Barry M’s latest releases include a colourful line-up of nail polishes, eye shadow palettes and mascaras. The brand’s make-up is often overshadowed by its nail offerings, which you all know I rate, so which are worthy of attention - or not? I’ve been testing them out over the last month and thought I’d share which worked best for me and which I’d pass on.
EYE SHADOW PALETTES
- Natural Glow - a mix of nude toned matte and shimmer shadows with a tinted eye primer.
- Super Chic - a Superdrug limited edition palette of Autumnal eye shadows with an eye primer
- Starry Eyed - limited edition palette with six eye shadows in deep, rich tones & an orange-coral blush with gold shimmer.
Natural Glow has the lightest payoff and although pretty, I think there are better nude palettes around at budget prices (eg Make-up Revolution & Sleek). The one that really impressed me was Starry Eyed. I use the middle bronzey taupe all over my lid, the matte aubergine shade to its right in my socket and the beautiful metallic midnight blue as liner. The colours in this are well pigmented and last as well as much pricier options when applied over Urban Decay eye primer (I always need a primer for eye shadow).
SHOWGIRL MASCARA
I love the metallic pink and silver starry packaging of Showgirl mascaras and was really excited to try them, but these didn’t work well on my lashes, which need all the help they can get! The Extra Volume formula gives some definition and a buildable natural finish (rather than va-va-voom volume), but the Extra Lengthening barely showed up on my little sad lashes. I’d love to know if these did work for any of you?!
NAILS
As ever, the nail polishes were the absolute stars of the show for me - from rich glossy crèmes to rainbow glitters in both fine and chunky formulas. Personally I wasn’t so fussed on the semi-matte Silk finish, but hey… we can’t all love the same things. Watch this space for swatches of the nail shades in tomorrow’s post! I’ve already featured a few of them in my Pink & Plum post.
To summarise, I’d say go for the deep coloured eye palettes, skip the mascara and stock up on the nail polish!
Barry M is available at Boots & Superdrug (on 3 for 2 at both)
