NOTD - French Manicure

Hi Everyone,

I'm spending my summer away from home but luckily I found internet access, and brought my camera. Hopefully I can keep the blog updated, but apologies in advance if blog posts are a bit sparse!

(Natural Daylight)

I've always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with French manicures, however I decided to give it another go after re-purchasing Barry M's Nail Paint - 66 Matte White (which isn't matte, it's a flat bright shade of white which definitely has a glossy finish). I painted my tips as neatly as I could and then corrected any mistakes and shaped the smile line using a small brush and nail polish remover.

 

 (Indoor Lighting)

 

I'm happy with the way the manicure turned out - I'm just not sure if I like it on my own nails as it makes them look very false, like I've gone out and had acrylic nails applied. I think it's a combination of the length and how glossy the topcoat is. If the white was a more off-white colour I'm sure it would look slightly more natural.

(Indoor Lighting)

(Natural Light)

The photographs with the clear bottle of polish are my first attempt, but I wasn't happy with some of the smile lines as they looked a bit wonky - the photographs with the white polish are the 2nd version which I was much happier with.

One thing I have noticed is how high maintenance it is to keep them looking nice! I'm currently on the second day of wear and did have a tiny bit of tip wear which I touched up, then added a second layer of topcoat. I'm not sure if it's the polish I used - but when I've painted my nails with Barry M's Matte White before I've never had any tip wear issues. 

All photos are 2 coats of Barry M - Matte White Nail Paint on the tips, and 2 coats of Barry M 3 in 1 nail paint as a topcoat.

I'd love to know if any of you ladies (or boys!) have had an experience with a French Manicure and what you thought of it!

-LadyDanger

xxx

Kat Von D Inspired Makeup

Hi Everyone!

Pixiwoo's latest video completely reminded me of the face chart I drew up and never got round to doing. I love red lips with a strong eye, and I think this look is definitely one of my favourites! Kat likes to play around with colour a lot but I thought I'd go with her more signature look of blacks, greys and taupe browns with a pearlescent shadow on the lid. Kat seems to be going for more toned down makeup at the moment with her bright red hair.

 

I went for a heavier bronzed contour as it's quite prominent in a lot of photographs I've seen of her (and on TV, I'm a total LA Ink addict ;). The stars I individually drew onto paper and cut them out with scissors, coloured them in with a black felt tip pen and stuck them on with Duo lash glue - I knew I would become a little OCD about them if I had to draw them all on. I'm bad enough at stars at it is! I counted 18 stars on that side of Kat's face but I only did 14 because they became a bit tiresome after a while haha. My hair covered a few though, oops!

Products Used:
Face:

-Maybelline Superstay 24H foundation - 10 Porcelain Ivory (I'm loving this at the moment)

-MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base (highlight)

-ELF Blush/Bronzing Duo (bronzer for contour, I contoured my nose with this a little too)

Eyes:

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Black Bean (base for outer V)

MAC - Copperplate

MAC - Print

MAC - Brun + a little Sleek black (brows)

Sleek Storm Palette - Matte Black

Milani Domino Quad - lid and brow highlight

MAC - #7 lashes

Lips:

MAC - Lady Danger (of course! hehe)

Kat Von D

Whenever I have to type her name 'Kat Von Delayed' always pops into my head from that episode of LA Ink... but that's just me being weird haha.

-LadyDanger

xxx

NOTD: Eyeko - Rain Polish

Hi Everyone,

When Eyeko first sent me the press release images of the new Rain Polish and Saucy Polish I instantly knew I would like them. Rain Polish is a really beautiful grey toned blue with silver shimmer (Saucy Polish is a nice red creme which I find a little vampy). The shimmer in Rain Polish is subtle at first glance but adds a really nice dimension when you look at it closely.

 (taken indoors with synthetic lighting)

The consistency is good, I found the first coat to be just a tad too sheer as I could see my smile line slightly, but I didn't experience any streakiness. Another thin second coat and I was finished. I find that with longer nails I generally will need an extra coat just to block out any transparency from my nail tip.

All nail swatches were taken without a topcoat.

(photograph taken outdoors in natural light)

(photograph taken indoors)

(close-up of shimmer, indoors)


I did recently see MissChievous' youtube review of Eyeko polishes and she seemed to have an issue with some of the brushes in her polishes which I was quite shocked to see- I personally have had no issues with the brushes in my polishes, they're all well aligned with no splaying.

I haven't featured any of the polishes Eyeko have sent me in the past, so I thought I'd include a photo of the shades I own for comparison. Coral Polish has been on my toes for around 2 weeks now (re-painted each week of course!), it's a really nice red toned coral that's perfect for sandals in the summer.

Overall, I'm beyond happy with the quality of Eyeko polishes and am definitely planning a purchase from them - the Cult Classics polish collection in particular where it's 5 polishes for the price of 4 as they are all the colours I was going to purchase separately. I'll definitely be picking up Vampira Polish too, I really can't resist a black polish with red glitter!

*All Eyeko polishes were sent to me by Eyeko, I did not purchase these polishes. Eyeko did not ask for a blog post in return for the products, I just really enjoy using them - I wouldn't feel comfortable featuring a product on my blog that I dislike *

-LadyDanger

xxx

NOTD: Barry M - Berry Ice Cream (Take Two)

Hi everyone,

I posted a NOTD featuring this polish quite a while ago now, however the picture quality was awful and the colour looked off  so I thought I'd do it again after painting my nails this colour :) I actually haven't worn this polish in a while, despite being nearly half way through the bottle! I was only reminded I have it when I did a little swap with Phylicia from Expensive Pink as this is one of the polishes I sent her (a new bottle of course not my one!).

To me this colour's a bit funny, I think it's just my skin tone but it's a little more of a muted colour than I thought it would be. Most pale colours are quite stark and vibrant, this seems quite soft to me. I'm pretty sure it's just down to how pale I am :) It certainly doesn't distract me from noticing how gorgeous this colour is!

Like most Barry M polishes this is easy to apply, and took just 2 coats. I do think this is one of Barry M's more sheer polishes however. Base coat and topcoat was the usual Barry M 3 in 1 nail paint.

-Lady Danger

xxx

MAC Costa Chic Lipstick

Hi Everyone,

Today I originally went into MAC with every intention of purchasing Jazzed lipstick from the In The Groove collection amongst other things, however after swatching it it was more of a darker coral than I was hoping, I wanted something more vibrant. Needless to say I didn't end up getting anything from the collection that I had been planning on getting and left with Costa Chic instead which I have been wanting to get for a while.

I'm sure most people have seen it before, but it's the most gorgeous peach-y coral with pink tones to it. For a frost finish I don't find it to be overly frosty, but there's a bit of frost there that seems to be a lighter silver shimmer. The colour payoff for this is good, I found I only needed one swipe to get the tube colour.

I picked out the pictures I found to be the best representation of the colour, however depending on the light source it can look a lot pinker and a lot more orange toned. In store I thought this looked a lot more orange and saturated. Against my pale skin the colour stays pretty neutral and doesn't become too orange toned. 

Awkward lip swatch thanks to my mirrorless application ;)

I've been wearing coral and peach lipsticks constantly now it's summer so I'm sure I'm going to be using this a lot! I think this would look gorgeous with Pink Lemonade lipglass over it too. 

-LadyDanger

xxx