Lacquered Lover

Deborah Lippmann Steal My Kisses Magnetic Nail Lacquer Set Swatches and Review!

2012-02-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I am super excited about today's post! As many of you know, I love Deborah Lippmann nail polishes. I just think they are fabulous! So, when I found out that she released two sets of magnetic polishes, I knew I had to try them out to see how they matched up against the competition. I did restrain myself to only one set, the Steal My Kisses duo, and I was NOT disappointed! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: Berry Metal over Wet N Wild Black Creme with Flash

Above: Berry Metal over Wet N Wild Black Creme in artificial light

Above: Berry Metal over Wet N Wild Black Creme Macro

The first magnetic in the duo is Berry Metal which HSN's website describes as an amethyst shimmer with a plum wave effect. I'm going to say that it's a lighter purple that when the magnet is used makes darker purple wavy lines due to the wavy pattern in the magnet. As you can see, I have a little mistake in the macro shot where the magnet was too close to the polish but it still looks amazing! These polishes were extremely responsive to the magnet and actually held their magnetic pattern more sharply than most other magnetics I have seen! I did a coat of black underneath because I wasn't sure how much the color would pull but you really don't even see it!

Above: Love is a Battlefield over Wet N Wild Black Creme with flash

Above: Love is a Battlefield over Wet N Wild Black Creme in artificial light

Above: Love is a Battlefield over Wet N Wild Black Creme Macro

I really love this polish. Love is a Battlefield is described as being a mulberry wave effect. Now I've never seen a mulberry but this polish is definitely a raspberry shade! Does anyone else think they should have switched the names of these polishes as a side note? Anyway, Love is a Battlefield worked amazingly well with the magnet and the color is so vibrant and sharp! I love it!

All in all, these polishes are great! Now to convince myself I don't need to buy the other set! I can't wait to try these out with my other magnets! The Steal My Kisses Magnetic Nail Lacquer Set is available HERE for $29.00 USD. If you don't own other magnetics, these are a great set to have! I plan on swatching these against the other magnetics I have soon but I definitely do not own one the color of Love is a Battlefield.

What do you think of this duo? Are you a fan of magnetic polishes?

ManGlaze and Lacquered Lover Giveaway!

2012-02-22T14:26:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I have something super exciting to share with you today! The awesome/awful team at ManGlaze has graciously offered to host a giveaway on my blog!

All Photos Courtesy of ManGlaze

As many of you know if you have been reading my blog for a bit, I LOVE ManGlaze. I literally have bought all of their polishes! I even got to name one of them, the ever popular Lesbihonest! So, let's take a look at the awesome prizes ManGlaze has in store for one lucky winner!

Yep one lucky winner will receive Fuck Off and Dye, Mink Mittens, Matte is Murder, Lesbihonest, Santorum, Royal Matterimoaning, Fuggen Ugly and ILF! All you have to do is fill out the form below and enter for your chance to win! This giveaway is open to US Residents only, and other than that, good luck! A big thanks to ManGlaze for hosting this amazing giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zoya Bibhu Mohapatra NYFW Fall 2012 Custom Color Box Swatches and Review!

2012-02-22T12:50:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Today I have the second custom color box that Zoya created for a designer at NYFW. This one was for the Bibhu Mohapatra show! I think the story behind how they did the nails was really cool, so straight from Zoya's website, here is the description:

"The models all wore Rekha (the red) on their left hands and either Parveen (the nude) or Zeenat (the pewter) on their right hands.

We wanted to know why Bibhu wanted the models to wear different colors on each hand, so he told us the story for this assortments inspiration. He told us that the red was an homage to his mother. When Bibhu was growing up, he remembered his late mother always wearing the most beautiful color of red nail polish on her nails. Because it was customary to eat with your right hand in India, she only wore the red on her left hand. So he always remembered her left had being painted That was the look that Bibhu was trying to recreate as the models were coming down the runway. All the models wore Rekha on their toes."

I just love the story behind this! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Parveen in artificial light

Above: 2 coats of Parveen with flash

First up is Parveen, a golden nude that's packed with shimmer that almost gives a glass fleck finish. Now as many of you know, nudes are not really my thing, but this is a nude I can get behind! I like that it's a bit golden so it doesn't give the mannequin hands look and the shimmer is just amazing! The warm tones also keep from giving my hand a yellow look. I really like all the twists on the old fashioned nude that Zoya has been doing lately! The formula was great, fully opaque in two coats and very easy to work with.

Above: 2 coats of Zeenat in artificial light

Above: 2 coats of Zeenat with flash

I'm pretty sure that Zeenat is my favorite of this collection! It's a pale dove grey (or pewter as Zoya says on their site) with the same glass fleck/shimmer finish as Parveen. I adore greys so this is the perfect color for me! Shimmer and grey, that's my go to when I need a break from all the crazy colors I usually wear! The pigmentation was great, it was fully opaque in 2 coats, and the formula was great to work with!

Above: 2 coats of Rekha in artificial light

Above: 2 coats of Rekha with flash

I think I found a new favorite red creme. I never thought I'd say that after finding my beloved Essie First Dance, but Rekha is simply stunning. Rekha is a true red creme, the perfect balance of warm and cool. It's like a pin up cherry red. Can you tell that I love this color? Again the formula was great, fully opaque in 2 coats, tons of pigmentation and easy to use.

All in all, I really liked these! Glass flecks and perfect red cremes, what more could a girl want? Unfortunately, this set sold out as well as the Peter Som set I showed you yesterday, but hopefully Zoya will bring back some of the colors for Fall!

What do you think of this collection? Did you get either of the custom color boxes?

Zoya Peter Som NYFW Fall 2012 Custom Color Box Swatches and Review!

2012-02-21T14:37:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Today I have something pretty neat to show you! For NYFW this year, Zoya created two custom collections that they then had a limited release of, so clearly, I got them both! Right now I have the collection that they created for the Peter Som Fall Fashion Show! These polishes are pretty unique, in fact, I can say with certainty that I don't have any dupes! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Katharine in artificial light

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Katharine with flash

Zoya Katharine (which for some reason is spelled "Katherine" on their site) is a deep, almost eggplant purple jelly polish. Except that it's not a jelly. The consistency is slightly different and when dry, it doesn't have that squishy jelly look but more like a colored gel. Yes, I realize how bizarre that sounds but just look at it! There is no other way to describe it! I was actually prepared to hate this since I hate seeing the visible nail line, but I find that I'm intrigued! I want to layer this over a nude and see how much it retains that gel like quality. I was actually surprised at how opaque this sheer polish was, and how much it applied like normal polish and wasn't thin like a typical sheer polish. I'm going to try some layering experiments this weekend and get back to you!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Audrey in artificial light

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Audrey with flash

Audrey is supposed to be the nude sister to Katharine but it didn't have the same wow factor for me. I can sort of see the same gel like quality, but the visible nail line was far more apparent on this one. It just looks kind of milky and a bit odd to me, but for those of you who love nudes this would be great! Again, I'm going to try to layer it over other colors because I think it might have a cool effect of making a color look more milky and gel like rather than regular polish!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Evvie with artificial light

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Evvie with Flash

Zoya describes Evvie as "A rich, decadent, smoky, eucalyptus cream. Powerful, elegant and simply delicious." Now I will be honest, I've never seen a eucalyptus in person so I have no idea what color it is, but I like the description so let's stick with it. I love how dusty and pigmented Evvie is! This is such a fantastic color! It's completely opaque in 2 coats, the formula is great, and this is by far my favorite of this collection! I can't wait to wear it as a full manicure!

All in all, I found this collection super interesting. I'm really excited to play around with Katharine and Audrey more and see how the gel like quality affects different polishes! And Evvie is just gorgeous, I hope we see more shades like that in the fall! Unfortunately this set has already sold out but perhaps Zoya will sell them again come Fall!

What did you think of this collection? Any layering combinations you'd like to see?

Mattese Elite Me Amour Collection Swatches and Review!

2012-02-20T14:47:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I spent a large portion of my weekend swatching and photographing a ton of new goodies for you so get excited for this week! Today, I have the newest collection from Mattese Elite which is sold exclusively at Ricky's.

Above: Photo Courtesy of Ricky's

Ok well I don't have the whole collection, but I do have 5 out of 6! I just couldn't bring myself to buy yet another nude when I so rarely wear them! The Me Amour Collection was released last week, just in time for Valentine's Day! There is lots of glittery goodness (and lots of pictures) coming up so get prepared! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Amour De Ma Vie with Artificial Light

Above: 2 coats of Amour De Ma Vie with Flash

Above: 2 coats of Amour De Ma Vie Macro Shot

Amour De Ma Vie is a gorgeous black jelly like base that's packed with small hexagaonal glitter in turquoise, silver, red, pink, gold, and maybe even a few other colors! It's so fun! I love that it's opaque in two coats but that the jelly quality of the base still comes through! I also really like that while there is a lot of glitter in each coat, it's sparse enough that you can see the base. This is definitely one of my favorites from this collection!

Above: Baise Moi - 2 coats on pointer and middle finger, 1 coat on ring and pinkie finger

Above: Baise Moi With Flash

Above: Baise Moi Macro Shot (1 coat)

Ok while it's not entirely unique, I still love Baise Moi! It's like I have some unknown urge to buy ever multi color and multi sized glitter that exists (I'm looking at you Milani Gems, OPI Rainbow Connection, Sephora by OPI Sparktacular, Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday.) In fact, I have so many, I'm going to do a comparison soon! Baise Moi is a rainbow of glitter in a variety of sizes. I tried to show the difference between one and two coats above, but this is definitely a polish that's best for layering. Want to add some bling to a current manicure? This will match everything! And the base isn't overly thick so it makes moving the glitter around much easier than with some other brands!

Above: 2 coats of Embrasse Moi with Artificial Light

Above: 2 coats of Embrasse Moi with Flash

Above: 2 coats of Embrasse Moi Macro Shot

Embrasse Moi is a gorgeous fuchsia microglitter! And it's opaque in two coats! I love how glittery and sparkly this looks when on! This is definitely a glitter to be worn on its own so it can sparkle in all it's fuchsia glory! I actually can't think of a dupe off hand although I'm sure there are other glitters out there, but if you don't have a fuchsia glitter yet, I highly recommend Embrasse Moi!

Above: 2 coats of Je Taime

Above: Macro shot of Je Taime

Another unique polish to my collection! I own a lot of gold glitters, but not like Je Taime! Je Taime is a light gold and iridescent combination in a clear base! I love how the iridescent pieces of glitter just shine and give the whole polish an ethereal look. Je Taime is definitely the most thick polish in the collection and would look best layered. I'm excited to try different combinations! I love that there are two different sizes of small glitter and even though it was thick, I didn't have too much trouble controlling the glitter.

Above: 2 coats of Mon Amour with Artificial Light

Above: 2 coats of Mon Amour with Flash

Above: 2 coats of Mon Amour Macro Shot

Last but not least is Mon Amour, a gorgeous salmon colored micro glitter that reaches full opacity in two coats! Mon Amour is the slightly more tame and feminine sister to Embrasse Moi with the same formulation, just a lighter shade. I was prepared to not like this one since this isn't a shade I wear too often, but I surprisingly loved it! I guess you can make anything into a glitter and I will wear it!

All in all, I think this was another really strong showing by Mattese Elite. The Me Amour Collection is available in Ricky's Stores and on their website for $5.99 per bottle. I was really impressed with their glitters and can't wait to try some layering options coming up!

What do you think of this collection? Any dupes? Any layering combinations you'd like to see?

Barielle Gem Stone Earth Collection Giveaway Winner!

2012-02-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

Good morning Lacquered Lovers! Just a quick post this morning to let you know there is a winner for the Barielle giveaway!

Congratulations to Sirena Sparklestar! I have contacted the winner and she has 48 hours to reply to me with her mailing address so I can send it to Barielle! Thanks to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I have some really exciting stuff coming up on Lacquered Lover so keep on reading!

Fun Friday Featuring a Post by the Boyfriend All About Water Marbles!

2012-02-17T16:19:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacuqered lovers! I have a treat for you today! As some of you who read this blog regularly may know, I have an awesome boyfriend who I live with that is super supportive of my nail polish habits! So supportive in fact, that sometimes, his nails have a bit of color on them. Together we joined in a Valentine's Day contest to have both partners nails painted, and while we didn't win, the result is still pretty awesome! I asked AJ to write the post all about it and I'm excited to show it to you! Now, without further ado, I give you AJ's post!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good afternoon, Lacquerites!

I was honored when Carly asked me to write a quick something for you all to commemorate my first water marbling experience! Oh, boy. You know, the way I look at it, I end up wearing nail polish -- often. Not out into the world (often), but in the apartment and at cosmetics stores, you know. I wear polish more often than you might expect! HOWEVER -- I do not wear nail polish nearly as often as you would expect, given how much nail polish there is in the Lacquered Lover Lacquer Library!

Carly mentioned there was a gentleman nail polish blogger holding a Valentine's Day themed contest where couples submit pictures of themselves in complementary manicures. She had just finished explaining the premise of the contest when I asked her, "so, we're definitely going to enter, right?" It didn't take much convincing for her (or me) to decide that the only way to make a dent in the competition was to water-marble it up. I had seen her experimenting with various combinations of polish in a few other marbles which I'm sure you've drooled over in her posts here and I was very eager to see it on my own claws.
Let's take a look at the results!

Above: Water Marbles using China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic, Sweet Hook, Dance Baby and Essie Play Date

Gorgeous, isn't it? I mean, it's messy, don't get me wrong. I ended up sticking my finger into the cup up to the knuckle and I had to give myself a bath in some acetone polish remover, but totally worth it. We went with Valentine's Day themed colors -- purples and pinks and such. Carly will have to tell you all the names of the polishes used in this masterpiece, but they come together quite well! Water marbling, I've decided, is an art. I certainly couldn't do it on my own! A new-found appreciation for nail polish, even though I'd thought I'd seen it all!

Above: AJ's hand water marbled and macro shots of each nail

Above: Carly's hand and a few macro shots

Also, I must say, if you're just joining up with Lacquered Lover, please be sure to read through the previous posts and see what a magnificent resource we have in Carly's work! Invite your friends to follow and join the party on Facebook and Twitter! I'm proud of you, sweetie! ;-*

What nail polish did you make your significant other wear on Valentine's Day this year? Have you convinced your partner to try a water marble with you yet? Aren't you thankful we have this wonderful website, Lacquered Lover, to discuss all of the hot topics in the world of manis and pedis? Be heard in the comments below!

CND Night Factory Duo Featuring Urban Oasis and Teal Sparkle Swatches and Review

2012-02-16T16:20:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you are all having a wonderful day. It's rainy and dreary and gross in New York today, so to cheer up, I decided to post about some of my favorite new polishes! I was lucky enough to receive the CND Night Factory Duo from my awesome friend Wendy. The Teal Sparkle Effect was the last CND Effect that I was wanting but I figured I'd never own it since it was a limited edition! Well thanks to Wendy and Ebay, it's mine! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Urban Oasis

First up is Urban Oasis on its own. It's a gorgeous teal creme that's just perfect. I find it to be a bit more blue than green leaning and it's just so beautiful! It was almost a one coater but I put on a second coat for good measure. If you're a teal girl like I am, try to find this polish! It easily became my new favorite teal creme!

Above: 1 coat of Teal Sparkles over 2 coats of Urban Oasis

Oh man, why can't all the CND Sparkle Effects look like this? I'm in love! Teal Sparkles has tiny teal microglitter in a milky base that makes the glitter look like tiny little glass fleck flakes! it's amazing! Look at how three dimensional that looks! I absolutely adore this CND effect and really hope that they will come out with more like it! It's just so unlike any other specialty top coat that I own, I absolutely am obsessed with it! I can't wait to try it over other colors!

All in all, I love this duo! I'm so happy to be the proud owner of it! Urban Oasis is just a stunning creme and Teal Sparkle is by far my favorite CND Effect to date. More effects like these please! They are fabulous! If you happen to come upon this set or want to splurge a bit, definitely buy it because it's just so great!

What do you think of these polishes? Do you have them? What colors would you like to see teal sparkle layered over?

Lacquistry Menorah Lights Swatch and Review!

2012-02-15T16:19:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! As promised, here is post number 2 of today! I have to give a shoutout in this post to my awesome polish friend Wendy! She and I, along with another friend in Brazil, decided to have a little Valentine's Day Swap! You've seen some of the awesome polishes Wendy sent me in the NuBar Polka Dots post and now here is another of the gorgeous polishes she sent me! So once again, thanks! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Menorah Lights with Flash

Above: 2 coats of Menorah Lights with no flash

Above: macro shot of Menorah Lights

It's so gorgeous! A sheer blue-ish grey base that's packed full of different shades of blue, silver and holographic glitter! I love the larger hexagonal pieces! And I love that this is opaque in two coats! I think the next time I try it, I will layer it over a blue or a grey to really make that glitter pop! I did find that the polish was a bit thick to work with, and definitely had to wait a bit between coats, but nothing a little nail polish thinner and patience can't fix! And for a shade this gorgeous, it's totally worth it!

All in all, I LOVED this polish! I'm hoping a bit of thinner will make it easier to use but the end result is just so pretty! Lacquistry is sold through Etsy and she has some amazing colors!

What do you think of this shade? Do you have any Lacquistry polishes?

Blogger Night Out and Porter Grey at NYFW!

2012-02-15T14:06:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I apologize for the lack of a post yesterday, however I spent the day at the Westminster Dog Show with my mom and a few of her friends (it's their tradition to go every year so I tagged along!) It was a ton of fun but it meant I didn't have time to write a blog post! So, to make up for it, I'm hoping to get a few up this afternoon! This particular post is two fold, both about NYFW events I had last week! Now, without further ado, on to the post!

So last Friday night was Blogger Night Out in NYC! What a great event! As you can see above, I got to meet a few of my favorite blogging ladies, Amy from Gotham Polish and Maria, the creator of Cult Nails! What a treat! I had such a blast getting to meet them and other fashion/beauty bloggers in NYC! Plus the gift bag was amazing! A Birchbox, gift card to TJ Maxx/Marshalls, gift card to Shopbop.com (which made me laugh because when I was in college in Madison, Wisconsin, the actual store Shop Bop was a few blocks from my apartment!) and a whole bunch of other fun stuff! It was such a great night and event and I look forward to the next one! Unfortunately I had to leave early due to an early morning for Fashion Week the next day!

Above: My backstage pass to Porter Grey

Above: One of the lovely ladies from Porter Grey getting a manicure!

At 8 AM on Saturday morning (in the snow!) I went backstage at the Porter Grey Presentation to check out the manicures that China Glaze were doing for the models! This time they were using another new color from the Safari Collection (which should be out this fall) which was a dark reddish brown creme called Call of the Wild.

Above: Call of the Wild

Above: Models getting manicured by Joy - the manicurist from China Glaze

The lovely Joy was doing the manicures on the models and I was swooning over the gorgeous new color! It looked amazing! And it matched perfectly with all the leather and neutral colored pieces from Porter Grey. It was such a great experience and I got to meet so many amazing people through this! A big thanks again to China Glaze for inviting me to the show! And, the best part, the lovely Joy let me keep a bottle of Call of the Wild! Stay tuned for a blog about it soon!

Above: My very own bottle of Call of Wild!

A HUGE thank you to Irene at China Glaze for all her help!

Did anyone else attend Bloggers Night Out? What did you think of the Porter Grey polish?

China Glaze Water Marble for NYFW!

2012-02-13T16:24:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I'm sorry my posts have been short recently but lots going on here in Lacquered Lover world! News to come first! However since many of you commented on it, I wanted to show you my manicure for the few NYFW shows I went to in the last few days! Please excuse the tip wear as I didn't take pictures until 2 days into the manicure, but it still looks pretty cute! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

To do this water marble, I used China Glaze Blue Years Eve, White Out (as the base), Pelican Grey and Liquid Leather. I kind of love how it looks! Blue Years Eve is much darker when used on its own but I love how it looks here! Here are a few macro shots of my favorite nails!

So there you have it! A blue, grey and black water marble for Fashion Week! My nails were a big hit, people seemed to love the design and be shocked that I did it myself! It's definitely messy but I'm getting better at them and they just look so fun! I swear, if I can do it, anyone can!

Have you tried a water marble yet? What's your favorite color combination?

NYFW: China Glaze at Tadashi Shoji

2012-02-10T15:18:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! As some of you may have noticed, I didn't post yesterday. No, it's not because I don't love you all (because obviously I do!) but it's because I got to attend New York Fashion Week yesterday! One of my favorite nail polish companies, China Glaze, asked if I'd like to attend some of the shows that they were doing manicures for and clearly the answer was a yes! Now this was my first time at a NYFW show and going backstage and all that fun stuff, so please forgive if my pictures aren't perfect, I was so excited that it was hard to make sure everything was working! So now, without further ado, on to the pictures!

Above: Me in front of Lincoln Center

Above: The Plaza at Lincoln Center

Above: Backstage entrance

Above: My backstage pass! I loved it until they took it away when it was time for the show!

Above: LOTS of MAC makeup!

Above: A model getting her China Glaze manicure!

Above: Manicures from all sides!

Above: A finished manicure using China Glaze Heart of Africa

Above: Can't forget the top coat!

Above: Getting the full manicure

Above: China Glaze Heart of Africa

So the color of choice was China Glaze Heart of Africa which will be part of the upcoming Safari Collection later this year! Let me just say, this is stunning in person! I seriously wanted to steal it but there were too many eyes around :) I'm just a sucker for shimmery reds! However apparently, the designer thought that the polish was too shimmery! Unfortunately that's about the time I had to leave the backstage area to go around for the show so I'm not sure exactly which creme polish they put over Heart of Africa to make it less shimmery but as soon as I find out, I will let you all know!

Above: My ticket! I think I want to be known as carly Carly from now on :)

Above: Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is very high tech

Above: The stage area from the top of the theater

Above: The program for the show! I love the bow on the top!

Above 3 Pictures - Finale of the show

I ended up getting to sit in the third row of the show since it wasn't full before it started! So fun! The clothes were gorgeous, very 1930's and of course the red nails looks fabulous! I had an absolute blast and can't wait to go to another show tomorrow morning! It was such a cool and interesting experience and thanks so much to China Glaze and Tadashi Shoji for letting me come!

Have you been to any NYFW events? Have you been following all the twitter feeds?

Barielle Gem Stone Earth Collection Giveaway!

2012-02-08T16:30:00.004-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Have I got a treat for you today! The lovely company Barielle has offered to host a giveaway on my blog! Here is what they are giving away:

The new Gem Stone Earth Collection! You can check out my review of all the colors HERE. Now some quick rules for this amazing giveaway!

- You MUST be over 18 years old and a US Resident in order to enter.
- You MUST be a follower of http://www.lacqueredlover.com/ and you MUST "like" Barielle on Facebook!

Other than that, there are extra entries for telling all your friends about the giveaway! Just be sure to fill out the form below to enter! This giveaway is open until midnight on Friday, February 17th 2012! Once a winner is pulled, they will have 48 hour to respond to me before I send their information to Barielle to receive their prize! Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

OPI Metallic 4 Life Swatches and Review

2012-02-08T14:50:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you are all having a nice week! It looks like it may snow in NYC today so for all of my local readers, bundle up! Today I have a great nail polish for a grey day, Metallic 4 Life from the Nicki Minaj Spring 2012 Collection. Just a quick post today so I can work on something fun for later this afternoon! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Metallic 4 Life

I think this may be my favorite polish from the Nicki Minaj Collection! Metallic 4 Life is a black almost jelly base that has small silver square glitter and larger hexagaonal glitter. It looks amazing! The formula was a bit thick but I added a few drops of thinner and then it applied like a charm! It's best to wait a minute or two between coats so you don't drag the glitter around but I think it looks great! It's definitely a fun and funky glitter polish!

What do you think of this polish? Any dupes?

SoFlaJo Call Forth Dragons Swatch and Review!

2012-02-07T16:28:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Today, I have a gorgeous color changing top coat from the amazing SoFlaJo! She recently released the Year of the Dragon Collection which is EIGHT different sparkling top coats! How fun! She sent me Call Forth Dragons, which as she describes on her site as "Silver glitter and depending on your base coat, shifts from light purple to silver to blue/green." So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat Finger Paints Black Expressionism with 1 coat of Call Forth Dragons on top

I started with 1 coat of my favorite new black, Finger Paints Expressionism which is just a pure black creme and then did one coat of Call Forth Dragons on top. It's amazing! Look at all that purple and silver and icy blue that comes out! Especially in the macro shot you can see the purple, it's amazing! I love colors that can be layered to completely change a polish and Call Forth Dragons is definitely that! I can't wait to try it over other colors and see the effects that it has!

Call For Dragons and the other 7 color changing top coats are available at SoFlaJo's website found HERE for $5 per bottle! I want to get the rest to try them out and see the color shifts!

What do you think of this polish? Are you a fan of layering polishes like I am?

New York Giants Super Bowl Water Marble!

2012-02-06T11:44:00.001-05:00

Good morning lacquered lovers! As many of you know, I'm a New Yorker. I was born here, I've lived here most of my life, and I just love it. However I'm not really a big football fan, but when the New York Giants made it to the Super Bowl, I knew I had to do something really fun on my nails. You might remember last week that I did a water marble with the new China Glaze Electropop collection, and decided I wanted to give it a show with the Giants colors of red, white and blue! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: From left to right - China Glaze White Out, OPI Dating a Royal, Essie First Dance, OPI Kyoto Pearl

So for this water marble, I started out with two coats of China Glaze White Out on my nails. Then I alternated between Dating a Royal, First Dance and Kyoto Pearl for the marble. I discovered early on that the red would bleed into the white and make it pink (as you can see on a few pictures) so I tried to keep them as separated as possible. I was also fooling around with different types of designs to see what I liked best!

As you can see, cleanup was a bit difficult (what can I say? Reds and blues stain!) but not terrible! It's funny, with this marble I found that on each nail, I either loved it or hated it, there was no medium! Overall I was happy with it even if it does look like a mish mash of different designs because I got to play around with how to make it all look different! Here are some close ups, even though you can see all the imperfections!

Above: macro shots of left hand

Above: macro shots of right hand

So there you have it, a Giants water marble! I was pretty pleased with how this came out (minus the minor mishaps) and I'm hoping as I keep practicing I will keep getting better! Hope you enjoyed this and enjoyed the Giants win last night!

What do you think of this Water Marble? What did you do on your nails for the Super Bowl?

Fun Friday Part 2 Featuring Essie First Dance and Nubar Black Polka Dots and White Polka Dots!

2012-02-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! One more quick post today for Wear Red For Women Day and this is what I actually have on my nails today. Thanks to my awesome friend Wendy, I now own my first Nubars! I was super excited to try them out so I tried not one, but two! And now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Essie First Dance, 1 coat of Nubar Black Polka Dots, 1 coat of Nubar White Polka Dots

So I started off with two coats of my favorite red creme, Essie First Dance. Then I tried one coat of Nubar black polka dots which is a clear base packed full of small and slightly larger black polka dots. Once that dried, I added a coat of Nubar white polka dots, which is the white version of black polka dots. I love it! I think it looks super cute!

So there you have it, one last red manicure for a good cause! Be sure to check back this weekend for my Super Bowl manicure!

What do you think of this manicure? Are you a fan of the black and white polka dots?

Fun Friday Part 1 Featuring Elana Attitude and Nerd Lacquer Nebula!

2012-02-03T14:23:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I have two fun Friday posts for you today! And continuing in the theme of the day, both are red for Go Red For Women day! Also some fun information for you, in order to help get the word out about Go Red For Women, both the Empire State Building in NYC and the White House will be lit in red this year! Thanks to my Aunt for the information! (Hi Aunt Abbe!) I will try to snap a picture of the Empire State Building tonight on my walk home from work and post it up for you guys to see on my FaceBook page later! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism and 1 coat of Elana Attitude

So I am involved in a lovely swap with my Brazilian friend and Elana Attitude is one of the polishes she sent me! I love it! I put a coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism underneath because it's a bit sheer but Attitude is GORGEOUS! A true vampy shimmery red. I just love it! It's so rich looking! However I have a bunch of new polishes I've been wanting to try so I decided to add one of my new Nerd Lacquer polishes on top!

above: 1 coat of Nebula

So I added a coat of Nerd Lacquer Nebula and wow! This polish is amazing! It's a red/purpley jelly base that is packed with multi colored and multi sized glitter. I see blue, pink, fuchsia, silver, red, light purple, it's just amazing! I love how sparkly it was! Plus the day I wore this people kept asking what it was! I highly recommend it!

So there you have it, another red manicure for today. I really enjoyed this one! Nerd Lacquer is available on Etsy and Harlowe & Co. and they are great! They all have "geeky" names and glitter galore! Go check them out! I have a bunch of them so stay tuned in the future for more swatches!

What did you think of this manicure? Are you wearing red today?

Deborah Lippmann Single Ladies and Bitches Brew Swatches and Review!

2012-02-03T10:56:00.002-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you are all having a nice week and that those of you who like football are excited for this weekend! I have something fun planned this weekend for a Super Bowl manicure so be sure to check back on Sunday! However for today, I have 3 separate posts for you. Since today is National Wear Red Day for awareness for Heart Disease for women, all posts today will be about reds. Since you all know my love of Deborah Lippmann polishes, I figured I'd give you a few swatches of some of her best reds. Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Single Ladies

First up is Single Ladies, a gorgeous deep red. I love deep reds! I'm pretty sure this is the first Deborah Lippmann creme nail polish that I bought. What's cool about Single Ladies is that it's almost a jelly polish, but it becomes completely opaque in two coats! It still retains that squishy quality that jellies have, and it dries super shiny (the picture above has no top coat.) This is just a beautiful red and the formula is fantastic! I love that this color is halfway between bright and dark! It's not blackened or even vampy, it's just beautiful!

Above: 2 coats of Bitches Brew

Bitches Brew is another vampy red from Deborah Lippmann, except this one is much more Burgundy colored and is a shimmer! The formula was fantastic, it was almost opaque after one coat and the second coat just really gave it a lot of color and pigment. It's just such a perfect fall and winter red! I love that it's not so vampy that it's blackened and you can only see the color in the light, Bitches Brew looks like a deep red no matter the lighting.

So there you have it, two gorgeous dark reds with different finishes from Deborah Lippmann. Both of these polishes retail for about $16 and are part of the core collection so you can find them wherever you buy Deborah Lippmann. I'm sure there are dupes out there, but I love her formula (and those bottles are just gorgeous) so I'll stick with them! Make sure you check back later for more red manicures!

What do you think of these colors? Any must haves? What are your favorite vampy reds?

My First Water Marble Using China Glaze Electropop!

2012-02-01T15:56:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I have something today that I'm super proud of! I attempted to try a water marble for the first time a few days ago and it was a miserable fail. I had no clue what I was doing. After several youtube videos and online tutorials (and encouragement from the boyfriend because I was feeling quite defeated, thanks sweetie!), I decided to give it another try last night. Boy am I glad that I did! I've been staring at my nails non stop ever since!

Above: From Left To Right - Sweet Hook, Fuchsia Fanatic, Aquadelic and White Out

So after all the tutorials and questions, I decided to use my new Electropop polishes that I posted about yesterday. I held my breath, gave it a shot, and now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Ok, now before anyone comments, I know that there is polish all over my fingers. If you've never done this, it's extremely messy! And yes, somehow bubbles got involved and there is the white "underwear" polish showing in some of the pictures. And I should have taken pictures before I went to sleep because there is the tiniest hint of sleep marks on my fingers. But, for a first (well second) try, I am really happy with them! I used China Glaze White Out as my base color and then did the water marble with Fuchsia Fanatic, Aquadelic and Sweet Hook. Now here are macro shots of each individual nail since they all look so different!

Above: Left Hand

Above: Right Hand

So there you have it! My first attempt at a water marble! It was actually super fun to do once I figured out how to do it. Actually, it was worth doing it just to see the fascination from the boyfriend every time it worked! The two of us were like little kids doing a science project and getting really excited by the results! Thanks again for helping sweetie!

What do you think of this water marble? What color combinations would you like to see in the future? Any tips or tricks? Would you like to see me attempt to make a tutorial (beware, it's very messy and slightly hilarious!)

Pretty and Polished Power House, Sphere and Jealous Swatches and Review!

2012-02-01T12:43:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Today I have a treat for you from a very talented lady! The lovely Chelsea from Pretty & Polished is a master frankener and was kind enough to send me three bottles of her polishes to review! She has an shop set up in Etsy which can be found HERE of all of her creations! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of Power House over 2 coats China Glaze Sweet Hook

First up is the amazing Power House! Power House is a light purple jelly base that's packed with multi colored and multi sized glitter! I see silver, blue, pink, purple and green and all different sizes of each! I love it! Look at how awesome that macro shot looks! Now since it's in a jelly base it is very sheer so I'd recommend wearing an "underwear" color, hence putting this over Sweet Hook, but I love how it looks over a light purple! I can't wait to try it over different colors!

Above: 2 coats of Sphere

Sphere is a gorgeous green/teal! This color was described on the website as being teal with slight color shifts however the shift on my bottle was very subtle, more of a coppery shimmer and blue shimmer than a full shift but it's gorgeous! Look at all those gorgeous colors in the macro shot! I love how green it is and the shimmer gives it a lot of dimension which I think is great! Plus it was fully opaque in two coats, great formula and tons of pigment!

Above: From top to bottom: Finger Paints Black Expressionism, Butter London Slapper, Gareth Pugh for MAC Hyper and Mattese Elite Fantasias

Above: 1 coat of Jealous over each color listed above

I saved my favorite for last! Jealous is AMAZING! A color changing topcoat! Do you see how different each shade looks with just one coat of Jealous? Greens, golds and coppers! I love it! It's like making any polish a whole new polish! A quick note about this polish that if you'd like to buy it, it only comes in the mini size, but considering you need so little to make a huge impact, a mini is more than enough!

So there you have it, 3 awesome frankens! I've been informed that if you are buying the full sized bottles of any of these that the producer had to switch from square to round bottles, but we all know that it's what is inside of those bottles that counts! Also, the very lovely Chelsea has a special code for all of you lacquered lovers! Use the code LACLOVE5 to get 5% off your order in her shop! She has a bunch of different colors, glitters, holos, basically whatever you like so make sure you check her out!

What do you guys think of these polishes? Do you own any Pretty and Polished yet? Planning on buying any?

China Glaze Electropop Collection Spring 2012 Brights Swatches and Review!

2012-01-31T15:16:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon once again my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you all enjoyed Part 1 of this collection earlier! As promised, here is Part Two of my China Glaze Electropop review featuring the Brights half of the collection!

Now when I first got this promo photo, this was definitely the half of the collection I was most excited for! I love bright colors in the spring and summer and these looked so amazing! I am happy to report that they did NOT disappoint! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: Two coats of Aquadelic

I love aqua! Really, I love aqua and light blues for anything, but in nail polish, it's just gorgeous AND has the added bonus of making my deathly pale hands look slightly tan! Amazing! Aquadelic is a gorgeous aqua creme with just the right mix of a little bit of green into it. I love how shiny and bright it looks! Perfectly opaque in 2 coats, great application, I just love it! I can guarantee I will be wearing this a ton! However I do fear that this might be a pretty close dupe to China Glaze's classic color For Audrey so I will compare and get back to you! Either way, this is a great color!

Above: Two coats of Sunshine Pop

Sunshine Pop might be one of the best ever instances of naming a polish something that perfectly fits it! Other than Gothic Lolita from the Lights half of the collection, Sunshine Pop is the only shimmer! Now I'm always apprehensive with yellows because they tend to make my hands look like a corpse, but this one kind of works! It's not highlighter bright so you can get away with it, and the shimmer softens it so it's more like a darker, sparkly yellow rather than in your face! I really like it! The formula on this was slightly more thin than the rest of the collection and I'm guessing that three thin coats might work better than 2 thicker ones, but either way, I may have finally found a yellow I can wear!

Above: Two coats of Gaga for Green

A green I can wear! So exciting! Gaga for Green is a gorgeous bright green cream that's not too yellow based and just looks super pretty on! Gaga for Green was practically a one coater, it's definitely the most thick polish in the bunch, but I still love it. What a fun color for spring!

Above: Two coats of Make Some Noise

Make Some Noise was a surprise love of mine from this collection! I'm not usually one for coral-reds, I prefer more blue toned reds, but this just looks so fun! Is it possible that my polish tastes are changing and I'm starting to like pink looking colors? Make Some Noise honestly reminds me of a watermelon every time I see it, it just looks so bright and juicy and appealing! Per the rest of the collection, Make Some Noise is perfectly opaque in two coats, no streaks and lots of pigment!

Above: Two coats of Wicked Style

Wicked Style is the last creme from this collection. Wicked Style is a Raspberry meets pink meets coral creme. I realize that's a lot of colors in one but I don't know how else to describe it! To be honest, I like Fuchsia Fanatic better as a bright pink shade from this collection, but either one is nice! Fully opaque in two coats, the formula on this was great and it's another nice pink for the collection.

Above: 1 coat of Techno over 2 coats Wicked Style

Above: 1 coat Techno over 2 coats Aquadelic

Last but certainly not least is Techno. Now, Techno is a re-release from a specialty glitter collection a few years ago that they are putting out again as part of the Electropop Brights collection. I actually already had a bottle of this but bought another because I love it! Small and large hexagonal holographic glitter? Yes please! Talk about instantly brightening up basically any manicure!

So there you have it, the Brights half of the China Glaze Electropop collection! I was really pleasantly surprised by this collection, I love how bright and cheerful it is and I love that the colors actually looked nice against my skin tone!

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

*Note some of the products in this post were sent to me for review, the rest I paid for. For more information, please see the Disclosure Policy above.

China Glaze Electropop Collection Spring 2012 Lights Swatches and Review!

2012-01-31T14:01:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Today I am going to show you the entire new Spring Collection from China Glaze called Electropop! Since there are 12 polishes in total, I am breaking it down into two separate posts, one for the Lights and one for the Brights! Up first is the Lights!

It seems to me that there are definitely some brights in here but on a whole, it is lighter than the Brights part! The picture above was part of China Glaze's press release on this collection. I was super excited when I saw this collection because the colors just seem so fun! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: Two coats of Fuchsia Fanatic

Up first if Fuchsia Fanatic, one of several pink based polishes in this collection! This color just looks like summer to me! It's so bright and almost juicy looking! Fuchsia Fanatic is a bright fuchsia creme that is just gorgeous! Perfectly opaque in two coats, tons of pigment, it's just great! I think this may be a perfect pedicure color this spring!

Above: 2 coats of Dance Baby

Dance Baby is a lighter pink creme. This color doesn't do too much for me as I feel it's very dupable and light pinks just aren't my thing, but as a polish, the formula was great. Opaque in two coats, lots of pigment, if you're a pink lover or are looking for a pink polish to add to your collection, this would be a good one!

Above: 2 coats of Electric Beat

Electric Beat is one of my favorite colors from this collection! I guess I'd call this color periwinkle but it also reminds me of really faded denim! This is just a gorgeous blue creme for spring, it's not too bright and just looks really flattering on! As with the others, perfectly opaque in 2 coats, no issue with the formula, and it's just a gorgeous color! I'll be getting a lot of use from this one!

Above: 2 coats of Kinetic Candy

Sorry about the messy application here! I didnt' even notice it until I blew the photos up! Oh well, no one is perfect, right? :) Kinetic Candy is a gorgeous light blue creme that has undertones of grey that give it a slightly dusty look. I love it! Blue is one of the few pastel shades that I truly love and Kinetic Candy did not disappoint! Perfect application, no streaks, opaque in two coats, I just love it!

Above: Two coats of Sweet Hook

Sweet Hook basically demonstrates the other type of pastel I love in the Spring which is a light purple. I love that this isn't too blue based so it has a slightly warmer look to it unlike many other light purple polishes. I was also pleasantly surprised that this was streak free! Usually light purples are super streaky for some reason but this one applied great! Fully opaque in 2 coats, I love this one!

Above: Two coats of Gothic Lolita

Now, if it was up to me, I would have put Gothic Lolita in the Brights category, but what can you do? I love Gothic Lolita! First of all, I love the name! Secondly, it's a fantastic purple that's packed with reddish/pinkish and blue shimmer. The purple itself is more red toned so it's warmer than a lot of purple's we've seen from other Spring Collections so far, and this is just a warm, gorgeous purple. Gothic Lolita was fully opaque in 2 coats, lots of pigment, and gotta love that shimmer amongst all these cremes! This is also the least dupable polish in this half of the collection in my opinion.

So there you have it, the Lights portion of the China Glaze Electropop Collection. A lot of these cremes we've seen before by other brands but honestly, I still like them and I really like China Glaze's formula! They somehow found a way to make non-streaky pastels which is a feat! These polishes are available for sale now and run from about $5-$7 depending where you are.

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

*Note some of the products in this post were sent to me for review, the rest I paid for. For more information, please see the Disclosure Policy above.

Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

2012-01-30T15:46:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I'm a bit late to the party on this one but let me start with a story. I always thought that bar glitter looked weird. In fact, to me it looked kind of hairy. Because of this, I didn't originally purchase the Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection when it was released back in November of 2011. Fast forward a month and I won a Twitter contest held by Glamour Magazine and Zoya and won the whole collection!

I was so excited! So, even though I'm late on these swatches and reviews, hopefully you enjoy them! Below you will see each other foils followed by their corresponding bar glitter! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Izzy

First up is Izzy, which I surprisingly loved! I say surprisingly because I'm not really a pink person but this magenta is gorgeous! Practically a one coater but I did 2 for full coverage and it looks gorgeous! The foil finish is just perfect!

Above: 2 coats Izzy under 1 coat Kissy

Kissy is the matching polish to Izzy. Kissy is small pink glitter with pink, purple, silver and holographic bar glitter. While it does look a bit hairy to me, I kind of love it! It's so festive and fun! Plus it matches so perfectly with Izzy, what's not to love?

Above: 2 coats of Noel

Please excuse my lobster hands above! I was still figuring out my lightbox! Noel is a gorgeous medium blue with lots of silver foil. I love it! This was truly opaque in 2 coats but I added a second for good measure. I love that you can really see the silver in this polish but it's definitely still blue!

Above: 1 coat of Twila over two coats of Noel

Noel is similar in consistency to Kissy however it's all blue glitter, both small round glitter and larger bar glitter, with the slightest hint of holographic bar glitter. I would have liked the holographic to be a bit more pronounced and maybe seen another color, like purple mixed in, because all the blue to me just looks like hair blue nail polish! I really wanted to love this polish but I think it was my least favorite of the collection.

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Holly

Holly was definitely my favorite foil of this collection. It's a beautiful, deep, rich hunter green that just glows on the nail! I seriously love this! Perfectly opaque in 2 coats, so much pigment, this is the perfect holiday green!

Above: 1 coat Rina over 2 coats Holly

Rina is an almost all green glitter, with both small round green glitter and green bar glitter with just a hint of holographic bar glitter as well. Even though it looks like hairy green, I kind of like it! For some reason, this just works to me!

So there you have it, the Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection from Holiday 2011. I love the foils and am slowly coming around to the bar glitter! Zoya nail polishes are available on their website and are $8 each!

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

Barielle Gem Stone Earth Collection Spring 2012 Swatches and Review!

2012-01-30T11:21:00.001-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend during this last weekend in January! I had a weekend full of lots of swatching so get ready for some fun stuff this week! First up, I have the new collection by Barielle for Spring 2012!

The Gem Stone Earth Collection is five shades in more neutral shades for spring. However a few of the colors are really cool shimmery shades! I was a bit apprehensive because I haven't had the best luck with Barielle polishes before, but they seem to have made some changes that are really helping them out as a brand! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 3 coats of Pink Quartz

First up in Pink Quartz. I had a bit of trouble with the formula on this one, I found it to be very thick so rather than 2 coats like I would normally use for a cream, I tried 3 more thin coats. After 2 coats it was a bit streaky but the third coat seemed to even it out. I might try to add some thinner to it to see if I can work out the thickness problem because this is a great neutral shade for spring, and would be great as "underwear" for other colors as well! I kind of think this was misnamed though, because to me, a shade with Quartz in the name should have some shimmer or sparkle to it since quartz is a sparkly stone, but that's just semantics at this point.

Above: 2 coats of Granite Glitter

I actually really love Granite Glitter! It almost reminds me of a frostier version of Chanel Graphite. Granite Glitter, while possibly misnamed because there isn't really glitter to it, is a very shimmery dark grey with the tiniest hints of sliver and a bit of green to it. I just love how it looks on the nail! This one the formula was great on, in fact it was practically a one coater but without being overly thick! This is definitely one of my favorites from this collection!

Above: 2 coats of Amber Sparkler

Amber Sparkler is the brown twin sister of Granite Glitter! Amber Sparkler is a really pretty brown/coppery shimmery polish. You can see the tiniest hint of the brush stroke on this polish but honestly, I didn't notice it until I blew up my pictures to put them on here! I actually really like this color for spring because it's neutral but still interesting, so it's not just a boring earth tone. Amber Sparkler is opaque in two coats with no issues with the formula.

Above: 2 coats of Back to Nature

Back to Nature ran into a few of the same formula problems as Pink Quartz. While it wasn't quite as thick, the formula was still far more thick and almost sticky than any of the shimmers. I got away with two thin coats of Back to Nature for full coverage, but I definitely had to take my time and go much slower than usual with the application. That being said, I think this nude is actually the perfect color for my skin tone! I'm not much of a nude wearer, but maybe after a bit of thinner, this could also be used as an "underwear" polish for me. If you are a nude wearer, beware that the formula will be thick but can be worked with.

Above: 2 coats of Green Opal

Last but most certainly not least is Green Opal. I actually love this color! The formula was great, two coats to full opaqueness and lots of pigment, and the color is pretty unique! Green Opal is almost a light olive green with gold shimmer in it! The gold shimmer gives it a warm tone and I just think this color is super pretty for the spring! It's also not so bright or so green that you can't wear this polish anywhere and still feel a bit funky! Green Opal is definitely a winner to me.

So there you have it, Barielle's new Spring 2012 collection. I will say that Barielle has really stepped it up in my mind. The formula on the cremes is still hard to work with and too thick to be easily applied, but I had no issues with the shimmers and really enjoyed the shimmers! Barielle is available online and sign up for their newsletter because they run sales all the time!

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

*These products were sent to me for my unbiased review. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.

Ozotic 506 Swatches and Review

2012-01-26T14:54:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you are all enjoying the new site! Today I have something to show you that I promised you yesterday but never got a chance to post! You saw what Ozotic 506 looked like when it was covered with flakies and matted, but now I want to show you it in all of it's duochrome glory! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of Ozotic 506 over 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism

Tell me this is not one of the most gorgeous duochromes you have ever seen? I can't believe I've had this for awhile and never blogged about it before! 506 is a gorgeous blue to purple duochrome with hints of copper to it. It's just stunning. Do you see the amazing flash between colors? When it's straight on in light, it definitely looks blue as that's the main color to it, but move your hand the slightest bit and the purple really comes out! Now the formula on this is a bit sheer so I find it best to layer one coat of it over a creme, and black really helps the duochrome quality to show up!

So there you have it, the gorgeous Ozotic 506. They have a few other duochromes and some gorgeous holographic/multichrome holographic (yes you read that right) polishes that I'll be showing you in the coming weeks as well!

What do you think of this polish? Are you a fan of duochromes? Any dupes?

New Look for Lacquered Lover and a Duochrome Flakie Matte Extravaganza!

2012-01-25T13:49:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers! Some exciting new stuff happening in Lacquered Lover world today! As I'm sure you've noticed if you are reading this blog post, Lacquered Lover got a polish change last night! The amazingly talented ladies from Mac & Mo redid the website for me and I love what they came up with! They are currently in the process of getting their own personal websites set up but if you'd like to contact them for any design or website inquiries (which you should because they are amazing to work with!) then shoot them an email at macandmo.design@gmail.com. Also if you'd like to see some of their other work, you can see Nicole's website HERE and Emily's website HERE! Thanks again ladies, I think it looks amazing!

Along with the new layout/header/font, I see that I can now reply to comments directly! So, if you are leaving comments, make sure you check back for a reply! I'm also playing around with making the pictures larger! Let me know what you think!

Now, to go along with my fabulous new website, I have a fabulous new manicure to show you! Later this afternoon I'll show you all the pieces that went into it, but for now, I will show you a few pictures of the finished product! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Yes lacquered lover, it's a duochrome flakie matted manicure. I'm obsessed with it! I started off with one coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism, my new favorite one coat black polish! Next came one coat of Ozotics 506 which I will give a more in depth post on later today. 506 is a gorgeous blue to purple duochrome! Then I added a new flakie, Picture Polish Festival on top before making the entire manicure matte! I love how matte flakies look and am so glad I discovered that if you matte a duochrome, it's still a duochrome!

So there you have it, an all new Lacquered Lover with a fun new manicure! I'm so excited with how far my little blog has come since starting it last May and thanks to all of you for sticking around for the ride! I'd love to hear your feedback on the new site so feel free to comment below!

What do you think of the new site? Do you like the matted flakie duochrome manicure?

ManGlaze Lesbihonest Swatches and Review (Or How I Named ManGlaze's Lesbihonest!)

2012-01-24T16:47:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! This afternoon I have an awesome treat for you (and for me!) First, a little back story to explain the title of this post. A few months ago, ManGlaze posted a sneak peek of a new color that they were developing. The name they came up with had something to do with girls kissing each other, but I felt like it wasn't quite right and suggested the name Lesbihonest to them (half jokingly.) Lo and Behold, 3 months later, Lesbihonest is here!

Above: All different bottle shots (each side) of Lesbihonest

Now, you might wonder why my bottle looks different from the ones on their website. That's because mine, and a few other peoples, are the non-color version that got sent out as a 'sorry' for Santorum being late and was sent before the actual color label was finished! And, the most exciting part of this all for me is that under the description of Lesbihonest on ManGlaze's Facebook Store, they give me a shout out! Read it HERE Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of Lesbihonest

Yes we have another one coater! Lesbihonest is a gorgeous fuschia matte polish that's packed full of shimmer! Look at the macro shot and how shimmery it is! I love it! This is an awesome color for spring and summer. Let's see it now with top coat!

Above: 1 coat of Lesbihonest with top coat

I'm honestly not sure if I like it better matted or with a top coat! It's gorgeous both way! I love how pigmented it is and how vibrant!

So there you have it, the first polish I've ever named and it's named Lesbihonest. My parents must be so proud. :) I actually adore this polish and think the label is hilarious and am really looking forward to wearing it this Spring and Summer!

What do you think of Lesbihonest? Do you prefer it matte or glossy?

ManGlaze Santorum Swatches and Review!

2012-01-24T11:40:00.002-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! I took a quick day off from blogging yesterday, but not to worry, I will more than make it up to you today! First up today we have one of the newest polishes by those crazy rascals over at ManGlaze called Santorum. Let's call this a "political polish" for those who lean towards the left and want to make a statement about their views on their nails.

Now, for those of you who don't live in the United States, or those of you who do but don't follow politics, I will try to put this as gently as I can. Rick Santorum is currently running for President. He is an ultra, ultra conservative who opposes gay marriage. He also seems to have a fondness for sweater vests. A writer named Dan Savage coined the term "Santorum" to mean something that's pretty inappropriate (and funny depending on where your politics fall) and ManGlaze, being the type of company that they are, named a polish after it. Now, if you decide to google what it means, remember that I warned you that you might find it gross, funny, fitting, inappropriate or offensive depending on your sense of humor, and that's all I'm going to say about that. Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of ManGlaze Santorum

Above: Macro Shot of Santorum

Ah Santorum. A lovely deep brown matte that has some copper and red shimmer to it. It's just gorgeous! And a one coater! I love one coat polishes! The application on this was usual for ManGlaze, absolutely flawless. Do you see how gorgeous that shimmer is? I love this color! Any time a matte has shimmer in it, it just looks stunning on the nail! Now let's take a look with a coat of top coat:

Ah I love how it comes alive under a top coat! Unfortunately my camera decided not to capture just how shimmery it was and I was too tired the last few days to notice but trust me, it's stunning!

Santorum is available on ManGlaze's FaceBook Page or on their Amazon page for $13.13 however you get 10% off with the code OCCUPYME.

What do you all think of Santorum? Must have or will you skip it? Any dupes?

Fun Friday Featuring Wine Grapes AND My 200th Post!

2012-01-20T15:43:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I just saw as I was about start writing this post that this will be my 200th post! That's so exciting! Who would have thought 7 months ago that I'd write 200 posts and still be going strong? Thanks to everyone who has been along for this awesome journey! I have a ton of fun doing this blog, working hard to make it better, and writing fun posts for you all to read! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

So I decided to try some nail art last night! I love wine so a wine glass or bottle seemed like a great idea. Then I remembered that my nails were super short now and it wouldn't fit so grapes it is! Wine is very special to me since my dad is the person who got me into wine (Hi Dad!) and my amazing boyfriend AJ and I met while working in a wine shop together! (Hi AJ!) So as you can see, wine and I have a very deep and meaningful relationship. I even got my sommelier certification 2 years ago!

Above: Macro shot of the grapes

Above: Macro shot of Razzle Dazzle

So I chose Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle for the main base because it's fairly wine colored and also used that to make the grapes! I also love how sparkly it is! Look at all that glitter! It was fully opaque in two coats. I kind of like that on the grapes they are a tiny bit sheer, it makes them look juicy! To make the contrast in the grapes, I just mixed a little white or black into Razzle Dazzle before dotting it. The accent nail is a base of Zoya Cho and the little leaves are China Glaze Starboard.

Above: Look! I did it on my left hand too! (Don't mind the broken ring finger nail!)

Above: Macro shot of grapes on left hand

So there you have it! Wine grapes! I thought this was a super fun manicure and am glad it worked out to be my 200th post! I absolutely adore every color I used in it and I think the grapes look pretty cute! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and get excited for some really fun stuff to come this week! Thanks again for reading and I look forward to the next 200 posts!

What do you think of this manicure? Would you like to see a tutorial?

Layering Day 5 - OPI Nicki Minaj Collection Featuring Fly, Save Me and Super Bass Shatter

2012-01-20T11:15:00.001-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! Today, for day 5 of Layering Week, I have a couple of the polishes I picked up from OPI's Nicki Minaj Collection that was recently released. I picked out 4 out of the 6 polishes that were released and today thought I'd show you two different layering combinations using a base of Fly! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Fly

I started with Fly, the only one of the cremes that stood out to me enough to buy from this collection! I wish my camera photographed how teal it is, because it's looking much more blue in my photograph, but in real life there is a lot more green to it! It has a great dusty quality to it that prevents it from looking neon and I just really like this creme! It was perfectly opaque in 2 coats and is very pigmented so it's a great spring polish in my opinion!

Above: 2 coats of Fly, one coat of Save Me

So the first layering combination I tried was with Save Me and Fly. Save Me is small silver microglitter that has blue and holographic bar glitter in it! I'm just not sure how I feel about bar glitter. It looks "hairy" to me, kind of like glitter exploded and got stuck in something. I like the colors and I like the idea, but the execution just doesn't do it for me.

Above: 2 coats of Fly, 1 coat of Super Bass Shatter

Now this is a combination I can get behind! I will be honest, I haven't worn a shatter manicure in a really long time, but I kind of love this one! Super Bass Shatter is a dark purple shatter that has some glitter in it! And, depending on the base color, it can go from fuchsia to magenta to dark purple! Plus it cracks super well unlike some other shatters (I'm looking at you Turquoise Shatter!) I really liked the look of this! The teal and the purple are a great combination and it's just super fun!

So there you have it, a couple of layering options with the Nicki Minaj Collection. What do you guys think of these colors? Are you a fan of bar glitter? Are you over Shatter or still loving it?

Layering Day 3 - Featuring a Jelly Sandwich Guest Post from Sarah at Chalkboard Nails!

2012-01-19T10:26:00.002-05:00

Good morning my fellow Lacquered Lovers! I have such a great treat for you guys today! One of my favorite bloggers, the lovely Sarah of Chalkboard Nails, wrote a guest post for Layering Week! I was so in love with my CND mood manicure from yesterday that I couldn't stand the thought of having to take it off yet, so luckily Sarah said she'd write a guest post! And, best of all, it's a guest post on a topic I've never done before, a jelly sandwich manicure! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

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Hello Lacquered Lovers, as Carly might say! :)

I thought I'd share a jelly sandwich with you today. Are you familiar with this type of manicure? It's where you take a jelly polish and sandwich it around glitter or flakies so that the pieces look buried in the jelly polish. The jelly is sheer, so you can still see all of the fanciness underneath the top layer! I've done this style of manicure a couple times before, and I absolutely love the look. I thought it would fit in great with Carly's Layering Week!

I started out with three coats of OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?. It is an orange "sorbet" polish, which is basically just OPI's name for their jelly finishes. Three coats seems like a lot, but jelly polishes go on so smoothly and nicely that it didn't feel thick at all.

Then, I added on a layer of OPI Rainbow Connection. Can you believe that I've had this glitter since the Muppets Collection came out but I haven't used it until now? Shame on me! It applied like a dream, unlike many other glitter polishes I know…

For my final layering step, I added on one single layer of OPI Do You Think I'm Tex-y?, which is a beautiful beet colored "sorbet" finish polish. I was hoping that putting the orange underneath it would change the color of the final look, and I think it did a little bit, but not as much as I was expecting.

What do you think? I love how the silver glitter all turned pink underneath the top layer of jelly.

Thanks for having me stop by, Carly, and I hope all of you Lovers enjoyed it!

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So there you guys have it! A gorgeous jelly sandwich! I was never that into the idea of a jelly sandwich manicure but these pictures are making me want to try it out! It just looks so squishy and colorful and fun! Thanks again Sarah for doing a guest post and everyone make sure you check out her blog at Chalkboard Nails!

Dior Garden Party Spring 2012 - Vernis Featuring Forget Me Not and Waterlily Swatches and Review

2012-01-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! For this afternoon's post, I have the latest polishes released by the House of Dior. Dior's entire Spring 2012 makeup line is called Garden Party and is full of pastels and floral themes. One of the biggest themes for the nail polish is the fact that they are scented!

Ah look at those beauties! But scented? I personally am not a fan of ANYTHING scented. I am very sensitive to smells and don't even use scented hand lotion, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about these polishes. But now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not is a gorgeous, red based grape purple shade. It has a hint of dustiness to it that really makes it beautiful and it's a bit darker than a lot of the purple popping up this spring so it's fairly unique in that sense! As usual with Dior, the formula was perfect, it had a ton of pigment and was fully opaque in 2 coats.

Above: 2 coats of Waterlily

I am in love with Waterlily! It's a gorgeous, minty green that has a blue base so it doesn't make me look yellow and it's packed with a fine shimmer that almost looks pearly! It's stunning. Fully opaque in 2 coats, tons of pigment, great formula, this is one of the best mint green polishes I have ever seen!

So, we all know that I think Dior makes a spectacular product, but here is why I can't keep these polishes. I find that the "scent" which is supposed to be roses is simply overpowering. At first, I thought it was just when it was wet that the smell would be so strong so I swatched these both on a nail wheel, put top coat on them, and let them sit overnight. The smell was still so strong the next day I had to throw the nail wheel out. Now, keep in mind that I know I am very sensitive to scented products and that I always smell things very strongly, but the boyfriend, who has no issue with scents, thought it was fairly strong as well. So, if you don't mind getting a strong whiff of a very perfume scented flower every time you have your hands near your face, then these colors are absolutely stunning and a dream to apply. However if you are someone who is not into scents, flowers or perfume, I'd recommend skipping these and buying one of the other amazing Diors that isn't scented. Since these polishes are Limited Edition, they are being sold for $23 and are available at Nordstrom, Dior's website and most Dior counters.

What do you think of these polishes? Any dupes? Any must haves? What do you think of scented polishes?

Layering Day 3 - CND Mood Ring Manicure

2012-01-18T10:57:00.001-05:00

Good morning Lacquered Lovers! In keeping with the theme of layering this week, I decided to try something out I saw a few months ago that looked amazing! One of the bloggers who got me interested in starting my blog, All Lacquered Up, did this awesome Mood Ring manicure using all different CND Effects layered over black. I decided to put my own spin on it by using a different base and different effects and I have to say, I love how it came out!

Here is a quick sneak peek at the finished product! I'm obsessed with it! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I began the manicure with one coat of CND Asphalt. I love that this polish is a one coater! This is definitely one of my favorite grey polishes as it's super pigmented and opaque in 1 coat! Now, on to the fun stuff.

So here is what you are looking at above. There are 3 stripes of CND effects on each nail, Emerald Shimmer, Ice Blue Shimmer and Scarlet Shimmer. I overlapped them slightly to blend the effect a bit better. You can really see the different shades in the macro shot but depending on how I'm holding my hand, you either get more of a blue, green or red/purple effect. I love it! But of course, I couldn't leave it just at this!

So I decided to add Amethyst Sparkle on top! I love the little purple glittery look this gives to the manicure and I think it helps blend in the stripes of shimmer effects as well! But wait! I still wasn't done with this layering adventure!

Last, I added my favorite of all the CND Colour Effects, Sapphire Sparkling! Sapphire Sparkling is packed full of tiny little bright blue sparkles and I just love it! This manicure is by far one of my favorites I've ever done! I love how in every picture, it looks completely different! It almost looks like a multichrome on the nail because depending how the light hits it, the dominant color changes!

What do you think of this layering effect? Would you like to see a tutorial on it? Have you tried this?

Kat Von D High Voltage Lacquer Featuring Wonderchild, Mad Max and No Regrets Swatches and Review!

2012-01-17T16:21:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers! For this afternoons post, I have a new brand! Well, not a new brand, but an establishes make up brand that's taking it's turn in the world of nail polish! Kat Von D, the tattoo artist from the shows Miami Ink and LA Ink, started a make up line a few years ago. I've always loved this line, just really great quality and I won't use any other liquid eyeliner than her tattoo liner! So as you can imagine, I was super excited when I saw these polishes pop up on Sephora one day!

Now there are 4 colors in this collection in total, but I simply can't wear yellows so I skipped Sparklehorse. How cute is the tattoo themed bottle? I did however buy these three so now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Wonderchild

First up we have Wonderchild. Wonderchild is a gorgeous neon purple glitter/glass fleck combination! I love it! I wish you could see how utterly sparkly this is in person, but I really love it on the nail! It was completely opaque in 2 coats which actually surprised me because the formula seemed a bit thin but I love the final product! In the bottle it almost looks like there will be a pink duochrome quality to it but it doesn't really show up on the nail. However I plan on trying to layer this a bit and see if I can't get it to come out!

Above: 3 coats of Mad Max

So in the pictures on Sephora's website, this absolutely looks like a blue to purple duochrome. In real life, Mad Max is a bright blue sparkle/glitter/glass fleck beauty with the tiniest bit of purple shimmer to it. The formula is very thin, and even after 3 coats there was Visible nail line, but look at how gorgeous that color is! However I saw this morning that The Polishaholic posted Mad Max layered over a darker color and the duochrome came out so I will have to give that a shot later this week! I still love the bright and glittery look of Mad Max on its own, but since it is a small bottle with a thin formula, I think layering is the way to go!

Above: 2 coats of No Regrets

Last but not least is the hot pink No Regrets! Similar to the others in this collection, No Regrets is a slightly thin sparkle/micro glitter/glass fleck combination that is super bright and fun! If this isn't the color of Barbie's dream Corvette, I'm not sure what is! I'm slowly getting into pink nail polishes, the brighter the better, and this definitely falls into that category! I only used two coats in these swatches and you can still see visible nail line, so I'm thinking this will be a layering polish as well.

All in all, I love the finish and brightness of these polishes, but for $12 for a 0.25 oz bottle I was a little disappointed. When you think about it, Chanel charged $25 for a 0.5 oz bottle, so the Kat Von D, per ounce, is almost the same cost and I"m not sure how I feel about that. I enjoyed these polishes, but they definitely will need to be layered to be worn otherwise will take a lot of coats to get rid of visible nail line. I do think these are very fun, but I also think they are over priced. However perhaps layering them will change my mind so I will report back once I do!

What do you think of these polishes? Did you order any? Any must haves? Any dupes?

Layering Day 2 - OPI Russian Navy with Zoya Maisie and Finger Paints Asylum!

2012-01-17T11:25:00.001-05:00

Good morning my fellow Lacquered Lovers! In keeping with the layering theme, and the flakie theme, today I have another layered flakie! And yes, it's over dark blue again. What can I say? I love dark blue nail polish! OPI Russian Navy is one of my all time favorite polishes actually. I've had it for years, it was one of the first "different" nail polishes I bought, meaning one that wasn't red or pink! It's an old classic that I gave a bit of a twist to with not one, but two different flakies layered over it! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

So here is what you are looking at: 2 coats of OPI Russian Navy, a gorgeous deep navy blue with purple shimmer, topped with one coat of Zoya Maisie, a blue with slight green flakie, and all that topped with Finger Paints Asylum, a red and blue flakie! Oh, and I used Essie Matte About You to matte the entire manicure except my ring finger which I left shiny! Matte flakies is truly one of my favorite manicure looks! I love all the different colors and different sized flakies in this manicure! I have yet to find a flakie and dark blue combination I don't love!

What do you guys think of this manicure? Too many flakies or not enough? Are you a fan of Russian Navy like I am?

Butter London Spring/Summer 2012 Swatches and Review!

2012-01-16T14:45:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon Lacquered Lovers! For today, I have an amazing new collection from the color geniuses at Butter London! Their Spring/Summer collection for 2012 is bright and fun with a really interesting combination of color!

I picked up the entire collection when it was released at Ricky's last week! I was only planning on getting 2 or 3 but when I saw them in person, I simply couldn't resist! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Slapper

First up we have Slapper, a gorgeous bright teal shade. Please ignore how red my hands are on the first picture, but it was the only way to make the teal mostly color accurate! It's even more vibrant and has a tad more green to it in real life! Slapper is very pigmented and the formula was great, going on completely opaque in two coats! I love the teal trend that's popping up this spring, it's such a fun, bright color!

Above: 2 coats of Trout Pout

Next up is Trout Pout, a bright salmon coral with some touches of pink to it! From the promo pictures, I thought this would be a pale pink on par with Teddy Girl, but it's so much more peachy toned and bright! I actually really loved this one! Trout Pout was definitely a surprise find for me from this collection because I wasn't expecting on liking it but I think this might be the perfect springtime pedicure color! Very pigmented and opaque in two coats, this is the type of polish that Butter London thrives at making.

Above - 2 coats of Bossy Boots

Another trend that all the companies seem to be doing this spring is green! I'm very excited about this because I love green nail polish! Bossy Boots is a very pale green, somewhere between mint and pistachio I'd say. This shade is a bit dusty but I love that it doesn't make me look too yellow and it's subtle enough to get away with for just about any event, but since it's green, it's still kind of fun! Like the other cremes in this collection, Bossy Boots is fully opaque in 2 coats!

Above: 3 coats of Disco Biscuit

Above: Macro shot of Disco Biscuit

Ah Disco Biscuit. First of all, I love the name! Is anyone else who is a reader a fan of the Disco Biscuits like I am? Anyway, the nail polish Disco Biscuit is a hot pink jelly polish with the tiniest blue/iridescent sparkle you can imagine. Take a look at the macro shot and you can see the tiny little specks of blue! Now since Disco Biscuit is more of a jelly base, I did three thin coats above and there is a tiny bit of visible nail line still showing. I think for me, this will be a polish I layer either over a pink creme or white creme to really make it pop!

Above: 3 coats of Knackered

Above: Macro shot of Knackered

I can be honest. Knackered is the polish I was most looking forward to from this collection! From the promo pictures, it almost looked like a grey/purple duochrome. On the nail, it's definitely more grey leaning but with a pearly finish and packed with holographic microglitter! Now this shade is sheer, but it was made fully opaque in 3 coats. Yet, it felt to me like this is a polish that should be layered, so here are a few layering options below!

Above: 2 coats of Slapper, 1 coat of Knackered

Above: 2 coats of Trout Pout, 1 coat of Knackered

As you can see in the macro shot of Trout Pout and Knackered above, there is a lot of sparkles! My camera couldn't capture how glittery it looks, but it's such a gorgeous look! It's very subtle but when the light catches your nails, it's simply stunning! I can't wait to try Knackered over some darker colors this week!

So there you have it, the Butter London Spring/Summer 2012 Collection! 5 gorgeous shades! Butter London retails between $14 and $16. I think my favorites from the collection would have to be Slapper and Knackered, although all 5 were real beauties!

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

Ricky's Mattese Elite Carnaval Collection Giveaway!

2012-01-16T11:41:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Just a quick post here with a giveaway! Ricky's, my favorite NYC Beauty store, is holding a fabulous giveaway amongst their blogger network! Here is how it works:

If you live in the United States, you are welcome to enter! Whoever wins, both the winner and the blog the winner comes from (aka your truly here!) will win the ENTIRE new Mattese Elite Carnaval Collection! Simply fill out the form below and you're set! Here is some information from Ricky's about the new Carnaval Collection:

“Escape the mundane and drab this Winter with the latest nail polish collection from Ricky's NYC's Mattese Elite, inspired by the Carnaval celebrations held in Brazil. These glossy solid shades are a collage of neon -- bright, intense and immediate party-starters! NEW for Winter/Spring 2012!”

MEET THE COLLECTION:
-Rainha: a regal baby pink
-Fantasias: a mysterious dark grape
-Desfiles de Samba: a parade-worthy light green
-Samba Enredo: a crowd-pleasing rose-pink
-Passistas: an electric purple
-Rei Momo: a high-voltage hot pink

Good luck to everyone and tell your friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Layering Day 1 - Hyper by Gareth Pugh for MAC and Finger Paints Asylum Matte!

2012-01-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! Just a quick post this morning before a full on review this afternoon but I couldn't wait to show you this! As some of you know, I had a little poll on the right side of the blog last week on what you ladies would love to see the most and layering won! So this week I will be showing you some fun layering combinations! After my obsession with flakies last week, of course the first combination includes some of my favorite things, blue nail polish, flakies and matte top coat! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Hyper

First I wanted to show you what a beauty Hyper is! I saw Hyper came out as a limited edition collaboration between designer Gareth Pugh and MAC at the end of 2011 and had to get it! First of all, the bottle is amazing! I love the shape! This polish looked like it would be a blue to purple duochrome in the bottle and in the press shots so I was slightly disappointed when that didn't happen, but it's still a stunning blue! And practically a one coater! I did a second for good measure here but honestly, it didn't need it!

Since I always like to add some flair to my manicures, I then decided to add one coat of Finger Paints Twisted on top of Hyper! Then I used Essie Matte About You to make all nails except the ring finger matte. There is something about matte flakies that I just love. It almost looks three dimensional but then it looks flat! And since Twisted has so many colors in it, I just am obsessed with this look!

What did you think of this layering? Are you a fan of matte flakies or do you prefer shiny?

Fun Friday Featuring the exclusive Carly Collection!

2012-01-13T12:21:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers! Today I have something very exclusive and exciting to show you all!

In December some nail polish gals and myself were involved with a Secret Santa! My very lovely Secret Santa Anissa sent me these exclusive polishes named after things I love! She created these "frankens" for me in my favorite colors? I was so excited, my very own Carly Collection! So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Empire Records

First we have Empire Records, named after one of my favorite movies of all time! I can seriously quote just about every line of this movie! Empire Records is a gorgeous navy blue jelly that has different shades of blue and silver glitter in it! There is even a hint of holo! I love it!

Above: 2 coats of Happy Hour

Ah Happy Hour! Who doesn't love Happy Hour? My nail polish version of Happy Hour is a gorgeous turquoise jelly with silver and holographic micro glitter and bar glitter! I love how every nail looks different! This polish is amazing!

Above: 2 coats of Party in Prague

Last but certainly not least is Party in Prague! Prague is one of my all time favorite cities. I was lucky enough to spend a couple months after college traveling around Europe and Prague was my favorite place I visited! Party in Prague is a gorgeous dark purple jelly that's packed with small and large hexagonal glitter in different colors! It IS like a party on my nails!

So there you have it! The super exclusive, one of a kind Carly Collection! Thanks again to Anissa for making these for me, I love them!

What do you think of my exclusive frankens? Do you have any frankens you love?

Ricky's Rockin' Beauty Awards!

2012-01-12T15:10:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Just a quick post to let you guys know about an awesome contest! The amazing beauty supply store Ricky's is hosting a contest for all your favorite beauty products! Simply fill out your nominations (and all the other information) on the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win a $100 gift card to Ricky's!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Finger Paints Special Effects Collection Swatches and Review!

2012-01-12T10:43:00.001-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! As many of you know, I am in love with flakie nail polish top coats. I love them! I love how they can change any manicure and give it an entirely new look!

Now Finger Paints is a brand I have never tried before because I don't have easy access to a Sally's Beauty Store. However, my fabulous friend Marissa (who I've known since we were 10 and went to sleepaway camp together) recently rekindled our friendship over a love of nail polish and she sent me an awesome package that included these beauties! (Hi Marissa! Thanks again!!!) I was super excited to try these amazing new flakies so be prepared for a lot of pictures below! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism topped with 1 coat of Twisted

Twisted is definitely the flakie effect that has the most colors and I love it! I can see blue, pink, red, green, gold and copper and I'm sure there are more! I love that the flakies are different colors and different sizes because it really gives the manicure a three dimensional look that's fabulous! This kind of reminds me of Nfu-Oh 60 but in a clear base but regardless, I can't wait to try this over basically every dark color I own!

Above: 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism topped with 1 coat of Flecked

Flecked is a gorgeous green and blue flakie combination reminiscent of Zoya Opal and Maisie but in a clear base! I love blues and greens so put them together with flakies and I'm a happy girl! Once again, the different sized flakies give this an awesome look that I just adore!

Above: 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism topped with 1 coat of Flashy

Flashy is a red and copper flakie that has flashes of green! You can see the green flash the strongest in the top picture here. It seems to me that Flashy didn't have as many large flakes as some of the others in this collection but it's still gorgeous!

Above: 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism topped with 1 coat of Asylum

Asylum is a flakie with red, blue and a bit of gold. Asylum is definitely much more sparse and has much smaller flakes than the rest of the collection, so if you want a more subtle look that stays within its colors and doesn't have the color shift, then this is the best one for you! I personally like a bit more "bling" when it comes to flakies but I think 2 or 3 coats of this would help the sparseness and really be pretty!

Above: 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism topped with 1 coat of Motley

Last but certainly not least is Motley, a gorgeous dark blue, royal blue, turquoise and green flakie. Like Asylum, Motley is more sparsely flaked and has smaller pieces but it's such a pretty color combination! It almost looks like the ocean to me! I'm always a sucker for blue and I just love Motley!

Now, being a crazy nail polish fanatic, I had to see how it would look if I did one coat of EACH of the 5 flakies over black! What you see above is the final product! I kind of love it! It's intense and bright and colorful and just all around amazing! I highly recommend this if you have all five!

So there you have it, 5 gorgeous new flakies from Finger Paints. I will also say that Finger Paints Black Expressionism is an amazing one coat black polish that might be my new favorite black creme! All in all, I love these flakie top coats, I just can't get enough of them!

What do you think of this collection? Any must haves? What other combinations would you like to see?

Illamasqua Force, MILF & Jo'Mina Swatches and Review

2012-01-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you are all having a great Wednesday! Today I have some gorgeous colors from the Illamasqua core collection to show you! Illamasqua is a brand that I never really thought to buy until I started to blog but once I did, I fell in love! Their formula is fantastic and totally worth the $14 price tag at Sephora. So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 1 coat of Illamasqua Force
First up is Illamasqua Force. This color is gorgeous! And it's a one coater! Force is a deep cornflower blue shade that is super pigmented! In certain lights it has a bit of a purple undertone and other times it looks almost electric blue! I'm in love! This is one of the best creme polishes I have ever owned! In fact, the manicure I'm wearing right now uses it as a base! If you don't already own this and love blues, this is a polish you need.

Above: 2 coats of Illamasqua MILF

Illamasqua certainly has a way with names, don't they? MILF is a dusty mint green. I always love mint greens but rarely can I wear them since they can make my hands look yellow. Luckily, this is not the case with MILF! It doesn't wash me out and is a great spring color! The formula on MILF is great, opaque in two coats, no streaks and just looks very pretty on!

Above: 2 coats of Illamasqua Jo'Mina

Now I've seen a few different posts on Jo'Mina and I was expecting a much brighter purple but I still love the version I got! Jo'Mina is a gorgeous lilac creme. Unlike many lilacs which can get streaky, Jo'Mina applied perfectly with two coats! I love that it's a brighter lilac, unlike many of the more washed out lavenders I've seen in the last few years. This is another perfect for Spring color!

As usual, I loved all these polishes. So far I have not found an Illamasqua I don't like! The colors are opaque and pigmented, the formulas apply really well and the names make me giggle. Illamasqua is available at Sephora for $14. I can't wait to see what they come out with for 2012!

What did you think of these polishes? Any must haves? Any dupes?

*These polishes were sent to me for my unbiased review. If you'd like more information, please see the disclosure policy above.

Zoya Fleck Collection for Spring 2012 Swatches and Review!

2012-01-10T10:47:00.002-05:00

Good morning my fellow Lacquered Lovers! I hope you all enjoyed my swatches and review of the Zoya True Collection yesterday! For this morning, I have the three effect top coats that are being released at the same time called the Fleck Collection!

The Zoya Fleck Collection consists of three flakie overcoats that are made from Mylar. Maisie is light blue and green flecks in a sheer blue base, Chloe is pink and green Mylar in a sheer pink base and Opal is a green fleck in a sheer green base. These are all clearly layering polishes because the effect doesn't really show on the nail alone so I'll show you a few different combinations in this post! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Cho. From top to bottom - Maisie, Chloe, Opal, Cho on its own

First up I thought I'd show you all three over a nude so you can see how the sheer bases can change lighter colors! As you can see, the flakes themselves in Maisie and Opal are fairly similar, but with the bases it gives the polish a cool tint!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Bevin topped with 1 coat of Chloe

I was actually shocked how much I loved this combination! Bevin is a great sage green from Zoya's True Collection and the pink and light green flakies from Chloe is a great contrast! It totally changes the polish in a great way! I love that there are two different colors of flakies in here that almost make it look like two different layers! As you can see, there are a LOT of flakies in here as this was just one coat of Chloe!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Tru topped with one coat of Zoya Maisie
I'm obsessed with this combination! I just love Zoya Tru with its flecks and warm purple tone but put a blue/green flakie on top and it's simply gorgeous! The flakies really pop and give this manicure a three dimensional look that I just love. The flakies in Maisie are just as dense as Chloe and it looks fantastic with just one coat!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Lotus topped with 1 coat of Opal

I had to get a macro shot of this combination because I love it! Lotus is the cooler toned purple from the True Collection and adding Opal on top to give it green and a hint of blue flakies is gorgeous! I love the contrast!

Above: Zoya Kristen topped with (from top to bottom) Maisie, Chloe and Opal
Just one more shot of each color on the nail! This time I used a grey as a base, Zoya Kristen from the Feel Collection this past winter, and here is where you can truly see the difference best between Maisie and Opal!

All in all, I love these! Flakie top coats are a great way to spruce up any manicure and give it a little something extra. There are a lot of flakies circling out there in the nail polish world right now, but I love these! The sheer colored bases give a little something extra to a manicure by changing the base color ever so slightly and I love that in each flakie, there is 2 colors. Opal and Maisie are fairly similar in the flakies in them, however Opal definitely has more green and Maisie has more blue. This collection will be available on January 13th through Zoya's website!

What do you think of the Fleck Collection?

*These polishes were sent to me for my unbiased review. If you would like more information, please see my disclosure policy above.

Zoya True Collection for Spring 2012 Swatches and Review!

2012-01-09T12:33:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I had a fabulous time getting acquainted with my new light box so you'll have to tell me how you like my new pictures! I'm very excited to finally have fully color accurate pictures! So I took the chance this weekend to swatch a ton of polishes, and the first set I did was the new Zoya True Collection for Spring 2012.

Last week I did a preliminary post of the colors swatched on a nail wheel but today you'll get the full post! Also check back later for the Fleck Collection! And now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Cho

First up we have Cho! Now I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this one since nudes are generally not my thing but I kind of like this! There is a very subtle shimmer to it and it has this toasted marshmallow look to it that I like! It also doesn't make my hands look weird like a lot of nudes do, plus it was fully opaque in 2 coats and had great pigmentation so I'm a fan! Finally a nude I might actually wear!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Farah

Farah is another nude from the True Collection, however it's much more beige and grey based for cooler toned girls. It's not a color I really wear too often but the application was superb and it actually looks cute with some of the flecks! I will show you later how you can really change the color and how it's a great base!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Bevin

I love Bevin. There, I said it. Bevin is a gorgeous dusty sage color that doesn't make my skin look yellow! It's awesome! I love this color for spring because it's muted but has a gorgeous and different color tone to it! The formula is great on this polish as well, fully opaque in 2 coats and lots of pigment to give a great color!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Skylar

Skylar is a stunning slate blue with tones of grey and silver shimmer packed in! I love it! It's always fun when a shimmer is really apparent in a polish but not overpowering like a glitter can be. Skylar balances that line perfectly! I love that it's shimmery without being too in your face and the grey in the blue gives it a dusty and muted look that is gorgeous. This one is a real winner!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Tru

Above: Macro shot of Zoya Tru

Zoya true is a gorgeous warm toned purple that's packed with gold and red flecks! I love it! It's so unique, I definitely do not have a dupe of this in my collection. I just love it when Zoya does flecks, truly no other company has perfected it like they can! This purple is warm and light enough to be worn in spring and summer but dark enough to wear all year round! Like all the others, fully opaque in two coats and simply gorgeous!

Above: 2 coats of Zoya Lotus

Above: macro shot of Zoya Lotus

For those of you who prefer cooler tones, Zoya Lotus is for you! This dusty purple is definitely blue based but has pink flecks in it so really make it interesting! Like Tru, I definitely do not have a dupe for this and love that while it's cool toned, it still looked nice on me!

All in all, I love this collection! I like that they have both warm and cool toned so there is something for everyone and all the colors seem very unique! These colors will be released on January 13th through Zoya's website and are definitely worth getting! Stay tuned later to see my swatches of the Fleck Collection!

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

Fun Friday Featuring Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe and Butter London Marrow

2012-01-06T15:34:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Some exciting things are happening in Lacquered Lover world today! First and foremost is that I finally got a lightbox! It was delivered to my apartment this afternoon and I plan on spending part of this weekend perfecting my photos and also updating my stash list! The second exciting thing happening is that I have some awesome polishes to show you next week so get excited! Lastly, my web designers are hard at work putting the finishing touches on the new website so get excited! Now, without further ado, on to the Fun Friday polishes!

Don't you just love putting two gorgeous polishes together for something amazing? Butter London Marrow is a totally underrated purple in my opinion! It has a great formula, is completely opaque in 2 coats, super pigmented, and it has a tiny silver shimmer to it. Add Deborah Lippmann to it and it's perfection! The accent nail put one coat of Lippmann's Across The Universe on top of Marrow and it's just stunning! I always love Across the Universe and it's fun finding new ways to wear it! Check out a macro shot of Across the Universe below!

That's all for this week's Fun Friday! Make sure you check back next week for some super fun polishes, reviews and new pictures!

What did you think of this manicure? Did you do a fun Friday manicure this week?

Zoya True and Fleck Collection Swatches!

2012-01-05T14:41:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Do I have a treat for you today! Yesterday I received the new Zoya True and Fleck Collections to review and while I didn't have time to swatch them all on my hands, I did swatch them all on a nail wheel for you! Stay tuned early next week for my full review but enjoy the swatches today! And now, without further ado, on to the nail polish!

Above: From left to right - Cho, Farah, Bevin, Skylar, Tru, Lotus

Above: From Left to Right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

These colors are gorgeous! And Flakies! This is the most excited I've been about a collection in awhile! First let's discuss the polish in the True Collection briefly, then we'll get to the flakie top coats from the Fleck collection!

Cho - This shade is fairly reminiscent of some of the Feel colors, but since I didn't get any of the nudes I'm not complaining! There is the tiniest bit of a pink shimmer to this light nude shade that makes it more fun in my opinion, but I'll have to see how it looks on my hands this weekend! This is definitely a warm nude though so there is hope it will look good on pale girls like me!

Farah - This nude is definitely for the cooler toned gals since there is a lot of grey in the beige shade. I like that this one is a cream as opposed to doing two shimmery nudes!

Bevin - I love muted green polishes for spring! Bevin is a gorgeous dusty green with some grey to it. It's so pretty!

Skylar - I'm in love with this polish! A dusty grey/blue (but it definitely errs on the side of blue) that is packed with silver shimmer! It's muted but fun! Absolutely stunning!

Tru - Now I was a bit worried when I saw two purple polishes in this collection but they are both amazing! Tru is a fairly deep red based purple that has a ton of red and gold shimmer! It's so glowy! I love how lit up it looks while still retaining that warm purple feel. Gorgeous!

Lotus - Last but certainly not least is Lotus. Lotus is a more blue based purple with pink shimmer! I love that they did one warm toned purple and one cool toned purple and that they are both stunning!

Maisie - Blue flakies that can look green in a very sheer light blue base!

Opal - Green flakies that have hints of gold in a very sheer light green base!

Chloe - Pink flakies that have hints of green in a very sheer light pink base!

Phew! That's a lot of polishes! Not to worry, next week I will have a more in depth analysis but for now, let's look how each color looks with each of the flakie top coats!

Above: Cho - From left to right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

Above: Farah - From left to right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

Above: Bevin - From left to right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

Above: Skylar - From left to right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

Above: Tru - From left to right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

Above: Lotus - From left to right - Maisie, Opal, Chloe

Flakies just make everything so much more fun! I do find that Maisie and Opal look pretty similar over most colors, but when I do my full post next week I will try them over some other shades as well to test out the differences! All in all, I am loving these two collection! I love that the polishes in the True Collection are muted but very unique with different color shimmers and I just love flakies so the Fleck Collection is definitely for me! These polishes will be available starting January 13th for $8 each!

What do you think of these collection? Any must haves? Any dupes you can think of?

*These products were sent to me for review. If you have any questions, please refer to the disclosure policy above.

Dr.'s REMEDY Holiday 2011 Jolly and Joy Collection

2012-01-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers and happy new year to you all! I will have another fun post later today but first I wanted to show you something that came out last month and I didn't get a chance to show you in 2011! So, I figure one last holiday collection is a great way to kick off 2012! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of Essential Emerald

Up first is the gorgeous ESSENTIAL Emerald. This stunning shade of green has a ton of micro shimmer to it that I love! It's perfectly opaque in two coats and the shimmer really gives it great dimension. This was almost a one coater but two coats gives it the perfect pigmentation.

Above: 2 coats of REVIVE Ruby Red

Every holiday collection needs a perfect red and Dr.'s REMEDY got it right with REVIVE Ruby Red! I love how deep this color is but it doesn't even come close to blackened territory! The shimmer looks so festive and the opacity was amazing with two coats. If this color doesn't scream "party!" then I don't know what would! I love that this is a true red and doesn't get orange or blue as well!

Above: 2 coats of PASSION Purple

I had a bit of trouble capturing the true color of this polish but trust me when I say it's really pretty! PASSION Purple is a bit magenta leaning which is what gives it a warm glow rather than a blue/purple look. The shimmer is very festive and this color looks incredibly rich on the nails! As usual, 2 coats gave it perfect opacity and it's so shiny even without top coat!

Above: 2 coats of RESOLUTION Red Glitter

A glitter! I was so excited when I got the original press release for these colors that there was a glitter involved! In fact not one, but two! The first one I tried was RESOLUTION Red Glitter which is red, sliver and copper glitter all packed into one! I love that the glitter was opaque in 2 coats but wasn't thick as some glitters can be! The effect of the different shades makes it look almost like a warm pink but up close you can see the red. Look at how sparkly it is in the last shot!

Above: 2 coats of SERENE Silver Glitter

Last but certainly not least is SERENE Silver Glitter. I'm in love! Silver, blue and purple glitter all in one? It's like the perfect storm of glitter goodness! Like RESOLUTION Red Glitter, SERENE Silver Glitter is opaque in 2 coats but not thick. I love the effect of the different colors! It's absolutely stunning and the perfect party polish!

All in all, these polishes were great. Dr.'s REMEDY formula is always fantastic and I love that they don't have toxic chemicals and the polish is actually good for your nails! Dr.'s REMEDY retails for $17 and can be found on their website. I think my favorites would be ESSENTIAL Emerald because it's just such a gorgeous green (and it doesn't make my skin look yellow like many greens can) and SERENE Silver Glitter because it's so unique!

What did you all think of this collection? Did you pick any up when they first came out? Any must haves for you? Any dupes?

Happy Holidays from Lacquered Lover with a Santa Manicure!!!

2011-12-23T12:03:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you are all having a wonderful start to the holiday season! I have a super fun manicure to show you today, but first, some news! This will be my last post of 2011! I want to thank all of you for visiting my little nail polish corner of the Internet! 2011 was a fantastic year for me, I had the opportunity to start this blog and watch it grow with all of your help and it's just been an absolutely wonderful experience! I look forward to it continuing in 2012! I leave for vacation with my family tomorrow to celebrate the new year so I won't be back on until January 4th but don't think I forgot about you! I plan on taking pictures of my nail polish adventures along the way!

In other news, Lacquered Lover is getting a major overhaul early next year so keep your eyes open for a major "polish change" to come on the blog! I'm super excited about it and can't wait to share it with all of you! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

Santa nails! I actually did this manicure a few weeks ago for an amazing event called SantaCon. There are SantaCons all around the world and it acts as a fundraiser for charities while people get to dress up in holiday outfits and have a fabulous day! I couldn't decide what kind of a Santa manicure to do, so I did three different ones all rolled into one! The red base for all of them is China Glaze Phat Santa from the 2010 Holiday Collection which is just a stunning deep red cream! I love this polish so much! Then I used a white striping polish for all the white, gold striper for all the gold, black striper for the black and a silver one for the belt buckle! I think the Santa coat was my favorite! Here I showed you both hands and some close ups so you can see that it is possible to do nail art on both hands!

Here is just a little picture of me in my full Santa costume from that day:

So there you have it! The last post of 2011 and some fun nail art! I hope that you and your loved ones all have a wonderful holiday season and new year that is full of love, happiness and health! I can't wait to come back in 2012 with some new reviews, tutorials, swatches and all fun things nail polish related for you all! Thanks again for a fantastic year!

What do you think of the crazy Santa nails? Any fun plans for the holidays?

Happy Hanukkah! An Attempted Menorah Manicure!

2011-12-20T15:02:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers. Today's post is another Hanukkah manicure, or at least an attempt at a menorah manicure! For the first time you will see both my hands together! Yes, I have two of them! :) But first, I want to wish a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing mom! (Hi Mom!) Unfortunately I can't hang out with her on her birthday this year but I'm very excited to celebrate when my whole family goes on vacation together next week! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Ok I know the lighting in the pictures aren't the best (and neither is the nail art) but it's kind of cute! Yes, I realize my flames came out more like Hershey Kisses but it was my first try! The polishes in this post are both Sinful Colors. The blue background is Midnight Blue which is a gorgeous deep royal blue shimmer and the Gold is Flower Girl from their nail art line! I love how pigmented their nail art polishes are! I tried to freehand the flames to show the 8 candles that would be on a Menorah!

So there you have it, an attempt at a menorah manicure! Once again Happy Hanukkah to all those who begin celebrating tonight and Happy Birthday to my awesome mom!

What do you think of the menorahs?

Hanukkah Manicure featuring Deborah Lippmann I Love The Nightlife, NARS Night Flight and Zoya Trixie!

2011-12-19T16:10:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! As some of you may know, Hanukkah is fast approaching! The first night starts tomorrow at sundown so I decided it was time to try out some Hanukkah themed manicures for my fellow Jewish nail polishaholics! Since I attempted a few times to do a dreidel and it just wasn't happening for me, today I give you a little manicure in blue and silver as a start to the holiday! And now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Please excuse the messy job I did painting my nails late last night! I started off with two coats of NARS Night Flight. You might remember I reviewed this polish a few months ago when the entire Night Series was released. Night Flight is a gorgeous midnight blue with just a hint of shimmer! I love this blue! Plus the formula on it is so rich that it looks amazing on the nail! Then since I hadn't done a tape manicure in awhile, I decided to do an accent nails with my favorite silver Zoya Trixie. Trixie is super pigmented and is opaque in one coat, so I cut thin strips of tape to make stripes! Lastly, I decided the manicure needed a bit of glitter so I added Deborah Lippmann I Love the Nightlife. I swear every time I wear this polish I love it more! The formula is a bit thick and the glitter comes out in clumps but you can use the brush to pretty easily distribute the glitter around. I just love the mirrored disco ball look that it gives!

What do you all think of the first Hanukkah manicure of the week? Have you tried any Hanukkah manicures yet?

Fun Friday Featuring a Cupcake Manicure!

2011-12-16T11:12:00.001-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! I realize that this whole week had "fun" manicures but today's manicure is extra special and this blog post is dedicated to someone awesome! I've been at my job for over 2 years now and one of the best parts of it is I get to see my "work wife" Anoush every day! She never fails to make me smile, she's an awesome person to be around (and she makes me coffee!) and I just love getting to hang out with her every day! It helps that she loves nail polish as well and it's always fun when she comes over for a polish date or when I bring nail polish in for work for her to play with. Needless to say, we're very close! Since today happens to me the lovely Anoush's birthday (Happy birthday Anoush!) I decided to do an extra special manicure for her! She's an awesome baker and she loves glitter so I had to find a way to combine the two, so here is what I did for her! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

CUPCAKES! This was my first try at a cupcake manicure and I think it came out pretty cute! The base is one of my favorite polishes, Deborah Lippmann Forget You, a black jelly packed with multi colored glitter! Then for the cupcake, the base is Zoya Robyn with stripes of Essie Borrowed and Blue. The icing is NARS Shiro-Nuri which is by far the most opaque white polish I've ever used! Then lastly the cherry on top was from my Sinful Colors red striper and the sprinkles were Color Club polishes from the Poptastic collection whose name I can't remember! It's a bit messy (and these pictures are pre-clean up) but I like my little cupcake! Plus, you can never go wrong with a Deborah Lippmann glitter!

So happy birthday Ms. Anoush! I can't wait to celebrate you and hope you like your special manicure!

What do you think of the cupcakes? Have you done any fun Friday manicures recently?

Penguin Manicure Featuring Orly Sweet Peacock!

2011-12-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Today's post begins with a story. I love penguins. I always have. On our first date that wasn't really a date, my now amazing boyfriend and I went to the Central Park Zoo and had a blast in the penguin house. The first present he ever bought me was adopting me a penguin and a penguin necklace. Every few months we go and check in on "our" penguins, so let's just say that penguins are near and dear to my heart. When I first started doing some nail art, I promised him that at some point, I'd do a penguin for him! So last night, the day finally came. And now, without further ado, on to the polish!

PENGUIN!!! Ok I know he's a little goofy looking, but it was my first try so I'm ok with it! The base is the gorgeous Orly Sweet Peacock that was another gift from my awesome Secret Santa Anissa and what a stunning blue! It was practically a one coater but I added a second for good measure but I love the gorgeous blue foil finish! Then I drew both the penguin outline and the white belly by hand with Sinful Colors Stripers, did the eyes with a dotting tool and drew the beak and feet in gold by hand! I can't help but smile today as I look down at my goofy little penguin! I got the idea for the shape of this manicure from the amazing MaD Manis so check it out for a great tutorial!

What do you think? Are you a penguin fan? Have you been trying any fun nail art lately?

Snowflake Winter Manicure Featuring Zoya Kristen and Orly Royal Navy

2011-12-13T11:51:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! Life in New York has gotten a bit crazy lately between the holiday season that is upon us and my new found efforts to get into graduate school! So please bear with me if my posting is slightly more sporadic in the upcoming weeks/months. I am going to continuously be swatching when I can and sharing my nail polishes with you all! So, since I didn't have time to swatch last weekend, you guys are going to be getting a lot of fun nails of the day and nail art! Today I will show you my first two attempts at snowflakes that feature two brand new nail polishes! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Snowflakes! I had so much fun doing this manicure! This was actually my second attempt at snowflakes, the first I'll show you a bit further down. Since Zoya has been doing all their flash promotions on their facebook page and twitter, I took advantage of one and got the three grey colors from the new Feel Collection. What you see above is two coats of Zoya Kristen. I LOVE this color! It's a blue based Grey, very similar to Essie Chinchilly but more blue and it's such a gorgeous grey! I knew I wanted something fun but subtle, so I figured silver snowflakes with my Milani Silver Nail Art Striper would show up a bit but be very pretty. I was too afraid to try a snowflake on every finger so I only did two on each hand and on the other fingers I used a silver sparkle Sinful Colors nail art striper to make it look like falling snow! I ended up loving the combination!

This was my first attempt at a snowflake manicure from last week! I used Orly Royal Navy as the base that I got from a lovely nail polish secret Santa (Hi Anissa! Thanks again, I love it!) Royal Navy is a gorgeous deep blue with bright blue shimmer in it that's absolutely stunning! I can't believe I never had this color before because I am in love with it! I topped it off with an accent nail of a silver snowflake because it was one of those days that was bitterly cold and it just seemed to fit!

So there you have it. Snowflake manicures! I love them! They are super simple to do and look so pretty! What do you all think? Have you tried a snowflake manicure yet? Would you like to see a tutorial on how to do them?

LACQUERED LOVER AND RICKY'S MATTESE ELITE GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

2011-12-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! I hope you all had a wonderful winter weekend! Today I finally have the winners of the amazing Mattese Elite Giveaway hosted by Ricky's!

Congrats Maria! She has been notified via email and has 48 hours to respond! Everyone else who has won a giveaway from me recently, be advised that your packages will be going out this week! Stay tuned later today for more swatches and reviews!

Deborah Lippmann The Future is Yours Swatches and Review

2011-12-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! This is just a Deborah Lippmann filled week now isn't it? Today, I have another gem from the Barney's exclusive collection. Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above: 2 coats of The Future Is Yours

I absolutely believe that this is the nail polish we will all be wearing 500 years from now when we have colonies on the moon. The Future is Yours is a very sheer white/purple/blue iridescent polish. Now I'm careful with calling it iridescent and not duochrome because the color doesn't shift the way it does with a duochrome, but more has flashes of brilliance in different colors. I liked this color ok but it was far too sheer for my liking. So, I did what I do with all sheer polishes and layered it over one coat of Wet N Wild Black Creme:

Gorgeous! Purple, teal, blue, turquoise, it's like a peacock! This color is just stunning over black! I can't wait to try it over a dark purple and a dark blue to see how it changes the flashes!

What do you think of this polish? What colors would you like to see it over?