A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

They say that nail polish is the new lipstick in terms of what we’re spending our money on during these tough economic times.  Infact, for the first time ever…. nail polish sales look set to overtake those of lipstick by the end of the year.

And with brands releasing collections as beautiful as Leighton Denny’s new Temptation collection*, it’s not hard to understand why.

Attention Seeker

Hypnotic

Lilac Lust

Mutual Attraction

Statement Maker

Tempt Me

Attention Seeker – Vibrant cherry red with added shimmer creating a deep and sophisticated, yet edgy look.

Hypnotic – A teal blue with an exquisite taffeta appearance.

Lilac Lust – A Lilac base tone with a hint of shimmer.

Mutual Attraction – Sophisticated smoky mauve with a burgundy shimmer touch.

Statement Maker – Emerald bejewelled green with a sprinkle on metallic sparkle for a unique shimmery Look

Tempt Me – A romantic dark purple with a metallic green undertone.

All six shades apply smoothly and easily in just two coats, not one of these needed a third.  A couple of them have a thinner-than-standard formula but most look practically opaque on the first coat.  I love this time of year for jewelled shades and Leighton Denny have embraced the season, giving us punters exactly what we want.  Neons for A/W?  Sorry Butter London… but you’re not speaking my language this time.

The stand-out shade, for me, from the Temptation collection is Mutual Attraction.  I called it a couple of weeks ago as my favourite A/W nail shade and now that I’ve seen it in person… it exceeds my expectations, the shimmer is glorious whilst remaining somehow understated.

If you want to stand the chance at winning the entire collection, the brilliant @URbeautique team are running a twitter competition.  To enter, simply tweet them a photo of your nails with the hashtag #UR_tweet2win – you can find their Twitter account here.  Competition closes on the 30th September, so hurry!

The Leighton Denny A/W 2013 collection is available to buy online at urbanretreat.co.uk, priced at £11 each.

* press sample

When I was younger, I lived by the seaside… like, right on the seaside.  And whenever my Nan used to come for a holiday, she’d pick me up from school and walk me down to the arcades.  I must have spent summer after summer on the pier, playing the one-arm bandits with her.  Being the nice kind of Nan that she was, she’d feed the machine with money and let me sit on a stool beside her pulling the lever.

Fruit machines aren’t like that nowadays… instead, they’re high-tech, expertly programmed things that make a god-awful racket in the corner of a pub.  I say bring back the more genteel OXO ones… and limit people’s spends to 2p a go.  Them were the days (I remember when all this was fields etc. etc.)

Anyway, Butter London’s interpretation of a Fruit Machine, is like no fruit machine I’ve ever encountered.  Some of these names are a bit bloody random aren’t they?  What does pepto-pink have to do with anything?!

Fruit Machine is a pale bubblegum pink with a bright white base that keeps this colour popping right off your fingernails! It looks a little chalky to me but in a mod-esque, edgy kinda way rather than a cheap nail polish kinda way.

The coverage is pretty thick but the formula, completely workable and I was done after two coats.  Fruit Machine is one of those happy Spring colours (hello Autumn!) that keeps your focus firmly on your fingertips.

Butter London Fruit Machine is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

You know how you can get those mugs with the how-much-milk scale on the side of them?  From “builders brew” at the top end of the scale right down to “gnats piss” at the bottom?

Well, Butter London’s Cuppa is definitely in gnats piss territory.  Infact, if someone actually brought me a cup of tea and it was this colour.  I’d tell them that their parents had clearly dragged, rather than brought them up.  After which, I’d send them back to the kitchen for a second attempt and remind them not to forget the biscuits this time.

So, clearly I prefer a strong brew… on the nails, however, Cuppa is a real stunner.

Until now, I’d majorly-lemmed for a super-pale beige but I hadn’t found one that managed to look creamy rather than chalky.  Cuppa hits the spot, the tones are just right, the neutrality is perfect, and it applies smoothly without any issues.

My only grumble is that it takes three coats to eliminate all streakiness… many super-pale pastels suffer from baldy spots here and there but beyond that, I adore this shade.

Butter London Cuppa is priced at £11.95 and is available to buy online from powderrooms.com

Seeing as it’s blatantly not Summer anymore – the rain hammering at my windows is testament to this – I thought I’d show you a real Summery shade.  Just because I’m obtuse like that.  I said obtuse, not obsese, bitches.

Butter London’s Fiver is a very, very pale pastel.  Not quite a green, not quite an aqua… it sits somewhere between the two.  There’s a definite amount of blue in there to prevent it from looking full-on minty, making it a slightly more unusual shade than most.

Application was a little streaky, after two coats it was *nearly* there but for me, needs a full three coats to make it presentable and completely streak free.  The formula was fine… easy to spread and dried rapidly.

It’s not at all right for the season is it, do you wear out of season shades whenever the mood takes you?

Butter London Fiver is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

Hmmm, I only know two Jaspers. One Carrot and one Conran, and I’m pretty sure neither were in mind when Butter London named this polish. The birthstone maybe? But I always thought that was green!

Regardless of where it derives its name from, Jasper is certainly the type of colour I’d usually shy away from… infact, it’s only adorning my fingertips due to the fact that I’ve shop-swatched it for Powder Rooms. I’m not a yellow nail polish kinda girl… perhaps I need a tan to appreicate the effect?!

Butter London’s Jasper is a creamy yellow with a non-too-bright base making it suitable for fingers and toes without looking too… fungal. You could say that it’s a somewhat pastelly number, reminiscent of sun-shades, ice-creams, and all those other lovely things soon to be packed away for the foreseeable future.

Application-wise, it’s on par with most yellows I’ve tried over the years. Patchy at first, developing a full opacity only after 3/4 coats depending on thickness. They’re not the greatest of colours to wear if you’re pernickity about the formula of your polish but this one smoothes out nicely after a wee while.

Butter London Jasper is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online at powderrooms.com

If you’re starting to feel some early Autumnal blues creeping in (where did the Summer go?), you’re not alone.  I’m already hyperventilating at the thought of losing my beautiful long evenings… aren’t they just the best thing about summer?  I love being able to take blog photos at eight in the evening, sit on the balcony after Leila has gone to bed, and enjoy the thought that, at lunchtime, I have more than three-hours of light left in my day.

Winter, you suck.

Well… let’s push those gloomy thoughts to the back of our minds and concentrate instead on this rather cheerful hue.

Headline Colors (used to be Killer Colors – remember the name dramas?) released this beautiful shade as part of their Spring/Summer 13 collection.  Poolside Party is a crystal clear blue with excellent opacity and a smooth formula that will bring a smile to your face in just two coats.

It’s simply cheerful.  Would look fabulous on toes (while you’re still brave enough to bare them) and makes me wish that Summer could go on forever.

Headline Colors Poolside Party is priced at £9 and is available to buy online from headlinecolors.com

* press sample

An oldie but a goodie today with Misa’s Toxic Seduction. When I first started blogging 4+ years ago, Misa were a brand that I’d see pop up on blogs across the Atlantic all the time. Nowadays, not so much…

Still, when I attended Pro Beauty in London a couple of years ago, I raced for the Misa stand which was part of a bigger NSI stall… it had already been half-emptied! It’s not hard to see why…

Misa’s Toxic Seduction is a blast from the past, Fall 2008 to be exact… it’s a rich forest green, somewhat muted in anything but direct sunlight and yet it has a certain depth to it that I find really appealing.  The silvery shimmer gives it a really great glow to battle through the vampy, blackened edges that have historically made Autumn collections such a thrill for me.

Yum.

Application on this one is great, nothing noteworthy to report.  If you’re a fan of green polishes and don’t have this classic in your collection… you’re doing it wrong.

Misa Toxic Seduction is currently available to buy online at amazon.co.uk (yeah, I know) priced at £3.02 not inc. shipping.

fid·dle·stick

exclamation /ˈfidlˌstik/ 

Nonsense

Who knew such a bunch of "nonsense" could look so pretty?

Butter London Fiddlesticks is a deep magenta glitter suspended in a raspberry base.  It was released as part of their Holiday 2012 collection and thus, horribly inappropriate to be wearing in June.  Whatever.  It's pretty and I like it… so I'm gonna wear it.

The coverage is pretty full-on and the above photo shows it worn with 3-coats, which as you can see, delivers full and complete opacity.

Removal is a minor bitch… what with it being glitter and all.  You could layer this one over something like Butter London Blowing Raspberries and I'm sure that a single coat would have much the same effect with less irritation during the removal process.

Butter London Fiddlesticks is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms.com

Keeping up with the latest trends in the fast-moving world of many manicures can be pretty hard work!  In light of this, Nails Inc have recently launched their Guest Manicure initiative which allows you to get to grips with a new nail trend for just £15, available from Nails Inc bars across the country.

This month sees the launch of the Green Queen manicure, a nod to the colour of the season, worn in a slightly more demure way than going all out HULK on your tips.

Nails Inc. say:  This is the Queen of all manicures for the festival season – a base of Royal Botanical Gardens in mint with with stunning emerald green Queen Victoria Street tips.  This is a subtle look to make your nails pop all festival long.  It’s the perfect way to accessorise your outfit – through rain, mudslides, thunder or sunshine, whatever the weather throws at us this summer, your nails will be bold, beautiful and bursting with colour.

I say… this one’s a bit manageable innit!  For once, will I be on trend?

Grabbing the closest colours I could muster, I did a pretty neat job (even if I do say so myself).

Not got the time for such frivolities?

Your life is undoubtedly more exciting than mine… perhaps you’re off to Glastonbury this week to sample the delights of the long-drops and the she-pees.  In that case, skip the am-drams and get a pro to sort you out.

Book in for your Green Queen Manicure at your nearest Nails Inc. via their online booking service, here

Why are some nail polishes so damn hard to capture on screen? In real life, they can be as pretty as a flower… but through my camera lens? We be talking cauliflower.

Powder Rooms sent me this polish to photograph for their site late last year, back in the murky depths of dark nights and well, even darker days.  It made for a frustrating assignment.  Butter London’s Trustafarian basically only sings in the sun, it needs strong daylight like I need intravenously feeding Pepsi Max.

Check it out.

indoors

outdoors

Ahhh, you beauty. You pain in the arse beauty.

It applies with three smooth coats and dries quickly enough not to give me any major application issues. You can see that the holographic effect, although fairly subtle, is still super-pretty in a pixie-esque, twinkly kind of way.

Do you need this in your life? Possibly, particularly if you live in a country whose weather patterns consist of more than just perma-drizzle.

Butter London Trustafarian holographic nail polish is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

If you’re a fan of classic shades, Carolyn K’s Armineh is about as classic as it gets.  This beige-toned nude should work well on most skin-tones as it leans neither too cool nor too warm in tone.  I often find that nude shades (unless pink-toned) can pull orange against my colouring so a true neutral is most welcome.

Application was smooth but this one did unfortunately need a full three coats before it even considered becoming opaque on the nails.  The formula has been infused with Pro Vitamin B5 for stronger, healthier nails and employs a flat brush for an easy (and speedy) application.

Carolyn K’s Armineh is part of a three-piece set, available online from www.powderrooms.com, priced at £12.99

Ice Cream.  That’s all I’ve been able to think of since painting my nails in these pastel hues from Eve Snow London’s new range of nail polishes.  It’s not as if I need much motivation to daydream all day about a 99 with a flake, but this is just silly.  I can’t look down without wanting to lick my nails, send help!

I’m missing my favourite flavour from my “nearly neopolitan” though.  Sad face.

British-made Eve Snow London launched last month, and is the work of Yvette Snowden who wanted to create a range of beauty products with added blends of vitamins and nourishing ingredients.  These added ingredients include: vitamin E, argan oil, and ginkgo biloba whilst the formula remains free of formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate.  It should be noted, however, that this isn’t a Big Three Free formula as these nail polishes unfortunately contain both toluene and formaldehyde resin.

I found that both of the colours I tried (Opium & Pixie*) applied smoothly and dried quickly to a shiny finish.  The 10ml polishes also behaved kindly to my attempts at a bit of nail art without dragging and achieved opacity in a couple of coats.

Eve Snow London colour nail polishes are priced at £12 each and available to buy online at www.evesnow.com

* press samples