Polish round up – Brown and Gold

You may have noticed an increased effort on my part to stop spending recently. It’s going pretty well. The last cosmetics I bought were a little Sleek haul on the 27^th December. If I can get to the end of December without parting with any more pennies it’ll be a big achievement. Long story short I’m focusing on paying off some student debt. Anyhoo boring stuff over, as part of my ‘enjoy what you have’ project I wanted to go through and have a look at what nail polish I already have in an effort to dissuade myself from going out and buying any more similar colours. These are the browns and gold’s I’ve accumulated. First with flash and then without. 

From left to righ we have; Diamond Cosmetics Yukon Gold, Orly Rage, L’Oréal 395, Collection 2000 Foxy, Little Rose (got this in Thailand, no idea what it’s called), OPI Sand In My Suit, Barry M Dusky Mauve, China Glaze Ingrid, Barry M Chocolate Brown, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Barry M Mushroom, Essie Mink Muffs. 

All of these are 2-3 coats with no top coat. The purple shimmer in Dusky Mauve isn’t as apparent here as it is in real life, trust me it is there really. Some of these colours are very similar too however none are exact dupes of each other. Oh and please excuse the cat fluff in the back ground. That rug was literally washed 24 hours before those pics were taken but madam decided it needed to be fluffy again.  I hope this is useful in comparing some of the more popular brownish shades out there. Any other colours you’d like to see a roundup of? 

*Sadly I bought all of these myself apart from Jermyn Street which was free in a magazine*

NOTD Barry M Nail Effects over Ciaté Main Stage

Everyone and their granny has done a post on this but I thought I’d volunteer my thoughts on it anyway.  Crackle polishes seem to be all the rage at the moment but frankly why would you pay for an OPI version when Barry M do the same things for £3.99? Ciaté Main Stage is a bold, bright pink with no shimmer. It is opaque in one coat and being almost neon dried to an almost non glossy finish. The nail effects dries to a matte black finish, there is a glossy top coat over all of this. I find if you don’t use a top coat it can scratch off very easily. 

The things about the nail effects is you can control the pattern to an extent by applying it differently. I like to slap it on in a really thick layer. Here I did one layer of Ciaté, Seche Vite, left it till it was almost but not quite dry then slapped on a really thick layer of nail effects. The result is a very chunky and defined pattern. By applying a thin layer over dry polish it results in smaller fractured pieces. I really like the effect!

*I bought these myself*

Barry M Dazzle Dust Swatches

Sometimes I find myself thinking ‘I really should do a swap with someone in the US. They have so much cool stuff!’ Should I ever get round to such a swap I know I’d definitely be including some iconic UK drugstore products like a Sleek palette and of course one of the fantabulous dazzle dusts. I’ve raved about these before but for some reason never got round to swatching these three. These are all swatched on bare skin!

First we have pink/ gold (3). It’s a soft, pale pink which flashes gold. If I’m feeling a bit girly/ lazy I wear this on its own. It has enough dimension to look interesting all by itself. It’s sooooo pretty. 

Old Gold (24)  is a muted gold with a slight green tinge. It’s quite festive really but not quite as blatantly festive as this...

Khaki (14) green? Seems more like a true green to me. It’s gorgeous, metallic and makes a fantastic eyeliner. 

Like all dazzle dusts a sticky primer is needed to reduce fall out. Old Gold it a touch chunky but all three are insanely pigmented and last forever. Yes maybe it is a bit early to start thinking about festive makeup looks but the Christmas party invites have started appearing and I like to plan ahead :p 

*I bought these myself*

Taupe!

I do love a good Taupe. So do a lot of the beauty loving community. Seldom do you see any other colour harped on about so much. Sometimes I feel that, with all the talk of premium taupes (e.g Chanel Taupe Gris) and heard to find holy grail taupes the humble drugstore shadow can be neglected. Here are a few of my favourite cheap and cheerful taupe shades. Neutral, but never boring!

Bourjois Brun Nylon



£5.99 This is a gorgeous light shade that is perfect for all over the lid with a darker taupe in the crease. It is soft and blends easily. Shimmery but not frosty, perfect!

Maybelline Silken Taupe



£3.99 A slightly cooler light taupe with much less shimmer. It’s not matte but the lack of overt shimmer makes this a good choice for days at work where I have to look super smart and frosty eyeshadow would be a no. Again I like this swept over the lid with a darker shade in the crease. It is a little harder to blend than the Bourjois but still it’s a decent quality for the price.

Barry M Mushroom


£4.50 Is this a taupe? It has very strong silver/purple leanings but I think there is enough grey/ brown in there for it to qualify (just). This one is exceptionally frosty. Not so great for the office but gorgeous nonetheless.

No7 Mink


£7.50 This is slightly darker and a bit more brown than the others (don't know what is up with the swatch pic, I think it just caught the light). Plus with the vouchers of temptation you can get this for £2.50 which is what I did. I’m not sure it’s quite special enough to justify the full price for £2.50 it’s a good buy. The quality is ok but I sometimes find that the shadows in No7’s permanent collection are prone to fading throughout the day so a good primer is a must.

Are you a fellow Taupe fiend or does it leave you bored? Do you have any more affordable taupe suggestions? Please let me know! X
*I bought these*

NOTD: Barry M Mushroom

I searched high and low for this much coveted colour. I almost resorted to ordering it offline until one glorious day I stumbled upon a shelf in Superdrug practically full of this very colour. It’s the perfect dirty pale coffee colour. It’s gorgeous!

As is typical of Barry M polish this was 2 smooth easy coats. How do they do it for £2.95?

*I bought this*

New Barry M Dazzle Dust Shades

I have a small but growing collection of the Barry M Dazzle Dusts. These little pots of loveliness have a bit of a cult following. They are finely milled loose shadows, mostly shimmery but with a couple mattes. Each little glass pot costs £4.50 but as usual with drugstore brands keeps your eyes peeled for offers. Barry M Recently released 4 new shades of which I have 2 here to show you.


The first is Burgundy Noir. Oh my... Well hello lover. Now this is my kinda loose shadow. It’s a rich black base packed with wine coloured flecks. They actually translate onto the eye too! It’s like they scanned my brain for my perfect shade and made it. The second is Bright Indigo which, surprisingly, a bright indigo with a lot of purple in it. This is one of the rare shades with no glitter or shimmer in it. It is insanely vivid and again right up my alley. Here we have them swatched with a primer (left) and without (right).

Without they still pack a fair bit of punch but they do benefit from having something to stick to. Fallout isn’t as bad as you might anticipate with these but I still recommend doing your eye makeup first so you can clean up before applying foundation. I have never ever experienced problems with creasing or fading with these (as long as you use a primer).

The other two new shades a Buff (a creamy nude) and Brass (a, well, Brass shade). I didn’t pick these up as I felt I already had similar shades but I’ve heard people raving about brass in particular. Next on my list of shades to pick up is Red and Gold Iridescent.... x

*I bought these myself. My reviews are always my honest opinion. For more info see the disclosure policy in the menu on the left*

NOTD: Barry M Ltd Edition Pink

I know, another pink. What the hell? Except it’s not really pink. I’d call it more of a pinky purple. And I wanted to get this up whilst it was still available as it is ltd edition. I got this as a gift with purchase in Boots after spending over a certain amount though I can’t for the life of me remember what that amount was. The gold lid is really cute! This was 2 smooth, easy coats.



The formula was, as is standard for Barry M Polishes, fantastic. Thick but not gloopy so it covered evenly. I got tip wear pretty quickly (second day) but no chips. I actually love the colour too. It’s bright and summery without being too in your face. I wore this to work and didn’t get any funny looks! (well, anymore than usual). Love it! X

*The above product was a free gift with purchase. My reviews are always my honest opinion. The disclosure policy can be found in the menu on the left*

NOTD – 17 Nail Xtras Crackle Top Coat & Barry M Mushroom

Three brief points before we get to the picture. 

1.  I loathe ‘Xtras’. It’s extras. End of.

2. I was mortified to discover I didn’t own a white polish to put this on top of. I have a white base in my head for this manicure. It’s on my to buy list!

3.  How freaking long it it since I did a NOTD? Don’t judge the state of my nails, they have been very neglected. 

The 17 top coat is a pale, cool toned gold. It shatters well but I’ve found it has a tendency to wrinkle a little too. I think I’ll get more use out of this than my black Barry M top coat despite the wrinkles. It costs £3.99.

*Bought by me*

Barry M Lip Lacquer Crayon

I love a bright lip in summer. It means I can keep the rest of my makeup low key and thus (hopefully) sweat proof. Having read some wonderful things about the Barry M lip crayons I tottered on down to check them out and walked away with number 3 (Mandarin according to the site).

This is a bright orange toned red with gold sparkle through it. It is really quite opaque and very shiny on the lips. I wear this on my brave days. I was expecting a fairly hard consistency given that it is a crayon but it is actually softer and creamier than a normal lipstick is. This means you have to be careful when sharpening it but it is a dream to apply.

The formula is neither moisturising nor drying on my lips. It lasts a good few hours on me (without eating or drinking) and I haven’t experienced any bleeding. I have noticed that it can smudge very easily on hot days which I’m putting down to the waxy formula melting in the heat.

Overall you can colour me impressed. I *think* that all of the available shades are sparkly but don’t quote me on that, and they are all super bright colours. I kinda hope they bring out some more neutral and satin finish colours as the formula really is lovely to wear. Plus there is something childish and fun about actually colouring your lips in... I think it’s definitely worth the £4.95 xx

NOTD – Barry M Chocolate Brown

Just because Easter is over doesn’t mean I have to stop indulging in chocolate! Please excuse the pre clean up pictures. I was in a bit of a rush.


I love this colour. It may be a little dark for spring but it’s my way of rebelling against the swathes of pinks and lilacs being thrust upon us (I’m looking at you OPI and Essie...) The colour is somewhere in the middle of these two pictures. My camera battery has died but after these were taken I put a matte top coat on and it made it look even more like chocolate!

As per usual with Barry M the formula is lovely. The first coat is a little patchy but the second leaves you smooth shiny lusciousness. It lasted ok, I changed after two days as I always do with a couple of chips but not real tip wear and to be fair I’m probably to blame for the chips.

Lazy EOTD – Barry M Mushroom

Some days I either don’t have the time or the energy to put together an eye look. This is quite rare actually as I normally wear 4+ shades on a work day. Here is something I threw on last week when the coffee hadn’t quite kicked in yet as evidenced by the decidedly dopey eyes and shoddy photography.

One swipe of Urban Decay primer potion in Sin, Barry M Mushroom Dazzle Dust blended over the lid and into the crease, black liner on waterline and top lash line, mascara and go.*edit to say apparently I'm not even wearing liner on my top lash line here. Normally I would, clearly I reached a new level of sloth here...*

What do you do on those ‘can’t be arsed’ days? Any go to products? X
*As usual bought with my own money*