Superdrug Haul - featuring Makeup Revolution, Barry M and Maybelline!

I've been keeping my eyes peeled and waiting for my local Superdrug to bring out their Makeup Revolution stands, so I was pretty excited when I popped in last week and spotted some of newer I ♥ Makeup palettes and lipsticks. Obviously, I couldn't just walk out without having a quick look at the Barry M stands as well...

 

I've liked the look of the Aquarium polishes for ages but hadn't thought to buy any. Mermaid and Pacific jumped out at me straight away, I'm such a sucker for blue polishes. Pacific has a gorgeous metallic sheen to it, and Mermaid contains shiny gold, green and blue particles. I can't wait to try it out as a top coat for some of my other polishes!

I also spotted some of the new Maybelline Baby Lips Electro shades. I went for Strike a Rose which adds a bright pink tint to my lips, and smells like sour skittles. I haven't tried on for long enough to see how moisturising it is, but it definitely feels comfortable on my lips.

After seeing some reviews of Colour Overdose from I ♥ Makeup on various blogs, I knew I was going to have to add it to my collection at some point! It's a really vibrant coral-red, and I love it! I wasn't sure it would suit me at first but now I'm head over heels for it. Just make sure your lips are well hydrated beforehand though, these lipsticks cling to any dry patches!

I also couldn't resist picking up the I ♥ Makeup I am in Love palette, I think these are a really clever idea. You've got six eyeshadows, 2 mattes and 4 shimmers, and a lipstick all in a nifty little palette with a mirror.

The top row of shadows are lighter pinks, the darker shimmery pink is just beautiful.

And here we have the bottom row, the darker shadow has little bits of purpley glitter in it but I couldn't catch it very well. I really like that matte pink as well, it's got much more pigmentation to it than some of the mattes in Makeup Revolution's other palettes.

Unfortunately, the lipstick lets the palette down a little bit. It's a very pale pink and it really washes me out so I probably won't be using it. If it had just been a little bit darker it would have been perfect!

Now that I know Makeup Revolution have a stand in my local Superdrug I'll definitely be popping in more often!

July Favourites

 July has whizzed by and I'm starting to get very nervous about the first part of my degree with the OU! My study texts have arrived and everything seems to be falling into place, scary! Having said that, I've had some great products to play around with this month. 

I've been absolutely loving I ♥ Makeup this month, the Death by Chocolate palette has been gracing my eyelids nearly every day with it's lovely shimmery neutrals! I can't get enough of it. I've also been really enjoying playing around with my Lip Geek lipsticks, Cherry Bomb is still my favourite shade out of the three I own, but I might end up looking to expand my collection soon!

July was also the month that I discovered Memebox! I've already reviewed two of their boxes, and I've got plenty more on the way. This Aloe Vera gel from the Aloe Vera Superbox has been a life saver this month. The UK has had some seriously hot weather and being someone who doesn't deal with the heat well, I've loved being able to put this in the fridge and then smother myself with it!

I've also finally managed to get hold of some of the summer Barry M Gelly shades and I am loving Kiwi and Damson! They look great together or on their own, and are the usual quality you would expect from Barry M. You can find them at your nearest Boots or Superdrug, I was lucky enough to nab these in a 3 for 2 deal, bargain!

What do you think of my favourites? Are there any that you would like to try?

April Favourites

 Compared to last month, I've spent a bit more on beauty products, but not an awful lot. I've been quite lucky this month with beauty boxes that have provided me with the majority of my favourites, and I was hoping to have my How 'bout Them Apples? palette to add to this post but it didn't arrive in time!

First up had to be the Iconic 3 palette from Make Up Revolution. I have been absolutely loving this palette all month. I really wanted to get my hands on Naked 3 by Urban Decay when it first came out, but just couldn't bring myself to splash the cash! For £4 this is a fantastic dupe and I've been loving the looks I've been able to create with it. Now I just have to stop myself from picking up all the others in this range!

Love Me Beauty has been good to me this month, by introducing me to two of my favourites! This Neal and Wolf shampoo smells absolutely divine and has left my hair feeling silky and looking super shiny. I've also been loving the Betty Hula Wonder Oil. In preparation for my holiday I've been using this regularly, and I have definitely seen a difference in my stretchmarks. They are gradually fading, but I'm not sure I have enough in this sample to get them fully gone. I might have to break out the Bio-Oil! 

My final favourite for April is the Rimmel mattifying BB cream. I received this sample in the March You Beauty Discovery box and I've been wearing it to work pretty much every day this month. It provides a really nice lightweight cover, and lasts all day. On hotter days I've been applying a powder over the top to just give it a little bit of help, but I don't think it really needed it. This is a great product, and for only £6.99 it's a bargain. My sample tube is probably going to last me ages as I only need a tiny amount at a time!

Have you tried any of this month's favourites? Have you got any suggestions for me to try out for next month?

New Barry M Gelly Polish Shades

How pretty are these? The new Gelly polishes from Barry M are bang on trend for spring, and while I couldn't allow myself to pick up the minty green shade (I already have so many mint green polishes...) I did let myself get the other ones!

Rose Hip is a gorgeous girly pastel pink, with the trademark Gelly shine. I found the formula of both of these polishes to be a bit streaky, but I think if I hadn't been so impatient to get these photographed, three coats would have been better than two. I'm really glad I picked this up from Superdrug, as it's really different from the normal colours I tend to go for. It's nice to have a bit of a change every now and then!

Huckleberry is more my usual nail polish choice! Again, you can see here that the polish has applied quite in quite a streaky way, but I do think that with these pale shades three coats is really necessary.

The New spring Barry M Gelly polishes are £3.99 each and are available here.
What do you think to the new shades? Do you have a favourite?

February Favourites

I can't believe how fast February has gone! I'm really enjoying the first signs of spring though, we're starting to have a few more sunny days here in the UK and flowers are starting to pop up! And it's my birthday in March so obviously this is my favourite month ;)

 

 

 

 

First up is this gorgeous hair oil from the February Birchbox. I really wasn't expecting to like this as I've never used a hair oil before, but I've just been applying a small amount of this to my hair when I get out of the shower and it has made a massive difference! My hair is now silky smooth and fantastic to style as well. A full size bottle of this will set you back £16, and it's available here.

I've also fallen completely head over heels with the new Barry M Silk collection! They just scream spring to me, and I am 100% in the mood to start digging out some pastels. These are £3.99 each, and are available at Boots and Superdrug. I've got full review of these bad boys here.

I've been loving this gentle cleansing milk from La Claree. This came with the February Love Me Beauty box, and initially I was a bit sceptical. However, after using it for a few weeks, I've had my mind changed! This removes make up and grime really well (apart from mascara) and leaves my skin feeling refreshed and smooth. I've not had any breakouts since using this, and my skin seems to just drink it up! What more could you ask for? This retails for about £19 for a 150ml bottle, and is available here.

Next up and also from the February Love Me Beauty box is this dry conditioner from Percy & Reed. This is another product that I was initially unsure about, as haircare isn't really something I tend to go for! I'm normally just a shampoo and conditioner kind of girl. But this is just so easy to use, I've just been spraying a small amount on my hairbrush in the morning and it just adds a gorgeous shine to my hair on days when it's looking a bit dull. You can get this here for £12.

Pretty much every day since I bought it, I've been wearing Katy Perry's Killer Queen fragrance. I absolutely love it. I already did a quick review of it earlier this month which you can find here. It's such a gorgeous perfume, and the bottle is super awesome too! You can get this from Boots and Superdrug, and the 100ml bottle costs around £30.

Finally, the Garden of Eden palette from Sleek. I knew as soon as I saw this palette that I'd absolutely have to get my hands on it! I love the range of gorgeous earthy colours, the browns and pinks are perfect, and the greens are simply stunning. You can see my full review of it here. This palette is £7.99 and is available from Sleek's website here.

Phew! Quite a few favourites this month! I'm so pleased that I'm getting introduced to products that I wouldn't normally choose for myself through being subscribed to beauty boxes, and those products are becoming firm favourites. Have you tried any of my February faves? If you have, what did you think of them?

Barry M Silk Nail Effects

As soon as I saw the new collection from Barry M, I knew I'd be adding a few polishes to my collection! The Silk collection has a pearlescent matte sheen which looks absolutely gorgeous. The polishes are available in a range of pastel shades, just in time for spring!

 

The three shades I picked are Meadow (green), Mist (blue) and Heather (lilac). I love the finish of these polishes, however I did find that they seemed to take longer to dry than I would normally expect from Barry M polishes, and I also noticed that they were quite easy to dent or mark. Unfortunately if you were to use a top coat you would lose the beautiful silky sheen, but if you want these to last a top coat is probably going to be a must. 

Trying to pick a favourite out of these three shades is basically impossible, they're all absolutely beautiful. The other shades available are a baby pink, a pearly white and a kind of tan gold colour. They're available from Boots and Superdrug and are £3.99 each.

Nails of the Day #5

There's nothing like a sparkly nail polish for new years! I've been loving the look of the new Barry M Royal Textured Glitter Collection, so I decided to pick up Gold Majesty in Superdrug during their 3 for 2 sale. 

I'm pretty much in love with this polish. Not only is it a great shade with plenty of sparkle, it's super strong too. I've had this on for two days now, without a top or base coat, and it hasn't chipped at all. I'm very impressed. I've certainly got my eye on a couple of other shades in this range. Purple Duchess and White Pearl look fantastic, I might just have to nab these next time I'm in town. The polishes are £3.99 each, and Gold Majesty is available here.

Nails of the Day #4

NYC have a new range of top coats, which I happened to spot a while back in Superdrug. The Rock Muse Smoky top coats come in a range of shades, to add an extra smoky shimmer to your polishes! I picked up Green Day, because I'm a sucker for green glitter.

 

I had to think for quite a bit over what shade to pair this up with, and eventually settled on Barry M's Gelly Nail Paint in Watermelon. 

I only used one coat of the Watermelon, and I think if I was going to do this look again, I'd use two. I was a bit worried about the top coat not showing up much if the base was too dark, but the glitter makes it stand out quite nicely. There are some quite chunky bits of glitter mixed in with smaller bits in this polish, which makes me wonder whether it will last as a top coat, as I always seem to chip off big pieces of glitter pretty easily. I love the look this creates though, even on it's own this top coat could be quite a fun polish.

The Rock Muse top coats are £1.99 each, and are available from Superdrug. I could only find the black shade on their website, but you can check out the other colours available here.

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint

Today's feature post is for Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints. I absolutely love the colours available in this range, and the fruity names they have!

 

From left to right: Pomegranate, Dragon Fruit, Mango,  Blueberry, Guava, and Watermelon

L-R: Pomegranate, Mango, Blueberry, Guava

Top-bottom: Pomegranate, Mango, Blueberry, Watermelon

Dragon Fruit

 These polishes claim to be 'Hi-Shine' and they really are. The pictures show the polishes applied with 2 coats, and no top coat. I love how the colours are so bright after only two coats, I was particularly impressed with the orange, as I've found that neon colours sometimes are nowhere near as bright as they appear in the bottle. I will definitely be trying to get my hands on some more colours in this range, although I've got to try and remember which shades I've already got! I recently bought a second bottle of the Blueberry shade by accident.

These polishes are available from Boots and Superdrug for £3.99 each.