Septemberry 3: Berry Nails

Oh dear, my September-berry project seems to have over run by a couple of weeks – I still have this photo of berry nails to share and another berry lipstick look still to post and it’s already the middle of October! I think berry tones still fit the season perfectly though so at least it’s not too late to hopefully be inspired by the photos that I have left :)

This luscious berry nail polish is in Illamasqua’s rubber finish, a strange matte-shine hybrid that really does create the effect of rubber. This is the shade Vice, a deep raspberry red. Two coats gave opaque colour that matched the bottle. I skipped top coat (except for the nail with the rhinestones) as that would have created a shiny finish, but I still wore this for five days with only minor signs of wear. The colour didn’t transfer onto objects that I happened to accidentally swipe my nails across, either, which sometimes happens with bright colours if I don’t wear a top coat.

I dropped some rhinestones onto my ring finger while the nail polish was still wet just for fun and applied a top coat to help them last longer which is why that nail is shinier than the others. Overall I really liked the effect and I’ll definitely be wearing this nail varnish again this autumn.

Two Tone Lips with Illamasqua

Here’s a bright, fun look to rock when you feel like wearing a bold lip. It was chucking it down with rain the day I wore this look and these bright colours definitely helped cheer me up a bit!

My tip for creating very precise lip shapes like this is to use a slanted eyeliner brush to apply the lipstick for extra precision.

I used the dark purple Kontrol and bright red Drench lipsticks by Illamasqua. I concentrated the red as a dot in the centre of my lips, but Illamasqua have done a whole Youtube video showcasing their take on the two-toned “lip ombre” trend where they create a slightly different shape. Anyway, it’s definitely a look designed to be played with!

Crazy Coloured Nails for Spring

I should definitely feature more nail posts on this blog. I have so many nail polishes and my nails are painted more often than not, but I think I’m probably too fussy when it comes to taking pictures of my nails.

There was the extra-long winter to contend with this year I suppose, which was a constant battle against strangely blue-toned light in all my photographs. And then there are the occassions such as today when I painted my nails with an awesome nail varnish and then, through no fault of the product but rather due to my own impatience and inability to sit still for more than two minutes I managed to smudge and dent it all over the place.

Case in point, Illamasqua’s nail polish in Radium, a shimmery toxic lime green:

This nail varnish has the perfect consistency, is opaque in two coats and dries fast in about ten minutes. I am simply a dope.

I didn’t want to add a third coat of Radium though so I thought I would try to save the day with a coat of crackle nail polish. This is really where crackle nail polish comes into its own, I think. Barry M’s crackle top coat in blue really saved the day.

Bam! Now that’s what I call colour. This is a seriously funky colour combination and the crackle hides all those pesky dents and smudges perfectly. Phew!

Some Easter Weekend Online Beauty Offers

Image courtesy of Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Feel like treating yourself to some online beauty shopping this Easter weekend? I’ve been browsing the net and come across a few special offers you might be interested in (all UK based, international shipping may be available - pls see individual websites for full terms & conditions!)

MUA: up to 1/2 price sale on selected items – ends Tue 2 April 5pm.

My picks – I’ll be stocking up on Mosaic Bronzers and Lip Booms for £1.50 and Love Heart lip balms for £1 each.

Illamasqua: 45% off selected products which will be “hidden” across the site and hinted at with a different clue each day over the long weekend. So far they have posted discounts on a selection of eyeshadows, nail varnishes and pure pigments. My tip? Hold off until Monday if you can when all the offers will be revealed!

Debenhams: 10% off all beauty and fragrance. This is a good chance to stock up on items that are usually never discounted such as MAC permanent lipsticks, foundations, eyeshadows etc. Debenhams carry a wide range of brands so this offer is worth checking out if you like your high end make-up.

Image courtesy of Phiseksit/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Best Brightening Eyeshadows

My absolute favourite eyeshadow look this winter has been a light reflecting shimmery shade across my entire lid, sometimes coupled with some eyeliner. I find it really refreshing amongst all the darkness that wintery weather and early sunsets bring, and I love the way it wakes my whole face up.

Here are my favourite brightening eyeshadows from my stash.

Clockwise from top: B. Complete Eyeshadow Palette in 179 English Rose; MUA Trio Eyeshadow in Pink Sorbet; Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in Synth; The Body Shop Eyecolour in 26 Shell Pink; Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static.

Above: Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static. This looks white in the packaging, but it has a lilac/pink cast to it. You can see this much more clearly in the pigment that is sitting on the black lid. This is what the pigment looks like if worn over dark eyeliner, making it a very versatile eyeshadow. It can also be worn as a highlighter on cheekbones or lips.

Here are a couple of very blue toned swatch photos – sorry for the poor winter daylight, but these eyeshadows are very light anyway so I find it difficult to photograph them to show them at their best.

From left to right: Illamasqua powder eyeshadow in Synth, Illamasqua pure pigment in Static, Body Shop Eyecolour in 26 Shell Pink

From left to right: two lightest shades from MUA trio; two lightest shades from B.Complete Eyeshadow Palette

In the photo above I’m wearing a mixture of the two lightest shades from the MUA palette. Along with my grown-out eyebrows I think this makes me look quite young and refreshed. I like it!

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Liason

Even though I had the day off work on Friday I had to stay in most of the day waiting on deliveries. The present that I’d bought for myself was the last item to arrive but it was worth waiting for. Allow me to introduce Illamasqua intense lipgloss in Liason, a creamy concrete grey.

This is going to be my weekend staple lip colour this winter. Weirdly enough it’s super flattering and I think adds a touch of cool sophistication to a look.

The packaging is a squeezy plastic tube with a hard tipped plastic applicator. I find it quite hard to get an even application with straight from the tube and because the colour is so intense and shows up any uneveness I like to apply it with a lip brush. After I have the shape painted on, top-ups from the tube aren’t a problem.

Here I have some pics of me wearing Liason with a couple of different subtle shimmery eye looks. (Unfortunately all my pictures look quite blue at the moment because I need to adjust the white-balance on my camera.)

I love the “ice-queen” look that you can achieve instantly with this gloss. So cool!

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Stagnate

The biggest problem that I have with this nail polish is that it looks so yummy I just want to start nibbling at my nails whenever I wear it! I prefer to ignore the slightly icky name (just makes me think of a swamp!) and think of it as a deliciously creamy chocolate brown that looks lovely in autumn, when it fits right in with all the earthy muted tones of moulting trees, muddy lawns, rainy days and early evenings.

Above: two coats of Stagnate, no top coat.

The consistency is perfect, not too thin and not too thick, and the colour is opaque in two coats. I get at least a week’s wear out of this shade if not longer – without  any chipping. I always wear it with a China Glaze top coat. Illamasqua nail varnishes are expensive at around £13.50 a bottle but they are often on special offer and I actually picked this one up on sale for £5 a few months back – woohoo! If you don’t fancy paying full price for their nail varnishes but are interested in picking some up I recommend checking out their January sale (not that much longer to wait now – only two more months till Christmas now after all!)

Cold Remedy

I had a cold last week that really zapped my skin. Here’s the photographic evidence. Eek!

Happily I’ve come up with a winning team of dull-skin busting radiance enhancers that can perk up my look in no time.

Above left – right: Illamasqua Cream Blush in Betray; Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation

This is my current favourite foundation - I’ve had it for a few months now, although I only wear foundation at weekends so I estimate it would last four to six weeks if used everyday. The consistency is quite thick and creamy and it offers medium coverage with a radiant finish.

The other two products are new but I think they’ll be very handy over the coming windswept days, rainy nights and whatever winter decides to throw at me this year!

It just takes a touch of this rosy toned cream blusher to add a healthy flush to cheeks. I use my fingers to apply this then blend out at the edges with a duo-fibre brush.

I don’t actually usually wear concealer but I did feel so zapped after my cold that I felt I needed a bit of extra help to restore some life to my skin so I decided to try this for under my eyes and any other areas where my skin was suffering. It promises full coverage, but it’s actually much thinner than the matching foundation! I’ve been applying two layers to my under eye area and dabbing a small amount on any rough patches or particularly gruesome spots – otherwise I’m generally happy with the coverage I get from my foundation. I don’t know that I would particularly recommend this – I’ll have to use it for a bit longer before I can decide whether there are any particular benefits to using this in addition to foundation or if it’s an unnecessary extra product.

My natural lip colour is very pale, so a bright lipcolour is a quick way to perk my whole face up. Today I opted for a Volume Sensation lipstick by Collection 2000 in shade 4 Plum Perfection. It’s not really volumising, but it does have a shiny finish which always tends to plump things up. I really like the colour though. This is quite a cheap lipstick at £2.99 but it’s pretty good quality for the price. You get a medium coverage, shiny finish that lasts about 3 hours on me.

So, putting all that together, here was the final result today. Ah, much more shiny and happy!

Sparkling Cement

Today I just have a quick nail post to show off the sparkly greige nails that I’m sporting at the moment. For some reason I really like to match my nails to the weather (I don’t know why! I just always feel inspired by nature and love channelling the weather on my nails) so as the last of the summer is gently fading away and autumn is beginning to peep through these seemed fitting.

Here are the products that I used to create this look. I always use a base coat to protect the surface of my nails (I find that it really makes a difference to the condition of my nails afterwards) and at the moment I’ve just started using Illamasqua’s base coat. (I loved my previous base coat but it was by German brand P2 which isn’t readily available in the UK so I had to switch). It’s OK but a bit thin so sometimes I feel like I could do with a bit more protection underneath certain nail varnishes, eg those that are bad for staining.

The greige I used was 091 Smoky Canvas by Revlon which gives opaque coverage in 2 coats. I then added a couple of coats of O.P.I’s Care to Danse (that is how O.P.I spell it but if it’s a pun I’m not sure that I get it…) which I have a tiny mini bottle of from their NY Ballet minis collection this spring. I do like it but would hesitate to pay the asking price for a full sized bottle. Finally I finished off as always with the China Glaze No Chips Top Coat which I think is AMAZING and will be rushing out to buy again as soon as I finish it. This stuff extends the life of my nail varnishes like nothing else I have ever tried before and I at the moment I seem to be managing to average 5 days with my varnishes. Did I mention that I love this stuff??

Above left – right: Illamasqua base coat, Revlon 091 Smoky Canvas, O.P.I Care to Danse, China Glaze No Chips Top Coat, butterfly clip V&A museum shop

Pastel Tipped Nails

So after the first week of sunshine here since summer officially began I painted my nails a bright peachy colour (Peach Melba by BarryM) which looked very summery in the bottle but unfortunately clashed a bit with my pale skin once it was on my nails. It’s also a bit of a difficult consistency to work with and while I did manage to get even, opaque coverage in two coats I really had to be careful when applying the colour.

I decided to add some lilac tips which would clash even more with the peach than my skin which seemed to work and make the manicure much more wearable for me.  The lilac I used was the shade Wink from Illamasqua which turned out to be a good choice as the thick consistency made it much more forgiving than a runnier polish for painting the tips.

I find it very, very difficult to paint tips like this but I’ve tried a few manicures like this lately as I think the end result looks cute so hopefully I’ll get better with practise. I don’t use stencils/templates but just paint the base colour, wait for it to dry then paint the tips freehand.  My technique is to take most of the varnish off the brush on the side of the bottle, lay it on my nail tip, then try to hold the brush still while I rotate the nail to paint the tip.

My Illamasqua transformation

My friend took me to the Illamasqua store on Beak Street yesterday for a “transformation” as one of my birthday presents.  I suppose the fact that they call their make-overs “transformations” is the clue that you can ask for something as dramatic as you like!  I told the make-up artist that I liked bright eyeshadow and ‘80s make-up and this is what he came up with on me:

I think it was a really fun look that reminded me of so many things – new romantics, Starlight Express, early sci-fi movies, and even Peking Opera somewhat. It was also a good experience to wear a look outside of my comfort zone – usually I never wear liquid eyeliner on the lower lash line and I’m actually a bit scared of red eyeshadow but it gave me some ideas on how I could pull them off.

I wasn’t actually going out in the evening though as it was the opening ceremony of the Olympic games and I had made plans to stay home and watch it with my boyf with some Chinese take-away so I toned the look down somewhat when I got home by removing the eyeliner on my lower lash line and the blush. This is a shot taken after I’d eaten my dinner so the lipstick was mostly gone but I think the eye make-up like this is something I’d probably wear for a night out.

Incidentally I really enjoyed the opening ceremony of the games and now I’m in full Olympic fever mood so I have an Olympic inspired look coming up shortly!

Gold Glitter Gradient Nails

Hello again!  I’ve been away on a couple of trips the past couple of weeks visiting people and places so I haven’t updated my blog for a while.  I have loads of exciting new things to show on my blog over the next few days but to start off with I’ve just got a quick post to show the nail design I’m wearing at the moment.

This was super easy to create because the glitter top coat hides a multitude of sins.  I managed to smudged about half of my nails before I applied the top coat but after a couple of coats of glitter and a top coat they were looking perfect again!

I love how fiery and warm the design is – a bit of warmth is definitely welcome at the moment as the weather has really failed to deliver so far this summer!  I used a bright orange Barry M Nail Paint and a Color Club gold glitter top coat.  The Barry M paint was still quite translucent after two coats so the white of my nail tips was still visible, which was an interesting effect (a bit like having orange jelly nails) but this colour is best avoided if you’re after opaque coverage.  However the gold glitter was quite thick so my tips were covered totally by the time the design was completed.

For tips on how to create a glitter gradient manicure like this I recommend this Youtube video tutorial by Illamasqua which creates the design using black and silver.  Have fun if you decide to give it a go!

Hello, Stranger!

I was browsing the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges on Oxford Street with a couple of friends and happened to try on their new golden lipgloss and well, what can I say.  It was a case of love at first sight.  So without further ado allow me to introduce you to Illamasqua’s new Intense lipgloss in Stranger.

You get 7ml for £13 (UK RRP), although I’m actually not convinced that you get 7ml in this tube.  Illamasqua’s standard lipgloss packaging is a cyclindrical squeezy tube with a hard plastic applicator tip but in their Summer 2012 collection Naked Strangers, of which Stranger is one of two lipglosses, the packaging has been changed to a solid rectangular tube with a brush applicator.  The brush applies the gloss pretty well but it’s actually pretty big and surely takes up a lot of space in the tube that could have contained more lipgloss instead…anyway it’s really a matter of personal preference as far as lipgloss packaging is concerned.  Personally I do like brushes as they allow more precise application but it does generally mean that some product has to be sacrificed in the tube.

The consistency of the gloss is very thick and quite sticky and to me it smells a bit like strawberry jam (although I’m sure that’s not the actual fragrance!).  I actually wiped a lot of the product off the brush in the above photo in order to show the shape of the brush more clearly.  It’s very pigmented and very long lasting for a gloss, which is also helped by the fact that it fades away so beautifully, leaving a gentle golden sheen as it goes.

When I tried the gloss on in the shop I was wearing the same make-up as above – just a simple flick of black eyeliner (I went over it with an iridescent pigment which is why my eyeliner has a slightly blue tinge).  I think the fact that I have quite strong yellow undertones in my skin does help make this colour more wearable for me as it is a very yellowy gold, although it’s definitely not a typical colour for a lipgloss.  I don’t have any problems wearing this as a daytime colour at weekends though, and it’s such a quick way of creating a statement look – just a quick slick of lipgloss and you can set out and impress the world in 30s!  I personally love the way it makes me look like a bit like a statue in the sunlight, especially paired with a golden highlighter on my cheekbones!

Scribe in Action

Here’s me wearing my white liquid eyeliner which is Illamasqua’s precision ink in the shade Scribe.  What do you think?  I like it!

Above: the tools of the trade…Illamasqua Precision Ink in Scribe, ca £17.50

Illamasqua Fundamental Palette

This is one of the quad palettes from the Illamasqua Spring/Summer 2012 Human Fundamentalism collection (RRP £30).  I really was umming and ahhing over whether to buy it or not when it was released as I didn’t know if I’d actually get any use out of it, but in the end I was in the London Beak Street shop with a friend (it’s a lovely, friendly place BTW – definitley worth checking out if you would like to try out their products as the staff are super helpful and nice) and I thought I might as well buy it just so I could stop thinking about it!

Above, clockwise from top left: powder shadow in Hype, Liquid Metal in Surge, powder shadow in Inception, Cream Pigment in Bedaub

Below: A collage which you can click on for a closer view of the individual shades

I think I like the idea of this palette more than I like the palette itself.  It contains a mixture of colours and finishes but to be honest I think I just lack the imagination to get the best out of this!  I don’t really know how to put these together into a look and I’ve only really used the cream pigment in Bedaub so far. 

Bedaub’s both a great colour and texture in itself but also makes a great sticky base for glitters or pigements, and can also be used as a pre-foundation colour corrector to neutralise red areas. 

The liquid metal looks absolutely amazing on skin – the name “liquid metal” really fits. However, I just don’t know how to wear it.  It’s very slippery and creases insanely if worn on the moveable part of the eyelid, and it’s a strange colour to wear as an everyday highlighter or lipcolour. 

Hype, the bright yellow eyeshadow, is just a bit of a tricky colour to pull off, while Inception lacks a bit of oomph and can look a bit washed out and create a bit of a “bruised” effect unless it’s packed on.

I think either more experimentation or parties (where as a rule I wear weird make-up!) are required on my part…any hints or tips on this one would also be appreciated!