'Starry Night' Halloween Nails

Sinful Colors 'Black on Black' with Orly 'Shine on crazy diamond'

Ok, so this is not exactly ground-breaking, but with not much time or scope for creativity nail-wise, I wanted a quick way to pay homage to Halloween without spending a frustrated hour with a tooth-pick trying to draw spiders on my nails. Granted, last years nails were much more interesting, but I had more time back then.

Having said that, I rather like my little festive Halloween look. Think black night peppered with stars, a less ghoulish and more glam take on All Hallows eve.

 I used one coat of Sinful Colors Black on Black (yes, just one coat, it has marvellous coverage), topped with one coat of Orly Shine on Crazy Diamond, which is my favourite sheer glitter polish. Then one coat of Essie Good to Go Topcoat. The Orly, as lovely as it is, has a horrid dull finish if you leave it on it's own and a topcoat will bring it back to life.

 I've tried to capture the amazing holographic nature of the glitter which comes to life under artificial light. In daylight you only see silver, so I took these photos underneath my bathroom lights.

For our Halloween tonight we are going to see Diana Krall at the Royal Albert Hall, so I don't think these nails would look out of place there. A little bit fun, a little bit chic and oh-so simple.

Happy Halloween peeps!

Chanel Black Pearl

Also known as 'the curse of the black pearl'.... This has stolen my heart and become my number one polish of all time. I just want to wear this and only this....

Chanel Black Pearl

Funnily enough I didn't buy this little bottle of black magic. It was a birthday gift from my little brother and his lovely little girlfriend (ok, they are not so little, they are grown up enough to recognise Chanel, but you know.... younger than me, so little.) They also bought me Peridot which I thought I didn't want but now I have it I don't know how I could have not had it in my life. The Peridot story will be told soon, but it's now my 'lucky' polish...

Chanel Black Pearl

 But back to Black Pearl. This literally is like someone has just replaced your fingernails with precious black Tahitian pearls. (Do pearls even come from Tahiti? Well, I like to think they do)

 I don't know how they did it, but Chanel have replicated all the beautiful nuances in a black pearl, bringing out the shots of irridescent green and flashes of blue-lilac which can be found in real 'black' pearls. It's really incredible.

I'm so in love with this. It goes with everything and even has a changing quality which means that it picks up the colour in whatever you are wearing and reflects it, for instance, if I'm wearing something green the polish becomes more green-tinged. Amazing.

It's a curse because I've received a lot of stunning new colours recently, all birthday gifts, all of which are gorgeous, but my heart yearns for black pearl in a way which I've never before experienced with polish. This is going to be one of the very few colours I'm going to need a back-up bottle of.

Plus, this is one of the GOOD Chanel formulas, lovely coverage, decent wear time. This is two coats with Essie Good to Go topcoat.

Buy it. You need it. You won't regret it.

Review- Laura Geller Glow and Behold Kit

I'm a bad, bad beauty blogger, because I've not told you about this when it's something that you probably need in your lives, like, now.

This was a Today's Special Value on QVC some weeks ago and I caved in and bought it because every single one of the products looked so unique, unlike anything I have already, and as you can imagine, I already have a lot. 

The whole kit was also tremendous value for money, something around the £34 mark if I remember correctly, but even at it's current price, £42, it's still awesome value for money and I would definitely buy it again as a beautiful gift for someone. 

Laura Geller Dream Cream concealer (medium-dark)

So, what's in the set, I hear you ask. First up, and the thing that intrigued me most; The concealer. Yes, that's the concealer in the above photo! Can you believe it? You basically swipe your finger across all the shades and within each colour there are corrective and brightening properties which means that you get the best of everything in one go, almost like 4 products in one. If the result of mixing all four shades together is too dark or light then you can adjust the shade by going over the application with one of the three stripes of colour to lighten or deepen accordingly. The half-moon shade to the left is the highlight shade which, when mixed in with the others just brightens the under-eye area a touch, and when used alone as a traditional highlight gives a lovely rose-gold gleam to the cheekbones. This is a totally unique concept, made even more special by the fact that swiping across all shades does not ruin each individual colour, you can swipe down on them vertically to regain each original shade as you see it here. The effect looks very natural indeed, and I happily interchange this with my Garnier roll-on/Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection combo, although I suppose if it came to the crunch and I absolutely had to choose one concealer it would still be Collection 2000, just because my dark circles are soooo bad and it's a bit more opaque in coverage. But overall a very lovely concealer and definitely one to check out either on it's own or with the rest of the set..... and so moving on to:

 The Tahitian Glow face and body powder. A gorgeous skin brightener which is a cross between a bronzer and a glow powder. It's a bit like the Dior Healthy Glow powder, only less orange. Don't get me wrong, I love my Dior powder, but this just brings my skin to life in a way I didn't think was possible. It can even double up as a foundation as it has a degree of coverage to it. In the summer that's what I'm going to do, if it lasts that long. You can also dampen the sponge it comes with and use it wet for even better coverage on the body, but I haven't tried this out yet. I just use it with a powder brush all over my face and marvel at the radiance.

 I should also mention the half mirror inside the compact... it's a neat idea to have half mirror/half transparent plastic, it makes identifying the product a whole lot easier. The mirror is a little small, but much better than nothing. I do my make-up facing the window and so I have to hold up a mirror to see what I'm doing. As a consequence my mirror-less blushers get a little less love.

The Bora Bora blush is stunning. The perfect pale pink flush of colour for any time of year. The effect is luminous and paired with the Tahitian Glow the overall look is 'radiant princess', for lack of a better phrase! I think the key is that both the blush and the Glow powder are baked creams, so they are fundamentally a cream formulation which means that they don't end up looking powdery on the skin.

You also get a whopping size of the Spackle make-up primer in the set. I'm kind of fine without primer on an every day basis, but for special events and situations where you really want your make-up to stay put this does the job admirably. It's scentless and light. Not a thrilling product by any means, but a good one to have on standby.

Last but not least, this clever little lippie. It's a split-colour called Caribbean Kiss, with a plummy-pink on one side and a tawny bronze on the other. I thought that it looked a bit 'blah' to be honest, but it's now my most reached for lip colour, giving me a very luscious looking soft, fresh pout. The texture and scent are a huge plus, it has a light smell of raspberry buttercream (in my opinion!) and feels so moisturising. The colours are sheer which makes it so easy to slap on and not think about, and I can't think of anyone this would not look good on.

All in all I'm a TOTAL Laura Geller convert. If you have the QVC channel try and tune in when she's on, she's hilarious, so much fun to watch. That fact that the products are top-notch just makes me love her even more.

You can find the set here if you're interested. As far as I know it's only available in the UK via QVC, but in the US it's probably all much easier to come by.

Top of the taupes - including comparison between Barry M Mushroom and Cappucino

I had prepared this post from a few weeks ago but never got round to writing it up. I thought it very appropriate for this time of year when we pack away the corals and dig out the greiges...

From left to right: Mavala Mauve Cedre, Barry M Cappucino, Barry M Mushroom, Maybelline Rosy Sand, OPI A Taupe of the Space Needle, Kiko shade 325

Inspired by the taupe-y goodness that is Barry M Mushroom, I decided I'd compare it to my latest Barry M acquisition, Cappucino, and then in a fever of taupe - greige enthusiasm I thought I'd dig out other shades in my stash to compare.

I was worried that they would all look far too similar, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are all different enough to justify them being in my possession. Maybelline Rosy Sand (4th along) is perhaps the only one that doesn't really belong, more suited to the nude palette, but I thought I'd chuck it in there as to me it's a paler shade of Barry M Mushroom to it's left. The OPI shade A Taupe of the Space Needle is more of a muddy khaki, you can really see it's green tones when compared to the others. I'd previously thought that the Kiko 325 was quite green, but now I see it as a green-toned grey.

From left to right: Mavala Mauve Cedre, Barry M Cappucino and Barry M Mushroom

 So here is a clearer comparison of the two Barry M's. Cappucino is a more purple take on a classic taupe, but still in the taupe family I'd say. Mushroom is much more milk chocolate with a greyed base. Both are great shades to have, I couldn't choose between them as to which I like best and to be honest, at £2.99, I don't think I have to.
Interestingly I nearly didn't buy Cappucino because I thought it would be too similar to Mavala Mauve Cedre (also pictured above) which I'd had for a while, but there is far more grey in the Mavala.

I love doing these shade comparisons.... I could spend hours just staring at swatches, plus it makes me realise the value of uniqueness in every colour I possess. Yes Mr P, they are ALL DIFFERENT.

I seriously recommend getting some plastic nail wheels from ebay, they are super cheap and hours of fun lie ahead!

NOTD - Essie Tart Deco

Just when we think we're falling into autumn, summer comes round again and slaps us in the face.

This weekend has been hot. Like, 28 degrees hot. I couldn't possibly slap on Black Turquoise in this heat, I needed to go dig out something brighter but not too holiday-esque, if you catch my drift. 

I have various un-trieds in my collection, and Essie Tart Deco was one of them. A milky peachy-apricot-y orange hue in the bottle, it seemed like the perfect crossover shade.

Essie Tart Deco (daylight)

I wasn't a fan of the formulation on this one, a bit thick and tricky to manipulate with the rather narrow brush. I think this is the old Essie formula, one I picked up much earlier this year when still in Brussels. I would love to see how the new formulas compare at some point.

Essie Tart Deco

Anyway, that aside, would you look at that colour?? I couldn't believe how bright it turned out, almost neon actually. And it's a bit of a chameleon... in daylight you see much more of it's apricot milk goodness. In artificial light it leans a much brighter true orange. Either way I like it very, very much and it certainly livened up a monochrome outfit I'd put together.

Essie Tart Deco (artificial light)

As usual, this is two coats with Essie Good to Go topcoat.

Apparently it'll cool down a lot later in two days, but I'll enjoy Tart Deco while the sun still shines. I guess looking back on these photos it IS in fact very holiday-esque.... oh well.

Would you be partial to a slice of Tart Deco?

Max Factor Flipstick Colour Effect Review

Writing this review has made me feel even more enraged about this....

This is possibly the worst make-up item I have ever bought. It's totally unusable. First of all, the idea of two lipsticks in one to be used for 'special effects' is asking for trouble.... obviously marketed by people who are colour-blind and have no idea what they are doing, FOR people who have no idea how to apply make-up and think that a product like this will make their lives easier. It's total pants.

So why did I buy this, you may ask? Well, I was doing a show where I needed to have a metallic gold lip, and seeing as I don't like using other people's make-up I had to source some sort of gold lippie from somewhere. My train was about to leave, it was an emergency and this was the only 'gold' lipstick I found. Gipsy Red (30) has a gold-ish colour on one end and a bright coral red on the other.

Max Factor Flipstick in Gypsy

At least I didn't spend money on it, I used my Boots points, but how I cried over those wasted points.

Firstly, the gold part is poorly pigmented and just left a patchy orangey-bronze glaze which was not the desired effect. Secondly, the main colour, the corally red on the other side was everything that lipstick should NOT be. Rough textured, bumpy, soapy-smelling, and totally horrible. When I tried it the day after the show I was horrified at how a company like Max Factor could make such a horrendous product and sell it for the exorbitant price of £8.49! I mean, with all the incredible lipsticks out there these days, including cheap ones, what the hell were they thinking?? It made my lips look zombified, like they were flaky and peeling. It has chunks of glitter in it that don't come through other than in the texture so it looks and feels rough on the lips.

Swatches of Max Factor Flipstick (Gypsy). Gold shade, top, red shade, bottom

When I removed it straight away, my lips were totally dehydrated and required layers of lip balm to soothe them.

And speaking of other terrible crimes committed by Max Factor.... their 2000 Calorie Waterproof mascara? Officially the most useless piece of **** that I've ever used on my poor lashes.

"The make up of make up artists".... Seriously?????

Rant officially over. Go in peace.

NOTD - Barry M Cappucino with 'graped tips'

I don't actually think the term 'graped tips' exists (although try saying it over and over again as fast as you can, it's worth 30 seconds of braindead amusement.... ) but what I mean is a deep wine/grape coloured French tip.

I picked up Barry M Cappucino last week, alongside a goddess green shade called Racing Green.
2 for £5 at Superdrug, people. Go grab 'em.

Barry M Cappucino with Honk if you love OPI on the tips

Just so you all know, I'm fully aware that 'cappuccino' has TWO c's, but clearly Barry doesn't. Besides, it's not even cappuccino coloured so I don't know what he was thinking. It's more of a mauve-grey-taupe hybrid. And very, very beautiful. So Barry, I will forgive your misspelling and misnaming of this little bottle of goodness, because I think you have just topped Mushroom (which in fact wasn't even mushroom coloured anyway) with this.

French Cappuccino?

The formula is great, two smooth coats give effortlessly lady-like, but edgy, chic. And the lasting power is amazing. It's been on now for four days and because it was only looking a little sorry at the tips (absolutely no chipping, miracle), I decided it was a shame to remove it and vamped it up a notch with a deep purple tip, using Honk If You Love OPI (see here for swatches of it on it's glorious ownsome).

 Did you know that doing a French tip is really hard? Or at least it is if you are as cack-handed as moi. But I managed just about and I'm quite pleased with the effect. I think the colours complement each other and I'm feeling delightedly rock chick sporting my 'graped tips'....

What do you think? Do you like a bit of grape with your cappuccino?