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Imagination In Colour - Page 70 of 98 - UK Nail Polish Blog

Barry M Magnetic Violet

So here (at last) is the mysterious Magnetic Violet. This one seems to have eluded the stands of Superdrug and Boots since the release of the magnetics, but I finally managed to get my hands on it! I found mine in Superdrug.

Magnetic Violet in person looks like velvet with the 3D finish, in fact, with the pattern of the magnet, it looks like coontails for nails!

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK (2)

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK (2)

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK (2)

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK (2)

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK (2)

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK (2)

This is soo pretty. The pictures really honestly don’t do it justice – get it on your nails and you’ll see what I mean!! I think the base colour of Magnetic Violet is actually pretty similar to Boots 17 Magnetic Purple and Nails Inc. House of Parliament, but that’s a good thing, as the Barry M one is cheaper than both of them! Also the pattern of the magnet is unique – it’s uniform stripes, which actually looks pretty awesome, like you have a really steady hand for nail art 😉

Application:

The photos show 2 coats. 1 coat was a little thin so I left that to dry then added the second coat and magnetised away! I’m getting the hang of magnetising, there seems to be a knack to getting the whole nail involved without blobbing the magnet fully onto the polish. Magnetic Violet dried very shiny, so no topcoat needed (and if you do decide to apply a topcoat, use a thin watery one rather than a thick one which will pull the magnetic particles with it, thus ruining the effect!). I don’t really have much more to say on it, other than it dries quickly.

If you don’t already know how to magnetise your magnetic polish, the lid (with the magnet on and a curved lip to give you an idea of how close to put the magnet) detaches leaving a normal Barry M bottle and brush. You apply 2 coats of polish, then as soon as you’ve applied the second coat to one nail, you hover the magnet over the nail for a few seconds, then repeat for all 10 nails.

And if you don’t like magnetic polish, it still makes a very pretty purple shimmer polish!

Barry M Magnetic Violet lined purple magenta pink red velvet coontails coon tails 3D spring release dark autumn summer striped nail art UK not magnetised unmagnetised

What do you think of this one? I like it a whole lot more than I thought I would! I still don’t know which I prefer out of Barry M Magnetic Blue and Magnetic Violet. Have you tried the magnetics range? The only one I haven’t tried yet is the red, and I’m increasingly tempted! These will set you back a mere £4.99, and you can get them from most Boots, Superdrug or the Barry M website (along with another two new nail paints in ‘Cappucino’ and ‘Nude’ – titled the ‘Classics’!) .

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Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Lush Animal-Testing Campaign – My Thoughts

This is a very controversial topic. And maybe I’m biased because the prevention of cosmetic animal testing is something which is very close to my heart. And it’s one of the few things that I really cannot justify, no matter which way I think about it. I don’t want to tell people what opinions to have and as such this post is merely my thoughts on the campaign and the matter in hand. I must also apologise in advance that I’m not very good at articulating what I’m trying to say so if it gets waffley, I’m very sorry.

First and foremost, here is a little video explaining what happened:

Lush Fighting Animal Testing

In essence, a young lady volunteered to act out the role of an animal in an animal testing laboratory in the front window of Lush in Regent Street, London.

And here is my personal stance. So you know right off the bat, I am backing this campaign to the hilt. My main argument against cosmetic animal testing is that the animals subjected to the testing live a cold, unhappy, unloved and trapped life. There is absolutely no way in my mind that someone could justify cosmetic animal testing to me. It’s just not necessary – we do not need cosmetics to stay alive. Not to mention the fact that many tests return inaccurate or inconclusive results, and the simple fact that cats, dogs, rabbits, monkeys and other animals are a DIFFERENT SPECIES to humans. Oh and the fact that it is now physically possible to create ‘skin’ to be tested on. Oh and the fact that companies hide away information on ingredients from other companies which leads other companies to repeat tests over and over and over, all unnecessarily. Oh and the fact that companies like Urban Decay, Marks and Spencer, Beauty Without Cruelty, Superdrug, Burts Bees (to mention a few) consistently produce products of fantastic quality while being totally cruelty-free.

Even if you aren’t an animal-person, I really can’t understand why anyone could condone the harm of animals for cosmetic purposes. As somebody correctly pointed out  (sorry I can’t remember who or where – I’ve read so much on this the last couple of days!) – if this was a case of animal abuse, where an owner had harmed their animal in any way shape or form, people would swoop upon the owner with hatred and displeasure. So why does the same not apply for these poor animals who are abused day in, day out in laboratories with none of their natural habitat or needs?

Okay so, enough of my stance on cosmetic animal testing – I could go on forever.

This campaign has caused debate among people for several reasons – here are some of the arguments:

  • We should have a right to control the things we view (i.e. the campaign was too shocking for some).
  • Our children should not have to see this type of campaign as they may find it disturbing.
  • The campaign was just a publicity stunt for Lush.
  • The campaign utilised the appeal of ‘torture porn’.
  • The campaign is degrading to women.
  • The campaign is insensitive to rape/abuse victims.
  • The campaign is irrelevant because cosmetic animal testing is banned in the EU.

Now my opinion on the arguments against the campaign. I want to first say how sad it makes me that people can’t accept the campaign for what it is – a positive campaign to help out voiceless animals who are being harmed. What is it about we Brits that makes us want to criticise and pick holes in pretty much everything? I agree it’s a good thing and that difference of opinion is such a good thing, but I really think it’s a shame that so many people have taken something so positive and turned it into something hideous and ugly. I also want to say that this is just how I feel, part of me wishes I could influence people as I feel so strongly about this issue but it’s definitely not my intention to do so.

1. We should have a right to control the things we view (i.e. the campaign was too shocking for some).

Okay – humour me. Search for animal testing videos on YouTube, watch them and then tell me that this mock-up, fake representation of cosmetic animal testing was too shocking for the streets of Britain. And then tell me that you’ve never watched a horror or a gory film. How does this compare? Where the lady in question was not actually physically harmed? And as for controlling the things we view – for those of us who don’t walk past Lush in Regent Street every day, it’s quite easy to have missed this campaign altogether. In fact, I think if I wasn’t part of the blogging world, it probably would have passed me right by. So if you click on an article, see it in a newspaper, see it in a blogpost, and don’t like it? You chose to read it. And for those of us who do walk past Lush in Regent Street every day, it’s quite easy to keep walking, isn’t it?

2. Our children should not have to see this type of campaign as they may find it disturbing.

Okay, this one I partly agree with, but again, how many children are likely to be walking past Lush in Regent Street in the middle of the day on a Tuesday? And to those who are, I do agree it could be disturbing to a young child who may not yet have learned the transferring of situations. So yes, it is a sad shame if children did see this, but realistically I think Lush were pretty child-friendly in that it was during school-hours and not on a holiday, nor on a weekend. Give them some credit. Again in terms of seeing things on the internet – maybe you should consider monitoring your children’s internet activities. I do think that children should be made aware of the cruelty that is cosmetic animal testing, but perhaps not in this way.

3. The campaign was just a publicity stunt for Lush.

Well even if it was – it wouldn’t bother me. Lush is cruelty-free so I will always support them and that’s great if they get extra custom. Although, to those of us who’ve never probed deeper, Lush actually have a little habit of campaigning for the greater good. Maybe, just maybe, we could open up our squinty little critical eyes and see the campaign for what it is – it raises awareness, if nothing else.

4. The campaign utilised the appeal of ‘torture porn’.

Oh wow, whoever came up with this one is really looking to pick holes. I would be very interested to know why precisely Lush might use the appeal of torture porn? I can see that some might misconceive the forcep-type restraints placed in the lady’s mouth… but for gawds sake, it was a representation of what happens to animals every day. If you are one of the people arguing this point maybe you should delve into the world of animal testing – this photo of a rat having it’s mouth forced open for testing could be your starting point (not for the squeamish!) and realise that actually, sadly, it was a more accurate representation than you might think.

5.  The campaign is degrading to women.

Okay – people are saying that using a woman to represent the animal equates women to animals. And that the fact that the ‘administrator’ was a man adds to this theory.  Personally, I’m not going to entertain this idea. I don’t mind people having their opinions about this kind of thing but some seem so fixated on women being seen as the weaker sex – stop whinging about it and prove your worth as a woman. I have never been the victim of sexism so perhaps that makes me biased – I’d prefer to get on with my life and do the things men can do two times better 😉 But seriously, I certainly don’t think that was the object of the campaign, not least because Lush have campaigned over human rights in the past and I really really don’t think that they aimed to degrade women. Besides which, this lady volunteered herself… she could well have been a man (how would this have influenced your argument?), and she wore a nude suit presumably to erase gender from the debate.

6. The campaign is insensitive to rape/abuse victims.

Maybe it is. I really don’t know how to tackle this one, I have strong feelings in both directions, so I just have to hope that nobody was upset by this. My argument in favour of the campaign is that sexuality just didn’t enter into it, I think a lot of the argument is pinned on the fact that the lady’s mouth was forced open, but the administrator did not at any point sexually abuse or dominate her. Of course I understand why victims may be upset by the display, which is why I have conflicting feelings.

7. The campaign is irrelevant because cosmetic animal testing is banned in the EU.

Two words – WAKE UP. I get frustrated at people who aren’t willing to delve deeper and just accept the surface lies. So animal testing doesn’t happen in the EU (already debateable…) – this doesn’t stop companies from using ingredients that have been tested on animals in other countries. This doesn’t stop companies from commissioning other companies to test on their behalf in other countries. We also seem to have forgotten the very huge US – how many of us buy US branded products in our own UK shops? And remember how MAC have very recently changed their animal testing policy (they now test on animals) so that they can sell products in China, where animal testing is a legal requirement? And what about the waterproof makeup products that are required by the FDA to be tested on animals? I will say no more. I think this one speaks for itself.

To conclude… I feel that so many years have passed with very passive activism going on against animal testing. How far has that got us… how many of us continue to buy products without even a thought of whether animals were affected by the making of it? Give me shock treatment every day of my life, it speaks to me and makes me think twice about the things I do and the consequence they have. To my eyes, visualising the reality on a human being is the best way to target those of us who blind ourselves to the facts. Because it tugs on our heartstrings and we can relate to the pain that a human being feels.

Now think of this: these animals feel only pain, cannot understand why this is happening to them, have never done anything to deserve the life they are leading, all they want is love, affection, excitement and comfort. Aren’t these all things we can relate to? When you snuggle up with your most beloved pet, could you ever even fathom the thought of them being trapped with wires attached to them, food and chemicals forced into them, skin abraded and irritated with chemicals, eyes streaming with yet more chemicals?

I read a wonderful post on the matter, one which I wholeheartedly agree with, on Karrisx’s blog: Lush Animal Testing Campaign.

If you still aren’t convinced, I again strongly recommend that you search YouTube for the many videos on animal testing (I absolutely bloody cried my eyes out).

Please please let me know your thoughts on this. I really do also appreciate that everyone has different views and I will never flame someone for having opposing opinions, as I have seen certain other bloggers do via social media.

x

Barry M Silvery Lilac

I’m slowly getting my way through these new Barry M’s, so gorgeous that I don’t actually want to take them off my nails!! So far I have reviewed Denim, Copper and Teal. Today I have for you Silvery Lilac, which leaves just Black Multi-Glitter to do!

Silvery Lilac is a very gorgeous whimsical kind of polish, much like OPI Not Like The Movies (see comparison at the end of this post!). I’ll let the pictures do the talking:

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

As you can see, this is no ordinary silver duochrome… Silvery Lilac seems to alternate in different lights between a silvery-grey, a pinky-purple shimmer and a green shimmer, whilst also having the effect of a duochrome in that it looks different depending on the angle you look at it. Dare I call it, a mythical multichrome? It seems to me to be a silvery-grey base, packed with green and pinky-purple shimmer as well as some silver micro-glitter, which adds to the sparkle. Silvery Lilac is beautifully shiny, too, the only reason I put topcoat on was because I accidentally added fingerprints to my nails and didn’t think it was all that nice! Silvery Lilac makes me think of unicorns and beautiful pastel colours and My Little Pony. Lol.

Application:

The photos show 3 coats, although quite honestly it was pretty much opaque at 2. The polish is quite thick, but it doesn’t seem to affect it’s drying time, it actually dried fairly quickly. It does make applying thin coats a little tricky though. It dries to a high shine, so no topcoat necessary.

I did initially think that this one would be very similar to OPI Not Like The Movies. It is similar… but they definitely aren’t dupes. Not Like The Movies errs on the side of frost (it’s more brushstrokey), is a lot more sheer, a lot paler and has much more pink shimmer than Silvery Lilac, whose shimmer is distinctly more purple and base is a lot deeper. Not to mention Silvery Lilac is much more opaque (can you tell which one I prefer?)

Barry M Silvery Lilac Grey Purple Pink Green Silver Blue Multichrome Duochrome OPI Not like the movies comparison unicorn nail polish butter london knackered microglitter UK spring summer 2012 lilac lavender

Index and ring fingers: OPI Not Like The Movies, 3 coats. Middle and pinkie fingers: Barry M Silvery Lilac, 3 coats.

(Sorry this is the best photo I could get, the sun had gone down by this point, I will do a better one in the near future!)

What do you think? Is Silvery Lilac unique enough for you? Which do you prefer – Not Like The Movies or Silvery Lilac? For me, Barry M wins hands down on price, colour payoff, colour itself and finish. Sooo pretty!

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Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Barry M Teal

Hellooo lovelies!

Teal is yet another of the lovely new releases from Barry M… I must apologise in advance, firstly for my yucky short nails (somehow I got over-enthusiastic with the nail file – oops!) and secondly because this polish was very very difficult to capture on this yucky grey rainy day! As such my photos are of ashamedly poor quality, yuck yuck yuck. I plan to redo them in the near future but I thought I would try and show you anyway!

Barry M Teal Nail Paint polish aqua blue Sea green shimmer duochrome liquid metal peacock bright toenail gems jewels spring summer release 2012

Barry M Teal Nail Paint polish aqua blue Sea green shimmer duochrome liquid metal peacock bright toenail gems jewels spring summer release 2012

Barry M Teal Nail Paint polish aqua blue Sea green shimmer duochrome liquid metal peacock bright toenail gems jewels spring summer release 2012

Barry M Teal Nail Paint polish aqua blue Sea green shimmer duochrome liquid metal peacock bright toenail gems jewels spring summer release 2012

Barry M Teal Nail Paint polish aqua blue Sea green shimmer duochrome liquid metal peacock bright toenail gems jewels spring summer release 2012

Barry M Teal Nail Paint polish aqua blue Sea green shimmer duochrome liquid metal peacock bright toenail gems jewels spring summer release 2012

The last two pictures I put on small because they are just ridiculously blurry, but they do give an accurate representation of the colour and finish of Teal (sorry!). Teal is a gorgeous bright blue shimmer polish. I think the base colour and shimmer colour must be very very close as this polish is such a solid turquoisey-blue. Personally I’d say it is more turquoise or cyan than teal but I’m just being fussy!

Just a heads up: don’t be fooled by the hint of purple duochrome you may see in the bottle, I can assure you it totally disappears on the nail.

Application:

The pictures all show 3 coats, although most of my nails were opaque at 2 coats. The polish applied well – it errs ever so slightly on the edge of being brushstrokey but just make sure you paint in one direction – brushstrokes don’t really show! Teal dried quickly and lasted 2 heavy duty days without topcoat with no tipwear whatsoever. The small bubbles you might see in my photos is because I was rather heavy-handed in applying the polish late at night, and ended up with quite thick coats which caused the bubbling, it is honestly user-error rather than a fault with the polish as I’ve worn this twice now and didn’t have a problem when I applied it more carefully.

What do you think of this stunning blue? It’s so vibrant, I think it would look absolutely amazing on both fingers and toes! If you didn’t like the green in Boots 17 Peacock but did love the blue, Barry M Teal is for you! It’s just such a pure metallic, I feel like the highstreet market has been missing this shade of shimmer for a while in favour of the green/blue duochrome. Very happy with this one. Oh and in certain lights, it looks like you’ve dipped your nails in liquid turquoise, amazing!!

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Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Revlon Sparkling

Is it just me or have all the cosmetics companies gone into overdrive where nail polish is concerned? I was way overexcited about Revlon’s 80th Anniversary collection, then suddenly there are so many new polishes about my bank account has run dry and I’ve only dipped a toe into the wonderful colourful world of new polish!

Today we have Sparkling, a VERY beautiful pink glitter topcoat. This one is another Deborah Lippmann dupe from Revlon, much like Revlon Facets of Fuchsia was a dupe of ‘Bad Romance’, Sparkling is a dupe (or very similar to) Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening (picture from Scrangie).

Is it a true dupe? Judikins from Judixo has posted a wonderful comparison of Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening and Revlon Sparkling – I’ll leave you to decide for yourselves whether it is close enough to be called a dupe, I think it is so my lemming is satisfied!

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layered

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layered

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layered

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layered

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layered

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layered

Revlon Sparkling Anniversary Collection Spring Summer 2012 Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening Essie A Cut Above Dupe Pink Glitter topcoat hexagons holographic layeredSparkling is a gorgeous soft salmony-pink glitter topcoat, consisting of large pink hexagonal glitter pieces and many smaller pink hexagonal glitter pieces. The polish also flashed holographic under false lighting but I can’t place where that comes from, lol! It’s very very pretty though. It gives a very flattering pink-tone to your nails, and makes your fingers look more tanned than they are! (What more could you want, lol).

Application:

Like most glitters, Sparkling dried quickly. This allowed me to apply 4 coats (as seen in the final 4 photos) to get it to a semi-opaque finish. It’s one of those polishes that probably wouldn’t make it to a totally opaque finish without about 10 coats so I thought I’d leave it at 4 – my nail line and much of my nail was visible through the polish, though it’s one of those glitters that’s so reflective the nail beneath is hidden. It’s very much destined to be a topcoat. Speaking of which, the finish of Sparkling was very smooth, I can only presume because of the ratio of clear polish to glitter, but it’s definitely of a lovely quality. I don’t think you will need a topcoat for this one.

EDIT: The lovely Melana pointed out I didn’t mention removal – at 1-2 coats Sparkling was quite easy to remove, only a little scrubbing required, while at 3-4 coats it was about average glitter removal (i.e. lots of soaking & scrubbing needed!)

What do you think of this? I’m so glad to have bought it, it’s so very dainty and pretty and just adds that bit of pizzazz to your average manicure. I think it will look gorgeous over black.

Sorry for not posting more Barry M nail paints – I had one of those moments where you get a bit enthusiastic with the nail file and my nails are no more – I just can’t think that my stubby little nubbins will do the new polishes justice so I’ve resorted to my backlog of photos… hope you don’t mind!!

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Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.