A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I’m a bit late with this one… oooooh about… *counts on fingers*…  8 months late?  Anyway… this was really doing the blog rounds back when Spring had barely sprung.

And I have to say… I don’t really get it?

I was expecting to see some magnificent colour shifting between the teal and green and there was nothing.  Ok, so it was slightly more green in some light, but really?  You U.S girls didn’t miss that much.

A true blackened colour, Mr. L had a hard time believing it was infact anything other than black polish on my tips.  Sparkle was VERY well hidden and the whole manicure looked a lot flatter than I had hoped it would.

Application wasn’t too problematic… 2 coats with a brush that was a little too firm for me.  The streaking on the first coat shocked me, the brush practically drags the polish across the nail bed.  A thicker 2nd coat solved this though.

Wear on Lancome’s Pop Petrol has been decent enough, no chips until the third day and tip wear (despite the v. dark colour) has been negligible.

This is a polish that I picked up from a counter bargain bucket last week.  Lancome are obviously shifting the last of their Spring collection, so if you wanted to get your hands on a shade that would happily suit Autumn/Winter – now’s the time to do it!  Original price £14.50, I paid half that.

Paul & Joe will be releasing a veritable treasure trove of nail polishes this Christmas!  Wonderful news for all us nail fanatics, we’re really being spoiled for choice at the moment!

I spy sparkles!

I’m particularly loving the red and black shades… knowing P&J, the pink and white will be sheers (and therefore not for me!).  The gold is a sparkly addition and surely a staple for every Christmas collection, but most importantly they’ve out-cuted the competition once again with those pretty little bottles.

For a sneak peek at the rest of the collection, head over to BritishBeautyBlogger who has the low-down.

Del Sol have been around in the US for a while.  I first heard about them from my friend Julia but now they’ve landed in the UK!

UV activated, they change colour in the sun… a great talking-point for summer BBQs!

I was sent the shade Spike to try.  Here it is before sunlight….

A metallic, seafoam green which needed 4 coats to achieve opacity.  No problems with application, but it did take a while to dry…

And here it is after a little dose of sunshine!

It transformed into a silvery pale lilac!

At £10 a bottle  from JinnyRainbow, I think they’re too expensive.  The fun factor can’t be argued with and Ruby Slipper (scroll down) looks like it may be a bit of a must-have from the range.  But at that price, I can’t say I’m desperate to add more to my collection.

Have you tried colour changing polishes before?  What ya reckon?

… get a free nail polish!

The 4 rather purdy Models Own shades above are available free instore at WHSmith when you buy a book from a selection of twenty great summer reads!

Choose from Jade Stone, Fuzzy Peach, Red Alert or Pink Blush.

You’ll find these perfectly polished page turners at selected WHSmith rail and Airport stores while stocks last.

Beige, Grunge, Greige, Taupe, Shit Fingers… whatever you want to call it.  There’s a love/hate vibe around the shade that hasn’t venured far from the spotlight for the last year or so…

Here’s a run down of a few of the shades I own.

My perfect “greige” needs to be the right mix of grey and brown.  If it has just a hint of mauve, all the better…

Orly Prince Charming and BarryM Mushroom are quite chocolatey in appearance… I prefer a little more grey to my greiges.  Boots No7’s Beanie and O.P.I’s You Don’t Know Jacques are both beautiful but quite dark.

This leaves the mega bargainous E.L.F’s Smoky Brown as my pick of the colour crop.  On price alone (£1.50) it wins hands down.

If you haven’t done so already, you can check the E.L.F polishes out here.

If you’re a Nails Inc. facebook fan you would have seen them post their sneak preview of the Autumn/Winter shades they have in store for us!

Hello wintery cool-toned beauties!

I do have one slight “issue”…

You know when a child is doing something they shouldn’t… but it’s kinda cute and you can’t help but smile.  Except, very small children have no concept of ‘pushing their luck’ and before you know it… something that was mildly amusing becomes a source of irritation.

Ladies… I present you with ‘Grilac’.

‘Greige’ I can cope with… it rolls off the tongue.  Grilac sounds like a BBQ cleaning fluid.

Just stop it.  It’s not big, it’s not clever and it stopped being cute last February.

Grilac or no Grilac, what say you?

I will continue to coo over how pretty these bottles are… Paul & Joe just ‘get it’ don’t they?

I picked up this P&J polish a few weeks ago from the clearance section somewhere in central London, I’ve forgotten which store.  This is by no means indicative of how much I spent or how many stores I visited.  No it isn’t.

Lampshade is an opalescent warm nude that gave me a few problems.  It needed 4 coats for full opacity.  This, I can handle so long as it’s a fast drier.  Lapshade is not a fast drier.

Can you see how it’s kinda lumpy on a my ring finger?  That happened 5 hours after I’d finished painting (and seche viteing!).  I slid my hand under my thigh whilst watching TV and the nail got pressed into the sofa and emerged 20 seconds later looking like someone had taken a blow torch to it.  I wasn’t amused.  Especially not after 4 coats.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty polish… very girly, very feminine and soft.

Paul & Joe nail polishes retail for around £9 each.

Hyperventilate with me polish lovers!

Ok, so it’s not the holo-est holo I’ve ever worn… but my god it’s pretty!  Wild at Heart is a beautiful purple that’s absolutely packed with multicoloured sparkles… when the sun hits it?  KAPOWW!

The formula on the Color Club’s that I’ve tried so far (I bought this the same time as Uptown Girl) have been impressive, particularly for the price.  The photo above shows 2 coats and I bought my bottle on eBay.

Now I’m yearning for a mega-holo… what’s the holo-est holo you know?

I went to one of those Christmas in July press days yesterday.  Plenty of well-dressed ladies, canapes and nonchalant expressions.

Being neither well-dressed nor seemingly able to contain my excitement when surrounded by makeup THAT’S NOT EVEN OUT YET!  I felt a little out of place.  I wasn’t even carrying a designer handbag.

I may also have let out a little uncontrolled squeal when I saw the OPI Holiday 2010 Burlesque Collection due out at the end of November.

‘Ave a look!

Rising Star – Lustrous glimmering gold.

Ali’s Big Break – Glowing Red Shimmer

The Show Must Go On – Deep Pink Shimmer

Teasey Does It! – Burgundy Shimmer

Drool! Check out the duochrome shimmery goodness of Teasey Does It! and The Show Must Go On.

Extra-Va-Vaganza – Orange Glitter

Glow Up Already! – Green Glitter

Simmer and Shimmer – Blue Glitter

Bring on the Bling – Golden Glitter

Glitter-ama!  These bear more than just a passing resemblance to the Alice in Wonderland glitters… I’m thinking OPI know a good thing when they see one.

Sparkle-iscious – Multi Coloured Glitter

Show it and Glow It – Purple/Fuchsia Glitter

Let Me Entertain You! – Fuchsia Glimmer

Take The Stage – Warm Orange Shimmer

How perfect are these for Christmas?

I KNOW it’s only August, and you’re a bit over the Xmas posts already.  But how could I not show you these?

I only wish I’d had the balls to swatch them all.  But I think that perhaps sitting cross-legged on the floor painting each nail a different spangly colour would have been a step too far.  Don’t think I wasn’t tempted though.

You’ll be able to purchase the collection from LookFantastic.com – I’ve already earmarked a couple!

Any of them calling your name?

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?

…you kinda need this:

Estee Lauder’s Surreal Violet Nail Polish from the new Blue Dahlia collection is now available to purchase.  It’s a limited edition shade and a beautiful late summer/fall companion to Chanel’s eagerly anticipated Paradoxal.

Surreal Violet is priced at £12, and I’m just as in love with it today as I was back in June.  A cracking shade.

I have comitted a cardinal nail polish sin, for which I’m being punished.

Don’t store your nail polish on it’s side kids.

For the love of everything brightly coloured and infused with solvents, listen to Oprah:

http://www.oprah.com/style/How-to-Store-Nail-Polish

But even more importantly, listen to Oprah’s commenter… Jeff1967 (at the very bottom of the page).

Any tips?  I can’t shake ’em… that induces bubbles!  Do I just keep rolling endlessly?