Fun Friday Featuring a Holo Gradient!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  I hope all the American readers are excited for a 3 day weekend!  I know I certainly am!  Today, I bring you another post that a group of us bloggers (and a few non bloggers) decided to participate in!  Today's theme was gradient nails.  As some of you may know, just last week I finally mastered the art of the gradient and I was so excited to try it again!  This time I decided to use all my untried China Glaze holographic polishes!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I LOVED how this came out!  I actually wore this last weekend to a big outdoor food and music festival in Brooklyn and in the sun, it was amazing!  To do this manicure, I started out with a coat of China Glaze OMG which is a beautiful silver linear holographic polish.  Then on my right hand I did a gradient using OMG and DV8 which is a teal version of OMG and on the right hand I did it with OMG and LOL which is a purple holographic.  This was so sparkly and holographic, I loved it!  I'm already planning my next holo gradient!

So there you have it, a very fun Friday featuring a holo gradient!  Don't forget to check out the rest of the lovely ladies participating below and let me know what you think of this week's Fun Friday!

BB Couture Men On Film Collection for Spring 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Thursday!  I'm posting early today because I have what is hopefully my last dentist appointment in a couple of hours!  I'm super excited about this post today because it involves a few of my favorite things:  mattes, dark polishes and movie themes!  I showed you the BB Couture Girls on Film collection a few months ago and this is the male counterpart to that.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Commando

First up is Commando, the iconic "guy" film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Yes, I had to look up how to spell his last name.  The nail polish Commando is a gorgeous dark hunter green creme.  This color just screams "camo" to me!  I love how deep it is but that it's still clearly a green.  The finish on this one is slightly matte, although not as much as some of the others in this collection.  It's a great Fall color!

Above:  2 coats of Dark Passage

Dark Passage is named after the iconic Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film (I only know this from seeing it in a film class in college!)  The film is from 1947 but is pretty awesome!  The polish Dark Passage does not disappoint.  Dark Passage is a gorgeous chocolate brown matte polish that's packed with shimmer.  Since it's so shimmery, it looks more like a satin finish rather than a true matte but either way, it's stunning!  The formula was great on this, fully opaque in two coats and just a really rich color.

Above:  2 coats of Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket is named after one of the most insane Vietnam movies of all time directed by one of the most insane directors of all time, Stanley Kubrik.  The nail polish Full Metal Jacket is a really cool black matte polish that's packed with silver shimmer so it gives off the appearance of being dark grey.  I love this polish!  The formula was great and the satiny effect is amazing!

Above:  2 coats of Key Largo

I'm a bit embarrassed but I had to look this movie up!  Key Largo is a 1948 film noir piece that also starred Bogart and Bacall.  The nail polish Key Largo is a gorgeous shimmery light blue packed with lots of silver.  I can honestly say I don't know a dupe for this!  The satiny effect on this one is excellent and this is probably my favorite from this collection!

Above:  2 coats of Road Warrior

Road Warrior is named after Mad Max 2 starring Mel Gibson.  He's pretty icky in my opinion but luckily the nail polish is not!  Road Warrior is a jet black matte.  The cool thing about this is that the finish looks almost waxy like the Illamasqua Rubber finish polishes!  I LOVE it!  It's such an awesome take on a black polish!  The formula was almost opaque in 1 coat but I used a second for good measure.

Above:  2 coats of Top Gun

I don't care how crazy Tom Cruise gets, Top Gun will always be one of my all time favorite guilty pleasure movies!  The polish Top Gun is a gorgeous navy blue with subtle shimmer.  The finish on this one is a matte and is really pretty, great for a dark but not black look!

All in all, I loved this collection!  The formula on all of them were great, opaque in 2 coats and really rich looking.  I love the matte finishes and how the shimmers on a lot of them really give the polish depth!  BB Couture is sold on their website and I really recommend them!  Some of them aren't the most unique but a few, like Key Largo and Dark Passage are really special!

What do you think of this collection? Any must haves? Any dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Lush Lacquer Salt N Peppa Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you're all having a nice Wednesday.  I just got poured on when I ran out to lunch so I now vaguely resemble a drowned rat.  Today, I have an awesome indie polish to show you from the brand Lush Lacquer.  I seem to have an obsession with black and white glitter nail polishes lately and this is another one to add to the growing collection!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

For the bases of this polish, the hot pink is Illamasqua Collide and the purple is Illamasqua Jo'Mina.  Lush Lacquer Salt N Peppa is a glitter top coat that's a clear base with black and white glitter in different sized square glitter, hexagonal glitter and white bar glitter.  There is also really small iridescent glitter mixed in that really gives this a shimmery look that's different from the other black and white glitters I've tried.  This was really easy to work with, the glitter came out easily and wasn't too hard to spread evenly on the nail and basically, I think this polish is awesome!

All in all, I'm a HUGE fan of this polish!  I love how black and white glitter pops over any bright color and this is no exception!  You can buy Lush Lacquer on Etsy for $8.75 per bottle.  I have a few other Lush Lacquers in my untrieds so get ready to see more swatches soon!

What did you think of this polish?

FACE Stockholm 113 Kale for Summer 2012 Swatch and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you are all having a lovely Tuesday!  I'm so excited to see the outpouring of love you are all having for the giveaway that started yesterday!  I'm so excited to still be blogging for you all after a year!  Today, I have a brand new polish from FACE Stockholm that was just released as part of their Summer 2012 line.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of 113 Kale

113 (Kale) is a really beautiful dark green that leans to the teal side.  There is definitely a lot of blue to this green.  It's like a forest green creme and a royal blue creme got together and created this polish!  The formula was really great, opaque in two coats and really rich and pigmented looking! 

All in all, I really liked this polish!  The two FACE Stockholm polishes I've tried so far are really a great quality!  FACE Stockholm retails for $12 a bottle and can be bought on their website.

What did you think of this polish?  Must have?  Any dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Lacquered Lover 1 Year Blogging Anniversary Giveaway Part 1!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Yesterday was a pretty momentous day in the world of Lacquered Lover.  On May 20th, 2011 I decided it was time for me to get back into the habit of writing regularly and what better way to do it than to share my collection and love of nail polish?  My first post was awful, I had no idea how to care for my nails, the pictures were from my blackberry and my first comments were from my boyfriend, my mom and a couple of good friends.  Now here we are, 1 year later, and I'm so incredibly thankful to still be blogging away!  I never thought that in 1 year this little corner of the Internet that I call mine would be home to almost 2,100 followers, 1,600 followers on Facebook, over 500 Instagram followers and all the amazing people who take the time to read and comment on this blog!

I truly love doing this.  I love writing, I love painting my nails, I love bringing you all collections, my attempts at nail art, and hopefully a smile when you interact with me on this blog or other social media.  So, to celebrate Lacquered Lover's first birthday, I thought I'd host a giveaway of Carly's Favorite Things!  Now this giveaway will be two fold.  Today I will share with you part 1 which is the main portion of the giveaway and starting tomorrow, I will post up the reader appreciation part which will just have 1 entry per person as a true thank you for being a part of the last year in my life!  Now, without further ado, on to the prizes!

This is what will be up for grabs!  I split them up into 4 prize packs so there will be 4 different winners!  Let's see what the prize packs are!

First up is a selection of some of my favorite Butter London polishes in Wallis, Snog and Trout Pout as well as a bottle of Zoya Carly!  I never would have known about Butter London if I wasn't a part of this awesome community so I figured it was a good choice!

Next up is the Glitter Prize Pack!  If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know of my love of glitter, particularly Deborah Lippmann!  So this pack includes a mini bottle of Dollish Polish Random Dancing, Deborah Lippmann Forget You, Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe (the polish that started my love affair with her) and OPI Excuse Moi!

Now we have the Blues Prize Pack!  Blue nail polish is my favorite color and these are a few of my favorite blue polishes!  This pack includes Layla Hologram Effect in Mermaid Spell, Dior St. Tropez and Mattese Elite Seduction!  Blue, holo, glitter, Dior, this pack has it all!

Last but certainly not least is the Purple/Grey Prize Pack!  After blue, Purples and Greys are my favorites and this pack has them both!  You can win Chanel Graphite (my first ever and most favorite Chanel!), Color Club Sugar Plum Fairy, Zoya Carly and Layla Hologram Effect in Ultra Violet!  Holo, Chanel, Glitter, what more could you ask for?

So there are your four prize packs you have a chance at winning!  This giveaway will be open internationally so feel free to enter regardless of where you live!  You MUST be a public GFC follower of Lacquered Lover to win and you MUST be over 18 years old.  Giveaway ends June 16th, 2012.  Fill out the form below for your chance to win!  Once again a HUGE thank you to all of you who follow and read this blog and I can't wait for another year!  And remember to check back for more giveaways later this week!  Feel free to leave any comments below, I love getting to interact with you all!

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Lacquered Lover's Divine Caroline NARS Gradient Tutorial!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  Just a quick post for you this afternoon to share my newest Divine Caroline Tutorial!  When I saw the tutorial by the Nailsaurus I knew I had to give it a shot myself!  So I decided to try my own hand at it which you can find HERE.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I used all polishes from the new NARS Thakoon collection and I LOVED how the orange and yellow side came out!  Unfortunately there wasn't enough of a difference between the pink and the orange to really stand out as much but I was really happy with how my first attempt came out!

What do you think of this manicure?  Are you a fan of the gradient?  Have you tried this technique yet?

Thakoon for NARS Limited Edition Collection for Summer 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope this Thursday is treating you well!  Today, I have a post for you that I slacked on for a bit (even though I've used all the polishes a few times so far) but finally swatched last night and am SO happy I did!

The clothing designer Thakoon teamed up with makeup legends NARS this summer to create 6 limited edition nail lacquers.  Each one is named after an Indian spice, although being someone who doesn't cook, I had no idea what they were!  Regardless, this collection is full of bright summer cremes!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

Above:  3 coats of Amchoor

The impossible has happened.  I have fallen in love with a yellow creme!  Amchoor is a gorgeous bright yellow creme.  It's not so bright that it's neon, it's buttery and beautiful!  It's somehow not making my skin tone look sallow which is fabulous.  It just looks great on and is really saturated.  The formula was a tad bit thick so it took three coats to achieve this look with no patchy spots but honestly, it was worth the extra coat for the payoff!

Above:  2 coats of Anardana

I really wish my camera could have captured just how bright this shade is!  Anardana is a BRIGHT fuchsia!  It's the perfect watermelon blue toned pink in real life.  It practically glows on the finger tips!  I've never been a huge pink fan before but this season has lots of these vibrant fuchsias and I can't get enough of them!  The formula on this one was great, opaque in two coats, applied really easily and the saturated color payoff is incredible!

Above:  3 coats of Koliary

A few weeks ago I found the perfect Royal Blue.  Now I have found the perfect bright blue!  Koliary is a stunning bright blue, too dark for a sky blue and not quite green enough for a turquoise.  It should just be called "perfect blue."  It's super saturated and vibrant and I'm just in love with it. 

Above:  3 coats of Kutki

I really enjoy saying the names of these polishes.  Kutki just sounds fun!  Kutki is the more timid little sister of Koliary.  Kutki is a really pretty white based light blue.  This isn't your normal pastel because it's way too vibrant to be called pastel but it is the lightest of the bunch here.  It really gives a nice pop of color, even on someone as pale as I am.  I can imagine on someone with a hint of darker skin would really make this shade pop!

Above:  2 coats of Ratin Jot

Ratin Jot is halfway between pink and purple.  Pirple?  Purnk?  Regardless, I can't think of a color I have that's a dupe of this!  This was probably my least favorite of the collection because it just didn't have that same saturated, vibrant look to me but it's still very pretty!  I even incorporated it into a manicure last week! 

Above:  2 coats of Lal Mirchi

I saved Lal Mirchi for last.  Lal Mirchi is the most exclusive of all these limited edition polishes because it's ONLY available at NARS store on Bleeker Street in NYC or on NARS website, while all the others are available at most department stores and Sephora.  Lal Mirchi is a very red based orange that for some reason looks a tad bit pink in my pictures.  It's must more orange in person!  I love this shade, it's super bright!  The formula on this one was excellent, almost opaque in 1 coat!  I'm really into orange this year and this one is perfect!


All in all, this collection was a huge hit for me.  Part of the reason I don't wear cremes too often is they seem a bit plain after wearing glitter and crazy flakies all the time but this collection is so vibrant that it breaks the mold!  Some of the formulas were a bit tough to work with and required three coats to even out but the color payoff to me was worth it!  I love how saturated they look (believe me, my pictures are NOT doing them justice) and they are just so great for summer!  These polishes retails for $18 and are limited edition so if you're interested in them, snatch them up now!

What did you think of this collection?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?