A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The beauty blogosphere has been rumbling with news of a collaboration between slick nail art gurus WAH Nails and high-street favourites… polish maestro’s Models Own!

As originally reported by ElleUK last month, the pairing is set to bring nail art to the UK High Street in the shape of some new Nail Art pens!

It’s a marriage made in heaven if it means that we can recreate fabulous designs like these in the comfort of our own homes:

image credit: WAH Nails

Now, if only the pairing could come up with a way to bottle the talent needed to mastermind designs like the above… that WOULD be a bestseller.

Can we have some WAH/Models Own nail art tutorials thrown in too please?  PLEASE?

What do you think of this collaboration?  Hit or Flop?

When I was in London last week I was on the hunt for some of the new Accessorize Illusion nail polishes… you know, the duochrome ones.  Sadly, I only found one solitary polish and I nearly had to beat someone up to get my hands on it first.  It’s ok, I only broke a couple of her fingers… she can always paint the other hand.

It was totally worth it though right?  Look at those gorgeous purple/green/amber flashes! *dies*

Please excuse my death-warmed up hands… we were having double glazing fitted and the house was an ice-box sans windows.  My hands were ready to drop right off.

What d’ya think?

That is a bloody gorgeous duochrome to feed our inner 8 year old’s craving for something PURRRRRRDY right?

Application isn’t too shabby but it did need a good 3 coats and a healthy splodge of quick dry top coat for optimum shininess.  Wear has been good… no chips, just some minor tip wear.  Removal was a bit of a pain thanks to the glittery bits but othing too soul destroying.

My niece came over yesterday and the first thing I did was thrust my nails in her face and demand to know if she’d ever seen anything like so completely amazing?  She looked at me in the way only a 7 year old can when embarrassed by someone old enough to know better.

But she agreed, it was pretty cool.

Priced at £4 each for 10ml… Accessorize Nail Polishes are available instore (though I can only ever find a couple – usually by the tills), online (full selection) and I believe they’re coming to/are already in Superdrug?  Or did I imagine that bit…

Anyway, the moral of the story is… go and hunt them down, even if it means maiming your fellow shoppers in the process.

…geddit? rides? as in horses… as in cowboys? as in Tex… oh forget it.

Due for UK release in February, OPI will be introducing 12 new shades for their Spring/Summer collection which takes it’s inspiration from the U.S’ 2nd largest state.

Talking of O.P.I (which, I quite clearly will until I get bored)… does anyone know what O.P.I stands for?

No googling… no cheating… I DO actually know (‘cos I cheated) but that’s not the point.  Let’s pretend it could stand for ANYTHING!  In your mental little world, tell me what O.P.I would stand for?

For me and my bank account, it would have to be something like… Overall Purse Invaders.  I read one on Google that proferred “Ohmygod Pooh Inside” – I chuckled, though being over the age of 4… I probably shouldn’t have.

Um.  Where was I?  Oh yeah…  Texas Collection!

San Tan-tonio – The Perfect Honey Tan
Y’all Come Back Ya Hear? – Texan Tangerine
Guy Meets Gal-veston – “Engaging” Coral
Big Hair… Big Nails – Rosy Blush

I Vant To Be A-Lone Star – Starry Silver-Blue
It’s Totally Fort Worth It – Shimmering Lavender Grey
Austin-tatious Turquoise – Bodacious Blue Green
Don’t Mess With OPI – Lean, mean kick-grass Green

Too Hot Pink to Hold ‘Em – A hot pink winning hand
Do You Think I’m Tex-y – A ‘berry’ sexy shade
Houston We Have A Purple – Galactic violet
Suzi Loves Cowboys – Rich campfire chocolate

I couldn’t make the preview but have already picked a personal favourite (or two) after having looked at Helen’s shots from the event.

Her swatch shot:

image used with kind permission from JustNiceThings

Are there any shades in particular standing out amongst this little lot for you guys?

After seeing the swatch shot over at Just Nice Things – I’m lusting after It’s Totally Fort Worth It, but do have my reservations on how many coats I might need to apply to get the look I want from this jelly finish.

Other than that?  I’m not sure… nothing is filling me with overwhelming excitement, however… O.P.I (more than any other brand) have the ability to create slow burners for me.  I’m actually still indulging in the odd Swiss Collection bottle that I’ve now decided over a month after release that I simply cannot live without.

The O.P.I Texas Spring/Summer 2011 Nail Collection will be released in the UK in February, priced at £9.95 a bottle and avilable from LenaWhite.

Following the roaring success of Estee Lauder’s previous nail polish release and the fact that I simply couldn’t have anymore love for Surreal Violet than I do, I had super high hopes for their Christmas collection.

I was given Extravagant Pearl at a recent event and I have really mixed thoughts on it.

Extravagant Pearl is one of two polish releases for Christmas 2010, the other being Extravagant Night (a dark plum with mesmerising micro-glitter).  Looking at Extravagant Pearl in the bottle, I expected it to be a sheer, layering polish… it isn’t.  The above shows three thin coats and if you don’t mind a visible nail line, you could be done in two.  Oddly enough, the reviews I’ve read of the darker Extravagant Night show that one to be a 4 coater!

Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent…

Extravagant Pearl is quite a difficult colour to describe… but I think I’d call it NARS Albatross in a nail polish.  A pale, warm gold with shimmer.  Lots of shimmer.  A little too much for me.

It looks quite frosty and for some reason makes my normally narrow nails look wide and fat.  It needed a top coat too thanks to the micro-glitter making the surface of the nail quite gritty to the touch.

I want to love this shade, I really do… it is packed so completely full of beautiful multi-coloured sparkle in the bottle I was sure I would be on cloud nine with this on my nails.  But I’m just not feeling it.

I tried layering it over black to see if I loved it more… I still don’t.

Urgh, what’s wrong with me?  It’s clearly very pretty and sparkly and totally Christmassy.  It even works well against my skintone… perhaps I just don’t like frosts?

Wear has been marvellous… 3 days now with no tip wear at all though it was a little slow to dry between coats.

What do you guys think?  Am I crazy for not loving it?

Estee Lauder Extravagant Pearl is a Limited Edition shade released as part of the EL Christmas/Holiday Collection.  It’s available online or on counter and priced at £12.

Whilst Illamasqua’s Viridian was released with a flourish and huge interest from nail bloggers excited to see the emerald green featured in the campaign shots… not quite so much was said about Scarab, Viridian’s quieter and more conventional sister polish.

Which is a bit of a shame, because as you can see… it’s a proper Autumn/Winter beauty!

Scarab is an almost sanguine red with flecks of copper fire that really come to life when caught by the light.  This was the other item I was sent from the Art of Darkness collection… I very nearly squealed when I first took it out of the box!

It’s true to bottle colour and as with most Illamasqua polishes I’ve tried… applies beautifully and is practically opaque in one coat.

I do have one issue with this polish though… wear.  I had enough tip wear to bother me by the end of the second day and I don’t usually suffer with that at all until the 3rd day.  I should absolutely point out that this was whilst wearing it layered over another polish for my Ruffian manicure.  I shall wear it alone and report back/edit as necessary.

Illamasqua polishes are on the pricey side and Scarab will set you back £13.00 if you choose to indulge.  You can buy online or on counter.

…shame about the picture though.

I chose Precision – Party Like a Rockstar for the gold under-layer because of it’s hawt metallic qualities.  Over the top, I added Illamasqua Scarab to create a nice, Wintery feeling manicure.

Unfortunately, the flash firing in the photos simply shows Party Like a Rockstar as a solid yellow and not the beautiful metallic gold that it is in reality.

I was a lot easier to achieve that I thought it would be… a little bit of patience is honestly all that’s needed.

For a great how-to on the Ruffian inspired manicure, check out one of my favourite nail blogs Lacquerized.

I can’t even tell you how many people admired my nails yesterday… oh ok, about 9 separate people and they ALL wanted to give it a go for themselves once I explained how it was achieved.

Have you attempted Ruffian Nails yet?  Which colours do you think would work best together?

I just wasn’t expecting to like it… but strangely, I do!

Bumster from Butter London’s Autumn/Winter collection is one of those ugly colours that you either love or hate.

It’s one of the two McQueen-inspired shades in the collection, named for the designer’s famously low slung trouser creation that shocked the fashion world at the time. Not a natural nail shade choice for the more conservative among us, it sits oddly against my skintone. However, I simply love how creamy it looks, opaque in only two coats and perfect for the camel trend we’re currently experiencing.

As much as I’m drawn to it, I do have to admit that it looks far, far better on my cousin’s olive-toned skin than it does on my pasty pink complexion.

Will that stop me wearing it? Not a chance… I can’t stop checking out my nails!

Butter London Bumster is available to buy online from Powder Rooms, priced at £9.75

I was recently introduced to Salon nail brand Precision during a press event and although not a brand I’d encountered before, my eye was immediately drawn to their new collection entitled Glam Rock.

The overall look of the products is sleek with their OPI-esque packaging, heavyweight bottles and even contoured handles!

The Glam Rock collection comprises of 6 darker, slighty industrial shades which all fit in well with the concept.

R01: Glam Metal – warm charcoal base with multi coloured shimmer
R02: U Rock & I Roll – Industrial dark grey creme
R03: VIP Very Important Polish – Berry purple with multi coloured shimmer
R04: The After After Party – Navy with multi coloured shimmer
R05: Rebel Red in You – Black with Red Glitter
R06 : Party Like a Rockstar – Gold with multi coloured shimmer

I’m really late in swatching these… I’ve been looking at them longingly for about a month, but having been without camera means that I’ve got a hell of a lot of catching up to do now!

I’ll leave you with one swatch shot.  Here’s R05: Rebel Red in You…

The red glitter suspended in a black base is not an original concept.  I’m thinking China Glaze Lubu Heels, Eyeko Vampira, Color Club Red Velvet etc.. etc… but it’s a good idea well executed here by Precision.  I have no complaints about quality, infact the bottle and brush are simply divine.

It did require three thin coats to achieve the above finish… but if you’re a little more heavy handed than me, you would be done in two.

What I will say for this collection is that so far I’ve worn two from the six shades I was given and one of them has just easily jumped into my top 20 Winter polishes of all time.  It’s THAT gorgeous.  I’ll get it posted up later in the week.

Precision is available to buy online from their website or Venus Nail & Beauty with bottles priced at around £5.99 each.

If you’ve been unsuccessful in tracking down the polish dupe of the year, then fear not!

I’ve got 2 of these beauties to give away to my lovely readers.

Two lucky winners will win one polish each. What do you have to do to be in with a chance?

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Go to the Lipglossiping facebook page, LIKE it and don’t forget to leave a comment saying ENTER ME! (on FB)

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RULES
~ Open worldwide
~ Two winners (winning 1 polish each) will be picked at random early next week
~ Giveaway closes at 11.59pm this Wednesday (you have 72hrs – ish)
~ If you don’t have Facebook but would still like to enter, shoot me an email via the contact page and I’ll make sure your name goes in the hat!
~ Please don’t send me any personal details (names or addresses). I will contact you via facebook/reply to email if you have won)

With all this Chanel vs. BarryM nail polish dupe talk… how could I possibly have resisted CHARGING down my local Superdrug as fast as my fat little trotters could carry me (ok, I drove) before scooping up a bottle of BarryM’s new nail polish sensation Dusky Mauve to compare for myself?

Well I couldn’t.  Hence this post – duh.

So is it?  Isn’t it?

It most certainly is.

BarryM’s Dusky Mauve Nail Paint is a practically perfect dupe for Chanel’s Paradoxal – I’ll let the photos do the talking.

When Bazza met Coco… *cue music*

The only teeniest, tiniest difference between the two is that I feel the BarryM version may have a touch more sparkle in direct sunlight… but I’m not even 100% confident on that.

If you had wanted to indulge in Chanel’s Paradoxal but couldn’t quite stretch to the £16.50 required to do so… put those pennies towards the £2.95 dupe of the year and head down to Superdrug for BarryM’s Dusky Mauve instead.  No one will be able to tell the difference.

If your local Superdrug/Boots are out of stock, don’t forget that you can also buy BarryM’s Dusky Mauve Nail Paint online from the BarryM website which ships internationally.

Steady yourselves ladies… this is a sparkler…

I received a bottle of Glitter Gal Cosmetics Marine Blue holo nail polish via R8Beauty (check them out on Facebook if you haven’t already) and when I first pulled it out of the envelope, I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed.  I was right.

The holo effect is so wonderfully intense that it can even be easily detected without direct sunlight.  The formula was a touch thin and took three coats to achieve a fully opaque finish – I wouldn’t normally mind this at all, but as the bottle is only 9mls and I can see myself working through it quite quickly.

I’ve had SO many compliments on my nails and even got a “WOW!” from an SA in Superdrug yesterday!

The finish is smooth and doesn’t *really* need a topcoat though the addition of one does amp up the shine a touch, so if you can be bothered, I’d recommend.  The brush, although stumpy, didn’t give me any application issues and wear has been perfectly adequate.

Glitter Gal Cosmetics are an Aussie brand and there are currently no UK stockists.  You can purchase the Glitter Gal Nail Polishes online priced from AUD$9.95 each.  Sadly, when I added a few polishes to my basket, I was quoted a prohibitive AUD$25 for shipping.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a UK stockist soon.

Completely inspired by Kellie at BigFashionista, I had a go at applying the BarryM Instant Nail Effects over Models Own 25 Carat Gold to get a more feline interpretation!

Close up… it’s not that leopard print-y, but from 3 feet or further, it works REALLY well!

This stuff really is nail art for the completely unartistic (i.e. me!)

But enough of all this!

Who are my two lucky winners from this weekend’s giveaway?

The gods over at Random.org have spoken… and I’m pleased to announce that…

Elizabeth/Makeuptini

Estelle/StellieStellina

… are the lucky winners, I shall email you this evening for your addresses ladies!

Thanks for entering everyone, with over 180 entries in 48hrs, I can’t tell you how much I wish I could afford to give away more bottles.  Instead, I shall wish you all the bestest week ever xx