A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

You can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter…

Ta-da!!

Well, it’s not exactly subtle is it?  A warm brown base colour with a whole heap of chunky holo glitter embedded like sparkly shrapnel.  It needs a top coat to get rid of the grittiness and three overall coats to achieve full opacity.

I like it, but not as much as I thought I was going to.  Apologies for the no natural daylight photo – colour is accurate but the holo is obviously looking a little underwhelming.  You need proper sun for that kind of bling and we’re just not getting any at the moment.

What do you think?

China Glaze Mahoganie is priced at £7.99 and available online from RadiantBabe-Beauty.

I’m usually fairly decisive about nail polish but I really can’t make up my mind whether or not I love or loathe this one from Leighton Denny’s Autumn/Winter Atmospheric collection.

Astronaughty is beautiful.  Let’s get that out of the way first… I’m not denying that it holds that special something to elevate it above the ordinary.  It’s described as an intense plum with sizzling red shimmer – and I have to say that I don’t ‘get’ that.  To my eye, it’s more complicated.

Firstly, it’s not intense.  The above shows three fairly thick coats and although not instantly apparent in the photo… there’s a whisper of sheerness that will remain for at least another coat.  Not that there’s anything wrong with this, but it gives a more smokey effect than the wham, bam intensity you’d expect from the description.

The red shimmer is also quite copper-y red which leans a touch yellow on my already yellowed nails — something that makes this polish really intriguing but ultimately not massively flattering on my nails.

I’ve experienced a bit of tip wear with this one but no chipping.  Ngggh, I just don’t know about this one!

Leighton Denny Astronaughty is available to buy online priced at £11.00

* press sample

No, my nails aren’t this long anymore – this was back in the day when I hadn’t abused them to within a millimetre of their poor, peeling lives.  Although looking at that length now, I think I’ve gone off it a bit… funny how our tastes change constantly isn’t it?

My tastes haven’t changed for Butter London’s beautiful Artful Dodger though.  When I was a little girl, I distinctly remember wanting to be the Artful Dodger… it’s not that I had a penchant for petty theft, I just thought it was a cool name.  Still do.

Artful Dodger is a super-pretty blue that feels a little different to my other squillion blues in my blue drawer.  Yes, I have a blue drawer.  What of it?  It manages to feel light, airy, a little frosty but somehow calming and mediterranean at the same time.  Plus, the beautiful BL cream formula is a dream to apply, something that of course, always helps.

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

Another from Leighton’s Autumn collection is Meteor Match, possibly the most intriguing in the bottle but how does it translate onto the nails?

Meteor Match is an unusual silver-ed, icy blue with a hint of both purple and green.  Not quite strong enough to be described as a pure duochrome, though the tendencies are definitely clear to see.  As if those elements weren’t enough to be getting on with, Meteor Match also contains a pretty scattering of silver glitter that compliments the icy blue tones beautifully.

A little on the sheer side, I needed four coats (some fingers were ok with three) to achieve the opacity that you see above.  The formula was on the watery side, though not difficult to work with… just reminiscent of other pale duochromes that lean similarly sheer.

I’m not 100% sure how I ultimately feel about Meteor Match.  I think I’d class it as a “nearly awesome” shade.  For me, I’d love that purple duochrome to have been a hair more apparent on the nail and the formula, a little more opaque.  Either way, it’s still a very pretty, if non-commital shade and mega-props for being something a little different.

Leighton Denny Meteor Match is available to buy online priced at £11.00

* press sample

What is it?

Vegan nail brand, SpaRitual have released a Cancer Awareness Collection of nail polishes comprising three absolutely beautiful pink shades.  Knowledge, Strength and Clarity sparkle, shimmer and shine in the best ways possible: A holographic pink glitter, a solid pink glitter and a pink foil with golden shimmer.  Amazing.

How much is it?

The shades are priced at £8.50 each

How much of our money goes to supporting PINK projects?

20% of all proceeds from the sale of these three shades will be donated to CancerSchmancer, a U.S. based charity focused on supporting early cancer detection.

How do I get it?

SpaRitual’s In Pink collection is available to buy online in the UK from sparitual.co.uk

My little girl Leila loves watching me polish my nails, she loves lining up my bottles along the carpet… organising them by shape, colour and height.  She makes me nail polish trains and loves nothing better than picking out my next shade.  With that in mind, you can imagine the ridiculous amount of delight on her face when I presented her with her own set of nail polishes*.  No?

Well, here’s an idea…

I’ve never painted Leila’s nails before.  Aside from the politics about whether or not children should wear cosmetics, I’ve just never felt comfortable applying solvents to those tiny little fingers.  Hell, all I need to do is look at my own peeling, yellow nails to discover more than one supporting reason why I’m keeping my polishes locked in my cabinet when I’m not around.

But Little BU make nail polish especially for little fingers with a non-toxic, water-based, solvent-free formula.  The brainchild of Patricia Dente Haimes, a former New York beauty publicist — these formulas have spent a long time in careful development and are now ready to be unveiled to the world.

I’ve tried a water-based polish before but I found it an utter pain to apply.  Streaky, watery and sheer to the point of frustration.  In Little BU’s case, I can confirm that both the shades Emma (red) and Sofia (dark purple) are opaque in a single coat and when you’re trying to paint a moving target, that comes in very handy.

Kyra (luminescent silver) wasn’t quite so successful, mostly because Leila decided she didn’t like it and wasn’t going to afford me even thirty seconds of the patience needed to apply it, but I could tell that it was sheerer than the other two shades.  Over on the right in the above photo is the top coat.  It’s not an absolute necessity if you’re just having afternoon play but I do recommend it for sealing the colour to the nails so it doesn’t wash off too easily in soapy water.

Leila has already requested that I might like to buy her Olivia (soft blue) and Riley (bubblegum pink) and I’m sure I can stretch to those for her Christmas stocking but until then she’s rocking red toenails, just like her Mum.

Little BU are having a launch party in Harrods on Saturday 15th October from 2pm – 6pm.  It’s set to be a proper knees-up with mini manicures, face painting, colouring in and balloon modelling and what’s more — we’re all invited!  If I can make it into London, I might see you there!

Little BU Nail Polishes are priced at £9.95 each and available online at www.iluvlittlebu.com or instore at Harrods.

* press sample

What is it?

OPI and Lena White have released a new shade in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  OPI Pink of Hearts Pink Shatter Top Coat builds on the already popular shatter lineup with a new, pinked-up shade!

How much is it?

Individual bottles are priced at £10.50 each.

How much of our money goes to supporting PINK projects?

£1 from the sale of every bottle will be donated as a contribution to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity for their ongoing research into cancer.

How do I get it?

Available from www.lenawhite.co.uk

It’s undoubtedly their duochromes that set Nubar apart from the competition and I’ve got a very pretty one to show you today.  Indigo Illusion is a liac/blue/green/grey infusion of colour that dances on the nails depending on the amount of light hitting it and from what angle it strikes.

Three smooth coats will ensure a fully opaque finish from a brand that is fast becoming one of my favourites.  No top coat in the above image either.

Nubar Indigo Illusion is available to buy online from BeautyBay.com and is priced at £5.50 with free delivery.

If you invented your own duochrome polish, which colours would you include?

The third polish in my mini Zoya haul was Neeka from the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection.

A pretty purple/grape polish with gold sparkle, this wasn’t as dusty as I hoped.  Not that there’s anything wrong with the base colour but I expected something a little greyer from Zoya’s description of the shade.  Never mind, I’m not adverse to any kind of purple on my nails!

The formula of this was very similar to Yara and I achieved excellent coverage with two coats.

Zoya Neeka is available to buy online from Beauty4Nails-Body priced at £7.99

Well, more… mini-sized, nano would just be ridiculous despite the mileage one might get from the whole alliteration thing.  Could you imagine trying to paint your nails with a brush designed for a nano-sized container?  That would take polish rage to a whole other level.  You get polish rage too right?

The sizing comes in at 7ml and retails online at around the £5.25 mark.  It doesn’t work out to be the most cost-effective way to purchase polish (buy in bulk people) but it’s still a cute gift idea for people you don’t like enough to shell out the full amount of money on right?

Was I not supposed to say that out loud?

What I particularly like about the mini range is that Nubar have included some of their cult classics (*cough* Peacock Feathers *cough*) in the 54-piece shrinkies and not held their best-selling shades hostage.

Nubar minis are available online at BeautyShed priced at £5.25 each or from Nubar-Nailz priced at £5.00 each

Let’s kick off the week with another nail polish swatch, again from Leighton Denny‘s new Atmospheric Collection.  Your Planet or Mine? is a beetle’s wing duochrome that displays mostly teal with flashes of vivid purple around the edges.  It scores extra points for providing such good coverage after two coats.

Duochromes are notoriously sheer and after a single coat, I thought this one was heading in the same direction.  Thankfully, the second topping pulled it all together and I was done.

If you love this kind of colour-shifting gorgeousness, you might also want to check out: Ciate Starlet and SpaRitual Health, Wealth and Happiness – both of which, provide similar effects but with enough differences between all three to warrant purchases.  Enabler? Moi?

Leighton Denny’s Atmospheric Collection is available to buy online priced at £11.00

It’s been a long time since I fell so heavily in love with a nail polish shade.  Zoya Caitlin isn’t even a sparkler.  It doesn’t shift colour and it doesn’t glow in the dark or create funny patterns with the help of a magnet.

Zoya Caitlin is just a beautiful creme that has enough edge to make it different to all my other cremes.  I’m smiling as I write this because I think that half of you are gonna be with me on this and the rest are gonna be like “uh what?”

I won’t build it up any more…

Zoya Caitlin is the duskiest blue I own.  I don’t know how it manages to look so soft yet still be so bold.  It looks like a breath of dusty serenity and I’m completely smitten.  It was released as part of their Spring 2011 Intimates Collection as one half of a duo “french-twist” manicure.  Everywhere I look, I see this described as a purple or a violet.  I just don’t see it.  On me, it’s an out and out cob-webby, deep cornflower.

Uniquely beautiful, I have nothing bad to say about this nail polish.

Zoya Caitlin is available in the UK online at Beauty4Nails-Body priced at £7.99 – I have no personal experience with this website, I bought my bottle from eBay U.S.