Gradient and dots with Barry M new autumn texture polishes (Matte Polish in Vanilla and Caramel and Royal Textured Glitter in Lady)

Barry M Matte Vanilla and Caramel gradient with dots in Lady 

I love matte polishes, so of course I was ready and waiting for the new autumn matte colours from Barry M. I have most of the Manglaze colours and the OPI Suedes, including a red, a couple of browns and a black, so the obvious choices for me were the two lighter, nude shades - Caramel (warm nude) and Vanilla (taupe / grurple). I'm kind of coming round to 'liquid sand' style textured glitters (I loved the ones from GOSH I wore in this post here) so I bought two shades from the new Royal Textured Glitters at the same time!

This whole mani is inspired by some colour mixing a kid I was working with did the other day - creamy light beiges looking all frothy and milky like a mocha latte :) To be honest I couldn't decide which of the two mattes to try first; I love nude shades of all tones, but as I held the bottles together they called out *gradient* so here it is. Subtle, because the colours are quite close, but I really like the effect. I used one coat of Vanilla, then sponged on the gradient of the two shades. I painted the polishes directly onto a fine, damp makeup sponge. The polishes seem quite thick, but application was easy. Great for gradients too, the colours blend perfectly. I'd say these are as good for gradients as the Barry M Gelly polishes, which are just awesome for gradients (and nail art in general).

I wore the gradient alone for a day, but I never got a chance to take photographs. Then I added large dots with Lady. I was trying to create a pastel version of this vampy matte gradient with dots I did a few weeks ago. I've never tried dots with glitter before, but this worked out just fine. Lady is a lovely polish, there's lots of iridescent complexity in here. I need to wear Lady on her own soon.

I'd describe the finish on the Barry M Matte polishes as smooth and waxy, compared to my other matte polishes. Manglazes all have a slight shimmer and the finish has a 'drier' sort of feel to it than these and OPI Suedes are sort of velvety-metallic - so this is a new and unique finish (in my collection anyway). My finish on the matte base might be a bit more textured because of the sponge application too.

A couple of macros:

Barry M Matte Vanilla and Caramel gradient with dots in Lady 

I'm not usually one for slopping topcoat over polishes that are intended to be matte or textured, but for some reason I wanted to see how Lady looked shiny - so I did! Actually I love the shiny version too!

Barry M Matte Vanilla and Caramel gradient with dots in Lady 

These are super polishes and just from this mani I'd say they are quite versatile. However, take a look at Debbie Crumpet's Q&A post about these to see what else you can do with them............ I want to try stamping next, and I want to buy more matte colours (the red and rusty brown - I already got my other pick of the Royal Glitters, Countess, although I've not worn her yet). Hmm!

I purchased my Barry M Matte in Vanilla and Caramel and Royal Glitter Texture in Lady from my local Boots.