Nailed: Barry M Neon Pink

I'm so sorry I've been MIA the past couple of weeks, I've been staying with a friend in London while I looked for a new flat/house to live in for my second year at uni, and I let my camera at my parents house. I've got it back now and found a house, thank God!

Anyway, recently I was in Tantrum in Westfield in Stratford, where they do nail art stuff, and recently seem to have added a lot more makeup and jewelry to their stock. They also do nail art for you in store, which I need to check out some time soon!

They had a big Barry M stand and seemed to stock the entire line of Barry M makeup. I was very excited about that as I have a bit of an obsession with Barry M Nail Paints, but I have the most popular ones which tend to be stocked at smaller stands! I found a few polishes that I don't already own, but it was the neons that really caught my eye, and I came away with Neon Pink and a blue nail art pen by Tantrum. I would link to their website but there isn't much of it, you can find their facebook page here

Neon Pink is a really bright, almost, but not quite, highlighter pink. The thing that makes it slightly more interesting than a flat neon is that it has a very fine blue shimer to it, which accentuates its brightness. If you enlarge the photo the shimmer becomes much more apparent. It was opaque in 2 coats but I'm a 3 coat girl and used 3 for a perfect finish. One thicker coat could even have given adequate coverage.

Maybelline SuperStay 10h Tint Gloss Review

To forewarn; this is a scheduled post written a few weeks ago as I am currently teaching in Uganda. You can read about that adventure here

A few weeks ago I saw a video by FleurDeForce raving about the YSL Glossy Stains. I was really intrigued and desperately wanted to buy one several. However, being a student broke, I couldn't afford to drop £22.50 on one lip product. Then I saw an advert for Maybelline Tint Gloss, and a lightbulb went off in my head. I don't think their similarity is a coincidence!!

I have the shade Lasting Pink, which looks like a bright fuschia pink in the tube, but comes off more red on the lips.

The applicator for this gloss is really interesting and well designed, it is a loop rather than the standard doe-foot applicator, which pulls more product out of the tube, and distributes it more easily than a doe-foot too. More gloss wands like this please!!

When I applied this, I took Fleurs application tips into account, despite that fact this is a different product. I applied one coat which I buffed into my lips, and then another to give a glossy, even finish. I have included a lip swatch because the colour is quite different on the lips than on my arm, though my mouth looks like it belongs to an 80 year old lady in all the pictures, so please ignore that!! (and the two dark spots are lip freckles, they're wierd, I know.)

This lasted a fair few hours, and was not at all drying like a lot of lip stains are. I don't think it really lives up to its claim of being bright and glossy for ten whole hours, but it lasted a lot longer than a regular gloss. And at just £6.99 (here) I think I can live with needing to touch up.

I originally swatched this on my arm, planning to see if it remained after 10 hours. The problem is, I only decided to do this at about 9pm, so there was quite a high risk of me being asleep at the 10 hour mark, and of my getting bright pink stain on my bedding. Needless to say I removed it well before the 10 hours were up. Check out the swatch anyway though, as the colour is quite different to on the lips. Something to bear in mind when purchasing!

The bottom line? Totally reccomend. Great for summer!

Poison Arrow

I've wanted to do a really bright eye look for quite a while, and this was my first attempt. I feel a bit like my ideas just puked out of my head and onto my face, and I'm not too sure if I like it or not, but hey, it might entrtain you to see it!

I used;
17 Miracle Matte founation in porcelain,
mixed with Barry M foundation in White,
Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in 1, Fair.
MAC Studio Fix powder founation in NC15,
Sleek Blush by 3 Pinktini,

MAC Paintpot in Morning Frost (base)
Sleek Curacao Palette yellow (lid) and purple (outer corner) shades,
Sleek Monaco Palette Magenta Madness (crease)
Sleek Au Naturel Palette Nougat (brow highlight)
MAC fluidline in Blacktrack
17 Peep Show Mascara

MAC Amplified Lipstick in Girl About Town