A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

China Glaze I Herd That is a densely packed copper glitter that reminds me of a shiny new penny, the kind that you pull out of your purse, only to drop it straight back in because it’s just too blinging to part with just yet.  That’s normal right?

The clear base and finer-than-usual glitter gives this polish a less “chunky” feel than you might imagine and the photo below shows three coats applied without a top coat.

I Herd That is the second glitter in the collection, and the warm-toned cousin to “I’m Not a Lion” which I reviewed yesterday.  A great Autumnal glitter if ever I saw one.

China Glaze I Herd That is available to buy online at BeautyBay.com, priced at £6.75

* press sample

Are you feeling Autumnal yet?  Where did the sun go?  Why is it getting dark so early?  Come back happiness and light, come back!!!!!

It’s not coming back.

So, like a flitty shape-shifter, I shall instead focus on the positives of the change of season.  Chunky knits, cardigans (oh, how I’ve missed a nice cardy!), 100 denier tights and solidly constructed boots.  How about a bit of glitter to go with that?

Oh go on then…

I keep thinking that I’m gonna have to bite the bullet and get myself a bottle of that uber-thick top coat to go with my glitter polishes… Gelous is it?  I do like a good glitter but I like to see it fully-trapped inside a smooth resin, like a prehistoric mozzie in an amber jewel.  Or something.

China Glaze’s I’m Not a Lion is a 2/3 coater – three coats should give you a practically solid finish.  The glitters are a pretty mixture of cool and warm, with a predominantly pale gold appearance from anything other than under a microscope.

China Glaze I’m Not a Lion is available to buy online at BeautyBay.com, priced at £6.95

* press sample

If Kalahari Kiss is a Caramac bar…. then Desert Sun (sticking with the confectionary theme) would be a… a radioactive Daim bar?  It’s like caramel, gone a bit nuclear.

Desert Sun is a dirtied orange, very Autumnal and kinder to us cool-toned skintones.  It reminds me a bit of those giant orange slugs!  You know the ones I mean!

Now that I’ve completely put you off the actual colour, I should say that the formula on this one was nice, opaque in two coats – none of that runny but thick crap, it’s just thick.  But in a good, spreadable way.  Two coats are shown without a top coat.  I know, glossy right?  I’m liking this formula.

China Glaze Desert Sun is available to buy online at BeautyBay.com, priced at £6.95

* press sample

Today’s NOTD features a new shade from the China Glaze On Safari collection, it’s an unusual one for me to pick out to wear… warm-toned nudes are not my cup of tea, even though this one does actually look quite like a cup of tea.

Look.

Or as my ma would call it, “gnats piss”.

Ok, it’s not really very tea-like after all is it?  I got carried away with that one.  Still, it’s a pretty edgy choice for my tastes and I kinda like it.

The formula was good, better than CG’s summer offerings which were all-at-once watery and thick – this one applies smoothly with a good amount of pigmentation that provided full opacity in just two coats.

China Glaze Kalahari Kiss is available to buy instore at Sallys and online at BeautyBay.com, priced at £6.95

What do you make of the shade?  Would you wear it?

* press sample

Going a bit ga-ga in the search for a lovely green polish to see you through the drearier months?

Green isn’t a colour you’d usually associate with the final weeks of Summer is it?  We’re used to seeing the shade fill Spring collections and lead the way when it comes to the pastel trends but put that thinking aside because I’ve found a rather lovely green that will work beautifully for the more subdued months ahead…

Introducing, Marks & Spencer Limited Collection Polish in Leaf.  A dusty green creme that will set you back just £3.50 for an 8ml bottle.

Two coats will achieve opacity from a formula that doesn’t need chasing around the nail to get it to lie smoothly.  For the shiniest of finishes, you’ll need a top coat but don’t let that put you off because this mini-marvel packs a punch when it comes to pigmentation.

Marks & Spencer Limited Collection Polish in Leaf is priced at £3.50 and available both instore and online at marksandspencer.com

Have you tried any M&S polishes since they revamped the line?  How do you find them?

Following on from my previous post introducing the new Carolyn K London Nail Paint shades, as promised, I’ve swatched the next trio set available, the Brights.

Lara

Huby

Alenoush

The formula, so far, seems to be consistent across the range… very opaque (two coats has done the job on every shade so far), a little bit runny (don’t overload the brush or you’ll curse), and a very glossy finish.  Lara looked a bit dated in the bottle and I wasn’t expecting to like it on my fingers but the gold micro-shimmer gives it a lift and a popsicle-esque edge.  Huby is a repeat from the Darks collection, a smokey grey/teal creme, and Alenoush is a lovely red jelly with a squishy finish that gives good coverage with just the tiniest hint of translucency, juicy!

Of the trio, Alenoush is my favourite – in my world, you just can’t beat a good red.  And this is a good red.

Carolyn K London Nail Paint Brights Collection is available exclusively at PowderRooms, priced at £12.99 for the trio

* press sample

I’m not the world’s most patriotic type, I’m more into grumbling about our nation than celebrating it, which I realise makes me sound like a bit of a miserable git but it’s not like that – well, not entirely anyway.  However, you can’t help but have been a little soul-stirred into some imaginary flag-waving this Summer with the close of our rather successful ‘limpics.

And judging by Alesha Dixon’s brit-inspired limited edition nail shades for Avon, she felt the same way.

Red Reveal and Inky Blue are the two latest inclusions to the Avon line of nailwear pro+ shades.  The Avon Beauty and Empowement Ambassador said of these two shades:

Everything British is a hot topic for me right now, what with the Jubilee, the Olympics and of course my first year on Britain’s Got Talent! I’ve always been proud to be British, so when hand picking my own fabulous limited edition Nailwear Pro+ colours there was no contest to these gorgeous red and blue shades.

Here they are swatched, with a sprinkling of totally-in-context gold (29 medals baby!) just for good measure.

The gold glitter, incase you’re wondering, is the lovely I Herd That* from China Glaze On Safari (Autumn 2012) collection.

Avon Nailwear Pro+ Alesha’s Limited Edition shades of Inky Blue* and Red Reveal* are available to buy online at Avonshop or from your local representative, currently priced at £3.50 each.

Did your nails get all patriotic this Summer?

* press samples

I’m feeling a bit Autumnal today thanks to these pretties from new nail polish brand on the block, Carolyn K.  Borne from the creative mind of the London-based makeup artist, this new range of 100% British nailwear is available exclusively at Powder Rooms.

Today I’m showing you one of the three sets available: Carolyn K London Dark Nail Paint Set which includes a trio of shades designed to reflect the personalities of those nearest and dearest to Carolyn.

Babette

Huby

Lilit

All photos show two coats of a formula that was easy to apply and which dried more quickly than I was expecting.  The finishes are naturally glossy and it’s only Lilit in the above photo which shows a top coat applied.  I’d describe the formula as slightly thicker than average and care should be taken not to overload the brush.  Talking of the brush, the Carolyn K range offers a flat brush for application.

There are three sets available (I’ll be back with swatches of the other sets soon) to purchase online at PowderRooms. Sets are priced at £12.99 with three polishes per set, basically – a bit of a bargain.

* press sample

Su requested a swatch of the Laqa & Co Nail Polish Pen that I talked about yesterday, and I jumped at the chance of a quick and easy post so I could get to bed early (and carry on decorating bright and early tomorrow), forgive me for repeating myself!

Incestuous is one of those muted lavender shades that suit my skintone really nicely.  I know that some tones, especially olive skintones can struggle with muted purples which can sometimes make fingers appear lifeless but Incestuous (hate that name) offers enough saturation, I think, to avoid this phenomenon.

Application was basically pretty fun.  Except for the part when I realised that I would, in essence, be painting my nails with the wrong hand – with a pen.  Any ambidextrous readers out there?  Lucky.  I got my fingers in a proper muddle, made only more difficult by the fact that my nails on that hand were wet!  All in all though, the results were really good – the above image shows two coats (three on two of the fingers that I messed up).  Judging by the little window in the pen, it doesn’t seem to have consumed too much polish, but considering the pen only holds 5ml (the same as a Mavala) and costs £10.95 – this certainly isn’t the most economical way to paint your nails.

Having said that, it’s great for holidays and showing off your beauty gadgetry to anyone who gives a shit.  Which, let’s face it… is probably no-one.  You should probably just get this to amuse yourself/give as a present (the box and artwork is way cool/or for your holiday manicures.

Laqa & Co Nail Polish Pen in Incestuous is priced at £10.95 and available online from PowderRooms.

* press sample

Some polishes make you gasp with their sheer beauty, others turn down your lips with an overriding “meh”.  China Glaze’s Under the Boardwalk has me scratching my head in total bewilderment.  How can a polish look so different in the bottle compared to how it applies on the nail?

Please excuse the mistreated cuticles (I need some marigolds), but what kind of messed-up voodoo is at play here?!  Is it purple or is it pink?  I even did an extra two coats (4 shown in the photo above) to make sure that the colour was fully fully opaque.

And then it got weirder when I read this about it on The PolishAholic.  Anyone else got a freaky one?

China Glaze Under the Boardwalk, you tricky, shape-shifting polish you.  I wouldn’t mind, but you’re not even a particularly fashincating colour!  Get over yourself.

China Glaze Under The Boardwalk is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at BeautyBay.com, priced from £6.95

* press sample

Sink or swim?  I’m definitely sinking this week but I’m not going down without a fight!  Splish Splash feels rather apt and this beautiful cerulean blue is a dreamy shade.  Again, I had issues with thickness and pooling at the edges of the nail bed… thin coats are a must, but the polish redeems itself with a no-nonsense coverage that’s done in two coats.

All of the shades in this Summer Neons collection have benefited from a top coat to bring back the shine that these neon formulas often lack upon dry-down.  The shimmer gives this sea-blue a real kick and sparkle that does it complete justice in the sun.

China Glaze Splish Splash is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at BeautyBay.com, priced from £6.95

* press sample

I’m not really down with surfing jargon but I have totally watched Point Break as many times as the next girl, perhaps even more… sometimes in slow-motion too.

hang ten (verb American) – to ride a surfboard (at near-optimum speed or full stretch) with the toes of both feet hooked over the front. From the jargon of American surfers since the early 1960s. The phrase is sometimes used figuratively to mean something like ‘go full-tilt on a risky course.

China Glaze’s Hang Ten Toes might not make me think of Keanu Reeves or Patrick Swayze (rip) but it does make me think of long Summer days and sand between my toes.

Hang Ten Toes* is a superbly vibrant, hot pink with a silvery shimmer that gives the polish some blue flashes in the right light.  It’s a more wearable neon pink than some, though still impressively bright.  The formula was good, a little thick – as with the whole collection so far, it needs a small amount of care and attention to prevent pooling at the cuticles.  That’s the price CG have decided we should pay for impressive opacity in only two coats this time around.

China Glaze Hang Ten Toes is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at BeautyBay.com, priced from £6.95

* press sample