A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I know some of you don’t dig the grey/beige thing, but every greige polish I’ve picked up thus far has suited my complexion beautifully, so I’m hooked.

This is Nails Inc’s latest offering: Lennox Gardens (£15)… and I’m in lurrrrrve.  Well I would be… if they took the stupid ‘crystals’ off and lowered the price by a fiver.

Sludgey poo in a bottle or the epitome of understated elegance, what d’ya reckon?

Marian Newman is an acclaimed session manicurist of many years standing and has worked with a ton of legendary photographers, models and celebrities.  She was the first UK nail technician to work on the top level fashion shows and her work continued in this year’s London Fashion Week when she demonstrated some on trend looks with Ruby & Millie as her polish of choice.

I’m loving these custom polish mixes for the catwalks and ‘Black Tulip’ is no exception:

The Look:
Black Tulip is for strong, confident ‘grown up’ women.  Longer and perfectly oval glamorous nails matching a strong  lip.  The deepest purple; reading black but with a glimmer of luscious purple in the light.

Ruby & Millie Nail Color:
Mix Nail Color Blue 620C and Nail Color Purple 550C – Price: £9.50 each

Marian’s Top Tip:
“The Black Tulip is a deep ‘midnight’ with just a hint of purple. The purple only appears in certain lights.  The key to this looking so fabulous is a smooth nail, smooth finish and a super glossy top coat. It should look almost PVC.”

I can totally imagine this for AW/10… purples are usually hot anyway but it’s lovely to see such a vampy colour wearing well on longer nails.

Problem is, I’m far too lazy to franken polishes… so Ruby & Millie need to get their bums in gear and just make sure it’s released at Boots in time for my Christmas Dinner.

A very beautiful pale greige that I was sent a while ago by the lovely Liloo.

Shown here is 2 coats, and I think it probably needs 3… looked fine indoors but a touch patchy in direct sunlight.  Country Club Khaki is a gorgeously sophisticate creamy greige and definitely in my top 5.  If you’re into the trend, you need this polish in your life!

I find Orly’s brushes a touch on the narrow side, but the formula was completely forgiving and I didn’t have any issues to speak of.

Are you a fan of the trend? I personally love it.  There’s a great looking new Nails Inc shade aswell that I need to tell you about soon!

£6.99 from Beauty4Nails-Body.

If I said I didn’t like this polish very much… I’d be being kind.

I actually don’t usually dislike polishes, I can make most formulas work for me with a bit of adjustment in how I paint… either that or the colour is so lovely that it redeems itself once on my nails.

I’ve fallen out with this Eyeko Purple polish and no amount of chocolates or flowers is gonna smooth over the cracks in our relationship.  So what’s wrong with it?

It drags at the cuticles quite heavily… it’s painfully slow drying… it’s gloopy gloop city… it bubbled on the second coat and after all that, the colour is blah and easily dupable in a better formula.

Actually, this feels like Eyeko polishes of old… if I were you, I’d stick to the pastels.

Some of you eagle eyed ladies spotted my nails in yesterday’s Shu Uemura kit review and asked what I was wearing, well shush!  You’re ruining my next NOTD!

Haha, not really, but here it is:

Eyeko Vintage (£3.50) is a pale green… to my eye it’s not quite pastel (especially after 3 coats as shown).

I had to laugh as I was checking out the Rouge Cocos today, the SA on counter asked if it was one of theirs (we all know what she was referring to right?).  In all honesty, I haven’t got a clue if it looks anything like the Chanel Jade… it’s just a nice green that makes a statement without being too “in your face”.

Again, it was streaky… The Eyeko Lilac is still the best formula polish of the ones I’ve been sent, and like the others… drying time = slow.  Speed dry topcoat = necessity.

I’ve got one more Eyeko to show you, it’s a punky purple which will be a bit of a change after all these more spring-like shades.

Hope you’ve been enjoying my Eyeko mini-series!

Continuing my swatch series of Eyeko’s new nail polish offerings… this is Eyeko’s Nude Polish:

To my eye, this polish is more peach than nude… but to be fair, a lot of nude shades turn peach on my skintone, lipsticks being the worst culprits!

The formula wasn’t as smooth as the lilac shade, this required 4 coats before the streaking was disguised.  I do love how this and the lilac look and feel like true creme polishes, once applied they’re almost buttery in appearance.

Again, drying time was on the slow side and I wouldn’t want to touch these Eyeko polishes unless I had a quick-dry top coat ready to be put into use.   I’d probably give this shade a 5/10 for application, it was just a bit too streaky for my liking… but once on, it really is a pretty colour for Spring.

Eyeko nail polishes are available from the website, priced at £3.50 each.

Do you like?

…and not a pastel among them!

Orly – Pixy Stix (£8.75) – a gorgeous guava pink creme from the limited edition Orly Sweet collection – I need to make this mine, it’s got that coral flair going on without edging too much towards orange.  I adore guava-y shades.

Bloom – Marilyn (£8) – Australian brand Bloom present us with an alternative to the typical girly pink.  Described as a cloud pink that is pure whimsy, I’m loving the more muted tones.  Available at Superdrug.

Rococo Nail Apparel – Hot Pants (£11.50) – A medium pink creme with enough depth to make a statement, always a spring/summer staple.

Leighton Denny – Plush Pink (£10) – A lovely looking pink that keeps a definite feminine edge without being too bright or sugary!

OPI – Italian Love Affair (£9.95) – A princess pink with pearl, as romantic as it’s name and an OPI classic.

Butter London – Twee (£10) – From the new limited edition Jelly collection, a sheer buildable pink jelly described as lipgloss for your nails!

Are you a fan of any of these?  I don’t think pinks get enough love… a good pink is a classic shade that will never let you down!

I awoke to a surprise parcel last Saturday…

Courtesy of a very sweet friend, this beautiful chocolate milk of a nail polish now holds pride of place in my collection.  I’d been lemming Zoya Pasha for the best part of a year and with such long-term longings inevitably comes a touch of pedestal placement!  I have to say, it didn’t disappoint.

3 coats for a smooth finish, Pasha is a silvery milk chocolate with a slight metallic sheen.  It applied beautifully with no dragging at the cuticles, my only slight issue was with a couple of bubbles which I think had more to do with my impatience at wanting to see it applied, like NAO! as opposed to any formula problems.

I’m so happy to finally have this in my hands, thank you liloo – your generosity delighted me and I may have been bitten by the Zoya bug!

Sometimes you just shouldn’t be trusted with a bottle of fuschia polish and flakies.  I don’t have too many NOTD monstrosities, but this one is pretty darn ming.

So that you can avoid the same retina-melting combination, we’re talking Nails Inc. – China Town with Inglot #204 daubed over the top.

Had any errors of beauty judgement recently?

Inroducing Jessica’s Spring 2010 collection:

Escape the ordinary and bring fantasy to your fingertips with Daydream, the spring 2010 collection from Jessica.

These six inspiring new colours capture the optimism of spring; from shimmering pastels to vibrant shades of pink and orange, there’s a perfect shade for every daydreamer.

So dare to dream of beautiful nails with Jessica’s Daydream.

Enchante – Hot Pink

Starry Eyed – Pale Pink

Perchance to Dream – Sparkling Champagne

Cloud Mine – Opalescent Green

Flight of Fancy – Coral Pink

Eyes Wide Open – Vibrant Orange

I think the thing that I like most about this collection is that it contains shades that will see you through to Summer nicely.  Namely the orange and that hot pink.  Perchance to Dream looks like a stunner too… so long as it’s not too sheer.

Can you see any stand outs amidst Jessica’s new Daydream collection?

The Daydream collection is available from March 2010.  RRP £8.95 each.

Complete the Models Own Survey and receive 30% off your next order online.  Not only that, but you’ll also be automatically entered to win an exclusive collection of the twelve most wanted Models Own nail polishes.

Click the image to be taken to the competition:

The competition closes on Monday, so don’t delay!

As if that weren’t enough exciting Nail Polish news for one day, The Models Own range has also just launched at Boots!

I’ve only ever tried 1 Models Own polish… what are some of your favourite shades I should check out?

I picked this up from the clearance shelves in Boots a couple of weeks ago for around £1.60.  Bright Blue is a super smarties shade, a proper bright blue cream.  Coverage was fab, I was done in two easy to apply coats.  I think it looks a little bit chalky but I am a fan of the shade.

Have you ever tried any Pure polishes? It’s a shame the brand is being discontinued, have a look in your local boots for any remaining stock – I love their Kajal liners too!