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!

EuroQuest: Day 11 - German Scout Camp/Cologne

Hi everyone! So it was our last day at the Scout Camp so after we cleaned up and packed our bags we were faced with the challenge of finding our way back to the train station. We decided it would be a great idea to walk through the woods to get back into town and it didn't take us long to realised we were lost after the path we were following disappeared. Jenny then took the lead and led us on 'Jennys Magical Mystery Hobbit Tour' which eventually got us back on the track and to the train station.

As we were waiting for the train to arrive the heavens opened for the first time on the trip and at first it was so nice because in most places it was around 30 degrees but then it got heavier and it turned into a mad scramble to find shelter. Our rain jackets were at the bottom of our bags because we didn't think we would need them so made makeshift shelters using our bag covers - well we are Girl Guides after all!

After several train journeys including as usual a sprint to the train after we realised we were waiting on the wrong platform we finally arrived in Cologne. There were so many shops in the station! There was a whole shop selling different things all made out of jelly sweets which looked amazing! I was very tempted to buy something but I didn't think it would still be in one piece by the time I got home! We then wandered into a clothes shop which had loads of really nice but cheap clothes and shoes! I got a dress and a top (which I'm still waiting for the weather to improve to wear) and Hayley found these shoes which were amazing and they were so cheap she had to get them!!

After our little shopping break we headed to a restaurant to get some food because we were so hungry after a day of travelling. The restaurant was primarily pork and had an amazing interior design. As the two veggies on the trip Evie and me decided that we would both order a macaroni cheese from the snacks menu and then share a portion of chips and some hash browns as we assumed being from the snack menu it would be small portions but oh how we were wrong! I don't think I've ever felt so full and neither of us could finish it all!

We then headed to the hostel and it was so nice! I was sharing a room with Frances, Evie and Hayley and as we got to the room we found the door literally wouldn't open. We were pushing against it with all our force but it would budge. Some guys in the room next to ours came out to see what all the noise was and apparently we were opening the door all wrong because you had to do something first with the key. Our room so so nice (once we finally got in!). We had a balcony and a proper walk in shower! This meant we could wash stuff and hang it over the balcony to properly dry rather than just hanging it over the bars on the bunk beds!

If you want to see more I filmed a bit of what we were doing so you can check that out here:
The video is a montage of several clips and pictures throughout the time we spent at the Scout Camp in the Harz Mountains and in Cologne as apposed to these blog posts which a split by day.

SCOUT CAMP VIDEO: COMING SOON

COLOGNE VIDEO: COMING SOON

EuroQuest: Day 10 - German Scout Camp

Hi everyone! So after a busy day of travelling we were allowed a wonderful lie in after our first night at the scout camp... well we had breakfast at 10 which is probably the latest time we've had to get up on the whole trip! After breakfast we set out on a walk into the nearest town which was a lot further away than we thought! On the way we noticed there was a lot of statues of witches and goblins which is apparently something to do with the myths and legends of the Harz mountains which I thought it was really cute!

We stopped into a shop on the way to the town to buy some lunch and it was so cheap! I picked up some deodorant and lemonade for only €1.50 (strange combination I know but I forgot to put the lid on my deodorant when we were travelling the day before so all my clothes smelt great but with none left I didn't!) To add to the 'Dragon Fruit' capri sun we had earlier on we found another amazingly strange one called 'Fairy Drink' which was really sweet!

After we finished eating our lunch and drinking our Fairy Drinks we headed through the town back up to the mountains to find the cable car that would take us up to the top of the mountains. It was obviously a popular thing to head up to the top of the mountains and then mountain bike down them because so many people in were taking their bikes up on the cars which had special hooks on the back to hang your bikes onto, although they were just hanging there so I would've been so scared that they would've just fallen off!

There wasn't really much at the top except routes to walk back down! We did stop in a little shop which was selling a lot of memorabilia related to these myths and more importantly they sold ice cream which we noticed by the giant magnum situated right outside!

On the way back down on the cable car ski lift we decided to let everyone know that we were Girl Guides by singing boom chicka boom! It's basically a mimic song so it was decided that Evie and Tash who were in the middle of the 5 cars we filled up would lead and we would all shout back. We did get some very strange looks from all the people coming up!

When we got back to the Scout camp we ran up to the top of the scout camp to quickly meet up with some German scouts who were just about to leave. We managed to do some swaps including getting some of their left over food before they left!

If you want to see more I filmed a bit of what we were doing so you can check that out here:
The video is a montage of several clips and pictures throughout the time we spent at the Scout Camp in the Harz Mountains as apposed to these blog posts which a split by day.

SCOUT CAMP VIDEO: COMING SOON

EuroQuest: Day 9 - Prague/German Scout Camp

Hi everyone! So this was basically a full on day of travelling with 4 trains we had to catch with only minutes between  some of them! We had breakfast in the hostel and they had this adorable little pots of nutella and even though I don't like nutella (don't kill me!) I still picked one up to take home because they were so cool.

All credit for this photo to Sara!!!! 

We then embarked to catch our first train and I've never see a train so busy. The train was like the old fashioned Harry Potter style trains with individual little cabins to sit in and a long corridor connecting them all and that was where we had to sit! So we were mind our own business, singing songs and trying to do the infamous pony song sat down when some guys in one of the cabins started laughing at us and trying to join in. We'd got used to this but then he rudely opened the door from his cabin and put his burger king rubbish out in the corridor with us. Naturally, we all gave him the dirtiest look we could master up and he sheepishly opened the door again and took his rubbish back in!

Stuck in the corridor

We got off that train and onto the next one! The train was really fancy and it even had English speaking radio stations! We finally got to a really big station and went off to go get some food. Naturally we made a beeline for McDonalds and they had these really nice tasting fruit slushies in loads of different flavours. I love cirtus fruits so naturally I got the lemon one and it was so nice! On our way back to our bags we bumped into a group of German scouts who were on their way to or making their way back from a jamboree in Germany.

The German scouts we met

View from the train window

We still had two more trains to catch but because our previous trains had been late and then these ones were as well we ended up missing our connections so we had to get on different trains than had originally been planned.

In the corridor again

The pile of bags

 Finally we got to the last train station and we were greeted by the people who were in charge of the scout camp and they gave us a lift up to the camp as it was quite a way away from town up near the Harz mountains. The scout camp was a lot smaller than I had envisioned it as as far as we could see no one else was staying there! We did meet some Dutch scouts but they were a lot older than us but we did give them some of our Euro Quest badges.

Squished into the car on the way to the camp site

Tash's Niall displaying our EuroQuest badge rather nicely!

If you want to see more I filmed a bit of what we were doing so you can check that out here:
The video is a montage of several clips and pictures throughout the time we spent in Prague & the Scout Camp in the Harz Mountains as apposed to these blog posts which a split by day.
PRAGUE VIDEO: COMING SOON

SCOUT CAMP VIDEO: COMING SOON

EuroQuest: Day 7 - Vienna

Hi everyone! So I was the first one up as I wanted to have a shower in the morning and I stumbled out of essentially the draw with a mattress and in into the bathroom. As I was getting undressed I caught sight of this little brown mark on the side of my rib. My first thought was 'Oh great - a tic!' so I had a quick look but it was kind of hard to see. It didn't really look like a tic (from the pictures I'd seen) and none of us had got one yet. It was still there after my shower so I showed it to the people in my room but none of us thought it was a tic but we called Sheila round to double check! I'm sure you've guessed now that it was in fact a tic and oh my god it didn't want to come out! Sheila had this card which safely pulls tics out but it took a fair few tries before it was out!

After I was rid of my little visitor we headed outside to go and find a tram to take us to the Haus der Musik or the House of Music in English! Vici went up to this really fancy tram to ask where we could get a normal one to take us but the 2 men that had hired this tram to take them around the city offered us a lift there! Perks of being Girl Guides I guess! The journey there was so funny! The drivers assistant was supposed to be giving commentary as we drove around but he handed the microphone to Fran who gave a wonderful if slightly inaccurate commentary which had us all in stitches!

The tram

The House of Music was so gorgeous just on the outside and as we walked in we could hear this wonderful piano music drifting through the hallway. We assumed it was speakers with pre-recorded music on but as he entered the main hall we saw it was another tourist playing this amazing grand piano! It turned out anyone cold have a go playing it if they wanted too!

House of Music

Piano music

There were so many strange interactive things to do once we were inside including a very odd room where weird music was playing and you had to dance around to make images appear on the screen. The best thing though was in one room you could virtually conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra by standing in front of a screen and sort of like a Wii you moved your baton to conduct them! If you are ever in Vienna this is definitely a place you have to go to!

Having a go conducting

Some sculptures near the enterance

A giant drum

After that we caught another tram to Prater Park which is a sort of theme park but more with rides you would see at fairs or carnivals just on a much bigger scale! We were all given a couple of tokens to go on some rides and off we went! One ride that caught my eye looked very similar to 'Air' at Alton Towers which I had ridden a couple of years ago and loved! However when we got on I noticed it was very different to Air! Instead of being strapped in you had to step into what basically was a cage without a back and we were there like okay they'll put a back on in a minute because some of it involves us going with out backs to the floor so we might fall out. But did they... oh no! The only thing stopping you from falling was your ability to hold on! We were kind of relieved we survived when it finally came to an end!

Prater Park

House of Horrors 

The terrifying ride!

Off we go!

We went for dinner in one of the restaurants on site and I think it was Sara and Evie ordered this drink which they had no idea what it was but when it came out it was in such giant glasses everyone was a bit taken back! After trying a little bit it turned out to be this really nice fruit flavoured drink that if my memory serves me correctly was kind of sparkling, Emii and I got one each! I really wish I could remember what it was called because it's something I would love to have again!

Yum!

If you want to see more I filmed a bit of what we were doing so you can check that out below. The video is a montage of several clips and pictures throughout the time we spent in Vienna as apposed to these blog posts which a split by day.

VIENNA VIDEO: COMING SOON

I hope you enjoyed reading this and feel free to leave any comments!