Review of Barry M Brushes

Hi everyone! So back in April I entered a competition run by Barry M on Twitter to win all their make up brushes and if you haven't already guessed by the title I won! Last year I bought a selection of about 25 brushes on eBay for just under £10 for them all but as I'm sure you can guess the quality of them weren't great and the bristles were falling out all over the place. Since then I've just applied my make up with my fingers but my sister who has a load of brushes from the Real Techniques collection was just as excited as I was to hear I had won the giveaway. In the collection there are 7 full sized brushes and a travel set which are all synthetic and 100% vegan which is always nice to know.

So lets start with the packaging. I love the colour scheme of the pink, black and white and on the back of each of them there is a cute little quote instructing you on how to use the brush. The colour scheme continues on the brushes themselves and they are all light weight and so soft which is nice. My one criticism would be that the brushes themselves don't have any labels on or numbers indicating the purpose of the brush which would've been nice as the eye shadow and the concealer brush are pretty much identical.

Foundation Brush - £4.99 Barry M/ £5.99 Superdrug

I'm not exactly sure why the price varies for this one as it doesn't for any of the others but hey ho! The brush is very soft but quite sturdy which I know is not always everyones cup of tea when it comes to foundation brushes but I really like it. I don't often wear foundation but I have used it once and it doesn't leave any streaks and blends really well.

Concealer Brush - £2.99 Superdrug

I used this brush everyday and it is so much better than using my fingers. It's also really soft and again quite sturdy but it's perfect for concealing those dark circles! It looks pretty much identical to the eye shadow brush as the only really difference is this one is about 1cm smaller.

Eyeshadow Brush - £2.99 Superdrug

Again this is a brush that features in my everyday routine. Personally I prefer using sponge applicators for applying eyeshadow but this brush has really started to grow on me. It picks up powder really well and is perfect for blending.

Angled Eyeliner Brush - £2.99 Superdrug

My sister has had her eye on this brush ever since they arrived at the front door. I've used this brush once to apply some darker eyeshadow in place of using eye liner but my sister who is a big fan of gel eyeliner says it feels as though it would be a great brush for gel. The bristles are sturdy so you do get quite a defined line but the are soft enough that you don't hurt yourself.

Blusher Brush- £4.99 Superdrug

I love that this brush is angled slightly so whilst it is supposed to be to apply blusher I think it would also work really well for contouring as well as for blusher. Again it's so soft and feels really nice on your skin.

Bronzer Brush - £7.99 Superdrug

This brush seems very big to be used as a bronzer brush for contouring but it would be perfect to give you that natural sun kissed look when you blend the bronzer in. It is so soft and I love just stroking it across the back of my hand (not as weird as it sounds I promise!)

Powder Brush - £5.99 Barry M

I love using this brush every morning because it's so much softer than the brush I had been previously using. It doesn't pick up a huge amount of powder but it's perfect for when you want a light covering.

Mini Brush Set - £9.99 Superdrug

In the set there appears to be a powder brush, concealer/foundation brush and an eyeshadow brush along with a lash/brow comb. They are just as good quality as the rest of the collection and just as soft! I love travelling and I normally only take the essentials when it comes to make up in a my smallest make up bag which these fit in nicely so no doubt they will come in use on my next adventure.

I really love this collection of brushes and would give them an overall strong 9/10 because they are affordable but still great quality!

So what do you think of the collection? I love that they are so affordable but still great quality - Barry M have really hit their target market! Let me know if you've bought any and what's your favourite brush? Thanks for reading!

Fragrance Direct Haul

Hi everyone! I know you shouldn't start with an apology but this is going to be a really quick small post because I've been so busy this week with Guiding stuff, my DT coursework deadline and preparations for mocks! However, I will post another one during the week to make up for it!

So I just wanted to tell you about this amazing website - Frangrance Direct! My sister came across it and then told me about it and now I'm telling you - it's basically a website that primarily sells perfumes for great discounted prices but also has a huge selection on make up, hair products and items for your bath & body and more!

I ordered an Essie nail varnish in All Tied Up, OPI nail varnish in Congeniality Is My Middle Name , Sally Hansen nail varnish (just a base coat), Bourjois 3D Effect Lip Gloss in Coral Artistic and an UNE Smart Length Mascara all for £13.22 (which included P&P)! That was basically a saving of just more than £30 which is amazing; especially being on a tight budget! I did question how they were so cheap, so I did a little bit of snooping around and it seems some were sent to shops as testers but never used, or are a slightly older range (I know the Essie nail varnish I got was from their Summer 2012 collection) and some are just missing a bit of packaging but who keeps the boxes anyway!

I was so happy to test mine out when they arrived and they were all full and sealed still in their original wrappers and cosmetic seals which gave me great confidence in the company! Be prepared for some individual item reviews soon! They tend to only have a small amount of stock for each item so I'm checking back every week to see what new stock is in and I will without a doubt be placing an order again! Let me know if you've got anything from Fragrance direct before or if you'll use it in the future! Thanks for reading!

Review of MUA Lipsticks

Hi everyone! Until about 3 months ago I'd never heard of  the brand MUA. That was until my sister came home raving about an eyeshadow pallet she had just bought. It's basically a brand that is only available Superdrug or online and it is so incredibly cheap but the amazing thing is although the price is low the quality of the products isn't (or at least the ones I've heard about)!

As you may know I don't really wear much makeup - a little concealer and a dab of mascara and I'm good to go! But I've been feeling a bit facial/cosmetically boring lately so I thought I would buy some lipsticks to spice things up so I went to have a look at MUA in my local Superdrug and saw the lipsticks were only £1!!!

The packaging isn't anything fancy, but then again, neither are some other high end lipsticks such as some of MACs lipsticks. I quite like the simple black tube with a silver ring as a break in the middle as it I think it looks quite elegany. I absolutely love that you can take off the little pot on the bottom of the tube and use it with a brush when your lipstick runs out! I thought this was a brilliant idea as it gives you some time if you run out and can't get to buy another one straight away.

The first shade I picked up was 'Shade 1' which is a very deep wine red. I've especially seen Zoella wearing a dark shade of red on her lips in her recent videos and it looks really nice on her so thought I would give it a go!

It's really nice to apply, the colour goes straight onto your lips and your lips feel sort of moisturised rather than the sticky feel some lipsticks have.

I think it's a little dark for me personally as I'm pretty pale and it just makes me look paler but that might just be because I'm not used to wearing anything like this.Maybe if I wore a little more face make up, like foundation, it might look better?

The second one I picked up was 'Shade 14' which also has the name 'Bare' on the label. It's a nude colour that looks amazing on.

This one looks the best on in my opinion and it really moisturises your lips at the same time!

This was my favourite one out of the 4 as I am happy to wear it out as it isn't too bold. I've worn it quite a few times now and I think it looks gorgeous!

The next one I picked up 'Shade 13' which is a much brighter red than previously and more of the classic red you see lots of people wearing.

This one was similar in application to the dark red; it went on smoothly and felt really good on my lips.

I love the colour but as I'm just starting out wearing lipsticks I think it might be a little too bright for me at the moment as I'm still not 100% comfortable wearing lipstick out. Fingers crossed that will change!

The final shade I picked up was 'Shade 2' which is a sort of bright pink colour which I found matched my hair when I dip dyed it for the second time.

Again it's really nice to apply. I felt this one more so than the first seemed a bit cakey but once I had blended it with my finger it was good to go!

I really like it as it's something different from the classic red and the simple nude colours but I'm not sure many occasions have arisen where this colour matched with my outfit but hopefully I'll find something soon!

I really like all of the MUA lipsticks I have tried and for a £1 it's an absolute bargain! I would wholeheartedly recommend you having a look at the lipsticks MUA has to offer as they've got quite a broad selection for you to choose from if you didn't particularly like the colours I picked up. I know I will be going back in and picking up a couple more in different shades.

Let me know if you've tried anything from MUA and what you thought about. Thanks for reading!

Prom 2013!

Hi everyone! So last Thursday I had my leavers prom so I thought I would share it with you. I know it's not my usual beauty review but fear not - more of them will be coming soon!

So, the most important thing first: THE DRESS! In year 7 (5 years ago) me and my friends went to Bath to go shopping and we were all trying on prom dresses and we went into Jane Norman and I absolutely fell in love with this dress. So 5 years later I thought I would see if I could find it on Ebay and lo and behold someone was selling a brand new one in my size and without any hesitate I bought it for around £25 and I love it so much!

Then came the shoes. After getting my dress at a bargain price I thought I would push the boat out a bit and I ended up getting my shoes in Kurt Geiger. I cannot walk in heels - I look like a baby giraffe; but not in a cute way! So I decided to get shoes with a tiny heel and found these black sparkly ones for only £29 - amazing price especially for Kurt Geiger! They are so comfy and I can easily wear them again as they could easily be worn dressed down if I ever find a job!

Onto the accessories. I got my bag in Debenhams with the ticket price of £16 but I'm pretty sure I got it half price in one of their many sales. It's got a lovely bow design and held my money, phone & make up so absolutely perfect.

I then got my earrings from San Francisco. I have no idea where exactly they were from but I'm pretty sure they were from a shop on Pier 39 and I think I got them from about $15. My necklace was then from F.Hinds for around the £20 mark. They are so gorgeous and I will definitely be wearing them both again so I have no regrets on the price!!

I then got my hair clips from the Dorothy House Hospice shop where I used my volunteer discount (oh yes!) and got them for just £1.

My hair was done by my lovely hair dresser: Donata who works at Centre Stage in Chippenham! They are so lovely there. I got my ears pierced there and my hair has been dyed several time by student hair dressers and I've never had any issues! The prices are great and the atmosphere is also lovely. Anywho, all I wanted done was to have my hair curled and she did a great job - so thank you!!

Then my make up. Now normally I don't wear much make up; a dab of mascara and some concealer usually does me! So I got Rachel (Neate Beauty) who has done my eye brows a couple of times and my Mum goes to her for facials. She made sure it was quite natural as I'm not used to wear that much and she was so lovely so I would definitely recommend checking her out if you live in the Chippenham/ Wiltshire area.

Finally - transport! We went in a VW Campervan! My friend knew some guys (who were friends of her Dad) who were re doing it so she asked them if we could borrow it for the night and they said yes! As cute as it looks on the outside, the inside was amazing! My friend had decorated it with pictures of all of us over the years we had known each other along with some cute bunting.

So that was my prom! I hope you enjoyed this slightly different kind of post (: