A few weeks ago I was invited to the launch of the new cosmetics range by Barbara Daly. It is called Barbara Daly ‘Trade Secrets’ Collection and has been designed to be an easy to use, non-intimidating and easily combined range.
I was lucky enough to meet Abby Ireland, the make up artist who has been working with Tesco on the Barbara Daly ‘Trade Secrets’ Collection for the past two years. She explained to me that every item in this collection had her input and feedback throughout and that she created each one with ‘average’ woman in mind. She purposefully chose a packaging palette of black and clear glass to give the range a chic and classic look, but added some colour through the use of gold: amongst the range there are a handful of products that are in striking gold packaging. These items are her ‘star buys’ – the ones that she thinks everyone would use and love, ones that would make the biggest difference.
I received some products to try and my thoughts are below:
Trade Secrets Luminescence Silk Primer (£9.99) (all of the products have clickable links in the names for ease) – I have been using this every day since I received it. It goes on very smoothly and leaves skins perfectly prepped for foundation. It has quite a strong smell, almost like aftershave, but I really like it. Unusually for a heavily perfumed product, this doesn’t aggravate my rosacea. This primer keeps shine at bay until mid-afternoon which is great.
Trade Secrets Dream Shine Highlighter (£7.99) – there are many YSL Touche Eclat dupes on the market and this is a very good one. I use this under my eyes before putting concealer on, as it really brightens up my dark circles and helps me to instantly look more awake. This is one of the gold items I mentioned earlier and I can definitely see why!
Trade Secrets Eyeshadow Bon Bon in ‘Party Whisper’ (£8.99) – These are swatched above. They are a bit shimmery for me, I wouldn’t use them all together but the colours are gorgeous and they are very pigmented so it’s a good quad.
Trade Secrets Express Eyes Eyeshadow in ‘After Dark’ (£3.99) – Again, a standard eyeshadow but it’s a great colour and it lasts well on the eyelid, with no creasing. Again, I’d like to see the other colours on offer as these are cute little mono shadows.
Trade Secrets Velvet Powder Cheek Colour in ‘Fruity’ (£4.99) – this is a pretty standard blusher, it’s a really flattering shade and isn’t at all powdery. It doesn’t have a huge amount in the pan but that’s not surprising for the price however it’s perfect for taking away with you as it’s quite compact.
Trade Secrets Velvet Touch Bronzer (£6.99) – I have used this EVERY day. It is so great for contouring, but be warned that this is so pigmented that I just lightly bounce my brush on the surface rather than swipe, otherwise I end up looking like a lunatic!
Trade Secrets Looooonglaaaaash Mascara in ‘brown’ (£5.99) – I hate brown mascara with the heat of a thousand suns so I gave this to my mum. Her thoughts on it: a very long brush which makes application very easy, it doesn’t transfer onto oily eyelids and lasts well through the day. It defines eyelashes well but doesn’t do anything too crazy.
Trade Secrets Velvet Cream Lipstick in ‘Studio 1’ (£5.99) – This colour isn’t really me as it’s a browny shade but the colour payoff seems good and I’d be intrigued to try other colours from the collection.
Trade Secrets Sheer Lip Melts in ‘Bold’ (£5.99) – When I saw the list I was hoping for the matte balm but I’ve actually really liked this Lip Melt. It’s very creamy and shiny and will be perfect for Spring. It makes a nice change from all the matte lips I do!
Trade Secrets nail varnish (£3.99) – obviously I was very happy to see a nail polish in there! This is a lovely dark red colour and this gives perfect coverage in two coats. With base and top coat this polish lasted about 5 or 6 days on me before I wanted to change the colour. No chipping or fading issues.
Overall, I’d definitely say that my favourite items from the Barbara Daly ‘Trade Secrets’ Collection are the bronzer, the highlighter pen and the primer, mainly because they are stand out items to me. The rest of the collection is very strong and offers a great selection of basic make up items that anyone could dip in and out of. Plus, you can just slip an eyeshadow or nail varnish in with your weekly shop and no one will ever notice! Ideal.
Lex
where can i find her products ?