Color Cues: Eons of Neons

It's no secret that I'm a total sucker for the neon trend this spring. And my new favorite accessory is definitely my neon green satchel, which served as the inspiration for the color palette for this manicure. So what better way to usher in spring and summer than with a bright, trendy manicure that literally brightens up your day? Using some polish and a few pieces of tape, I created some nail art that tones down the neon with just a touch of metallic.

Materials Used:
one: Orly Luxe, two: E.L.F. Neon Yellow, three: Scotch Tape in Matte Finish

Where To Buy: You can purchase E.L.F. Neon Yellow as part of the "Neon Trio" set for $2.99 USD and can be found online or potentially in drugstores or grocery stores, depending on your area. Orly Luxe is part of Orly's permanent collection and can be found at beauty supplies, some drugstores, and online retailers. You can also purchase Luxe through Amazon for about $4-5 USD.

Are you buying into the neon colors trend this spring/summer? What's your favorite way to incorporate neons into your daily wear? 

Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Sonic Bloom

There's just something about having older, black label OPIs in my collection that makes me happy. Maybe because it feels like I'm making up lost time from when I was a muggle and missed out on so many gorgeous older collections. Either way, it's fun to have a mix of past and present polishes. The one I'll be showing you today is from the fall 2006 Brights Collection. I acquired this color through my Bottles For Banners exchange, and I couldn't have been happier to cross this one off my wishlist and make a spot for it in my OPI drawer. Without further ado, I present OPI's Sonic Bloom.

This photo was taken in indirect sunlight.

In the right light it's a gorgeous minty turquoise and dusty pink duochrome; However in most lights I was slightly disappointed to discover that it was mainly just the minty turquoise. It's not a bad color on it's own, but it's not nearly as magical as when the pink comes out to play. I do wish that it would be as duochrome-y all the time as it is sometimes! This swatch is three thin coats. Formula wise the polish was easy and smooth to apply, but the old style OPI brush doesn't really appeal to me. I know a lot of polish lovers miss this brush, however the new pro-wide brush works much better for me and I wish I could get a spare one to switch this one out with!

Despite it's sometimes hidden duochrome, I still love this polish and am more than happy to keep it in my collection. Plus the name is pretty awesome, huh? Reminds me of superhero flowers or something. Because you know, super flowers would obviously be incredibly helpful in fighting super villains and such... uh, yeah.

What's one of your favorite black label OPIs? Do you have any 'hidden' duochrome type polishes in your collection that you still love? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Ocean Aura + New Layout!

This nail art was pretty much born out of the idea that I wanted to wear Revlon Royal but also wanted some sparkly and glitz. After all, I wore this manicure on my very first trip to go car shopping, so it was kind of a therapeutic stress reliever to spend an hour or two doing my nails the night before. (Ultimately I didn't buy a car that weekend, but did decide that when I do buy a car later this year, it'll be a Mini Cooper. SO. FUN.) This design sort of morphed into something that resembled an underwater scene for me; I added the pearls to play into the ocean/underwater theme even more. It's also a personal practice version of "galaxy nails" type sponging- I know I know, galaxy nails are super easy and freeform, and blah blah.. I'm still a little intimidated by them, ok?

Materials Used:
one: Revlon Royal, two: N.Y.C. Skin Tight Denim Creme, three: China Glaze Zombie Zest, four: Orly Luxe, five: CND Jade Sparkle, six: 3D Pearls, seven: Makeup Sponge

Where To Buy: 

You can purchase basic make-up sponges at any drugstore, but I prefer to get mine at the Dollar Tree where a pack of 10+ is only $1! N.Y.C. Skin Tight Denim Creme is in N.Y.C.'s permanent collection and can be purchased at most drugstores or big box retailers for just $.99, as well as being available online. Revlon Royal is part of Revlon's Top Speed Line and retails for $6 at most drugstores and big box retailers, as well as being available online. China Glaze Zombie Zest was part of the 2010 Awakening Collection and can be purchased online or through the occasional blog sale. Orly Luxe is part of Orly's permanent collection and can be found at beauty supplies, some drugstores, and online retailers. You can also purchase Luxe through Amazon for about $4-5. CND Jade Sparkle can be purchased through some retailers depending on your location, on Amazon for $7-8, or other online sources. Decorative half-pearls were purchased through the bornprettystore.

In case you haven't already noticed (which you probably have) I made a new layout for my blog! I've been wanting to showcase larger pictures for a while now, so I made a layout that is conducive for that and also is a tad more muted so that the colors of the polish are the focus. I also added some new social media buttons, so you can check out some other websites that Lovely In Lacquer (or me!) are on. Cause you know.. there's a person behind the polish, and I'm more than happy to get to know my lovely readers. I've also updated my pages (I'm in the process of re-documenting my collection, so that page will be updated soon!!) and given some of them a new look, so you can go check those out too if you'd like. I'm also excited to say that I have access to my graphics program again (and I have Photoshop CS5 on it's way to me as well! yay!) so Bottles for Banners is back up and running. I want to thank all of the lovely people who have participated so far, and I'm happy you've helped make it a success!

Have you tried doing galaxy nails, or any type of sponging? What do you think of this manicure? 

Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

So Frustrated! +Update

So, right as I'm getting back into the swing of blogging and doing my nails, my old Dell laptop decides to be a butt and quit on me. The battery refuses to charge or recognize the charger, and this seems to be a common problem. All I do on my Dell is use the photo editing software to edit my blog pictures and work on layouts for my blog. Little graphics things. So now I have no way to edit my blog photos ):

Luckily, I have my beautiful, wonderful, always working, never making stupid PC errors, Macbook Pro. But now I have to get a photo editing program for my Mac, which I know is going to be ridiculously expensive (any suggestions? Photoshop is ideal, but pricey!).

So until I can find a way to edit photos, I can't do posts. I'm really, really upset by this. Hopefully I can find a solution and fast!

Thank you for your patience and understanding as always <3

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go

The amount of gorgeous micro glitter packed into this polish should be criminal. I feel like micro-glitter is real glitter's little sister who's just a little bit prettier, a little bit more friendly, and who always seems to look fabulous. Not only does it add just the right amount of sparkle to some polishes, but removal is much easier than heavy glitter and application tends to be smoother. And I'm definitely showing some favoritism between these siblings. Orly Rococo A-Go-Go is vampy deep burgundy color with fuschia and gold shimmer and micro-glitter that give it glow from within.

This is two coats of Rococo A-Go-Go. Application was easy peasy, but removal left shimmer all over my cuticles- bummer! But totally worth it for how completely stunning this polish is. I'm definitely not regretting adding this polish to my collection. Most of the colors from the Orly Mineral FX collection are gorgeous as well.

Do you prefer micro-glitter or regular glitter in polishes? Did you pick up any of the Mineral FX collection?  Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Catherine The Grape

Well, this is the first nail polish bottle I've ever had to use the 'rubber band method' to open. That cap was not coming off without a fight! But ultimately won out in the end, as evidenced by this post. I picked this polish up while dusty hunting partly because I recognized the name, but mainly because I'm a lover of purple polishes and this is an especially pretty purple. This little gem is part of the 2007 OPI Russian Collection- the same collection that gave us the beautiful Russian Navy. After swatching this I finally understood why it's so sought after; It's as if the polish is glowing from within, which is a fairly rare and covetable trait for a polish. The base color is a slightly muted, dusty plum color, but it's the soft light pinkish-purple shimmer that makes this polish really shine.

This is two coats of Catherine The Grape. Application was a breeze, which is always a plus. When it dries it's not dull but it's definitely not shine-tastic, so a coat of top coat would make it even lovelier. I didn't use any base or top coat in my swatch though.

What do you think of Catherine The Grape? Is it everything your little lemming heart desires, or do you not think it deserves the hype or 'HTF' status it has attached to it? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Essence Forget-Me-Not

The nearest ULTA to me has a very limited selection of Essence polishes, and hardly ever gets any of the limited edition collections. This really bums me out because Essence has such a lovely, affordable line of polishes with a great formula and brushes that I tend to love. My ULTA did however get the 'Blossoms Ect..' line by Essence and I quickly snatched up a bottle of the very periwinkle Forget-Me-Not. The blue shimmer is what ultimately sealed the purchase of the polish for me- even though I don't wear blues very often (hardly ever!) I have this weird need to buy any blue polish that catches my fancy. Okay, that's it. I think I need to do a blue-polish-week sometime soon to justify this polish buying quirk of mine! In the meantime though, please scroll down for some swatch-candy courtesy of Forget-Me-Not.

This is three medium coats of Forget-Me-Not. The formula was a little runny and I found that it was a little too-easy to have areas of patchiness or dragging with the combination of thin polish and a slightly stiff brush. The shimmer really showed up in the second coat. This polish leans a bit more purple than I thought it would, but it still is a nice periwinkle color.

Overall the more purple cast to this polish makes it a tad more wearable for my personal preferences. The  vibrant shimmer that is visible in the bottle makes a lack-luster appearance on the nail but is still noticeable. My pictures of this polish are slightly off- it's much more purple and a little darker in person than in the photos.

What is your opinion on Essence polishes? Do you have access to the full range of colors, or do you live in an area that's lacking? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

(p.s. mini story tangent.. I tried spelling 'courtesy' like 10 times while writing this blog post, and spell check kept telling me that I was trying to spell 'curtsey'. Broke down and went to google for help. I ended up spelling it correctly the first time I typed it into the search without even thinking how to spell it. Gee, thanks for finally kicking in brain!!)