REVIEW | Barry M Nail Polish in Rose Quartz with Swatches

 

 

I picked up this beauty a few weeks back in this haul, which included 3 Barry M polishes from Boots when they were doing their 3 for 2 offer, which always goes down well. I have already reviewed the Barry M Gelly polish in Lychee here and have been so excited to try out this polish properly.

I will tell you now; this will not be a super long post because all I really have to say about this polish is that I absolutely love it!! It is one of my favourite polishes at the moment.

Here I have on 2 coats because I wanted to keep it semi sheer and I love the way it looks. It dries pretty quickly too which I was surprised about, especially after using the Barry M gellys which take a while to dry (I suppose because they are a lot thicker).

The thing about this polish that makes it so magical and pretty for me is the small rainbow coloured glitter pieces. They really shimmer and shine making your fingers look as pretty as a princess.

I will be wearing this polish a lot during summer on its own and over other colours as a top coat.

So far I have had this polish on for 2 days and have no chips.  Really impressed.

Have you tried this pretty little one?

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BEAUTY NEWS | Barry M Summer Collections Sneak Peak!!

When I got the images through of the Barry M summer 2013 nail releases I had to show you them because I am super excited!!

**Sequin Nail effects Nail Paint**

Add a textured sparkle to your nails with new Sequin Nail Effects!  The rich formula packed densely with sequin specs is the perfect way to create a dramatic 3D effect on your nails.

Retail price is £3.99

Release date: Wednesday 8th May 2013

**Confetti Nail Effects Nail Paint**

New Confetti Nail Effects is the perfect party for your nails.  Filled with confetti sprinkles that brush on smoothly, make your nails pop with 5 sweet inspired shades. Dolly Mixture (Multi), Liquorice (Black/White), Marshmallow (Pink), Bubblegum (Blue), Sour Apple (Green). 

*Build the effect with more than one coat or apply as a top coat over your favourite colour

Retail price is £3.99

Release date: 5th June 2013 in Superdrug / 12th June Boots

**Summer Gelly Nail Paint**

To add to our Hi Shine Gelly Nail Paint collection Barry M have 5 new exotic fruit inspired shades!  Key Lime, Mango, Blue Grape & Guava will be your go-to shades this Summer for an extra glossy mani.  Key Lime (Lime Green), Guava (Teal), Passion Fruit (Pink/Red), Blue Grape (Cobalt Blue), Mango (Orange).

Retail price is £3.99

Release date: 5th June 2013 in Superdrug / 12th June Boots

They are also releasing a deep glow instant tan spray which could be interesting...

I am most excited about the Barry M Sequin Nail polishes!!

Which ones are you most excited about?

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HAUL POST | Primark & Real Techniques Whoop!

Another day, another little haul! If you saw my last haul post you will have seen that I am a little bit obsessed with Primark at the moment. They really have some great stuff. From stick on false nails to jewellery and really cute t-shirts.

This time I had to return a couple t-shirts that I bought in totally the wrong size. So I had £6.50 to spend. I tried on a load of tops and the one I liked best was this red tank top. Super comfy and at £4 a total bargain. So £2.50 left to spend. I really needed some cotton pads so picked these up for £1 and I loved this neon bracelet set. Perfect for summer and at £1.50 you can't really do wrong!!

Off to Superdrug I went to 'have a browse' or so I told myself. I knew that they were doing the buy 1 get 1 half price and really wanted the Real Techniques brushes but last time I went they didn't have any of the variations I wanted so I was delighted to see that they had restocked the shelves this time! 

The Real Techniques Stippling brush was 1st on my list at £10.99, I was then deciding between an eyeshadow brush and the face brush (which didn't have a buy 1 get 2nd half price sticker on it) however I took it to the till and asked them to double check. Low and behold it was included in the offer whoop! So I got that one too £8.99 reduced to £4.50. Delighted!!

So my beauties that is it for now...

Have you taken advantage of the Superdrug offer yet?

FASHION TARGETS BREAST CANCER | Get Involved!

Today, the 26th April, is the day when people around the UK join 
together to help raise money for a special cause... Fashion Targets breast cancer in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

About Fashion Targets Breast Cancer 

International fashion designer Ralph Lauren set up Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in 1994 after losing a close friend to the disease. Lauren was inspired to use fashion to help breast cancer charities across the globe.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer launched Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in the UK in 1996, bringing together the best of fashion to fight the disease. Since then we’ve had the amazing honour of working with the world’s biggest names in fashion and media.

Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Elle Macpherson, Georgia May Jagger and Kylie Minogue have all joined forces with renowned photographers such as Mario Testino, Simon Emmett and Ellen Von Unwerth to show their support.

We raise vital funds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer through the sale of specially designed products. We’re incredibly lucky to be partners with some of the UK’s leading high street brands, including M&S, River Island, Topshop, Warehouse, Coast, Laura Ashley and Debenhams, as well as online boutique my-wardrobe.com.  They choose items each year from their Spring Summer collections that every woman would want to buy, generously giving us at least 30% of the price.

We’ve combined our powerful brand and our infamous target t-shirt, growing from strength to strength to make a stamp on the British fashion industry.

From models to photographers and retailers, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has become the UK’s biggest charity fashion campaign - raising an incredible £12.5 million. We continue to unite the British public together, spreading the word and wearing their support to fund Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s lifesaving work.

Get Involved

www.breakthrough.org.uk <--- Charity Website

www.fashiontargetsbreastcancer.org.uk  <--- Buy a t-shirt

Do you know how to check for Breast Cancer? Click here

Please get involved today!

SPRING PASTELS | Perfectly in Love With Pink

So at the moment I am having a full on obsession with pastel pinks! I am just so done with black, burgundy, and all the other colours which took over my wardrobe this last and extremely long winter. I am so glad the sun has been out for a few days this week, it definitely brightens my mood, as does the colour pink!

Wildfox Love Conquers all Tee £75 | RockNRose Floral Crown Headband £35 | Muubaa Fornas Dip dyped Ombre leather jacket £389 | Essie Nail Polish in Need a Vacation £7.82 | Miu Miu Patent Pink Leather Loafers $650 | Miu Miu Madras Print Pink Leather Shoulder Bag $1,450

Here are some of the lovely pink items I am lusting over. I wish I could buy them all. If I could have just one it would probably be the Miu Miu bag or the Muubaa jacket.

What about you?

My Thoughts | Healthy Female Role Models

Recently I have been feeling a lot of pressure to go to the gym, eat right, look 'perfect' you know the usual. And although I am slim I think that no matter what size you are most women are critical of their body shape. Due to my circumstances at the moment it is harder for me to exercise and be the shape I usually am so I am being really hard on myself. But you know what.. I deserve a break! 

It is ok to work out and eat right to be a certain size as long as it is healthy and as long as your attitude is healthy. If you start thinking that you are only ok with yourself if you are a particular size and anything else means that you are not ok with yourself, I personally don't think this attitude is particularly healthy. It doesn't leave you any wiggle room and quite frankly means a lot of the time you will have low confidence and be unhappy with yourself. Constantly feeling pressure to remain the same or get back in to your jeans. I just feel that this is not a recipe for a happy life.

So with this in mind I started searching for some inspirational  pictures of women and to my horror all I came across were hundreds of posts supposedly for 'inspiration' with pictures of women like this. Please note that I have intentionally not included this picture in my post and linked it instead because I don't want it associated with my post. 

After seeing all these pictures it just made me feel worse about myself. And I did not want to do a post with pictures like that. I mean how is that suppose to make you feel better, seeing pictures of woman with immaculately tones figures, super flat stomachs and the pertest bottoms you have ever seen?

Because, I want to remind myself that I don't have to be stick thin or perfectly toned to be beautiful and being what ever way I am is beautiful and feminine! Even if that means love handles and tighter than normal jeans. Ask a man what he thinks is more attractive and he will undoubtedly say the females below.

So I want to share with you my inspirations of beautiful women who I think look amazing! 

>Please note that these are just a selection of women who I think have beautiful bodies. I am not saying you have to be this size or that size to be beautiful, women of all sizes are undoubtedly beautiful! I also want to add that I am not saying the woman in the picture I linked to is not ok the way she is, I am saying for me that is not a healthy size or aspiration for my body.

Love Always

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CELEB STYLE | Olivia Palermo Get The Look

Well the gorgeous Olivia Palermo has done it again. She stepped out to walk her dog yesterday and looked amazing. Dressed in a gorgeous peach wool coat, ripped jeans and simple flats. There is no doubt that this girl has got style. Matching peach and denim is a perfect combination. The pretty and feminine tailoring of the coat offsets the ripped casual look of the jeans, aong with her simple bun and Jackie O shades, gives the outfit a feminine and very stylish feel. What a gal, what a wardrobe!

The actual Coral Coat Olivia Palermo was wearing is from non other than Zara. But, sadly, it is no longer available to buy online *sob*. It is worth checking in stores and I did see one pop up on ebay. Here are some equally as gorgeous coats I found after hours of looking for the perfect shade. For some reason nowhere else reasonably priced that I could find is doing this beautiful Coral colour in a coat... shocker!

1. Kaylaa Coat | Ted Baker £229

2. Apricot wrap Coat | Jaeger £199

3. Tudor Coat in Blush | Reiss £225

4. Biker Drape Coat | Oasis £75

Now on to the jeans. I love ripped jeans and hate that during the winter I can't really wear them, if I do I get a chill. So now that Spring is here out come my favourite pairs. The exact ones Olivia is wearing are AG The Stilt Cigarette Leg in 7 year Break Me Down £146.68. Here are some others similar that I found

1. J Brand 811 in Salem | Donna Ida £250

2. Super Stretch Skinny | Zara £29.99

3. Parisian light blue jeans | New Look £29.99

4. Dark Blue Jeans | New Look £29.99

What do you think gals, do you like Olivia's look?

500 Twitter Follower Barry M Gelly Polish Giveaway | 2 Polishes to win!

Ehhhh I was so excited to reach 500 followers on twitter that I have decided to do a cheeky twitter giveaway! But, I didn't want to leave my blog followers out now did I? So I am giving away not 1 but 2 Barry M Gelly Nail Polishes! One on Twitter and a second one right here on my blog! And you can enter to win both.

2 Barry M Gelly High Shine Nail Polishes to Win

1st Gelly Polish Entry

1. Follow me on Twitter @AshlyLondon
2. Retweet one of my tweets about the giveaway

2nd Gelly Polish Entry

You can also enter via the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a second polish


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy as pie.

What colour of Gelly M do you want to win?

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BLOGGER EVENT | Debenhams Urban Decay and Ossie Clark

Well hi-diddle-eh-oh there! This is an exciting post for me because it is all about my first ever blogger event... whoop!

I was kinly invited to attend the event by Debenhams to show case their new designer Ossie Clark which was being sponsored by the delightfully gorgeous Urban Decay. I was nervous but the lovely Laura from Liparzzi asked me to meet her before hand and I decided I was going to drag my sister along too.  I have been so touched and inspired by the wonderful girls in the blogging community so far and the gals I met definitely did not disappoint. Laura is super gorgeous and very friendly, an aboslute sweet heart and made me feel really comfortable as soon as I met her.  I also met with lots more lovely bloggers who I will link to at the bottom of the post.

So off we went to Orchid, a lovely bar in Aberdeen, to get the event started. We were greeted with Prosecco which was lovely but I don't drink so they kindly gave me a lemonade in a champagne glass so I wouldn't feel left out! He he.

The event started and we were introduced to the PR for Debenhams and Louise Kennedy, area sales manager for Urban Decay. I have to say Louise is the best advert for the brand. I quizzed her on all her makeup and she was face full of Urban Decay, even her false eye lashes. I literally wanted everything she was wearing, her face looked flawless.

They then commenced with a make up tutorial using the naked products from Urban Decay including the Naked palette of course. It was really interesing for me hearing all about the products and why thery are so fabulous. They are not tested on animals at all to start with. Thumbs up to Urban Decay for that. There are also no fillers in any of their eyeshadows meaning they are very pigmented and will last a long time because you don't need a lot. Brill!

So on to all the girls getting their hands and fingers in to the make up for a good test. It was lovely feeling like you could really touch and feel the products without being spied on by a sales assistant. I loved the Naked Palettes (I must be the only blogger without one.. oh the shame) and this eyeshadow in Midnight Rodeo is a lovely taupey, shimmery, pale pinky colour. Great description Ash! You can see the actual colour reviewed here.

 

I also opted to have a little make up done by the friendly and very informative make up artist. She used one of the darker colours from the Naked palette in the crease of my eye and then the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil in Clinic (a lovely emerald green) under my eye. By the way I am in love with those pencils now!! They are so gorgeous and last absolutely all day. Plus they are bringing out a load more shades in May!

 

Then here come the nibbles, a little chat and a wonder around looking at the clothes. Sadly the lighting was pretty bad and the pictures didn't do the clothes any justice so I have composed some images from the Ossie Clark website with my favourite pieces.

1. Chelsea Print Trousers £44
I love the idea of Pilazzo pants and the colour of these is lovely. I actually think they would be long enough for me too. Hooray!

2. Oxford Print Slim Leg trouser £34
I adore the print on these. It is so bright and fun. They also have a slimming stripe down the side. Plus they are half price in the sale on the Ossie Clark Website.. win! I also love the Bright blue military jacket here. Such a lovely bright colour.

3. Camden Printed Trousers £69
These looked like a lovely fit. The colour and print is quite subtle but very stylish. They would look really good with some black shoe boots.

So that was the night finished. My first event as a blogger over and I left with a little goody bag and a smile on my face.

Here is a list of all the bloggers I met. It was lovely to meet you all and I hope to see you again very soon :-)

Me and the Lovely Laura from Liparazzi

Laura from www.liparazziblog.com
Lauren from www.laurenrhiannon.com 
Rachel from http://thehonest-type.blogspot.co.uk
Laura from www.ascottishlass.net
Kirtsy from www.rockit-style.blogspot.co.uk
Rachel from www.twentysomethingbeauty.com

REVIEW | Barry M Gelly Hi-shine Nail Paint in Lychee with Swatches

I had been looking for some lovely new spring nail polishes and was particularly after a good nude shade. The thing is I don't like nude shades which are too opaque, quite a lot are. So when I saw that the Barry M Jelly varnishes seemed like good solid colours I was very excited to try them.

As soon as I saw the colour Lychee I had to get it. It is a warm nude colour with a hint of latte. It is just divine. With boots having their 3 for 2 offer on I picked up a couple other things too which you can see in my haul post here.

I decided to review the Lychee first because, well basically I couldn't wait any longer. It is so yummy scrummy!

First of all I think the price is really good at £3.99. It is a pound more expensive than the other Barry M polishes but the consistency is very different so I think it is justified.

It is easy to apply as it comes with a good shaped brush and all you really need is 1 coat which is amazing. My nails have 2 coats on in the pictures but there really is not much difference between 1 and 2 coats. 1 is definitely enough.

The only negative point about this nail polish is that it takes ages to dry. I am talking a good 20 minutes. So if you want a gorgeous flawless look you really will have to be patient.

Overall I love the colour Lychee and the Barry M Jelly's. I will definitely be buying more. So much so that I have decided to give 2 Gelly Polishes away as a cheeky treat for helping me reach 500 twitter followers! Entry 1: All you have to do it follow me on twitter here and retweet any tweet I post about the giveaway! Entry 2: Enter via the rafflecopter here.

Do you have any of the Barry M Jelly polishes?

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