Ciaté - Iced Frappe

Taupe creme 

I have a bunch of these Ciaté mini bottles, mostly from the Ciaté advent calendars that seem to have become a standard offering from the brand and which usually appear in TK Maxx at some point.  This is the first of the mini's I've shown.

The bottles are 5ml, pretty standard for a mini and rather than the fabric bow attached to the full size bottles, these have a bow printed on the label.

Iced Frappe is a lovely soft milky taupe/mushroom shade, quite pale for a taupe and with a hint of purple.

Taupe's are definitely one of my favourite colour groups so I like this very much.

Application was fine, I didn't have any issues with the mini brush or bottle.

Swatches shown are 2 coats, no top coat but you can see it's pretty glossy even without top coat.

Leighton Denny - Honey Trap

Milky mushroom creme  

Ah, you know I love a taupe - or mushroom in this case.  I think mushroom is more pinky and taupe is more purple leaning - agree?

Anyhow, I spotted this and liked the look of it so then it was a case of stalking it on ebay till one popped up for a reasonable price.

To me Honey Trap is a pale, creamy mushroom/taupe creme.  Leighton's site describes it as a warm clay,  I'm not sure I would've got to this colour from that description.  They also have a bottle shot that doesn't look much like the colour either!

Application was good, LD's almost always are and as you can see it's lovely and shiny without top coat.

Swatches shown are 2 coats.

Nailgirls - Taupe #1

Metallic taupe  

So Taupe #1 - is it taupe?  It seems to be more of a beige/grey shade but I suppose the purple tones in taupe aren't always visible in lighter shades.

Nailgirls descibe it as metallic mushroom which kinda fits...

I like it despite it being a bit frosty and a bit brushstrokey

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat as usual

Nails Inc November - Chester Street

Grey mushroom pearl  

Nails inc - Chester Street is a warm grey pearl.  Nails inc describe it as a pearlescent mushroom which is about right...

This is one of those shades that varies in warmth depending on the light but I'd say the bottle shot and  final pic are most colour accurate.

It's also described as a metallic version of Porchester Square, in my book this is no metallic but it does look similar and could be a pearl version - I'll have to dig mine out to compare.

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat.

Application was ok, as you'd expect for a pearl finish it's kinda brushstrokey but nothing too bad.

Chester Street isn't a current Nails Inc colour but you can pick it up from BeautyBay for only £8.91

MeMeMe - Demure

Greige creme

 

 
MeMeMe Long Lasting Gloss in Demure (65)

Demure is one of those mushroom/greige/taupe colours that have been so popular over the past year or so. I must admit I'm a sucker for these colours even though I must have loads of dupes.

The swatch is shown with 2 coats and no topcoat.

This is the last of my new MeMeMe's so you won't have to read any more of my Maxi Brush Technology ranting. Suffice to say, this was equally bad. Yuk.

Barry M - Mushroom

I'd seen mention of this on the interwebs and then when I popped into Boots to pick up a sandwich, Barry M was on offer - 2 for £5 so I picked up this and another new one, Indigo.


Sun


Shade

Mushroom is a slightly pink toned milky brown creme. It doesn't really have any of the grey, taupe or purple tones we've seen a lot of over the past year.

This is 2 coats with topcoat.  Application was good as you'd expect from Barry M.  I like this colour and the formula - all this goodness for less than the cost of my lunch!

Taupe-ish Comparisons

Prompted by some disussion in the comments on the amazing Helen & Sheenie's Nice Things blog here are some comparison shots I took several months ago of my collection of mushroomy/taupey colours, primarily $OPI Metro Chic and Nails Inc Jermyn Street.



From l-r $OPI Metro Chic, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Mary Quant B-23,Zoya Pasha


Bottle shots



I tweaked the colour on this shot, increasing the warmth and I think this is a more accurate colour shot.

Jermyn Street & Metro Chic are definitely similar but not dupes. Metro Chic is a tad darker and on me has less of a lavender hint, whereas Jermyn Street is lighter and slightly more purpley - on me at least!

I love them both though, they're slightly edgy and different but not too out there.