A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I don’t care what the newspapers are saying, put down those pastel shades ‘cos it ain’t Spring yet!  Until I see a daffodil or tulip with my own eyes, we’re still firmly in the depths of Winter as far as I’m concerned.  I have an odd love/hate relationship with pastels anyway so I’m not gonna be grumbling about a couple more months of Winter trends.

Talking Winter trends, here’s a lovely top-coat from Butter London.  It’s all holographic n’ stuff.

In the photo above, I sponged the top coat over the tips… graduating the density on the way down toward the cuticle, it’s much easier than it sounds; You just need a high-density makeup sponge (you can pick up bags of them in Poundland/99p shops) before simply stippling the glitter over your existing polish.  I can’t even tell you how much easier it is doing it this way than trying to graduate the polish smoothly with a brush.

The above swatch doesn’t pick up the holographic sparkle too well, you really need to be a little out-of-focus to appreciate the fairy light-esque quality of this polish, so if you could all just go cross-eyed for a moment, that would be great.  Failing that, here’s an instagram which shows off the sparkle a little better.

As with all glitters, removal isn’t the highlight of my day, but the particles aren’t too chunky and to be fair, didn’t pose enough of a problem to send me reaching for the tin-foil.

Butter London Stardust Overcoat is available to buy online from powderrooms.com, priced at £11.95

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Is it purple? Is it blue? Neither, this is AUBERGINE bitch!  Well, kinda…

It also happens to be a one-coat wonder, unless you’re ridiculously meticulous and couldn’t possibly leave it at that.  Me?  I left it at that.  The finish is smooth and glossy and application harks back to some of Butter London’s best from a couple of years back.  When you’re dealing with bold colours, you really appreciate a faultless application and this can unquestionably be described as an easy-to-work-with polish.

Butter London Bramble was released as part of the Holiday 2013 Illusionists collection alongside a trio of top-coats and I’ll be blogging it again, combined with one of the top coats from the set: Stardust, which gives a wondrous, galaxy-esque finish.

I’m loving these chic darker shades at the moment, especially on shorter nails, what colours are you loving at the minute?

Butter London Bramble is available to buy online from powderrooms.com, priced at £11.95

You know what you really want to deal with when you’re coping with a session of glitter nail polish removal?  Nothing.  You want to deal with absolutely nothing other than an effortless removal process.

You know you’re unlikely to get it though right?  I mean, glitter polish removal is well-known for trying the patience of even the most saintly among us.  But what you don’t expect is to get cut to ribbons* in the process.

The NPW Nail Polish Remover Tub is one of those “dip and twist” removal jobbies with a sponge inside that scours off your nail polish in just a couple of twists.  And remove it, it does.  I have no qualms about the quality of the product or its efficacy at actually removing polish, but the packaging… OH GOD, the packaging!

Now, I don’t have the slenderest of fingers but neither are they banana-esque.  The NPW pot, however, has clearly been designed to accommodate the pinky fingers of 4-year olds.

You only need to glance at the stock image here to see how you might encounter a problem with this product.  As you twist your finger in an attempt to remove the polish, do not, under any circumstances allow your finger to flex… should your knuckle bend, you’ll be treated to the kind of plastic cut that a sheet of razor-sharp paper would be proud of.

Having said that, it’s achievable to remove the polish from all eight of your fingers without needing a first aid kit.  It’s the thumbs that you can kiss goodbye.

You see, by their very nature… thumbs are kinda stubby… they just don’t benefit from the same slender length that their brother’s and sister’s enjoy.  To remove the polish from your thumbs, you need to get that sensitive bit of skin between the thumb and the index finger perilously close to the knife-like edge of the pot.  You can see where this is going can’t you?

Now, just like a paper-cut… it may not look like much but this bastard stings.

It stings even more when you manage to replicate the damn thing on the other hand, because then… not only is your skin slashed, but your pride irreparably damaged as you marvel at your complete idiocy for managing to do it twice.

That is, until you give the pot to your Mum to remove her nail polish and she manages to cut herself too.  Vindicated.

NPW, sort your shit out.

* minor exaggeration

** press sample

Only a couple of months old, Cheeky Cosmetics, the sister brand of Cowshed is making waves online with their new range of 21 nail paints and freshly-opened Shoreditch beauty parlour.  Not all about nails, the new parlour also offers a range of other treats including the “Cheeky Blow” (a range of four different blow-dry styles for girls on the go), “Cheeky Paint” (A file and paint with the colour of your choice and 10ml bottle to take home with you!), and a “Cheeky Up Do” (perfect for a night out with a choice of three sophisticated styles).

Today, I’m putting one of their polishes to the test in my own beauty parlour in-front of an episode of I’m A Celebrity (why is Lucy still in there?)

The shade on my tips in the photo is The Feeling’s Neutral, an oh-so-lovely milky mocha that harks back to OPI’s cult classic You Don’t Know Jacques but with a slightly chalkier, softer and more greyed-out edge.

Application is quicker than usual with an ultra-wide brush that can suffer from overloading if you’re not careful.  Coverage is great in two coats and the polish dries rapidly to a glossy, tough finish.

My only complaint about this particular polish lies with the smell, it’s pretty obnoxious but you can take comfort from the fact that Cheeky Cosmetics lists the full ingredients on the website and there’s no sign of the toxic-three anywhere.

Cheeky Nail Paints are priced at £7 each and available to buy online and instore at the Cheeky Parlour

* press sample

You may remember earlier this year when Mavala launched the That’s My Colour campaign, inviting members of the general public (that’s you and me!) to submit some colour inspiration to the brand for a new nail polish shade.  Imagine, your very own nail polish colour!

Well, after receiving thousands of entries received via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram… the brand chose their three winners and set to work on some colour creation!

Fast forward a few months and the That’s My Colour set has just launched exclusively at John Lewis, the three winning nail polish colours were….

Argentum – molten silver with a chrome finish inspired by the sequined detailing of a jacket (submitted by @jrosellenm via Instagram)

Hearth – a cool forest green shade snapped within the rest room of a favourite restaurant (submitted by @lizzums via Twitter)

Iridescence – inspired by the chameleon like finish of petroleum reflected in the sun (submitted by @wizardofozzy via Instagram)

The set of three is priced at £11.70, available instore at John Lewis, currently out of stock online.

Which is your favourite of the three winning shades?

In another completely-inappropriate-shade-for-the-season, today I’m sporting Butter London’s Kerfuffle.  A word that I can’t actually say without immediately thinking of Lou from Little Britain’s Lou and Andy.

Kerfuffle is a delicate pink-peach creme with a glossy finish in a bright (but not too bright) base.  Application was fine, three coats for full opacity with a formula that didn’t disappoint.  It’s a soft, pretty-looking shade that should complement most skin-tones nicely.  The chances of this pairing up with tanned toes as we approach Winter is unlikely, but should it get the chance… I think it would look very nice!

Butter London Kerfuffle is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

They say that nail polish is the new lipstick in terms of what we’re spending our money on during these tough economic times.  Infact, for the first time ever…. nail polish sales look set to overtake those of lipstick by the end of the year.

And with brands releasing collections as beautiful as Leighton Denny’s new Temptation collection*, it’s not hard to understand why.

Attention Seeker

Hypnotic

Lilac Lust

Mutual Attraction

Statement Maker

Tempt Me

Attention Seeker – Vibrant cherry red with added shimmer creating a deep and sophisticated, yet edgy look.

Hypnotic – A teal blue with an exquisite taffeta appearance.

Lilac Lust – A Lilac base tone with a hint of shimmer.

Mutual Attraction – Sophisticated smoky mauve with a burgundy shimmer touch.

Statement Maker – Emerald bejewelled green with a sprinkle on metallic sparkle for a unique shimmery Look

Tempt Me – A romantic dark purple with a metallic green undertone.

All six shades apply smoothly and easily in just two coats, not one of these needed a third.  A couple of them have a thinner-than-standard formula but most look practically opaque on the first coat.  I love this time of year for jewelled shades and Leighton Denny have embraced the season, giving us punters exactly what we want.  Neons for A/W?  Sorry Butter London… but you’re not speaking my language this time.

The stand-out shade, for me, from the Temptation collection is Mutual Attraction.  I called it a couple of weeks ago as my favourite A/W nail shade and now that I’ve seen it in person… it exceeds my expectations, the shimmer is glorious whilst remaining somehow understated.

If you want to stand the chance at winning the entire collection, the brilliant @URbeautique team are running a twitter competition.  To enter, simply tweet them a photo of your nails with the hashtag #UR_tweet2win – you can find their Twitter account here.  Competition closes on the 30th September, so hurry!

The Leighton Denny A/W 2013 collection is available to buy online at urbanretreat.co.uk, priced at £11 each.

* press sample

When I was younger, I lived by the seaside… like, right on the seaside.  And whenever my Nan used to come for a holiday, she’d pick me up from school and walk me down to the arcades.  I must have spent summer after summer on the pier, playing the one-arm bandits with her.  Being the nice kind of Nan that she was, she’d feed the machine with money and let me sit on a stool beside her pulling the lever.

Fruit machines aren’t like that nowadays… instead, they’re high-tech, expertly programmed things that make a god-awful racket in the corner of a pub.  I say bring back the more genteel OXO ones… and limit people’s spends to 2p a go.  Them were the days (I remember when all this was fields etc. etc.)

Anyway, Butter London’s interpretation of a Fruit Machine, is like no fruit machine I’ve ever encountered.  Some of these names are a bit bloody random aren’t they?  What does pepto-pink have to do with anything?!

Fruit Machine is a pale bubblegum pink with a bright white base that keeps this colour popping right off your fingernails! It looks a little chalky to me but in a mod-esque, edgy kinda way rather than a cheap nail polish kinda way.

The coverage is pretty thick but the formula, completely workable and I was done after two coats.  Fruit Machine is one of those happy Spring colours (hello Autumn!) that keeps your focus firmly on your fingertips.

Butter London Fruit Machine is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

You know how you can get those mugs with the how-much-milk scale on the side of them?  From “builders brew” at the top end of the scale right down to “gnats piss” at the bottom?

Well, Butter London’s Cuppa is definitely in gnats piss territory.  Infact, if someone actually brought me a cup of tea and it was this colour.  I’d tell them that their parents had clearly dragged, rather than brought them up.  After which, I’d send them back to the kitchen for a second attempt and remind them not to forget the biscuits this time.

So, clearly I prefer a strong brew… on the nails, however, Cuppa is a real stunner.

Until now, I’d majorly-lemmed for a super-pale beige but I hadn’t found one that managed to look creamy rather than chalky.  Cuppa hits the spot, the tones are just right, the neutrality is perfect, and it applies smoothly without any issues.

My only grumble is that it takes three coats to eliminate all streakiness… many super-pale pastels suffer from baldy spots here and there but beyond that, I adore this shade.

Butter London Cuppa is priced at £11.95 and is available to buy online from powderrooms.com

These Denim polishes have been out in Asda for a little while now, released just before the Summer started but I’m only getting around to them now.  I don’t know about you but I think they have more of an Autumnal feel to them?

First up is the blue*, which was opaque in a single coat.  How much do we like it when that happens ladies?  And even more than that… it dried within five-minutes, completely.  Not just touch-dry you understand… but proper pull-your-knickers-up-after-a-wee dry.  Amazing.

The second shade, which I believe has only recently made it onto the shelves at Asda is of the black jean* variety.  This one took two-coats and dries to a charcoal shade.

Both polishes, as you can see, also dry to a matte finish… I could imagine that for the artistically inclined amongst you, these would make a rather cute base for adding arty things such as studs and painted stitches.  Me, well…. I’m just not that creative.

Wear is about average for a matte polish, a little quicker along the tips than regular polish.  Removal is a little slower too with these because of the silver shimmer, which isn’t chunky… but behaves like glitter during the removal process.

As I was packing my camera away, I remembered that I had an untried polish in my collection that I thought might be a dupe.  Yes, I know that BarryM’s Denim was released LAST year and it’s still in my untried box… but it is still available, and should you miss out on the Limited Edition George version, you have an alternative!  As you can see, they’re pretty much identical to look at… the only difference being that the BarryM one was a little slower to dry.

Do you like Denim nails?  Matte seems to be the only recent (as in the last couple of years) trend that I haven’t completely tired of!

George (at Asda) Denim Effect Nails are priced at £3.00 each and are available to buy instore.

* press samples

Seeing as it’s blatantly not Summer anymore – the rain hammering at my windows is testament to this – I thought I’d show you a real Summery shade.  Just because I’m obtuse like that.  I said obtuse, not obsese, bitches.

Butter London’s Fiver is a very, very pale pastel.  Not quite a green, not quite an aqua… it sits somewhere between the two.  There’s a definite amount of blue in there to prevent it from looking full-on minty, making it a slightly more unusual shade than most.

Application was a little streaky, after two coats it was *nearly* there but for me, needs a full three coats to make it presentable and completely streak free.  The formula was fine… easy to spread and dried rapidly.

It’s not at all right for the season is it, do you wear out of season shades whenever the mood takes you?

Butter London Fiver is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

Orange juice and toothpaste, a vegan at a BBQ, Miley Cyrus and a touch of class. Some things just don’t seem to want to go together do they?

Crabtree & Evelyn and nail polish?

Hmmm…

To be honest, I always think of Crabtree & Evelyn as a bit of a nanna-brand, aimed at garden potterers and people who use talc.  What are they doing with a new line of fashion-forward nail lacquers anyway?  Does it fit their target demographic?

Well, whatever they’re doing with it… it’s here. Launched this week into stores nationwide. Let’s have a look at them…

Not too shabby, I think you’ll agree.  Don’t underestimate those Crabtree & Evelyn shoppers, Nanna’s everywhere have their fingers firmly on the pulse it seems.

The range includes a total of 19 polishes, I’m missing a few from the pictures above… including a rather fabulous-looking olive green that I’d really like to check out sooner rather than later.  Also, in the lineup (but omitted from my picture) is a clear top/base coat, and a box of nail polish remover wipes that have been formulated with an environmentally friendly soy-based formula instead of your usual hydrocarbon solvents!  All rather innovative stuff from a brand that, to be honest, I didn’t think had it in them.

By now, you will be whooping with delight when I tell you that all of these lacquers are formulated without camphor, dibutyl phthalates, formaldehyde or toluene, and get this…

…each 15ml bottle is priced at only £6.00 each.

Available instore and online at crabtree-evelyn.co.uk now, made my weekend this has!