Barry M Black Multi-Glitter

Even when I bought this, I knew it would disappoint me. I was standing in Boots having an internal monologue about the fact that all that lovely swirly glitter would weld itself like glue to the bottle and not appear on my nail. I knew I wouldn't like it, and yet with a sense of grim inevitability, I bought it anyway. Have you ever found a black polish with holo glitter that didn't look blah on? I have not, and this is probably my third.

I think this was two coats, and it has great coverage. But, as predicted, all that lovely holo micro glitter hides itself away and instead looks like half-arsed silver flecks. It does look a little bit multi-sparkly if you stand in the sun, stick your hand at the right angle and squint. A little.

That said, my vampy loving colleague really liked it, so I snagged her a bottle on my next foray into Boots. Maybe I am immune to its charms, having set myself up for disappointment, and am being too harsh on it? What do you ladies think?

Gift of Blue - Barry M Denim

A very good friend gifted this to me awhile back. It's not a colour I would have picked out for myself, but there is something oddly intriguing about it to me. I think it's because it reminds me of car paint? 

Barry M Denim...

Denim is actually a very apt description for this polish - a medium blue base laced with silver sparkles. It's the polish verion of dark denim that has been washed hundreds of times. The glitter is very finely milled though, which gives it a glow. 

Very special in my collection, and very unique. Just like the sweet friend that gave it to me.

Have you received a polish gift lately? Tell me about it!

kittytokaren

Barry M Amethyst Glitter

Another bought on one of my Boots 3 for 2 rampages - I just can't say no. Now that I walk home from work past a really big branch, too, I am absolutely doomed. I seem to be blowing all of my disposable income on cheap nail polish. I feel a bit guilty but it's nice to say so on PoP, because it's a bit like speaking to AlAnon. I know you've all been there.

 (without flash)

Barry M is one of my crack brands because they're really cheap and really good. They just brought out a new glitter collection and I completely fell for this one. I love it! It's so happy and sparkly and pretty. It's a combination of magenta, purple, aqua/turquoise and gold glitter (curiously, this looks more silver from afar) which I layered over a black base (Illamasqua Boosh). I had lots of compliments on this one from students, which just shows that political scientists have excellent taste.

This would be such a perfect party season polish, I think - I would totally wear this with an LBD to a Christmas do.

Which polishes are you planning to crack out to cheer up a dreary November?

Cobalt Continued... Barry M Indigo

Earlier in the year I was trying to track down my ideal cobalt blue shade. I tried quite a few, and some were recommendations of kind and very knowledgeable readers! (See Orly Royal Navy, Revlon Royal, & Essie Mesmerize.) Orly Royal Navy was the winner, but admittedly it was a bit of a pain trying to avoid getting any of the shimmer on my nails. I also wished that it had a touch more purple to make it the perfect Yves Klein colour. Enter Barry M Indigo...



Ahhh...isn't that just a treat? I think it's pretty much perfect. Whenever I've worn it, I've gotten mad compliments too. It's bright, but there is something sophisticated about it. VERY happy to have this as a part of my collection, and I think its what I've been looking for. Barry M never lets me down!

Is there a colour you've been hunting for? Have you found the *perfect* one yet?

kittytokaren

More Robot Nails! - Barry M Silvery Lilac

I really wish Barry M was available in the US. It's a lovely little brand that puts out great colours at an excellent price point. At the moment, I turn to the bay of Evil for my Barry M fix, but I just wanted to put it out there!

This is Silvery Lilac - reminds me quite a bit of OPI Not Like the Movies, but for some reason I like this version better.

Silvery Lilac is another polish that reminds me of "robot nails" but it has a healthy dose of sparkle in it. I definitely have to be in the mood for this kind of polish, but when I am, this hits the spot nicely. I also think it would look pretty fabulous under OPI Black Spotted!

Have you tried Barry M polishes? What do you think?

kittytokaren

Copper completes me - Barry M Copper

I have a debilitating weakness for bronze/copper polishes... (For example, I have pledged my eternal love to OPI DS Glow.) When I saw pics online of Barry M Copper I knew I somehow had to get my grubby mitts on it! Luckily I have a fantastic friend in the UK who had already guessed that I wanted it - she is amazing. :)

And yeah, it's frakking incredible. I mean...look at it... Glowing bronzed perfection, I tell you! It strikes me as quite similar to OPI Warm & Fozzie in it's colour composition, but it is a fair bit lighter. Definitely less orange-y than OPI DS Glow. It hits so many nails on the head for me! Plus, application was lovely and staying power was a dream. I will *definitely* be sporting this quite often this summer - it looks phenomenal with a rose gold watch!

kittytokaren

A bottle of FREE: Barry M Navy

Our local Chinese always throws in boxes of free tasty noms if you spend over a certain amount. They're very nice. The only problem is they don't actually label them with anything other than 'FREE =)' so we never have any idea what they are. Which is probably not good for them, because often they give us stuff we'd definitely pay for, if only we knew what to ask for. Anyway, in consequence, anything we don't have to pay for, for whatever reason (gift, found it on the street, stole it, whatever) is known in our house as FREE. And this was a lovely bottle of FREE, courtesy of my Boots points card and a particularly crummy morning that necessitated a pick me up.

It's a gorgeous 'Navy' blue with hidden shimmer (sort of like Illamasqua Scarab's blue sister. I'm not sure I'd describe it as a navy though. It is dark, but it's got an almost cobalt or indigo tone under artificial light. I was expecting something a little darker, actually. Still, it's nice.

Barry M Cobalt

I love Bazza M. They're cheap and cheerful and have really good wear time for the price (about £3.50, which is more or less the cheapest I can get over this side of the pond). I actually saw this polish on a student of mine and asked where she got it. I had promised myself no polish until Christmas, but I was in a Boots...I needed change for the carpark...it was a day ending in 'y'...yeah, I have no good excuses. I just wanted it.

As usual, my camera has a heart attack over blue, so consider it slightly less neon than it appears here. It's a bright, deep blue - darker than nfu.oh 497 but with the same slightly green undertone. It's cool.

A tale of two polishes

Or, how to ruin perfectly good mani. I just cannot leave things alone.

This is Illamasqua Caress, a gorgeous baby blue creme. Easy two-coat application, smooth finish, stunning colour. When they do pastels right, they really do them right, and this is a fabulous example.



I managed to leave it all of two hours before deciding that what was clearly missing was a bumpy, draggy, horrible topcoat to frakk everything up. Lo! What's that I spy? It's Barry M Blue crackle!



I hesitated to show you this one because it was SO AWFUL. I still don't know how it's so bad, but it dragged the base polish everywhere, dented it, didn't crack properly, and was still really bumpy and gritty after two coats of lumos. Some days I really, really hate myself for doing stupid things like this to perfectly lovely polishes. I took it straight off because I was too embarrassed to leave the house with such a revolting manicure...*shame face*

On the plus side, this used up two polishes in my no-buy challenge.

T-Shirt Grey - Barry M Grey

I think this is just a magnificent dark grey creme...

As simple as that! Just like my favourite dark grey t-shirt.

Do you have any Barry M favourites that you think I should try? I've been loving this brand!

kittytokaren

Knallrot! Barry M Bright Red

I recently shared with you that I'd found a new polish brand to love - Barry M - so here is another taste from their collection - Bright Red!

Not so creatively named, but they really mean it. This is a red with orange-ish undertones that is just really really bright!! My picture isn't showing exactly how on-the-verge-of-neon it really is. Or maybe it just looks that way since I'm so pale. Either way, the only thing I could think of to describe this was the German expression/word - knallrot! Like - POW! RED!

I'm a little chicken to wear this right now...maybe I'll be braver in summer? It looks drop-dead gorgeous on toes though!

How bright is too bright for you?

kittytokaren

New Year, New BF!

No, I didn't get a new boyfriend - I'm very happy with mine, thank you very much!

HOWEVER I did get something that is *almost* as awesome - a new Brand Favourite! My interest in Barry M polishes was piqued when photos showed up proving that their "Dusky Mauve" was indeed an exact Paradoxal dupe. Since Chanel's chip quickly on me, I wanted to try their dupes of Paradoxal and Particuliere out and see if the wear was better...Result? I'm breaking up with Chanel! (Except for the unique colours that I have...until I find dupes of those as well!)

Barry M Dusky Mauve, with Chanel Paradoxal on middle finger:

Shade:

Sun:

Bottle pics!

I can't tell the difference on the nail at all - and I wore it around for a long time in different light - so to me these are dupes!! They do look a little different in the bottle - the shimmer seems more prominent in the Barry M - but I've decided that this is just because the shimmer sticks to the side of the bottle more.

Barry M Mushroom, with Chanel Particuliere on middle finger:

OK so these look SUPER different in the bottle, but on the nail not so much. A discerning eye can see that the Barry M is ever-so-slightly yellower in tone...but is it really a $20 difference? Not to me.

One way these Barry M polishes aren't dupes for the Chanels? Wear. Chanel lasts usually 24 hours on me before a massive chip. I went 5 days with both Dusky Mauve and Mushroom and saw only some tipwear. Can't wait to see what my new Brand Fav comes up with next!

Did you discover a new brand recently?? I'm thinking of trying American Apparel polishes next...

kittytokaren

P.S. Barry M is a drugstore brand in the UK. Thanks to a fab eBay seller - beauty.cosmeticsuk - we can get them here in the US at a fairly reasonable price.

China Glaze Endurance with Barry M Nail Effects (crackle!!)

As promised a few days ago, some photos of China Glaze Endurance with a crackle polish over it.

China Glaze Endurance with Barry M Nail Effects

This photo was taken on the last day of wear: we're looking at ten days of wear for the ChG Endurance and four days with the Barry M crackle polish layered over it. As you can see, the crackle has a tendency to fade towards the tips... but I kind of liked the look of this towards the end. It just looked really interesting.

Sick but at least I have some new Barry Ms... almost didn't get them though!

Went to class. Went to university health services. Was given codeine and an albuterol inhaler for my New and Improved Cough from Hell. From previous experience with old versions of the Cough from Hell, I know that neither puts a dent into my lungs' over-excitability.

Was not particularly cheered up when I came home to a package wrapped in a plastic bag with this stamped on it several times. (Don't worry, this story has a happy ending.)

Now, I've ordered from Barry M before. When I ordered before, I had such a nightmarish experience -- weeks upon weeks of waiting, charging me for stock that they did not ship and worst of all, horrible CS and money wasted calling the UK because they did not answer my emails -- I swore I would NEVER order again. Then they came out with the crackle polish and the Chanel Paradoxal dupe and I gave in. But I wasn't particularly surprised when this package came in this condition. With the following note:

I actually REALLY like the United States Postal Office. I've sent and received about a thousand packages and I can count on ONE hand how many times they've lost or broken anything. (And the broken things usually are due to poor packaging.) In this case... well, first of all, it wasn't great packaging to begin with but WOW. How DID this package even get to me?

I almost didn't have to blur out my name and address; I could barely read it! Did someone put this face down in dirt and stomp on it? And then take a knife to it and tear it apart? A lot?

Here's the side view: completely split open.

And let's talk packaging, okay? When sending something to the next town -- let ALONE to the next continent -- you make sure the objects are secure and glass is well packaged: this means not letting the glass bang up against one another. What does Barry M do? Five polishes, one small ripped up piece of bubble wrap. (Well, it probably wasn't ripped before some sadist at the American or British post office concentrated all their pent up fury on it...)

How on earth did anything get to me intact? How did EVERYTHING get to me intact? It's seriously a miracle. Must be the thick glass of the bottles... which apparently, Barry M depends on. Because otherwise, I don't know how their stuff doesn't get broken more often in transit.

Happily, though... everything DID get to me. From left to right: Acid Yellow, Dusky Mauve (Paradoxal dupe), Lemon Ice Cream, Silver Cascade (which looks wonderful in the bottle) and Nail Effects (read: CRACKLE!)

Now to douse myself with codeine. And maybe put the Nail Effects over my Zulu mani. Although it would probably look much better over a brighter color.

Barry M, love 'em, hate 'em -- I do both.

Over July 4th weekend, I was very excited to see that Barry M, a UK brand, was doing free shipping to the US and a 20% off deal. The polishes are affordable and look spectacularly pigmented. And free shipping is always my cup o' tea. Because there was a minimum purchase to get the 20% off, I ordered a bunch of polishes for another NB'er/np blogger located in Canada.

Fast forward 2+ weeks later, with no notice of shipment from Barry M in the intervening time, the polishes arrive in a thin bubble mailer. Okay. Sure. Cross-atlantic and then cross-continental shipment... sure. Polishes were intact but one of the NBer's was missing (out of stock, first I had heard of this news because I haven't had the money refunded yet!) and one of mine was just not there (no explanation whatsoever). I've emailed them twice now asking WTF, where are my polishes and if I don't see some polishes soon, I want to see some money refunded into my account. No response. Am I going to have to call the UK?! (Probably.) So I'm not feeling good towards Barry M's even though the polishes are quite nice. They are almost opaque in two coats and apply very smoothly. Very pretty colors but I seem to have dupes for all the ones I ordered (my fault, I suppose).

Barry M Marshmallow Pink (I'm sure I have an Essie of this color somewhere)

Barry M Spring Green (reminds me of Color Club Wild Child)

Barry M Grey (reminds me of China Glaze Recycle)

Barry M Cobalt Blue on pinky and middle fingers

Essie Mesmerize on ring and index fingers

They look identical indoors and only slightly different in the sunlight.