What's happening on Get Lippie this week OR Bye, bye Barry!

This post is coming to you via the magic of scheduled posting, because as anyone who follows me on Twitter should know, I'm in hospital right now having a minor operation.  Nothing too serious, but I'll be out of action for a good few days. Now, as I'm cranky at the best of times, I thought rather than subject my lovely blog readers to a few days of my complaining about being too hot/cold/itchy/tired/grumpy/elderly/hungry/not hungry and the like that I'd enlist some people to take over my blog for a few days.

I put out a call for volunteer bloggers on Twitter recently, and what a response I had! I have some great blog posts coming up for you this week, on the magic of mineral makeup, about some wonderful products you might never of heard of, about the perils of too much makeup, about microbes (seriously), about sunscreens, lipsticks, nail varnish and some other great stuff too.  So Get Lippie will look a bit different for the next week or so, but, I hope you'll all enjoy reading the posts that have been lined up for you, as much as I've enjoyed receiving them.

Finally, to all my guest bloggers, thank you so much for helping me out, none of you had to, and I've been very moved by you all making the effort to make sure I had some articles to cover when I wasn't feeling up to it!  You're amazing.

Urgh!

Sometimes, I can't help gilding the lily:

Had a perfectly good Rococo Utility manicure, and I went and added a layer of Inglot flakies to it, and ended up with this hideous mess. Both gorgeous shades on their own, added together just made me feel all "urgh" about it!

Have you ever made any terrible errors of combination?

Nail of the Day - Mavala Mango Orange

Oh, this is just too pretty, it arrived courtesy of the Nail Varnish Fairy and I was wearing it within about 30 seconds of opening the envelope! This will explain - I hope - the rather messy application ...

Housed, as always in one of Mavala's mini-bottles, this gloriously hot metallic orange shade is perfect for summer fingers, although I can see it working beautifully on toes too. The above picture shows two coats over a rather beige base.  It's very sheer, and highly sparkly - almost frosty, if such a hot shade can be said to be frosty - but it catches the light very well, and it's gorgeous in sunlight!

What shades do you love for summer nails? Mavala polishes are available from John Lewis and leading independent pharmacies.

The Fine Print: As there isn't actually a Nail Varnish Fairy - sorry kids! - it should be disclosed that this is a review sample.  I wish there was a nail varnish fairy though, I know a few people who'd keep her very busy ...

He's Baaaaaaack!

Yes, MrLippie is back reviewing again.  And I think he may have been drinking! Take a look at his latest post over on Ape to Gentleman, and don't forget to let him know what you think.  All the filth in the final paragraph has nothing to do with me, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  So there.

Ellis Faas: Ellis Eyes Lights Eyeshadows FotD

As you may know, my birthday treat to myself was a couple of Ellis Faas Ellis Eyes Lights shadows. I created a FotD with E305 - a rich burgundy brown with amazing green duochrome - at the time, but I've since got around to wearing the E304 - a shimmering lilac metallic - and this is how it looked under a variety of lighting conditions:

As you can see, depending on the lighting conditions it can look very different. Also, depending on the angle you're looking it from, it can appear very sheer with a hint of sparkle, or a vibrant lilac shade, accordingly.  For me, in all honesty, I actually find it a slightly easier shade to wear than the E305, possibly because I like to play up the green tones in my eyes, and this is an excellent vehicle for that.

It's maybe not entirely suitable for office wear, but that's never stopped me wearing glitter for work before, to be honest! I teamed it with a taupe eyeshadow in the crease alongside my beloved Guerlain Oriental Metal kohl, and a very nude lip (Becca's Giselle topped with Le Metier de Beaute's Manhattan gloss), here's how it looked in the full context of my face:

Yeah, my hair looked insane in the full picture, so I had to crop  it out, that'll learn it.

The Fine Print: Bought them!  Nyah Nyah!!