New Look Sale Purchases

I picked up 3 necklaces in New Look's recent sale all of which I had wanted to buy previously but never got round to buying. I took the packaging off of the necklaces which had the price on it and so now I can't remember what the original prices were but know that two of them were reduced to £4 and one was reduced to £3 and I'm pretty certain that the prices were originally £7.99 and £6.99. I love all of these necklaces and find them so easy to put with outfits and so have been wearing them a lot.

My friends thought this necklace looked cheap and tacky (HOW DARE THEY HAVE A DIFFERING OPINION) but I honestly love it and think it's such a good statement necklace! I love the gold and white together and I don't own anything else like it. The only problem I have is that it sits really high up around my neck which I don't like the look of and so I need to find the chain extender which I stole from my mum but then lost a few weeks later (damn it).

I didn't intentionally choose monochrome themed necklaces but, for a while now, I have been constantly buying gold coloured necklaces and haven't bought any coloured or silver ones for what seems like forever. I also bought a cream lace leotard from the sale and, after some persuasion from my friends (I would have just bought it regardless), I asked if it would be able to be reduced further because it had a red pen stain on it and so got it for £3 instead of £5. I wish I bought some earrings from the sale as I've gotten so bored with the earrings I have recently and really need to get some more (I don't really) but, alas, I did not.

Review: Accessorize Baked Bronzer Duo in Laguna

A few weeks ago I was looking around Superdrug (how odd of me) and saw that a lot of the Accessorize products were reduced by a few pounds including their range of baked bronzers. I always loved the look of these bronzers however I  find them to be quite pricey at their usual price of £5.95 (I have an incredibly cheap taste as you can probably tell) but, with the reduced price, they were only £3.95. I'm not sure whether the bronzers are being discontinued or maybe repackaged because I looked on Superdrug's website to double check the price but couldn't see them. Either both my glasses and contact lenses have stopped functioning or they have been taken down from the website but I'm pretty sure they'll do a Terminator and be back. I bought shade number 3 which is called Laguna (quick, someone alert Nars) but kind of took a risk cause my Superdrug is a shambles and I don't think the testers correlate to the product shown behind it haha.

My first impressions were how dang pretty it was both in terms of the case and the actual product itself. I love how the lid flips open and seems sturdy so even if I drop it (which I have...multiple times) it won't break, and, appearance wise, it really reminds me of a Mac Mineralize Skinfinish, not that I own one, sob.

I usually don't tend to go for bronzers with a sheen to them as I don't like the idea of having a shimmery face and so prefer a flat shade where I can then add highlighter in a controlled way. However I have found this to be the perfect amount of sheen, shimmer and glow to create a colour for a healthy look and has been really suitable for the sunshine we've been having. I tend to use the left hand side for the main colour on my cheeks and then use the right hand side to highlight on top of my cheek bones. However, mixing the two halves together creates a really glowy look that I love as well so I live life on the edge and decide at the very last second which direction my brush will take (please note: extreme sarcasm). I find that it really suits being paired with a bright lipstick and so has been a good go-to product for me. The colour isn't at all orange which I find can be a problem with bronzers and seems to have a bit of a peachy undertone which I really like and the right hand side also has flecks of gold which look nice when catching the light.

The left swatch is the left hand side of the product by itself and you can see that it is already quite glowy even on it's own. The middle swatch is the right hand side of the product which is a lot lighter and so is ideal for highlighting and, finally, (hands up, who saw this coming?) the last swatch is the result of the two sides mixed as one which creates a lovely peachy gold colour.

I honestly love this bronzer and expect it will last a long time as you only need to use a small amount because it is really pigmented and so soft and easy to pick up onto a brush. There were a few more shades available in the same form and all followed the same idea as a darker side on the left and a lighter side on the right so there is most likely a shade to suit all skin tones.

Barry M Purchases

I always love the colour range of Barry M lipsticks but, in the past, my mum has bought some really nice shades that look amazing but, when wearing them, are incredibly dry upon application and just not flattering at all! As a result I only own the Touch of Magic lipstick which I think is amazing and would definitely recommend to people just because it's so unusual and people can be like WHAT NO WHY ARE YOU PUTTING GREEN ON YOUR LIPS and then you can go all Blue Peter on them. However, I decided to go to Boots with the intention of buying a Barry M lipstick to see whether all of the lipsticks had the same drying effect and put my preconceptions to the test (dun dun dun).

I decided to buy shade 151, which is named as Sunset on the Barry M website, as it is such a lovely bright pinky, coral (I am literally the worst person at describing colours, they all end up being a broad 'pinky coral') and is a really nice shade for warmer days. I haven't found this formula drying at all so far which I'm really happy about and think it may have just been the shades my mum owned previously that were drying. I find the staying power to be good but with a reapplication needed most likely after eating a meal. These lipsticks are £4.49 from Boots, Superdrug and the Barry M website which I think is entirely affordable and I love the writing across the lid as I think it adds a nice little finishing touch.

I also bought two lipliners as, when I went to my college induction, one of the teachers said about how important it is to use lipliners to get an even application and to also stop any lipstick bleeding into your skin and, ever since, I've been on the hunt for lipliners. I've never used any other lipliners apart from some of my mum's old ones that she gave to me so I have nothing to compare the quality to but so far they seem to be pretty good and do their job. I haven't really been using them as much as I had hoped as I'm always in a rush and don't have time but I want to experiment with making my cupid's bow more pointed and see whether I like the look or not.

The colour on the left is number 12 which is called Fuchsia on the website which is a bright Barbie (again, my use of description is atrocious, I've used the word Barbie on this blog so many times I swear!) pink which I can pair with quite a few of my lipsticks. I think this shade is particularly good to have as with light, but bright, lipsticks you can lose lip definition and I seriously cannot afford that because my lips are so thin anyway.

The shade on the right is number 2 named Dark Pink (I may have found my uncreative shade-naming match) on the website  which, again, I can pair with a lot of my lipsticks and would describe it as a very wearable cherry pink. These lipliners are £2.99 which is good value as I can see them lasting a long time considering their size. The lipliners have a smooth, soft and creamy formula and I also want to try filling in my whole lips with a lipliner and putting a balm over the top to see what it looks like and so seem like they'll be quite multifunctional in their use.

I also want to buy a brightly coloured orange lipliner as I wear orange lipstick a lotttttt and am on the look-out for one to match my Kate Moss Rimmel 107 shade! Also, my friend, Luke, started a blog today where he'll be reviewing films that he's watched so if you're interested please follow him! His blog is The Movie Diorama, thank you!