Review - Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Pomegranate

Hi guys,

Today I am reviewing the new Barry M range of 'Gelly Hi Shine' polishes. Claiming to be one-coaters with amazing shine, I had high expectations for these products. They all retail for £3.99 each, but are often on offer at Boots and Superdrug - I got mine from Superdrug when they were on offer for 2 for £6. Combine this with my student discount and these polishes are an absolute steal!

Pomegranate, Dragon Fruit, Lychee, Blueberry, Greenberry & Watermelon

And they did not disappoint.

In this post I show you Pomegranate. It lives up to its claims of being a one coater. I love the normal Barry M range but the formula of these are even better. It's a pink shade which leans red in some lights - my dad described it as a 'cherry' shade. It is super shiny without any top coat, and looks like a gel manicure.

The polish dries surprisingly quickly and has exceeded my expectations. I've also tried Greenberry but found that it didn't endure a 7 hour shift at work opening cardboard boxes - tedious! I can put the chipping down to the fact that I didn't use a top coat though, and Pomegranate is holding up much better after using my Sally Hansen 'Dries Instantly' top coat.

Astor Laqcue  in 086, Pomegranate, and Barry M Raspberry

I had a look in my stash to see if I had any dupes for this colour. The closest I could find was by Astor Laqcue in shade 086 and is 99p from Fragrance Direct here - however it is slightly darker and only 6ml. Barry M Raspberry is much darker and I wouldn't call this a dupe.

An exploded bag of studs from Born Pretty Store - first time I used them!

I did plan on placing silver studs on the bottom of each nail at a 90 degree angle to spruce up this mani. Upon trying to open the bag, it split down both sides causing the studs to fly everywhere. This photo is taken mid clean-up. I managed to rescue most of them, but some are forever confined to the depths of my carpet!

Sorry about the quality of the pictures in this post, a better camera is on the way!

Have you tried the new Barry M range? Do you prefer them to the original range? 

How I stopped biting my nails...

No bite nail polish
didn't work for me

When people see my nails now, they comment on how they look in good condition, and often say 'How did you grow them out? I always bite mine.'
Surprisingly though, I used to be a serial nail biter! My mum even tried the 'No Bite' nail polish when I was about 9 - but that didn't stop me. A major disadvantage I also found with this product as a child was any finger food instantly tasted horrible. This put me off giving it another try.

I used to be embarrassed when seeing all my friends with lovely long talons and mine were stubby and jagged at the edges. The skin around them was red and often hurt. I had got to the point where I was biting them without even realising.

The only way I found effective to stop my nail biting was to make them look 'pretty'. This posed a problem for me because I was still at school, and wasn't allowed painted nails. So I improvised - I went to Superdrug and bought the 'Elegant Touch French Manicure Set' for £5 (although it now retails for £6.65).

I used the kit to do a simple french manicure. Pleased with the results, I found that I liked them too much to ruin them! I would re-paint them around twice a week, and within a month I had long nails which I was proud of. The kit comes with clear, white, and pink nail polishes, as well as tip guides.

A very old picture from when I stopped biting my nails -
thank god my skills have improved since then!

I still use the kit often when I want a simple clean nail design, and find the nail polish to be a great formula with long lasting results. I prefer to freehand the white tips rather than use the provided stickers, and from practice I've found this a lot easier.

Here is an embarrassing old picture from when I finally got my nails to grow (2010). I'm not very happy with my painting skills, my nail shape or the uneven lengths in the picture but it was a milestone for me.

My nails now - with just basecoat on

Do you know any tips for stopping biting your nails?

Comparison - Nail Varnish Remover Pots

Today I'm going to compare the Bourjois 'Magic 1 Second Nail Polish Remover' and the Twist and Out 'Instant Nail Polish Remover'.
Both small pink pots contain sponges inside, which are soaked in nail polish remover. The concept is that you put your finger into the sponge and twist the pot, removing all remnants of your polish super fast with minimal effort.

There are some notable differences between these brands.

1. Price tag
The Bourjois pot retails at £4.99 in both Boots and Superdrug, however there are sometimes offers such as 'buy one get one half price'. Some might say that this is quite a high price tag for what is, in effect, just nail polish remover  - a product you could easily buy for a couple of pounds.
A solution to this would be to buy the Twist and Out product. It retails at just £1 in Poundland - making it affordable to purchase to see if you'd like this kind of product. However, it is not easy to find online and has a considerable mark-up if you do happen to find it! So you would have to pop down to a Poundland store.

2. Size
Bourjois' pot (75ml) is noticeably bigger than it's rival - and contains 20ml more than the Twist and Out pot (55ml). However, this is not a huge difference and would make me lean towards buying 5 of the Twist and Out rather than just one of the Bourjois pots - I'd prefer to get more for my money!

3. Quality

It should be noted that the sponge in the Bourjois product is more 'sturdy' and less likely to break apart. This isn't a major issue as the Twist and Out still works perfectly fine. The remover solution in the Twist and Out product is, however, more drying to the nails and cuticles, so I always make sure that I use hand and cuticle cream afterward. 

Conclusion

I would recommend both products and didn't find any major faults with either. The Twist and Out pot just snatches it for me, due to it's low price tag in comparison. 

Do you use nail varnish remover pots? Which brand do you use and what do you think of them?