Well these are just beautiful… Barry M Speedy Quick Dry is a whole new formula launching with an oh so pretty collection of nine pastel polishes. The colours are gorgeous, but how do they apply; do they really ‘Quick Dry’ and what’s the lasting power like?
In summary, most of the colours apply really nicely, good to go in two coats, though some look better in three. They do dry quickly on me and the lasting power is pretty standard. Let’s have a closer look…
SWATCHES
Pastels are notoriously thin and streaky - especially on first coat - so I was pleasantly surprised to find how easily the majority of these applied. I found that the lilac, grey and blue (1,8,9) all required 3 coats; the formula of these 3 in particular felt a touch more powdery than the usual Barry M polishes, possibly also due to the Quick Dry technology? I ended up applying 3 coats to all of these swatches to make sure they were completely opaque, but on the most part, could get away with 2 on my nails.
1. LAP OF HONOUR - dusky lilac, less sugary than some, which makes this more wearable in my book.
2. KISS ME QUICK - baby pink, not too white, not too sickly sweet - just right.
3. IN A HEART BEAT - pastel coral / salmon pink. A great dupe for Butter London Trout Pout, seen in the ‘Nails’ menu just below my blog header.
4. FULL THROTTLE - pastel orange - can so imagine this on tanned toes!
5. STOP THE CLOCK - very pale lemon, will look gorgeous with navy or black now, no need to wait for Spring!
6. POLE POSITION - the perfect mint green with no turquoise undertone, something I’ve previously struggled to find.
7. ROAD RAGE - aqua - I can’t wait to wear this in Summer!
8. PIT STOP - pastel grey with mauve undertones; a really classy nude shade which will make a lovely base for nail art.
9. EAT MY DUST - baby blue - very pretty though a bit chalky in formula.
IN A HEART BEAT | PLUMPY TOP COAT
PLUMPY TOP COAT: In a Heart Beat has the smoothest formula of all and I’ve loved wearing this one… it’s definitely put me in the mood for Spring after months of more vampy shades. NB it looks a bit more peachy on my nails and is actually a bit deeper, true to the colour on the swatch wheel. I think it looks really glossy on its own, but have shown it left before top coat and on the right with a layer of Barry M’s new Plumpy Top Coat, which gives a mega shine gel-effect finish. I applied this quite thinly as I don’t like my polish to look too thick and ‘plumpy’ but found it went on smoothly, dried pretty quickly and evened out any slight flaws in a similar manner to Seche Vite. NB Plumpy Top Coat is designed to be worn with the Gelly Hi Shine polishes… I just couldn’t wait to test it out!
DRY TIME: Quick Dry is touch dry in a couple of minutes and ten mins after finishing this mani I jumped in the car, went out for coffee, did a supermarket shop, drove home and cooked a meal. Of course I made some effort to be careful initially, but was impressed that my nails were still perfect after all of this.
WEAR TIME: I did get a couple of tiny chips after 2 days, but to be honest that’s pretty standard for me. Obviously this is very subjective and will vary a lot depending if you’re a lady that lunches or a mountain climber… I’m usually either tapping at my laptop, doing housework or messing around with the kids, so my manis are subjected to a reasonable amount of wear and tear.
THE BRUSH
I really like the new flat ‘control-flow’ brush with curved edges that hug the nail and coat my smaller nails in one sweep, meaning it’s not just the dry time that’s faster. This will also help anyone who finds nail painting tricky as it gives a very clean finish… I didn’t need to do any tidying up after the nail swatches above.
MY FAVOURITES
This line up includes the shades I can imagine reaching for the most from this collection. Which do you like the look of?
Barry M Speedy Quick Dry, £3.99 and Plumpy Top Coat, £2.99 are available now (on 2 for £7) at superdrug.com and will launch into boots.com on 18 Feb.
