Pastels and Neon Confetti

Today I have a lovely fresh mani to celebrate spring! I've incorporated some gorgeous pastel shades with funky neon accents to give this look a real 'pop'. Pastel shades aren't something that I wear often, although I don't know why - they are truly lovely for this time of year; the sun is starting to shine, the weather is getting warmer, the nights are getting lighter and the baby birds are starting to sing! I love spring, and I'm definitely going to be featuring some pretty nail art in the coming weeks to show my appreciation!

In this mani I used a variety of pastel shades (including a couple of untrieds). Polishes used are: Barry M 'Kiss Me Quick', 'Prickly Pear', 'Sky Blue' and 'Matt White', Nails Inc 'Marylbone Road', and Claire's 'Surfer Chick'.

L-R: Barry M Prickly Pear / Barry M Matt White / Nails Inc Marylebone Road /
 Barry M Kiss Me Quick / Barry M Sky Blue

 Obviously we all know that Barry M products are lovely, and I find that Prickly Pear, Matt White and Sky Blue all have a great consistency - they are opaque in two coats and leave a smooth finish. I'm still getting used to their 'Speedy' collection, and if I'm honest I don't think that Kiss Me Quick is that quick at drying. Maybe I'm just a bit too impatient as I totally rely on the likes of Sally Hansen Insta-Dry, Seche Vite and HK Girl to keep me sane! I think this collection might be giving a slight false sense of security to ladies who think they can go to the loo a little too soon after they polish their nails, but maybe that's just me! What I do love is the colour and the brush of this polish. Barry M always succeed in their pink polishes, and this soft pastel shade is no exception. Another amazing feature of the Barry M Speedy range is the new flat brush which makes application a breeze! 

L-R: Prickly Pear / Matt White / Marylebone Road /
 Kiss Me Quick / Sky Blue

Two coats of each shade. No topcoat.

Barry M's Speedy collection is available in Boots and Superdrug (£3.99)

I loved the cute polishes on their own, but I felt compelled to add one of my new hex glitter topcoats into the mix. Introducing: Claire's 'Surfer Chick'! I spotted this in Claire's Accessories a while ago and thought that it looked interesting, so the other day I decided to go ahead and buy it. No matter how long I put off buying polish, I always seem to convince myself that I need more!

LOOK AT THE PRETTY!

This polish contains different sized neon matte glitter hex shapes in blue, pink, yellow and purple. As with most large glitter toppers, the application isn't the best and does require some strategic placement to get the desired effect. I found that brushing the polish onto a paper towel and then picking up the glitter (minus most of the clear base) was a good way to evenly distribute the hexes.

L-R: Claire's Surfer Chick / Barry M Plumpy Topcoat

 Another addition to my topcoat family is the new Barry M 'Plumpy' topcoat, which has been released to compliment their 'Gelly Hi-Shine'. This topcoat promises to give nails the 'plumped up gel finish they deserve', however it does need more than one coat to achieve this look. As it is not fast-drying, Plumpy is a topcoat for patient people (of which I am not!) I do LOVE the name, though!

Surfing into Spring!

As you can see, the glitters kind of clumped in the middle of my nail, however this is just a polish that takes a little practice to get used to. I definitely think that this will be a staple topper of mine for the spring/summer months as it is just so girly and bright! I may have to browse the Claire's polish stands a little more, as I'm impressed with my first purchase!

What do you think? Have you got any polishes from Claire's? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts =)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x