Hello lovelies,

Another new release from Barry M that I'll show you is Molten Metal! This mini collection consists of four metallic foil finish polishes in precious metal colours.

"Molten Metals give your nails show-stopping style and an instant luxe look. Each of the four chrome effect shades have a mirror-shine foil finish that will glisten for days. Metallic nails are big news for 2016, try one coat for a sheer finish or build up for a stronger look."

This collection features the flat tapered and rounded brush I like and I hope they will keep using it in their future collections.

Gold Digger - pale gold metallic foil. This gold is rather cool-toned so it might not flatter everyone but look at that sparkly finish! First coat was a bit sheer but second coat made is fully opaque. I'm not wearing top coat in the photos either.

Bronze Bae - bronze metallic foil shade. Bronze Bae is quite unusual shade with gold undertones. I'm wearing two coats and no topcoat, the polish dried fast and smooth.

Copper Mine - copper metallic foil shade. Another unusual shade! Copper Mine is like darker and warmer version of Bronze Bae. I've applied 2 coats and no topcoat.

Silver Lining - dark silver metallic foil shade. I'm a bit undecided about his shade. It's pretty and sparkly but it's not that unique. I think I might have 2 or 3 very similar shades in my collection. I'm wearing two thicker coats because it has slightly thinner formula so you might want to apply three thin coats.

All of the polishes had pretty much the same formula - they applied very easily and dried fast. The formula was a bit thinner but I managed to get away with two coats for each colour. My favourite shade is Copper Mine because it's not a colour I would come across that often and I think it will flatter most people. Also, all of the polishes are super sparkly and have mix of different-coloured particles in them. Overall, this collection is a very nice alternative to your regular bright and neon colours for Summer :) Which shade is your favourite?

Barry M Molten Metal collection is available at barrym.com, in Superdrug and Boots stores and their websites. And have you seen my swatches of another Summer release - Lolly Gloss collection?

Have a lovely day! Lucie x

*PR samples

Hello lovelies,

It's Friday and that means ABC Challenge! This is the third week of the challenge so the letter is C! I have chosen the word CARVING to represent this week because the design is actually done by carving. I'll explain later, let's have a look at the nails...

This design is not my original, it is a recreation of Sam Biddle's rose tutorial. Sam has shown this carved out rose design on one of her live Facebook sessions and I loved it so much I had to try it too! It's done using gel polish and Be Creative (Sam Biddle's brand) pigments.

GET THE LOOK

Step 1 - Colour base - do your regular gel polish application - base coat and 1-2 coats of white gel polish. Cure but don't wipe the sticky layer. I've used Color Club Foundation + Primer and French Tip gel polish.

Step 2 - Pigment gradient - using small fluffy brush and Be Creative pigment in Pretty in Pink, dab the pigment into the centre of the nails in a circle pattern. Next, use a Heather Heaven pigment and apply it around the first circle and overlap the pigments a bit so they blend in. Then use the darkest purple pigment (Flip Flops) and cover the rest of the nail. Use a large soft brush (old makeup brushes like blending, blush brush etc. work great for this) to sweep all loose pigment off the nail.

Step 3 - Carving the design - at this point the nails have a cool circular gradient and it's time to add the rose design. Sam recommends using her nail art pen to carve out the rose but I substituted this for pointy dotting tool and it worked too (this dotting tool is a tear shaped, not completely round). I've started in the middle of the nail and carved out the rose petals just as I would draw them on paper. There's no need to use a lot of pressure, the carving is very easy.

Step 4 - Seal the design - use a gel polish topcoat to seal the whole design. Try floating the brush just like with regular topcoat to prevent any of the pigment to transfer on the topcoat brush. I've used Color Club Seal + Shine Top Coat. Wipe off the sticky residue.

Use a discount code STASH15 for 15% off for any Color Club products at Color Club UK (not affiliate)

Pretty easy and beautiful, right? I've applied Color Club Matte-ified Gel Top Coat in the end and the result was quite nice as well but I think I prefer the glossy version that reveals the subtle shimmer of pigments. This would work with other gel polish colours as well but I've used white because it makes the pigments bright and the white carving creates a nice contrast. I like this technique very much and big thanks to Sam Biddle for showing it to us in her live session. You can see the recording and Sam's tutorial HERE.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and don't forget to check out Sam Biddle's work, she's a great nail artist and educator :) Have a lovely day! Lucie x

Check out what other challenge participants created: