March 23rd, 2011
While polishing our pinkies is undoubtedly our favorite part of our beauty routine, we can’t help but wonder just how much of our lives have been wasted away watching polish dry. Base coat, couple of coats of polish and a topcoat and it’s easy to see how the hours add up.
We’ve tried everything over the years from using a hair dryer to try and speed things up to dunking our pinkies in ice cold water between coats and although each may have shaved a couple of minutes of our routine there was never any life changing benefit…..until Sally hanson quick dry launched! This stuff has become our HG top coat simply because as soon as all three coats are on, this stuff seals the deal and you don’t need to hang around too long.
But you do still need to wait around between coats which is why we did a double take as well as a hop, skip and a jump when we test drove the new NYC Quick dry polishes. Promising to go from wet to dry in less then sixty seconds , this was just the polish news we’ve been waiting for.
Pictured is the rather pretty purple MoMA shade and we’ve been impressed how our nails have gone from 0 to Girly in less than 40 seconds. The fact that the brush comes with control-flow also quickened proceedings a little and ensured L’Onglex’s fingers were pretty much polish free – this we like !!
While polishing our pinkies is undoubtedly our favorite part of our beauty routine, we can’t help but wonder just how much of our lives have been wasted away watching polish dry. Base coat, couple of coats of polish and a topcoat and it’s easy to see how the hours add up.
We’ve tried everything over the years from using a hair dryer to try and speed things up to dunking our pinkies in ice cold water between coats and although each may have shaved a couple of minutes of our routine there was never any life changing benefit…..until Sally hanson quick dry launched! This stuff has become our HG top coat simply because as soon as all three coats are on, this stuff seals the deal and you don’t need to hang around too long.
But you do still need to wait around between coats which is why we did a double take as well as a hop, skip and a jump when we test drove the new NYC Quick dry polishes. Promising to go from wet to dry in less then sixty seconds , this was just the polish news we’ve been waiting for.
Pictured is the rather pretty purple MoMA shade and we’ve been impressed how our nails have gone from 0 to Girly in less than 40 seconds. The fact that the brush comes with control-flow also quickened proceedings a little and ensured L’Onglex’s fingers were pretty much polish free – this we like !!
Posted in Beauty reviews, Budget beauty buys, Manicures, NYC, Nail polish, Nail swatches |
March 14th, 2011
Things we loved this week: Violet Diva by Estee Lauder
When it comes to polishing our pinkies we’ve always been partial to a bit of purple. Thus it was that a recent trip to the Holy Grail that is the Brown Thomas Beauty Hall resulted in this rather impulsive purchase which goes by the moniker of Estee Lauder’s Vilot Diva !
As pastels look set to be huge this summer we must admit that we did justify the €20 by telling ourselves it was all in the name of research. Being the nail junkies we are we normally wait a while before we post on the blog but as we rather liked this we thought we’d just get some pics up and have done with it !
So, although things got off to a slightly sticky start (we didn’t let our base dry for quite long enough) once we got into our stride we found the formula to be pretty good. Light but plenty of pigment and a pretty decent brush as well.
On the downside it’s becoming pretty popular in these parts so flashing our nails rather than the bottle is probably the best way to keep hold of it !
When it comes to polishing our pinkies we’ve always been partial to a bit of purple. Thus it was that a recent trip to the holy grail that is the Brown Thomas Beauty Hall resulted in this rather impulsive purchase which goes by the moniker of Estee Lauder’s Vilot Diva !
As pastels look set to be huge this summer we must admit that we did justify the €20 by telling ourselves it was all in the name of research. Being the nail junkies we are we normally wait a while before we post on the blog but as we rather liked this we thought we’d just get some pics up and have done with it …
So, although things got off to a slightly sticky start (we didn’t let our base dry for quite long enough) once we got into our stride we found the formula to be pretty good. Light but plenty of pigment and a pretty decent brush as well.
On the downside it’s becoming pretty popular in these parts so flashing our nails and not the bottle is probably the best way to keep hold of it !
Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Beauty trends, Estee Lauder, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches |
March 1st, 2011
Its not often that we get to fawn over designer nail polish here at L’Onglex HQ but when an opportunity arises you can be sure that we’ll milk it!
Enter the latest must have from colour from Chanel and how we managed to beg, borrow and steal ourselves this rather coveted spring colour is anyones guess. What’s probably more surprising is that we’ve had it for two weeks and not shouted about it to anyone who would listen.
Not sure if the rather hurried pictures and our rather hurried application do the shade the justice we think it deserves. The shimmery blue and grey undertones make the polish look different shades of grey depending on the light. If you’re polish obsessed like we are the end result is that you’ll spend ages staring at your nails to see exactly which delectable shade of grey / green they happen to be in any given light ….. which makes us look a bit like barbie …. but who cares ?
A wallet wincing €21 is the damage if you can beg, borrow and steal ( which is how we got ours ) to get some. Take solace in the fact that it works out at only 10c per coat !
Its not often that we get to fawn over designer nail polish here at L’Onglex HQ but when an opportunity arises you can be sure that we’ll milk it!
Enter the latest must have colour from the folks at Chanel and how we managed to beg, borrow and steal ourselves this rather coveted spring colour is anyones guess. What’s probably more surprising is that we’ve had it for two weeks and not shouted about it to anyone which for us is most unusual.
Not sure if the rather hurried pictures and our rather hurried application do the shade the justice we think it so richly deserves but the shimmery blue and grey colours make this polish look completely different depending on the light.
If, like ourselves, you happen to be polish obsessed the end result of the colour differential is that you’ll spend ages staring at your nails to see exactly which delectable shade of grey / green they happen to be at any given time which has the rather nasty side effect of making you look a bit too into yerself !
A wallet wincing €21 is the damage if you can beg, borrow or steal some and if this sounds a bit costly take solace in the fact that it’s …..
i) If you apply it as much as us it works out at 10c per coat … and …
ii) … gorgeously Chanel !
Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Chanel, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches |
January 28th, 2011
If you managed to catch any of the red carpet pics at the recent Emmy Awards you’ll no doubt be aware one of the big trends we can look out for this SS11 is nude nails.
As it just so happens we didn’t catch anything until someone burst through our door with a copy of Glamour suggesting that as a Nail Polish Remover we might want to start packing our bags in the event that this really takes off.
Being the sort of folks who panic easily all at L’Onglex were concerned and decided to do a little research of our own. Yes, it would appear that nude nails are here thanks in the main to a certain fashion guru by the name of David Barton. No, this does not mean that we have ditched the polish and L’Onglex is unemployed – as evidenced above by the paws of Heidi Klum !
As if to prove for certain that ‘going natural’ doesn’t make our beauty routines any easier, it seems that after all that panic this seasons must have nails involve nude polishes rather than no polish and, as luck would have it ( just when we were breathing a big sigh of relief ) what should land through our door other than five shades from Maybeline.
Ivory Rose, Taupe Couture and Nude Rose are in pharmacies now and Rosey Sand & Rose Poudre will launch in March. As the price is only a fiver we at L’Onglex may be stocking up – watch this space for some swatches !
http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2010/11/are-you-into-the-nude-nail-pol.html
If you managed to catch any of the red carpet pics at the recent Emmy Awards you’ll no doubt be aware one of the big trends we can look out for this SS11 is nude nails.
As it just so happens we didn’t catch anything until someone burst through our door with a copy of Glamour suggesting that as a Nail Polish Remover we might want to start packing our bags in the event that this really takes off.
Being the sort of folks who panic easily all at L’Onglex were concerned and decided to do a little research of our own. Yes, it would appear that nude nails are here thanks in the main to a certain fashion guru by the name of David Barton. No, this does not mean that we have ditched the polish and L’Onglex is unemployed – as evidenced above by the paws of Heidi Klum !
As if to prove for certain that ‘going natural’ doesn’t make our beauty routines any easier, it seems that after all that panic this seasons must have nails involve nude polishes rather than no polish and, as luck would have it ( just when we were breathing a big sigh of relief ) what should land through our door other than five shades from Maybeline.
Ivory Rose, Taupe Couture and Nude Rose are in pharmacies now and Rosey Sand & Rose Poudre will launch in March. As the price is only a fiver we at L’Onglex may be stocking up – watch this space for some swatches !
Image sourced from Glamour Magazine
Posted in Beauty news, Love your nails, Maybelline, Nail polish, Nail swatches |
November 11th, 2010
<a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/forty_nine.html’)”>
Video: Nail Marbling by OPI
Armed with nothing more than a selection of fabulous OPI polishes, a toothpick and a nicely improvised use for some Scotch Tape we are proud to bring you a rather snazzy nail tutorial from OPI on the subject of Marbling.
Having seen this done out and about we were under the impression it’s all a bit fancy and fiddly and that you needed the expert attentions of a trained nail art technician but as it turns out anyone with a bowl of water and half an hour can get the fabulous effect.
Having watched the video and decided even L’Onglex’s shaky hands could manage it we’d also like to say a big thanks to Rachel Lawlor who very kindly gave us the heads up on this via twitter.
<strong><a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/forty_nine.html’)”><span style=”color: #654f72;”>Click here to watch the video</span></a></strong>
Armed with nothing more than a selection of fabulous OPI polishes, a toothpick and a nicely improvised use for some Scotch Tape we are proud to bring you a rather snazzy nail tutorial from OPI on the subject of Marbling.
Having seen this done out and about we were under the impression it’s all a bit fancy and fiddly and that you needed the expert attentions of a trained nail art technician but as it turns out anyone with a bowl of water ,lot’s of patience and half an hour can get the fabulous effect.
Having watched the video and decided even L’Onglex’s shaky hands just might be able to manage it we’d also like to say a big thanks to Rachel Lawlor who very kindly gave us the heads up on this via twitter.
Click here to watch the video
Posted in DIY beauty, L'Onglex loves, Love your nails, Make up tips/how to, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches, Nail tips, OPI |
October 28th, 2010
It’s no secret that we at L’Onglex love to shop but with the budget looming we’ve been looking into inexpensive ways to update our wardrobe. Not really being able to unearth those designer bargains on a budget of say €6 we were a little down in the dumps until we discovered some designer dupes.
The above colours are from the latest collection of the veritable house of fashion NAILS INC and are in fact a great way of bringing outfits on trend for the Autumn/Winter Catwalks.
Our favorite so far is Lanesborough Place. Inspired by the golden hues of the last Alexander McQueen and Balmain collections,the super glossy gold polish has a light, liquid effect on the nails and with it being just the shade to bring the right amount of glamour for day or night wear we are quite sold.
If you’re looking for a shade with a little more pzzaz the silvery delights of Montpelier Square could be for you. Taking inspiration from the the beautiful embellished dresses that graced the catwalk at Matthew Williamson the shade would be perfect teamed with you’re best LBD for the party season and at about €18 who could argue.
Last but not in any way least come the camel inspired tones of Cadogan Square. A soft shade bang on trend for this season and a must have colour for 2011 if the 1000 or so people who bought the shade within it’s first 24 hours are to be believed. Our sources have informed the L’Onglex Beauty Desk that this has been Nails Incs fastest ever selling colour and I for one can see why.
Cadogan Square is in store now, Lanesborough Place and Montpelier Square hit counters on November 1st.
It’s no secret that we at L’Onglex love to shop but with the budget looming we’ve been looking into inexpensive ways to update our wardrobe. Not really being able to unearth those designer bargains on a budget of say €6 we were a little down in the dumps until we discovered some designer dupes.
The above colours are from the latest collection of the veritable house of fashion NAILS INC and are in fact a great way of bringing outfits on trend for the Autumn/Winter Catwalks.
Our favorite so far is Lanesborough Place. Inspired by the golden hues of the last Alexander McQueen and Balmain collections the super glossy gold polish has a light, liquid effect on nails and with is a perfect shade to bring the right amount of glamour for day or night. So far we are quite sold.
If you’re looking for a shade with a little more pzzaz the silvery delights of Montpelier Square could be for you. Taking inspiration from the the beautiful embellished dresses that graced the catwalk at Matthew Williamson the shade would be perfect teamed with your bestest LBD for the party season and at about €18 who could argue.
Last but not in any way least come the camel inspired tones of Cadogan Square. A soft shade bang on trend for this season and a must have colour for 2011 if the 1000 or so people who bought the shade within it’s first 24 hours are to be believed.
Our sources have informed the L’Onglex Beauty Desk that this has been Nails Incs fastest ever selling colour and I for one can see why. Cadogan Square is in store now, Lanesborough Place and Montpelier Square will be arriving at hit counters on November 1st.
Posted in Beauty news, Love your nails, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches, Nails Inc |
October 26th, 2010
If you’re the sort of girl who takes her Halloween costume seriously then the above pictures will come as something of a delight.
Amy Slimehouse, Cheryl Troll and Christina Aguiscarier are just some of the demented seasonal designs put together by two of London’s hippest salons -Wah nails and BLEACH salon.
They got together to create these celebrity halloween makeovers and now that we’ve seen these we can’t really say that anything less will be good enough for this years L’Onglex’s costume.
Also included in the collection are Death Ditto, Lisa No-Head Lopez and Marilyn Monropey and if you really are serious about replicating the look for your costume we seriously suggest you check out the Lady Carcas look.
http://bleachlondon.tumblr.com/post/1399252862/wahnails-weve-teamed-up-with-the-coolest-hair
If you’re the sort of girl who takes her Halloween costume seriously then the above pictures will come as something of a delight.
Amy Slimehouse, Cheryl Troll and Christina Aguiscarier are just some of the demented seasonal designs put together by two of London’s hippest salons -Wah nails and BLEACH salon.
They got together to create these celebrity halloween makeovers and now that we’ve seen these we can’t really say that anything less will be good enough for this years L’Onglex’s costume.
Also included in the collection are Death Ditto, Lisa No-Head Lopez and Marilyn Monropey and if you really are serious about replicating the look for your costume we seriously suggest you check out the Lady Carcas look.
Posted in Beauty news, Celebrity beauty, Hair care & styling, L'Onglex loves, Nail swatches |
October 15th, 2010
It’s been a while since we got our pinkies out for you here on the L’Onglex blog so when we had our talons tidied last week we thought it would be the perfect time to show off our perfectly polished pinkies.
Given the current financial woes L’Onglex has found that our trips to the salon for manicures have become few and far between. Having not really treated my poor paws for ages all was going perfectly well until the bit where it’s time to choose what to get.
I mean, in the old days when everyone in Ireland was a millionaire choosing the final coats on a manicure didn’t seem to matter very much. I mean, you could always just get something else next week if things didn’t go to plan.
Things being the way they are and knowing that it will probably be ages before we get done again the final coat became like a life or death type conundrum. Where would L’Onglex be going ? Should we get a coat that’s best for day or evening ? Should we just get something really plain so as not to draw attention to the fact we spent our pay cheque on a mani etc ?
In the end L’Onglex said ’sod it’ and whilst we intend to embrace the current trend for chipped nails sometime in the near future we went with the brown and gold hues of OPI’s Shimmery Chic and we are very glad we did.
Subtle enough for the office and sparkly enough for after work drinks we think this is the perfect shade for 9-5 – more swatches coming soon !
It’s been a while since we got our pinkies out for you here on the L’Onglex blog so when we had our talons tidied last week we thought it would be the perfect time to show off our perfectly polished pinkies.
Given the current financial woes L’Onglex has found that our trips to the salon for manicures have become few and far between. Having not really treated my poor paws for ages all was going perfectly well until the bit where it’s time to choose what to get.
I mean, in the old days when everyone in Ireland was a millionaire choosing the final coats on a manicure didn’t seem to matter very much. I mean, you could always just get something else next week if things didn’t go to plan.
Things being the way they are and knowing that it will probably be ages before we get done again the final coat became like a life or death type conundrum. Where would L’Onglex be going ? Should we get a coat that’s best for day or evening ? Should we just get something really plain so as not to draw attention to the fact we spent our pay cheque on a mani etc ?
In the end L’Onglex said ’sod it’ and whilst we intend to embrace the current trend for chipped nails sometime in the near future we went with the brown and gold hues of OPI’s Shimmery Chic and we are very glad we did.
Subtle enough for the office and sparkly enough for after work drinks we think this is the perfect shade for 9-5 – more swatches coming soon !
Posted in Beauty reviews, Beauty treatments, L'Onglex loves, Love your nails, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches, OPI |
September 15th, 2010
If you come here often you might remember once upon a time the L’Onglex Blog would contain regular polish swatches containing the good, bad and in some cases just indecent shades that we happened to stumble on during our travels.
Having stripped our nails three times a week for months things got out of hand and since our nails had gone down hill we thought we’d give our paws a rest for a while and let things calm down.
Having now peeled away the last of the minx strips and picked up a whole bunch of new colours to try we can now reveal in all it’s glory one of this seasons new rimmel shades which goes by the name of Beige Babe. The more observant amongst you will no doubt have noticed that the colour has more than a striking resemblance to Chanel’s Particulaire and now that our bottle of has finally run-out we’re delighted with the new shade.
More swatches coming soon.
If you come here often you might remember once upon a time the L’Onglex Blog would contain regular polish swatches containing the good, bad and in some cases just indecent shades that we happened to stumble on during our travels.
Having stripped our nails three times a week for months things got out of hand and since our nails had gone down hill we thought we’d give our paws a rest for a while and let things calm down.
Having now peeled away the last of the minx strips and picked up a whole bunch of new colours to try we can now reveal in all it’s glory one of this seasons new rimmel shades which goes by the name of Beige Babe.
The more observant amongst you will no doubt have noticed that the colour has more than a striking resemblance to Chanel’s Particulaire and now that our bottle of has finally run-out we’re delighted with the new shade.
More swatches coming soon.
Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Budget beauty buys, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches, Nail tips, Rimmel |
August 31st, 2010
Minxs on our pinks
When it comes to our pinkies polish is usually L’Onglex’s adornment of choice but to mix things up a little we decided to go and get minxed !
No, for those of you who skim read that did not involve a few too many cocktails but does in fact refer to the rather colourful stickers which have been glued to our pinkies this very afternoon and even if we do say so ourselves we are enjoying the effect.
After much humming and haaing we finally decided not to unleash our inner Gaga and rather than the gold version we grabbed a set in the rather colourful design pictured. At €35 for a set from Naildressers Salon we figured they’re not exactly cheap but we are rather impressed at how neat the whole thing looks.
As they’re also really thin we must say we prefer the overall profile to gels and for the next few days we think their keepers … any thoughts ??
When it comes to our pinkies polish is L’Onglex’s adornment of choice but to mix things up a little we decided to go and get minxed !
For those of you who skim read that did not involve a few too many cocktails but does in fact refer to the rather colourful stickers which have been glued to our pinkies this very afternoon and even if we do say so ourselves we are enjoying the effect.
After much humming and haaing we finally decided not to unleash our inner Gaga and rather than the gold version we grabbed a set in the rather colourful design pictured. At €35 for a set from Naildressers Salon we figured they’re not exactly cheap but we are rather impressed at how neat the whole thing looks.
As they’re also really thin we must say we prefer the overall profile to gels and for the next few days we think their keepers … any thoughts ??
Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Beauty trends, Love your nails, Manicures, Nail swatches, Nail tips |
