Prickly Pear by Barry M

This is the third of the Gelly Nail Paints I purchased when they were first released.  Regular readers of this blog will note that I have not been a fan of the previous two Gelly Nail Paints I have tried as I find them too thick and gloopy to apply and take an age to dry.

The colour of this polish is a light pale purple.  Its much paler and more lilac than my all time favourite from Barry M which is Berry Ice Cream which is more of a pinky purple.  I must say in terms of the colour this does start to rival Berry Ice Cream because I really, really like the colour.  Such a lovely spring like colour.  It shouts "bring on the sunshine".

In terms of the formula of this polish, I actually found it was not as thick as the other two I have tried.  It still took a while to dry even after using my Sally Hansen Insta Dri topcoat but I can probably forgive that given that I do love the colour.  I don't think it has made me change my mind about Gelly Nail Paints and still does not make me want to go out and buy more from this range but I think this polish I would want to wear again, whereas the other two I bought I would not be in a hurry to.

Next polish is Purple Diamond by Sinful Colors.
Until then,
Lealea x

Poolside Blue by No. 7

I bought this polish before Christmas when Boots were doing their £5 off No. 7 products if you spend more than £5 in Boots deal.  I have a fair few No. 7 polishes and most of them were bought this way.  I would not pay £7 for a nail polish normally.  They have now changed that deal, the polishes have changed slightly and are now £6 but you can only get £3 off with a voucher.  Its still a good deal though, I would still pay £3 for this polish.

The colour is a vibrant blue, a little bit deeper than I would envisage a poolside blue to be, but still a great colour nevertheless.  A good colour to wear in the summer by the pool I think.

These polishes are great to apply, the formula is great and they have large brushes which make it easy to apply. This was opaque in two coats and although it wore off the ends of my nails slightly it did not chip.  I would put this in the category of a "nice" polish.

Next up is Prickly Pear by Barry M.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Pompous by Rimmel

I bought this polish recently in the supermarket.  They were having a sale on selected Rimmel products and this polish was £1.39 - total bargain!  This polish is part of their 60 seconds range and is a gorgeous deep purple with shimmer.  I loved it in the bottle and it also looked really good on the nails.  As its dark purple its probably more appropriate worn as an Autumn/Winter colour but I love it anyway.

The formula of this polish is really good, and the brush is one of those wide ones that means you can cover your nail in one or two swipes.  The 60 second polishes do dry fast and paired with my Sally Hansen Insta Dri topcoat they were dry in in a very quick time, a welcome change after the length of time it took the Gelly Nail Paint from Barry M I wore before to dry.

I love this polish, what a bargain!

Next up is Poolside Blue from No. 7.
Until then,
Lealea x

Pomegranate by Barry M

Eagle eyed readers will note that I made two mistakes in the last couple of posts.  First of all I called Potion by Seventeen "Poison" and secondly I cannot work out my alphabet and wore Potion before Pomegranate.  I blame lack of sleep!

Anyway, todays polish is Pomegranate by Barry M which is part of their original Gelly Nail Paint collections.  This colour is a very vivid darker pink colour, nice in the bottle and a nice Spring/Summer colour on the nails.

My main complaint about these Gelly Nail paints is the formula.  I just don't like them.  They are gloopy and thick and take an age to dry.  I much prefer the normal Barry M polishes, these just are not wowing me.  There are a couple of colours in the new collection they have just released that I like, but I know I will hate the formula so I am put off buying them.  Normally I love Barry M too, such a shame I don't like these.

Next up is Pompous by Rimmel,
Until later,
Lealea x

Potion by Seventeen

This is a recent addition to my collection. I was buying mascara from Seventeen (formerly No. 17) when I noticed their new nail polishes they are called Quicker Slicker polishes and claim to be touch dry in 50 seconds. They had some amazing colours in the collection so I had a hard time choosing just two (the products were 3 for 2). At £2.99 I thought they were a great bargain.

This colour is a dupe for Peridot from Chanel, a green gold petrol effect duochrome. It is lovely in the bottle and translates well on the nails.

The formula of the polish was great and it was opaque in two coats. It was not touch dry in 50 seconds but it did try pretty quickly after I added my Sally Hansen Insta Dri topcoat. My main complaint about this polish was how quickly it chipped. I had not been wearing it for 24 hours before it had majorly chipped on three different fingers you can see someof the chipping in the photo).  I was still impressed with the colour range, price and formula of these polishes though.

Next up is Pomegranate by Barry M.
Until then,
Lealea x

Pinky Pure by No. 7

This polish is a very pale creamy baby pink colour. It looks beautiful in the bottle. I believe that this is No. 7's equivalent of  Essie's Fiji which is a cult colour.

The difficulty with these pale pink polishes is that they are usually quite translucent and require several coats to achieve the colour in the bottle. Pinky Pure is no exception to this. I applied four coats and you could still make out the white tips of my nails underneath. It also meant that the polish was very thick on my nails. Luckily these No.7 polishes do not take too long to dry.

While I love the colour in the bottle, I don't love how many coats it takes to achieve it (and the reason why I have never bought Essie's Fiji.
Next up is Poison by Seventeen (No. 17 as was).
Until then,
Lealea x

Pink Underground by China Glaze

I bought this polish from ebay last year sometime. It is a China Glaze miniature version. The polish is a muted blue toned pink with a hint of shimmer to it.  It is a very sophisticated colour, it would be a perfect muted colour for work.

The consistency of this polish is great and it was opaque in two coats. I find China Glaze is a bit hit or miss in that regard, some polishes have a great formula and others are way too thin and require several coats. I also find the brushes on China Glaze polishes slightly too thin but they are still not to difficult to apply.

If I had to describe this in one word I would say it was a "nice" polish.
Next up is Pinky Pure by No. 7.
Until then,
Lealea x

Pink Silver Glitter by Barry M

This is a lovely pale pink polish with tiny specks of silver glitter running through it giving a gorgeous colour on the nails. While I am not a fan of glitter topcoats I do quite like these full on glitter polishes.

I applied three coats of this polish and you could still slightly see the whites of my nails underneath but it was not too bad to make me dislike the polish. Taking it off was not too bad either, I did it with my regular nail polish remover and cotton pad rather than having to do down the tin foil route which I have had to do with other glitters in the past.

So unusually for me, this glitter polish gets a thumbs up!
Next up is pink Underground by China Glaze.
Until then,
Lealea x

Pink Irridescent by Barry M

I bought this polish when I was going through a glitter phase.  At the time I was loving trying lots of different glitters, but I must say the phase didn't last and I am not the hugest fan of glitters at the moment. They are just too much of a faff to get off your nails I find. 

This polish has a clear base with pink Irridescent tiny glitter particles. In different lights the Irridescent nature of the glitter changes it to have silver and blue hues. It is pretty in the bottle but nothing I found to write home about on my nails. 

I must apologise for the lack of photo of the glitter on my nails, I accidentally deleted the photo before saving it!

I added the glitter over the top of the Pink Manicure polish from Natural Collection I was wearing. As the polish was virtually clear, it took several coats of Pink Irridescent to provide any coverage on my nails at all. I found the polish to be gloopy and too thick so several coats took an age to dry. Not my favourite polish by a long way I'm afraid.

Next up is Pink Silver Glitter by Barry M.

Until then,

Lealea x

Pink Manicure by Natural Collection

This polish was given to me by my Mother -in-Law. Natural Collection is not a brand that I have ever bought from, although I know they are quite cheap (right in my price range, lol!).  It's just not somewhere I would ever really look.

This colour is a very pale pink, to be used as a French manicure base. The colour is so sheer however that after I applied two coats you could not even tell I had any polish on at all. Which really begs the question of why you would bother.



The formula was ok, the brush was ok but it was nothing to write home about. It did not make me want to visit the Natural Collection stand when I next visit a Boots store.  I can see why MIL gave it away.

Next up is Pink Irridescent by Barry M,
Until then,
Lealea x

Peppermint by Rimmel

I bought this polish recently in my local supermarket. They had a few reduced Rimmel items and I had been eyeing this polish up for a while but the nearly £5 price tag had been putting me off. When I saw it had been reduced to £2.79 I snapped it up.  The colour is a beautiful peppermint green, perfect for the spring and the sunny weather we have at last been getting.

The consistency of this polish is great and it only took two coats to achieve a great finish. The brush is wide and allows for easy application. All in all I could call this one a great polish. A bargain!

Next up is Pink Manicure by Natural Collection.
Until then
Lealea x

Penny Talk by Essie

This is one of my bargain Essie polishes bought from xtras-online for £2.99.  I was lucky to come by this as it sold out not long after I bought it and I don't think it has come back in stock yet. This is from the Mirror Metallics collection released in Summer 2012. The colour of this polish is a gold/copper colour and I cannot stress enough now absolutely amazing it is. It's just the most beautiful colour. It complimented my skin tone so well, and I'm sure it would look even more amazing with a tan. I just could not stop staring at my nails when wearing it.

The application of this polish was really good, the brush is great and I could have probably gotten away with one coat, but I like to use two just to get a completely even finish.

Run, don't walk to the shops to go buy this polish. It's that good!

Next up is Peppermint by Rimmel.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Pedal to the Metal by Sally Hansen

This polish is one of the first Sally Hansen polishes I ever bought. The colour is amazing in the bottle, a metallic silver but with purple tones which give it a dull steel like finish. Very unusual. It translates well to the nails.

As with all Sally Hansen polishes the brush is very thick so it's easy to apply the polish in one or two strokes. The formula is good although it did take three coats to get a truly opaque finish. All is all a lovely polish.

Next up is Penny Talk by Essie.
u til then,
Lealea x