Mani Mondays: The Colour of the Season

Mani Mondays is the latest addition to my blog, while I'm not going to claim to be some sort of genius nail artist - I'll leave that to the professionals - I am a lover of all things nail polish related hence the reason for this new post.
I adore collecting nail polishes and I have around 60 bottles in my collection, a few of them were gift sets I was given for Christmas or birthdays but a lot of them are just bottles I've picked up whilst I'm out shopping with friends - I never can resist a 3 for 2 offer on Barry M. I don't usually go for any specific brands I just pick up ones which I like the colour of and, more often than not, have a nice bottle design!
Today's post is all about one of this season's must have colours, PINK! Whether it's baby pink, magenta, neon pink, barely there pink, fuchsia, cerise, rose or salmon this Autumn you will need some pink in your make up bag and a good place to start is with your nails.

(l-r) Barry M Sequin Effects Pink, Rimmel Lycra Pro Oyster Pink, Accessorize nail polish from a gift set, Models Own Bubblegum, Mavala Funny Coral, Max Factor Nailfinity Disco Pink, Revlon Colourstay Cafe Pink

Growing up I was never much of a pink person, purples were always more my thing and I tended to go for shades of blue and green when I was picking an outfit because they flatter my skin tone. Until recently I though I still wasn't much of a pink person but a quick look at my make up box proved me to be, I found a glut of pink lipsticks, pink blushers and pink lipglosses all which have been well used.

Everything from Bourjois blush and baby stick, to lipglosess from Rimmel, Clinique, Neal's Yard Remedies and Missguided

I've just started wearing this gorgeous pink nail polish from Mavala which I got in my goody bag from Fabulous magazine and I think it's the perfect colour to see the season in with. Funny Coral is from the 2013 Pacific Dream collection and is a combination, I think, of coral, French rose and deep pink not too bright that you can't wear it everyday, but still noticeable enough. I also found the polish had a lovely glossy finish and was quick to dry - which is always, always a bonus!

Mavala Funny Coral*

From the Summer 2013 Pacific Dream Collection

I think I'll be wearing this colour considerably throughout Autumn, before turning to darker, richer pinks almost on the verge of deep reds as the weather gets colder. Mavala polishes are available from a number of stockists online as well as large department stores like Boots. For more information visit the Mavala website.

Will you be wearing pink this season?

Beth xxx 

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