A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

A NOTD from December, back when my nails were shorter… does anyone else always feel the grass is greener?  Whenever my nails are short… I crave long, finger-elongating talons.  And when they’re long, I feel all witchy-poo and want neat, sweetie-esque nails!

I’m never happy!

L’Oreal Resist & Shine Titanium* in Sorbet is a very pretty raspberry red with a hint of gold.  The metallic finish promises long-wear of up to 7 days.  I haven’t found it particularly long-lasting from the two nail outings I’ve given it so far.  I get around 3 days from it before tip wear begins to be noticeable enough to ensure a swift removal.

I’m most impressed with the brush though… a slightly-flattened brush which delivers wide, easy strokes.  A definite winner.

L’Oreal Resist & Shine Titanium in Sorbet is priced at around £6 and available at most L’Oreal stockists including Boots.

*Press Sample

I bought this last summer at the same time as picking up a few of their other shades.  I was so unimpressed with the gloopy formula that I found with Peacock (a teal shade), that it’s taken me until now to try one of the others!

Silly me eh?

Mouse is quite, quite lovely.  It’s a softened greige… I defy you to liken this to shit fingers you ‘orrible greige hating lot (you know who you are!)

Very sophisticated-looking (if I do say so myself) but it needs 3 coats.  The above photo shows two coats and I can see a bit of transparency on my ring finger that I didn’t spot until looking at the photo above.

Longevity is slightly less than average, tip wear was noticeable after a day so I’d steer clear if polish peels off your tips quicker than you can paint it on.

American Apparel nail polishes are available instore or online priced at £7 each.

Ahhh, that catchy #105…

O.P.I-esque shade naming this ain’t!  But the sample they sent me is a raspberry fire cracker regardless!

The above ladies… is one coat.  Swoon, go on… I’ll catch you.

Intensely pigmented and glossy enough to do without a top coat… consider me impressed.

For some reason, #105 is listed on the website under “glitter polishes” which as you can see, this isn’t.  I’m wondering if perhaps the webmaster still has some re-jigging to do.  If you’re thinking of ordering, keep this in mind and perhaps email them for confirmation about that ‘glitter’ category.

Wear has been consistent with the majority of polishes I use… nothing major to report, although in all honesty I often wonder if it’s even worth me commenting on longevity because I just don’t seem to suffer the same chipping problems that lots of you do – sorry about that!

This would make a cracking pedicure shade… infact, I think it’ll be gracing my toes before the week is out!

Paese Cosmetics Nail Polishes retail at a bargainous £3.37 each.  I’ve already got my eye on #110 and #120 aswell as some of the treatments that seem to cover every nail problem known to man!

I always protest that I don’t like pastels… and on paper, I don’t.  They’re insipid and make my hands look pudgy and blotchy.  I know that my fingers look far more slender with darker tips… but then I look down at my nails and get that happy feeling that only light and airy colours can bring.

Ciate Fun Fair is a cool toned cross between pink and lilac… the thing that strikes me most about it though is that it doesn’t look too stark.  Anything that leans towards pale AND cool does tend to start looking a little chalky and obvious.  Fun Fair just about keeps it’s dignity intact!

The formula was fine, one of those polishes that really come good on a 2nd or 3rd coat.  Don’t expect to be happy with this on it’s first coat.  I find that to be true of a lot of Ciate polishes.

Wear was good too… it lasted a full 3 days before tip wear became noticeable enough to make me want to remove it.

Ciate Fun Fair is priced at £9 and available to buy online from The Powder Rooms.

As well as being partial to a good red lipstick, I’m also partial to a good red nail polish.  The best for me are those slightly retro creams that command attention and make you feel just that little bit sexier everytime you spot them!

Butter London’s Come to Bed Red not only has an awesome name… but it’s an awesome red too!

It has an almost jelly-like finish which means that you’ll need an additional coat to ward off a visible nail line but on the flipside is it’s supreme shine and sweetie-like appearance.

Do you like your reds to be as bright as this?

Butter London Come to Bed Red is available to buy online priced from around £9.75

A galactic explosion of coloured glitter pieces in a glossy black base.  It’s a lovely polish apart from one failing… even after two top coats, the finish was still gritty.  It didn’t bother me hugely but I would have prefered to have a lovely non-bumpy surface.

Everything else was pretty spot on with this little number.  Very nice!

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

Oh noes! I don’t like it!

I can probably count on one hand the number of Butter London polishes I’ve tried and disliked.  This would fall into that sad category.  I had cuticle drag with this one… you can possibly see the remnants on the middle finger at the base (where it looks kinda streaky).  This meant that although in most places it was completely opaque after 2 coats… there were patches that demanded a third coat to finish off.

Everything else I was happy with… formula, drying time, glossiness… so it’s a shame I don’t really like the colour either.

Fash Pack is infused with the most delicious micro golden-sparkles… very similar to how China Glaze’s Ingrid looks in the bottle.  And in the same way, I think that this is what ruins it for me by making it too warm (yet grey at the same time).

Warm and Olive toned ladies, this might be a really great choice for you.  For me, it’s a boob.

You can buy Butter London Fash Pack online from PowderRooms

Butter London’s Tramp Stamp is a rich, dark chocolatey shade which leans toward the plum.  It’s a gorgeous Winter shade which would look lovely on tidy, short nails rather than my talons (which have since had an extreme trim!)

When a creme is done well, there’s nothing that can really beat it is there?  Look Ma, no top coat!  Glossy and luxurious looking, this is one brown that is anything but dull.

I found the formula, application and all that stuff to be fine… a touch of cuticle drag on the 2nd coat which needed a 3rd just to cover it up, though in fairness I was a litttle hasty in application and the 1st coat may not have been quite dry enough.

Butter London’s Tramp Stamp is available to buy online from PowderRooms priced at £9.75

Blimey! It’s nail polish Sunday or somethink, sorry polish haters!

Some of you coo-ed over Butter London’s The Full Monty that I swatched earlier in the week… a true Xmassy gold that kept neutral enough to suit my cool skintone.  Well… what with it being December n’all, how could I not glitterize the crap out of it?

I mean c’mon… it’s CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSSS! (nearly).

I added two coats of Butter London West End Wonderland to get this disco on my nails.  It’s fabulous!  Glitter is freaking HARD to capture in a still image.  It lends itself to movement and light reflecting so what you can’t see is that West End Wonderland has a rather gorgeous red glitter scattered amongst the gold which sets it apart from my other gold glitters.

As always, it’s a bugger to remove… I love/hate glitter.  But this time of year?  Love wins out.

Butter London’s West End Wonderland is available to buy online from PowderRooms priced at £9.75

Silver yesterday… so what can I wear today?

Of course!!  GOLD!

Butter London’s The Full Monty is a neutral gold (if that makes sense) it’s neither too warm, nor too green which makes it a suitable gold for most skintones.

Like Diamond Geezer, it’s also a foil…. my favourite type of metallic.  The above photo shows two coats, I could have done one more but am planning on adding glitter v. soon!

Do you wear metallics like these throughout the year or restrict them to the holiday season?

The Full Monty is priced at £9.75 and available to buy online from PowderRooms who are currently offering free delivery on all orders until the 5th December.

This glass-flecked, foil shimmer is a new finish to me… but when I saw swatches online, I knew I had to hunt down this beautiful green polish from the Nubar Autumn collection.

I don’t usually go for green polishes… infact, it’s the only drawer in my collection that has any room for more.  I’m so glad I decided to fill the space with this little number.

Nubar Verde is a blue-based green that makes it a good choice for cooler skintones… it’s almost gunmetal in certain lighting.  What really lifts this from the ordinary are the beautiful golden glasslike flecks of glitter that run through the formula.

Because the photo above was taken on such an overcast day, I’m afraid that the gold is far more apparent in the bottle than it is on the nail, but trust me… it’s there… being all beautiful and foil-like.

Tip wear was a bit of an issue with this polish as it was apparent by the end of the first full day of wear.  Such a shame because I could have happily worn this one for weeks.  On the plus side, pigmentation for Verde is magnificent and I was able to top up with a single coat to disguise the worn tips and get a few more days wear from this manicure.

If you’re a fan of green polishes or even just looking for something slightly different to the current plethora of standard (but beautiful) glitters, do check out the Nubar Venetian Glass collection, it’s really very pretty.

Nubar’s Venetian Glass collection is priced at £8 each and available to buy online from BeautyShed.