Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily with bold leopard spots (Barry M Nail Art Pens)

Barry M Nail Art Pens

I seldom do nail art, but when the Barry M Nail Art pens were released a few weeks ago, I couldn't resist buying a couple to try! They've been sitting around on my desk ever since, as I've not really thought up an interesting way to use them.

I'm a great fan of animal prints, so eventually I decided to try out the pens on a big-scale leopard design, which I copied from a leopard print cardigan of mine. I wasn't too sure this would work out, so I did my experimentation over an existing mani that was several days old - one of my all time favourites, Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily.

Here are a couple of pictures of RBL Aqua Lily on its own...... Aqua Lily is a vibrant teal. I'd describe it as a blue leaning teal; it reminds me of the colour of the sea on some of my favourite beaches in the Hebridean Isles. It has a subtle shimmer of pink running through it too.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily

On to the nail art pens, these are surprisingly easy to use. They have a very fine tip, and once you've got the polish (or whatever it is) flowing after the intial priming (you need to pump them up and down on a piece of paper until the pigment flows before using for the first time) the colour flows very smoothly and it's pretty much like drawing on your nails with a felt pen. MUCH easier than using a brush, as you don't have to worry about reloading the brush and the polish drying out as you work. I tried out a few simple line and dot designs first, and the pens are great for fine work. Also, if you mess up, it's easy to remove the design as you work; either scrape the bits where you've gone wrong off with another nail, or scrub the whole lot off with a nailbrush and hot soapy water!

For this design I drew on the white centres of the spots first, on all my nails, then went back and added the black.

I was really pleased with the way this turned out. Although it was only intended as an experiment, I ended up wearing it for several days, and I only removed it when I had a meeting at work that I thought it was rather unsuitable for.

Barry M Nail Art Pens

I bought the Barry M Nail Art Pens from my local Superdrug. Alternatively, they are available online at Barry M's website. I bought Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily from Rescue Beauty Lounge; this is a very popular colour and sold out very quickly, although again RBL often reinstate retired colours so if this is a colour you like it's worth keeping an eye out for an RBL 'Bring it Back' release. Aqua Lily has already been re-released like this in 2012.

Untried Polish Challenge Day 2 *Was a Gift* - Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant

Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant

For the second day of my  Just Add Polish Untried Challenge, I chose Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant. I needed a sober colour for a meeting today, so this seemed perfect; it was a gift from a polish friend I did a joint RBL order with a few months ago...... I was deliberating whether or not to buy Insouciant so this sweetie sent me a decant of hers so I could sample it <3.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant is a soft lavendery-grey (should we call this gravender...  or gruple?) with a very subtle blue shimmer. To be honest, the shimmer is so subtle most of the time you can't see it, but just occasionally it peeks out. The polish is very pretty even without the shimmer, and totally work-appropriate. *Insouciant* means relaxed and worry free, that's just what I needed today :)

Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant

The formula is great, even with the little brush in the mini bottle; although I used three coats here two would probably have been enough. I finished this off with Seche Vite quick drying top coat. My Insouciant was a gift, but you can buy it direct from Rescue Beauty Lounge

Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant

Other bloggers taking part in this untried challenge are:

Jonochi at Just Add Polish
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish 

Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Erica at Coat of Mani Colors
Isabel at Little Fairy

Raux at Raux Polish 

Untried Polish Challenge - Day 1 *Two Colours* W7 Metallic Venus

W7 Metallic Venus

I came across this great challenge by Just Add Polish the other day, so I thought I'd jump in and take part! 

All the details for the challenge are at Just Add Polish here, but basically the challenge is to wear at least 19 untried polishes, one or more from each of the categories above. I don't have a massive untrieds issue, but I do have a box of unworn polishes under my desk, so this looked like a great chance to reduce the number in that box (there are more than 19, in case you're wondering).

W7 Metallic Venus

I'm starting with lovely duochrome Metallic Venus from W7 for my *two colours* untried. I've had this polish for ages, I do remember buying it though - I got it from the clearance section in TK Maxx for £1.99 (but I do have cheaper polishes waiting in my untried box). W7 is a budget end UK brand that always surprises me with its quality. Metallic Venus is a deep plummy purple base with a dark blue duochrome shift. Application was super-easy; this is three thin coats with Seche Vite quick drying topcoat. I'm sure just two coats would be fine on shorter nails.

The colour shifts on this are superb, the pictures above are taken near a window in strong sunlight. In terms of dupey-ness, I don't think I've got a duochrome quite like this in my stash; the nearest ones I can think of (neither of which I own any more) are Orly Galaxy Girl and Models Own Beetle Juice Purple Blue, although both these have a granular sort of finish whilst W7 Metallic Venus is smooth and shimmery, without any streakiness. Here are a few pictures in softer light, which show the pretty colour of the base with less duochrome shift:

W7 Metallic Venus

Overall, I'm really pleased with this and I don't know why I didn't wear it sooner. I expect I'll be saying that a lot over the next few weeks as I work through this challenge! As I mentioned above, I bought Metallic Venus from TK Maxx, but W7 polishes often turn up in discount beauty shops, pound shops and market stalls and at online sellers.

W7 Metallic Venus

Other bloggers taking part in this untried challenge are:

Jonochi at Just Add Polish
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish 

Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Erica at Coat of Mani Colors
Isabel at Little Fairy

Raux at Raux Polish