Love & Loathe

Love and loathe are strong words, but let's indulge in a little hyperbole while I discuss something I like and something that has driven me to my wit's end. I had high hopes for both Smashbox's Santigolden Age palette in Apocolypse Now and Bobbi Brown's gel liner in Cobalt Ink, but which is the living end and which product's failure to perform was a personal insult?

The Love: Smashbox's recent release in collaboration with Santigold is a collection of brightly coloured Aztec-inspired palettes, pencils and lip glosses. I picked up the eyeshadow palette in Apocolyse Now because who needs another neutral palette, am I right? 

The shadows are incredibly pigmented, and although they are daring colours, they can be blended out to a sheer wash of shimmer. The black is particularly smooth and pigmented - easily the best black eyeshadow I've encountered. I was hesitant that the shimmery golden orange, despite its beauty, would be of little use to me, but it is perfect to add a little warmth to the outer v and, used lightly, is really more of a warm gold. My only gripe is that the pinky champagne shade which comprises the right snake eye is so small.

The Loathe: I was in need of a new navy gel eyeliner recently. Now, I could have gone to MAC - I have a few fluidlines and I like them - but I thought, "No, you can do better than MAC." Everyone is always banging on about Bobbi Brown's long wearing gel liner so I googled some swatches of Cobalt Ink and decided that was the one for me.

The colour is a beautiful rich matte navy. That's the only redeeming feature of this liner. It is so dry. So. Dry. It's impossible to get a smooth line. It is nigh on impossible to create a smooth, clean line and when I tried to go over the line to even it out it completely flaked off. I've tried different brushes, I tried warming up the product, I tried spraying my brush with a little Fix +; nothing. The catastrophic failure of this liner after the positive reviews I read is like a betrayal. It's maddening - is it just me, or is it truly woeful?

My search for a navy gel liner continues...

Now Playing: The Horrors - Luminous

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I never thought I would ever write such a thing but The Horrors have recorded a pop album. Luminous is just that - a sparking luminescent pop gem. When I listen to this album, I hear The Stones Roses. Incase you were wondering, that's a good thing.

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I eagerly await each Horrors release for the mere fact that they are a band who truly understand what it is to evolve. Remember Sheena is a Parasite? Remember when they had stage names like Faris Rotter and Spider Webb? I lie to think I wasn't the only one who found much of their debut nigh on unlistenable but it's so easy to forgive when each subsequent album has been  like golden light pressed into a compact disc. Chasing Shadows is the song you play on repeat when you're alone, it's grey and you're missing the one you love; and I physically cannot stop listening to Jealous Sun. It's a condition.

Sit in the sun, close your eyes and listen to this record.

Ombre Leopard Nail Art Tutorial

Leopard print is the nail enthusiast's bread and butter. It's my go to design when I'm pressed for time or just feeling lazy (which is the case more often than not). It's quick and requires little to no technical skills, and it can look chic or terrifically garish depending on your choice of polish and the size of the leopard spots.

What you'll need:

• Two shades of nail polish - one a few shades lighter than the other - I used a fuchsia (Australis' Bombshell) and a dark blue-based purple (Color Club's Disco Dress)
• Makeup sponge
• Aluminium foil
• Black nail art pen, striper polish or polish and thin brush

Obviously you need to start by painting your nails your base colour, which will be the lighter of the two polishes.

Place a few drops of your dark polish on a piece of aluminium foil (this will prevent the polish from drying up too quickly). Dip your sponge into the polish and dab off the excess polish before patting it onto the bottom half of your nails.

Repeat this step, but this time only on the bottom third of your nails to create a graduated ombre effect.

Finally, to create the leopard spots use your nail art pen, striper polish, or polish and thin brush (what-have-you) to draw wonky, disconnected circles, semi circles and spots of differing sizes all over your nail. There's really no method to it - the more hap-hazard the better - neatly disorganised is the goal, really.

And that's all there is to it. Plenty more obvious nail art tutorials in the pipe so enjoy!