A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Not the first time I’ve featured this polish but I gave it another airing recently and fell in love all over again…

Haha, look at my chunky placement – crapiologist alert.  These DL glitters are so good for disguising a tired manicure…. with just a single coat you can totally move the attention away from raggedy cuticles and tip wear and onto the sparklez!

Deborah Lippmann Today was a Fairytale* is available to buy online and instore at House of Fraser, priced at *gulp* £18.00

What’s your favourite Deborah Lippmann glitter?

* press sample

I was a little bit traumatised at the sight of this shade when I pulled it out of the bag.  I mean, it’s orange.  A proper pumpkin-esque shade that I would imagine to work best on olive skintones.  Boy, was I wrong.  This is pretty much the only orange in the world that I can wear without looking like a try-hard.

It still has the vibrancy that you might want from this kind of shade but it has a subdued edge and a beautiful autumnal vibe that complements rather than screams at pink-toned skin.  A certain dusty quality that I’ve always loved in my purple shades, translating terrifically to something I’d least expect.  Opaque in a couple of coats, creamy and warm.  Lovely.

The bad news is?  It’s being discontinued so don’t expect to be able to find it once Autumn rolls around again.

Butter London Minger is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms

This little polish spoke to me a couple of weeks ago when I was in my local Tesco (ok, not local – I especially went the extra 3 miles so I could visit one with a beauty aisle) picking up some baby wipes.  It’s a slightly odd colour no?  A bizarre mish-mash of khaki, nude and gold with a delicate multi-coloured shimmer.

It spoke to me.  It said, “Buy me.  You know that you shouldn’t because you already have a billion sitting unswatched, but you know you want to.  Put down the Harissa Paste (what do you need that for anyway) and buy me instead.”

Coincidentally, the Harissa Paste was £2.99 (what do I need that for anyway?) and this little polish from Barbara Daly was £3.00 – fair swapsies.

As much as I like it, it’s a four-coater – which sucks when the bottle is only 7ml but I think it’s still worth the punt.  Swap it for something less tasty though, like Domestos.

Barbara Daly Nail Polish is available instore at Tesco, priced at £3 a bottle.  I think it’s currently on a 3for2 aswell.

I pounced on the Zoya spring collection, probably my favourite of all the spring offerings this year – it’s subdued, with its muted softy pastels and delicate shimmer.  I could have bought so many more but stopped myself at two, here is the first that made it into my basket, Lotus.

Of the two purples in the spring collection, this is the one that had the dustier edge.  And I’m all about dusty edges… both when it comes to nail polish, and bookshelves.  Lotus has a soft pink shimmer that catches the light but sadly failed to pick up very well in my swatch photo – you can see it in the bottle though yes?  It’s not a glaringly obvious shimmer but gives the shade more depth and prevents it from sitting flat on the nailbed.

Formula was fine, the above photo shows three coats but you could get away with two… I applied my second coat with too much impatience and caused a bit of drag, hence the need for the third.  My fault, not the polish’s.

Zoya Lotus is priced at £7.99 and available online from beauty4nails-body.

Or… sweety nails as I like to call them.  What is it about these punchy corals that make me want to bite off my fingertips in the hope of a sugar high?  They’re just edible.

I think I should start a tag: nail polishes that make me want to self-cannibalise.  This one also does it to me.  As does this one.

As much as I love Macbeth on my nails, the fact that the above photo shows a single coat means that I may, MAY have to save this one for my tootsies.  I hate painting my toenails but it has to be done in the Summer and a one-coater coral with a beautiful formula is pretty much holy grail for ladies with short arms, big boobs and a belly.  You know what I’m talking about.

Buy this one, buy it now – it’s a fabulous shade for Spring with a brilliant formula to boot (even if it’s not the most original shade in the world).

Butter London Macbeth is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online at PowderRooms.

You wouldn’t haven’t seen this beautiful polish from Max Factor.  I did a quick search and couldn’t find any other bloggers talking about it, so I thought I should put that right immediately.

I know right?  I think I’m on to something with this scoop.

The lovely Liloo picked this up for me and sent it halfway across the country because my local Boots seems to stock every Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish shade except this one.  I’m not actually going to bother talking about it, I was about to write “this is a pretty good dupe for…” (finish that sentence) and I just couldn’t be bothered because even Leila knows what this is a dupe for.  If you’re the one person left in the world who doesn’t know?  Hai Google.

So, instead… just enjoy a little bit moar Fantasy Fire nail p0rn.  Swatched here over Estee Lauder Teal Topaz because on its own, it’s kinda shit.

Max Factor Fantasy Fire is priced at £3.99 and available (probably) to buy instore at Boots or Superdrug.  Also online.

I’ve started delving into my new acquisitions from Pro Beauty and first up is SpaRitual’s It’s Raining Men – a swirl of pastels that look, at least to me, like a big cupcake-y nebula.

Comprising blue, pink and gold – on my nails, you mostly see the pink throughout the day.  I enjoyed messing with Leila’s head “what colour is it Leila?”

“Pink! No, it’s blue! Wait…”

Three coats will give a solid opacity, I was expecting to need more for this kinda of multi-chrome paleness but three covers admirably.  Any tip wear doesn’t really show too obviously and I didn’t get any chipping after even three days (with a top coat).

It’s Raining Men is available to buy online, priced at £8.50 with free shipping

Estee Lauder are really hitting the nail on the head (pardon the pun) with the shades recently no?  They’ve revamped their line of lacquers and have blown the cobwebs away with a real injection of colour.  Teal Topaz features in their Spring 2012 collection of Arizona-inspired shades and this one is a corker.  But does the formula live up to the kerb appeal?

Honestly?  Not quite.  The above photo shows three coats, and for a bold creme of this type, I’d usually expect to need only two – and the reason it needed three coats was a patchy application.  Whilst I’d mostly covered the nail bed after two applications, it just hadn’t applied smoothly enough to leave it without a final coat.  The formula is also fairly thick, which contributed to a little drag… it’s nothing terrible, but at its price point – I’d expect not to have these issues.

On the flip-side, it has great shine, dries quickly and hasn’t given me any wear issues.  I do love these teal shades and this one I’d imagine to be particularly flattering on all skintones.

Estee Lauder Pure Color Nail Polish in Teal Topaz* is available to buy on counter and online from Harrods, priced at £14.00 for 9ml

* press sample

Another fun shade from LittleBu making my little boo a very happy boo indeed…

My daughter’s polish collection is beginning to outdo my own!  We picked up another bottle of Emma when we were in London last month to replace her beloved red that sadly met its end when the impatient one sent it flying from the coffee table.  There was no lasting damage to the sofa (thank heavens for water-based formulas!) or that would have been the end of Leila’s foray into mini-manicures.

To say that my daughter got a little bit excited when a bottle of the creamy blue Olivia landed on the doormat is an understatement.  Well, I think that first photo probably gives you the idea – it was like watching a chocoholic discover a Twix in the fridge after the local co-op had shut its doors for the night.  If you don’t have any ishoos with painting your child’s nails (the Little BU formula is non-toxic and completely washes off with soapy water – eventually!) then it is lovely bonding time, and I never realised that L was capable of such patience and stillness!  A perfect treat for Mother’s Day?

The polishes aren’t particularly cheap at £9.95 each but the look on L’s face was pretty priceless!

* Olivia (the colour featured) was a press sample

You know, in the world of internet acronyms I’m a bit of a fail.  I’m an expert LOLer, can tell my PMSL from my ROFL and do a good line in OMGWTFLOL (STFU).  Beyond that though, things get complicated.  Between the years of 2004 – 2008 I was in some kind of acronym void and when I emerged blinking into this new world, I remember firmly not having a clue what BFF meant.  It’s not really my fault, Mr L is my best friend and he doesn’t go around refering to me as his BFF, I was handicapped from the start.

Cacee is a brand I’d never heard of before seeing a selection of their polishes on a stand at Pro Beauty.  I picked up their BFF Nail Polish in Shaina for around £3.50, twirling it in my fingers and coo-ing at the scattered holo particles suspended in a pretty, chocolate brown base.  Excited!

It’s a two-coater and applies smoothly, sadly drying to a gritty finish – I guess those holographic particles just aren’t fine enough to sit nicely on the nail.  You also lose a lot of the holo effect once on the nail, it’s not an ugly polish by all means (two coats of Lumos sorted out the gritty finish) but it just could have/should have been better you know?

Have you tried any Cacee polishes?

The soon-to-be released Hunger Games collection from China Glaze has been setting the nail polish blogs alight with swatches and banter about the names and how they relate to the book and upcoming film.  I’ve got two shades to show you today; Agro – a metallic olive shot through with a heap of gold flecks and Dress Me Up – a dusty rose creme.

Agro* is a beautiful shade, not hugely unique but the formula is beautifully done.  If I’d been a little bit more careful in application, this could have squeezed through as a single-coater but the photo above demonstrates two coats to cover a couple of thin patches.  There’s not too many golden greens that look good against my cool skintone but thankfully this one doesn’t give me any issues at all.

Dress Me Up* is a simple dusty rose creme, I’m not a huge fan of these shades though I know many are.  Personally, I’d rename it Dress Me Up… Grandma.  The formula on this one is a little off – thick but runny, almost like it’s overcompensating for being on the thick side.  Again, this is a two-coater and the coverage is incidentally, pretty great.

There are a total of 12 colours in the collection, I’ve already placed my order for Fast Track and Harvest Moon as my next permanent additions to my beloved Helmer.

China Glaze is available to buy at Sallys or Beauty4Nails-Body (which has to be the worst name for a shop, ever).

Are you tempted by any of the shades in the new Hunger Games collection?

* press sample

China Glaze & Hunger Games Collection: Colours from the Capitol (Agro and Dress Me Up)

I really loved the softness on display in this year’s Orly’s spring Cool Romance collection (click here if you haven’t seen it yet) but sometimes, a girl needs to do what a girl needs to do.  What does a girl need to do?  Add a crap-ton of glitter to the proceedings.

Hello fluffy and delightfully squishy mushroom nails.  You’re all chic and sophistimacated, I could totally wear you to the office if I had one.  But I only have a desk, in a dark corner.  I don’t even have a water cooler or a filing cabinet.  Well, I lie… ‘cos I do have a filing cabinet but I keep it topped up with expired MOT test certificates, the instructions to my brother’s betamax and the menu from the Chinese takeaway from where we used to live two houses ago.  You never know when these things might come in handy.

So, you see… as much as I will always adore your demure but edgy… er… edge.  I can totally wear what I want on my nails at work.  Don’t believe me?  Watch, I can do THIS.

…and no one would blink an eye.  No dodgy looks or stark reminders about dress codes, I can just sit happily staring at my disco fingers while I type.  Sometimes I’m very happy in my little dark corner all by myself.

If you want to do this too, you’ll need Orly Faint of Heart* and POP Twinkle* (that’s one coat btw).

Glitter or no glitter – what say you?

* press sample