Barry M Web Effect - URGH! Big Fat Fail.

Do you want to see something really awful?  Really REALLY awful? And also disappointing and sad? Well here goes!

I normally love Barry M. They have so many excellent polishes, and are always bringing out new things. Their nail varnish is good quality and cheap, easily available. I've already posted about how much I like the Croc Effects (in black) and then the newer dark red Croc. Both great. So I was very excited when I saw this in Superdrug yesterday:


WEB EFFECT! In ORANGE! As you may have noticed, I do love an orange nail varnish. And a web! Just in time for Hallowe'en!  The bottle cap shows a lovely bright orange web over a black base. These are free in Superdrug if you buy any two Barry M product, or £3.99 on their own.

First off, the sticker is the same as the sticker on the Croc Effects bottles - they haven't bothered to change the wording, and still refer to it as 'croc effect' even though the cap and the sticker and the display all called it 'web effect'. Never mind, I went ahead anyway, as it's only one word. Like Croc, you apply this in a thin layer over semi-dry polish. 

As I'd just bought some Barry M Gelly polishes, and was playing around swatching them (they're fab! More about them tomorrow!) I put the Web Effects over them first. Oh. My. GOD! What an ugly result!

(Sorry about the lack of clean up! But I was too depressed to even consider bothering about that!)

I mean - isn't that vile?

The orange is very thin and sheer, and does not show up over a dark colour, clearly. Or over one too similar to orange. And I see no web pattern, just something like the croc.   Anyway, I then moved on to try some lighter colours, and a black - because, you know, the bottle cap shows orange over black, so I want to get that effect. Here I've used Essie Sand Tropez, Models Own Pro French White, Barry M Gold Foil, China Glaze Harvest Moon, and Rimmel Black Out.

I added my Web Effect, and waited. This is the splendid result:

And

Ok, so with the white base, this is quite tolerable. In fact it's a bit giraffey, which could be quite fun. But WEB it is not. And over black?

Yeah... I'm thinking this isn't a look many people will want, to be honest.

I will do a lovely positive post tomorrow about some things Barry M has done RIGHT. But today, I am a big GRUMP about this hideous monstrosity. And about the fact that I bought TWO bottles of this because it looked so cool and there were only two left, and I thought my American friend would like one. Grrrrr!

Barry M Burgundy Croc

For some reason, my previous posts about the Barry M Croc Effects polish are some of my highest viewed posts! (You can see them here and here.) I'm not sure why. Anyway, I really like the black Croc Effects, but I have always wished that it was available in other colours, because the black does give a dark look overall, even with a bright colour underneath, and I really do prefer a brighter nail varnish.

There now is another colour, hurrah!  This is Barry M Burgundy Croc Effects. It's exactly the same as the black one, but in a dark reddish colour. It's actually a very similar colour to Barry M Raspberry, although Raspberry leans slightly more pink, where Burgundy Croc leans slightly more red. The Croc Effects is a thin, almost watery consistency, and needs to be applied in a light coat over semi-damp polish.  

This is Burgundy Croc Effects over Sephora's I'm a Rich Girl.  Looking back at my previous Croc posts, this has cracked very differently to my other black croc, but I still like it a lot. I think it's something I will wear more than the black croc, because I do prefer less dark nails.


Burgundy Croc Effects is available from Superdrug and Boots for £3.99, and from Barry M online.

Barry M Croc Effects - Skittles

I liked the croc topcoat so much yesterday that I wanted to use it again. I wasn't sure what colour to use under it, so I played around with a few, and ended up with croc skittles!



Thumb: Barry M Spring Green. Index: Barry M Bright Pink. Middle: Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream. Ring: Rimmel Pro Heart on Fire. Little finger: Barry M Yellow.  

I liked this much more yesterday with just the one colour. I tried to pick all bright colours for these nails, but I was surprised at how badly the red showed up under the croc topcoat. It's a lovely bright red, but you can hardly see it! I thought the green would look better too. I really like how the blue looks, and I would wear that combination again. The pink and the yellow don't look particularly special to me, although I don't hate them. 

Barry M Croc Effects

I really don't like crackle and shatter nail varnishes - somehow for me they look too untidy and too uneven. I'm sorry! I know they're massive these days, but I just don't like them.

Yesterday though, I bought a Barry M Croc Effects one just to try, and I love it! I think it's because it's that bit neater and more even than the crackles.


Here it is over Barry M Tangerine, a nice shimmery bright orange.

With Croc Effects you have to apply it when your base colour is still a little damp. If you apply it over very dry polish, nothing much happens. The croc effect takes quite a while to appear - the bottle says 3 minutes, but depending on how thickly it's applied, it can take up to 5 minutes. 

You can see that my little finger looks a bit different to the others - I applied the croc effects on that one a bit more thickly, and it has cracked differently to the other nails. It also took a lot longer for the effect to develop.  For the other nails, I managed to apply the polish a lot more thinly, and I think it made a better effect in the end. Not only is the croc effect more pronounced, but I prefer the colour as it's not so intensely black, and seems a little more browny. 

The application was nice and easy once I'd got the hang of it - the first few nails I did, I put it on far too thickly, or over too-dry polish, and nothing happened, but after that it was pretty straightforward.  This was £3.99 from Superdrug, but I've also seen it in Boots.
 

I am planning to try it out over a gold foil next, and also over something like a nice bright pink. I still don't like crackles, but I am definitely a convert to croc effects!