Mani Mondays: French Manicure

Hello beauties, I hope you are all well. I'm settling into my new house and I've got job interview tomorrow morning so I decided to give myself a French manicure in preparation. I always think french tips look so elegant and classy so they are the perfect nail art to wear to a interview.
I know some people like to draw a straight white line across the top of their nails but because I keep mine long and oval shaped that doesn't look write and is better suited to square of squoval shapes. I'm not very good at French tips however, my hand isn't steady enough, so I do cheat by using stencils. I picked up Nailene Perfect Tips from Superdrug this morning for just over £3 - and the pack contains 96 guides - and they seemed to have worked well. I will mention though be careful when peeling them back otherwise you will remove the polish underneath.

I used

• Rimmel Nail Nurse nail base & top coat £4.49
• Barry M in "Nude" £2.99
• Barry M in "Matte White" £2.99
• Nailene Perfect Tips

Instructions

• Prep your nails by making sure any polish is thoroughly removed, you don't want any traces showing through your manicure
• Apply 2 coats of Barry M "Nude" and leave to dry
• Apply the nail strip - if using - to the tip of nail, leaving the gap you want to paint white.
• Apply Barry M "Matte White" to the nail, above the strip, or paint on in a curved or straight line depending on which look you want to go for.
• When the white is dry remove the nail strips carefully, if they have been used, and apply another coat of Rimmel Nail Nurse.

Do you like French tips? Have you come across any interesting ways to jazz the look up?

Beth xx

Barry M gelly hi shine nail paint

Hello lovelies, now I'll let you in on a secret - I absolutely adore nail varnishes but I am rubbish when it comes to painting my nails, so much so that it reached the point where I would ask anyone to paint them for me, my friends, my mum, even my brother. I have to say I'm getting better with practice but I still manage to get varnish all round my cuticles and miss half my nail at the same time... how?

Anyway my collection of nail varnishes now stands at nearly 50 bottles! I think the bottles all look so beautiful but at the moment I keep them in a giant box from paperchase as it's less hassle than keeping them all out on display

My "small" collection of nail varnishes including ones from Rimmel, Revlon, Barry M,
H&M, M&S, Maybelline, Bobby Pin and Accesorize!

My latest purchase was from Barry M, it was buy 2 and save £1 and that was all the encouragement I needed. I have to admit I tend to have a love/hate relationship with Barry M, they do such a huge range of colours, everything a girl could want or need - pastels, brights, dark, glitter, e.t.c. - but their polishes seem to take an age to dry! I don't know whether I'm just impatient, but I seem sit still for ages and then I make a tiny movement and then BOOM, smudged, all my hard work ruined.

Now Gel manicures are incredibly popular at the moment but they also happen to be incredibly bad for your nails, ruining the nail bed and making them weak if you have them on a regular basis. It's also quite an expensive habit to upkeep to if you're looking for an alternative or just want to try a gel effect then this is the perfect nail varnish for you. Like all Barry M products, this gel effects nail varnish is very reaonably priced at £3.99 and comes in a range of shades - which I think is great considering this range is pretty recent.

I went for this lovely pastel purple colour called "Prickly Pear". I absolutely adore pastel shades, it's one of my favourite trends and I am so pleased to see it is back again for S/S13. The only problem with pale shades, and this is synonomous with any brand, is that you have to really layer up the coats to get a good even colour and hide the whites of your nails. I'm happy to report that after 3 coats of Barry M I achieved a colour that matched the bottle, the nail paint went on very smoothly and created a lovely glossy, smooth coat. I found myself glancing at my nails all day long and admiring the colour. 

So what do you think? Have you tried the Gelly Effects range yet and, if so, what's your favourite shade?

Beth xx