Post Christmas Haul!

Hi!

 

I hope you had a good Christmas if you celebrate it and if not, hope you all had a good holiday season! :)

Our 6 month old collie had a particularly lovely day...

 

Anyway, I went on a little shopping trip the other day and picked up some hair/nail/skincare things in the sales!

 

I picked up John Frieda Full Repair Hydrate & Restore Shampoo & Conditioner first of all....

I usually only get these when they're on offer as £6/7 is quite a bit to pay for shampoo when it doesn't last that long...particularly with me as I have long hair! There was a 3 for 2 offer on "premium haircare" in Boots so I also got the John Frieda Luxurious Volume Dry Shampoo too as I was intrigued by their "luxurious volume" range as my hair is quite flat sometimes. I decided to try just the dry shampoo though as I've only ever really tried a couple of different dry shampoos and wanted to see how a more expensive one was different.

 

I also picked up some double faced cotton pads from Boots too as I was running out... I love these as they have a soft side for toner for your skin and then the rougher side is great for removing nail polish. These are only about £2 if I remember correctly.

 

 

 

I also then went to Superdrug (I know it is a bit weird to go to both  but they have slightly different brands, honest!) and I was drawn to the Barry M Glitter Nail Polishes in 353 Ruby Glitter and 335 Copper. They didn't have such a big range of Barry M Polishes in Boots so I generally like to have a look in Superdrug to see if there are any others there. Definitely looking forward to putting these on my nails soon! They were £2.99 each.

 

I also looked at some Simple skincare products in Superdrug and got the Kind To Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Mist which was £2 off. I really love this stuff and its my third bottle. I used to use it a LOT a year or so ago but when it ran out I forgot to repurchase. However now I'm glad I did rebuy it as I love this stuff. I spritz it on my face after foundation and it gives a lovely glow and keeps my skin feeling hydrated all day. This was about £4 with the £2 off.

 

I also got the Simple Kind To Skin + Perefecting Beauty Balm as I was intrigued by it. I think this was around £7 and I was surprised to see they only had one "universal shade" which was curious.

I'll be doing a review on this soon although on first glance it does look a little orange... perhaps not as "universal" as they thought.

 

 A few days ago I also picked up some new face wash, toner and a new mascara which I'll also be reviewing soon so keep an eye out for that even though I don't have pictures included in this post.

 

Have a good day!

Thanks for reading :)

Libby x

 

Makeup Look: Smokey Red & Black

Hi!

 

Today's post is just a quick makeup look that I was trying out the other day...I've been really into wearing red and black recently together...I even bought some red and black shoes the other day! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Products used:

NYX Eyeshadow Base in White
Barry M Dazzle Dust in Cherry Red 84

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Gold 96

The Natural Collection Eyeshadow in Sea Shell

Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette (Black + matte taupe shades to blend)

Stila Fibre Optics Mascara

Borjois Khol & Contour Eyeliner

 

I patted the matte black shade over the NYX shadow base and then blended in the inner corners with a matte skin tone/taupe shade from the Coastal Scents palette. I then blended out the crease with the red Dazzle Dust and buffed the Natural Collection eye shadow below the brow bone to blend it out.

I then just added a small amount of the gold on the inner corner on the bottom lashine.

I then just added eyeliner and mascara!

 

The effect is very smokey but striking with the pops of red and gold!

 

Thanks so much for reading!

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* Barry M Dazzle Dusts (+ Swatches!)

Hi!

 

I have a review that really should've been up ages ago considering how much I use these pigments. I spent some time today photographing and swatching these amazing Dazzle Dusts from Barry M to show you! 

 

 

 

These pretty little jars cost £4.59 each

 

I'll quickly show you each pigment with it's name and then I'll do swatches!

 

Each pigment has a number and a name...I've tried to find the names for each of them but they don't print them on the jar so I couldn't find the names for every single one.

 

96 Gold

 

 

85 Neon Pink

 

 

84 Cherry Red

 

 

94 Teal

 

 

22 Bright Blue

 

 

8 Silver Iridescent

 

 

35 ?

 

(Not sure of the name of this one. Unfortunately I think this is discontinued but you may be still able to get it if you hunt for it)

 

90 Pearly Mauve

 

 

90 Silvery Black

 

 

 

Now for some swatches!

These are swatched over the NYX Eyeshadow Base in White as I feel that these need a sticky base to cling to so that you can really see them at their best.

These are swatched in the same order as above.

 

 

Top to bottom: 96, 85, 84, 94, 22

 

 

Top to bottom: 8, 35, 90, 91

 

For some reason because of the way the light is hitting it, the shade 90 is showing up a lot more blue than it does normally. It does have those blue tones, but generally shows up more purple.

 

These are said to be pretty multifunctional and on the website it says that you can use these for eyes, lips or cheeks.

You can mix these with a clear lip gloss or a clear nail polish to get more use out of them too!

 

I have to say I only ever use these for my eyes...but having said that for my art project I think I'll end up doing some crazy makeup looks for that so who knows? These would be really useful for doing some really bright, over the top looks and maybe I should try an electric blue lip now and then! :)

 

I love the high colour intensity of all these pigments and there isn't on that I feel doesn't quite match up pigmentation-wise.

 

 I think my favourites are the gold (96), bright red (84) and the teal (94) as I feel that these are the ones I get most use out of, but I honestly use all of these! I also love the little jars because in a draw they don't take up much space and you can stack them if you run out of space.

 

 I definitely think I'll be expanding my Dazzle Dust collection...for such a low price and such great pigmentation you can go wrong!

 

 

 

Have you tried the Dazzle Dusts yet?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

 

My Favourite Summer Nail Polishes!

Hi!

 

I thought I'd do a quick post today just showing some of my favourite nail polishes for summer...these are the ones I've been wearing most lately!

 

 

I'll split the into 2 to make it slightly easier to see each polish...

 

 

From left to right:

 

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Shimmy Shake 52

(Gorgeous glittery gold)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Ninja 36

(Matte mid green, really unusual and interesting!)

Barry M Nail Paint in Teal

(Shimmery teal colour, I've got this on my nails now! It's so beautiful when it catches the light!)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Show Off 23 

(One of my favourite polishes of all time..my favourite colour is blue and this shimmery bright blue is just amazing, I even have a back up one of these!)

 

 

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry in Go Retro! 58

(Matte mid purple, one of my most used shades all year round)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Bright Lights 55

(Bright, matte coral orange)

Models Own Nail Polish in Copper Pot

 (I love the duo chrome in this, it shows up differently in every light and reminds me of caramel!)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks 60 Second (New version of the Fast Dry ones, same thing just new name) in Scorched 65.

(This is very appropriately named given the ridiculously hot weather we had here in the UK recently....this reminds me of fire and is very shimmery)

 

 

I realise now that a lot of these are the Collection 2000 Hot Looks...this probably because I love them. They are cheap and small (but how often do you finish a nail polish anyway) and the colours are so fun! I wear mine all the time and love them.

Next time however I will try and make it more balanced from other brands too! ;)

 

 

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Libby x

Sky & Sun Makeup Look!

Hi!

 

I was playing around with some of my Barry M pigments the other day and came up with this look..just thought I'd show you the fruits of my labours!

 

Also, check back in a couple of days for more makeup looks because I'm going to compile one post that has 5 different makeup looks that you can do with the Urban Decay Naked palette! I just thought it would be good to show some of the diversity you can get with that palette :)

 

Anyway!

I decided to call this look "Sky & Sun" because honestly that's what it reminds me of!
We've been having suspiciously good weather here in the UK and for once the sky has been actually blue for a while now! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are the products I used:

 

NYX Eyeshadow Base in White

Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette

Barry M Dazzle Dust 22 (the bright electric blue)

Barry M Dazzle Dust 94 (a teal shade)

Barry M Dazzle Dust 96 (golden shade)

Stila Fibre Optics Mascara

 

 

 

Circled are the shades that I used for this look :)

 

 

 

First I applied the NYX base using a small synthetic brush all over the lid to give the pigments something to stick to and also to make the colours bright and vibrant.

I then patted the electric blue dazzle dust (22) on the inner half of the lid (leaving room for the cold near the inner corner) and then the teal dazzle dust on the outer half (94).

I blended them together then patted the gold dazzle dust (96) right on the inner corner.

I took the darkest purple shade from the Coastal Scents palette and blended this into the crease, and I added a touch of black on the "outer v" too.

I took a small brush and carefully applied the NYX base to the waterline and then also applied the teal dazzle dust to the water line. This makes the colour bright and long lasting but you have to be careful because it can irritate your eyes.

I added a mixture of the remaining two purple shades next to each other from the Coastal Scents palette just underneath the lash line and just on top as shown in the picture.

I then used the lightest shade in the palette under the brow bone and on the inner corner to brighten the eye and blend out any harsh lines.

Then I finished with mascara!

 

So all in all not the most wearable look ever, but one that I think is really fun and looks pretty crazy and bright :)

I really love getting creative with bright makeup colours!

Please feel free to let me know if you have any requests that you have for me to do!

 

 

Thanks so much for reading!

Have a great day :)

Libby x

5 Products I Regret Buying!

Hi!

 

I think that even though positive reviews on things are very useful, I find that a negative review on a product can be just as informative.

Hence, I decided to compile a quick little list of the top 5 products that I have really regretted wasting money on.

 

 

These aren't in any order!

Basically I was choosing products that I really dislike using.

There are loads of products in my collection that I'm not 100% in love with, but these are the ones I really regret buying!

 

1) BD Designer Eyes in Lapis

 

 

At the time I got this, I thought it was a good idea to have the places for the shades stamped on and it reminded me of the Wet N Wild eye shadows. I seem to remember picking this up in Tesco for around £3/4.

 

 

Can you even call these swatches?

The "Shade" shade (?) had pretty much no pigmentation, it looked like dust on my eye.

The "Shape" shade had more pigmentation but the strip in the trio was so tiny it was damn near impossible to get any on a brush.

The "Shine" was the least awful of the three and I would actually use this as a brow bone highlight occasionally...if the darker shade next to it didn't keep messing it up.

 

Basically, all three shades had bad pigmentation, the texture was rock solid and I really didn't like this. It's been sat at the back of my eye shadow drawer since.

 

2) Benefit Boi-ing Concealer

 

I'm not keen on this, it was pricey too.

 

 

Of all 5 this is probably the product I dislike the least, but I'm still not happy with it.

This stuff is greasy as hell, it slides around on your face and if you put it under your eyes it just cakes up and creases badly. You need so much powder to cover up the shininess it leaves that you just end up with a cakey mess.

And on top of that, it doesn't even cover that well. Eek.

 

You can see that I've actually hit pan on this, but that's not actually an amazing feat. There's around 3g of this (compared to the 7g in MAC Studio Finish) and because the pan is so big you actually hit the metal pretty quickly.

The only thing I use this for now is for muting out the natural colour of my lips when I use a lip colour and even then I use the tiniest bit.

For £16.50, I expected better.

 

3) Accessorize Primer

 

 

It's such a shame that I don't like this because I've tried other products from Accessorize (eg their nail polishes and eye shadows) and loved them.

 

I've done a full review of this HERE if you want to have a read...its...er....less than favourable.

 

The first problem I have with this is the packaging.

Even when I bought it new, there was a lot of air in the actual packaging, combined with the ridiculously large opening in the tube, this creates ultimately a very messy experience.

Far too much primer leaks out, gets everywhere and then you have to waste it.

 

And on top of that, its pretty greasy feeling and doesn't do anything in the way of helping foundation or concealer lasting longer.

 

Definitely not a product I will be repurchasing, unfortunately. 

It does slightly improve the pigmentation of certain eye shadows, and so sometimes I use it for swatching (where it doesn't matter so much that so much primer leaks out because I need a lot) but basically I'll be pleased when this is finished up.

 

4) Barry M Glitter Liquid Eyeliner (13)

 

 

I don't remember ever liking this.

Again, I LOVE most of Barry M's products. Their Dazzle Dusts are incredible and I love their Nail Paints.

However this for me was just a dud.

I think you can probably see from the photo, this completely dried out and there is very little actual product in the tube.

It's strange because when I bought it I remember there being liquid glitter actually inside the tube, but this crafty little devil seems to have dried up before I even properly got a chance to use it.

It's vanishing act is better than some magicians I've seen.

 

I'm not sure this counts as a swatch...but this is all I can get out of this little tube and I think all I've ever been able to get out of it. *sigh*

It looked so pretty in the tube when I first bought it too.

 

5) L'Oreal Paris Glam Shine Holographic Liquid Lips (Gold Rose 86)

 

 

 

 

Last but not least(....well...technically all of these products are "least" but you get my drift) is this lipgloss.

 

I'm going to cut straight to it: This stuff smells. And it's not a gone off smell it's an intentional smell.

The scent that they have given this is strong and nauseating. It reminds me of some kind of yogurt that's been given a fake berry scent to it. To me, it's far too strong and just not nice. It also hangs around ages after you've applied it.

 

I just put some of this on to see if it was as bad as I remember (haven't used it in ages) and yes it is.

The smell is too strong but also it's heavy and thick and just generally isn't a nice product.

 

 

So...there you go! I think that's enough ranting about makeup products for one day ;)

 

What are your makeup regrets?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

Makeup Haul #2

Hi!

I went out this afternoon to pick up a few things and decided I'd share them with you here! :)
It's going to be my school ball quite soon so I decided to pick up a few things that I would be able to try out in time for that so I knew whether they would be good to wear on the night.

 

First I decided that I really wanted to pick up the Rimmel London Fix & Perfect Pro Primer as I'd read lots of good things about it and I needed a new face primer! I like the look of it so far - it has a nice feel to it and it was only £6.99 so not too expensive! :P

I also wanted something that would help my foundation last all of the night for my ball.

 

I needed a fairly nude lipstick for the ball and I only have one like it at the moment and I decided to try out a different shade. I picked up the 17 Supreme Shine Lipstick in the shade Bella.

I'm wearing it right now and it's a nice matte shade that is pretty close to my natural lip colour. It's a shade that I think of being "my lips but better"!

 

I tend to go through highlight colours ridiculously fast. I have a lot of darkness around my eyes that I need to brighten up so I wanted a full sized highlight shadow that I could easily grab for. Most of my highlight shades are in palettes and that makes it tricky to get out quickly unless I'm already using that palette so I got the Natural Collection Eye Shadow in Sea Shell. It looks like it will be a nice light, nude colour that should work well as a highlight colour.

 

I can never resist a new mascara.

I'm running out of my Stila Fibre Optics Mascara so I thought it was time I tried something new in case I run out completely. I was attracted to the pink tube of the Collection 2000 Super Size Fat Lash Mascara.

 

Also from Collection 2000 I picked up yet another of their Hot Looks nail polishes. They've changed the name and packaging slightly but they are still essentially the same product.

I love these polishes and I have 11 of them!

This shade is in 65 Scorched and I don't think I have anything like this in my collection at the moment. It's a bright, fiery orange red colour that is pretty unique!

 

I'm running out of a base coat at the moment so I got the Natural Collection Nail Polish in the shade Crystal Clear. It isn't marketed as a base coat but I know from experience that just a clear shade acts as a base coat for me - I don't feel like I need anything fancy :)

 

I simply couldn't resist the Barry M Nail Paint in Teal 334 when I saw it.

I love teal as a colour in general (I'm wearing teal eye liner at the moment!) and so I thought this was a beautiful colour and I cant wait to wear it on my nails.

 

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed my haul post :)

Thank you for reading!

Libby x

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils VS Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayons

Hi!

The NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils are already pretty well known throughout the makeup world but long before I discovered them I was using the Super Soft Eye Crayons from Barry M....I thought I'd write this post to see how they compare to each other.

Both are marketed as large, creamy liners and so it only seems natural to make a comparison!

 

I have 3 NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in the shades (left to right)

Pots & Pans

Milk

Black Bean

 

 

I then have 2 Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayons in (again left to right)

No. 5

No. 1

 

 

NYX says: "A radiant eye liner that also doubles as an eye shadow. Made with a blend of mineral oil and powder, our creamy Jumbo Eye Pencils glide on effortlessly no pulling, tugging or fading and come in a rainbow of vivid hues. Some call her chubby. We say voluptuous. Available in 28 shades."

 

Barry M says:  "Jumbo sized pencils with an extra soft formulation and a thicker application in a variety of shimmering and matt colours."

 

 

Here are some swatches of them all. From the top they are:

 

NYX Black Bean

NYX Pots & Pans

NYX Milk

Barry M No. 1

Barry M No. 5

 

As I have black shades from both brands I also thought I'd show  them side by side for a more direct comparison:

 

 

The top is the NYX the bottom is the Barry M.

Here are some similarities and differences between the brands:

 

Similarities:

 

• Both brands are budget brands or drugstore brands.
• Both liners are very soft and creamy
• They are both thick formulas
• They can both be used as bases
• They both come in shimmer & matte
• Both are very large pencils (roughly the same size)

 

Differences:

 

• The Barry M is cheaper at £3.99 compared to £4.50 for NYX.
• Barry M is much easier to get hold of if you're in the UK as its found in drugstores over here; NYX is probably easier to get hold of in the US.
• NYX comes in 28 shades...from the Barry M website there are only 5 shades available. I have seen more than five in actual drugstores but I'm fairly certain there are not as many as 28.
• In terms of texture, the NYX is creamier and "wetter". You can see this in the swatch of the two black shades, the NYX is on the top and you can clearly see the "shine" on it.
• Barry M is more of a "crayon" texture (as the name would suggest...)
• I feel that the NYX is slightly more pigmented as it takes less strokes to make it completely opaque.
• The Barry M could probably be used on it's own and it wouldn't be SO essential to set it with a shadow. I'd still recommend you do this, but its not 100% essential as it's a drier formula. The NYX is far too creamy to be left on it's own.
• I would say that the NYX works marginally better as a base because its creamier and stickier, but it is also harder to use because of this. It can get slightly messy.

 

 

Overall...these are both really good products and I'm not for a second going to say that I don't like either of them.

I think most of it depends on where you live...if you're in the US the NYX is going to be much easier to find and if you're in the UK the Barry M is going to be easier to find.

Generally..i think I do prefer the NYX simply because it is creamier and so clings to shadows better when you're using it as a base.

I also find that the colours I have for the NYX pencils are more useful. The Milk shade that I have gets used so much its now very short. While the black shade in Barry M is very useful the lilac shade isn't as versatile so I just don't get as much use out of it.

I do generally use the NYX pencils more although if I was in a rush I would definitely "trust" the Barry M more, because as its drier there is less chance of making a mess.

They are both very pigmented and have some great colours although NYX does have more.

 

Personally, I'd buy more of either brand! Maybe I'll get another Barry M pencil in a white shade, as it would be slightly harder for me to repurchase my NYX pencil in Milk if and when it runs out!

They are both really great products in their own right though!

 

Thank you for reading! Have you tried either of these products?

Libby x