A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

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.

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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.

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Due to launch this Autumn are six new “specialist” shades from China Glaze that promise to leave you mesmerized as the color shifts and moves across the nail, traveling with the light.

Woohoo for duochromes!

Recent duochrome launches have been a bit disappointing no?  I still smart from being underwhelmed by the much-hyped Models Own Beetlejuice collection which offered (to my eye), a disappointing effect on the nail compared to the bottle shots.  I’m gonna be a tough cookie on these if they fail to live up to those lovely stock images below.

• Unpredictable – Multidimensional gorgeous green
• Rare & Radiant – Extraordinarily rich gold
• Swanky Silk – Brilliant beige with peach undertones
• No Plain Jane – Lavish lavender-pink
• Want My Bawdy – Sexy sapphire blue
• Deviantly Daring – Adventurously bold peacock teal

It almost makes me excited for Autumn.  I said, almost.

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

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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

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It’s the peach polish parade!

This was Leila’s idea – I asked her to pick out some of her favourite shades amongst my polish drawers and you might be able to guess which shade featured highly in her selections!  Peach can work so beautifully on a range of skintones, I admit to favouring the more pastel hues on my pale skintone, particularly if they’ve got that whole creamsicle thing going on.  As for finish.. is there a better shade for a good ol’ fashioned creme formula?  Nuh uh, I don’t think so.

Here’s some lovely ones…

01  |  02  |  03  |  04  |  05  |  06  |  07  |  08  |  09  |  10

01: Orly Cotton Candy (£4.14)  |  02: Barry M Peach Melba (£3)  |  03: NARS Orgasm (£14)
04: Illamasqua Purity (£13.50)  |  05: Nails Inc Wellington Square (£11)  |  06: Essie Tart Deco (£8.50)
07: Models Own Fuzzy Peach (£5)  |  08: Barielle Blossom (£8)  |  09: Butter London Trout Pout (£11.95)
10: Mavala Magic (£3.50)

What’s your favourite peach polish?

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

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Orange You Hot? Well, you are indeed warmer than a slice of Kingsmill, toasted on the defrost setting.  I’m not really damning this polish with faint praise… it’s pretty bright, but to be honest… it’s still totally wearable for everyone.  I realise this is probably a good thing… but I do like my neons to just occassionally, set my retinas alight.

Orange You Hot is an orange, nay tangerine shimmer.  The shimmer adds a dose of brightness that can’t help but inject a bit of wotsit (cheetos)-flavoured sunshine into the proceedings.  Mr. L hates it… which means that I, of course, have to love it more than I really do just to piss him off.

China Glaze Orange You Hot is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at RadiantBabe-Beauty, priced from £6.75

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I love blue nails, yet rarely wear them myself.  I don’t know why that is… perhaps the fear of smurf fingers after removal (though I’m frequently advised that a smear of vaseline over your fingertips avoids the problem), or is it simply the primitive-ness of the hue? Perhaps I’m just scared it might make me look like Michael Howard’s lovechild (afterall, there is “something of the night” about me).

China Glaze Ride The Waves doesn’t really conjour up images of riding any kind of waves, it feels more traditionally maritime blue in a Royal Navy kinda way than all surfy n’ stuff.  Although most definitely a primary blue, the finish is all squishy and jelly-like to give some oomph to its character.  Unlike some of the other brights in the Summer Neons Collection, this one isn’t actually all that bright – though it does create an impact.  Application was fine but worth bearing in mind that it will prove to be a little sheer because of the jelly finish (the above photo shows three coats).

China Glaze Ride the Waves is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at RadiantBabe-Beauty, priced from £6.75

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I thought I’d start swatching the China Glaze Summer Neons collection with my favourite (at least from just looking at the bottles): Pink Plumeria*.  It’s a bright coral which definitely leans more towards the pink side of the spectrum, making it an excellent choice for those of us who might usually struggle with the warmth in traditional coral shades.  Pink Plumeria, to my eye at least, carries a really subtle duochrome – I’m not sure if this is intended, or is simply a result of the golden shimmer packed within.

You can see on the nail tips, there’s definitely more golden tones than toward the base of the nail bed.  The formula on this one was ok… a bit prone to pooling, so definitely paint this one on in thinner strokes.  This is going to be such a lovely pedicure shade too, I’m feeling the love for this one!

China Glaze Pink Plumeria is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at RadiantBabe-Beauty, priced from £6.75

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Do I feel a faint glow of warmth on the back of my neck?  Could it be that Summer is attempting to at least play a bit part in our lives this year?  I won’t hold my breath to be honest, so while I can see a bit of blue inbetween the clouds, I’m gonna make the most of it.

There’s no better way of injecting some summer lovin’ into your routine than with skittle-licious nails in the shape of China Glaze’s Summer Neons collection*.

Twelve shades of super-vibrant colour in that Summer-staple neon formula.  Have we seen these before?  Probably – but those hot corals never fail to make me smile, no matter how many times they come around.  Individual finger swatches coming soon!

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OH HAI MOST PRETTY POLISH IN THE WORLD.  WHERE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

You know, it’s funny.  The nail polish community online have been crying out for moar holos, moar party glitters, and moar duochromes from the industry leaders for a few years now.  We haven’t really seen anything significant come from these requests and so something very interesting has happened… the rule of the indie/franken brigade is now upon us!  You might still be looking to OPI, China Glaze, Zoya et al to see where the polish trends are heading, and if so… you’re looking in the wrong place.

Get. on. Etsy.

I picked up this Darling Diva Polish in Space Beetle a few weeks ago and it’s the most beautiful colour-shifting holographic that I own.  Ok, it might be the only one, whatever – I don’t have a 9359435 billion nail polishes (well, not quite).

Ain’t she beautiful?  Trust me, she’s even better in sunlight.

I know that she’s been compared to Dollish Polish’s Toxic Avenger… of which, I know very little about – so I’m just going to take this polish on its own merits and tell you why you need to go and buy it.  I don’t think it’s going to be a tough job to be honest.

Space Beetle is a linear holographic-slash-duochrome that’s absolutely packed with prismatic bounty.  The highlights flash the most delightful candyfloss pink which is what makes this so unique.  The swatches show the polish applied over a bare nail, two coats – both of which, applied faultlessly.

I haven’t tried layering it yet, but I can’t wait – I’m curious to see what effect those pink flashes have on a variety of base colours.

Darling Diva Polish Space Beetle (£7.86) is available to buy online from the Darling Diva Polish Etsy shop which ships internationally.  I have my beady eye on Ceylon next (I’m a sucker for a Periwinkle!)