10 August 2012

My first themed mani: GB colours!

Ahoy there, and welcome to my first ever themed manicure!

Normally I just apply one polish - I've not even got round to a skittles/ombre/accent nail mani yet. When Barry M Jewel Britannia arrived in the post I knew I could only do it justice by using it in a Team GB colours mani, so here we are!

For the basic ingredients, we had:
Red: No 7 Salsa (two coats)
Blue: Barry M Navy (two coats)
White: Nicole by OPI Shop Around The Clock (3 coats)


Here are my base colours before clean-up. I wasn't too neat with coverage because it wouldn't matter once the glitter went on.


I got Salsa in a set of four, probably 4-5 years ago? At that time, I was only interested in 'funky colours' for nail polish and I have never used it. Felt really good to finally use it and even better to discover that I love the colour!


Shop Around The Clock is a really awful formula to use. The colour is watery and it drags instantly if you go over the same spot twice, so it took a lot of bodging. This is what happens when I buy a white online because I need one, rather than researching. I've got a few in mind to fill that gap but any suggestions, let me know in the comments!


Navy has great coverage in two coats but my bottle has quite a goopy formula and I normally have to put thicker coats on so I have enough to play with, which means extra drying time. I put up with it because it's a lovely, rich colour and it's cheap - being on a budget means I have to live with these things sometimes.

Onto the main ingredient:


Jewel Britannia really exceeded my expectations! I applied one generous coat for all of these photos.


It's packed full of sparkliness. Small silver, red and blue hex glitters are complemented by smaller red and blue glitter, but there's something extra there too...


...you might have spotted little rainbow sparkles on my nails...


...yes, this polish is packed with tiny silver holographic glitter! I am in love! This blurry shot shows the glitter best.


One coat of Seche Vite was enough to smooth the nail - if you like a perfectly even surface I'd go for two but it's not a topcoat gobbler. Here it is swatched alone:


One coat on the left, three coats on the right. My camera did not want to cooperate today.

You should also check out Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish's manicure featuring Jewel Britannia, which she did for a guest post at Caitlin's Creative Corner.

I really love this glitter polish :) I keep moving my nails around to see the holo sparkles! What do you think of Jewel Britannia? Own already, planning to buy, or not really your cup of tea?

9 comments:

  1. this is great! i love the sparkles!!!

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    1. Thanks Niki! I'm so reluctant to take this mani off, heh.

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  2. OOOhhhh mine arrived just yesterday, this is an awesome idea. I may have to copy you!

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  3. That looks great! I've got Nails Inc Jubilee, and couldn't justify getting the Barry M too, but actually it looks really different, so maybe I do need it! I like the holo!

    That number 7 red is also gorgeous. I don't know why, but for some reason I never look at No 7. Maybe I need to!

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    1. Hi Elanor! The holo was the clincher for me, I adored it.

      I was actually looking at No 7 in Boots yesterday and they have a few stunning colours along with the normal staple colours at the moment. The best bit is that they still sell Salsa, so get buying!

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    2. Yep, I'm going to have to have a good look I think!

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  4. Very pretty! I use the 99p white varnish 'All about nails' from Tesco for stamping and as a base for other colours. They are only 7ml bottles but they do the job!

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    1. Oh, that would definitely be worth a try, I'll make sure we do our next shop at Tesco :) thanks!

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