EDITED TO ADD: Talked to our Prof today, turns out she thinks we don't need to do the survey anymore. Thanks for all your help guys!
Because my blog is about makeup and nail polish, and because I'm wary about putting up too much personal information on the net, I don't really talk much about my life outside makeup and polish (yes I actually have a life outside makeup and polish!), I've never spoken about my classes or coursework or interactions with students, or all the trials and tribulations of being a poor grad student in what my prof calls "the ripoff capital of the world".
Well, I'm going to talk a little bit about that today. As a grad student in management (I'm doing my Masters in London), one of my classes has an entrepreneurial focus, in which you work in teams to come up with a business idea, and see how feasible it is, and hopefully get to the point where you have a prototype of whatever it is your team came up with. My team came up with this idea of having umbrellas from vending machines in London, because you know, it's always raining in London, and in London the rain is always a little unpredictable - you never know when it will strike next.
So anyway, as part of our project, we have to do the requisite potential mrket survey to see how likely people are to actually buy the umbrellas, and at what price point they'd want to buy them.
So, if you are in the UK, or based in the UK, you can help me out (and I'd be eternally grateful if you did) by visiting this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/58WS7YT and filling out the survey. It's really short and wouldn't take more than 2mins of your time, and it's non-spammy too. I promise it's not going to have any annoying popups or anything.
So that's it, and I hope you guys will all pitch in to help!
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Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Barry M Lip Paints Swatches Part 1
Today, I am swatching and reveiwing Barry M's Lip Paints, which is what they call their line of lipsticks. Because Barry M has quite a few colours, this swatch is taking place over 4 days, so this is part 1 of 4.
When Barry M named them Lip Paints they weren't kidding: with the exception of a few colours, these are massively pigmented, and most of the swatches for this photo and for the swatches over the next few days were just a few strokes of colour!
A lot of the colours in Barry M's Lip Paints range are 'artistry' colours - meaning they aren't all that wearable for people who aren't as adventurous colour-wise (like yours truly), but even then, there are some pretty nice colours in there (you'll see what I mean as we go along). And one has to simply admire their sheer range of colours - after all, most drugstores have a pitiful selection of lipstick colours, so it's great to see one brand venture out onto the wild side.
Today's colours are all a little on the orangey side, but there are some pretty ones in here. Unfortunately the lipsticks have no names, so they're all named by numbers. Here are swatches:
L - R: Orange 117, Peach 54, Coral 53, Peachy Pink 147 (New), Marshmellow 101
Orange 117 is a bright, yellow orange. Kind of like those orange crayons you had as a kid. Really bright, and matte.
Peach 54 is a bit more coral, slighty less orange and more pink than 117. It sort of looks like a coral-peach to me, although there are strong orange tones in there. This is borderline wearable for me - I probably wouldn't wear it, but I could imagine someone more adventurous trying that without looking stupid.
Coral 53 is wearable, and it's a very pretty coral-pink, less orange than Peach 54. There is still some orange in there, but here the pink is predominant. Probably good on warm-toned ladies looking for a strong statement coral liptick.
Peachy Pink 147 is supposedly a 'new' colour (so says my display), and it's a very pretty pink with a hint of coral. Obviously there isn't much orange in this, and I quite like it. This is definitely wearable.
Marshmellow 101 is a pale, pastel, almost-white-but-not baby pink. This one is probably an 'artistry' colour, but I imagine those interested in mixing their own lip colours or layering lipsticks would like this one.
As mentioned before, all of these are massively pigmented, but they have a pretty good texture. Swatching them, I didn't feel these were too greasy or too gritty, although they had a little bit of drag. The closest thing I can think of would be the MAC Satin Finish lipsticks. I think they're comparable, although the Barry M may be a bit drier than the MAC.
Next, we'll look at more Barry M lipstick swatches, and we'll be looking at pinks.
When Barry M named them Lip Paints they weren't kidding: with the exception of a few colours, these are massively pigmented, and most of the swatches for this photo and for the swatches over the next few days were just a few strokes of colour!
A lot of the colours in Barry M's Lip Paints range are 'artistry' colours - meaning they aren't all that wearable for people who aren't as adventurous colour-wise (like yours truly), but even then, there are some pretty nice colours in there (you'll see what I mean as we go along). And one has to simply admire their sheer range of colours - after all, most drugstores have a pitiful selection of lipstick colours, so it's great to see one brand venture out onto the wild side.
Today's colours are all a little on the orangey side, but there are some pretty ones in here. Unfortunately the lipsticks have no names, so they're all named by numbers. Here are swatches:
L - R: Orange 117, Peach 54, Coral 53, Peachy Pink 147 (New), Marshmellow 101
Orange 117 is a bright, yellow orange. Kind of like those orange crayons you had as a kid. Really bright, and matte.
Peach 54 is a bit more coral, slighty less orange and more pink than 117. It sort of looks like a coral-peach to me, although there are strong orange tones in there. This is borderline wearable for me - I probably wouldn't wear it, but I could imagine someone more adventurous trying that without looking stupid.
Coral 53 is wearable, and it's a very pretty coral-pink, less orange than Peach 54. There is still some orange in there, but here the pink is predominant. Probably good on warm-toned ladies looking for a strong statement coral liptick.
Peachy Pink 147 is supposedly a 'new' colour (so says my display), and it's a very pretty pink with a hint of coral. Obviously there isn't much orange in this, and I quite like it. This is definitely wearable.
Marshmellow 101 is a pale, pastel, almost-white-but-not baby pink. This one is probably an 'artistry' colour, but I imagine those interested in mixing their own lip colours or layering lipsticks would like this one.
As mentioned before, all of these are massively pigmented, but they have a pretty good texture. Swatching them, I didn't feel these were too greasy or too gritty, although they had a little bit of drag. The closest thing I can think of would be the MAC Satin Finish lipsticks. I think they're comparable, although the Barry M may be a bit drier than the MAC.
Next, we'll look at more Barry M lipstick swatches, and we'll be looking at pinks.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Ciate Sharp Tailoring and Velvet Tuxedo Lace Manicure Fail
So now that Winter's almost over, I'm finally wearing my Winter collection nail polishes. Go figure. Anyway, good polish is timeless! The perfect edgy neutral is always timeless and oh-so-chic all year round! And the two Ciate colours I happened to buy when they were on sale at ASOS are pretty neutral and chic. I bought Sharp Tailoring and Velvet Tuxedo.
First of all, bottle pics of both of them! I'm really digging these two.
Sharp Tailoring is a very edgy neutral greige (you know, a cross between a grey and a beige), and is one of those colours that I LOVE to death. This one isn't like the rest of them - it doesn't have any pink in it (unlike the other greige-y colours), and that's what makes it stand out. It also has gold shimmer that really amps up the colour.
Velvet Tuxedo is a blackened-grey, or is it a black? that has beautiful multidimensional shimmer:
I love those two colours, and I decided to do a KOTD with them, in attempt to replicate the "Lace Manicure" look that's been so popular lately. The KOTD itself turned out to be a massive fail due to my inability to stamp and align properly, but here you go anyway. I believe the plate is M57.
As you can see, in natural sunlight, Sharp Tailoring is a lot more grey, and a lot less beige.
In indoor lighting, you can really see it's beige-y-ness, and it's gold shimmer (which my @#$@% camera can't seem to capture. I think my camera has issues with shimmer). I do think it stands out best indoors, as opposed to outdoors:
Application-wise, both of them were a little mixed. Velvet Tuxedo gave me no problem whatsoever - it was opaque in one coat, and good enough to konad with. Sharp tailoring was a little sheer and streaky, but two coats took care of everything, so it's not a big deal. However, I do wonder if it was the polish or my lack of skillz that made this a little tricky to work with. But anyway, I've yet to see a dupe of this pretty little colour, so if anyone knows of a dupe with less application issues, let me know!
First of all, bottle pics of both of them! I'm really digging these two.
Sharp Tailoring is a very edgy neutral greige (you know, a cross between a grey and a beige), and is one of those colours that I LOVE to death. This one isn't like the rest of them - it doesn't have any pink in it (unlike the other greige-y colours), and that's what makes it stand out. It also has gold shimmer that really amps up the colour.
Velvet Tuxedo is a blackened-grey, or is it a black? that has beautiful multidimensional shimmer:
I love those two colours, and I decided to do a KOTD with them, in attempt to replicate the "Lace Manicure" look that's been so popular lately. The KOTD itself turned out to be a massive fail due to my inability to stamp and align properly, but here you go anyway. I believe the plate is M57.
As you can see, in natural sunlight, Sharp Tailoring is a lot more grey, and a lot less beige.
In indoor lighting, you can really see it's beige-y-ness, and it's gold shimmer (which my @#$@% camera can't seem to capture. I think my camera has issues with shimmer). I do think it stands out best indoors, as opposed to outdoors:
Application-wise, both of them were a little mixed. Velvet Tuxedo gave me no problem whatsoever - it was opaque in one coat, and good enough to konad with. Sharp tailoring was a little sheer and streaky, but two coats took care of everything, so it's not a big deal. However, I do wonder if it was the polish or my lack of skillz that made this a little tricky to work with. But anyway, I've yet to see a dupe of this pretty little colour, so if anyone knows of a dupe with less application issues, let me know!
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