A/W 2013 | Vanity Claire

We’ll state the absolute bloody obvious first: we love Barry M. Doesn’t everyone? Is there honestly anybody in the country whose life is not instantly improved when they set eyes upon that glowing technicoloured makeup stand of dreams in Boots? Well, apart from obvious people like dads who only care about football and pork pies, of course.

Whenever Barry M launch new products I basically become borderline hysterical with excitement – I’m sure my colleagues would be well within their rights to slap me to get me to calm down, to be honest (though if any of them tried it then I would be forced to open a can of whoop ass). So when photos and info of the brand’s new Autumn/Winter products started to pop up on my feed, I immediately had to have a look. And guess what – I’m excited.

Flawless Matte Finish Foundation

First up is this new range of foundation. Historically, I’ve always stuck to Barry M’s ‘fun’ products – i.e. the nail varnishes, lipsticks, lip glosses and the much-revered Dazzle Dusts. I’ve never really tried out their more basic items, but it definitely seems to be a market they’re trying to elbow their way into. These matte finish foundations are VERY exciting to me; as a chronic sufferer of Shiny Nose Syndrome (or SNS as it shall henceforth be known) I’m always attracted to more matte formulas but have yet to find one that truly does the job. This oil-free base which also promises to be hydrating could just be my saviour. Also, see that? They’re not just blendable; they’re SUPER blendable. Super exciting.

Eye and Cheek Palettes
‘Natural Glow’

‘Smokin’ Hot’

‘Glamour Puss’

These eye and cheek palettes promise to be a big success, with six eyeshadows and a blush together in a handy mirrored compact with two applicators. It’s nice to see Barry M stepping away from their typical brights and actually offering some great neutral shades alongside the shimmering colours you’d expect. I’ve only very recently dipped my ~~massive~~ generously-sized toe into the waters of eyeshadow application, so I’m thinking a couple of these could be superb additions to my makeup bag.

Lash Vegas Waterproof Mascara

I haven’t tried the original Lash Vegas mascara, but now there’s a waterproof version for all the weep-prone ladies out there. The spiral-shaped brush aims to catch all the little lashes and add definition and volume. I’m tempted to buy this and only ever wear it on Saturday nights – I have a strange tendency to cry at X Factor when ugly people get standing ovations (no, I don’t know why) so this could stop me from looking panda-eyed as well as completely ridiculous.

Matte Nail Paints

For me, these are definitely the most exciting of the new products. I haven’t tried any matte nail varnishes yet, as most of the high street offerings seem to have received pretty poor reviews. Whenever Barry M hop on a new nail bandwagon though, they tend to do it brilliantly so hopefully these will live up to the hype. I think matte black in particularly looks amazing on nails, so I’ll be very keen to give these a try.

Royal Glitter Collection Nail Paints

Barry M’s glitter varnishes are up there as one of my favourite things in the world EVER, alongside puppies and Viennese Whirls. Some of the Textured Effect range has been hit and miss for me, but they’re always exciting to try and are guaranteed to give you an interesting look – and these glittery shades will be perfect as we get closer to Christmas party season.

Crystal Glaze Topcoat

A crystallised finish top coat? If there’s anything that can get your inner J-Lo excited, then surely it’s that combination of words. Ever a fan of a chavvy nail and polishes with ‘bits’ in, I’ll definitely be giving this a go.

All of these products are due to launch on 25th of September in Superdrug, and the 2nd of October in Boots – which, fact fans, is two days before my birthday, giving you two whole days to go and buy me many many matte polishes as gifts.

What do you all think of these new products? Are you excited to try any of them?

Lauren and I make no secret of the fact that we love Primark. It was therefore with great fervour that I rushed to Look’s website to have the first peek at the new Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. The items aren’t due to launch in stores til August, but going into Primark is like going into battle (hands up who’s had a pushchair try to plough over them like a tank?) and so strategic planning is necessary.

Primark seems to have gone up a lot in people’s estimations recently, with many saying that their S/S 2013 collection and the pieces available on ASOS were all indicative of them really upping their game. So what do we make of the A/W collection?

To put it bluntly, I’m not hugely impressed. I don’t think this is anything personal against Primark, rather I just don’t think this winter is going to be very ‘me’ in general. I was a big fan of last year’s gothic-inspired stuff, but I think this winter I was hoping to see something a bit more cheerful. Alas, no. It’s all doom and bloody gloom again.

Dominatrixes, rejoice! Leather looks set to hang around. I do normally like leather, but a lot of the pieces this season have a crackled, patent finish that I’m not a fan of. I do like the mixing of textures on the leather, varsity-esque jumper though, so hopefully there’ll be some more bits like that that I can scoop up.

Another key look seems to be tartan. Again, I’m not a fan. Unless tartan is coming at me in the form of James McAvoy in a kilt ready to cart me off for a traditional Scottish wedding then I’ll leave it, ta. Lauren and I have discussed it at length (I do wonder how we still have jobs) and she thinks a pair of tartan trousers could work, while I’m willing to maybe try a tartan scarf if I absolutely have to. In the name of blogging, of course.

As we move onto the accessories in the collection, my sense of bewilderment begins to border on anguish. What are these cheap, be-jeweled pieces? I love statement jewellery, but the only things these seem to state is ‘hiya, I’m crap’.

Next, the shoes. Someone please explain to me when it suddenly became okay for heels to be this height? And slingback? And pointy-toed? Oh Yahweh, please take me from this world because I do not want to exist anymore.

FINALLY, there are some things that I do actually like. And what I do like, I like a lot. All of these are simply delightful:

And I’m sure once it all actually arrives there will be plenty of other pieces that I love in store. If not, then I’ll still be sporting neon and mesh and refusing to accept that S/S has ended, so please just bear with me through this difficult time.

What do you all think of the Primark’s A/W 2013 collection? Which pieces do you like?

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