Review of 'Barry M Aquarium Collection' in 'Pacific'

Hi everyone! So not that long ago Barry M brought out a Silk collection (which I wrote about here) and I was worried that their new Aquarium collection would be exactly the same but I had no reason to worry! There are 6 new polishes in the Aquarium collection, 4 duochrome effect polishes and 2 glitters. All of them have oceanic names and I picked up Pacific for £3.99 (although Superdrug were doing a 3 for 2 offer so I did get another two!)

Pacific is a bluey green colour like the ocean really and is kind of metallic so in different lights it appears slightly different in colour which I think is really cool! In the bottle is does seem very similar to East Village by NYC but a bit more blue. I love the scale design on the lid of the bottle making this collection very distinguishable.

I used NYC toughen up nail varnish which isn't actually blue when it goes on! I know it isn't a base coat exactly but my nails have been braking a lot recently which I'm putting down to my new job at Costa!

I then applied the first coat of colour and was surprised how thickly it went on! I was expecting it to be very similar to East Village but I did find it to be a little streaky as I was applying it. Due to the metallic nature of the polish it means that brush strokes are a lot more visible than normal. I did really like the colour and even with one coat it was pretty much the same as in the bottle.

For the second coat I applied it a little thicker than the first to eliminate any brush strokes because I think having brush strokes on your nails just make them look really cheap and badly done! I mean, you wouldn't want paint stripes down your walls would you!?

Finally, I applied a top coat and tidied them up a bit and that's the finished look!

Whilst I really like the formula and colour of the nail varnish it's definitely not the first or only ones out there. I do love the colour and I think it's my favourite of the collection but I kind of forgot I had the NYC one at home because they are so similar I now wish I'd bought a different colour! Do you think you'll give the collection a go and what is your favourite one? Thanks for reading!

Dealing with Dark Shadows Under the Eyes

Hi everyone! I've always had problems with dark shadows under my eyes for as long as I can remember and yes you can cover up with concealer but prevention is better than cure right? I'm no professional but these seemed to have worked for me so I wanted to share some products and tips for reducing those dark shadows.

The first tip everyone tells you is to get more sleep, which yes will help reduce those shadows but especially for me at the moment with my exams starting in less than a month and procrastination levels hitting an all time high, sleep is becoming a bit of a luxury! According to research as a teenager you should be getting 8-9 hours sleep a night... I'm lucky to get 7 most nights! You should also try and make sure you keep your skin hydrated by reducing the amount of caffeine and concentrated fruit juices and switching to water or squash.

A quick fix to dealing with dark shadows is before you go to bed run two spoons under the tap and put them into a freezer. When you wake up in the morning run them under some water again and gently pat them on the area under your eyes. You do have to be careful with this as sometimes the spoons might stick to you skin if you push them on too hard for too long.

As well as keeping healthy I've found a couple of great products that have really helped me! The first is the Revitale Collagen and Q10 Anti-wrinkle eye gel patches which I found on Fragrance Direct for a bargain price of £0.99!!!! I was a bit hesitant because I hadn't heard of the brand before but the reviews seemed to be good so I thought I would give it a whirl! Although they are designed for combating wrinkles I found they were really good at reducing the puffiness of my under eye area which in turn reduced the dark shadows. You just leave them on for 20-30 minutes before I go to bed and when I took them I could actually feel the difference straightaway!

Another product that I also picked up from Fragrance Direct was the Pretty Perfect Rejuvenating Eye Roll On also for £0.99! I tend to use this in the morning but I found it takes quite a while to dry/ soak in so I don't use it every morning because I don't really have enough time (I'd prefer the extra time in bed!) but when you first roll it on it does feel pretty good! The stick itself was a lot thinner than I had expected and you have to tilt it when you roll it on otherwise the liquid doesn't come out but it's got a very ergonomic design which makes it easy to hold. There are probably better products like this on the market but for the price I really can't complain!

I know this post was very short but I hoped it helps if you too are suffering for huge dark circles! Hope you enjoyed reading and let me know if you've got any tips or products that you use!

Homemade Disney Costume - Esmeralda

Hi everyone! So something a little different to my usual nail or travel related posts but I really wanted to share this because I was actually pretty impressed with my costume! For my friends birthday she decided to have a Disney themed dress code so I decided to go as Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame! My other friends dressed as Buzz Lightyear, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Rapunzel, Minnie Mouse, Melody (The Little Mermaid 2), Cinderella, the Wicked Witch from Snow White and the birthday girl was Jasmine so there was a real mix!

I basically got my whole costume for under £20 even though I pretty much bought everything new from Ebay! The top I picked up from here for only £5.95 which included P&P. It's a little bit see through but I can't really complain and to be honest I could quite easily wear it again dressing up as a pirate or something!

The skirt I got from the same seller on Ebay again for £5.95 and I actually really like it! It's got a long thin layer and then a shorter layer of the same material making sure your aren't revealing too much! I'll probably end up wearing this again somewhere warm on holiday. Both this and the top came within a couple of days of ordering which I was very impressed with!

Also from Ebay, but a different seller this time, I bought a sort of corset waist band for £2.79! I was looking for something greeny blue but had no luck so had to settle with this black one. I wouldn't wear it out casually but it would go well with the top for a pirate themed outfit and you can do it up very easily as there is Velcro at the back. I ordered this the week of the party and it arrived within plenty of time which was lucky!

I already had a waist scarf which my aunt bought when she was on holiday a while ago so although it was dark blue and not purple I didn't really see any point in buying a new one just for that evening but they are very easy to get a hold of if you don't have one!

Whilst in Spain last week I bought this lovely hoop earrings which have purple detailing on them so I thought they would be perfect to wear! I know she just wears plain gold hoops but you've just got to make do with what you've got really!

I curled my hair and some black pumps and that was my finished look!

Hope this gives you some inspiration if you've got any fancy dress parties coming up and I would love to see any costumes you've made for parties! Thanks for reading!

Review of 'Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy' in 'Galactic'

Hi everyone! I got this polish as a Christmas present and have been dying to use it and show you for ages but I wanted to save it for a special occasion (it was my birthday week!). It has been around for a little while now and I haven't really seen anything that compares to it. Whilst it is basically a base colour with a top coat glitter duo, the glitter isn't like any ordinary glitter; it really makes your nails look amazing and I got loads of compliments when I wore it!

There are also 6 others in the collection in different colours all just as beautiful but I think in other countries the collection is larger as I've read reviews on colours I can't find myself in shops. In the UK you can get them from pretty much any Revlon counter in most shops and they retail for £7.99.

Due to it being quite a dark colour I used my Barry M basecoat to protect my nails.

I then applied one coat of the base colour which is a dark blue, almost black, colour. It goes on really well and even though I only applied a thin coat I still only needed one for a full coverage and it dried pretty quickly as well! I did find it a little hard to apply as the brush is attached to the other side of the duo making it a lot longer and heavier than normal nail varnishes.

I didn't have to wait long until I applied the glitter coat on top which is a turquoise base with different blue iridescent glitter flakes and it is so gorgeous! I felt it was better to dab it because otherwise the larger flakes stayed on the brush rather than transferring to the nail although it did mean in some places quite large flakes stuck up off the nail but they could quite easily be pushed down with tweezers. 

Although you don't really need a top coat as the glitter coat itself is really shiny but I found that due to the glitter flakes being different sizes my nail didn't feel very smooth so I used my Barry M top coat to fix that.

I absolutely love this nail varnish and can't wait to wear it again. I'm going over to America in the summer so I'll have to have a look at the other colours and maybe even treat myself to one! I would really recommend you give this collection a go if you haven't already and although they are £7.99 I think it's worth it! Let me know what you think and if you've tried one out! Thanks for reading!