Today's guest blogger is Sara from Daily Polish, she's an ultra-fun person - someone I really enjoy chatting with on Twitter, but I'll let her do the main introductions herself ...
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hellooooooooooo people of get lippie land! i'm sara, i run a blog called
Daily Polish and madame louise was kind enough to allow me to guest post. so in theory i wanted to do something cool and different...be all guest post-y and not regular...but really? i know a lot about a lot...but mostly about random, nonsensical stuff (like - did you know if you put a banana by unripe fruit it will ripen the fruit faster because banana's release ripening enzymes? didja? didja! huh!?) and lots of stuff about shoes (that are way too expensive for my currently unemployed information professional lifestyle and that i cannot even wear as i am headed towards restorative ankle surgery...but i keep buying).
i love makeup and skincare...and i have my favourites...well, makeup i sort of have favourites. i don't really try lots of products so my 'favourites' are just the ones i use and don't make my eyes fall out of my head as a reaction (it could happen!). skincare has been a big trial and error process and i am quite happy with my current regimen (except for the massive spot on my chin that refuses to come to a head and just sits there in all its evil spot glory) BUT at the same time...my real niche is nail polish.
i fell into nail polish by accident, it was a remedy to cure a nail biting habit i developed in my early twenties and it sort of stuck around. i decided to create a nail polish blog that updates every single day during a long stretch of unemployment while i was waiting for my next visa to be issued by the UK Home Office. now that i'm unemployed again (go London job market!) it's again become a great way to pass the time. i puzzled quite a bit over what to post. i wanted to make it different from my usual posts and show off multiple nail polishes instead of just one.......but it isn't often i buy a complete collection of nail polish. so i was undecided between just showing some random ones or finding a cohesive theme amongst my hundreds of bottles. so in the end i decided to showcase one of my favourite brands, deborah lippmann (or lippmann collection depending on how old your bottles are) and her reds. she does reds like nobody else, so many variations and they're all fantastic. i went on a red binge in january and picked up about a dozen polishes from her and a whole bunch of reds. i haven't even tried most of them myself so i decided to use this opportunity to rectify that issue!
to me...there are two nail polish cardinal sins. visible nail line and vamp polishes that just look black. visible nail line is as bad as wear black knickers with white trousers. don't do it! i feel like my life is one quest to eliminate visible nail line...it just bothers me to no end. in this lippmann polish, 'holiday' you have a beautiful red jelly with red and silver glitter mixed throughout. to me it is the grown up version of china glaze's 'ruby pumps'. more refined and elegant. i find ruby pumps to be the unkempt sister to lippmann's holiday. despite how much i love this polish and how great i think it is to jazz up a simple outfit...i HATE that i can still see my visible nail line underneath. it might not be noticeable to anyone else...but i know it's there and it makes me into a crazy person (well...more of a crazy person). one of the secret tricks around a visible nail line is to wear a flesh toned colour underneath. it's completely wonderful and true. i did not do it for this swatch but i would if i were to wear it out and about!!
i'm doing my best to showcase not only different shades of red but different finishes, want to cover as much of the red and nail polish spectrum as possible! a moment of silence is required. i just finished applying this AMAZING lippmann polish for the first time EVER. i went to the kitchen to take photographs (that is where the light is best in my flat), i tripped and dropped my polish. i've NEVER broken a bottle...until now. i broke my beloved lippmann polish (not two minutes after i was just thinking to myself how amazingly beautiful it was, and how it was going to become a true staple in my red collection). DAMMIT. i'm really, really upset. my nail polish are like my children. all 600 something of them are my CHILDREN. ugh. this is devastating. i couldn't drop a $2 polish, i had to drop the one that costs $16 that i'd never worn before. anyway, it's called 'my old flame' and it's a GORGEOUS true deep red...just a gorgeous dark red that is not maroon, not burgundy...just a dark red. it would be a perfect cocktail outfit accompaniment. it's so beautiful. i have to repurchase it now after seeing how stunning it is! it's a creme, applies very smooth and very opaque. no visible nail line here...and no vamp. it doesn't look anything beyond the beautiful red it is.
fever is an orange based red with a very subtle gold shimmer. i wish i had a super powered camera that i could actually zoom in on my fingers and show you the shimmer. it's there, but you really have to LOOK at your nails to see it. it isn't something you really see in a passing glance. but i kind of enjoy the hidden shimmer, gives it this little oomph, this secret thing that makes it special. even if no one else notices the shimmer...it doesn't detract from the beauty of the polish!!
we've now entered the creme section....3 cremes in a row, starting with 'it's raining men'. it's raining men is the newest of all the ones i'm showing, it was released last year with a gorgeous bright purple, this duo was all about retro throwbacks. bright colours from the 50s and 60s, poodle skirts and tie dye. super fun and energetic...a bit more playful than the sultry reds i'll show in a bit! to me...it's an in your face kind of red but in the nicest way possible. you can't ignore this colour, it's just...bam! i do sometimes feel silly for owning SO many shades of red...but they're all so different and feel so different on the nail...and really sort of change your mood and outfit tone depending on the hue!
moving on! kiss from a rose is touted as a 'sanguine' creme on the lippmann website but i've had my blood drawn before and i don't think it's quite this dark! to me...this colour leans more towards maroon, almost heading into the start of purple/red hues, it isn't just a dark red anymore. i feel like it is still a gorgeous colour and in the red family.
here's a pic to show how kiss from a rose leans pink and lady is a tramp is a true red:
the penultimate colour i'm going to show you (i know, i am about to stop blathering...hooray!) is called 'lady is a tramp'. it definitely is more of a true red, probably the darkest red i own. oops. i lied. lippmann calls THIS one the sanguine red. and i can get on board with that one! it kind of reminds me of the scene in pretty woman where julia roberts is wearing the black lacy cocktail dress. this nail polish would be the perfect accoutrement to that kind of dress. it's grown up and risque and super sexy. i love love love love love it!
and finnnnnnnnnnally (have i bored you to tears yet? i hope not!) we have 'since i fell for you'. which is probably my favourite. well...that's a lie. it's my favourite red shimmer. how about that? it's described as a 'shiraz shimmer' (to get all fancy on you)..and it's a great dark pinkish leaning red with tons of shimmer. it really glows on the nail. i love a good creme polish as much as the next girl but there is something special (to me) about shimmers. they have a secret depth to them, i find it intriguing. just a quick apology on the picture, my polish got a bit nasty. you'd think by now i'd know to put on my spanx first and THEN do a manicure....but no, i always forget and always ding up my nails as i try to pour myself into a slimming thing.
you might rightfully think i'm crazy for buying so many red shades from one brand (especially at $16/polish) but lippmann is a brand that is justifiable. their colours are great, the formula...i've never come across a lippmann that was anything less than perfection. also they're replacing my broken bottle for free! winner! i also feel that to me...red nail polish are like power panties. you put them on and it's this instant burst of extra confidence and sass.
lippmann polishes are big 3 free.
thanks for reading and enduring my crazy!
xo
Sara
