Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Creams Review

So I was in Superdrug the other day and this little beauty caught my eye. Of course I checked for parabens (I've been caught out so many times!) and decided that, at £7.99, I was going to grab them up. By the way, these beauties are cruelty free and vegan, so good for people that don't like their cosmetics tested on animals.

Normally, as an oily/combination skinned gal, I contour and highlight after powdering my skin, but it's good to change it up a bit after being stuck in the same routine year after year...
So I put on my foundation and concealer, then went to work with the contouring colour...

Oh, yeah! Check out the girl who can't even contour! Haha! The cream contour just glides on to the skin so smoothly, and it's very pigmented, which was great.

I then started blending it out with a damp Real Techniques miracle sponge. If you use less contour colour, it blends out to a very natural finish. I used a heavier hand as I wanted a more bronzed and more obvious contour.

First she can't contour, now she's pulling faces, y'all... Ahem, yeah, so once I blended out the contour, I went in with the highlight colour, which is a lightish cream colour and blended that in with the Real Techniques sponge again.

So this was the finished look, without any powder. It didn't look seamless, So I used my Real Techniques contour brush and blended my forehead and cheeks a little more, then set it with powder, finished my face around 12pm and went about my day.

And this is me at around 8pm. I have been quite impressed with this contour kit, and it's at a good price too. These are creams so they can feel and look odd upon application, but once blended out looks and feels much better and not so heavy on the skin. I personally would advise that these be set with a powder after blending too, as cream shifts and slides easily across the skin. I also found that my sponges got clogged up with the cream very quickly, so I use two Real Techniques contour brushes for blending it all out; one for the contour, one for the highlight.

I really enjoy using this kit, and will continue to use it as a nice way to change up my makeup routine. Does anyone else have this kit? I'd love to hear your thoughts xx

Review: Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Lips Pencil

I'm a huge fan of red lips (as you may well know) so when I saw this cute little pencil I thought I'd have to add it to my collection. 

If this colour has a name it doesn't seem to be on the pencil, so I'm going to call it Bright Pillarbox. It's a lovely, shiny, creamy, bright-yet-true red, that applies smoothly and has a great opaque colour. 

This is a lovely colour that's easy to wear, but like most balms/glosses, it does need to be reapplied after eating and drinking. Considering also that this is a pencil, it requires being sharpened, so there will be some loss, but these pencils are around £5 so it's not a huge issue. 

Apart from reapplication and loss, I still think that this colour is great and the price is reasonable. 

Anyone else like these pencils? Don't like them? Let me know xx

Review: Barry M Liquid Eyebrow Marker

There's nothing like a little retail therapy to help "alleviate" a chest infection, so while I was buying pain killers and the such, I came across this little pen. 

I was immediately intrigued by it, so the shade 'Dark Brown' joined my medicines in the basket. 

So here is my natural eyebrow, untouched. My brows are wiry and sparse from mid lengths to the ends, so I always fill them in as best I can. 

I filled out the tail end first with the pen. The first thing I noticed is how much product comes out. It didn't matter how light handed I was, the liquid came out fast, making it look clumsily applied. 

I continued on... 

I filled out the rest of my eyebrow. Although the colour is a good match, there is simply too much liquid coming out of the tip, making my brows very noticeably drawn on and cartoon-like. 

My thoughts: The liquid dries fast, so it doesn't require any setting, plus it's long wearing, but at the same time there's just too much liquid coming out of the tip. It is very hard to apply, even with the lightest touch, so it's almost impossible to make the brows look natural in any way. This is probably best used for nights out or very obvious in-your-face makeup looks. 

Any brow products that you like/love and recommend?