A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The beauty blogosphere is buzzing right now with nail junkies across the UK enjoying Collection 2000’s “Hot Looks” range of polishes.

There are some fab 80s inspired shades and seeing as Button Moon was one of my fav shows as a tot, I had to pick up it’s nail polish counterpart!

Button Moon is a mint green creme that randomly reminds me of Rennie Soft Chews.  It’s a fun colour and fairly chalky in appearance.  Application wise, it achieves opacity in one coat, but needs two coats to even out the streakiness it suffers thanks to it’s pretty crappy brush.

The “Hot Looks” range claims to be fast drying, a claim I would take slight issue with.  Yes, the surface doesn’t stay tacky for very long at all… but the risk of smudging remains for a good half hour after application – not one to apply 15 minutes before bed unless you want lovely imprints from your bed sheets on your tips!

The picture shows the streaking fairly well, but I believe the culprit of this is the brush rather than the formula, so can easily be remedied by using another brush instead.  I should also note that the picture was taken without a top coat applied.

At £1.75 a bottle (they come in a super fab mini 8ml size) and despite the faults I’ve noted, I still think the range is a bit of a steal – ideal for trying out some funky colours.  They’re also currently on offer in Superdrug at the moment (2 for £2.99) – get ’em while they’re hot!  *snigger* Hot, “Hot Looks”, gerrit?

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I’m off ‘oop North’ for a week to introduce my lovely daughter to her paternal grandparents.  Hope the weather follows me!

I don’t have any posts lined up, I’ve been incredibly slack this week, I even let my next NOTD post slide and am now sporting chipped nails with no photos taken of them back when they were fresh (and thus no blog post) *sigh*

To make up for it, I’ll leave you with a current Benefit discount code celebrating Wimbledon…

Enter code: BENETNNI at the checkout for 10% off all orders valid ’till 5th July.  Click the Benefit logo above to be taken to the Benefit (UK) website.

If you happen to make good use of the code, let me know what you bought!  Since I’m now spending every penny I earn on Pampers and Gripe Water… I’m living vicariously through your hauls however big or little they may be!

Cheerio for now fellow beauty addicts xx

Quick PSA thanks to catching this on moneysavingexpert.com before heading off to bed…

If you’re near an Elemis counter (John Lewis) today or tomorrow (Friday/Saturday) – take any old bottle or jar of moisturiser that you don’t use anymore (even if it’s empty) and swap it for a shiny new 15mls of Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream (apparently worth £22.50) – perfect for travelling!

Love these generous Rimmel promotions, I discovered the original Sexy Curves formula through winning one from their last promotion.

To celebrate the launch of Rimmel London’s NEW SEXY CURVES WATERPROOF MASCARA they’re giving us the chance to try a FULL SIZE sample worth £7.82.

There’s 4000 to give away so we’re in with a shot!

Click the image to be taken to the promotion.

You can save £5 on Ruby and Millie at Boots ’til June 30th with this voucher.  Click the image below to claim your voucher thanks to the 30 days of fashion and beauty promotion!

I’ve heard great things about the ‘precisness’ of i-writer eyeliner pens and as someone who can’t draw a thin line for love nor money, I’m going to be checking them out!

My favourite brand for natural skin/hair/bodycare products is currently offering a fantastic discount!

You can get 50% off all orders online at Naked Bodycare until the 14th June (exc. p&p)

Just enter the code: tweet09 at checkout to activate the discount.

Click the link to be taken to the Naked Bodycare website.

Just a heads up incase you weren’t aware that Clinique’s bonus time begins tomorrow on the 14th May at House of Fraser store’s nationwide.  If you’re going to make 2 or more Clinique purchases, this is the time to do it!

Bonus time items include*:

Golden/Bronze makeup bag (with golden circles)
7 Day Scrub Cream
Superdefense Age Defense Moisturiser
Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick in Delovely
Eyeshadow in Like Mink
Uplighting Liquid Illuminator in Natural
True Bronze Pressed Powder in Sunkissed
Small Blush Brush

I shall add a picture to confirm items included if/when Clinique updates their website. Picture added.

*Free with the purchase of any two Clinique products or more.

Miners have a special offer on a range of their polishes at the moment costing just 97p a bottle.

I haven’t tried anything from their nail polish ranges yet so can’t comment on quality but seeing as I just made myself a mini haul of some pretty colours, I thought I’d share the love.  It’s a great excuse to try some colours that you wouldn’t normally be brave enough to purchase without spending too much!  I’ve gone for:

Purple Hologram
Lemon
Hologram Turquoise
Pale Mint
Rain Glow
Raw Edges
Babyziz

All for a grand total of £8.26 inc. P&P – Bargain!

Stock up on some cool colours for summer!

Enter discount code at checkout (not sure how long this is good for):

BLINCTRADE

to receive a 20% discount off your order.  Famed for their water resistant mascara that tubes your lashes rather than painting them, I can happily recommend it (review coming soon) and I’m very tempted to try the liquid eyeliner next.

Click to check out BlincUK.

Happy Tuesday!

Whilst on the subject of GOSH, I’ve just come across their new haircare range which is currently on offer in Superdrug.  Usually priced at £4.39 each you can currently pick up 2 for £5.99 – definitely worth a look.  If you’re ordering from the website make sure you enter: abbey100809 during the checkout stage to get a further 10% off your order (valid ’till November ’09)

Standard shampoo/conditioner range includes:

Damage Control

Nourishes and recharges dry, damaged and chemically treated hair with revitalising moisture…

Pump up the Volume

Contains special proteins which add body and fullness while rstonring elasticity and strength…

Colour Rescue

Protects the colour in dyed hair from fading and daily UV exposure…

The images on the GOSH website show the bottles as pump bottles (which I prefer to these squeezy tube types) but maybe that’s for the European market.

There are other products in the range, they appear to have introduced a full range of styling products – but you’ll have to head in store to check those out as Superdrug’s shitty website only displays the shampoo and conditioners.

The cover of June’s InStyle magazine will feature a free full size bottle of Nails Inc. polish worth £10.50.

3 colours to choose from: Berry, Bare and Coral.

Magazine is priced at £3.50.

On sale from the 30th April.

Superdrug is a must visit for high-street huntresses, however, unless you have a particularly strong constitution I suggest avoiding visiting during school holidays or Saturday afternoons as you may struggle to get near the stands amid a wash of pre-teen girls and a fog of impulse body spray.

N.Y.C is not a brand I’m familliar with (yet!) – a little like Barry M and 2true, I’m slightly intimidated by the colours and the plethora of plastics, shrinkwraps and security tags attached the products in a vain attempt to stop the afore-mentioned pre-teens from nicking the goodies.

I was looking for some cheap polish for a mid afternoon pick-me-up and this colour caught my eye, it’s a shimmery metallic blue/green which totally reminds me of a bluebottle fly (you know, the pretty shimmery bit!).  Anyway, application is easy with a surprisingly good brush which makes for a full nail application in a couple of simple strokes.  It’s pretty sheer, and needed 3 coats to achieve the colour payoff as shown on my natty nails – something which I’d usually moan about, but application was so smooth that I didn’t struggle at all with 3 thin coats and didn’t grow any new grey hairs in the time it took to dry.

Price was a very reasonable £2.93, but Superdrug are currently offering 2 N.Y.C Nail Glossies for £2.99 (bargain!) so if you want to try some new colours now is a good time to have a look!

3 days after application – lasting well with no chipping yet!

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