A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

It’s just not that often that press releases have me smiling wryly to myself in a GOOD way.

But the latest release from Models Own had Mr L questioning what it was that had clearly tickled my funny bone yesterday morning.

The Models Own Car Key Collection. (L-R: Grace Green, Becca’s Brown, Purple Ash)

Chanel’s Khaki Collection (L-R: Khaki Brun, Khaki Vert & Khaki Rose)

Unfortunately, it seems that this is pretty much where the similarities end.  BritishBeautyBlogger has the dupe scoop and Chanel doppelgängers… they ain’t.

Having said that…

I’m really liking the look of Purple Ash on it’s own merits… all is not lost!

Models Own Car Key Collection will be launching next month online and in Boots, priced at £5 each.

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.

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.

I suck.

I caved.

I totally caved on ASOS and picked up both Illamasqua Jo’Mina and Baptiste…

Illamasqua Jo’Mina is a vibrant lilac creme.

It doesn’t looks bad against my complexion, but in my opinion… would suit darker skintones better.  I found the formula easy to apply but prone to a little streaking.  It needed a third coat to even out patchy areas though it dried quickly and to a high gloss finish.

At £13, it’s an expensive polish (though I paid half that in the sale).  I can’t say I would have been delighted with it had I paid full price.  I need to reswatch, but I’m interested to directly compare it to my Barry M Berry Ice Cream… I think this is a little darker and more vibrant.

Do you have Jo’Mina? Love it?

It’s glittery, gritty and a whole load of bling.

I just dunno…

Applied over the top of a bog standard dark base, 1 coat… this stuff is pretty dense.  One thing that annoys me about glitters is their often uneven application.  Yano, 2 pieces of glitter at the nail tip 43843243290 at the base.  The good thing about this polish is that it gives you long enough to ‘push’ the pieces around and ‘place’ them before it dries.  The bad thing?  Well, that also means that it taes a little while longer than I’d like to dry.  I know, contrary right?

This mixture of gold and silver glitter a.k.a BB Sands comes from the Lancome Spring 2010 collection though it kinda screams Christmas to me.  I’d love to layer this over a cream/nude base to see if I get a different look from it… but removal was such a pain in the backside that I’m honestly not sure I can be arsed.

This photo does not do the polish justice.  It’s one of those that needs a good dose of direct sunlight to light up the sparkles contained within the shade until they simply glow.

A beautiful deep plummy red with more sparkles than you can shake a stick at.  Simple gorgeous.

Wear was around the 3 day mark before the inevitable tip wear began to make it all look a little tired.  Application was great, 2 solid coats to achieve a great finish.

What can I say?  It’s a little pricey at £12.50 for 5.5ml. I paid half that in the beauty sale in Harrods a couple of weeks ago.  It’s a wonderful shade for Autumn though and is still available online at HoF.

Yep, it looks different on the nail to how it looks in bottle.  I much prefer it on the nail too!

In reality, Barielle Belly Dance is cooler… more violet toned than it appears in the bottle, making it slightly more unusual than initial impressions suggest.

Application was good, a little thin but only 2 coats to achieve opacity.  There’s a hint of silver sparkle which gives it an extra-glossy looking finish.

I like this shade a lot and wear has been great… 3 days, no chips – a little tip wear which isn’t that noticeable because of the nudey shade.  A great everyday polish that has sophistication without being high maintenance.

My first Color Club polish!

Color Club are a cheapie US brand that don’t seem to be afraid to manufacture some truly fashion forward shades!  I picked Uptown Girl from the Spring 2010 collection ‘cos I’m a sucker for purples… and even more of a sucker for dusty purples!

The brush is neatly cut, but one of those older fashioned small round shaped ones that take 5748957894 strokes to cover your nail.  If I ruled the world… all nail brushes would be flat and wide.  Because of the brush it did mean that I had to be careful of streaking… 3 thin layers of polish ensured a smooth, even finish.

I’ll definitely be heading back to eBay to pick up some more Color Club shades, but there’s so many to choose from – I’m a little bit overwhelmed!

Do you have any CC favourites?

Eyeko Saucy polish, the other limited edition release alongside the new Rain polish.

Saucy is ONE HOT RED!

One of the thinnest formulas I’ve used in a long time, I was sure that it was gonna be a sheer streaky mess until I reached my third coat. I was wrong. Not only is it hot, but it’s a one-coater.

The above shows one coat.

This was gonna be a staple toenail colour for me, one coat means I only have to suck it in and stretch my self stupid for a single run through.

Thing is though, I said ‘was’. Saucy polish stains like a MoFo – and I’m not base coating my toenails.

Eyeko Saucy Polish is currently available as part of a set of three priced at £8.50

If you want to buy either Saucy polish or Rain polish individually, I’ve had confirmation that you will be able to do so from next week.

I’m so freaking excited to see Marrow put in an appearance!  It was custom mixed for Vena Cava back in February and here it is, hitting the main stage!

Four striking new shades to challenge and tempt our purses, a real mix with something to please everyone.

About the AW/2010 collection:

“Buzzwords in nail trend for Fall 2010 are texture, depth, and layering, says Creme. “At Alexander Wang we created a textured beige nail that was modern and sophisticated. Then the press went wild when I custom mixed Marrow at Vena Cava.  It’s a deep, murky purple that suits any skin tone.”

Of the rest of the collection Creme says, “I’ve had the idea for Bumster for ages. It’s an amazing twist on a neutral colour, and this ochre yellow looks INCREDIBLE on!” And finally, “Victoriana” is a deep, twinkling vintage blue that reminds me of all the wonderful historical interiors in London.  I’m having a nostalgic moment!”

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All Hail McQueen – An opaque, holographic beige.

Bumster – An opaque, ochre yellow.

Marrow – A dark, flat, murky & mysterious purple.

Victoriana – A textured, twinkling vintage blue.

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Ugh… Frankly, I’m drooling at the description of All Hail McQueen too… this collection is gonna be a sell out.  I can see Bumster looking particularly amazing on dark skin tones and twinkling vintage blue…. vintage blue? *dies*.