great way to begin wearing colour and they look fantastic on so many people!

These are the typical colours you would find in Autumn foliage. Think rich shades of gold, orange-brown, khaki, burnt red, camel, and beige- colours with a yellow undertone. These colours suit people with warm complexions best, but I know very fair red heads with cool complexions who look amazing in these colours, too.

Cool colours are those with a blue undertone. For example, burgundy, purple, fuchsia, pink, blue, ice grey, to black and white. The darker shades like burgundy, forest green, and teal are most commonly worn in the Winter months, and the bolder colours such as cobalt blue, fuchsia, and turquoise in the summer. Cool colours are my favourite to wear, but I regularly hear how afraid other people are of wearing the bolder shades as they do take a lot of confidence when you're not used to them.

Neon colours are well... neon. The fluorescent hues most commonly seen are orange, pink, yellow, green, and blue; the colours seen on nineties ravers, and highlighter pens. As neon colours are so bright they aren't to every one's taste- and they're definitely not for the colour shy- but they are such a fun way of adding colour to an outfit! If you're new to wearing neon, I'd recommend beginning with accessories before dressing in it from head to toe. Perhaps start with a bag, belt, or bracelet, and go from there.

And on that note, I'm going to stop here for today. I hope this post has been helpful and perhaps given you some ideas about which colours to add to your wardrobes this season.

I'm planning to post some outfit ideas for a variety of colours, shades, and hues in upcoming posts, to show you how you could wear colour, and how I would personally wear them.

If you like to read my previous two posts about How to Wear Colour, you can see Where to Start here, and How to Build Up Your Colour Confidence here.

If there's anything you like me to focus on in regards to wearing colour, please feel free to leave me a message below, or get in touch with me via email at polkaspotsandfreckledots@gmail.com.

May 31 Day Blogger's Challenge: Day 15: Nail Varnish Collection

Nail Art/ Fave Nail Polish and Nail Varnish Collection

I have a love/hate relationship with my nails. At the age of almost twenty-seven, I'm only just learning how to shape my nails. Yes, really! Ten years of working in retail and with animals subjected my nails to so much dust and constant washing that they were always brittle and broke regularly. Now, they've had a break from hard labour, they're finally strong for the first time in years.

I've had to come to terms with the fact my index nails will never be perfect as the nail beds are oddly shorter and closer to my finger tips than my other fingers!

Still, I've always been the girl who loves experimenting with colour. Not content to confine my love of colour to clothes, I like trying out a rainbow on my nails. I have quite a large collection of polishes, and can never resist hunting for new shades.

This is my current collection. It used to be larger, but I had a thorough clean out not so long ago. My favourite brand is Barry M, but I also love Inglot and Bourjois. I'm not a nail varnish snob (like I am with make up), and will try out almost any brand as long as the colour appeals to me.

They live in my David and Goliath vanity case in my make-up drawer. I think one of my sisters gave it to me for Christmas one year. I used to display them all on my dressing table, but I got fed up with dusting them all every week so away they went.

Red is my nail colour of choice, and I love orange and coral, too. They're such classic colours. You're most likely to find me wearing the one second from the left. A colleague was once amazed that I could wear such a shade so confidently.

It's clear that I need more pinks and purples in my collection. I don't have enough to choose from! The dark pink Bourjois one in the centre dries beautifully and lasts for days without chipping.

I don't wear blacks and blues very often, but love to crack out the blues when the sun is shining. I used to own the crackle paints in several colours, but they dry up within weeks.

I'm loving the ice cream pastels that are everywhere at the moment. Pistachio, mint, and lemon are my favourite pastel colours, and it's great to be able to keep up with trends in different ways. As I'm extremely pale, these colours wash me out, so a nail polish is a great alternative to pastel clothing! I remember having a set of mini pastel polishes from New Look in my early teens that smelt of ice cream!

The top coat is UV based, and will glow in UV light!

This Barry M tomato red nail polish has been my favourite nail colour for years, and nothing has ever come close. I've gone through bottles of this shade, and never tire of it! I personally find Barry M nail paints better than any other brand- even the expensive designer ones. I've tried them all and nothing has ever been as chip-resistant, hard-wearing, or brightly coloured. And from just £2.99 each, that is an amazing thing! I got bored last night and painted a nail on each hand in stripes using three Barry M colours.

These are my favourite polishes right now. As well as the tomato red, I'm loving the Barry M orange as a fiery alternative. It makes me feel so summery.

I'm really impressed with these Bourjois polishes, and the mint colour is so delicate and on trend.

I'm also obsessed with Inglot enamels after discovering them in the Times Square branch in New York last August. They literally have hundreds of colours to choose from, and I wish I'd brought more home with me. This metallic green is so different to what I normally go for, although green is a favourite colour of mine, but it's so beautiful. I wore three coats of this colour last week for an entire week without it chipping! I'd encourage everyone to check out this brand- their make up is amazing, too.

As for nail art... I love it. I have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to it, and am always amazed at the designs people come up with. I long to try polka dots, leopard print, and just about every pretty design for myself. I don't have the tools in my arsenal to attempt them for myself, but am planning on investing in some soon. I recently tried to do polka dots using the tip of a paint brush, but it wasn't very neat! I tried nail wraps a few weeks ago, but wasn't impressed when they came off as soon as I washed my hands. Perhaps it was just the brand?

Which brands and nail colours do you have in your collection, and which is your favourite? Have you found a brand of nail wraps that works for you?