Barry M Flawless Concealer | Beauty

I have never really been someone to wear a lot of concealer, a little while ago I thought I would give the Collection 2000 one ago again and then I quickly remembered why I had stopped using it! Love the product cannot stand the packaging, mine always seems to leak everywhere and I can't stand mess. The other week I go caught shirt because I had a mammoth spot and had a big meeting so I ran to Boots and the only (cruelty free) concealer I could find was Barry M Flawless Concealer. 

They only had about 4 different shades with this concealer and I was very lucky to see that my shade was in stock! To be honest I didn't really know much about it other that was written on the bottle which states that it is light reflecting - not exactly what I wanted but I thought it would do the job. Upon researching it's actually a lightweight concealer which has been infused with cucumber and aloe to soothe and it's great for under eyes...yeah...not for spots so now it kind of makes sense. I though the colour match was good for me and it's a very easy product to work with but I have to admit it isn't great for covering spots, you have to keep building up and blending out to try and get a higher coverage. 

The wand of the Flawless Concealer is so underwhelming and I would go as far to say that it is completely useless! I can get on board with brush wands for concealers but this one is so thin I struggled to apply the product to the areas I needed to. I even used the product for it's real purpose which is under the eyes and I just couldn't get enough product on the wand to get it under my eyes. When I eventually did manage to get some on my skin, I did really like it! It blends out easily and it does have a light reflecting quality about it, but it's worth noting that I don't have very dark circles under my eyes.

The Flawless Concealer, is a very lightweight concealer and it's gonna struggle to cover any huge spots but if you are looking for something that brings a bit of light into your face and that isn't too cakey then this little fellow might be for you! 

What are your favourite concealers  

Barry M Illuminating Strobe Cream | Beauty

Today I thought I would have a little chat about the Barry M Illuminating Strobe Cream which I picked up as a free gift several weeks ago. Now, I love a bit of highlight in fact there is rarely a day go by that I don't  wear highlight on the ol' cheek bones and I have written about the NYX Cosmetics Strobe Of Genius palette which is just so beautiful so you know I like a powdered highlight. This Barry M product on the otherhand isn't powder it is obviously a cream highlight that I have never tried before so considering it was on offer in Superdrug I thought I would give it a go. 

I opted for the Ice Bronze colour which is less bronze and more iced because it's the kind of warm shimmer that I personally prefer. I have very pale skin and often don't want to wear make up that highlights my cool tone, so I like to bring warmth to my face with highlight and contour which is why I went for this one. When I first started using it I didn't really know how to apply it, in fact I found it really hard to get product from the stick to my face because it was very hard and found that if I applied it directly to my face it just drags my foundation so obviously that's not how you're supposed to apply this thing. After I tried rubbing my fingers over it to warm up the cream a little in the hope it would become easier to use, it did actually work a little. I then tapped it on the tops of my cheekbones and found that not a lot of product actually transferred to my face. Like guys, this is a lot of work for someone who needs to apply their make up fairly quickly in the morning. 

Don't get me wrong, once you get the damn thing on your face it does look nice, it's a very light sheen to the skin it probably looks a lot more natural than my powder highlights which definitely serves a purpose. It lasted quite well but again because it's so natural it just kind of worn off my face as the day went on. As you can see in the picture, it's not that pigmented at all, admittedly the picture colour is a bit crappy but you can see that my skin tone almost matches this product. 

I think that cream highlights just aren't for me, it is a gorgeous shade, it does work but it's hard work and I prefer the ease of dipping my brush into my palette and a couple of swipes and I'm done! 

Do you prefer cream or powder highlighters? 

Barry M Crushed Jewel Cream Eyeshadow | Beauty

I'm one of those people who actually really likes wearing eyeshadow but kind of struggles to find time to apply it, so when I spy a product that looks like it can give me a gorgeous shimmery eye with ease then you know I'm gonna try it out! I spotted the Barry M Crushed Jewel eyeshadows in vlog I think, I can't remember which vlog but it must have been a PO Box Haul kinda thang and thought I should check them out instore. 

I found the Crushed Jewel Cream Eyeshadows in my local Superdrug as Boots didn't have them and they were actually running an offer of "buy two products and receive a FREE Illuminating Strobe Stick" so I went with the intention of only buying one and ended up with two. These cream eyeshadows actually remind me of the Rimmel Scandaleyes cream eye shadow sticks which I actually really loved back in the day. I was torn between the shade range because there were so many gorgeous ones to pick from but in the end I opted for Blissful and Pillow Talk . At first glance look really similar but you'll see in the swatch below that Blissful is far more pink than Pillow Talk. 

The cream eyeshadows have a doe foot applicator which makes it really easy to place on the lid but you're gonna need a brush to help put it in place and blend out. When I applied Pillow Talk I only applied a small amount and then left the house however  noticed that this creased really bad into my eyes, like you're gonna need a primer if you have slightly oily eye lids. I was a little underwhelmed when I first tried it because it just didn't seem to have impact I was hoping for. However, I wore it again but this time I applied a first layer, let it dry and then packed on again a little more and it lasted a lot longer and looked exactly how I wanted it to. 

These sell for £4.99 which I think is a fantastic price for what they are, plus they are small and easy to pop into your make up bag. If you like a shimmery look then this is a really easy way to create that look, it won't last for a crazy amount of hours but it will last an look good if you take your time with it. 

Have you tried any of the Crushed Jewel eyeshdows? 

Barry M Brow Wow! | Beauty

If you are a regular reader of my blog you'll know I'm not much of a brow girl. Like don't get me wrong I get mine waxed regular and I fill them in often but I'm not one of the girls who goes to town on her brows. I think it's because my brows are actually blonde and I don't like drawing on dark eyebrows because they just don't suit my skin tone or hair colour. That said I do still need to fill them in a bit just so people can actually see them ya know! 

I have been using the Benefit Brow Wiz that I got a free sample of a while ago and whilst it's a good product the brand ain't cruelty free so when I finally ran out of it I was happy because it meant I could discover a wonderful new cruelty free product and I thought I would go with the safest option which was Barry M. To be honest my Superdrug didn't have the biggest shade range of the Brow Wow Pencil  but I went for this light brown shade, if they would have had a blonder shade I would have purchased that but I thought that this one had a sandiness that might work for my blonde hair. 

I frickin' love it when a brow product has a little spooly on the end, not only is it great for just taming your brow hairs when they get a bit long but I actually use it to buff and blend the product into my eyebrow! I do have to be gentle with this product because if I forget myself I just end up with really dark eyebrows which are slightly wonky (eyebrows just aren't my thang OK?) I would say that Brow Wow is a pretty damn good brow pencil, it's a little low key because it doesn't claim to be super fancy, it comes out and does the job ya know? 

It's a fantastic price considering it's on £3.99, Soap and Glory Archery is £8.50 and the Benefit Brow Wiz is £20 so you are making a huge saving with Barry M, the pencil might not be as precise as the latter two but if you keep this pencil sharpened then it's fine. I think in terms of the actual product there really isn't much difference between them and I'm always happy with the end result of my eyebrows. 

What's your fave brow product right now? 

Barry M Mist & Fix Setting Spray | Beauty

Guys, I have to let you into a little secret, I've never used a setting spray! I know, but I just thought that setting sprays would on be used on nights out and never for like normal day to day use and almost all of them are matte look and you guys know I am ALL about the dewy/glowy fresh look. That was until I saw this little gem in Boots in Oxford St and thought I would give it ago, it's the Barry M Mist & Fix Dewy Setting Spray. 

Since working in London again I just felt like my make up wasn't lasting like AT ALL by half way through the day i just looked crap quite frankly and it was stressing me out a bit, I tried other foundations which just didn't work for my skin so I was at a loss until I saw this setting spray and thought I have nothing to lose. You have to bear in mind that I put my make up on at 6am, then I have to get a bus, 2 trains and walk 20 mins to the office in the morning, I then sit in an air conditioned office which gets really stuffy and a little stagnant so it's no surprise that by midday my makeup isn't looking fresh. 

Right from the first day I tried it I noticed the difference it made, half way through the day you could still see my highlighter and contour as good as I did it first thing in the morning. Eyeliner no longer run underneath my lower lash line, and my base just looks so good. At times it makes my skin a little shiny but it doesn't look bad, it doesn't make me look sweaty or anything nasty, just gives me a really lovely dewy finish. 

I give myself like 3 squirts, 2 in a criss-cross motion on the lower half of my face and then 1 just towards my forehead. It's important to keep a good distance between you and the product because if you spray too closely you just end up getting really wet which kind of defeats the objective of the product. My only grumble is that I wish this was in a bigger bottle, that said, I have probably used it for at least 4 of the 7 days during the week for just over a month and it hasn't ran out yet so it ain't too bad! 

It's crazy but this little Barry M Setting Spray has made a difference to my confidence with my make up because it allows me to wear the stuff I adore but just keeps it in place for longer and I don't feel like I look crap when I am walking around the office any more. For me, this product was easily the best product of 2017 - hands down! 

Do you use setting sprays for everyday wear?  

Autumn Nails | Beauty

If you have been reading my blog for recently you'll know that I love all things autumn, in fact I might do a little post on the exact things I like and I promise it won't include pumpkin spiced anything! But these Barry M Gelly Hi Shine polishes just scream all kinds of autumn!!

Since moving back from Italy I have been getting shellac on my nails just to cheer myself up really, I love getting beauty treatments done and because I was WFH every day I had a little flexibility to get them done whenever I wanted. However I recently got a job in London again which means that I have to get them done on Saturdays and right now I just can't be bothered to do that so I soaked my last set off and decided to start painting them again. Don't get me wrong this is far less convenient for me because my nails are very thin and weak and I cannot stand chipped nail polish so it means I have to paint them 2 or 3 times a week but it is cheaper and it means I get my weekends to do whatever I want.

This year I have change to cruelty free products only which means that walking into a standard high st store the selections are more limited but I frickin' love Barry M polishes so I don't mind at all!!! Personally, I think every girl should have a light grey nail polish in their collection, It's so simplistic but looks incredible on nails of all lengths. The first colour is called Almond which is odd because to me it looks nothing like an Almond colour. Then I bought this gorgeous orange toned nude that I just love right now because it's so different to what I have worn before and this one is called Peanut Butter... I mean, Barry M are really struggling with the names I think but as you can see it's a really lovely shade.

I opted for the Gelly Hi Shine ones because I heard a lot of good things about them in terms of longevity, however if you have very weak nails these won't last incredibly long, soz guys!

Whilst I have short nails, I actually have quite long nail beds so when I paint them it creates the illusion that my nails are longer than what they actually are. This is why I like to go for these kinds of shades purely because it draws attention to them in a more subtle way.

What nail shades are you loving this Autumn? 

Barry M Speedy range | Beauty

How gorgeous are these Barry M nail polishes!? I mean the shades are literally perfect for me. I have seen a few reviews on these Speedy nail polishes and I think Barry M just has the most beautiful range of shades it was pretty hard to pick out which ones I wanted to buy. However the Boots 3 for 2 offer certainly helped me to narrow it down. 

I went for Stop the Clock which is such a pretty pastel lemon colour, Eat My Dust  a sky blue colour and Pit Stop which is more of a taupe/nude kinda colour. I really love soft pastel shade at the moment. We all know about my love affair with Essie Fiji, so I thought these would be a nice change/replacement. 

Another selling point with these Barry M polishes are the fact they are Speedy. There is nothing more I hate than waiting for nail paint to dry, I mean it's boring you have to sit still because otherwise you'll end up smudging it, it's awful. What I found with these is that once you have added one layer on all 10 fingernails you're ready to start all over again. This product does try very quickly which is handy because as you know which all pastel shades you have to add 2 or 3 coats to get it opaque. 

I must admit I don't actually have that many Barry M nail polishes and never quite understood the Gelly obsession but the Speedy range is something I can get my teeth into. In terms of longevity, these aren't that great, they chip quite quick on me. I always use my Essie Prep and Protect which helps make all polishes last just a little bit longer.

I have to say that Stop the Clock is probably my favourite shade, it's just so pretty and summery and I know it will look absolutely fabulous with a tan. But Pit Stop is a VERY close second! 

Have you tried any of the Bary M Speedy range?

Nails of the day (well, week)

As you may know I used to have fake nails, huge fan of fake nails. However as time went on I knew my love affair would have to end so I had them soaked off and replaced with shellac because they were obviously quite weak. 

The only problem with shellac is that it gets kinda boring, having the same shade for 2 weeks and they look less fresh with every day that goes by. 

I keep seeing all these beautiful bloggers with utterly stunning nail colours so I just decided to just soak them off myself. 

Now I'm Shellac free I've managed to experiment with some nail colours this week. 

Usually I never, ever stray from my beloved ruby red nails. I've probably worn every shade of red known to man on my nails. But this year I have really fallen in love with the pastel shades and muted tones. My first choice was...

Ciaté - Shooting Star

This actually came as a set with some tiny pearls but I really liked the taupe kinda colour and the formula is perfect! It's a little bit thicker than most nail polishes it's almost has a gel like texture. It dries super quick as well. I love it! It's such a different colour to what I usually go for. 

Soigné - Créme Au Beurre

I got this little beauty in my Birchbox this month. I have been keeping my eye out for the perfect, pinky nude colour for a while and here it is. It's gorgeous, I was so happy when I received this colour. The only very minor issue I have is it takes a few coats to ensure that your nail colour doesn't seep through. In this picture I had 3 coats of it on.

Barry M - Meadow

I have actually worn this colour before over my acrylic nails and loved it however I forgot to take a pic of this on my natural nails. This is one nail polish where I love the colour but it chips so damn quickly. 

Right now there are literally so may different colours I want to try out and add to my modest collection now that I can because I have natural nails. 

What shades/colours and brands are you loving at the moment? 

Barry M Natural Glow palette

I’ve seen many reviews about various different eye shadow palettes and I never quite know what to try. The problem with my make-up regime is it’s very simple in the fact that I never wear eye shadow mainly because I never know what shades to wear and never really sure how to apply and blend.

I was having a wander around my local Superdrug as saw this palette in the Barry M range, it seemed to have everything I wanted, kind of a starter eye shadow palette I’d say. 

As you will see the colours aren’t very fancy, they are quite simple and easy to wear with most skin tones I’d imagine. It also comes with a little bit of blush too, something again I never use. Whilst I know many amazing beauty bloggers will be looking at this thinking Urban Decay or Naked do a much better better, personally I just wanted to have a bit of a play around with my make-up to see whether I would actually start wearing eye shadows.

To be fair I do actually like the selection, the colours aren’t too pigmented or concentrated so it allows for an unskilled hand to blend them together. 

The second shade in is almost non-existent but actually it works as a pretty good base for my eyes to then put some of the other shimmery colours on top. All of them can be worn together, for an everyday eye look, apart from the last shade on the right, that would probably be best to try out when I’m going on a night out or something.

Overall I’m really happy with the palette, a great newbie eye shadow palette. I really like that just a simple bit of colour or shade gives my eyes a really different look.

I also bought the Real Techniques eye shadow brush set from Boots to apply it with which I’m really impressed with. Admittedly they were a little pricey, but I definitely think anything from the Real Techniques range is definitely worth it. 

Have you tried this palette? 

The suns out, new nails as well

The sun is out, everyone has gone back to wearing beautiful bright colours, corals, whites, blues, greens, pinks! Everything is full of life again.

This afternoon I went to get my nails done and opted for this utterly delicious Barry M nail polish...

Now how gorgeous is that colour. I've seen this Silk collection in the shops for ages and saw this advertised but every Boots and Superdrug appeared to be sold out of this particular colour. 

I waited a good two weeks before I saw it but when I did, I bought it instantly.

But the thing I didn't realise is the colour is almost an exact match to my car... 

Just spreading the love, one colour at a time!