A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I’ve just ordered OPI’s ‘Absolutely Alice’ from the upcoming Alice in Wonderland collection (already available in the US – I think us UK folks get it at the end of Jan).  I love my blues, and this glitter bomb of a shade caught my eye last month.

I was tempted by Mad as a Hatter aswell but I wanted to get my hands on some Orly shades so cooled my heels for now incase I’m like SO OVER glitter in a few weeks time.

I’ll put my hands up and say that on the whole, I’m kinda disappointed by this collection.  The Alice in Wonderland theme surely opened up an amazing prospect for some off the wall shades and this feels a little like an opportunity missed you know?  I mean.. 4 colours, and 2 of them are reds.

Any of these caught your eye?

Released as part of the Holiday Wishes 2009 collection (like SO last year sweetie!) I’m still rocking this one on my nails, clinging onto the last vestiges of Christmas before the total bleakness of pre-Spring sets in.  Wow, that was cheerful.

This is a beautiful bronzed shade flecked through with multi-coloured chunks of glitter of irregular sizes.

Application was Lipglossiping-friendly and it has so far lasted 6 days without a top coat.  Tip wear is moderate and it hasn’t chipped at all.  Removal? Don’t ask… I’m too scared to do it.  Perhaps I’ll just leave it on ’till next Christmas!

Did you buy any of the Holiday Wishes Collection shades? I really wanted Merry Midnight and Holiday Glow aswell but they were out of stock by the time I got round to buying 🙁

Introducing Blizzard.  This is such a fab shade… it’s not a grey, it’s not a black.  It’s a pewter.  A true metallic pewter, and I love it.

It has just a hint of subtle sparkle to lift it and is almost futuristic looking on my nails.  I don’t own a shade quite like it.

Application was fine with no major issues to speak of, perhaps a touch uneven on the first coat.. but it needed more than one anyway.

Blizzard is one of HJ Manicure’s winter shades aka, The Snow Collection.  If you haven’t already, head to the website to check them out, you won’t regret it!

I have the cutest little swatch chart here that HJ Manicure provided along with the polish (for potential review) and I’ll see if I can capture it in an image for you to see.

There are so many shades on there that I’m now lemming like a demon incuding the most ah-mazing looking sparkly yellow.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ‘sparkly’ yellow for another nail polish company, have you?  Oh, and if you like your pinks (like me) Bauble from the Festive Collection also looks divine, as does Champagne and Cracker… oh and Daylight, a fab looking Grurple – (that’s grey/purple incase you were wondering).  Aqua looks like a potential Spring diamond too….

Can you tell I’m getting excited looking at my swatch chart?  I need to get it online for you guys to drool over too!

I’ve just ordered 2 shades from the website in those cute little 5ml bottles that I wish ALL companies would employ!  Watch this space for some more HJ Manicure reviews!

Wowzah!

A lovely metallic gold, this is 3 coats and I was pleased enough with the application.  Another shade that shouldn’t suit, but kinda does.

I haven’t come across an Asda doozie since that pale blue, but then I’ve mostly stayed away from those pastelly shades since.

I’m pleased to report that my nails are growing slowly but steadily since stumpgate… but spare a thought for Jo at beautyliciouslove who recently lost a nail (practically the whole thing down to the cuticle – ouch).

I’m gonna try and get the winners post up in the next couple of days from my advent giveaway – so be sure to check back!

Ok… so, it’s totally not but let’s not let reality get in the way of a a good Nail Polish Collection ogle.

Up & Away is China Glaze’s Spring offering…

I love the idea behind it, the carefree association of colourful balloons signalling the end of winter and the promise of summer.

Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of pastels… I am excited about a few of these though – Flyin’ High (the blue at the back), Something Sweet (the pale pink) and Happy Go Lucky (the bright yellow).  I would like to be drooling over more of these shades but I just don’t think they’d be the greatest match for my skintone.  Good for my purse, bad for my polish-loving heart.

Are you excited about this collection? Which shades are on your radar?

First of all, look how indecently sunny it was on Christmas morning!  After a week of snow and ice, I appear to have woken up in Barbados.  Typical.

Barielle Decadence is the final polish that I was sent by the company.  I wasn’t actually going to show you this one, ‘cos it’s a proper bright jeweled green and I thought that my skintone would do it absolutely no favours.  However, I was looking for something Christmassy and this caught my eye.

Application (as with all the Barielles I’ve tried) was a dream.  It’s a 2 coater and practically applied itself thanks to a smooth formula.  I can’t quite tell if it’s a metallic or a shimmer… I think I’m gonna call it a bit of both.

Check out my glitter tips!  Does this constitute ‘nail art’, have I dabbled for the first time without really meaning to?

Mavala Black Cherry is one of the shades I was sent from the upcoming Mystic Collection (available from January).

It’s a rich black shimmer infused with a cherry sparkle that isn’t quite red and isn’t quite purple.  The sparkle is very subtle and you have to be upclose with the polish to truly appreciate how much it lifts the polish from the realms of ‘just another black’.

Mavala Black Cherry is a solid 2-coater with a great formula that glides on without flooding the cuticles or suffering from drag.

Every dark Mavala shade I’ve tried looks positively amazing once the top coat is added.  Love it.

Apologies for the teeny tiny image, I’m gonna see if I can get hold of a bigger one once the holidays are over, but for now, I wanted to show you the Mystic Collection as a whole.  You can see that they’re all black based with varying degrees of coloured shimmer.

I also have Black Velvet (purple infused) and Mosaic Blue (blue infused) to swatch for you.  I’m ridiculously excited about Black Velvet which, in the bottle looks divine.

You can purchase Mavala polishes online from FeelUnique and GreenHands, they generally retail for around £3.75 for a 5ml bottle.

Do you like or are you getting tired of the dark shades? I must admit that I’m looking forward to Spring, although I don’t know why as I’m not sold on the pastelly shades that inevitably feature heavily in Spring collections.

I’m on eBay hunting down some of the Mavala Diamond collection from AW 09/10… I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve gone a little glitter crazy!

It’s not the best looking sale I’ve ever clapped eyes on despite it’s promises… but someone might find it useful!

Click the image to be taken to the Nails Inc. sale

A cool toned, slightly dirty lavender bursting with iridescence but no sparkles.

Opaque on 2 coats, but needs 3 for a really good finish.  I like it, but I don’t love it.

The formula is good and fairly thin.  It’s easy to apply with no streaking or dragging.  Longevity is fine too with minimal tip wear and thanks to the paler shade you barely notice it anyway.

I think I’d like it to be a little grungier, a little dirtier – it’s a touch princessy for me!

So um… Stiletto Nails…

Would you?

Nails like this generally polarise opinion.  I know some people genuinely feel repulsed by very long nails let alone pointy ones which leaves the rest of us clambering to book ourselves in with our nearest nail techs faster than it takes a lick of Seche Vite to dry.

Me? I’ve surprised myself by coming to the conclusion that I’m genuinely sat on the fence over this one.

I’m drawn to them as art… would I though?  Probably not.

Ohhhh wait, I dunno though… Mr. L would shit his pants if I trundled into the bedroom rocking those tips.  And that my lovelies, would make it *totally* worth it.

A beautiful gun-metal silver/grey metallic with more than a hint of purple.

Applies beautifully with absolutely no brush marks.  Needs a top coat to achieve a great glossy finish, wear has been very good.

It’s a fabulously winter-y shade and my first Dior Polish, I’m very impressed with the quality!

What are some of your fav Dior polishes?

Yah, that’s me… Polished Princess…

Is it a bit bogey?

It doesn’t make me feel very princessy… although as greens go, it’s not too bad on my skintone.  Not like OPI Sit Under The Apple Tree which still makes me feel nauseous when I think of how bad it looked.

I didn’t hide my nails whilst wearing this, which can only mean good things!

It applied as beautifully as the other Barielle’s I have been sent to try.  I really think this one would *sing* against a more olive complexion.  But I’d definitely wear it again, it also has a Christmassy vibe going on…  I have a red nail art pen…. I’m sorely tempted to get “creative”