Barry M Range Review

Who are They: Barry Mero (yes, he really is a man! And no, he's not Barry Manilow!), created this make up range in 1982, after realising that no make up companies offered the "dynamic, outrageous make up" that all of his 1980's clients were demanding. Anyone who remembers the eighties, will remember that bright was key in the sense of make up and clothing!

Almost thirty years later, and the Barry M range is still as bright, bold and outrageous as it always has been, encouraging young women, to step away from  neutral colours, and opt for bright colours as a form of expression.

What do they do? Whilst they tend to aim more towards providing the colour to our make up palettes, like eye shadows, eye liners, nail varnish, and lip glosses, over recent years, Barry M have begun moving into a wider range, including foundations, and more recently concealers. However, their overall appeal is still predominantly in their amazingly wide variety of bright coloured dazzle dusts, that are not only for the eyes, but for the face as well. 

Why are they so brilliant: Because they offer practically every single colour that you could possibly think of, in both dazzle dusts and nail polishes. Any colour that you could possibly want, either to match a certain outfit, or just because you feel like, there is a huge chance that Barry M will offer it.

From personal experience, some years ago I had a lovely dark blue (almost black) nail varnish that eventually dried up (as they inevitably always do). But, by the time I'd thought to go buy another (because I really did love that nail varnish, and I never felt that black did anything, other than make my fingers look weirdly pale!), I'd forgotten what brand I'd got the nail varnish, and I couldn't find it anywhere. Then I'm introduced to Barry M, and yippee, Navy coloured nail varnish. Of course, a lot of brands now offer similar colours, like Midnight Blue, but at the time, Barry M was the only brand to offer it.

Another great thing about Barry M's Dazzle Dusts is that they come in little pots of loose powder, and the colours are so bold, that you don't need to use a lot in one go, so they literally last forever. The first colour I bought, about four years ago (green), is still over 3/4 full, even though I still use it quite a lot!

The nail varnishes are also renowned for being quite cheap, and have even won the InStyle 2010 Best Beauty Buys Award for Best Inexpensive Nail Varnish. 

Why are they not so Brilliant? Not really a huge gripe, but a lot of shops don't actually sell Barry M products. They're pretty much exclusive to Amazon and directly from Barry M (online, of course), plus physically in Superdrug and larger Boots (my local Boots doesn't offer them). So, if you don't have a Superdrug, or a larger Boots store, then you're stuck to buying online, which isn't really a good idea, if you have never purchased a colour before. Whilst a lot of the colours are pretty close to what you'll get, screen resolutions and different monitors, along with bad photography, could potential mean that the colour you receive might not necessarily be the colour you had expected.

Also, as stated before, the Dazzle Dusts are loose powder, meaning that they can sometimes be quite messy, so it can sometimes be best to do your foundation after you have put your eye shadow on. The Dazzle Dusts can also seem a little expensive (£4.50), when put next to other eye shadows, however, they really do last a long time. And, Barry M regularly have "3 for £10" offers.