NOTD: Barry M Indigo

I think the premise of Saturday Manicure is officially over since my weekends have been ridiculous recently. Perks of working in retail I guess, sigh. I also have to apologise in advance for my shoddy brush work and the fact that the paint has been indented with all sorts of horrific marks! Boo. But here goes.

 I have a ton of Barry M polishes. They are great value at £2.99 and come in a huge array of shades. Indigo is a beautiful deep blue. It's almost navy under artificial lighting but shines a lovely dark prussian blue in the sun. It definitely leans more purple than green.

As always application was very easy, the varnish is smooth and the brush, though not perfect, is a good shape to fill the nail in 3 strokes. The first layer of this varnish goes on very patchy but after a second coat it has perfect coverage and a high shine finish.

My right hand fared a little better.

I've already had a few compliments on this lovely shade and I think it would look even better with a fine glitter topcoat in gold or silver. Very "midnight-sky" looking. The Glamour Glitter from Nails Inc and Glamour magazine would be ideal. Barry M Nail Paints such as Indigo can be bought from Boots, Superdrug or direct from the Barry M Website for just £2.99.

Have you tried Indigo? What do you think of Barry M nail varnishes in general?

Lauren

Mini Super Drug Haul: MUA and I love...

Everyone knows about the fantastic 3 for 2 offer on at Superdrug at the moment (ends December 4th aka my 4 year anniversary, eek!) and I decided that it was high time I took advantage of it myself. I'm feeling extremely strapped for cash at the minute because payday isn't 'til Monday, so naturally I headed straight for the MUA section.
Previous to this I was a total MUA virgin. Never touched the stuff, never even heard of it before I started blogging. That is until I swatched a few bits yesterday and gasped at the gorgeous pigmentation of the eyeshadows! Wow. I've also heard great things about the lipsticks so I grabbed 3 and I threw in a nail varnish for good measure.

Excuse the weird sticky stain. They all had these horrible little "new" stickers on and I clearly suck at removing stickers.

 In daylight.

At night with flash. (first and second swapped round, sorry)

The labelling on these is literally the most confusing thing. There were some numbers on the stickers and one of them had two different names on two different stickers?! So bizarre. I'll update with the shades if I can figure it out. They look super pretty and I can't wait to try them on my lips.

I'm a sucker for metallic browns and these bronze and gold shades are just beautiful. They are so pigmented and smooth. These are in shade 28 and 30.

The nail varnish is in Plum Noir. Unbelievably I picked all this up for £4. Oh my goodness. My purse was very grateful!

As I was browsing the bath bits a brand caught my eye which is simply called "I love..." this is very Philosophy style packaging, super sleek and quirky but without the price tag.

This raspberry and blackberry scent was by far my favourite. It smells incredible. It actually smells just like my current addiction, Sainsburys own Raspberry Sorbet, tastes. I know that's a weird way to describe it but you'd know what I mean if you tried it! I got this huge 500ml bottle for just £2.05 which is fantastic and picked up the matching lip balm for 99p.

Sadly I wasn't able to smell the lipbalm in store because it plastic wrapped and there wasn't any testers but to be honest I'm a bit disappointed! It's nowhere near as nice as the wash smells and when I tried it it was hard and waxy and difficult to use. I'm not sure if it just needs warming a little but I'll post a review when I've had a few tries with it.

So that's everything! Expect some swatches and reviews in due time.

What have you picked up at Superdrug recently? And what do you think of the featured brands?

Lauren

FOTD: Off Duty Cool

I usually don't wear any make up when I'm relaxing inside the house but when I'm out and about during daytime I like a light wash of skin brightening make up. Inevitably, if you go out looking like you just woke up, you will run into your ex/that girl that was mean at school/that person that you had a crush on for like a year and they never asked you out.

1. A smooth moisturised base with light foundation and concealer and little bit of highlighter on the cheek bones.

2. A champagne coloured shimmer shadow washed over the lid and a little under the bottom lash line. I used Marshmallow Shimmer Cube from The Body Shop. Choc Chip was used to just add a slight shadow to my upper lash line.

3. A couple of slicks of mascara, I used Maybelline's Collosal Cat Eyes.

4. For a teensy bit of colour, I blended out a smudge of Barry M's Flamingo Peach on my lips and topped with a Body Shop peachy lip gloss and I used The Body Shop's Macaroon blush to brighten the apples of my cheeks.

My hair here is what I'm most proud of ( I know it's not exactly face!) This was achieved using the Enrapture Totem Styler, which I've been using for the past couple of weeks, on setting 2-2-2 (using chunky sections.) I used Tresemme Heat Defence before blow drying and before tonging and Silvikrin Hair Spray to set before lightly brushing out. Great, effortless-looking big curls! This is my favourite off-duty hair style. I'll do a review on that styler soon and show you a few of the great ways to use it.

What's your go-to relaxed weekend look?

Lauren

p.s. I know that my hair is 3 different colours :( I'm a natural dark blonde and I'm trying to gracefully grow out my chemical laden locks. Please be kind!

My Body Shop Collection

I really am dedicated to this brand. A lot of it has to do with where I live. It's a really small town and there are no department stores and beauty counters and fabulous makeovers. There is literally a Boots, a Superdrug and The Body Shop. Boots has a Clinique/Lancome/No7/Elizabeth Arden section but I used to work there and I know for a fact that are mostly all manned by nasty b*tches (I hate saying that but it's true) and to be honest I don't really want them earning commission from it and I feel like they wouldn't respect me as a customer anyway. I've had a few occasions when I've returned something and the staff have expected me to go and pick up the replacement myself, despite the fact that they are supposed to do it, just because I used to work there. I wouldn't do it where I work to old colleagues so why should they?

Oh my gosh this is turning into such a rant. Basically I like to come into a store for skincare and cosmetics and actually have them talk to me about the products and help me choose shades/types etc. That is what a beauty shopping experience should be like. I am actually quite good friends with the manager in my local Body Shop now and it has made the world of difference to my shopping experiences. I look forward to going in there. 

So... needless to say I have picked up a few items. I felt that it would be fun to kind of lay them all out and see how much I've got. So here is the photo evidence... oh dear...

Yes there is a lot. To be fair, the Tea Tree skincare collection is my boyfriends. And the apple body wash has almost ran out.  Hmm.  Let's take a closer look.

So we have:

3x Body Washes

3x Body Butters

2x Facial Washes

1x Exfoliating Wash

1x Exfoliating Pads

1x Eye Shadow

3x Shimmer Cubes

1x Toner

1x Night Cream

2x Day Moisturiser

1x Blemish Balm

1x Lip Balm

1x Lip Butter

1x Blush

1x Powder Base

1x Foundation

1x Face and Body Brush

2x Eyeshadow Brushes

1x Highlighting Concealer

1x Lipgloss

1x Vanilla Bliss Gift Set

1x Body Mist

1x Body Polish

1x Mineral Mask

1x Eyeliner

2x Mascara (the other is stored away and unopened!)

1x Bath Lily

1x Make Up Cleanser/Remover

Total: 38 (47 if you count the shimmer cubes as individual shadows)

Terrible. But to be fair this is the only thing I really splurge on. Oh well. If they make me happy then who cares?

Have you got a single brand collection to rival this?! Send me links to posts!

Lauren

The Body Shop Haul no.2

I won't show you them all together because I have a collection post up next so I want you to get the full impact! Alright, so a few days ago my boyfriend tells me that he's picked a mature female coworker for his secret santa and he has no idea what to get but he knows that she likes The Body Shop! Cue my expertise (i.e. shopping with his card.) I had a few vouchers so here's what I bought:

This is the Vanilla Bliss Christmas Gift Set. This is great value at £15 and contains everything you need for an indulgent experience! Included is: Vanilla Bliss Soap Bar, Vanilla Bliss Body Butter, Vanilla Bliss Shower Cream and Vanilla Bliss Body Polish. This was the gift that I picked for the lovely Theresa!  The packaging is so beautiful on this, champagne and gold metallic tin with a snowflake pattern plus that gorgeous cream bow! I would love to receive this and Jake was pleasantly surprised with the quality of what I picked.

A word on the Christmas collection at The Body Shop this year, it is somewhat hit and miss. The cranberry joy scent, which is what I was most excited about trying, was really inconsistent. Everything smelt a little bit different and to be honest, cheap, which is terrible considering the price and the quality that I'm used to from the brand. The vanilla was lovely and soft, and the butter literally smelt like Walls Vanilla ice cream! I don't know if that's a good thing for you or not but I felt like this was the safest option for a gift for someone I know next to nothing about! The stand out for me was the ginger sparkle collection. Oh my gosh! What an amazing rich spicy scent. But, despite the fact that I adored it, the friend I was shopping with couldn't stand it! She likes musky and floral scents so if you have similar taste, the ginger might not be for you. Everything in the ginger collection had a really uniform scent and just felt amazing. It was like Christmas for me.

Which is why I had to pick up...

This collection is so cute! Ginger Sparkle Body Polish, £10.

I haven't tried this yet but I am so excited. It smells divine. I love spicy/nutty/fruity smells and this is just perfect for me. I can't wait! I've been told that this is a light enough exfoliant to use every day, which is great news for my dry winter skin which could use a bit of buffing.

Earth Lovers Watermelon and Eucalyptus Shower Gel, £5.

I'm tempted to keep this for Spring because it is such a lovely fresh smell. I actually hate all kinds of melon... the taste and the texture is just awful for me. But bizarrely I love the smell of watermelon and it really reminds me of being on holiday and just being totally relaxed and cool. This product brings back all those wonderful memories and I love it. It's also 100% biodegradable. Love your planet!

Satsuma Body Mist, £8

I've been using this since the second I sprayed some on in the shop. Apparently I love smelling like citrus fruit. Who new? This is a great light alternative to perfume and I even spritz a little in my hair. It was so difficult to choose a mist as they were all lovely, but this won me over in the end. Particularly as I have a satsuma body butter mini that I'm using with it. Instant Winter-blues removal. Ahh.

Vineyard Peach Shower Gel, £4

This collection was only released a few months ago and it's already a firm favourite with lots of shoppers. I adore this scent and I can't wait to use it! I also bought the Body Butter from the same range...

Vineyard Peach Body Butter, £13

Mmm. I will be definitely be using these together! This butter is the same great quality but it's a little lighter than my Shea Body Butter so it will be better suited to the warmer months.

Aloe Gentle Exfoliator, £9

I already have lots of bits from this range and I wanted to pick up a new exfoliator. Up until now I had been using Soap and Glory's Face Soap occasionally but it just felt really harsh and left my eyes stinging. I've used this product twice now and it feels AMAZING. I love it so much, it was exactly what I was looking for. The "grit" inside is super fine and just gently buffs away dead skin without irritation or stinging. Fantastic addiction to my collection.

Aloe Soothing Moisture Lotion SPF15, £11

I already religiously apple the aloe night cream but I needed something light for day to put under my foundation. I love that this has SPF in it because so many facial products don't and it's easy to forget sun protection when you live in England. (I've read some really horrible studies about sun damage recently so this was super important for me.) This makes it easy for lazy old me to stay safe! This applies like a dream and soaks in super fast. It's actually out of stock on the internet right now so check out your local store if this is something you're interested in.

Warming Mineral Mask, £10

I've been looking for a mask for a while so that I could give myself a regular deep cleansing facial. This is just the ticket! I used this during my Sunday night pamper session and wow what a dream! This really does warm up beautifully and stays warm too unlike some other warming products. I felt radiant and cleansed afterwards and it was so relaxing. Great buy.

Eye Colour in Star Silver, £5 (down from £8)

I struggled to do justice for this gorgeous shade. It's a richly pigmented bright silver and just perfect for the festive season. I can't wait to use this with my teal shimmer cubes!

All in all worth £91. And I spent £43. What a saving!

So that's everything. What did you think? Have you got any of these products? What's your opinion on the Christmas collections? Let me know!

Lauren

p.s. I know the background in these looks rough, it's not filthy I swear! I live in a really old building with the original Victorian window fixtures, so all the paint is a mess and I have metal window frames. Sorry!

Quick Question

I actually somehow managed to achieve yet another Body Shop haul yesterday because my boyfriend needed me to pick up a secret Santa for his 40 year old female colleague and I had a few vouchers. Would anybody actually want to see what I bought or am I literally boring everyone to death with The Body Shop?!

Naughty Vouchers

Please let me know.