A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

A makeup artist once told me that straight men don’t like bold lips. They can feel intimidated by a statement colour and don’t consider these women as “kissable” as their smoky-eyed/nude-lipped counterparts.

Just as well I don’t give a shit then, isn’t it?

Here are five of my most retina-searingly, beautiful pink lipsticks and you’ll be delighted (or at least, you should be, I engineered it this way!) to hear that they’re all under £20.  As much as I do love my Tom Ford Pure Pink, you can get some raging pigment for much, much less moneh.

01: Boots Seventeen Lasting Fix Lipstick in Pink Power

This is my latest pink acquisition and I’ve been reliably informed that it’s a dupe for MAC’s legendary Girl About town.  I won’t “review” it because I’m posting a FOTD with it later… suffice to say, for under a fiver… it’s a bit of a bargain bright! (£4.29, boots.com)

02: Wet n’ Wild Mega Last Lipstick in Don’t Blink Pink

An eBay purchase from last year, this staggeringly intense pink is almost neon and definitely leans a little warmer than the rest, making it quite an unusual shade.  Most of these bright pinks can often be mistaken for fuchsia, so it’s nice to see one that’s a little bit different.  You can see it in a FOTD, here. (£2.80 not inc. shipping, ebay.co.uk)

03: BarryM Lip Paint in #145 Punky Pink

This is another apparent Girl About Town dupe (what is it with that shade!) though I think it’s a wee bit more cherry-toned, slightly deeper than the MAC offering.  A hair more expensive than the Seventeen lipstick but still under a fiver, you can’t go wrong! (£4.49, barrym.com)

04: BarryM Lip Paint in #146 Dolly Pink

Now, I have to admit… I don’t wear this one a huge amount, mostly because it’s one of those lipsticks that like to wear you.  Dolly Pink is a candy-fest that just about has enough depth to keep it a little more classy (haters gonna hate) than the Nicki Minaj, Gaga, shitty pinks that look like you’ve ground a piece of chalk into your lips.  This is as blue-pink as I can go without looking like a revolting caricature of myself.  I’ve even binned MAC Snob. (£4.49, barrym.com)

05. Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense #36 Satin Fuchsia

The most expensive of the bunch but a truly pretty fuchsia that lasts and lasts.  This MUFE offering is part of a huge range that of lipsticks that make me wish I lived closer to a stockist for some serious swatching.  It’s a very clean, bright pink that whitens the teeth and makes the eyes sparkle.  Not a bad makeover for less than twenty quid. (£16.95, gurumakeupemporium.com)

What do you think of my “do not adjust your set” selection of pink lipsticks?  Am I missing any of your favourites?  Let me know in the comments!

Like a four year old with a brand new craft set, I’ve finally gotten to grips with my nail striping tapes that I bought about a million years ago before promptly relegating to the back of a drawer.

You see, when I first applied BarryM’s Gelly polish in Papaya, I didn’t really like it… it’s not quite as “peachy” as I was hoping for, a little too bright against my pale skintone. Especially for a school day.

So, I grabbed a muted green polish and with the help of a few strips of tape, managed to create quite the neatest lines I’ve ever accomplished!  Go me!  This was all a complete fluke you understand, even the fact that the colours kinda go together was not part of a greater master plan.  I simply got lucky.

Doesn’t it look nice though?  If you don’t Pinterest the shit out of it, I’m not talking to any of you again.

Don’t own any nail striping tape?  Oh, you should!!  It’s only taken me a couple of years to get round to using it… I bought mine on eBay.  Next time, I’ll actually try leaving the tape ON the nail… but you know, baby steps…

Are you sporting any nail art at the moment?

I don’t do many ‘haul’ posts, I don’t think they’re quite as popular in the blogosphere as they used to be?  Taken over by beauty box posts perhaps?

Anyway, I’ve been having a bit of a high-street love-in this past week and in the town where I’m currently staying, I’m limited to a Boots and a Superdrug – the Superdrug is a good ‘un, the Boots store massively blows but I did spot a good discounted section at the back that I didn’t have a chance to check out.  My LUSH purchases came from my local store in Southampton just before I drove up North. Um, that’s about it really – here’s what’s prompted me to open my purse this week!

When you’ve got a full fringe, dry shampoo is your friend and I thought I’d give Batiste Cherry a spin, I usually go for the original, dark, or tropical but I think this one is my new favourite.  I’m a massive fan of Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation and surprised myself when I realised that I hadn’t given the Healthy Mix Serum version a go – again, this is a big hit with me (so far).  I think it suits my dryer skin even better and gives a slightly more translucent coverage.  The only gloss that I’ve ever repurchased is BarryM’s Lip Gloss in Toffee, it’s a wonderful colour with a pretty amount of shimmer and a non-sticky texture, I love it!

As for my LUSH dabble, I picked up another holy grail in the form of Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter, it’s the one I keep in my handbag and I generally alternate between this and CND’s Solar Oil which I use immediately after painting my nails.  I was sent a bottle of LUSH 9 to 5 Cleansing Lotion a few weeks ago and whilst I’ve been enjoying using it, it hasn’t set my world alight you know?  I’m not really expecting LUSH Ultrabland to either, but I wanted to try another cleanser to discover the differences and to see which one I lean towards in terms of formula, as they’re both quite different.  Finally, I picked up a bath bomb for Leila – yes, it’s Space Girl.  Yes, it contains copious amounts of glitter.  No, I didn’t have a say in the selection and yes, I will be the one left cleaning the bath.

What was the last beauty product you snapped up?

There’s not long left if you wanted to stock up on this Impulse/BarryM offer…

Don’t know what I’m talking about?

For a limited period, Impulse have joined forces with BarryM to combine three of their best-selling scents with three lipgloss shades!  Touted as a handbag essential, the body fragrance/lipgloss duos are selling for the quite remarkable price of £3.00 each.

Your choices are…

Very Pink which comes complete with a sumptuous strawberry scented and flavoured pale pink lip gloss.

Into Glamour which comes with a velvety vanilla clear lip gloss.

Tease completes the collection with a nude lip gloss in a delicious caramel flavour.

Now, it’s been a while since I’ve been the target audience for Impulse but I can recommend the nude BarryM lipgloss which is one of my favourites for toning down a bright lip (and that’s coming from a lipgloss hater!).

Available from Superdrug and Tesco until the 6th June, priced at £3.00 per duo.

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Have you picked up a set yet?  Great for storing up as stocking fillers!

A bright, strong… vivid blue creme.  Perfect for tips or toes this Summer!

A solid two-coater, a great all rounder with average wear of 2/3 days before the tips start looking a bit ragged.  No chips but as I’ve said many times… I don’t generally suffer from poor nail wear.

It feels like a very clean colour that is somehow almost sensible enough to wear in the office.  Of course, being BLUE it isn’t.  But it just gives an impression of formality.  That makes more sense in my head than it does on this page.

But the thing is… surely it’s incredibly dupable?  And at £11.95, you’d hope it might be…

I went and bought BarryM‘s Cobalt Blue to compare because I figured it would probably be the nearest match (off the top of my head):

In the above photo, I’m wearing Cobalt Blue on the little and middle fingers whilst I’m sporting Blagger on my index and ring fingers.  They’re similar but Blagger has a teal edge to it and isn’t quite so “primary” blue after all.

What do you think?  Is the difference worth £8.96?

You can purchase Butter London Blagger online from PowderRooms priced at £11.95

If you’ve been unsuccessful in tracking down the polish dupe of the year, then fear not!

I’ve got 2 of these beauties to give away to my lovely readers.

Two lucky winners will win one polish each. What do you have to do to be in with a chance?

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Go to the Lipglossiping facebook page, LIKE it and don’t forget to leave a comment saying ENTER ME! (on FB)

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RULES
~ Open worldwide
~ Two winners (winning 1 polish each) will be picked at random early next week
~ Giveaway closes at 11.59pm this Wednesday (you have 72hrs – ish)
~ If you don’t have Facebook but would still like to enter, shoot me an email via the contact page and I’ll make sure your name goes in the hat!
~ Please don’t send me any personal details (names or addresses). I will contact you via facebook/reply to email if you have won)

With all this Chanel vs. BarryM nail polish dupe talk… how could I possibly have resisted CHARGING down my local Superdrug as fast as my fat little trotters could carry me (ok, I drove) before scooping up a bottle of BarryM’s new nail polish sensation Dusky Mauve to compare for myself?

Well I couldn’t.  Hence this post – duh.

So is it?  Isn’t it?

It most certainly is.

BarryM’s Dusky Mauve Nail Paint is a practically perfect dupe for Chanel’s Paradoxal – I’ll let the photos do the talking.

When Bazza met Coco… *cue music*

The only teeniest, tiniest difference between the two is that I feel the BarryM version may have a touch more sparkle in direct sunlight… but I’m not even 100% confident on that.

If you had wanted to indulge in Chanel’s Paradoxal but couldn’t quite stretch to the £16.50 required to do so… put those pennies towards the £2.95 dupe of the year and head down to Superdrug for BarryM’s Dusky Mauve instead.  No one will be able to tell the difference.

If your local Superdrug/Boots are out of stock, don’t forget that you can also buy BarryM’s Dusky Mauve Nail Paint online from the BarryM website which ships internationally.

Completely inspired by Kellie at BigFashionista, I had a go at applying the BarryM Instant Nail Effects over Models Own 25 Carat Gold to get a more feline interpretation!

Close up… it’s not that leopard print-y, but from 3 feet or further, it works REALLY well!

This stuff really is nail art for the completely unartistic (i.e. me!)

But enough of all this!

Who are my two lucky winners from this weekend’s giveaway?

The gods over at Random.org have spoken… and I’m pleased to announce that…

Elizabeth/Makeuptini

Estelle/StellieStellina

… are the lucky winners, I shall email you this evening for your addresses ladies!

Thanks for entering everyone, with over 180 entries in 48hrs, I can’t tell you how much I wish I could afford to give away more bottles.  Instead, I shall wish you all the bestest week ever xx

Like a moth to the proverbial flame, I found myself in my local backwater Boots yesterday afternoon and they had just put out their latest delivery of BarryM.

Being the dedicated beauty blogger that I am *cough* and remembering that some of you are struggling to source this for yourselves, I thought I’d pick up two of the new Instant Nail Effects Nail Paints for a quick giveaway!

And when I say quick, I mean QUICK!

Answer this question in the comments below:

Which polish would you choose as a base coat underneath the BarryM Instant Nail Effects?

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RULES
~ Two winners (winning 1 polish each) will be picked at random early next week
~ Giveaway closes at 11.59pm this Sunday (you have 48hrs – ish)
~ Open worldwide

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Good luck!

I scoured high and I scoured low for this little bottle of Barry M Instant Nail Effects… it’s seemingly harder to acquire than the proverbial gold dust.

When I first saw it on Yinka’s blog… I didn’t think I was gonna like it.  I like NEAT nails and I’m not hugely into nail art.  Not really… I just like polished tips that add a bit of interest.  Instant Nail Effects looks haphazard… indeed it is.  It’s messy, it’s random…

But I kinda like it!

What I didn’t like was that I slapped a glossy top coat over it.  Next time I’m gonna keep the crackle matte.

Is this a new idea?  Nooooooooo…. these crackle polishes have been around for years, but as far as I’m aware – it’s the first time it’s been brought to the UK high street (correct me if I’m wrong!).

Wanna know how it’s done?  Watch the official BarryM tutorial video on how to make the Instant Nail Effects work for you here.

Do you like the effect?  I think the general consensus is that it works best over bold, pale colours… think bright pastels!

If you can source it on the high street, Boots are currently offering two BarryM polishes (including this one) for £5, otherwise you can purchase online from the BarryM website for £3.95 a piece.

Oh, I wasn’t expecting not to like you.

You’re a little bit greige gone wrong… too much grey or maybe too much brown… I’m all confused and can’t pinpoint what it is that I don’t like about your colour.  But you’re just not quite right for me.

You were a bit patchy too.  Though I totally admire you pouncing on the latest trends and bringing us great colours at affordable prices… you disappointed me with this one.

I’m sad.  Did I get a duff bottle?  Mine did apply a lot darker than the bottle colour suggested… everyone else seems to love it?!

I’d heard that Berry Ice Cream was a hard colour to track down, so I was really delighted to be able to waltz into my local Superdrug and whisk this and Mushroom off the shelves without any problems at all!  And I only paid a fiver for both!

Berry Ice Cream is a bright lilac pastel.  It’s not pastelly enough to be soft and floaty (if that makes sense!).  It has a bit o brightness to it that would endear it to most skintones.  Sometimes, lilacs can make darker skintones look kinda dead… zombie hands.  I can’t imagine you’d have the same issues with this one, it has enough punch to it!

Application was fair… 3 coats to cover any imperfections or patches from a small amount of cuticle drag.  Dried speedily and as with most BarryM shades I’ve tried, it has an impressive glossy finish.

Many people have issues with BarryM polishes chipping on them, but I never do… so although I can safely state that in 2 full days of wear I had no chipping, that doesn’t necessarily mean much.

If you’re looking for a colour to take you from Spring into Summer… this is a great choice.  However, I’m totally lagging in the ‘what’s hot’ stakes so this shade is probably already SO LAST SEASON.

Whatever bitches, I was rocking an Autumn colour last weekend… my fingers transcend fashion.

BarryM Nail polishes are still on a 2 for £5 offer in Superdrug, so get ’em while they’re hot! (or not).