A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Sometimes… you come across something a little bit special in the nail polish world.

Surreal Violet from the upcoming Estee Lauder Pure Color Collection is a little bit special.

I’ll admit, I’m biased.  I love me a bit of greige… I also love me a bit of dirty purple… combining the 2 tips me over the edge.

But then… THEN… throw in a generous amount of amber shimmer that sparkles like fireflies when sunlight hits it, and you’ve got me foaming at the mouth.  2 coats to achieve opacity, the sample I received glides on beautifully with no problems to note.  I finished with a quick-dry top coat to really enhance the shimmer contained within.

Surreal Violet is a limited edition shade from the upcoming Estee Lauder Pure Color collection by Tom Pecheux which is due to be released in the UK in August.

The polish will retail at £12/€17 and frankly, you need it.

WAH Nails are offering the ultimate world cup accessory (other than having Ronaldo on your arm). Actually, scratch that… does anyone ACTUALLY fancy Ronaldo? He’s far too high maintenance and no-chin for me.

I digress…

World Cup Nails…. yeah baby!

You can sport one (or more) of all 32 participating team’s designs on your tips and show your other half that you TOTALLY are supporting their love for all things football.

Head to WAH Nails in the Topshop basement (Oxford Street, London) to partake in a little world cup nail artistry.

The designs are available from the 11th June – 11h July, Flag designs from £30 and 10% off your home countries flag if you can show proof of your birthplace with a passport!
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Which design would you choose? I know it’s terribly unpatriotic (esp being an 80s child)… but I’m digging the Greek & Argentine flags!

Taking advantage of Barielle‘s current ‘buy one get one free’ offer, I find myself the new owner of four new Barielle shades.  I should have behaved and gone for two… but I even had a hard time narrowing it down to four.

I chose two shades from the Spring Wildflowers Collection (which was WILDLY late to arrive in the UK) and two from the High Steppin’ Summer collection.

I’m being a bit of a kid in a sweet shop, because I still have a couple left from the Urban Decay Summer of Love set to show you, but I simply couldn’t resist cracking open June Bug (£8) first.  After all, I’ve been desperately desiring it for the last 5 months.

I’m delighted and annoyed with it all at the same time.

I mean, once applied… I love it and I’m very pleased that I bought it… It’s like nothing else that I own.  But my God I turned the air blue during application.

Gloop, gloop, gloop.  This polish is thick.

It spread like marmite on my nails and with the addition of the glitter gave me a horrible satin bumpy finish that needed two coats of quick dry to stop me from reaching for the nail varnish remover.

However, once all is said and done… it’s one of those polishes that ends up looking far neater and more uniform than you would have thought possible during application.

The glitter is subtle and it mixes in beautifully with the shimmer that is present in the muted baby-blue base.  Mr. L couldn’t detect the fuchsia glitter from a distance of 4 foot until the sun caught my nails and it gave a litte sparkle.

I’m talking myself round as I’m writing this and casting glances at my fingertips.  I was cross with it as I was trying to work with that 2nd coat that was drying as quickly as I could put it on… but you simply have to forgive a polish that ends up looking as pretty as this does.

That pesky reflection below makes my nail bed look bumpy, it’s not… two layers of top coat sorted that out nicely.

Barielle are still offering BOGOF on their new Spring/Summer collections, but I’m not sure for how much longer.

What do you think?  Do you like it?

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 suspected it from the moment I twirled the bottle between my fingers…

…Stargazer #155 (£2) is a very nice match for the cult O.P.I shade I’m Not Really A Waitress (£9.95)

INRAW was the first OPI I bought back in the day and is probably the only bottle of polish I’m even close to finishing.

If I look *really* closely, I’d say that Stargazer #155 is the teeniest bit more cherry toned than INRAW, but there’s barely anything in it.

#155 is opaque in two coats and applies smoothly with a decent brush… not too thin and no straggly long bits.  Quick drying but affording just enough time to work the polish to the edges of the nail bed.  It benefits from a glossy top coat to bring out the sparkle within the polish.

And a comparison with the OPI…

I prefer the Stargazer.  I’ve always had an issue with tip wear with this particular OPI (see my review from last May) and the Stargazer is outperforming INRAW in this instance by a huge amount.  No tip wear at all until the 3rd day.

Did I find a good dupe?  I’m usually pretty crappy at dupe hunting, so I’m kinda chuffed with myself!  Simple things and all that…

Exclusive to ASOS.

Bourjois have released a new nail polish collection which claims to give a false nail effect for up to 8 days.

Bourjois False Nail Effect Nail Enamel is available in 8 shades and designed to cover any nail imperfections for a smooth and even finish.

The colour range isn’t exactly blowing me away, but I like the sound of the wide brush and am tempted to pick up a bottle in the hot pink (3rd from left).

Priced at £5.50 each and available at ASOS.

Slowly making my way through the Urban Decay Summer of Love nail kit (£17.50) and I’m currently sporting Psychedelic Sister!

Described as a bright coral, but it isn’t.  It’s far too red to qualify as coral.  However, it’s a beautiful shade of red meets salmon pink.  It shouldn’t work, but it does!

3 coats (as most of these seem to need) for a good finish, my one complaint is that I’ve got more tip wear than normal AND a chip *sharp intake of breath* on only my first full day of wear.  Can’t count, that’s two complaints… oh well.  You can see the chip on my index fingernail and the tip wear on the middle.

I don’t usually get chips, soooooooo it’s something that is noticeable when I do.

See my other swatches from the collection:

Aquarius
Woodstock
The Whole Kit

Some of you ladies have your Summer of Love nail kits now, how are you liking them?  Have you spotted them in Debenhams yet or is it only some Boots that have put them up?

Here’s another Eyeko I was sent recently…

…don’t like it (said in the style of Lou & Andy).

Eyeko’s Petite Polish (£3.50) is a pale girly pink, and there’s nothing wrong with that…. infact, the idea appeals and I’m not sure I have anything similar.  However, it just didn’t work that well for me.  It took 4 coats to achieve opacity (so probably great if you’re looking for a sheer!) and once finished it just looked kinda “thick” and not very feminine at all.

Is it supposed to be a sheer?  I dunno… I guess maybe it’s a French Manicure polish, in which case I’m being a bit harsh… but I want an opaque baby pink that looks all delicate, and this isn’t it.

Can anyone recommend some nice baby pinks that are all feminine and floaty and stuff?

A stand out from the collection, Aquarius is a beautiful metallic mermaid teal that screams summer!

Application was sadly a bit of a PITA, you need at least 3 coats to achieve a good-looking finish owing to a slightly patchy formula that seems to apply extra-thinly in some areas despite care and concentration!

However, once applied… it’s a beautiful hybrid finish with just as much shimmer as metallic.  I doubt it’s a hugely unique shade, but I imagine it will be the jewel in the collection for many.

See my other swatches from the collection here and the Urban Decay Summer of Love Nail Kit as a whole, here.

This is in proper “I can’t stop looking at how hot my nails are” territory.  A neon pink creme that lends itself fabulously to slightly cooler toned ladies.  This is three coats.  Application was fine if a little bit patchy.  I couldn’t have gotten away with less than three coats despite it’s apparent opaqueness.  You would also be wise to pair this with a topcoat as it dries somewhat matte.

All in all, there’s a few niggles… but it didn’t make me want to tear my hair out with frustration or anything extreme like that… and the colour… OH the colour.  I lurve.

Woodstock is from the Urban Decay Summer of Love collection which is supposed to be released on the 7th June in the UK, but I’ve heard a few people say that it’s already available in Boots and Debenhams.

See my other swatches from the collection here and the Urban Decay Summer of Love Nail Kit as a whole, here.

Released on the 7th June, the highly anticipated return of Urban Decay Nail Polishes to the UK is nearly upon us!

I’ve been snapping up the UD Polishes from yesteryear as and when I see them on eBay or in discount stores, so I’m pretty darn excited about this set.  Infact, it was through their polishes that I first discovered the brand… anyone else remember the polishes?

Anyway, last year I found myself whining (I know, quelle surprise!) at Urban Decay’s UK PR peeps when I was told that we wouldn’t be seeing the Apocalyptic Nail Kit on our shores, so I nearly peed my knickers when I was sent these this week.

7 mini-sized nail polishes housed in a faux gold snakeskin little zip-up case.  Tack-o-rama!  Um, in a good way!

One for every day of the week!  The colours do shout summer…. well… nearly all of them.  I just can’t associate purple with summer… and that one on the far left.. I’m thinking more early Autumn.  Pedantic, sorry.

I couldn’t wait to begin swatching and I’ve been deliberating… Do I post them all up at once, or do one at a time in a  usual NOTD?  I decided that I’d just get some quick swatches up so you can see if the shades are colours you’d be interested in wearing in advance of the release.  As I work my way through them over the next week or so I’ll give thoughts on formula, application and a better swatch photo…

In particular, my Woodstock photo is a bit off…. so I’ll make sure I get another one up early in the week (it’s my favourite too!)

For now…

Very, very quick first impression.  Each polish is 5ml, so we’re talking the same quantity as a Mavala.  Packaging is cute and even better, the brush is normal sized… a little wide even.  I much prefer this as it means I can cover my nail in 2/3 strokes… none of this faffing about with a teeny brush.

The set consists of 3 cremes (woodstock, psychedelic sister & magic bus), 2 shimmers (love light & hashbury) and 2 metallics (aquarius & shine on).  Formula wise, I had the most application joy from those cremes (but they benefit from a glossy top coat).  The metallics gave me the biggest application woes with a touch of cuticle drag.

The set will be priced at £17.50 and available from the 7th June.  Now…. if only they sold them full size and separately…

Now that Models Own have expanded into Boots stores nationwide, their legendary polishes are a whole lot easier to get your hands on!

The range is simply quite mind boggling, with a shade for every occassion.  They also sell other cosmetics including eye and lip products and I have a particularly lovely neon pink lip product to show you very soon!

I was sent this Models Own shade in Fuzzy Peach and it’s a touch more neon in real life than my photo shows… the colour is pretty spot on, but it’s a little more vibrant in person.  Application was….interesting.

First 2 coats were streaksville.  Worse than Eyeko’s streakiness…. I laid down the first coat… waited 10 minutes and despite feeling pretty dry to the touch, I got some crappy cuticle drag on the second coat.  Thankfully the third coat evened everything out enough for me to be satisfied with the finish but I made sure to top everything off with a quick dry top coat.

Put it this way, I was a bit disappointed with the formula.

However, there’s no denying it’s one helluva colour for summer!  Someone with a tan and warmer skin would knock ’em dead with this on their tips.

Models Own Fuzzy Peach is £5 and available online and instore at Boots.