Barry M Gelly Hi shine collection: Review and swatches (Picture heavy)

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Hi my nailistas! I have something a little different for you guys today. My first swatch post! I wanted to get this up earlier but after starting work again, it kind of KO'd me and I collapsed into bed before I could sort out the 300+ photos taken for the next few blog posts I'd planned for you guys.

This is Barry M's Hi shine collection which consists of 13 shades and is described as

Gel effect Nail Paint that provides an extra glossy finish

I believe the last four shades, lychee, dragon fruit, greenberry and papaya were introduced for Spring 2013 whilst the others came out at an earlier date. Since I had all 13 gellys I decided to group them in one post. All swatches are in the order of the polish product number GNP 1-13.

You might have seen reviews and swatches of this collection already since I'm pretty late in purchasing these but here's my take on what I thought of them.

Top row L-R: Plum, Blackberry, Watermelon, Blood orange, Blueberry, Prickly pear, Satsuma
Bottom row L-R: Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Lychee, Dragon fruit, Greenberry, Papaya

L-R: Plum, Blackberry, Watermelon, Blood orange

L-R: Blueberry, Prickly pear, Satsuma

L-R: Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Lychee

L-R: Dragon fruit, Greenberry, Papaya

Plum. A deep dark purple which is definitely a one coater. The consistency was slightly thick and opaque in one coat so I didn't add another because it really didn't need one. It shows up a little too dark in my photos but in the collection photos above you could see the purple in the bottle.

Blackberry. Deep navy blue. This one passes off with one slightly thick coat as well or if you prefer, two thin coats. Same consistency as plum and no problems experienced whilst painting. It did seem to stain a teeny bit after I removed it though.

Watermelon. Deep dark green and like plum my camera didn't capture the colour right and it's looking a little darker than it is. Thick formula once again and this time I painted one coat on my middle and index finger and two on my ring and pinkie.

Blood orange. Looks like a blood red in the bottle but appears a little brighter on the nails. It's like a classic red. Thick consistency and in the photos I'm wearing one coat.

Blueberry. My camera doesn't always capture blues right so this one turned out brighter in the pictures. Everyone says this is like a cornflower blue. Just Google searched the colour and it seems close so I'll agree. Slightly thick formula once again but this time I used two coats to cover some of the sheer patches it had. It's best to be careful with the application of this one.

Prickly pear. A light pastel lilac. Being a light colour with a slightly runny formula this one also needed two coats. Three if you want to make sure everything is covered and even but if I thought it was fine at two coats.

Satsuma. Really bright orange. This one has potential to be a one coat polish if you apply it evenly which I didn't so I'm wearing two coats in the photo to cover up a few streaks I had. Slightly thick consistency.

Grapefruit. A bright pinky coral shade. Here's two coats of grapefruit. It was almost opaque at one coat but wasn't quite there yet so I added another. Slightly thick formula.

Pomegranate. A raspberry pinky-red. Has a thick consistency and only took one coat. Noticed a slight bit of staining after I removed it too.

Lychee. A nude beige which surprisingly looked nice against my skin tone. I think I've found my next favourite nude. First coat was streaky as I'd expected with colours like this and two was fine. The formula of this one was a little thinner than others.

Dragon fruit. Bubblegum pink creme that looked like it had some fine silver shimmers in it. This one was slightly runny that it applied a little streaky and pooled into the cuticles a little. Two coats did the job and made everything opaque though.

Greenberry. A turquoise green. For this one it's slightly thick but also on the runny side. The brush picked up a bit more than I wanted and it ended up pooling a little onto my cuticles as well. I left this with two coats in the end.

All photos taken indoors. Natural lighting.

Papaya. Peachy orange shade which is bright and great for summer. No surprise with the slightly thick consistency and this one needed two coats.

A really good bunch of colours in this collection. My favourites being the reds, pinks and darker ones like plum. I didn't use a top coat for any of these swatches since the collection claimed to offer a glossy shine and the best way to prove this is without the added top coat. They all applied shiny but dulled down after a little while. I remember keeping one of the shades on for a little longer and it held up for 3-4 days with minor tip wear and chipping. That's just me having very little to do at that time though, just a lot of crazy typing being the roughest thing I do. I didn't wear the others long enough to comment on their wear time but I'd suggest adding a top coat if you really wanted to extend the wear.

Majority of these polishes had a thick consistency and some easily became opaque with just one coat. I'm guessing some of the darker shades will leave some stains behind since I noticed that during swatching but I never left these on long enough to put that to the test either. All the polishes were fast drying though.

I realised that to some people the deep purple shade is known as blackberry and the deep navy blue shade as blue plum but according to the bottles I purchased and their website it's the other way round.

I heard these were great for stamping and considering their formula I'd think they were suitable enough for the task as well but I'd have to find that out for myself another day.

These are available for £3.99 on the Barry M website, Superdrugs and Boots retail stores.

I did some swatches on separate days since I needed to wait for the post to arrive and I was scared my cuticles might start looking a bit hurt from all the polishing and removing. This is why I really appreciate those that provides swatches, after doing this did I know that it takes so much time and effort.

Really basic descriptions of each and I know I'm not very good at describing the shades accurately but I hope you enjoyed this post! :)

Do you own any from the Barry M Hi shine collection? Which one is your favourite?

*This is not a sponsored review. All items were purchased by myself and all reviews and my honest opinions.

2 comments

Chantal10 April 2013 at 03:37
Great swatches!
The polishes seem to be self-leveling which is nice, and shiny enough, but it's too bad if it fades. I usually apply a top coat anyway, even when a polish claims it shines by itself.
I've never tried Barry M, but these are all beautiful!
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