HELLO THERE, FOXY LADIES (and foxy men too). I was invited along to the new Smashbox store in the Bullring a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately because I haven’t tricked a rich man into marrying me yet and still have to work the 9-5, I wasn’t able to make it down. However, the lovely folk at Smashbox very kindly sent me a few of their new releases to try out – and what absolute beauties they are. I thought I’d put together this quick first impressions post so we can get get all loveheart-eye-emoji over the products together, and then you know what you need to rush out and buy immediately.
Barry M NEW Product Launches | A/W 2013
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?
MUA ‘Undress Me Too’ Eyeshadow Palette: Review & Swatches
Good evening lovers! Over these past couple of weeks, I definitely went on a bit of a beauty buying binge and one of my favourite new products is this oh-so-popular MUA eyeshadow palette, Undress Me Too. This retails at £4, however it was nowhere to be seen in my local Superdrug and was out of stock on both Superdrug and MUA‘s websites. For some reason though, I got obsessed with the idea of owning it one day and so ended up ordering one from an eBay seller who was selling them for about £7 – I KNOW that this is ridiculous, but Lauren was in Scotland and I had nobody to wrestle the laptop away from me.
Even though I did pay almost twice the RRP, I was still super excited when it plopped through my letterbox. Along with its predecessor, the ‘Undressed’ palette, ‘Undress Me Too’ is practically famous in the UK beauty blogging world. Both are known for being dupes of Urban Decay’s ‘Naked’ and ‘Naked 2’ palettes respectively – an association that I’m sure MUA were in no way advocating when they came up with their product names, of course..!
Now, I don’t own the Naked 2 palette so can’t comment on how much of a successful dupe it is; all I can safely say is that what we have here is a very nice little eyeshadow palette that’s pretty brilliant value for money (and even better value for money if you can buy it for RRP and not get swindled by eBay sellers). I’m not really an avid user of eyeshadows but am thinking this could be the product that changes this for me.
Naked / Devotion / Shy / Fiery / Lavish / Dreamy
Tranquil / Exposed / Reveal / Wink / Obsessed / Corrupt
As a huge fan of neutrals in everything, the shades are right up my street. There’s also a nice mixture of shimmer and matte shades in the palette, so you can create a variety of looks for different occasions. The pigmentation seems pretty good to me, and on first use there doesn’t seem to be a big problem with fall-out. The brush that comes with the palette is very basic and the packaging could be a little more inspired, but they’re really the only things to pick fault with so far. I’m very much looking forward to trying this out properly over the next couple of weeks and can see it becoming a staple part of my makeup bag.
Have any of you tried MUA‘s ‘Undress Me Too’ Palette? How do you think it matches up to Urban Decay’s ‘Naked 2’?