A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

It’s the peach polish parade!

This was Leila’s idea – I asked her to pick out some of her favourite shades amongst my polish drawers and you might be able to guess which shade featured highly in her selections!  Peach can work so beautifully on a range of skintones, I admit to favouring the more pastel hues on my pale skintone, particularly if they’ve got that whole creamsicle thing going on.  As for finish.. is there a better shade for a good ol’ fashioned creme formula?  Nuh uh, I don’t think so.

Here’s some lovely ones…

01  |  02  |  03  |  04  |  05  |  06  |  07  |  08  |  09  |  10

01: Orly Cotton Candy (£4.14)  |  02: Barry M Peach Melba (£3)  |  03: NARS Orgasm (£14)
04: Illamasqua Purity (£13.50)  |  05: Nails Inc Wellington Square (£11)  |  06: Essie Tart Deco (£8.50)
07: Models Own Fuzzy Peach (£5)  |  08: Barielle Blossom (£8)  |  09: Butter London Trout Pout (£11.95)
10: Mavala Magic (£3.50)

What’s your favourite peach polish?

I’m not really down with surfing jargon but I have totally watched Point Break as many times as the next girl, perhaps even more… sometimes in slow-motion too.

hang ten (verb American) – to ride a surfboard (at near-optimum speed or full stretch) with the toes of both feet hooked over the front. From the jargon of American surfers since the early 1960s. The phrase is sometimes used figuratively to mean something like ‘go full-tilt on a risky course.

China Glaze’s Hang Ten Toes might not make me think of Keanu Reeves or Patrick Swayze (rip) but it does make me think of long Summer days and sand between my toes.

Hang Ten Toes* is a superbly vibrant, hot pink with a silvery shimmer that gives the polish some blue flashes in the right light.  It’s a more wearable neon pink than some, though still impressively bright.  The formula was good, a little thick – as with the whole collection so far, it needs a small amount of care and attention to prevent pooling at the cuticles.  That’s the price CG have decided we should pay for impressive opacity in only two coats this time around.

China Glaze Hang Ten Toes is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at BeautyBay.com, priced from £6.95

* press sample

Orange You Hot? Well, you are indeed warmer than a slice of Kingsmill, toasted on the defrost setting.  I’m not really damning this polish with faint praise… it’s pretty bright, but to be honest… it’s still totally wearable for everyone.  I realise this is probably a good thing… but I do like my neons to just occassionally, set my retinas alight.

Orange You Hot is an orange, nay tangerine shimmer.  The shimmer adds a dose of brightness that can’t help but inject a bit of wotsit (cheetos)-flavoured sunshine into the proceedings.  Mr. L hates it… which means that I, of course, have to love it more than I really do just to piss him off.

China Glaze Orange You Hot is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at RadiantBabe-Beauty, priced from £6.75

* press sample

I love blue nails, yet rarely wear them myself.  I don’t know why that is… perhaps the fear of smurf fingers after removal (though I’m frequently advised that a smear of vaseline over your fingertips avoids the problem), or is it simply the primitive-ness of the hue? Perhaps I’m just scared it might make me look like Michael Howard’s lovechild (afterall, there is “something of the night” about me).

China Glaze Ride The Waves doesn’t really conjour up images of riding any kind of waves, it feels more traditionally maritime blue in a Royal Navy kinda way than all surfy n’ stuff.  Although most definitely a primary blue, the finish is all squishy and jelly-like to give some oomph to its character.  Unlike some of the other brights in the Summer Neons Collection, this one isn’t actually all that bright – though it does create an impact.  Application was fine but worth bearing in mind that it will prove to be a little sheer because of the jelly finish (the above photo shows three coats).

China Glaze Ride the Waves is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at RadiantBabe-Beauty, priced from £6.75

* press sample

I thought I’d start swatching the China Glaze Summer Neons collection with my favourite (at least from just looking at the bottles): Pink Plumeria*.  It’s a bright coral which definitely leans more towards the pink side of the spectrum, making it an excellent choice for those of us who might usually struggle with the warmth in traditional coral shades.  Pink Plumeria, to my eye at least, carries a really subtle duochrome – I’m not sure if this is intended, or is simply a result of the golden shimmer packed within.

You can see on the nail tips, there’s definitely more golden tones than toward the base of the nail bed.  The formula on this one was ok… a bit prone to pooling, so definitely paint this one on in thinner strokes.  This is going to be such a lovely pedicure shade too, I’m feeling the love for this one!

China Glaze Pink Plumeria is available to buy instore from Sallys or online at RadiantBabe-Beauty, priced from £6.75

* press sample

Do I feel a faint glow of warmth on the back of my neck?  Could it be that Summer is attempting to at least play a bit part in our lives this year?  I won’t hold my breath to be honest, so while I can see a bit of blue inbetween the clouds, I’m gonna make the most of it.

There’s no better way of injecting some summer lovin’ into your routine than with skittle-licious nails in the shape of China Glaze’s Summer Neons collection*.

Twelve shades of super-vibrant colour in that Summer-staple neon formula.  Have we seen these before?  Probably – but those hot corals never fail to make me smile, no matter how many times they come around.  Individual finger swatches coming soon!

* press sample

OH HAI MOST PRETTY POLISH IN THE WORLD.  WHERE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

You know, it’s funny.  The nail polish community online have been crying out for moar holos, moar party glitters, and moar duochromes from the industry leaders for a few years now.  We haven’t really seen anything significant come from these requests and so something very interesting has happened… the rule of the indie/franken brigade is now upon us!  You might still be looking to OPI, China Glaze, Zoya et al to see where the polish trends are heading, and if so… you’re looking in the wrong place.

Get. on. Etsy.

I picked up this Darling Diva Polish in Space Beetle a few weeks ago and it’s the most beautiful colour-shifting holographic that I own.  Ok, it might be the only one, whatever – I don’t have a 9359435 billion nail polishes (well, not quite).

Ain’t she beautiful?  Trust me, she’s even better in sunlight.

I know that she’s been compared to Dollish Polish’s Toxic Avenger… of which, I know very little about – so I’m just going to take this polish on its own merits and tell you why you need to go and buy it.  I don’t think it’s going to be a tough job to be honest.

Space Beetle is a linear holographic-slash-duochrome that’s absolutely packed with prismatic bounty.  The highlights flash the most delightful candyfloss pink which is what makes this so unique.  The swatches show the polish applied over a bare nail, two coats – both of which, applied faultlessly.

I haven’t tried layering it yet, but I can’t wait – I’m curious to see what effect those pink flashes have on a variety of base colours.

Darling Diva Polish Space Beetle (£7.86) is available to buy online from the Darling Diva Polish Etsy shop which ships internationally.  I have my beady eye on Ceylon next (I’m a sucker for a Periwinkle!)

Four new shades from Orly that echo Electronica’s past.  The campaign ad is a distinctly 80s affair with a touch of post-apocolyptic punk thrown in for good measure.  The shades seem to span the seasons from a summery hot pink shimmer to the more wintry slate grey.

Shades are as listed below:

Decoded: Slate grey creme
Preamp: Girly pink with gold shimmer
Shockwave: Royal blue creme
Synchro: Duochrome pink/gold (but all the swatches I’ve seen show a rose-toned polish with blue reflects – go figure!)

All shades are available to purchase online now from BeautyBay, where they’re currently priced at £7.50 each.

Are any of these on your Summer wishlist?

You can keep your Andrex puppies and their loo roll-pulling antics because Zoya Kendal has super-softness in the bag.  This beautiful polish from the American brand is simply perfect.  A gorgeous greyed-lavender creme that incites visions of mist-swirled candyfloss.

The formula is also divine, reaching full opacity in two fuss-free, streak-free coats. You may be able to tell that this is my favourite polish of the year so far…. making me want to retrospectively check out the rest of the Zoya Feel Collection from last winter (thank heavens for eBay).

If you’re finding Zoya Kendal a little too simplistic or cold for your tastes, these kind of muted pastels are my absolute favourite for enhancing with a little glitter.  In this case, Butter London’s Tart with a Heart did the honours…

Ethereal, delicate, beautiful and blinging to the max!

Zoya Kendal is available to buy online from beauty4nails-body.co.uk, priced at £7.99

Essie Armed & Ready is from the Spring Go Overboard collection and one that I picked up owing to it’s beautiful golden shimmer as perfectly demonstrated by The PolishAholic in her great swatches.  Can I get the golden shimmer to show up?  Can I bollocks.  I’m putting it down to the fact that she lives in Orange County, CA and I’m currently staying in Shitsville, NBA (Newcastle Brown Ale).

Despite the lack of golden glitz, Essie’s Armed & Ready is still a very nice army green, a dirgy khaki if you will.  It also applies in a single coat if you get the brush fill right, you definitely don’t need more than two coats before whacking on your quick-dry topper.

I wish I could give you some beautiful shimmer shots, but in lieu of those…. have a look at just what I have to put up with while I’m trying to blog – it’s a wonder I actually get any bloody posts written…

I’m heading home today (after my fortnight at the in-laws), have had a lovely time but it’ll be nice to get back into my normal routine!  Hope all my lovely UK/Commonwealth peeps enjoy the Jubilee Weekend! x

Staring cross-eyed at Fairy Lights is one of my favourite Christmas past-times, staring cross-eyed at this nail polish makes it only marginally more appealing than looking at it with 20-20 vision.

Butter London’s Fairy Lights is a pink metallic with a high-shine chrome finish that accentuates every single flaw on the nail bed, despite the use of a base coat.  The tiniest ridge will turn into the Grand Canyon and heaven forbid if you have a peeling nail like me…

It applied streakily, coming good on the third coat and is frankly, utterly dupable.  You should check out the MyFace Lil Bling Nail Chromes for similar finishes (they do a pink one too).  Longevity was average on my hardy nails, with tip wear becoming apparent from the third day onwards.

Butter London’s Fairy Lights is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms.

Shapeshifting.  Good or bad?  Would you like to be able to transform yourself from one thing to the next in the blink of an eye?  I remember watching An American Werewolf in London (from behind the sofa) when I was about 8 or 9, that bit where David turns from hairy man into even hairier beast?  Horrifying.  It still gives me the heebies to think of it now.

Butter London’s Knackered is an altogether prettier shapeshifter.  It morphs from green to purple in the most delightful of ways, proving itself to be a very worthy duochrome.  As if that weren’t enough loveliness to contend with, the shade is flecked with holographic micro-glitter.  In fact, it’s almost too much prettiness to contend with, basically the kind of polish I’d create if I ever had me a chance: “Oh, let’s just put EVERYTHING in it!”

Butter London Knackered is priced at £11.95 and available online from PowderRooms.com