Author: brightandbeautyfull

Colourful Claws: The Wild, as Seen in the Wild

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Sparrrrrrkllllly!

I am so delighted with the health of my nails, thanks to Dr Lewinn’s Nail Strengthener and despite Auld Schplitty. They have never looked better, and perhaps, I will now learn enough patience so that I don’t do such a sloppy job as regards the application of  nail varnish.

I like this LA Splash glitter nail lacquer. It feels very sturdy on the nails, but it certainly does not look that way! It is totally disco, in the best possible sense.

I so want this in black.

I must say, though, as dreading the removal of this — when I was taking off the other colours, this remained disturbingly unmoved by my present nail polish remover. We’ll see how we get on…

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LA Splash Nail Lacquer is €5.99, and available online only: http://www.creativestudio.ie.

Colourful Claws: Dare I Do All Ten In This?

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I think I dare.

LA Splash are a brand that is new to me, and I have indeed tried glittery nail varnish in the past, but this leaves them all in its sparkling dust.

It dries really fast — really really — and it’s thick, but in a good way. Not thick like it’s impossible to get an even coat, but thick as in: one coat, all done, see ya later.

Pictured on the World Famous Supermodel Thumbnail™ is Fire Siren. I’m procrastinating by trying to imagine all my fingers painted with this. It seems fairly bold!

I don’t know, I think I’ve just lost my nerve. BRB.

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LA Splash Nail Lacquer {€5.99} is available through cinemasecrets.ie

Colourful Claws: Ten Shades, Ten Thoughts

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First off: I am mainly rubbish at applying nail varnish, so take that into consideration, plz.

Also: my splitting nail, herein dubbed ‘Auld Schplitty’ is the really stubby one on my left hand, ring finger, so do give it some slack for being so abbreviated.

I had vowed to paint all the nails because I was feeling out of sorts, and then something happened, I don’t know, I had a sambo or something, and then I felt in sorts; then, I didn’t feel bothered to do the nails, but I had said I would, so I did, hurriedly, and well, yeah. Not the best manicure ever.

Surely the most colourful, though! Bright side.

The following replicates, as near as dammit, my first thought upon completed application of each colour.

>LEFT HAND {Clockwise from thumb}
LA Splash Glitter Nail Lacquer in Fire Siren
OMGGGGGGGGGGG awesomest glitter ever ever ever.

L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche in Wild Purple
Gloopy. This is not — yeah, too thick.

Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Cherry Jubilee
Ooh, love — bit thin, maybe?

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Ruby Tuesday
Eh — this brush, so small. Too fiddly.

Lancome Vernis in Love Long Lasting Nail Polish in Madame Tulipe
Perfect! Perfect — one coat, flat brush, yesssss.

>RIGHT HAND {Clockwise from pinkie}
Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Frenzy
Best. Neutral. Ever. Deffo needs two coats, though.

Yves Saint Laurent La Lacque Couture in Taupe Retro
Bit thin. Three coats? Yikes.

Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Lucky Penny
Another Avon, don’t care: shinnnnnny!

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire
Yeah, the brush is too small. So streaky!

Lacura Beauty in 171
Now, that’s excellent pigment. kinda thick, though…?

OVER TOP OF THEM ALL: Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat. This = great.

Underneath, I did an extra coat of Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Nail Strengthener. I wonder if it is what is making most of the varnishes look crackly? Because there are fault lines showing up on almost all of them. This is not a good look.

The keepers? Chanel, Lancome, Avon, and especially: LA Splash. Wowweeeee it is fabbbbalis. I feel some fear about removing it, though, and will be following the advice found here, via CherrySue, Doin’ the Do.

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I still have my toes to do, and I’ve got a whole range of Avon Nailwear Pro+ with which to do them…

Post-Olympic Slump: I Haz a Sad. Is There a Cure?

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I’m not even supposed to be sitting here: the Dublin Horse Show kicks off today, and I really am supposed to be there. But even I am not about to go out in this hurricane.

Dammit. The show is my yearly visit to what is, for me, a mash up of Heaven/Nirvana/Valhalla < the latter minus the burning bark. Not that I can be at all spendy, but I really do need new jodhs. And a couple of pairs of those cotton gloves with the sticky bits on the palms.

The show is also meant to be a way to get over the great void left by the Olympics, which is of greater depth than I would ever have guessed. I have become less interested in the event the younger the athletes have gotten. Like, when you’re a child, even as unathletic a child as I was, you can still dream, you know? Not so much, the older you get.

Although! There was yer man Ian Millar from Canada: 65 years old and still jumping! Yeah, well, never mind, not much of argument, as I wouldn’t even feel able to hold the lead rope of any of those Olympic horses. So whilst the dream is well past its sell by date, I got all into the Games this year, and it took me a few days to realise that I really did miss them.

Sigh. I actually have work-work to do, which is grand, but I just feel so blah.

I think I will paint all my nails. In individual colours. I have many, many nail varnishes all of a sudden. I have a shedload from Avon, I’ve got to try & test a bunch for the newspaper, amongst which are samples from Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Lacura, Lancôme and L’Oréal Paris. Also, just got a couple from Max Factor, and also from new-to-Ireland brand LA Splash. And I can finish it all off with a Sally Hansen top coat.

Yes. Can’t think of a better use of my time. Apart from the work-work, of course. 

BRB.

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New Fixation: Lush Liquid Lipstick Update

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As planned, I wore some Lush Liquid Lipstick out to dins last night.

Drinking: okay with a straw. {Made even okay-er because they were mojitos at Green Nineteen.}
Eating: um, no.

In fairness, any lippy is going to get all over everything. With red, though, and with the way that Decisive is so RED, you have to wipe the whole lot off entirely. Which wrecks your look. Which, so: what’s the point of wearing it at all?

And then, you have to hop up and run to the loo to reapply. You can’t reapply at the table because — well, I do top up gloss at the table, or even a light colour, but this red is too bold to re-do in company. It would just be wrong. Also, red is so fiddly, and everybody would be watching you do it, and there’s always the same spot that I mess up, the right side of my upper lip, and oh! the pressure!

Moral of this story: don’t wear red lippy to dinner.

How’s that for decisive?*

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Unless you are getting an entree that you eat in little bits with a fork. I got the burger, which was delicious, but worst choice ever as regards interfacing* with the lippy.

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LOL.

New Fixation: Finding The Perfect Lipstick for Autumn 2012

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Subcategory: the perfect red lipstick. I’ve already begun this investigation, here, and sub-sub category is a fixation on the Liquid Lipsticks from Lush’s Emotional Brilliance collection.

This is Power.

Excellent, and slightly freaky photo!

I am generally not a fan of orange-based reds, as they don’t suit me, but this one? I find it a little confusing. It is orange-y, and even has a gold shimmer, but it is not entirely orange? I didn’t fiddle with this in Pshop, so what you ‘see’ is what you ‘get’ {inverted commas = the vagaries of the calibration of everyone’s individual monitors, much less mobiles.} It has a touch of blue in there somewhere, it must.

The Pros v Cons:

Con I’m still not entirely reconciled to the dryness this leaves behind. I’ve tried it both ways — with lip balm on first, as a base, and with it as a top coat, for lack of a better term — and the latter is better. A bit of a blot on a tissue + a touch of balm sets you up nicely for several hours.

Pro Several hours could = forever, if you don’t eat or drink anything. Which is a big ask, okay. Maybe drinking would be okay, if there was a straw involved.

Con The product itself is somewhat slippy, meaning, it gets all over your teeth. Which is gross. Do that supermodel thing, where you purse your lips around your finger and pull it out < OMG, I have tried writing that to be less dirty and naughty and I just can’t figure out a way! Your finger gets all the excess lipstick off your lips.

Pro I love the wee bottles. I just do.

I have a thing tonight, involving food, so I’ll really put this to the test this evening. Will let you know what happens.

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Liquid Lipstick: €17.95

How To Make the Perfect Katie PonyTaylor

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I hated having short hair, the three times in my life that I made that mistake — a mistake for me, it simply doesn’t suit. I hated it because I had to tend it allll the time; it seemed like way much more work that long, especially when all I wanted to do was pull it back into a ponytail.

Except, I have always been a bit crap at making ponytails? Unlike our Gold Medal Boxer Katie Taylor!

I don’t know how she does it, but me, I need product. What a surprise.

I googled around a bit, but wowee, some of the ponytail-making suggestions are way too much like work. All I want is sleek, and I don’t want flyaway ends.

So:
> Brush the stuffing out of your hair. Make it as flat as possible.

> Spray a little something on the top of your head, at the crown. I used Batiste Dry Shampoo. This is mainly to flatten it and make it stay.

> Brush it some more.

> Okay, gross: hold the elastic between your teeth. Come on! This is real life! You do it too! Yeah, yeah, yeah, unsanitary, but me, that third arm I usually use for hair styling is in the shop.

> Now, this next step depends on how well you gather up the hair. This is where I always go wrong. Either  the hair on the top of your head is going to stay perfectly flat, or you’re going to have to brush it down again. When I have to re-brush it, I start all over, because there will always be that rogue lock sticking up. Elastic goes back in the mouth, I let the hair go loose, and do over.

> Then, gently, gently, put some sort of styling aid on the tail itself. Any one of the oil-y yokes on the market will work, mousse is good — I used what has clearly become my Olympic hair product, Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream.

And the brother of yer dad is Bob.

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Still buzzing from that victory!

Completely Genius Move, Benefit: They’re Real! Anniversary Special

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I wrote briefly about Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara back in March:

The result is amazeballs, but one must get as much on in the first coat, because it dries hard, and it’s difficult to get another coat on. You know what I mean? It kind of sets in stone? Which is grand — if you get the first coat correct.

I do love the look that I get from this, and think of it as ‘special occasion’ wear; I also tend to save the use of this for going on holiday. Anyone else? Save ‘looks’ for when you go away or for weddings and stuff? Cue tumbleweeds or…?

Anyway, imagine my delight when I saw the mum-and-child version of this product! That wee one is perfect for saving to bring along to the Med or to NYC, or when you’re planning any kind of, er, overnighter.

So, help celebrate the first birthday of They’re Real! with this really useful package. I still do find that you’ve got to get it right the first time, but when you do, the lashes stay fresh looking the live long day.

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€26.50/£18.50/$23

Another Psychic Moment at Bright and Beautyfull!

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Beleaguered postman #2 buzzed quite authoritatively this morning. It sounded… annoyed. {Dude, this is in fact your gig, delivering things.} As I came round the landing, I saw this brightly wrapped parcel in his hands:

Who in the world was this from?

Oh. Okay! Luckily, Barry’s Tea is my brand. {And within it, I prefer the tea that comes in the green box, not the red. I think this makes me a heathen?}

I shook the parcel, because that is what you do with parcels, and unwrapped it rather sedately. It is tea-related, after all.

Behold:

More people are drinking the green stuff, I think maybe in the mistaken assumption that it doesn’t have caffeine in it — it does, in fact. Or, maybe they want their caffeine in a form that is more holistic-y, or something?

The thing is! It is good for your metabolism, which I found out because an FB friend posted a little chart showing what foods help boost it, and I made a note in my phone to get several next time I was in the shops and look:

Totally. Psychic! Welcome to the New Age, folks.

I like the look of the Green Tea & Lemon, which is only €2 for 40 bags. Soothing, and good value!

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Barry’s new teas are available in all major shopping chains in Ireland.

The other psychic moment was the Marilyn stuff the other day.

Had to check the spelling of ‘psychic’ because it looked really weird.

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