A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

You’d be easily forgiven if you thought that Butter London Marbs had been released alongside one of the brand’s Winter collections… after all, we’re pretty used to seeing golden metallics shine at Christmas.  But no, in their usual “sod what the rest of the industry are doing” kinda way, Butter London saw fit to release this golden wonder last Summer and it just about works.

Although obviously a rather brash yellow-gold in hue, there’s a certain amount of bronziness to it that makes you appreciate how well it would work with a sunkissed tan.  Something my milk-bottle skin is sadly, unlikely to realise this Summer.

The finish is in fact, startlingly bright with an incredible metallic foil that gives an almost reflective-like quality to the finished product.  I’d generally expect anything so full of shine to be unforgiving over nail ridges but this one manages to disguise the various bumps and peels across my nail beds.

Summer, winter… whatever the season, Marbs is probably the best gold polish I own, especially when it comes to delivering a fully opaque finish in a quick and simple two coats.

Butter London Marbs is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

* press sample

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This sparkly little number from Butter London looks great in the bottle.  A blitz of golden glitter, suspended in a clear base.  But when all is said, done, and painted… I’m left feeling distinctly underwhelmed by this one.  Take a look for yourselves…

Now, I’m all for a bit of understated glamour, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I need it to look like the interior of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom on Strictly nights before I coo over a bit of sparkle.

However… let’s be honest, I could have snorted from Leila’s stash and phyically sneezed more glitter in a single coat.

Sponging the polish on results in a slightly-more-mpressive topper but with the number of golden glittered top coats available across the market, this is one I’d leave on the shelves.

Butter London Stratford Honey is available to buy online, priced at £11.95 from powderrooms.com

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Eternally revered as one of the world’s most precious metals, gold has been a highly sought-after commodity from the earliest of ancient civilisations right through to the modern day.  Much of its worth has been built through socially-constructed symbolism rather than via any intrinsic financial value, but the rare metal has nevertheless proven useful in some fields thanks to certain unusual properties.

Gold is extremely durable, stable, and for a metal, unusually coloured making it a perfect exhibition of wealth.  It holds a strong continuity of value over time, and looks just as beautiful when first laid in a treasure chest as it does 20, 30 or 50 years later.  It’s an element that is difficult, dangerous and laborious to mine and rarity has always held a value when it comes to the importance of status within our society.

But what about in practical use?

We regularly see gold put to good use in the field of electronics, to plate connectors and prevent oxidisation.  As a metal, it conducts electricity extremely efficiently (though interestingly, not as efficiently as silver).  In dentistry, the metal is valued for its malleable attributes which can be used to easily construct fillings, crowns, and bridges.  Its chemically stable nature, makes it a suitable, nonallergenic material which has thus far proven to cause no adverse effects on long-term health.

But what about the usefulness of gold within the beauty and skincare industry?  Let’s take a look at some products today which seek to employ the midas touch…

1). Nahbi Pure Repair Gold Essence contains 24ct nano gold and gold leaf extract which claims to help stimulate circulation, cell renewal and the removal of toxins from the skin.  Nahbi use colloidal gold (suspended in liquid) and nano-technologies to increase the likelihood of physical absorbtion.  The particles are rated at 1.5nm, which is tiny indeed when you consider that the thickness of gold leaf is rated at a rather chunky 125nm!  The full range includes masks, serum, toner, a moisturiser and a cream. priced from £25, beauchoix.co.uk

2). Jamela offer a range of gold-infused masks that combine “active gold” and plant collagen with other, more recognisable ingredients including hyaluronic acid.  The masks have been designed to contour various body parts to deliver their collagen-boosting benefits including: eyes, lips, face, and even breasts!  I particularly like the idea of wearing one of these masks overnight before throwing it in the bath with me the next morning, they dissolve in hot water to release any remaining goodness!  priced from £24,50, jamelaskincare.co.uk

3). Chantecaille are well-known for their high-end formulations so it comes as no surprise to see an entire Gold Collection from the U.S. brand.  Their Nano Gold Firming Treatment is not simply content with exploring the supposed anti-inflammatory effects of nano gold, but hedges its bets on another recent “technological breakthrough” in the form of Swiss Apple Stem Cells which claim to deliver the creme-de-la-creme of antioxidant benefits within skincare.  For all this technology, you’ll have to pay a pretty penny.  priced at £280, uk.spacenk.com

4). Focusing on exploring the links between the precious metal and its soothing, anti-inflammatory benefits.  Omorivicza’s Gold Eye Lift uses gold ferment in an attempt to repair micro-damage and strengthen the delicate skin by renewing lost elasticity and as you would expect, the Hungarian brand remain true to their spa roots with the infusion of mineral compounds and their globally famous thermal waters rich in copper, zinc, calcium and magnesium.  priced at £110, selfridges.com

5). For the “gold standard” (geddit?!) in gold-enriched skincare, look no further than Swiss brand La Prairie for their Cellular Radiance Concentrate Pure Gold which claims to diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles and help regulate discoloration.  The gold, suspended in a colloidal gel promises to help prevent the breakdown of collagen and elastin whilst illuminating the skin with a stunning radiance. It will certainly lighten your wallet.  priced at £408, urbanretreat.co.uk

6). For something a little more tangible, not to mention… affordable, Zoya’s Gilty Pleasures trio contains an 18k real gold flake top coat which will transform all your manicures into something a little bit special.  priced at £29.60, nailcareclub.com

7). ByTerry’s Or De Rose Elixir Extreme is a rose-tinted primer which delivers instant radiance thanks to its blend of 24-carat pink gold micronized particles and light-reflecting prisms.  More of a cosmetic radiance-giver than a skincare marvel, coming from the queen of highlighting herself… that ain’t no bad thing.  The closest I’ll get to being a gold-dipped bond girl.  priced at £108, uk.spacenk.com

So, the question remains… can the benefits of gold be applied to anti-ageing theories?  Scientists and dermatologists are frankly divided on the issue and serious research is ongoing on the potential health benefits of using gold in the fight against cancer and the relief of rheumatoid arthritis.

To my mind, there appears to be a somewhat necessary leap of faith in order to believe that something so valued for its chemical inertia can also posess such life-changing, tangible benefits but there’s no doubt that this is one debate that will run and run.  Especially while it continues to give cosmetic companies such a wonderfully marketable element of luxury and privilege.

What say you? Are you interested in unleashing the power of gold on your skin, hair and nails?

Blimey! It’s nail polish Sunday or somethink, sorry polish haters!

Some of you coo-ed over Butter London’s The Full Monty that I swatched earlier in the week… a true Xmassy gold that kept neutral enough to suit my cool skintone.  Well… what with it being December n’all, how could I not glitterize the crap out of it?

I mean c’mon… it’s CHRISTMASSSSSSSSSSS! (nearly).

I added two coats of Butter London West End Wonderland to get this disco on my nails.  It’s fabulous!  Glitter is freaking HARD to capture in a still image.  It lends itself to movement and light reflecting so what you can’t see is that West End Wonderland has a rather gorgeous red glitter scattered amongst the gold which sets it apart from my other gold glitters.

As always, it’s a bugger to remove… I love/hate glitter.  But this time of year?  Love wins out.

Butter London’s West End Wonderland is available to buy online from PowderRooms priced at £9.75

Silver yesterday… so what can I wear today?

Of course!!  GOLD!

Butter London’s The Full Monty is a neutral gold (if that makes sense) it’s neither too warm, nor too green which makes it a suitable gold for most skintones.

Like Diamond Geezer, it’s also a foil…. my favourite type of metallic.  The above photo shows two coats, I could have done one more but am planning on adding glitter v. soon!

Do you wear metallics like these throughout the year or restrict them to the holiday season?

The Full Monty is priced at £9.75 and available to buy online from PowderRooms who are currently offering free delivery on all orders until the 5th December.

Following the roaring success of Estee Lauder’s previous nail polish release and the fact that I simply couldn’t have anymore love for Surreal Violet than I do, I had super high hopes for their Christmas collection.

I was given Extravagant Pearl at a recent event and I have really mixed thoughts on it.

Extravagant Pearl is one of two polish releases for Christmas 2010, the other being Extravagant Night (a dark plum with mesmerising micro-glitter).  Looking at Extravagant Pearl in the bottle, I expected it to be a sheer, layering polish… it isn’t.  The above shows three thin coats and if you don’t mind a visible nail line, you could be done in two.  Oddly enough, the reviews I’ve read of the darker Extravagant Night show that one to be a 4 coater!

Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent…

Extravagant Pearl is quite a difficult colour to describe… but I think I’d call it NARS Albatross in a nail polish.  A pale, warm gold with shimmer.  Lots of shimmer.  A little too much for me.

It looks quite frosty and for some reason makes my normally narrow nails look wide and fat.  It needed a top coat too thanks to the micro-glitter making the surface of the nail quite gritty to the touch.

I want to love this shade, I really do… it is packed so completely full of beautiful multi-coloured sparkle in the bottle I was sure I would be on cloud nine with this on my nails.  But I’m just not feeling it.

I tried layering it over black to see if I loved it more… I still don’t.

Urgh, what’s wrong with me?  It’s clearly very pretty and sparkly and totally Christmassy.  It even works well against my skintone… perhaps I just don’t like frosts?

Wear has been marvellous… 3 days now with no tip wear at all though it was a little slow to dry between coats.

What do you guys think?  Am I crazy for not loving it?

Estee Lauder Extravagant Pearl is a Limited Edition shade released as part of the EL Christmas/Holiday Collection.  It’s available online or on counter and priced at £12.

Originally, I only wanted Diva of Geneva.. but I kept seeing tantalising swatches of Glitzerland that made me think what a wonderful Christmas polish this would be… and that just perhaps, it wouldn’t be too warm toned for my skin.

I was right!

The formula is good, not too thick nor too thin and 2 coats are fine for a quick polish.  I did three for a perfect finish.

Super sparkly, Glitzerland is a proper ‘hey look at my nails’ shade.  I kept admiring and angling them against the light to view the individual sparkles that combine to create a lovely foiled finish.

Cool-toned ladies… this is a gold you can wear.  Very pale and as subtle as gold can be!

Love.

Love Light…

Totally a layering shade, so I thought I’d just see how many coats it needed to achieve opacity.

I got to 4 and I’m just about there…

One of the best applicators of the Summer of Love set, this glides on the nail and dries quickly.  Once opaque, it’s a beautiful pale gold shade with a lot of sparkle.

It’s feminine without being too floaty.  I like it more than I thought I would on initial inspection.

Sadly it has chipped in two places along the cuticle edge which is rather odd, I think it may have more to do with a heavy handed application of top coat though… which renders that last statement rather useless.

I’ve got one more shade to show from the Summer of Love kit.. I know it’s practically old news now, but I’m determined to get them all blogged for swatch purposes!

The other evening, after painting my nails in Essie’s Wrapped im Rubies… it ddn’t take me long to decide that it was a dull, dull colour…

…but I’ve changed my mind.  It’s not dull, it’s just not Summery.

Application was a teeny bit awkward, it seemed to remain sheer in certain places on the nail and I experienced a tiny bit of bubbling on my thumb.  To be fair though, I was in more of a hurry than usual… so it could well be down to my application skills (or lack of them on this occassion).

I’m on my 2nd full day of wear and tip wear is barely noticeable.  I did dent one nail despite my quick dry top coat, so it seems to be a slow dryer… deffo crack open the seche or alternative.  Essie Wrapped in Rubies is a beautiful bronzed-red with flecks of gold from the Winter 2007 collection… perfect for Autumn.

Shame it’s May!

Second in my highlighter series is the highly regarded NARS Albatross (£19.50).

Albatross looks an almost pure white in the pan (as the name would suggest!) But when swatched, gives the most beautiful pale gold sheen that flatters most skintones pale or dark.

My one observation would be that it’s quite easy to go overboard with this highlighter.  Instant disco ball.  I generally use a fan brush to pick up the powder before sweeping lightly over my cheekbones.  I also use this on my cupids bow, tip of my chin and on the brow bone.  It’s a beautifully versatile product that I whole heartedly recommend!

Ever since reading a recommendation by the lovely MakeupByKaty, I’ve been intrigued by these little pots of shimmering shadows.

Bourjois have always been my favourite high street brand and I knew that as soon as I’d read about them… I was going to be parting with some of my hard earned cash at the very next opportunity!

I picked up three shades for around £6 each:

#31 Molecule D’or – A true gold

#37 Blanc Chrome – Iridescent White with pink reflects

#35 Gris Platine – A dark steel grey

I’m not much of a fan of the applicator, it’s quite tricky to wield and apply with any precision… but it’ll do in a pinch, otherise I recommend swiping some of the product onto the back of your hand before using a brush to transfer onto your eyelids.

The product dries very quickly to a budge-proof finish, so you need to work quickly… I haven’t managed any great successes with using this anywhere other than on the lids for a metallic look.  If I try to blend the shades out into the crease, I find the overall effect to be a bit patchy.  Probably because of that fast drying time the product ends up setting more opaque in the areas I’m slower at reaching.  Does that make sense?

Overall, I do love these… and I have my eye on two more… I can’t remember the names, but one is more chocolate-y and the other is what looks like it would be a lovely beige lid wash (especially if I can sheer it out quickly!).

Have you tried these and do you have a favourite high street brand?

Wowzah!

A lovely metallic gold, this is 3 coats and I was pleased enough with the application.  Another shade that shouldn’t suit, but kinda does.

I haven’t come across an Asda doozie since that pale blue, but then I’ve mostly stayed away from those pastelly shades since.

I’m pleased to report that my nails are growing slowly but steadily since stumpgate… but spare a thought for Jo at beautyliciouslove who recently lost a nail (practically the whole thing down to the cuticle – ouch).

I’m gonna try and get the winners post up in the next couple of days from my advent giveaway – so be sure to check back!