Textured.A.S.Nails

Hello readers!

Finally we have for you a look at the new Textured Nail Effects by Barry M!! A very quirky and different nail paint that you'll either LOVE or HATE. This gritty, grainy matte polish creates a VERY unique effect and comes in four different Spring/Summer shades named after famous haunts where Mr Barry Mero began his early working days in the markets of Ridley Road and Brixton. Ridley Road (Green) TNP4, Kingsland Road (Pink) TNP3, Station Road (Yellow) TNP2, Atlantic Road (Blue) TNP1.Once you've painted on the first coat the effect starts showing after a couple of seconds. If you want to be a bit different then this is the kind of polish for you!


First lets look at Ridley Road, a lovely pastel green. This colour is very similar to Barry M's Mint Green which is actually one of my favourites. Just one thick coat will do just fine but you can do an extra one if you want it to last a bit longer! I would suggest you use a base coat to protect your nails but not a top coat as you don't want to ruin the matte effect. This is such a lovely spring/summer shade that you won't want to be without - with the bonus of the quirky effect!

Secondly we have Station Road which is a very summery yellow with a slight shimmer. This colour is a little like Barry M's Baby Yellow or Lemon. With this colour you should definitely use a base coat as it may stain your nails a bit and when taking it off I suggest you wash your hands as the shimmer decides it wants to stay on your fingers! We used 2-3 coats of this as it does come out quite streaky with one. Alice tried this with a top coat - it doesn't look as good as it takes away the effect a bit however it makes the shimmer more noticeable. Again the effect makes it unique however someone has compared it to rust - not good.

Next is Atlantic Road which is a lovely pale blue. This reminds me a little of blu tack which has been stuck to come sort of fabric. I used 2 coats for this but 1 thick coat will do. Again it is a great spring/summer colour and the grainy effect really stands out. I think this colour shows the effect off most which really makes people notice the effect - this can be a good and bad thing! When wearing this I had a few comments on what it looks like, I think the best description was sandpaper!

Finally we have Kingsland Road which is a very pretty pastel pink. This is my favourite as it is a beautiful colour and the effect is subtle but noticeable! I used 2 coats as I wanted to make it look thicker. I teamed this up with the Greenberry Gelly Paint and they complimented each other perfectly. For this I did not use a top coat and the matte effect makes it stand out a lot more. As you may notice the effect is not as noticeable, you may want to use more coats to create more of an effect.

I found with all of these they dried quickly which is what we all want! They last well however, as they don't have a top coat they may chip slightly easier. I tried using a matte top coat just to protect them but you lose a lot of the effect :(

I know you all want to know when they are out so here is the final bit from me... These great nail paints are a wonderful price of  £3.99 and are available in Superdrug February 13^th & Boots February 20^th.  Products will also launch on barrym.com on February <sup>13th




Enjoy! Let us know what your favourite is!</sup>
 

NewYork.A.S.Nails

Hello readers!! Here is the first of our 'shopping cities around the world' nails... New York nails!
I have always wanted yo visit New York, not just to shop but to see ALL the sights. I think Christmas would be a lovely time with all the beautiful lights and festive fun!

Have any of you been to New York? Let us know! And tell us what you bought!

For these I used various colours from Barry M and Models Own.Starting with the thumb (I <3 NY) - Models Own Snow White, Black nail art pen and Tantrum red nail art pen. Index finger (Tiffany & co. Box) - Barry M Blue Moon and Models Own White nail art pen. Middle finger (skyline) - Models Own Battleship Grey and black and white nail art pens. Ring finger (5th Ave) - Barry M Watermelon Gelly nail paint, Models Own nail art pen. Finally my pinky (flag) - white as above, Barry M blueberry and Tantrum red pen.

If you're thinking of visiting New York then we have a few links... For flights click HERE and hotels click HERE. If you get to go before us then we would love to hear your recommendations - best shop, best hotel, best coffee shop and best restaurant.

Follow us on Twitter @cute_AS_nails.

X

Christmas.A.S.Nails

Christmas has officially started (although I do believe it actually starts as soon as you see the Coca Cola advert!)! It's getting rather chilly too so don't forget to wrap up nice and warm. Fingers-less gloves are great as you can still show off your lovely nail art.
So these are the start of our Christmas nails. A bit of an assortment here with some snow flakes and fairisle and, of course, some glitter! For these I used Barry M Retro Red which I got free from Boots when I bought two other polishes - a good excuse to buy more nail polish! I have also used their Gelly Nail Paint in Watermelon - we tested these out previously which you can see here. Finally for the glitter I used one of their new Christmas paints which are from Superdrug and Boots. For the detailing I used my Models Own White nail art pen.
I hope you're all starting your Christmas shopping and have put some lovely glittery nail paints on your Christmas list!!
Have a great week!!

BloodSplatter.A.S.Nails

Happy happy Friday!!!! Yay!!

Today is the final Halloween nails day and to end it I have some blood splatter nails! For these I used Barry M Nude for the base and Tantrum nail art pen for the splatter. To do these i used the straw blowing method... Although I didn't have a straw so I improvised and used a pen without the ink and ends. So all you do is dip one end in the red polish and then blow through the pen/straw. I found the best splatter happened when you blow with force (there's no easy way to word that without sounding slightly rude)!

Anyway... Have a lovely weekend! Enjoy any Halloween parties you may be going to!
X

HappyHalloween!!

Today is the day that Halloween nail art really counts so I hope you all are sporting some super spooky nails.

Today I have some great pumpkin nails. Halloween isn't the same without some pumpkins around the house. For these I used Barry M tangerine and Models Own nail art pen in black. These are great as you can do a variety of pumpkin faces or the same on each nail. If you haven't got some Halloween nails already I think you should give these easy nails a go!

We will be carrying on the Halloween nail art all week as like me you may have some parties to attend at the weekend. If you would like to show us your spooky nails (we would LOVE to see them) then show us on twitter @cute_as_nails

I hope you have a frightfully good day everyone!

Skeletons.A.S.Nails

Hello readers! I know we haven't posted for over a week but I have been away up North where there was no internet or signal... Nightmare for a blogger!

I hope you have all had a good week and have been practising and trying out some great Halloween nail art!

Here are my first Halloween nails.... Skeletons!! For these I used Barry M's Black and Black Multi Glitter and Models Own White Nail Art Pen for the skeleton detail. This is an easy and fun Halloween nail art that you can all do.

Anyway... We will have some more Halloween nails this week so you can all get some ideas for any Halloween parties!

Grey.A.S.Nails

Happy Friday!!! So i know this is terribly titled but we seem to have a lot of spotty/stripes titles. Alice's Halloween nails have been great this week and I am planning to start doing some scary nails next week!

So today I have some pretty matte grey nails using Models Own 'pinky grey' and 'battleship grey' and then a pretty pink nail using Essie's 'Muchi Muchi' (I seem to over use this one!). I used the different colours for spots and also a white nail are pen - I also used this for the single line on my thumb and pinky. I topped these off with Rimmel pro Matte effect as I love the Matte look! I do think these would look just as great with a nice shine too.

Another note... On Barry M's Facebook page yesterday they were asking what colour nail art pens people would want if they were to do some. We are very much hoping they will be doing some pens as they are pretty essential when trying out nail art. We love Barry M polishes and can't wait for these new additions to their ever growing collection (and ours!)! What do you all think?

Have a lovely weekend everyone!
X

Camouflage.A.S.Nails

Hello readers! Sorry for the late-ish post!

Today I am very excited to use and show you my first new purchase's from Models Own sale!!

Here we go... Camouflage nails!! For these I used my new Grace Green by Models Own for the base colour and then i did one accent nail as I didn't want to go OTT on the camouflage! For this nail I just did random blobbing (probably not the technical term) using Fall Brown (Models Own Pro) and Concrete Mix - very strange name if you ask me!!

These are easy, earthy and very much go with this seasons army/camo style.
The Models Own polishes are nice and thick and you really only have to do one thick coat which I love.

I hope you like them everyone. I hope you've had a lovely day. Not long until the weekend!!

Houndstooth.A.S.Nails

Happy Friday readers! I hope you all have a nice weekend planned... You can tell us all about it on our twitter @cute_AS_nails as we would love to know!

For today's nails I have some lovely nude nails with a Houndstooth accent nail! The nude is by Barry M, which is very translucent so I had to do quite a few coats to make it this opaque. For the Houndstooth nail I painted it white using Models Own 'snow white' and then using their black nail art striper I painted 3 lines from finger to tip. I then used their white striper and painted lines across so the nails looked checkered. Finally I added the rest of the little line detail with the black. Once you get the hang of it then it's not as hard as it first sounds. You can always cheat and get the nail wraps (teehee)!

I hope you like these and give it a go yourselves! Have a great weekend and we will see you all next week!

LiquoriceAllsorts.A.S.Nails

Helloooo lovely readers! I hope you're having a good week so far.

To carry on the fun theme this week I have done some yummy Liquorice Allsorts nails! When it comes to actually eating these sweets I only like the pink and blue ones with little balls on. Not a big fan of the square ones. But they do make some fun nail art!

For these I used Essie's Muchi Muchi for the base coat (big fan of this pretty pink) and then a range of Barry M colours and Models Own art pens for all the sweet detail.

These nails are a bit of fun, easy to do and kids seem to love them!

Have a wonderful day readers!

Retro.A.S.nails

Happy happy Friday everyone!!! Another week has passed, very quickly I might add!

Today I have got some cool and slightly retro looking nails. For these I used Essie - Mint Candy Apple and Muchi, Muchi and Barry M - Peach Melba and Berry ice cream. I used Models Own pens for the lines. These were easy to do and fun when it came to deciding what the next nail should have! I think these colours work great together even though I should probably be moving into the more Autumn shades. I think I'm trying to hold onto summer for just that bit longer.

I hope you have some lovely plans for the weekend and planning on rocking some of that new Models Own Mirrorball collection - I know I will be!

Next week Alice will be back showcasing her lovely tan and beautiful nails!

GellyPolish.A.S.Nails

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and managed to enjoy some of the lovely weather we've been having!

So Alice and I have been lucky enough to try out and review Barry M's NEW Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paints! They are a new range that create a very shiny finish in just one coat (which is what we all want in a nail polish). They come in a wide range of colours which we are very excited about - here's a list of them for all our lovely readers: Plum (Purple), Blackberry (Navy), Watermelon (Dark Green), Blood Orange (Red), Blueberry (Light blue), Prickly Pear (Light Purple), Satsuma (Orange), Grapefruit (Pink), Pomegranate (Hot Pink). I don't think i have a favourite yet but I have my eye on a few colours.

So... here we go. We got to try three of these colours - Grapefruit (pink), Pomegranate (hot pink) and Prickly Pear (light purple). Firstly I gave the Grapefruit a go. I used quite a thick coat at first but worked out that it wasn't really necessary as the colour was dark enough to be able to apply a thinner coat. As soon as I applied the polish it was already shiny! Impressed.

 Next one I tried was Pomegranate (hot pink). If you see the bottle you wouldn't really call it a hot pink, I think it is a bit more of a raspberry colour, a darker reddy pink, but I will let you judge the colour. Again I didn't have to use a thick coat, it went on smoothly and the shine was instant. So far Pomegranate is a fave as it stands out more. (Sorry for the shabby painting). One thing I would say about this one is that when you take it off, like all dark nail polishes, it stains your fingers a bit so make sure you wash your hands after in some warm water - that should make it a bit better on your fingers.

Finally I tried Prickly Pear (light purple). For this I started off with a thin coat like the other two however as it is a lot lighter in colour I found you have to do a slightly thicker coat. If you do do a thin coat then you will have to do another coat so if you want to save some time, just do a thick first coat. This colour is more my colour; light and more of a pastel. Again the shine was instant. I think I found a new favourite as well! These polishes are great for a 'just been to the salon for hours' look but with a lot more ease and obviously a lot less time! Another thing I noticed is that they dry particularly quickly - another great plus for this nail polish.

So these lovely polishes will be available on Barry M's website Barrym.com on September 21^st and you won't have to save up too much for them as they are only £3.99 each! Amazing! If you can wait and want to buy them in store then they will be launched in Superdrug September 26th and in Boots October 3rd.

Have a lovely day everyone and put that date in your diary's! We know we will be... anyone else like the sound of Watermelon? Mmmmm.

Marbles.A.S.nails

Yay!!! It's Friday!!!!! I'm very excited for this weekend as Im going home to see my family and friends. It also mean A.S.nails can have a little meeting and brainstorm some nail ideas! Woooooo.

Today i have some, slightly rubbish, marbleing nails. I tried this quite a few times and struggled. I gave up as i couldn't get the effect I wanted but I will try again one day. You all have probably seen pictures or videos on this nail technique. I have seen some where people have just put a drop of nail polish on the nail and swirled it around with a tooth pick (or something similar), I personally don't think this way looks as good as the messy water way.

So I did the messy way. Taped up my fingers, swirled some varnish around in water, dipped in my nail and ta da... Marble nails!!

I think if I attempt this again i will make a video for you all... Maybe that's something Alice and I can do together at some point!

Finally for these nails I used Barry M (of course, like always) Peach Melba, Grey and Mint Green.

Have an amazing weekend everyone!! Keep on painting!

Nails of the Week!

Happy Monday! First off i just wanted to say... How AMAZING was the Olympic closing ceremony last night?!?! Loving the Spice Girls!

Sorry this is such a late post, it has been a very long and busy day for me.

This weeks nails are from @ClodaghMcGaga on Twitter and fit in perfectly with one of our posts last week. We love the anchors on the thumb nail the most! Great detail and great colours! Well done, and keep on painting. You have some great designs and ideas!

We hope you all love these as much as we do.

You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram @cute_AS_nails