A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

From their Spring 2011 Collection, this is SpaRitual: Circle of Life

A very bright, blue creme which benefits from a top coat to boost the gloss factor.  Applies beautifully with no nail staining either (woohoo!)

I do wish SpaRitual polishes were a little easier to come by because they makes some beautiful shades.

As it is, you can purchase this online from their website priced at £8.50 for a 15ml bottle.

A bright, strong… vivid blue creme.  Perfect for tips or toes this Summer!

A solid two-coater, a great all rounder with average wear of 2/3 days before the tips start looking a bit ragged.  No chips but as I’ve said many times… I don’t generally suffer from poor nail wear.

It feels like a very clean colour that is somehow almost sensible enough to wear in the office.  Of course, being BLUE it isn’t.  But it just gives an impression of formality.  That makes more sense in my head than it does on this page.

But the thing is… surely it’s incredibly dupable?  And at £11.95, you’d hope it might be…

I went and bought BarryM‘s Cobalt Blue to compare because I figured it would probably be the nearest match (off the top of my head):

In the above photo, I’m wearing Cobalt Blue on the little and middle fingers whilst I’m sporting Blagger on my index and ring fingers.  They’re similar but Blagger has a teal edge to it and isn’t quite so “primary” blue after all.

What do you think?  Is the difference worth £8.96?

You can purchase Butter London Blagger online from PowderRooms priced at £11.95

Ok, so these aren’t necessarily ‘moody’ but I didn’t know how to describe them.  I love blue polishes and wanted to do a comparison post showing some of the blues in my collection that are a little different to the norm.  A little greyer… a little more… stroppy.

Some of you were also keen for me to elaborate on potential dupes for Butter London’s new Lady Muck polish.  I’m afraid I came up empty handed on that score!

1. Essie – Sag Harbor
2. Eyeko – Rain
3. Butter London – Lady Muck
4. Butter London – Victoriana
5. Barielle – June Bug

A close up so that you can see the finish of each polish.  You can see that the HTF Essie Sag Harbor and Eyeko Rain are definitely quite close in appearance.

Yesterday I was also asked about the differences between BL Lady Muck and Victoriana.  Hopefully you can see that they’re worlds apart.  Barielle June Bug?  Well that’s just a fun odd ball!  Incidentally, I wonder what’s happened to Barielle’s Spring/Summer collection… anyone know if there is one?

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What are your favourite ‘odd’ blues to wear?

I told you I had some rather special Butter Londons to show you – how about this one from the new Spring/Summer collection?

Lady Muck is described as a powdery periwinkle blue, slightly on the grey side and infused with pearl pigment for a soft, sexy sheen.

It’s a gorgeous alternative shade for those of us who don’t go for the screaming brights and Easter Egg pastels that are on offer.  Yes, it’s quite a toned-down shade that wouldn’t look out of place in a Winter collection but the silver pearl really lifts the dustiness and gives it a more floaty, ethereal look.

No complaints with either application or wear… there’s something about these greyed-out shades that seem to give me ridiculously good wear.  Very strange but always welcome!

Butter London’s Lady Muck is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms

I’m generally quite sold on Eyeko polishes… and for the money, since the reformulation last year they’ve been a good bet.  I’m particularly a fan of  their pastels which can often be hit or miss from all brands thanks to streakiness, thickness of formula to overcompensate or just downright chalkiness.

Eyeko Pastel polish is a pale blue that isn’t chalky!  It’s almost creamy infact…

Not only that but the formula is easily spreadable.  The only area this polish fails a little for me is patchiness.  Whilst not horrific, you can see that after two thick coats… it could do with a third.  There is uneveness and a bit of streakiness going on here.

The pale blue has a gorgeous vivid flash of metallic blue pearl which stops it from looking flat.  If you’re willing to go with three coats on this shade, it’s a total winner in my book.

Eyeko Pastel Polish is available to buy online priced at £3.50  from PowderRooms or £4 direct from Eyeko.

Easily my most expensive bottle ml for ml… Le Metier de Beaute’s Magic at Dusk was released alongside their autumn/fall collection this year and I couldn’t resist picking it up.

It’s an exquisite mix of blue and purple that looks positively electric on the nails but for all that… I don’t have a huge amount of love for this polish.

It’s a 3/4 coater and for this depth of colour… we should be able to achieve opacity in 2 coats.

You also only get 4ml of product for £10, so I’m estimating that the manicure shown above has cost me at least a quid.  It’s a very fast drying polish but the tiny brush is difficult to wield with any grace which resulted in drag marks across the nail bed and the need for a 4th coat.

I pretty much dislike everything about this polish except for the colour.

Ready for a Bobby Dazzler?  (does anyone under the age of 75 (apart from me) ever say that?)

Check out Butter London’s Big Smoke!

*dies*

It’s almost denimy in it’s loveliness.  It’s a beautiful shimmery toned-down blue that totally has that smoky twilight vibe about it.

I flippin’ adore Butter London for their shade range and since they sorted out their initial teething problems with the formula and bottles… they’re remaining my favourite brand.

Some people have issues with wear… I never have but they also do a marvellous base coat that is (apparently) an absolute MUST if you’re the type of person who gets polish chips within the day.

Big Smoke applied beautifully for me and is a must-have for blue polish lovers everywhere.

Another polish  from the Precision Nails Glam Rock Collection, this time a little number called The After After Party (R04).

It’s a sophisticated midnight blue with shimmer that looks very clean and elegant against a cool, pale skintone.

I was concerned that the inky blue might stain my nails, so I doubled up on the base coat… but I’m pleased to report that it didn’t even so much as stain my cuticles.  Good job!

As with the other shimmers in the range, I wish that it had just a touch more sparkle.  In the bottle, the multi-coloured shimmer is very special and that doesn’t translate to the nail.  Having said that, it’s still a very beautiful midnight blue with just enough shimmer to keep it interesting.

Another three coater, it’s one of those polishes that need that last coat to really shine.  Application was good and wear has been fine.

It’s a double NOTD today!

I received a couple of Models Own new nail polish shades the other week and finally got a chance to wear them last weekend.  I was a bit dubious about Vintage Pink when I spied it in the bottle… it’s kinda…. fud.

It’s something my Nan would have worn… had she worn nail polish.  That makes sense in my head.

What I’m trying to say is… throw in a couple of mint imperials, a plastic rain-proof headscarf, a shopping bag that doubles up as a trolley and a pint of guiness and you’ve got this nail polish.  Everytime I look at my nails, I need to double check the mirror to assess the length of my crowsfeet.

I’m not feeling it.

However, application was fabulous… which is just as well really ‘cos old ladies get the shakes.

Moving on…

Models Own Prussian Blue is more my cuppa tea.  It’s a bright royal blue that lends itself really well to a bit of mattification (is that a word?).  It’s a nice shade for the winter and compliments my cool tones well.

Both polishes were done in two coats and I’m not sure if the formula has been re-jigged since I last tried a Models Own polish back in the Spring… but these applied really nicely and far less thickly than I expected based on previous experiences.

I didn’t keep Vintage Pink on much longer than it took to go for a ride round the block on my mobility scooter, but wear was great on the matte!  It wasn’t until the 3rd day that I began to notice a bit of tip wear… I’m just not used to mattes lasting that well, are you?

The 11 new shades are shown above…

Any of them taking your fancy?

Models Own polishes can be purchased online or in Boots stores nationwide, priced at £5 each.

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.

Do you remember when you were a kid and your cousins came round?  They were in YOUR domain… you were in charge.  Let’s face it… only you knew where the biscuit barrel was hidden.

The afternoon would be progressing nicely… a little bit of bossiness on your part (it IS your house afterall)… perhaps inching towards a small amount of rowdiness… which may or may not have included biscuit hogging…

then… BAM!  “Stop showing off!” my your Mum would shout.

Stop. Showing. Off.

Those three words would have me beetroot red for the next 6 hours and reduce me to a whimpering, sullen shadow of my former custard cream party leader self.

Someone needs to tell this H&M polish to stop showing off.

Enough.  Too much.  Simmer down now.  Get to bed.

I get that it’s clearly striking… it’s purdy and it’s bright.  It does things that no £3 nail polish should really be able to do.  The shimmer is complex and the hue so vivid, my retinas are screaming for salvation.

But it’s too much.  It just doesn’t know when to stop.

Some of you will disagree with me… and that’s cool… but in the bottle (and I still don’t have my new camera so can’t actually SHOW you)… it doesn’t look so obnoxious.  It looked all midnight blue with an incredible glow – I wanted what you can see above to be apparent, but subtle.

And this ain’t subtle.

As for all that other stuff? Application… wear… I can’t remember, this mani is about 3 weeks old now and I didn’t write it down – sorry!

On a completely unrelated note… this is my 1000th post! Oh my… *fans self* – I’m not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed!

A ‘propah’ Summer bright!  I’m making the most of my shorter nails and digging all the shades I wouldn’t normally be able to wear so well.

China Glaze Towel Boy Toy is from the Poolside collection of neons and summer WOW colours that China Glaze do so well.

Towel Boy Toy is a super bright blue with shimmer, and it’s the shimmer that makes this stand out for me.  It’s not a neon… and you can look at it quite comfortably without squinting!  The shimmer gives it a little lift and really does remind me of the depths of a swimming pool!

Application was a touch streaky and I’d recommend 3-4 coats.  It also dries matte (like many brights and neons do), so I added a top coat to bring back the gloss.  I think it needs it personally.

Have you tried any of the China Glaze Poolside shades?