Barry M Gelly Nail Polish In Dragon - Review and Nail Swatch

This is a photograph from day 5 of wearing this polish

The Brush

.

Price I Paid

£3.99 

Design

I quite like the design of this bottle, it does not feel too cheap and tacky.  However, the brush is a huge letdown.  I really did not like this brush it felt incredibly cheap and poorly made in comparison to the quality feel of the bottle itself. 

Colour

I think this is a really lovely pink as it is quite bright but not so bright that I can not match it up with outfits during the day.

Texture

The point of this nail polish is that it is similar in texture to the finished result of Gel nails that you would have done at a salon.  I think they have successfully achieved this as it was very shiny and require absolutely no topcoat.  It was a bit thicker than normal nail polishes though and this meant that it took a good half hour for it to be properly touch dry.  It does suggest that it only requires one coat although I still felt that it looked streaky and actually did two because I was watching The Good Wife on 4OD so I had a little time.  The Good Wife is a great as the plot is interesting and each episode revolves around solving a different court case while there is a different running theme throughout involving the characters at the law firm itself.

After it had eventually dried this polish stayed on surprisingly well.  It was still almost fully in tact five days later apart from a small chip on my thumb which is very impressive.

Smell

Open a window/do it outside as nail polish fumes can be powerful!

Overall Reaction 

The formula is great, just not a polish to use if you are in any rush for it to dry and I am not a huge fan of the brush.

8/10

Princess Quilted Nails Tutorial

Photo 1: What you will need

Photo 2: Arrangement of the striping tape 

Photo 3: Close-up of the pattern of the striping tape

Photo 4: Painting over the striping tape and nail

Photo 5: Peeling off the striping tape

Photo 6: The result after peeling off the striping tape

Photo 7: The result after peeling back the striping tape

Photo 8: Gold foil effect paint - Cuticle Stick

Photo 9: Finished Result

Photo 10: Finished result

Previously I created a guide on how to use striping tape so click here to see that part in more detail

What You Will Need/What I paid

You need two contrasting nail polishes, striping tape and a pair of tweezers makes it easier.  I chose two pink colours which were Barry M Gelly in Dragon (£3.99) and O.P.I Liquid Sand paint in Pussy Galore (part of the James Bond 007 set of 4 mini nail polishes £13).  I chose the liquid sand paint because it contains tiny grains of sand that give it a raised 3D effect, this is quite difficult to see in the photographs though.  You could choose any colours you want for this of course, just make sure they are contrasting or the effect will be lost.  I used striping tape that I bought for 99p off ebay. (Photo 1)

If you want to continue to add the dots to your pattern I used Barry M's Foil Effect Polish in Gold which retails for £3.99 and a cuticle stick which came in a set of 10 for 99p.  If you don't have a cuticle stick you could use anything with a point e.g a pencil.  You might also want to get a little piece of plastic just to protect your surfaces.

Design How To

Note:click on images to enlarge them

- Firstly you need to paint on your base colour and then allow it to completely dry.  Mine was Barry M's Gelly in Dragon, I used two coats because one was too sheer, normally I have to do three coats of this polish but as most of it will soon be covered by another layer I didn't bother.

- Once the base colour is dry, cut strips a bit wider than your nails of the striping tape and stick them to the edge of the table.  I needed 6 strips for my thumbs and 4 for each of my other fingers, so 22 strips per hand. That seems like a lot but it took me only a min or two to actually cut. (Photo 2)

- Place 3 strips on each diagonal for the thumbs and 2 on each diagonal for the other fingers as shown in the pictures above.  (Photos 2 and 3)

Remember that when you remove these strips you will have to remove the ones you applied last, first.  This stops the first strips underneath being pulled away early.  I always apply the diagonal left stripes first and then the diagonal right ones ones.  Then peel the diagonal right ones off first, and then the diagonal left so I don't get confused.

- Once you have applied all of the striping tape strips, you need to paint over the whole nail.  I used OPI's liquid sand in Pussy Galore for this stage because I love the textured effect but you don't have to use a textured polish.  (Photo 4)

Do one nail at a time because as soon as you have painted over the strips you will have to remove them very quickly before the polish starts to dry. Don't use a fast drying polish for this step unless you are a very speedy person and can rip off the strips quick enough.  Remember to rip the strips off in the opposite order you put them on.

I don't use my fingers to rip the strips off because it is too messy although I find the striping tape sticks to the tweezers and prevents me ripping the next one off fast enough.  So after I rip a strip off  pinch it with my thumb and pointing finger.  (Photo 5)

- After this stage you could just stop because you already have a really pretty quilted effect pattern! (Photo 6 and 7)

- If you want to add some dots to the pattern you can continue with these steps...

- Find a small piece of plastic to protect your surfaces.  I actually used a piece of the packaging of a loaf of bread I bought just because I was making a sandwich at the time I thought about it and that was what I grabbed.  Get a blob of your third colour on the brush it came with and dab it onto the plastic so you have a little pool of it.  I used Barry M's gold foil effect paint but it can be anything that contrasts with your other colours and you know is pigmented enough to show up. (Photo 8)

- Take your cuticle stick/pencil/anything with a point and dip it into the varnish. Then lightly dot it onto the points of the pattern where the diagonal striping lines cross. (Photo 9 and 10).  You could finish it off with a top coat although with liquid sand polishes it would ruin the texture so I didn't.

- Let at all dry and it is finished!!! (Photo 9 and 10)

Colour

I really like these colours together even if they look slightly tacky.  At some point I will probably try this with the Barry M gold foil effects polish as the base colour and a dark colour over the top because I think that would look quite fun.

Texture

The textured polish looks great with this design! I was unsure about how I felt regarding the liquid sand polishes on their own but they are a great addition to nail art. 

Smell

As with all polishes open the window/do this outside as the fumes can be quite strong.

Overall Reaction 

Looks a bit tacky but I don't care because they are really fun!

10/10