A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The second shade that I was fortunate enough to preview from the upcoming OPI Touring America collection is this olive green number called Uh Oh Roll Down the Window.

Autumn/Fall’s OPI Touring America collection is set for release in the UK this August and sees an eclectic mixture of Summer brights and Autumnal earthy shades making the cut.

Uh Oh Roll Down the Window is an olive green creme with more than enough grey to keep it muted and work-appropriate.  The above photo shows two coats in hindsight, I should have given it a third for a perfect finish.  Wear has been solid and without issue as I’d expect from the professional nail brand.

The shade bears more than a passing resemblance to Nails Inc. Battersea Park which isn’t available to buy anymore but after receiving a few enquiries about it last year, you might be pleased to hear that you can get your hands on something similar..

O.P.I – Uh Oh Roll Down the Window will be available on our shores this August from LenaWhite.

…that got your attention didn’t it?

I’ve been using the Lumos High Speed Top Coat (and base coat) for a few months now, it’s a product that I hadn’t heard much about before.  It’s not cheap but I’m confident that you’re going to need it.

To be honest with you, it’s been *killing* me that I haven’t been able to blog about this sooner but I wanted to make absolutely sure that I didn’t go ahead and rave about this top coat only to watch it go the same way as my numerous bottles of Seche Vite a few months down the line – i.e. gloopy and unusable.

The Lumos High Speed Top Coat hails from a company called Famous Names LLC and a little bit of digging reveals that this company is owned by none other than Jim and Linda Nordstrom of Creative Nail Design fame.  These are people who quite frankly, know what they’re doing when it comes to nails.

So… why do you need it?

Because it appears to be the top coat we’ve all been waiting for.

~ It dries solidly in a couple of minutes… touchproof, smudgeproof.  It’s equally as good as Seche Vite in providing a quick-dry finish.

~ It applies effortlessly, floating over the nail bed without pooling and it doesn’t complain and drag if you need to ‘go over’ it to spread it a little thinner.

~ I haven’t noticed any shrinkage or colour change to my polish after application.

~ It doesn’t go gloopy after a couple of months (3 months of frequent use, still perfect).

~ It seems to last and last and last!

How about some cons to even things up a bit?

Well.. it’s a bit expensive at around £10/£11 a bottle… but considering the image above shows 3 months usage (yes, really – there’s barely a dent in it!), I think it still represents great value for money.

I’ve also been using the Lumos Instant Impact Bottom Coat which promises to increase polish longevity but in all honesty, I’m just not the best placed to comment on its effectiveness simply because I don’t suffer from chips and I rarely want to wear my polishes for longer than 4/5 days at most anyway.  I can say that I haven’t experienced nail staining from my blue polishes (a.k.a smurf nails) since using this, so on that score – it’s a good base coat.

The UK distributor for LUMOS are Sweet Squared, a professional-only distributor.  I bought my duo set from eBay in January (£19.50 for both) but a quick google search also reveals a few other stockists that will sell directly to consumers.

I’ll admit that when I first saw this shade in the bottle… I thought it looked a bit mauve/rose-granny-chic.  I’m still not sure it feels very Spring/Summer to me but it thankfully has enough raspberry in it to keep it looking modern.

Dahling *air kisses* is a pleasant enough shade.  It doesn’t knock my socks off but it does look good with most outfits and is conservative enough to wear whenever a red might be considered a touch too saucy!  It’s one of those shades that you’d reach for when you want a neat/polished look with little thought.

Application was solid with no issues to report… wear was average too… it’s an all round average kinda polish that will fulfil all your polish needs without blowing your mind.  And let’s be honest, we all need something we can depend on sometimes!

Dahling is available online from PowderRooms priced at £11.95.

Are there any polish shades that you can’t get excited over?

From the upcoming Fall 2011 collection, Touring America…

Personally, I eat Mainely everything but if you want your nails to look like the inside of a ripe, juicy watermelon this Autumn, you’re gonna need a bit of OPI’s I Eat Mainely Lobster* in your life.

I Eat Mainely Lobster is a shimmering almost-neon coral with enough pink in it to keep it looking good on cool skin tones.  It has a pretty under-stated shimmer that catches beautifully in the sunlight.

The image above is underexposed so don’t trust it for shade depth but I wanted to be able to capture the almost molten shimmer particles in this polish… aren’t they pretty?

Formula is quite thin for OPI but it packs enough pigment to have your nailbed covered in two coats.  It dries quickly but lacks glossiness which I’m putting down to the intense brightness of the shade… a quick lick of top coat rectifies that issue.

Overall, I Eat Mainely Lobster is an unusual but winning choice for Autumn/Fall 2011 and I can envisage many toes catching the last few rays of Summer sunshine whilst flashing this shade!

O.P.I – I Eat Mainely Lobster will be available on our shores this August from LenaWhite.

* press sample

I’ve been wanting this discontinued China Glaze polish for the longest time and when I saw it on the ‘Bay, I had to jump on it!

Unfortunately, my swatch is pretty darn naff but just look at the bottle to see the gorgeousness that exists within those glass walls.  It’s like looking into a gilded nebula of awesomeness.  Or something.

I wore China Glaze Wagon Trail to destruction, literally.  I’ve just spent 14 days at the inlaws and it was still on my fingernails 12 days into the trip – ok, it looked pretty horrendous on most of my fingers by that time but to give you an idea of longevity, the above photo was taken on day 4 of wear (with my usual top coat).

It’s a two coater with a smooth, fluid consistency… a really great polish that I’m happy to cheat on my Spring/Summer shades with.

I walked up Primrose Hill once and it is most definitely a perfect spot for a picnic (just be sure to dodge all the yummy mummies and their icandy prams).

See?

But perhaps even better than that view, is the view I get when I look down at my nails and spy Butter London’s version of a Primrose Hill Picnic.

A gorgeous summery pink that instantly makes me think “fruit salad”.   Though, in fairness, it doesn’t take much to make me think of food.

The formula was a touch thick and a little draggy which made it one of those “comes good on the 3rd coat” polishes.  Not at all unworkable (less thick than BarryM polishes) but worth a mention incase you can’t stand a hint of gloop!

Wear was fine for me, 3 days before I noticed any real tip wear and no chipping.

Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic is available online from PowderRooms and priced at 9.75

Fancy showing a bit of patriotism in time for the Royal Wedding?

This is a limited edition set that screams out for a talented so and so to work a bit of nail flair and show off some designs!

Sadly, I’m about as artistic as a colourblind, 3-toed warthog… but if you did fancy giving the old Union Jack nail art a go, here are some tips from Leighton Denny on how to master the perfect British flag.

Step 1 – Paint two coats of Cascade over each nail for the perfect neutral base

Step 2 – Using long, steady strokes, paint in two red crosses with Caught Red Handed

Step 3 – Complete the Union Jack look by painting In The Navy into the remaining sections

Top Tip: For neat lines, load the brush with a very small amount of polish.  This will help to give precision when adding in detail.

The Royal Collection by Leighton Denny is priced from £30 and available for a limited time at Bath and Unwind and Feel Unique

Are you a bit handy with a nail art brush?

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.

Irregular shaped bottles of varying sizes, shades and styles – nail polish.

You can’t stack ’em, slot ’em together and there’s only one way up for them!   No wonder they give me a headache.

I have around 208 bottles that were literally overflowing their allotted space in the stackable drawers I’d bought from Asda.  It was time for them to move house…

Into a brand new Ikea Helmer!

Oh, Ikea Helmer… you are the stuff of makeup-lover’s dreams.  Perfectly sized, you’re small enough to be considered compact yet spacious enough to hold our treasures within your functional (but not too officey) exterior!

The Helmers comes in white, red or silver and are priced at just over £20 each.  I own two white Helmers and they hold SO much crap it’s astounding.

If I’m completely honest though, I lust after an Alex:

But at over £80 a-piece, the price difference is hard to justify.

Here’s a quick phone snap of my polishes all snug and comfy in their new home.  Look how perfect they are, all divided by colour and standing to attention!

But my favouritest thing about their new home?  It means I now have plenty of space for more!

How do you store your nail polish – do you own a Helmer?

So, this is how I imagine the conversation went one day at Eyeko HQ…

“So guysssssss, how about it?”

“How about what?”

“Bile polish, you know… polish, that looks like Bile!”

“???”

“C’mon!  If Chanel can do Shit fingers, we can handle a bit o’ Bile!”

Eyeko Bile Military Polish is a murky brown/green mix that probably triggers equal amounts of joy/repulsion.  I’m… ok with it until the sunlight hits it and the slightly yellow-hued green shows through *gag*.

It’s a two coater with a fairly thick formula, it’s quite glossy on its own but the above photo shows it combined with a quick-dry top coat.  Wear was fine on this, 3 days before tip wear became enough of an issue to warrant removal.

So, it’s not my favourite shade in the world but I’ll tell you something…

Slick this on your toes before your Summer holibobs and you won’t need to put a towel out on the sunbed at 4am.  You’ll be clearing the poolside faster than you can say “fungal infection”.

Eyeko Military Polish is available to buy online from PowderRooms priced at £3.50

Hold on to your retinas, this one’s a scorcher!  SpaRitual Knowledge is Power is a stunner.

Not only is it a stunner but I think it has special powers.  I wore this the other day at the gym and even though I was HALFWAY through a 5 minute run, looking down at this shade on my tips cheered me up.  Magic.

Very nearly neon but not quite.  This one needs a top coat to bring back the shine as it does dry semi-matte, something not uncommon with shades as bright as this.

Mr. L hates this shade on me but I love it.  I feel just like Barbie, minus the boobs.  Ok, with the boobs, minus the waist.

If you wanna play Barbie too, you can buy it online from SpaRitual priced at £8.50

Aside from being completely in love with the name, I’ve fallen pretty heavily for the polish too!

Ciate Velvet Tuxedo is a lovely gunmetal grey with some rather special multi-coloured micro shimmer!  Sadly, the shimmer is pretty much undetectable in my photo so you’ll have to trust me that it’s there if you look closely enough!

The formula on this one was a delight and practically opaque in a single coat.  I did two coats more out of habit than necessity.  So, it’s not a very Spring/Summer shade… but do keep this one in mind next Winter because I can’t see you  being disappointed by its performance!

Ciate Velvet Tuxedo is priced at £9.00 and available to buy online from PowderRooms.

Are you a gunmetal fan?