A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

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!

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”

I adore China Glaze’s Ruby Pumps at Christmastime (me and everyone else) but I didn’t want to wear it quite so full on until a bit later in the month.  I decided to pair it up with a black creme for a little more subtlety.  Can you tell I’m still loving the whole dark nails thing?

HJ Manicure sent me a couple of their mini polishes to try and one of them was this rather basic black called Midnight.

Basic = a bit boring yes?… but basic also = essential… hmmm… like leggings! (stay with me, this analogy will make sense)… You want your leggings to be opaque, easy to pull on and look fabulous on the backside right?  Well, Midnight is your favourite pair of leggings.  It’s a beautifully glossy creme which is a solid 2 coater and really easy to apply.  I probably wouldn’t wear it on it’s own but combined with a coat of glitter (a fantastic jumper dress – see, this analogy is my best yet) it’s a total knockout.

The first picture doesn’t actually do this quick and easy mani much justice, I wore it up to London and had many nice comments on my ‘lit from within’ stumps. (Grow, grow, grow!)  The most realistic impression comes from the little finger in the top picture… you can see the red glow within the black base… see how it’s almost opal like.  The other fingers unfortunately make it look a bit gritty which it totally doesn’t.

Have you been wearing any combinations?  Do you like pairing polishes up with a great black base? Give me some ideas!

Introducing the Stumpsters!  My new look teeny weeny fingernails!

The fabulous LionLovingTiger brought it to my attention that every cloud has a silver lining and that now was the time to break out those dark vampy shades!  And she was so right!

I thought I’d break out the bottle of Jessica Nails polish I won in in a Twitter giveaway a couple of weeks ago.

I’m loving this polish!  The longevity is ah-mazing! 4 days so far and no tip wear that I can see, although maybe that’s because my ‘tips’ end below my finger pads now that I think of it.. oh well, either way, no chips or flakes or any such nonsense.

It applied like a dream, 1 coat to reach opacity but 2 to tidy it up.  It is a glitter (and boy does it sparkle).  I finished with a coat of Seche Vite (my first ever use – I know, shocking!)  Which completely smoothed the gritty surface that glitters leave behind.  I’m not exactly relishing the thought of removal, but Helen gave me some great tips that I will be putting to good use!

Buy Jessica Nails Polish from TSBeautyShop

George at Asda I mean…

They must be? How else can they possibly be knocking out such awesome shades for £1.50 a bottle?

This is hmmm… how can I best describe.  A gilded olive?

I hate greens, but this I love.  So if you hate greens too, try it…. seriously – it’s beautiful!

It’s a metallic, so there is some evidence of brush stroke but no more than my higher end metallic polishes and even less than some.

It’s called Superstar and really is something special.

Application and longevity are in line with the rest of the George shades I’ve tried.

Unfortunately, this will go down in history as the “last shade”.  The “last shade” before stump-gate.  No matter, it’s beautiful.

Look! *sniff*

My thumbnail broke last night on a ring pull 🙁  It didn’t just break.  It fractured halfway down the nail bed.

I’m trying to be grown up about it, honest I am!  I mean, they’re nails for chrissake, and I was overdue a chop… but I didn’t wanna chop them down to my knuckles!

On the plus side…

~ I can now type without waking the neighbours
~ My iPhone actually responds when I tap it
~ I won’t be waking up with random claw marks on my cheeks
~ Leila doesn’t have to dodge the nails of doom mid-nappy change
~ I can scoop product out of jars without that horrible “loadsofshitstuckundermynailsgetitoff” feeling.
~ I can pick my nose without damaging my brain 😉

On the negative side…

~ I have stumpy nails.

See where the break began?  Stoopid ring pull.

Ok, I realise this post is *incredibly* self indulgent, but I did have more in mind than just to invite you all to my pity party.

….

See how yellow my nails are?  That’s from using copious amounts of nail polish.

You’re supposed to be able to avoid it by using a good basecoat.  Not sure on that one, I do use good basecoats and it doesn’t seem to matter which brand I use… I still get yellow nails.  Infact, as an ex-smoker… my nails have never been yellower than they are now.

So my point is, this gives me the perfect opportunity to trial 3 things that have been waiting for a test.

1). Bubble White Nail Cleaner (available at Sally Beauty)

I have a sachet of this hiding somewhere in my bathroom cabinet, I shall dig it out and give it a try.

2). Barielle Nail Brightener

One of the goodies Barielle sent me.  I was a bit disappointed when I saw it was a cosmetic product as opposed to a treatment.  But if the Bubble White doesn’t do it’s job, I’ll be very pleased to try it!

3. Nailene So Natural/Real/Couture Glue on Nails (I *think* you can get these in Boots – any confirmation gratefully received!)

It’s been many years since I’ve worn glue-on nails… I hope technology has improved since then, or these will last about 45 minutes on my fingers.

So um yeah… every cloud and all that… *sniff sniff*

For the girl who has everything, priced at £15 each.

Click the image to go to the Nails Inc Christmas Shop.

They Say:

For the girl who has everything. Collect all 3 of these irresistible new shades with gorgeously glitzy crystal caps. These are the perfect stocking fillers and are the ultimate accessory for your dressing table. Snap up all 3 and treat someone to an extra special gift this year.

The shades available are:

Warwick Avenue – Soft Pale Pink
Henrietta Street – Deep Pink Red
Bow – Dark Purpler Shimmer

Special note for Mr. L:

*The girl who has everything*