A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I’ve never been fully sold on tattoos, I love looking at the designs and I appreciate the work that goes into creating a successful piece of permanent body art.

But truly?  I can barely decide which socks to put on in the morning.  Choosing something as permanent as a tattoo would send me into some kind of mental turmoil treatable only by electroshock therapy.  It is with pure joy then, that I discovered Jinny Rainbow.

Recently launched in Selfridges, Jinny Rainbow offers beautiful glitter body illustrations that last up to 7 days.  The glitters and powders used are hypo-allergenic promising skin-friendly artwork for all.

You can choose between selecting an on the spot design undertaken by a body artist or if you would prefer attempting a bit of DIY designage (is that a word?) you can purchse handy kits to create personalised designs at home.

Spoiled for choice, Jinny Rainbow carries a selection of over 100 vibrant glitter pigments and shimmers plus 200 exclusive stencil designs.

How beautiful is that?  My inner 4yr old is climbing the walls with excitement and trying to work out if I’ve got time to swing by Selfridges this afternoon for a nosey!

So how much would this kind of frivolity set you back?  With prices starting from £5 for on-the-spot designs and from £30 for starter kits it’s not exactly gonna break the bank is it?

Do you need a bit of glitter in your life?  I’m thinking a sparkly bluebird on my shoulder.. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah and all that.

A few of you eagle-eyed ladies spotted the manicure I was sporting in my NARS post!  *Looks at Kim, Danielle, Rae and Dee*

It’s the bomb! The Glitterbomb!  I originally had an Orly taupe shade on my nails that was looking a little tired… so I played at “How much glitter can I put on my nails in one go”.

The Miners Extreme Nail Colour is now discontinued I’m afraid, but it’s surely easily dupable?  I paid 99p for it a few months ago from their website. I think they may be sold at Claire’s (or at least they used to be).

I applied 2 coats of the Miners over my gnarly taupe polish and then finished off with a “top coat” of Inglot’s flakes.  A cheaper and more accessible version of the flakes would be GOSH Rainbow. (I can’t find it in my local Superdrug).

Ta-da!

I don’t even bother with cotton pads for removal of these glitter-fests.  I just fill the lid of my nail polish remover with the solution and dip for about 3/4 mins per nail.  That dissolves enough polish for one firm swipe of a cotton pad to do the job.

Have you been indulging your inner 4yr old lately?  Is glitter even remotely on-trend?  Do we even care?

I bought some Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadows a couple of months ago and thought I’d share my thoughts on them…

The packaging is lovely, nice heavyweight glass jars…. they feel substantial and chunky!

Brown Metal

Starry Purple

Starry Night

Goldstone

Antique Gold

The swatches…

Disappointed is my feeling on these.  They look beautiful in the jar, truly.  But they’re *so* sheer… the swatches show a good number of swipes to get them pigmented enough to photograph.

I love the idea behind them, and I do wear them… I wear them underneath simillar toned powder shades and the only purpose they really serve is to add a bit of sparkle.  You also have to be really careful not to end up with glitter all over your face when applying these.  My  favourite is Goldstone, which unfortunately, is the biggest glitter dropper of all of them.

I’m simply left with the feeling that they could have been so much more.

Do you own any of these?  How do you wear them? Any tips to make me love them?

So, it’s not the Holidays anymore… it’s mid January and I certainly don’t feel very ‘glowy’.  Wearing this now, makes me incredibly unfashionable and like “SO” last season… Regardless, check this beautiful shade out!

OPI Holiday Glow is a 3 coater to fill in any baldy patches and get the best from it.  It’s undoubtedly a glitter but you could get away without using a top coat if you were feeling particularly lazy thanks to the small, smooth glitter particles.

I couldn’t decide if the base colour was brown or burgundy, so I’m calling a” BRugurndy”.  See how I did that?  No, please don’t applaud, you’ll only make me blush.  The glitter is a nice mixture of gold and silver, the combo works so well as a whole.

I ended up buying 2 of these by accident.  I thought I’d bought this and Merry Midnight… turns out, I’d just bought 2 of these.  No matter, I’m giving one away on twitter this evening.  So, if you fancy being tragically last season too, find me on there to be in with a shot of winning it.

Do you like? This is probably one of the most sophisticated glitters I own… I love that OPI wide brush too…

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 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

So, I’m not a big glitter fan.  I’m really not.  I don’t mind how it looks (as long as it’s not rainbow coloured)… but the thought of the removal process makes me want to stick forks in my eyes.

Barielle sent me a couple of shades for review, and I may have physically shuddered in a glitter-induced repulsion when I saw this one.

I mean look…. it’s chunky!

However, the polish itself is a beautiful mid-toned blue, infact it’s quite an unusual combination… I’ve never seen blue and copper combined like this in a polish.  Website describes it as gold, but it’s definitely a more rose gold/coppery colour.

I am *so* on a blue kick since that George beauty.  And this Barielle shade is doing nothing to quench those flames!  B-e-a-utiful!

I don’t like the rough feeling that glitter polishes leave and despite a top coat… my mani still felt bumpy but there’s no denying the blue/copper combination works.

I’ve waited ’till removal before writing up this post, and removal was just as horrible as I had anticipated… in the end, I poured some polish remover into the cap of the bottle and soaked each finger individually before I developed RSI from all the wiping.

These Barielle’s are probably some of the longest-wearing polishes I’ve used.  6 days in with this one and I have absolutely no tip wear.  Application was fine, with no issues at all.  I don’t know if glitter polishes tend to have more or less issue with application than normal?  But this was good.

Are you a fan of glitters?  Any removal tips for me? Liking this one?

Hello my pretty!

I discovered her hiding under a pile of soaps at my local T.K. Maxx… let me introduce you to “Bubble Pink” as we shall call her from now on.

Seriously, have you ever seen a more outrageously girly lipstick in your life?

I know… that’s almost indecent.  Glitter bomb on a stick.  A pink stick.

This really shouldn’t work for anyone over the age of 7.  And it definitely shouldn’t work for a lady knocking on the door of 30 (by ‘knocking’ I mean ‘ungracefully sprinting in the opposite direction of’).

So does it work?

Ohhhhh yes.

The topmost layer of glitter is an overspray… after the first application it’s a lot more subtle as you can see above.  The pink is a beautiful soft bubblegum pink which is neither too warm, nor too cool.  The shimmer (whilst apparent) doesn’t overpower nor look frosty.  It’s just ‘glitters’.

I was most taken aback by the texture… yes, there’s a teeny bit of gritiness… but nothing compared to what I expected considering how packed full of sparkle it is.  I find it actually quite moisturising and my teeth aren’t set on edge every time I press my lips together.

Whilst wearing this, be sure to kiss lots of people for whom glitter prints would be highly inappropriate.

I want to be buried wearing this lipstick.

And if you think it’s too shimmery for me… I can’t hear you *la la la laalalala*.

I’m a consummate lip gloss addict (hence the title of the blog!) – they’re easy to apply, completely portable for quick touch ups and feel more moisturising on the lips than lipsticks.  I have a particular fondness for glosses which contain a little bit of sparkle.  Yes I am 4 years old.

Here’s one of my latest acquisitions!  Elizabeth Arden is one of those lines that I’m perpetually unsure of – it always feels so elegant and timeless but usually ends up disappointing me.  Not this time!

Elizabeth Arden’s High Shine Lip Gloss in #10 Pink Champagne is such a beautiful natural peachy colour with a hint of warm golden sparkle.  It’s your standard doe foot applicator in a classy little square tube.  Consistency is thick and a little gloopy to apply but not uncomfortably sticky… I’d give it a 6 out of 10 on the stickiness scale (where Lipglass is  a 7 and superglue is a 10!)

It has a beautifully soft sheer finish with a subtle plumping effect thanks to the multi dimensional high shine.  It doesn’t dry out my lips and is completely flavourless – something I always like!

My complaint (and unfortunately it’s not a inconsequential little one) is staying power.  You’ll need a touch up after eating or drinking, the shimmer survives – but the tint of colour sadly doesn’t.

All in all, a great buy for the summer!

[starreview tpl=14]

This is a really soft wearable palette – not massively pigmented but with just the right amount of shimmer.  I particularly like the cream blush which is ultra blendable and not too sticky.

The lip glosses were not pigmented enough for me to be honest, as you can see they added more of a shine to my lips rather than any actual colour.  The eyeshadows are soft and shimmery, again – not highly pigmented, but not so subtle that you have to pack the colour on.

I’m also wearing Blinc Mascara and Stargazer Cake Eyeliner in Brown (which I’m currently loving considering it’s price – full review coming soon!).

The eyeshadow shades are perfect for wearing to work, the highlighter shade (bottom right) is particularly nice, as is the brighter pink to it’s left.  The darkest shade in the middle of the palette is one that could have easily done with being a little more pigmented.  All colours were easily blendable ontop of UDPP.  I didn’t use the top 2 colours in the FOTD.  The pink is actually a little more saturated in real life than it is in the FOTD photos which aren’t quite doing that particular shade justice.

I didn’t use the concealer (bottom right) or the darker brown gloss (top right).  The cream blush (bottom left) looks brighter in the palette than it does on the skin, it’s a coral type colour.  I initially just applied the top left bright pink lip gloss – but added the middle one aswell when I wasn’t getting ANY colour payoff from it.  I still didn’t achieve any pigmentation to speak of after adding the second colour.  Disappointing really.

Overall, I’m pleased with this palette.  My first impressions from yesterday confirm that there’s nothing earth shattering contained within.  But it’s a completely wearable ensemble that would particularly flatter paler skin tones to create a subtle but fresh daytime look.  I’d definitely recommend everything bar the lip glosses, which seem to be a waste of space.  The packaging is cheap looking but very cute, and totally portable – complete with mirror, you could quite happily cart this around in your handbag for any touch ups.

[starreview tpl=14]

I was looking for an automatic eyeliner, as I’m fed up of coming across blunt ones when I’m running late and need to have left the house 5 minutes ago!

I should simply stick them all in the fridge every couple of weeks for half an hour and sharpen them in one go… but, well… I’ve got a life.

I came across Maybelline Line Stylist a couple of weeks ago and grabbed one in ‘Black Sparkle’ which is described as black with a hint of glitter.

The pencil is nice and thin and the push up mechanism is smooth and effortless.  Pigmentation is pretty good and a proper black as opposed to wussy grey… but jeez this thing drags.  I only ever use pencil eyeliners on my lower waterline and this stuff is so hard and unforgiving that I find myself lining closer to my lashes rather than the waterline itself.  Having said that, this stuff doesn’t go anywhere once it’s on.  It simply won’t budge without my cleansing oil – which is fab for a waterline eyeliner.  It’s just a shame I can’t apply it closer to the waterline without fear of causing serious and irreversible eye damage.

I’m gonna try leaving it on the window sill in the hope that it might help to soften it a little in the sunshine.  Oh, and I don’t notice any ‘sparkle’ in the black either.

[starreview]