A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I just wasn’t expecting to like it… but strangely, I do!

Bumster from Butter London’s Autumn/Winter collection is one of those ugly colours that you either love or hate.

It’s one of the two McQueen-inspired shades in the collection, named for the designer’s famously low slung trouser creation that shocked the fashion world at the time. Not a natural nail shade choice for the more conservative among us, it sits oddly against my skintone. However, I simply love how creamy it looks, opaque in only two coats and perfect for the camel trend we’re currently experiencing.

As much as I’m drawn to it, I do have to admit that it looks far, far better on my cousin’s olive-toned skin than it does on my pasty pink complexion.

Will that stop me wearing it? Not a chance… I can’t stop checking out my nails!

Butter London Bumster is available to buy online from Powder Rooms, priced at £9.75

Steady yourselves ladies… this is a sparkler…

I received a bottle of Glitter Gal Cosmetics Marine Blue holo nail polish via R8Beauty (check them out on Facebook if you haven’t already) and when I first pulled it out of the envelope, I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed.  I was right.

The holo effect is so wonderfully intense that it can even be easily detected without direct sunlight.  The formula was a touch thin and took three coats to achieve a fully opaque finish – I wouldn’t normally mind this at all, but as the bottle is only 9mls and I can see myself working through it quite quickly.

I’ve had SO many compliments on my nails and even got a “WOW!” from an SA in Superdrug yesterday!

The finish is smooth and doesn’t *really* need a topcoat though the addition of one does amp up the shine a touch, so if you can be bothered, I’d recommend.  The brush, although stumpy, didn’t give me any application issues and wear has been perfectly adequate.

Glitter Gal Cosmetics are an Aussie brand and there are currently no UK stockists.  You can purchase the Glitter Gal Nail Polishes online priced from AUD$9.95 each.  Sadly, when I added a few polishes to my basket, I was quoted a prohibitive AUD$25 for shipping.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a UK stockist soon.

Completely inspired by Kellie at BigFashionista, I had a go at applying the BarryM Instant Nail Effects over Models Own 25 Carat Gold to get a more feline interpretation!

Close up… it’s not that leopard print-y, but from 3 feet or further, it works REALLY well!

This stuff really is nail art for the completely unartistic (i.e. me!)

But enough of all this!

Who are my two lucky winners from this weekend’s giveaway?

The gods over at Random.org have spoken… and I’m pleased to announce that…

Elizabeth/Makeuptini

Estelle/StellieStellina

… are the lucky winners, I shall email you this evening for your addresses ladies!

Thanks for entering everyone, with over 180 entries in 48hrs, I can’t tell you how much I wish I could afford to give away more bottles.  Instead, I shall wish you all the bestest week ever xx

Another one from before my camera bit the dust…

ELF’s Rosy Raisin is another 3 coater that seems to ‘turn good’ on that final coat.  I had a dodgy brush with this bottle – splayed ends.  There’s a first time for everything and this was the first time for me that the price tag really shone through everything else when it comes to ELF.

Disappointing.

The colour is a great wintery shade for those among us who favour them.  Again, at £1.50 – there’s really only so much moaning about a product I can do.  If I hadn’t had such crapola quality issue with the packaging… I’d be happy to recommend but even at £1.50, a girl needs a brush that’s up to the job right?

Hardly apt for Autumn… but if you’re clinging on to the last remnants of Summer, these shades could be for you!

E.L.F – Mango Madness

E.L.F – Passion Pink

Both are *incredibly* bright and neither of the samples I was sent came without their application issues.  Streaky and thin… 4 coats were required for each to achieve an opaque finish.

As with most neons, these dry semi matte (and kinda ugly), they need a glossy top coat to bring out the shine.

Passion Pink, as I’m sure you can see… is far more coral than it appears in the bottle and Mango Madness somehow manages to look almost creamy despite being retina burningly bright!

As usual for E.L.F polishes, these are priced at £1.50 each and available online from the website.

Do you remember when you were a kid and your cousins came round?  They were in YOUR domain… you were in charge.  Let’s face it… only you knew where the biscuit barrel was hidden.

The afternoon would be progressing nicely… a little bit of bossiness on your part (it IS your house afterall)… perhaps inching towards a small amount of rowdiness… which may or may not have included biscuit hogging…

then… BAM!  “Stop showing off!” my your Mum would shout.

Stop. Showing. Off.

Those three words would have me beetroot red for the next 6 hours and reduce me to a whimpering, sullen shadow of my former custard cream party leader self.

Someone needs to tell this H&M polish to stop showing off.

Enough.  Too much.  Simmer down now.  Get to bed.

I get that it’s clearly striking… it’s purdy and it’s bright.  It does things that no £3 nail polish should really be able to do.  The shimmer is complex and the hue so vivid, my retinas are screaming for salvation.

But it’s too much.  It just doesn’t know when to stop.

Some of you will disagree with me… and that’s cool… but in the bottle (and I still don’t have my new camera so can’t actually SHOW you)… it doesn’t look so obnoxious.  It looked all midnight blue with an incredible glow – I wanted what you can see above to be apparent, but subtle.

And this ain’t subtle.

As for all that other stuff? Application… wear… I can’t remember, this mani is about 3 weeks old now and I didn’t write it down – sorry!

On a completely unrelated note… this is my 1000th post! Oh my… *fans self* – I’m not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed!

I bought two polishes from the new Autumn/Fall Essie collection.  Sew Psyched and Merino Cool.  Merino Cool was a bit of a no-brainer for my dusty mauve/grey loving fingers… but Sew Psyched took a little leap of faith.

I was hoping that the grey tones in this would soften the green to something special.

And they do!

A two coater with a sprinkling of silver shimmer.  The shimmer is barely noticeable… but does lift the colour a little in direct sunlight.  I personally don’t think it benefits much from it’s inclusion and quite like my dusty colours to look flat anyway.

No problems with application and normal wear time make this a hit for me.

In UK mainstream outlets, Essie Sew Psyched is priced at around £8.50 and available online from BeautyBay

Sounding slightly more like a sex toy than one of E.L.F’s latest UK nail polish releases…. Purple Pleaser is a red-undertoned purple polish.  Just in time for winter!

My sample applied a little streaky, but nothing that a few coats didn”t deal with.  It could also benefit from a top coat to up the shine factor.

The colour isn’t particularly unique, but wear is pretty good with no chips for me until the 4th day.

Purple Pleaser (£1.50) can be bought online from E.L.F

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.

It’s the last one!  That’s it!  You’ve seen all 6 of the new Barielle Style in Argyle polishes from the Autumn/Winter collection that I was sent… Cowl of the Wild is probably the most on trend shade from the collection.

A ‘propah’ greige/mushroom/taupe blah blah thingamibob.  Am I getting bored of these yet?  Not on your life… though I do think I’m starting to accumulate a couple too many.  I prefer these mid-toned mushroom shades to the darker YDKJ ones.

I think the stand out delight from this new Barielle collection is just how truly creamy they look on the nails… perhaps it’s the warm chocolatey shades, or maybe it’s just the formula, but each is a delight to look at in that aspect.

I’m not so keen on the fact that each shade needed 3 coats for a good finish.  None of the shades are particularly pale… I would have prefered them to be 2-coaters… am I fussy?  Only a little.

The penultimate shade from the Barielle A/W Style in Argyle collection, and I have to say… it’s my favourite!

And I don’t really know why!  I generally REALLY dislike ‘wine’ type shades…. but this… it’s just so flattering on a cool skintone and totally screams Autumn to me.  Lovely.
I’m getting tired of saying this.. but once again, 3 coats for a fully opaque finish.  For a range of such dark colours… I would have prefered to be done in two coats with most of them… but at least the formula throughout is consistent, glossy and smooth.

This is the fifth in the series of six that I was sent for review consideration.

The Style in Argyle collection is available to purchase online from the Barielle website priced at £8 each.  Though currently, the Spring/Summer and Autumn collections are available on a “buy one get one free” basis, rendering them a bargainous £4 per polish.

Not my colour… too clashy and obnoxious against my skintone… but on the right person, this could be a real conversation starter (in a good way!)

Barielle’s Aura Angora is an opaque, creamy mustard.  It’s more wearable than I thought it would be, though I think it would suit shorter fingernails better.

Formula throughout the collection is consistent, three coats needed to achieve that perfect finish but all provide a high gloss shine.