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!

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!

Review of 'Barry M Silk Collection' in 'Heather'

Hi everyone! We slowly easing our way out of winter which means it's nearly spring time meaning new spring collections are being released! Barry M have released their spring collection in the form of these new 'Silk' nail varnishes in 6 different colours. I picked up the colour Heather for £3.99 as I thought out of the 6 it was the one I'd be most likely to wear. It's sort of a lilac colour infused with pink and it's definitely not as dark as the colour I'd associate heather with is.

I don't really feel that this silk trend is a new thing as I remember the kids kind of nail varnishes used to have a similar look and to be honest I never really liked it because I always felt the brush strokes were really visible. However, I did discover that this drys matte which is something I don't remember my old ones doing which is why I wanted to give it a go.

I used my Sally Hansen base coat first which dried super fast; always a plus with nail varnishes!

I then applied the first coat of colour. It wasn't too streaky like I remember my old ones being and if I was in a rush I think it looked actually okay with just one coat of colour. It drys really quickly and once it was dry it sort of reminded me slightly of my holographic one from Topshop. It also seemed to have a sweeter scent to normal nail varnishes when I was applying it but it still dried with no scent!

I applied a second coat even though one probably could've been enough but I had the time! I found it was better to kind of dab it on or just apply a thicker coat because it eliminates any sign of brush strokes.

Originally I didn't apply a top coat because I thought it would ruin the matte look but I did test a top coat out on one nail and it didn't actually look too bad. I don't think I'll put it on the rest though as the matte finish is what I think makes this nail varnish original.

Personally it's not my favourite kind of nail varnish because I'm not too keen on matte finishes and it just reminded me of something a small child would wear on their nails when they had first been allowed to paint them. But despite of that the nail varnish it's self is just like all the others from Barry M in quality so if you like that style I'd recommend you go check it out! Let me know if you've tried any others from the collection and which is your favourite, thanks for reading!

Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturiser Review

Hi everyone! So I mentioned in my post on my New Years Resolutions that I would make more of an effort to moisturise my skin and we're a month into 2014 now and I've actually been sticking with it! Okay I've not moisturised everyday but I'm doing better with this one than my other resolutions. This has been mainly thanks to this wonderful product - Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser in Cocoa Radiant! It's £4.99 in most shops and I think I picked mine up from Boots using my Boots points!

I was a bit hesitant with it because I didn't really know how much like they advertise it would be, but I was pleasantly surprised! I tend to use it in the morning once I've had my shower and all you have to do is spray it on and give it a quick rub and you're done! Granted, it doesn't dry as quickly as it's portrayed in the advert but it still drys full in about a minute and then you can go ahead and get dressed.

As for the packaging I like that you can lock it by twisting the nozzle part round which means you can pop it into your suitcase without the worry of it accidentally spraying all over your clothes. As for the scent, it's nothing special really, just a sweet cocoa smell and I find it doesn't last for a huge amount of time which I guess could be a pro or a con.

I'd really recommend checking this out and if cocoa isn't your thing there are 2 other scents. Let me know what you think of it if you've tried it. Thanks for reading!

New Year Resolutions!

Hi everyone! It's that time again where we pick out all the bad things with out lives and make a statement to try and change them. I've not had a great track record with my resolutions, I usually break them after a month or so. But this year will be different! I thought if I wrote a post about it it would motivate me more to keep to them so we'll see!

1. Be healthier - I joined a gym last year and was going like 3 times a week but once I got a job I found I didn't really have the time to go anymore so this year I want to make time to go to the gym and actually work out there because before I would go on the cross trainer but slow down at the first drop of sweat or when I could feel a burn! Also I want to eat healthier too like not just eat because I'm bored!

2. Pay more attention to this blog - I said in a post that I've put this down as my skill for DofE but I don't want to feel like this is a chore or like something I 'have' to do, I actually want to put more into this blog and enjoy it at the same time!

3. Read more - I used to read so many books but when I started my GCSEs I just didn't enjoy it because I felt like there was other stuff I should be doing. I just need to spend less time on Tumblr and more time reading again!

4. Don't get too stressed out about school - I know A Levels are a big thing and by this time next year I will have applied to university and may have heard back from a few which is really scary but I don't want to get too bogged down in it if I'm struggling or don't know what to do with my life!

5. Look after my skin - I really need to start to moisturise properly because my skin gets so fragile at times and I got plenty of body butters for Christmas so I really have no excuse!

What are your resolutions for the new year? Let me know! I hope you have a great 2014 and thanks for reading!

Review of 'Holographic Nails Topshop' in 'Wistful'

Hi everyone! I have never actually tried any of the range of cosmetics that Topshop has to offer and thinking about it I don't think I have ever bought any clothes from there either?! But I was given a gift card from the family I  babysat for almost every day after school for nearly a year, as they are moving away and this was sort of a thank you present!

So I went into the Topshop in Bath and had a little look at the clothe,s but the store isn't really that big and nothing exactly caught my eye until I went over to the nail varnishes. A few of my friends and lots of other peoples blogs I read love the nail varnishes from Topshop and I have to say there is a huge selection! Instead of getting a plain colour (although there were some gorgeous colours) I thought I would be a little adventurous and I got this holographic one!

It is £6 and it is really different to other nail varnishes I have seen in Boots and Superdrug and I have never tried anything like it before! They also had a bluey one and a sliver one but as I wear a lot of flowery clothes I thought I would get the pink!

So I applied my base coat from Barry M. Please excuse the state of my nails but they got completely ruined whilst I was travelling around Europe as I didn't really take time to take care of them as I was just having so much fun!

I then applied the first coat of colour. I needed to apply it quite thickly in comparison to what I normally do as it dried quite quickly so when I went I tried to spread out the nail varnish across my nail it just sort of made it really uneven and gloopy if that makes any sense! But once I got that sorted it was all good!

I felt it needed a second coat as in some places it seemed sort of opaque. But the effect was there are after one coat and I actually was surprised how much I liked it! It is very shimmery and does look like those hologram stickers that I always seemed to have when I was younger. I did think it felt slightly odd when I ran my finger over the nail as it wasn't smooth like my other nail varnishes.

I then put a top coat over the top and I was worried that it would ruin the effect but it didn't do anything like that - it just gave it a nice gloss over the top and it made it feel a lot better when I felt it! I also cleaned up an bits of rogue nail varnishes that had crept onto my skin and all done!

I actually really like this nail varnish because the effect it one I haven't seen before and it looks really nice! I don't know if it is the same with all the nail varnishes but I found it dried really quickly which is a huge plus to any nail varnish for me!

Let me know if you've tried any of the other colours from Topshop and if you like the hologram effect? Thanks for reading!

Review of 'NYC Quick Dry Nail Polish' in 'Lexington Yellow'

Hi everyone! So I was watching Zoe's (also know as Zoella) June Favourites video (which if you haven't already watched you can watch it by clicking HERE) and she had this fun yellow nail varnish on which inspired me to have a dig through the abyss that is my nail varnish box and find a yellow to try out and show you!

Now she was wearing 'Fluro Yello' from 'Urban Outfitters' but I'm going to be using yet another one from the 'NYC' brand. As per usual, this is £1.79 but no doubt I bought this on a 3 for 2 deal!

Firstly, I started off by applying my base coat, but what's this?! Yes, that's right - I bought a new one. My nails have been braking so much recently I thought I would go out a try and find something to fix that. I came across this nail varnish which claims to be a top coat, a base coat & a nail hardener! And it was only £2.99!

I then applied the first coat of colour. Now I don't know it it's the heat (30° in the UK!!!!) or if I'm just applying it really badly or due to the colour being so light but the first coat was so streaky! I know the NYC nail varnishes never look good with only one coat but I felt this took it to a whole new level!

                                      

The second coat made it much more like the colour in the bottle but in my opinion it still could be better in some places?

Due to the fact it was still a bit opaque in places I decided to apply a 3rd coat!

I think the colour is much better now but it was a little frustrating having to wait for 3 coats to dry especially as it was hot so were taking longer than usual.

And all done! Annoyingly they seemed to have smudged and slightly bubbled whilst I slept (forgot to take a finished picture that night!) but I think that was more down to me & the weather, than the polish itself. I think the colour is a really nice yellow; it's not too bright but then again not to pale! In my opinion I think colours such as yellow work best on shorter nails for some reason?

I think the colour is so pretty but the fact that I had to apply 3 coats to get it was a bit annoying. For this reason I probably wouldn't reccomend this nail varnish as strongly as I have with the other colours from this brand however, it is a really nice colour so if you feel you can wait the extra drying time - go for it!! Thanks for reading (: