Lovely In Lacquer

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go

2012-02-22T10:30:00.001-06:00

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

2012-02-21T10:30:00.001-06:00

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

2012-02-19T10:30:00.001-06:00

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!!)

Essie Lacy Not Racy

2012-02-18T10:30:00.002-06:00

Oh how I love the clearance section at my ULTA! I swear that hardly anyone in my area/state/geographical location puts much effort or time into things so 'trivial' as nail polish. And hey, that's fine by me because it makes for awesomely rewarding dusty hunting trips and clearance bin scores! So keep on keepin' on bare nail ladies of the world! More power to ya (and more polish to me)! Anyway, back to the polish. Today I'll be blabbering on about and showing you my swatches of Essie Lacy Not Racy, a vampy deep red jelly that is perfect for girls like me who like to wear their reds a bit more sultry than flashy.

This is three coats of Lacy Not Racy. Application was typical of a jelly and didn't pose any annoying or challenging issues. I think that if I had done another coat I could have achieved the dark red that is seen in the bottle, but I stopped at three because it was a swatch and not a full manicure so it wasn't that critical to me to reach bottle color. But if you really wanted the deep, dark red it is possible to get that look.

I picked this beauty up for just two dollars at ULTA and I couldn't be happier. Usually I tend to stay away from Essie because it just feels expensive at $8.00 a bottle- even though I'll happily fork over $8.50 for an OPI. What's up with that?! Does anyone else feel that way, or am I just crazy?

How you do like to wear red polish? Dark and vampy? Bright and bold? Glam and Glitzy? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

2012-02-16T10:30:00.005-06:00

This was one of the only few colors that I was craving from the OPI Touring America collection and I couldn't have been more thrilled when I received it as a gift from one of my best friends. What can I say, she knows me well! Even though I don't normally gravitate towards pinks and corals in polish I genuinely loved the warm, colorful shimmer that I had seen in swatches of this color. It added a new dimension to a coral and I wanted it. Fortunately almost all of the gorgeous shimmer you see in the bottle translates onto the nail. No disappointment here! If you're a fan of corals or just lovely shimmers in general, you'll probably love this polish.

This is three coats of I Eat Mainely Lobster. I was impressed with the formula on this one- it wasn't quite a jelly and it wasn't quite a cream, which made it smooth to apply and fairly self-leveling. I probably could have gotten away with just two coats if I had made my coats a bit thicker. The first image is taken in the shade, and the second image is more color accurate.

Of course as always I loved the OPI Pro-Wide brush, although I seem to be one of the few bloggers who actually like this brush. If you're a blogger/polish enthusiast and like this brush you should definitely let me know so I don't feel so alone in my love for it! haha!

What are some of the polishes you had to have from the OPI Touring America collection? Is this color one of the ones you loved? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

China Glaze Harmony

2012-02-15T17:11:00.000-06:00

Everyone knows that the China Glaze Romantique Collection is a rainbow of perfect stamping chromes, and that's why I purchased a few of the colors from it. I've used the chromes a few times for nail art but I've generally avoided them for daily wear because they have a tendency to show any and every flaw on the nail. And since my nails aren't perfect, my little tiny ridges are not something I want to show off! But chrome/metallic finish polishes definitely add some interesting dimension and texture when used in conjunction with other polishes in nail art so I think that's where I'll keep them. But since I'm on a mission to eliminate my untrieds the time has come for me to start swatching the ones I own, starting with China Glaze Harmony- a nice warm medium purple.

This is just one medium coat of Harmony. You know, I'm surprised! Before I swatched this I was kind of terrified that it would make my nails look terrible and you would all see the outlines of the little soon-to-be-peelies that I try so hard to combat, and it would be embarassing. But it doesn't actually look bad! +1 for nail confidence. Back to the polish though- It's a very flattering purple on warm (yellow undertoned) skin tones like mine, and removal was super duper easy.

Are you a little shy about wearing chromes like me, or does your love for polish know no bounds, regardless of finish? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Berry Good Dancers

2012-02-14T10:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day lacquer lovers! Now I don't know if it's my brain playing tricks on me, but it seemed like when I was applying this polish it smelled slightly... fruity? Definitely different than nail polish usually smells. Aside from my sniffer being off today I'll be showing you a swatch of OPI Berry Good Dancers. This is a medium to soft pink raspberry colored foil that's absolutely jam-packed (no pun intended... ok a little pun intended) with sparkly silver micro glitter and shimmer. It comes from the 2006 Radio City Rockette Reds Collection, which always reminds me of Christmas- although this isn't a very christmasy polish at all. Oh well! Onto the swatch!

This is two coats of Berry Good Dancers, and if you're not too picky about a teensy bit of visible nail line it could be a one-coater for you. This polish definitely surprised me. I didn't think I would really love it since it's a pink and you all know how I love my vampies, but it was so flattering on my skin tone that I honestly think I'll be reaching for it when the weather warms up. Removal was also nice and clean, despite thinking that I would end up with tiny silver glitter all over my fingers! Another plus in my book!

Have you ever kept a polish around simply because it's flattering on you, even though it's not really your thing? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Peach-A-Boo

2012-02-12T10:30:00.003-06:00

Back in June when I pretty much raided a salon on vacation, I snagged this bottle of polish. I'll admit that I picked it up because the name seemed familiar and I was looking for polishes that I would be able to swap on MUA. But ever since it came home with me it's warm golden peachy color and soft pink micro-glitter have warmed my heart and won me over! I think it was actually another OPI with a similar peach-related name that I was originally thinking of back in June, but I can't place it right now. This one however is a lovely little 'peach' of a polish that I'm excited to share with you!

This is four coats of OPI Peach-A-Boo. Application was a breeze- no issues. Honestly, this polish is beautiful. The entire time I was applying it I couldn't stop staring at the pink micro-glitter and golden shimmer! This is pretty much 'sun-kissed' summer glowy goodness in a bottle, and come summer time I'll reach for it whenever I want something easy and stunning. Heck, I don't even mind the bit of visible nail line that is present with four coats- it's that pretty in person! Please, please don't judge this polish just by my picture- I couldn't get my camera to pick up the amazing pink glitter very well that makes this polish so dynamic.

Usually I steer clear of sheer layering polishes (mostly because I don't have the clever-polish-layering-idea-mind that so many other bloggers seem to!) but I thought that this one would be pretty over a variety of shades, and especially lovely over pinks and white. I've yet to try any layering experiments with this color but I don't doubt that after swatching this one and seeing it in action, I'll be busting out my nail wheels and start putting it over every color I can think of!

Do you enjoy using sheer polishes to layer with, or do you not mind a bit of VNL when you wear them alone? Have you tried this color before? What colors would you like to see it layered with? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Done Out in Deco + Lavender Polish Comparison

2012-02-11T10:48:00.000-06:00

You know those polishes that you sometimes find in your collection and think to yourself "Where did this one come from"? Yeah, this is one of those for me. Poor little polish, I'm sorry I don't remember how or when I acquired you, but you've had a nice home in my alex and plenty of other polish friends so I don't feel that bad for forgetting your story. Anyway, today I'll be showing you OPI's Done Out in Deco. It's a dusty lavender color, and I noticed while I was organizing my polishes that this isn't the only lavender polish in my collection. Heck, it's not even the only OPI lavender I own! I noticed at least two other similar shades to this polish so I'll be showing you those later on in this post. But for now we'll give the spotlight to just this one polish.

This swatch is three thin coats of Done Out in Deco. The formula was nice but a bit on the runny side, although not enough to really cause an issue in application. Like it looks in the bottle it's a pretty, dusty, dark lavender that is fairly flattering on my particular skin tone.

In choosing polishes for this comparison I decided to compare OPI Rumple's Wiggin' and M.A.C. Little Girl Type. In the bottles these three look pretty similar but it's very obvious that there are no dupes in this trio when they're put onto a nail. Rumple's Wiggin' and Little Girl Type are very close to each other, however Little Girl Type leans a bit more towards pink and is lighter overall. My camera again has failed at capturing the true color of these polishes, but you can still see the tonal differences clearly. Rumple's Wiggin' is on my index finger and Little Girl Type is on my ring finger. Looks like my lavender polish purchasing ways can continue without guilt!

Do you like lavender polishes, or do they sometimes give you dreaded "lobster hands" like they do for me sometimes? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday Lovely In Lacquer!

2012-02-09T18:43:00.000-06:00

Well folks, it's been an interesting first year on my blog. I kind of feel a little guilty even celebrating, mainly because for about five of those months I hardly posted at all, if at all. But after wallowing around and considering just letting my blog's first birthday just quietly pass by out of guilt, I decided that even though it was a bumpy and inconsistent first year it's the only first year this blog will ever have. So I'm celebrating. Not as in a 'throw-a-huge-party-and-giveaway' type celebration, but more of a 'thank-you-for-sticking-around-and-not-abandoning-me' kind of celebrating. Because without you guys (my lovely, lovely readers) I would just be talking to myself right now. But your constant sweet comments and support have made me smile when I really really needed to, and kept me focused on a hobby that really does make me happy.

There are a couple of things I'd like to share with you to celebrate today, and one of them is my very first swatch ever. It was of Sally Hansen's Hello Bordeaux.

Holy Macaroni I hope you think I've improved as much as I think I have! haha! For one, I've learned to push back my cuticles. And for two, I've learned about the powers of a clean-up brush and acetone!

And here's the part where I was going to show you a swatch of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, and I was planning on having a giveaway for the same polish for you lovely readers! But I have yet to receive the bottle of Deborah Lippmann (even though I ordered it on the 20th...) so sadly my plan must be postponed ): I'm so sorry everyone- I really wanted to make this special for you too.

Again, thank you so much for reading my blog this past year (for the months i've been posting anyway!) and continuing to check out new posts I make and leave wonderful comments. I really enjoy interacting with you guys and you make my days a little bit brighter! THANK YOU!

Love, Abby.

Wednesday Review: Omega Labs Nail Art Striper Brush

2012-02-08T10:30:00.001-06:00

Let me preface this post with one sentence.."I'm not very good at free-hand nail art". There, now that that's out of the way we can begin. As I said, not the best a freehanding- So when there's a design where I need to draw some stripes I always reach for a nail art striper. And if I don't have the color that I need.. well.. that's when the paintbrush comes out and things get a little crazy. But all craziness aside my collection of stripers (stripers, not strippers. Just in case your brain reads that wrong like mine tends to do.) consists of the Dollar Tree L.A. Colors Art Deco variety, which is pretty good quality although you run the risk of a wonky brush here and there. So when I was sent a different brand of nail striper to review by Nail de Royale I was kind of excited! And I have to say that although the Art Deco brushes have low prices and easy availability on their side this new nail striper has pretty much won me over! I present to you the Omega Labs Nail Art Striper Brush (super creative name, right?).

The color I received to review is a bright magenta pink called Hottest Pink- It's brighter and more red-toned than Art Deco Intense Pink. The first element of the product I'll be covering will be the brush. It's very thin and easily allows for a controlled, smooth line. The bristles don't seem to fall out or be as loose as those in the Art Deco stripers, and it's a thinner, longer brush. The Art Deco brush is fairly thick at the base and tapers down into a point while the Omega brush is basically the same thinness from base to tip. I like the control the longer brush gives, allowing for a smoother and more even line.

One of the things that is important to me in a striper is the amount of pigmentation in the polish. If i'm making very thin close together lines I don't want to have to do a second coat and potentially smear or ruin my design. Below are both stripers swatched on a white nail and a black nail. The Omega striper is on the right of each swatch and the Art Deco striper is on the left.

Both stripers perform well on light colored polish and stay true to bottle color. However when they are swatched on a dark color they both are fairly transparent, but the Art Deco striper is slightly more pigmented. But even though it's more pigmented it looses the bottle color and turns into a muddy pink-ish brown when used over black. I don't think either of these stripers is the right color to be used over dark polish, and neither did particularly well.

Overall there are both positives and negatives to each striper, but my clear favorite is the Omega Labs Nail Art Striper. The more jelly-like polish formula of this striper makes it easier to use than the creamier Art Deco Striper. I still love my Art Deco stripers and will continue to reach for them frequently, but I'm happy to have a different brand of striper to add to my collection!

If you're interested in purchasing Omega Labs Nail Art Stripers you can purchase them here from Nail De Royale. The stripers are available in over forty different colors!

What's your favorite brand of nail art striper? Do you use stripers or do you just use a paintbrush? Was this review helpful? Leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for reading!

I was sent this product for review by Nail De Royale. My opinions and observations about the product are my own and are completely honest.

China Glaze Below Deck

2012-02-07T18:36:00.000-06:00

I don't think I can very accurately convey my feelings towards this polish. It's more of a 'after polishing i tend to hold my nails out in front of me and make high pitched excited noises' kind of thing. Muted, dusty colors this make my heart go pitter-patter because they're in between a vampy and a pastel, which are both things that I love. Unfortunately my skin tone doesn't do very well with most pastels so I end up wearing more vampy colors than anything else. So these in between shades are perfect for me!

This is two coats of Below Deck. Application was a dream. I'm not even kidding- when I painted the first stroke of polish I thought "you have got to be kidding me!" because application was that smooth. I don't know if I just got an awesome bottle or if it's just the overall polish formula, but it's perfect. perfect. Not too thick, not too thin, self-leveling, and easy to spread from cuticle to tip.

I didn't even want to take it off after I had swatched it- it looked that good. And considering that my application isn't perfect, finding a polish that pretty much does all the work for me is a dream. I swear I will never, never let this one out of my collection! haha!

Are you a fan of muted colors like this, or do you prefer more saturated polish colors? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue!

2012-02-05T18:22:00.000-06:00

From the second I saw this polish in person when I was dusty hunting I knew I had to have it. It is unlike any other blue in my collection, and I love the violet duochrome and blue shimmer that can be seen in the bottle. And on the nail it's just as gorgeous- I'm betting it's that glowy quality to the shimmer that causes nail polish enthusiasts to hunt down this little gem. Yoga-Ta Get This Blue is from the 2008 India Collection, which also has a few other polishes i'm interested in hunting down! I'd describe this polish as a medium navy blue- it's not quite dark enough for me to be a true navy, but it's not light enough to completely jump out of the category.

This is two coats of Yoga-Ta Get This Blue!. Application was a breeze for me with the pro-wide brush, and although I would be more comfortable with a third coat for a bit more solidity, two did just fine for reaching swatch-worthy opacity.

What are some of your favorite blue polishes? Do you own or love any of the colors from the India collection? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Zoya Mitzi

2012-02-04T10:30:00.000-06:00

Confession time. I only bought this polish because I'm totally in love with Zoya's frosted glass bottles and the bright polishes inside of them make them look like candy. That being said even the beautiful bottles won't persuade me to purchase very many matte polishes, Zoya or otherwise. I like the look of a matte finish on polish but I absolutely hate the formula that most matte polishes have- which is why I love products like Essie Matte About You because it allows me to have the ease of a nice polish application along with the matte finish if I want. Not to mention that most matte polishes chip like crazy on me, so I can get more wear out of a regular manicure that I just mattify instead. Ah, well there I go rambling again! Anyway, back to the polish you're here to see- Zoya Mitzi is a neon green-yellow polish that definitely appeals to my love of neons right now, but it doesn't quite reach the day glo status that my neon yellow satchel does! However it's an easy and fun way to play with the neon trend without any major financial or outfit-related commitment and that's why I enjoy having it in my collection.

This is three medium to thick coats of Mitzi. I had a little bit of an issue of even-ness when I tried applying it in thinner coats. But of course I'm biased because I don't enjoy matte polish application in general. This polish is definitely bright though! It's not quite as neon as the second picture depicts; The first picture is more color accurate, although still a bit bright.

What's your opinion on matte polishes? Do you prefer using just a straight matte polish or using a matte topcoat with regular polish? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Color Cues: Neons & Neutrals

2012-02-03T23:05:00.000-06:00

When I first saw this image on Pinterest I couldn't help but be drawn in by the fuchsia and pale chartreuse shapes. I've had a bit of an obsession with neon colors lately which lead to a purchase of a beautiful neon yellow-green satchel purse that I can't help but smile at every time I wear it. There's something about neon colors when paired with neutrals that says "I'm sophisticated, but I know how to have fun" to me- a feeling that completely appeals to my twenty year old mentality. So when this image popped up I instantly thought of ways that I could not only incorporate the color scheme into my wardrobe but also onto my nails.

I really loved this design and wanted to try it myself, and since I'm no nail-polish-Picasso I decided to go slightly less detailed but with all the color by using the watercolor method to create my design. And still managed to fail completely. So.. no nails picture this week on Color Cues, sorry! I'll try to stick to something easier next time so you can see some nails with these things.

What is your opinion on neons- are they sophisticated when used well, or just flat out tacky? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading and have a great Friday!

Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl

2012-02-02T10:30:00.003-06:00

Whenever I make a trip to my local Walgreen's I always seem to be drawn to the large, colorful permanent display of Sinful Colors. Even though I've turned into a bit of a nail polish 'snob' (I'll admit it! I love me some OPI's!) there's always a place in my little nail polish heart for Sinful Colors- after all, it was the first polish brand I really started looking at, and I have quite a few in my collection. So on one shopping trip I just couldn't resist picking up Tokyo Pearl. Sure, it's everything I'm supposed to despise in a nail polish- it's pearly, brush-strokey, and borders on... frosty. But I still picked it up and home it went!

This is four medium coats of Tokyo Pearl. I was fairly surprised at how quickly it became opaque- I thought for sure that it would remain fairly transparent after a few coats. Application was very easy although brush strokes were impossible to avoid. Had this been a full manicure and not just a swatch I would have used Leslie's sponge applicator method to eliminate brush strokes. Neither base coat or top coat was used for this swatch.

Ultimately this polish surprised me with how cool it looked in person, and I'll probably be using it as a full manicure in the near future! It would definitely make a neat base for stamping or a cool white on white gradient.

Are you a fan of pearly polishes, or do you hate the frosty, brush-strokey finish they tend to have? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Wednesday Review: Born Pretty Store 1mm Rhinestones

2012-02-01T10:30:00.001-06:00

I'm no stranger to the online nail art and supply boutique Born Pretty Store. I've purchased a lot of my nail art supplies/stash from there, and I'm consistently impressed and satisfied with the customer service and packaging for shipping. In fact, this isn't even my first rhinestone review from them! You can check out my previous reviews and a more detailed analysis and review of the service in one of my two other reviews: 3D White Crystal Bowknot Stickers or 2mm Rhinestones.

Today I'll be reviewing the smaller set of rhinestones (I think they're the 1mm size). I already have two wheels of the 2mm rhinestones, and I love them but sometimes wish I had more varied sizes- So these 1mm ones were perfect! I especially like to use clusters of rhinestones and half pearls in nail art so having more sizes available to me to use is fantastic.

Between the three rhinestone wheels that I own I have a total of fifteen different colors to choose from. One of the first things I noticed about the 1mm wheel of rhinestones was that not all the smaller stones have a larger stone color match. Which isn't a necessarily bad aspect- It offers a bit more color variety if you want a couple different shades of the same color. But if you're really into matchy-matchy nail art where the rhinestones are all the same color but different sizes you might be only able to accomplish that with ten of the twelve smaller rhinestone colors. Something else I noticed was that the "clear" 1mm stone is actually more of a multi-colored opal-y clear than the standard 2mm clear stone. I prefer the look of the clear 1mm stone because it looks more similar to an actual gemstone than the plain clear. Below I've included images of each color group for the smaller and larger stones so you can see the available colors in comparison to a wheel you might already own.

As for quality... I'm just as satisfied as I was with the larger 2mm stones. With just one coat of my topcoat my rhinestones are secured and last on my nails until I choose to change my manicure. My only disappointment with the product would be that not all the stones are round- some have small chips out of the sides. However I don't really think that expecting every stone to be perfect is a very realistic expectation- after all there are several stones crammed into the wheel segments (lots of product for your money!) and they are knocking against each other all the time. Plus these are plastic and are meant for one time use (at least the way I use them).

Overall I'm once again very satisfied and impressed at the product that is provided by Born Pretty Store. They certainly make it easy to remain a repeat customer! If you're interested in purchasing any Born Pretty Store products you can check out their website here or purchase from their ebay store. Don't forget that you can receive 10% off your order by using my blog code ATJ61 at checkout!

Have you purchased product from Born Pretty Store? How was your experience? Was this review helpful to you, or was there something I left out that you'd like to know? Leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for reading!

I was sent these rhinestones for review by a representative of the Born Pretty Store. All opinions and observations about the product are honest and my own.

Blog Changes + Daily Posts in February

2012-01-31T20:29:00.001-06:00

I'm not going to go into a huge paragraph about why I stopped blogging, or what motivated me to resume. Because honestly every time I see a blogger return from hiatus the followers just seem to be happy there are more pretty polish pictures to look at and they aren't judgmental or nosy as to why the person was gone- They're just glad polish is bringing that blogger joy again. And that's why I love this community. The people/readers/bloggers are genuinely nice and considerate.

Now that that is out of the way, I'm happy to share all the changes and exciting things I'll be doing this month on my blog. First up is the new commenting system! I've heard lots of complaints about blogger's commenting system and although I hadn't had any issues with it personally, I decided to go ahead and switch over to Disqus during my hiatus while my comment system didn't have a lot of activity- Just to avoid any future possible problems that could have arisen.

Second is that I will be posting daily in February! Yep, from the 1st to the 29th there will be a post on my blog every day. I've failed in the past about daily posting but this time I'm guaranteed to succeed because I have a vault of complete posts waiting in drafts just in case I'm unable to do a 'this-day-daily' post. That way there will always, always be a post up every day no matter what. Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays will be swatch posts. My swatches will be a mix of different brands and collections as I try to go through all my unswatched/untried polishes. Wednesdays will be a mix of swatch days and product review days on days that I have something to actually review! Mondays will be nail art posts and Fridays will be the return of Color Cues.

Third is that all my pages are in the process of being updated and given a facelift! I'm trying to make my blog more cohesive and fun to browse for my readers, and hopefully you'll find something interesting on each page. I'll also be adding some polishes to my swap page so if you like to swap feel free to check out that page throughout February!

And last but not least is a brand-new project that I've developed in hopes of both reducing the funds I spend on polish, and making other nail bloggers happy with custom affordable blog headers. If you want to update your blog and give it a fresh look and you happen to have a bottle of polish to spare, feel free to click on the handy-dandy button below or the matching one in my sidebar for more details!

Well lacquer lovers, that's it for this post and for January. I'll see you tomorrow and every day in February after that!

Stinkin' GFC! Follow Me with Bloglovin' too!

2012-01-20T10:48:00.002-06:00

Just a super super duper quickie post here on a Friday (TGIF btw! acronyms much?) just to let you know that since a bunch of changes have been made about following on GFC, I've now jumped on the bandwagon (and i can't believe how pretty this bandwagon is- I'm kinda loving bloglovin'...) and you can now follow my blog via Bloglovin'. Click!

Also, I'm not dead.

I'll be posting an update post with all sorts of schtuff soon :) And it involves all your favorite things... reviews, nail art, swatches.. I know, I know, calm down. It'll be ok.

Nicole by OPI Kim-Pletely In Love

2012-01-03T23:01:00.000-06:00

Out of the two Kardashian polishes I purchased, I thought for sure that Kim-Pletely in Love would be my favorite. And while it's certainly a stunning and unique pale pink, it was eclipsed by my love of white polishes and ultimately was forced to accept a close second place. However even though it didn't win, this polish is still a beauty with it's soft girly color and subtle baby blue shimmer.

Kim-Pletely In Love's application went fairly smoothly, but I was instantly in doubt of it's ability to reach opacity as I was applying the first coat. In fact, I was pretty shocked when the polish built easily and reached full opacity in four coats. There was no base coat or top coat used in this swatch.

Did you pick up Kim-Pletely In Love from this collection? If you did, what did you think? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Nicole by OPI It's All About The Glam

2012-01-02T22:57:00.000-06:00

I have to admit that when news broke that the Kardashians would be collaborating with Nicole by OPI on a nail polish collection, I wasn't the least bit interested. But when swatches started coming out and some of the colors were downright gorgeous, I put aside my distaste for the name on the tag and scooped up two colors for my collection. This was the first time I had ever given in and purchased the infamous 'saggy boob bottle'- and surprisingly, I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. It gets put in the drawer with other random bottles, and I doubt I'll ever have a large enough collection of Nicole by OPI to warrant moving it from that drawer. Anywho, one thing I definitely don't regret is purchasing It's All About The Glam - a lovely soft white that doesn't read as stark on the nails, and it has a really subtle but distinct shimmer that sets it apart from any other white polish in my collection.

All About The Glam applied without any major issues, and it was easy to control where the polish went on my nails. Overall the consistency was pretty much on target for what I like to work with. The only downside I found was that even after four coats the polish still wasn't very even. This could be because I chose to use thinner coats- maybe next time I'll try a couple thicker coats and see how the finished look improves. I found the brush in the Nicole bottles to be easy to work with and fan out over the nail. This swatch is four coats with no base or top coat.

Did you purchase any of the Kardashian polishes? Oh, and does anyone else find the Nicole bottle to be as awkward and strange to hold for pictures as I did?! Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Essie A Cut Above with Zoya Dove

2011-12-05T18:32:00.000-06:00

I tried so hard to come up with a pretty little header for this post because I just loved loved loved how the two polish names rhymed! Sadly I couldn't find two fonts that I really felt went with the polishes themselves. I'm a sucker for a cute/quirky rhyme, that's for sure. When I was first looking up swatches of the Essie LuxeEffects collection I came across A Cut Above layered over a gray polish. I can't remember which blog it was (apologies), but I loved the combination so much that I wanted to replicate it almost immediately. Little did I know that I'd end up staring at my nails pretty much the entire time I was wearing the polish, and falling completely in love with this layering! When my thumb nail got a chip, I was so sad that I actually debated re-painting my nails with the exact same two polishes. But alas, I'm a nail blogger and variety is the spice of life, right? So it's filed away mentally under "Manicures I'm guaranteed to adore" for when I'm not feeling inspired or motivated. Enough of my rambling, on to the swatches!

These swatches are with Orly Bonder Base Coat and Poshe Top Coat. I used two coats of each Zoya Dove and Essie A Cut Above. Dove's application was typical Zoya with being easy and smooth. It really could have used a third coat, but since I was covering it with glitter I skipped it because I knew the bit of unevenness wouldn't be noticeable. A Cut Above's application was pretty typical for a chunky glitter. It was fairly dense, but I had to wiggle some pieces around to cover the nail evenly with large and small glitter. This polish is made up of lovely coppery rose hexagonal large and small glitters.

I think I fell in love with this manicure because it's a perfect mix of soft, subtle color with girly pink. At a glance the manicure wasn't over the top girly- It was just a nice sparkly warm pink. The gray of Zoya Dove really helped to tone down the "pink" factor of A Cut Above. However I have to give Essie props for choosing a softer, coppery pink rather than a bright pink. I think it greatly adds to the versatility of layering with this polish.

Have you purchased any of the Essie LuxeEffects collection? What have you layered the fun, sparkly polishes over? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Urban Decay Apocalyptic Nail Kit

2011-12-02T19:25:00.000-06:00

I have to say that I was really excited when I saw this nail polish set pop up on Hautelook a few months ago. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Urban Decay's previous line of nail polishes, so I was hoping for great quality and fantastically unique colors. When I received the kit in the mail I certainly wasn't let down by the shades or variety of colors. It may not be a brand new to the market product/set, but I wanted to show it to you anyway in case you haven't come across it before! If you'd like, you can read on for the rest of this review including individual color descriptions and my overall verdict if this collection lives up to the hype of it's brand.

The official description for this nail kit is as follows:

"The long-awaited revival of Urban Decay Nail Enamel is finally upon us. Our tightly-edited collection of shades lets you experiment without the commitment of full-size bottles. Our long-lasting formula is Toluene, Formaldehyde, DBP-free. (And as always, cruelty-free too!)"

The seven polishes come packaged in a purple foil zipper pouch that is slightly distressed. Inside the pouch is a plastic form that keeps all your polishes nicely arranged and orderly. The polish names are Fbomb, Big Bang, Meltdown, Grunge, Apocalypse, Gunmetal, and White Widow. The colors range from a shimmery off white to a creamy bright red. The polishes are inside of light weight rectangular glass bottles with smooth round black plastic caps. Each bottle contains 5ml of polish, and the brushes are of surprisingly good quality for mini-polishes; very flexible and easy to fan out to cover the nail.

Before I show you the swatches I'm going to ask for your forgiveness at any messy swatching or non-perfect cuticles. Some of the chemicals I work with at my job aren't very cuticle friendly and it's a battle of cuticle cream versus paint thinner- and sometimes, the very drying paint thinner wins. But hey, it's the colors you're here to look at mostly, right? Ok. Onto the swatches!

First up is White Widow, a warm winter white that has a smooth formula that reaches opacity in three coats. The color has a slight iridescent shimmer and a softer white color that isn't stark like white-out or most white polishes. The only issue I had was a bit of dragging between coats, but I think that's mostly user error from impatience!

Gunmetal was one of the colors that immediately intrigued me when I first opened the set. It's a muted chocolate brown with subtle ice blue shimmer that's much more evident in the bottle than on the nail. The polish itself was very sheer and had a thin consistency to the point where it was almost runny and difficult to keep from flooding my cuticles. It reached opacity in three coats.

Apocalypse is sort of the namesake of the collection in a way and it's definitely one I wish I could have loved more. In the first coat it had a beautiful red toned deep purple but as I applied more layers it darkened into an almost black to where the lovely purple color was lost. This color is full of jelly glossiness and reaches opacity in two coats.

FBomb is the cheekily named polish of the collection, and the color definitely matches the name. It's a nice bright red jelly that leans a tad more pink than blue. Application was easy with a smooth formula that reached opacity in just two coats, but the color darkens with more.

Grunge is hands down my favorite of the collection. It's a dark teal with subtle shimmer that definitely won me over. I don't have a teal that's this shade or tone in my collection and it's unique qualities make it a keeper in my book. Application was easy and it was opaque in two coats.

Meltdown is a shimmery medium purple that reminds me of one of my favorite colors, Zoya Harmonie. I don't think they're dupes, but the base colors seem similar- Meltdown is a tad darker/richer in color. The application was decent but not perfect, and the polish reached opacity in two coats. This is the only color of the collection where I wanted the name to be a different color- I always think of greens when someone mentions "meltdown". I guess it's because of cartoony nuclear meltdowns with glowing green goo huh?

In direct sunlight

And last but certainly not least is the most attention grabbing of the collection- Big Bang. This polish definitely has some personality as a pink. It's a mix of bright pink and silver glitter that applies and behaves much like a foil. In fact, I think i'll take a guess and say that's what this is- a hot pink foil polish. It's opaque in two coats, but it was almost opaque in just one. This polish definitely came in a close second for me, but it was only because of the color that it didn't end up as my favorite. I'm just not a bright pink polish kinda girl!

Overall I'm not terribly wow'ed or impressed by this mini-collection. Some of the colors are definitely pretty polishes, but nothing is very unique or jaw-dropping. I guess I got sucked into the hype of "Urban Decay" polishes of the past and was hoping to be really impressed. But with some colors having lackluster application and the colors all being fairly dupe-able, I'm gonna say pass. If you haven't purchased this collection don't rush out and go get it unless you're in love with one of these colors- you'll probably be able to find something similar elsewhere. I won't be getting rid of this set, but I can't see myself reaching for it very often. Anyway, that's just my final verdict and two cents.

Have you ever gotten excited about a nail mini-collection/product/color and been a little disappointed when you encountered it in person? Leave it in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Nail Polish Collection & Organization II

2011-12-01T17:52:00.001-06:00

So for the past few months I've been avoiding the massive mess that was my polishing desk. See, my stash outgrew my storage, and instead of using more bins or getting a melmer, I had my sights set on the one and only beautiful Ikea 9-Drawer Alex. The problem was that I live more than five hours away from the nearest Ikea- so I had to wait for the opportunity of a free weekend to make the long trip. So my polish sat on the desk in piles, stuffed into bins and boxes gathering dust and not being loved properly- I just couldn't bring myself to tackle the mess without the hope of a new home for my polishes.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel- I eventually did make the journey to Ikea (which was awesome, by the way!) and came home with my dream nail polish storage unit. After assembling, organizing, and cooing over all the little polishes in my stash, I just had to document it and share it with all of you! And if you're interested in seeing how my polish collection has grown since the last time I did a post about storage, you can click here.

And as a special treat I also have something I don't usually do for my blog- I made a video! If you like seeing something more interactive than just pictures, you can take a few minutes and watch the video of me giving a little tour of my Alex.

I know there's a lot of debate over whether to go with the Helmer or the Alex from Ikea, and after seeing the in-store displays and testing drawers and stability I was even more in favor of the Alex. The Helmer is a lot smaller and less expensive, but seemed like it would fall over if I pulled out a fully loaded drawer. My stash certainly isn't the size that most people expect for bloggers with the Alex, but I figured it would give me room to grow and also allow space for nail polish packing supplies, all my removers, nail art supplies, and my little make-up stash. Plus, it felt a lot sturdier and seemed more versatile in the long run. But, to each her own- the Helmer happens to be the perfect fit for lots and lots of nail bloggers. I'm just sharing why I chose what I did!

How do you store your nail polish? Have you outgrown your storage before, or do you just purge polishes once you get close to the limit? Expect another post tomorrow, and thanks for reading!

Butter London: No More Waity Katie

2011-10-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

Butter London has been a brand that I've heard a variety of reviews on- especially this particular shade. No More Waity Katie came into my possession when I spotted it on a "quick" trip to ULTA on Saturday (these trips are rarely quick, and usually accompanied by more of my money leaving my wallet than originally planned!). There was just one lonely bottle of Wallis left in the display, and I promptly snatched it up, giddy with excitement. Butter London is one of the few brands that gets my sister really excited about nail polish, and so when I showed her my find her eyes lit up and she immediately followed me to the display. "Do they have No More Waity Katie? I read about it on a blog and it's so pretty!". In my excitement to find Wallis I had completely forgotten the other Butter London polish I've been lemming after. Lo and behold there were several bottles of NMWK, and one made it safely home with me in a pastel pink ULTA bag.

No More Waity Katie has been described as a smokey gray purple base with small pastel purple hexagonal glitter. On it's own it reaches semi-opacity at around four coats. A Lot of reviews of NMWK say that it's almost glue like in application and an overall disappointment. I however adore it. I'm a huge fan of smokey, muted colors and this one was right up my alley. It plays to my edgy/chic tastes while still letting me have some girly fun with glitter.

Since NMWK is known to be sheer I decided to skip the hassle of multiple layers of glitter by layering it. But what to layer it over? I have seen swatches of it over deep purples, blues, pastels.. but I wanted something that would remain true to the polish's bottle color so I shopped my stash and found Katie's perfect mate- Zoya Caitlin. Caitlin was the perfect smokey, muted, purple base to wear under this glitter, and with just two coats of each polish I had a beautiful manicure that was an exact match to NMWK's bottle color. I topped everything off with a nice glossy coat of Poshe, and I was good to go.

In the last picture you can really see what a great match these two polishes are! I'm surprised I haven't read about someone layering these two together yet.

Do you own any Butter London polishes? Do you think they're worth the higher price tag? What's your opinion on No More Waity Katie? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Color Cues: Ashley Benson [Seventeen Magazine]

2011-08-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Even though I'm no longer seventeen, or even a teenager for that matter, I still enjoy indulging in picking up an issue of Seventeen magazine in between browsing the cosmetic isles at Walgreens. I'm the perfect example of a casual magazine purchaser- If I like whoever is on the cover I'll purchase the issue. September's issue of Seventeen happened to be featuring Ashley Benson on the cover, and being the Pretty Little Liars fan that I am (don't judge, everyone has that one show they're addicted to!) I purchased a copy. Well I'm glad that I did because as soon as I hit her interview on pg. 181 the most fun, modern, funky nails were featured in the photo shoot! Of course I instantly wanted to know if it was a product like Minx or free hand art, and with some closer inspection I decided that it was some sort of nail sticker.... And that I could probably duplicate it myself with a little creative use of some stamping, dotting tools, and scotch tape!

I absolutely love the graphic pattern that is used in this design, and even though I didn't have the exact patterns I figured I could get a similar look and feel with some stamp designs in my collection. Below are some closer shots of the nails featured in the magazine and then a description of what I used to replicate the design on my own nails.

I started with a base layer of Wet N' Wild's Black Creme. I decided to use designs from BM 208 and 215, using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red to stamp each design respectively. I used tape to section off areas of the nail to stamp, and then used a dotting tool and added the dots on the side of my nail in Rapid Red. Four red rhinestones are used as an accent on my ring finger nail. The red didn't come out as opaque or bright as I had hoped, but that's the difference between stamping and a printed sticker I guess!

For me, my Color Cues project is all about things that inspire me nail-wise. Sometimes it's color palettes in images or fabrics, and sometimes it's an actual nail design. And I've decided to re-vamp it a little and include more of the things that inspire full nail designs for me, along with adding more of my graphic design side into my blog in fun little ways.

What do you think of this design, or the original? Do you know of a good opaque stamping red polish? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

I feel like I have to address the white elephant in the room. Long story short, I took an unintentional hiatus from blogging. I had to find a balance between working and my hobbies, and a lot of things including my nails fell to the bottom of the list. However I think I've found a solution that works for me, and you should be seeing more blog posts on a regular basis. Daily posts are impossible for me right now, but I'm going to have at least one post every week until I can arrange my schedule for more. Thank you for sticking with me! <3

Color Cues

2011-07-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today's Color Cues post is inspired by a fabric square from a quilt my sister made. I was talking to her in her room when I noticed the pattern, and I instantly loved the mix of yellow-green with the pinks and lavender. It also helped that the shapes in the pattern were fairly organic and I thought it would transfer into an interesting nail design. I was especially inspired by the dots in dots effect by the flowers, and could imagine an accent nail covered in dots within dots. Maybe a water marble with the purple and pinks in the color scheme? Maybe hand painted teardrop shapes just as they appear in the fabric itself? Who knows. A wealth of ideas came to me for nail art when I was sitting on her bed with this quilt, so i figured the only proper thing to do was to come and share it with my lovely readers.

The polishes I chose to match with this scheme were OPI Houston We Have A Purple, Essie French Affair, MAC Little Girl Type, and Ginger + Liz Welcome To My Jungle. I picked WTMJ because I liked how the olive green base had the same mustard yellow-green shimmer running through it, and I thought it would add an interesting finish to the mix.

What are your opinions on today's color scheme? Did the fabric inspire you in the same way it did me? Do you think you could work these colors into nail art? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI Sugarplum Yum

2011-07-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday, which means swatches! I know, you're super excited, but please, try to contain yourself.

Just kidding- I know swatch posts are a huge part of nail blogging, but I always feel a little lazy when I just do a swatch post. That's why I like mixing things up with nail art, color cues, and review Thursdays. But today I have a pretty special polish to show you, so hopefully it's a bit more exciting than just any old swatch. Today's post is about OPI's Sugarplum Yum, which is a gorgeously muted smokey pale purple duochrome with bold flashes of pastel pink. I came across this polish in a dusty (the same one where I found a ton of other old OPIs when I was on vacation), and I knew it was a little HTF so I picked it up in hopes of either loving it or swapping it. Good news was that I ended up really liking this color, and it's got a good home in my stash now. These pictures are Orly Bonder Base Coat, Sinful Colors Base Coat (I've been using it to even out my little ridges), three coats of Sugarplum Yum, and Poshe Top Coat. Be prepared for a lot of pictures ahead! (Please excuse the sad state of my cuticles in some of these pictures- my new job is not kind to my hands)

Do you own Sugarplum Yum? Have you ever purchased a polish just because of it's "status", and ended up loving it? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and I'm gonna do a little rambling here too, so if you don't like personal stuff, you can skip this. I've started really trying to capitalize my "I"s in my posts. It's a bad habit that I usually just leave them lowercase, but I don't know if annoys any of you when I do. Also, I have two jobs now (yay money!), which means that if I don't get posts scheduled on Sunday afternoon, I have absolutely zero time to write them during the week. I'm working about 60 hours a week right now, so I'm insanely booked with my schedule- I only have about 4 hours a day where i'm not working or sleeping, and I have to use that time for family, eating meals, showering, and anything else I have to get done immediately. Although I love my jobs they don't leave me any time for blogging. The only day i'm not currently working is Sunday, so I apologize if i miss a day of posting here or there. Ok, rambling over!

Thanks for reading!

Simple Nail Art

2011-07-18T11:03:00.001-05:00

And a new week begins- Happy Monday everyone! Or a not so happy Monday, depending on if you like Mondays or not I suppose. I'm starting this week off with some fun and bright nail art full of green, blue, and lavender.

I wanted to do something without stamping because I've wanted to practice getting better at freehand nail art. I know this isn't anything original, but it was good practice for the basics- dots and stripes! I started by applying two coats of all the polishes- OPI Gargantuan Green Grape Matte to my index and ring fingers, MAC Little Girl Type to my pinky and thumb, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Model Behavior to my middle. Application on Little Girl Type and Model Behavior was easy, but GGGm was the problem child with dragging and patchiness. One coat of Seche Vite made everything glossy and smooth, and provided a good surface to begin the fun parts. I added vertical white stripes to my index and ring fingers, then took a dotting tool and made polka dots in white on my pinky, middle, and thumb. To finish things off i added a few rhinestones and pearls to my middle finger. Everything was topped off with a coat of Poshe.

This nail art lasted for about three days with no tipwear or chips until I got bored and decided to change it. Obviously I tried changing my nail shape again when I shortened my nails, and I really like the look of squared tips. However, my new job quickly showed me that that was a dumb decision by promptly breaking a corner off one nail. *sigh* It's back to round for me! My nails seem to like growing in a round shape better than a square, and are always stronger. I'm just bummed because it means no super easy funky frenches. But how often do I do those anyway?

Do you ever forgo the stamping and just do fun and simple nail art instead? Do you own any of the polishes i used? What do you think of them? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Tuesday's Post: Chanel Peridot

2011-07-13T20:32:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I wasn't entirely convinced when I first saw promotion shots of Chanel's Peridot that it was a color I couldn't live without. But after seeing gorgeous swatch after gorgeous swatch over on the nail board on MUA, I was hooked. I placed my first ever order for Chanel nail polish. Along with Peridot I also selected a bottle of Morning Rose, but that's another post. These two bottles are the official start of any "high end" section in my collection, and I have to admit that these two polishes were definitely worth the price tag to me.

First off, Peridot is my birthstone. I knew I would have regretted not getting this polish simply because of the personal associations I have with the name. Second, it's stunning. The gold, green, and even blue duochromes are flattering on my skin tone and definitely garner a few compliments. But enough- I won't make you wait for the pictures any longer!

Chanel Peridot is a lovely warm golden green in most lighting. In low lighting it flashes more of the rich green you can see around the edges of my nails in some of the above pictures. And even more spectacular is when you immerse part of your nail in water and the beautiful blue duochrome comes out to play. These swatches are two easy coats of Peridot, which wasn't brush-strokey or frosty at all. Just a nice, easy to apply metallic.

Do you own any Chanel polishes? Is the brand and colors you have worth the $25 price tag, or are you thriftier and more patient and willing to wait for inexpensive dupes? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Quick Update Post

2011-07-13T13:15:00.000-05:00

I swear- every time I have all my ducks in a row and posts are ready for the week, something happens!

Sunday night we had terrible storms and pretty much everyone in the city lost power. We were lucky we didn't have any damage to our house, but we had four huge trees fall around our property. My last two days have been spent hauling brush and branches, and missing the electricity and most of all my blog! So yup- that's why there have been no posts. We got power back at 11:30 pm last night, and internet was restored this morning.

My plan is that when I get home from work this evening, i'll publish Monday's and Tuesday's posts today, Wednesday's and Thursday's posts tomorrow, and i'll be back on track for Friday's post! I understand posting has been fairly wonky and inconsistent on my blog lately, but please just be patient with me while i try to coordinate and organize everything.

Thanks for your understanding, and I hope you all had a better weekend than I did!

Ginger + Liz Polish Review

2011-07-09T11:00:00.001-05:00

A lot of you asked that I include more product and brand reviews on my blog, so when I came across a nail polish brand i hadn't seen before, I thought I would share my experience with the polishes with my readers! Today i'll be reviewing three polishes i purchased from the brand Ginger + Liz. You can read more about the company and review the colors available on their website. What intrigued me most about the brand was that their polishes are vegan-friendly and cruelty free. I'm all for less toxic beauty products and of course supportive of any brand that is cruelty free. As a bonus, i purchased the polishes for less than retail, so i was able to afford doing a review! So basically, I hope you enjoy learning a bit about my experience with this brand, and maybe you'll find a new favorite polish after visiting their website and trying some out for yourself!

The official description of the polish, bottles, and brushes for this brand is as follows:

"Our polishes include Control Top caps with a 380 strand flat brush for smooth application and brilliant coverage. Always keeping your health in mind, Ginger + Liz nail lacquers are vegan-friendly and free of harmful toxins (no toluene, formaldehyde, or DBP)."

I really enjoyed polishing with the "Control Top" on these bottles. The cap is slightly and smoothly rubberized so it has a no-slip grip in your fingers, and allows for easy maneuvering of the brush. The rubberized coating isn't as noticeable as Orly's rubberized cap (my favorite cap by far!). The bottle itself is a smooth rectangular glass bottle that holds 12.6 ml of polish, with the company's logo appearing on two opposite sides. I personally prefer square or rectangular bottles on polishes simply because it is easier to store them and they sit very snugly together in a drawer or bin.

I purchased Tough Luxe, Prima Donna, and Welcome To My Jungle. I picked these three polishes up on Hautelook where they were on special. Normal retail price for Ginger + Liz polishes is $12 US. Below are the official descriptions of each polish, followed by my personal description and swatch.

Prima Donna: "Prima Donna is our modern day take on old Hollywood glamour a la Dorothy Dandridge and Grace Kelly. Even without trying, she is grand in her personality. She is sexy and demands attention with little effort. A sister colour to Swagger, Prima Donna is a crisp pink metallic with lavender undertones that is perfect marriage of classy and sassy. PD is perfect for all looks: the Modern Luxe, Pretty Prepster, Bohemian Hipster, Casual Chic, Rock Glam...the whole G+L family!"

In the bottle Prima Donna is a pale pink leaning lilac metallic, with ribbons of silver running through it. On the nail it's a gorgeous soft, cool metallic that was very flattering for my skin tone. Application was smooth and easy with just two coats until it was opaque. There is no basecoat or topcoat in this swatch.

Tough Luxe: "Tough Luxe is army green with a feisty attitude…think Troop Beverly Hills. This deep dark forest green hue is infused with a beautiful shimmery gold that keeps the dark colour from looking drab. A favorite of the Bohemian Hipster and Rock Glam trendsetters, the colour lends a hint of rebellion to any ensemble. Who said luxe can’t be tough too?"

I would definitely describe Tough Luxe as a dusty army green. In the bottle you can see some various green shimmers and veins of soft gold shimmer throughout. If you forced me to choose a favorite color from these three polishes, it would have to be this one. The fantastic deep dusty olive base is accented by just the right amount of shimmer. This is two coats, no base or top coat.

Welcome To My Jungle: "Welcome To My Jungle is a mossy green metallic with mustard and gold undertones. Its earthy look softens the dark hue and the gold undertones create light. This shade is for the Bohemian Hipsters, Casual Chic, Modern Luxe, and Rock Glam."

Honestly, I think the official description for this polish is spot on. It's definitely a mossy golden green in person, and the swirls of dark golden shimmer are very evident in the bottle. This color... wow. So gorgeous! The shimmers in this polish don't stop at just gold undertones like the official description says- nope, it has a beautiful rusty orange hiding in it, and pictures don't do it justice. You can see a teeny hint of the orange on my pinky in the first picture, but it ultimately hides when the camera comes out. This is three coats, no base or top coat.

Overall, I am thoroughly impressed by Ginger + Liz polishes. The three colors I chose are all extremely gorgeous and full of little details that make them instantly shoot to some of my favorites in my collection. Application on all three colors was smooth and hassle free. In the future, I'll definitely keep a lookout for more of these polishes on sale!

Have you tried Ginger + Liz polishes before? What do you think of the color variety? Do you think the $12.00 price tag is justified for the product? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

You can purchase Ginger + Liz polishes on GingerAndLiz.com for $12.00 US. The polishes are also available at select NY locations as listed on their website. I am in no way affiliated with Ginger + Liz polishes. I purchased these polishes myself. All reviews on LovelyInLacquer.com are my honest and actual opinions.

Color Cues

2011-07-08T21:02:00.000-05:00

I apologize for missing a few days of posting. I had some things happen in my offline life, and although i absolutely hate missing posts, ultimately this blog is my hobby and there are things that are more important. I will post Wednesday's post today, Thursday's post on Saturday, and Friday's post on Sunday. Regularly scheduled posting will resume on Monday.

Finally, another Color Cues post! Have you missed them as much as I have? I really enjoy putting these together because I feel like it allows me to share a bit more of myself and what inspires me with you- my readers. I know nail polish isn't really considered an "art", but the amount of creativity and eye for color that goes into creating new polish colors, or the amazing mixture of colors in duochromes and multichromes definitely deserves some recognition. Therefore, in the ways that i'm inspired for my other artistic hobbies by the things I see during my day, the same goes for what i'm inspired by for my nails. Enough pointless rambling, I know. I'll hushup and get on with the rest of this Wednesday's post!

I saw this particular grouping of colors when I was browsing tumblr, and I immediately thought of it being a fantastic spring or summer polish color scheme. I especially like the mixing of the bright fuschia, mustard gold, and pale aqua. The lavender, white, and darker aqua act as accents to the three stronger colors.

Source: DesignedInteriors

The polishes I picked out for this week's coordinating scheme were OPI Done Out In Deco, Essie A Day Without Blues (Coat Azure), Essie Jamaica Me Crazy, and China Glaze For Audrey. I sadly didn't have a polish in my collection that matched the gorgeous dark gold or dark teal (I substituted a soft blue) in the image. Any suggestions for polishes of those colors?

What inspired you this week? Does this color scheme or manicure idea appeal to you? Let me know in the comments! If you create a manicure using one of my Color Cue posts, feel free to share it below. Thanks for reading!

Orly Galaxy Girl

2011-07-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone who lives in America had a lovely and safe holiday weekend, and enjoyed the Fourth's festivities! I took the day to spend with my family, so please excuse the lack of a post yesterday. I'm back at it again though, starting the week off with one of my personal favorite polishes, Orly's Galaxy Girl. I know i'm not the only polish addict who is in love with this color!

Orly Galaxy Girl is a darkened plum red base with gorgeous icy pale blue shimmer that is very evident in both the bottle, and on the nail. The shimmer flashes the bright ice blue, a hint of teal, and the occasional warm reddish purple. I didn't have any issue with application, and the following swatches are three coats with base coat.

Galaxy Girly is definitely a unique polish in my collection, and I really like how it appeals to both my vampy polish and out-of-the-ordinary polish desires. I feel like I can put this color on and I won't see anyone else wearing anything quite like it.

I apologize for the lack of length and detail in this post. I honestly wanted to give this polish a much more thorough review, but i've been writing some pretty big and wonderful posts for later this week, and i'm all written out! Hopefully Galaxy Girl does a good enough job of speaking for itself!

Speaking of this week's posts, I'm trying really hard to up the overall variety and quality of my posts (apparently not this one though...) so look forward to some in-depth reviews and more detailed Color Cues posts! I'll also be updating some of my pages, so if you're interested in any of those, be sure to check them out at the end of the week. I'll also be having some new opportunities for my fellow nail bloggers (if they choose to partake) in the near future to help promote your blogs!

So readers, do you own Orly Galaxy Girl, or do you wish you did? If you do, is it one of your favorite polishes as well, or does it not live up to the hype as you expected it would? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Orly nail polishes can be purchased from various beauty e-tailers, Amazon, and ebay, along with beauty supplies or salons in most areas. US retail price for Orly Comic FX polishes is $10.00 US. Galaxy Girl is from the Fall 2010 Cosmic FX Collection. Availability depends on where you purchase and stock in your area.

Franken Friday: Minxy Mitzi + Giveaway Winner!

2011-07-01T21:55:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! I've been putting this post off all day because i haven't been 100% sure about sharing this franken with you. I still don't know how i feel about it- i think it's missing something, or it's just not my style. But alas, that's part of frankening- you get hits, and you get misses! I'm having a ton of fun with it though and learning lots along the way. Hopefully i'll have another franken next week that i'm actually proud to share!

This franken's name is Minxy Mitzi, a light purple with blue undertones that is packed with blue, purple, silver, and pink glitters. These swatches are three coats with no base or top coat.

And now the moment you've been waiting for, the announcement of who the winner of my 100 Follower Giveaway is! I emailed the winner earlier today and she already accepted, so i can now share with you all!

Congratulations Elsa!

After all the entries were verified, totaled, and spreadsheet-ed, Random.org picked lucky number 34, who happened to be Elsa! I was SO excited because not only is Elsa from Italy (so cool right?!), but she's a nail blogger too!!

I want to thank every single one of you that entered and gave me feedback, or told me your favorite polish, or shared something related to nails. I really enjoyed reading each and every entry, and you made my first giveaway experience a great one! As always, have a great weekend and Thanks for reading!

Nail Art & Born Pretty Store Review

2011-06-30T10:51:00.002-05:00

Nail art, on a Thursday?! I know, what trickery is this!?

Sorry, sometimes i think i'm funny. Any who, YES- nail art on a Thursday. I would have put it up Monday but i had something special i was waiting on in the mail for this nail art, and I wanted to show you what polishes i got on vacation. But I promise nail art every week, so i'm delivering on that! (P.s. i know i missed color cues two weeks in a row, please don't shoot me! stuff happened.) The something special i have with today's stamping is a review!

Born Pretty Store very kindly offered to have me review some of their nail art products. I chose these adorable little crystal glitter bows! Jayce kindly sent me the Crystal White Bowknot Shape 3D Stickers. Now, I do have to clarify that these are not stickers. That doesn't make them any less adorable or useable, they just aren't self adhesive or flexible. The bows themselves are hard plastic.

I was really excited to receive and review these because i've been wanting to try more 3D nail art lately, and I thought this would be a perfect test run! I went with a fun and funky mixed animal print design on my nails to counteract the super girly element of big sparkly bows. For my index, middle, and pinky fingers i used one coat of Wet N' Wild Wet Shine Black Creme, then stamped with Ginger & Liz Polish in Prima Donna with plate M57's zebra design. On my ring and thumb fingers I used two coats of a gray franken, then stamped with Wet N' Wild Black Creme with the leopard design from plate M57. I then used a dotting tool and filled in some of the leopard spots with Prima Donna. To finish things off i added some rhinestones and pearls to my ring fingers, and the crystal bow to my thumbs!

I adhered the crystal bows to my nails the same way I do with rhinestones- I spread a slow drying, thickened top coat onto the dried nail, then press the decoration into the wet topcoat. Usually one swipe of SV over a patch of rhinestones holds them until i choose to take the manicure off. The longest i've had them on is five days, but i'm positive i could go much much longer without losing any rhinestones! The bows were a bit tricker, and had edges that could catch on things, so i sort of spread SV under the bow's edges and all over the places where it touched the nail so that it filled the areas that were lifted off of the nail's surface. Does that make sense? Honestly, when it dried I felt 100% certain that that bow wasn't going anywhere. And as a bonus when i put the topcoat over the bows, the sparkles in the plastic showed up even more- making them extra glittery!

I know some of you will probably ask why i don't just use a dab of nail glue for decorations, and i'll answer you this- Every post i've seen using that method says that the rhinestones can get around two days wear without popping off. My method gets me as many days wear as I want without losing a single rhinestone!

In conclusion, although the bows are not stickers, i'm still very pleased with the product! I've ordered from Born Pretty before, and the shipping is reliable (always takes two to four weeks to arrive), and the products i receive are in great condition. This review has just further cemented my choice to continue buying nail art supplies from Born Pretty. I hope you enjoyed my little review!

And as a bonus: If you'd like to purchase nail art supplies from the Born Pretty Store, feel free to use the discount code i've been given to pass along to my readers!

Have you purchased from Born Pretty Store before? How was your experience? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

A product sample was sent to me for review. All opinions are honest and my own and have not been influenced.

A Creme, A Holo, A Shimmer, And A Metallic All Walk Into An Office...

2011-06-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Yeah.. that's the end of the joke. aka, it's non-existant. I needed a title okay?

So a lot of you have been requesting more work-friendly colors that are office safe, and a lot of you have been requesting more inexpensive polishes. I think i can make both groups happy with this post! Today i'll be showing you four office friendly neutrals from different price points. The best part? All of these colors don't require you to sacrifice fun polish! Believe it or not, you can wear that holo to work without it being a dress-code breaker. Yup, you read that right- a holo! Even if you're not holographic crazy like 90% of the nail polish blogging world, i've got something for you too. And for you girls who don't have to be polish-concious at your workplace, these are still gorgeous colors to wear anytime.

First up is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Cafe Au Lait. This is a nude polish that has a very subtle pink shimmer, but isn't very visible on the nail. If you're coloring is similar to mine, then this is your "mannequin hands" shade. If not, it's just a general nice creamy nude. Aside from the awful (imo) paddle brush that comes with these bottles, the formula was good and application was easy with three coats until the polish was opaque. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes retail for around $7.99 in my area, making this the most expensive polish of the bunch.

"A nude holographic?" That's the question i was asking myself recently at a local dusty when i came across Color Club's Love 'Em Leave 'Em. I know that Color Club has un-holo'ed previous holo polishes before, so i was surprised to find that this polish was an original version. This color isn't a linear holo, but it's a nice scattered effect that shows up well in sunlight. This is just two coats with OPI DS topcoat. Yep, two coats! In fact, this was almost a one-coater. I think i'll probably test this one out for stamping. I purchased this Color Club polish for $5.00 at a salon. I'm unaware of the retail price/ current market price of this particular polish.

If Cafe Au Lait is your "mannequin hands" shade, chances are that Love 'Em Leave 'Em

will also be a good nude for your skin tone!

Next up is the metallic of the bunch, China Glaze's Magical, one of the polishes from the Romantique Collection. Aside from being amazing stamping polishes, this collection is full of gorgeous chrome-like colors. This collection is still also readily available through online retailers and I think that some of the collection is in the core colors of China Glaze. I'm basing this on that i bought it at ULTA from the main display. This polish cost around $6.00 at my ULTA. You can probably find it online for much cheaper though. This swatch has one coat, and although this polish is fantastic at stamping, it's a brushstrokey, frosty finish on it's own. If you're into a metallic frost look, then this polish would be right up your alley. Personally, i would probably layer a sheer polish over it, or a glitter. It really shows any flaws or ridges on the nail. Bonus though- This polish dries incredibly fast, and is dent proof in just a minute or two!

And last but certainly not least is the very affordable Essence Irreplaceable. Usually Essence polishes retail for $.99, but they seem to permanently be "on sale" at ULTA for just $.49 which makes this polish the perfect one to pick up if you're on a stricter polish budget but still want something pretty and sophisticated. This polish was two careful coats to opaque, and every bit of gold shimmer translates from bottle to nail. One downside to this polish is that when you are removing it, be prepared to have that same lovely golden shimmer all over your cuticles and fingers.

And that rounds out my office-friendly comparisons! A few cute pictures to go though- one of our furballs decided to join me while i was taking polish pictures, and she agreed to pose cutely with a polish bottle.

I don't think i've introduced her here before, but this is my sister's cat Thusa. She's a skinny, fluffy ball of kitten energy. She certainly likes to cause trouble and it's impossible to stay mad at her when she gives you her 'cute face' (if you have cats, you know what face i'm talking about!). And since some of you will probably ask, she lost her eye before my sister adopted her due to an infection. But even with just one eye she's still the most fearless and adventurous cat we've ever had.

Do you think these polishes are "work friendly"? Do you like this breakdown of swatches and price points? Thanks for reading!

Epic Vacation Haul + Giveaway News

2011-06-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

I'm home from vacation, finally! Sadly it wasn't as relaxing as I had hoped, but it was still a good time none the less. The best part? Dusty hunting in a new city! Yep, even on vacation I try to scope out local salons and suppliers to try to get my polish fix. I had some awesome luck at one salon in particular, but i also had some great scores at Dollar Tree and CVS (we don't have CVS's where I live!). A lot of you suggested that I show more of my hauls, so i'll try to keep track of them so I can show you what i've been purchasing.

L.A. Colors Stripers. Left to right: Red Glitter, Magenta, Black, Blue Glitter (2x), Gold Glitter

L.A. Colors Nail Dazzling Kits. Left to right: Beauty Bliss, After Party, Picture Perfect. These are kits that come with one mini sized polish and two loose glitter colors- aka, frankening kits!

Wet N' Wild Megalast in Garden Hose, Cherry Blossom, and Sunburst

Revlon Royal and Wet N' Wild Fast Dry Atlantis

I picked up these polishes for some more frankening supplies! Sally Hansen Ice Queen, Dahlia, Pixel Pretty, Rock Candy. Confetti Tiara (x3).

We stopped by a Tuesday Morning and i was lucky enough to find two Nicole By OPI Nic's Sticks in Silver-Ella. No Rainbow's End though ):

And then i went to a salon and found a TON of OPI goodies! OPI I'd Like To Thank, This Little Piggy..., I Lilly Love You, Berry Good Dancers.

OPI Movin' Out, My Big Break, Canadian Maple Leaf, Catherine The Grape

OPI Banana Bandana, Sea Ya Later, Sailor!, At Your Quebec And Call, Sugarplum Yum

And probably my biggest score, OPI DS Original (x3!!), and DS Sapphire (x2!!). I picked up one bottle of each for myself, and the others are to spread the love by swapping them :)

The man at the salon where i hauled the OPIs was extremely nice, friendly, and helpful. I got everything for under retail, and i got all the DS polishes for just $8 each, brand new. I didn't completely wipe out the selection though, so if you live in the Knoxville, Tennessee area and are looking for OPI DS Original or DS Sapphire, feel free to shoot me a message on MUA or an email and i'll send you the location and name of the salon!

Second order of business is my giveaway! As you know, it ended, and i went on vacation. Over my vacation i took some time here and there to organize and verify entries, and although i still have a little left to do (so don't remove info from your sidebars, ect!), I'll be announcing the winner of my giveaway this week. Thank you so much for your patience, and Thanks for reading!

China Glaze 108 Degrees

2011-06-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

So quick posts this week gals! I'm on vacation so i'm getting in posting when i have some free time, and post length will vary but i'll be sure to give you all the details you want about the polishes i show you.

I know you've seen swatches of this polish already a bunch, but it's so insanely gorgeous that i'm going to make you suffer through another post about it! As you all probably well know, i'm not a pink polish kind of gal. But within the first few coats of China Glaze 108 Degrees I was in love! This polish is an easy two coater, but you'd probably need three to eliminate absolutely all visible nail line. And holy macaroni, is this polish pretty. Even just looking at the pictures of it you can see how stunning it is with the glass fleck finish and purple fuchsia shimmer.

This polish has definitely made it into my top ten summer polish picks, and i can't wait to try layering it! I definitely want to pick up the majority of the rest of this collection, including Cha Cha Cha, Senorita Bonita, and Blue Iguana.

Did you purchase any of China Glaze's summer collection? Have you tried 108 Degrees? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

China Glaze nail polishes can be purchased from various beauty e-tailers, Amazon, and ebay, along with beauty supplies or salons in most areas. US retail price for China Glaze polishes is around $5.00. 108 Degrees is from the Island Escape Collection. Availability depends on where you purchase and stock in your area.

Mani + Pedi Monday

2011-06-20T17:53:00.001-05:00

Okay, so before i even start talking about nails, i want to issue a little warning. There are pictures of feet in this post. Okay, i just laughed while i was typing that. But i'm serious! This is probably going to be a one-time thing here on L.I.L, but i personally think feet are kinda weird and want to warn anyone who isn't comfortable with these kinds of posts. To appease those of you who don't want to view today's toenail art, i'll get a regular nail art post up later this week.

Now, onto the rest of the post! Last week my mom was scheduled to have a pedicure before we left for vacation, and she came into my room and wanted to take a color she liked with her. She ended up choosing my franken, Foxy Moxie, and off she went! But when she came home, her toe nails were polish free! I asked what had happened, and apparently they got a new girl as a secretary and she had been screwing people's appointments up all week, and had forgotten to enter in my mom's pedicure appointment. My mom was pretty bummed because we were planning to be at the pool and out on the lake a lot on our vacation, so she wanted her toes to be pretty. I don't usually do pedicures (because like i said, feet are kinda weird to me), but i offered to do hers because of the circumstance, and c'mon- it's my mom! Well, after i finished painting her nails, she totally convinced me that i just had to do my toes too, because it's cute and i already do my nails. So for the first time in probably seven years, i painted my toe nails. And since i hadn't done any nail art for today yet, i figured i'd add some stamping and rhinestones and call it good!

I started with a gorgeous base of Zoya Caitlin (and i kind of wish i had stopped here! The color was amazing!). I had just purchased Poshe topcoat to try with my Zoyas that same day, so I wanted to test it out for wear and see if it would actually work for me. Surprise surprise, it worked perfectly! I'm so excited because now I can finally wear my Zoya polishes without chipping for more than one day. Anyway, back on track. Zoya Caitlin is a beautiful dusty blurple creme, and it had perfect application with two coats. One coat of Poshe and it was shiny and good to go!

Once i finished the base color, I stamped the polka dot image from BM19 with Sinful Colors Snow Me White and added a cluster of rhinestones on my large toe.

Then of course I had to have a matching, but not too flashy, manicure to go with my bedazzled tootsies! I chose the lovely Zoya Dannii, which is a beautiful warm purple with an obvious gold shimmer and a more subtle pink shimmer. Two coats of Dannii and one coat of Poshe and I was good to go. My camera photographed this color a little cooler and darker than it is in person.

Do you like or dislike seeing pedicures on nail blogs? Do you own any of the colors used in this post? Have you tried using Poshe with Zoya polishes? If so, how was your experience? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

I've Been Tagged! - Top 10 Award

2011-06-19T08:56:00.000-05:00

I was completely flattered when Posh For Polish and The Nailaholic tagged me for this award! It's the first tag award i've been tagged for, so that makes it even more exciting for me. I also have another tag to do, but i haven't gotten around to it yet... oops! Anyway, I'll stop chattering and get on with the post.

Rules:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.

So since i'm a polish blogger i thought i'd not only list my top ten cosmetic products, but my top ten polishes as well. Oh, and since i can't simply just name the products, you'll have to suffer through little descriptions of why i chose them!

My Top 10 Cosmetics: (These are my favorites of the products I own, in no particular order.)
1. Cover Girl Lash Blast Fusion Mascara
2. Bare Escentuals Foundation and Mineral Veil
3. Youngblood Concealer
4. B&BW Liplicious Lipgloss in Raspberry Jam
5. NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Pure Gold and Cottage Cheese
6. Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
7. Almay Intense I-Color Eyeliner in Black
8. Lorac Perfectly Lit Powder in Spotlight
9. Too-Faced Eyeshadow Duo in George And Weezie
10. eos Lipbalm in Honeysuckle

My Top 10 Polishes: (These are my favorites of the polishes I own, in no particular order.)
1. OPI My Private Jet (holographic) - Of course i couldn't let this one not be in my favorites! I mean, c'mon. It's MPJ holo. Enough said.

2. Orly Galaxy Girl - holy gorgeous polish! I love this one- love it! I know i haven't posted swatches yet, but look for them this week!

3. Orly Royal Velvet - Oh man, when i wore this on my nails i couldn't stop staring at it. Probably my favorite duochrome i own.

4. OPI Houston We Have A Purple - Favorite. Jelly. Ever. This is my go-to summer color. I'll probably wear this again as soon as i finish my current untrieds- i can't wait to layer it with glitters!

5. OPI Teenage Dream - *drool* This glitter is so gorgeous. And i'm not even a huge fan of pink polish! I'm always picking this bottle up and looking at it when i go through my stash. Definitely my favorite glitter.

6. OPI Absolutely Alice - Oh AA, why couldn't you have worn better on me? But i won't give up on you! I will possess your gorgeous blue and gold glittery fantasticness for more than one day of wear!

7. OPI Merry Midnight - Suzi, Y U NO give us more gorgeous colors like this?! Do i really need to explain my love for this color? Because it's fantastic.

8. Hard Candy Beetle - I also have Space Cadet, but i haven't tried it yet. But anyway, this is an amazing multi-chrome, and it looks crazy awesome layered with black shatter. (as you already all know!)

9. China Glaze White Cap - I've only used this once, but it's already secured a spot in my favorites! It's so pretty when layered, and i can't wait to try it over more colors!

10. OPI The One That Got Away - Ironically, this is the one polish from the KP collection that i didn't get the first go around.. and then when i wanted it, none of the places in my town had it!! I had to drive to a mall an hour away to find one, and when i did i was so glad because it's just stunning in the bottle. I can't wait to show you swatches!

The blogs i'm about to tag are the ones that are personally some of my favorites to visit, and these girls always have great personality in their posts along with wonderful pictures and ideas. If you've been tagged before, sorry for tagging you again! (But congrats on being tagged more than once!) I decided i didn't want to tag the "huge" blogs because 1. they've probably been tagged already, and 2. i wanted to draw attention to some different blogs than the ones everybody knows about!

10 Blogs To Tag:
1. Nail Polish Art Addiction - Leslie simply has the cutest hand painted designs, along with excellent execution and she's always incredibly nice in replying to comments or questions! Oh, and she's having a contest right now that ends on June 20th. I tried my hand at hand painting and i pretty much suck at it. So now i'm even more amazed by her mini nail paintings!

2. Gotham Polish - Amy has such a unique polish blog. She links areas of NYC with different polishes, and i always feel like i'm learning something when i read her blog! Plus she recently went to Aruba and her pictures from there are gorgeous.

3. Like A Candy Shop - Elsa's blog is always fun to read because she reviews and takes great pictures of polishes that i don't have in huge supply where i live, such as Essence (oh.my.gosh. so many additions to my mental wish list because of her Essence swatches!). Oh! and she also just changed her layout and it's crazy adorable! Loving that marshmallow letter font!

4. Prettyfulz - Julie's blog was my go-to place for super cute nail stamping with tons of rhinestones. Plus she's incredibly nice, and back when BM came out with their new plates she worked super hard to post up-to-date info the entire time! She hasn't posted in a while (does anyone know why?), but her blog is definitely one you should browse through if you like stamping!

5. Rebecca Likes Nails - I always enjoy reading Rebecca's posts because her personality really comes out in her writing, and she takes the time to provide extra info about polishes. She's also been reviewing a lot of Color Club polishes recently, which i was excited about because i'm finally in an area with a Ross while i'm on vacation! yay!

6. Nail Spotting - Okay, so every time i visit her blog i get serious banner envy. I so wish i had thought of her banner idea first! It's awesome! Plus she has gorgeous pictures (can we trade nails plz?). I went to her blog to grab a link for this post, and i couldn't believe she doesn't have more followers! Followers, go, get your hineys over to her blog and check it out!

7. Ivanka Thinks Pink - Her nails are so pretty- i love looking at her pictures because they're always of great quality and she has such nice nails! She does review a lot of pink polish, so if you're a fan of pink, or you're looking for inspiration for that Pink Wednesday post, check out her blog. Oh, and she did a gorgeous ruffian with gold and OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede. Seriously, you need to see it. *adds WAHPs to wishlist*

8. Nightly Nails - Not only a cute concept, but a cute blog as well! Nicole does a great job at writing her posts so it's like she's actually talking to you- not just robotically providing polish info. haha! Right now she's doing Color Focus weeks, but you have got to check out the Neon Splatter manicure she did recently- it made me want to try a splatter manicure so bad!

9. Emily's Nail Files - I think i've said this in every mini blurb about the blogs I chose, but that's probably because it's really important to me- Emily really lets her personality shine through in her posts, which makes them really engaging and interesting to read. She recently did a tiger stripe inspired manicure, and i know i'll be whipping out that technique the next time a friend asks for an animal print on her nails! It looks so awesome!

10. LinZ Lacquer - Lindsay does such a great job at formatting her posts on her blog. She provides information you want to know right up front, and follows it up with lovely pictures. I seriously wish my nails looked that good rounded/ as squovals! Her blog is on the small side right now, but i'm fully expecting that some of you will wander over and see how awesome it is and go follow :) (p.s. she just bought 230 so if you're a unicorn pee addict, she'll be posting about it soon!)

Whew, that took some time to type out! If i didn't mention your blog, it isn't because i don't LOVE it! I love every single blog i follow- heck, i followed it for a reason! haha! I hope you gals check out the blogs above, or if you're already following them, great!

Thanks for reading my gigantic-ness of of a tag post! Oh, and be prepared for something a little unexpected tomorrow for nail art- i'd never thought i'd do it, but my mom convinced me to! (curious now aren't ya? hehe)

Franken Friday - Foxy Moxie

2011-06-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

Happy friday lovelies! As you're reading this i'm already in the car and on the road for vacation! Yay! But no worries- i fully plan on continuing to post throughout my vacation. As i'm writing this it's a beautiful day outside, perfect for showcasing a shimmery creation of mine. I've found that i'm much better at frankening shimmers than I am at frankening glitter bombs. Maybe that will change once I get my hands on some good frankening glitters, but for now I think my focus will stick with shimmers.

Readers, meet Foxy Moxie. She's a mix between a bright pink and a muted purple, and she's jam packed full of shimmer. Light blue, purple, hot pink- It's a fantastic mix of sparkle goodness! These pictures are pretty flattering, but of course this franken is way more impressive in person. In the picture below, the middle, ring, and pinky fingers are how she looks most of the time in regular lighting- but that index finger shows what she can do when you put the spotlight on her. This is three coats of Foxy Moxie. The formula was wonderful- if I say so myself! Okay, okay, enough chatter- i'll let you see more pictures!

Check out all those colors on the index finger where it's blurry!

Detail shot!

Foxy Moxie is by far my favorite franken i've created. As I mentioned in my last post, i've been considering selling/ sending out samples of my frankens. I'm still toying with the idea, but if you're interested in Foxy Moxie and want to see what she's like in person, leave me a comment! If you'd maybe like to review her on your blog, send me an email? I can't guarantee that you'll get a bottle, but right now I'm interested in seeing what your opinions are, or if anyone would even be interested! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend!

Mega Swatch Spam

2011-06-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for this? Seriously, you'll probably need to prepare yourself. Maybe go get a glass of water or something. I'll give you some time.

.....

Okay now are you ready? good. Cause this is a whole bunch of swatch spam. I've decided that i'd really like to finish up my collection page so that only my untrieds don't have swatches linked. Plus, this will probably encourage me to actually try my untrieds. I've got a total of seventeen swatches to show you today. My descriptions of these polishes are going to be short and concise since there are so many.

One coat of China Glaze Lightning Bolt Crackle over Milani Cyberspace.

Didn't crackle especially well.

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint. Three coats.

Milani Cyberspace. This is layered over OPI's What's With The Cattitude?.

Orly Luxe. Two coats.

Revlon Blue Lagoon under one coat of China Glaze White Cap. GORGEOUS.

Two coats of Revlon's Perplex.

Wet N' Wild Gray's Anatomy. A sheer green-gray base with obvious

pale pink shimmer, 4 coats, still VNL.

Wet N' Wild SaGreena The Teenage Witch. Three coats.

Wet N' Wild Teal Of Fortune. Three coats with minor VNL.

Wet N' Wild Caribbean Frost. Almost a one coater, but my bottle had a wonky brush.

Two coats.

Wet N' Wild Eggplant Frost. Two coats.

Wet N' Wild Metallica. Three Coats. Very brushstrokey, shows imperfections easily.

Wet N' Wild Wild Card. Three Coats.

Zoya Trixie. Silver foil, great application. Two coats.

Wet N' Wild Tickled Pink. Two coats. Classic bubblegum pink creme.

Sally Hansen Cardinal. A bright red jelly, two coats.

Sally Hansen Strawberry Icing. Three coats, VNL.

Whew, done! I know i didn't give any detailed descriptions, but most of the pictures were taken quite a while ago so i don't really remember on some how many coats it was or what application was like. So i figured i'd just throw them all into a giant spam eye-candy fest and be done with it. Hope it was tolerable!

Do you own any of these colors? What do you think of huge swatch spam posts like this? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Color Cues

2011-06-15T11:48:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday, which means it's time for some color inspiration! This week's colors are a soft mix of dusty hues- purples, greens, and neutrals.

The polishes i chose to match with this color scheme are Essie Damsel In A Dress, China Glaze Pelican Gray, OPI You Don't Know Jacques!, and China Glaze Zombie Zest.

I realized while i was putting this week's colors together that my collection is severely lacking in greens. Which isn't that strange, because i don't wear a lot of greens. I also have some bonus swatches for you today of one of the featured colors- Essie Damsel In A Dress. DIAD is a gorgeous deep plum purple that has the slightest shimmer. I'm such a sucker for dark colors so when i saw this little beauty in the clearance section at ULTA, i snatched it right up. This polish applies with three easy smooth coats, although there are slight brushstrokes visible in macro. In person they are hardly noticeable, if at all. This swatch does have Orly Bonder Base Coat, but no topcoat.

You may notice some switching back and forth between two different watermarks. This is because I took a lot of photos for vault purposes before i switched over to my domain, and i have yet to post about a lot of colors. So until i run out of swatch pictures i've already taken, or if i ever draw posts from the vault, you'll be seeing the occasional old watermark. Just in case you were wondering!

Do you like the mix of green and purple? Are you a fan of dark colors, or do you only wear them when you have nubbins? Did this color scheme inspire any manicure/nail art ideas for you? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI, China Glaze, and Essie nail polishes can be purchased from various beauty e-tailers, Amazon, and ebay, along with salons or beauty supplies in most areas. US retail price for OPI, China Glaze, and Essie polishes are $8.50, $5.99, and $8.00 respectively. OPI You Don't Know Jacques is from the La Collection De France Collection, China Glaze Pelican Gray is from the Anchor's Away Collection, China Glaze Zombie Zest is from the Awakening Collection, and Essie Damsel In A Dress is from the Winter 2008 Collection. Availability depends on where you purchase and stock in your area.

OPI Meet Me On The Star Ferry

2011-06-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day to enter my 100 Follower Giveaway! Get your entries in before 12 p.m. CST! Click HERE to enter!

Holy gorgeous polish! Honestly, i didn't understand why this color was such a lemming for some people until i put the brush to the nail. I picked this color up on a whim because i recognized the name, stuck it in my untrieds bin and wrote it off as 'just another frosty mauve', figuring i could swap it away. Heavens no! I'm so glad i didn't swap this one without trying it first. Within the very first stroke of polish, my jaw dropped and i was oohhing and ahhing all over the place. Sure, when it's all said and done and you're looking at the color from a distance it looks like a pretty average, if a little frosty, mauve. But when you get it under proper lighting all these gorgeous micro glitter colors start showing up and it's amazing. I've never had the problem where i didn't want to stop adding coats because it was so pretty going on the nail, but with this color i do! Anywho, i'll stop blabbering and get onto the details.

OPI's Meet Me On The Star Ferry is a red leaning purple filled to the brim with multi-colored micro glitter (or shimmer, i'm not quite sure). There are flashes of red, green, gold, blue, pink, and more. In my pictures I have three coats on my nails, but it is easily opaque in just two coats. Application couldn't have been easier- the smooth formula went on wonderfully with OPI's Pro-Wide brush. These swatches have Orly Bonder Base Coat but no topcoat.

What do you think of multi-colored polishes like this? Would you purchase a polish that looks average except for under certain lighting (in which it looks amazing)? Do you own this polish? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI nail polishes can be purchased from various beauty e-tailers, Amazon, and ebay, along with salons in most areas. US retail price for OPI polishes is $8.50. Meet Me On The Star Ferry is from the Hong Kong Collection. Availability depend on where you purchase and stock in your area.

Plaid And Polka Dots

2011-06-13T19:54:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is the last day to enter my 100 Follower Giveaway! If you haven't already entered, click HERE to do so! Good luck!

First things first- welcome to LovelyInLacquer.com! Yay! I had previously decided that when i reached 500 followers i would invest in a domain name for my blog. I reached that milestone over the weekend, and i couldn't be more excited- so thank you all for following my little blog! I didn't think i would reach so many followers so quickly, but it has made me really motivated to increase the quality and appeal of my blog. I've been making quite a few layout and design changes in everything from the links at the top to how i format my posts. I'll be adding a few new pages with new features, and my posts will be a lot more structured. I've been inspired by a few of the larger blogs to incorporate some features into my own blog that i thought were useful and user friendly! Some of these ideas include dividing my posts up so each subject of information is easily designated, and including information on where to find/purchase the products used in my posts. I hope you like the changes i'll be making, and as always please leave feedback in the form of a comment or email if you think of something that would make your experience as a reader of my blog a little bit better! Now, onto the nail art!

When your best friend comes over sees your stash and asks you to do her nails, you can't possibly say no, right? Of course you can't. And lucky for me, my best friend isn't a total "muggle" when it comes to nail polish, and she's super patient with me and respectful of my polishes. On Sunday afternoon she came over and i did her nails in a "skittles" type manicure. One of the things i love about doing this particular friend's nails is that she's open to anything- so if there is a technique i want to try, or a design i've been working on, i know she's willing to be my nail polish guinea pig! And isn't that the sign of a good friend? haha!

On her index and ring fingers i used two coats of OPI's Ski Teal We Drop as a base, then stamped polka dots from BM19 in OPI's Rumples Wiggin'. To finish those fingers i added three rhinestones and a few half pearls for some sparkle. On her thumb, middle, and pinky fingers i used four coats of OPI's Austin-tatious Turquoise, then painted on a plaid type pattern with Ski Teal We Drop and Rumples Wiggin'. Everything was topped off with a shiny coat of SV.

I think she was really happy with the finished product, which made me happy too! There's something really nice about doing something creative for another person and having them share your enthusiasm and express their satisfaction with your work. On another note, I apologize for lack of pictures of the finished manicure. I had taken quite a few but sadly most of them ended up too blurry for me to post. (p.s. aren't her nails lovely? she does such a nice job taking care of them and shaping them! It makes them so much easier to paint.)

Have you ever done someone's nails other than your own? How was your experience? Was it something you'd like to repeat, or do you have a horror story to share? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

OPI nail polishes can be purchased from various beauty e-tailers, Amazon, and ebay, along with salons in most areas. US retail price for OPI polishes is $8.50. Ski Teal We Drop is from the Swiss Collection, Rumples Wiggin' is from the Shrek Collection, and Austin-Tatious Turquoise is from the Texas Collection. Availability will depend on where you purchase and stock in your area. The rhinestone and pearl accents were purchased from the BornPrettyStore.

OPI What's With The Cattitude? vs. Revlon Blue Lagoon

2011-06-09T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for a good light blue. I've been hunting for that oh-so-perfect shade for my skintone, so when Revlon came out with Blue Lagoon, i was sold. Not to mention that people were comparing it to Chanel Riva, which i had wanted but wasn't willing to dish out $25 for. But when i got Blue Lagoon home and wore it for the first time, i felt that it was really similar to another polish in my collection, OPI's What's With The Cattitude?. I compared, and sure enough, they're pretty similar!

In the bottle they don't look like dupes. And for good reason, because they aren't exact dupes. Blue Lagoon is a shimmer, while WWTC? is a creme. The formula on both isn't difficult or bad, but when compared, the formula on the Revlon is smoother and goes on more evenly than OPI's pastel formula. OPI definitely wins me over with the Pro-Wide brush though- my nails are just the right size for that brush! Another difference is price- the OPI will set you back $8.50, while the Revlon is only $5.99. However, if you'd like to get your hands on this fraternal twin you should probably act quickly as it is limited edition.

But once you get them on the nail...

Pretty close, no? Now, you can obviously tell that WWTC? is a tad darker, and doesn't contain the same subtle shimmer that Blue Lagoon has. In person the color difference is much less noticeable- i had to take several pictures before the base even looked different. However, if you're lemming WWTC?, this could ease your craving until you can get your hands on the OPI.

Do you have either of these polishes, and do you think they're close enough to be referred to as similar? If you're looking for What's With The Cattitude?, could Blue Lagoon be a temporary substitute for your lemming? Thanks for reading!

Color Cues

2011-06-08T14:50:00.000-05:00

First off, a small apology. This week so far has been extraordinarily stressful for me due to personal issues which ultimately ended with me quitting my current job. So painting my nails wasn't exactly top priority for me for the first half of this week. Also, i'm going on vacation week after next- i'm going to try to keep up with posting, but that might be me deviating from my schedule by posting vault swatch posts if i'm too busy. So i'm sorry that the content will not be business as usual for a little bit until things settle down again. And my last note (i swear i'll stop rambling soon!) after i get back from vacation i really want to increase the quality of posting i'm doing on my blog. I'm really close to 500 followers (OMG!) and i feel that that calls for a bit of a different set-up than when i just had 75 followers haha. I'm really going to make an effort to make my posts more detailed, with new features and graphics! So yup, that's what is ahead on Lovely In Lacquer. Now, onto today's regularly scheduled post!

For this week's color inspiration i chose a scheme with a mix of pastels and neutral colors. I really like how the soft tan and rich brown coordinate so well with the warmth of dusty coral and cool tones of the pale blue. I know that five colors seems like a lot to try to work into one manicure, but i could see it being done with the thumb, index, middle, and pinky fingers with wide horizontal stripes in chocolate, gray, and blue. Then the ring finger being the accent with the coral as the base color and the tan as a konad stamp. Or heck, even reverse it and have the warm colors on all but the ring finger, where you use the two cool colors as an accent! Or if you can make it work without using the ring finger as an accent, go for it! Anyway, i'll stop rambling and let you see the colors for yourself.

Source: Design Seeds

And the polishes i chose to match with this scheme are:

Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait, OPI What's With The Cattitude?, China Glaze Pelican Gray, OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys, and Sinful Colors Vacation Time

I really like using the pre-designed color schemes for my inspiration posts, but i feel like it would be more personal if they were pictures and color schemes i did myself- i think i'll be trying that soon! Oh, and I also have another blog i'm working with (nope, not a nail blog!) so expect more new things with that soon ;) There are a lot of changes ahead for this little blog, and i really want to make it better overall. Hopefully you'll all stick with me through the next few phases!

Is this a color scheme you would wear? Do you like the schemes i'm currently using, or would you rather see color schemes from pictures i take? Thanks for reading!

Franken Friday

2011-06-04T20:33:00.001-05:00

Oops! This post was supposed to go up yesterday, but i forgot to schedule it! This morning i went shopping (of course i got polish- Haul post next week!) so i didn't catch the mistake. Anywho, this is my first franken friday, and i'm kicking things off with a franken i created that i actually kind of liked. Oh, and whoa at getting 400 followers! That's amazing, thanks! (:

This franken can be described as a medium lavender jelly with holographic glitter and a slight blue shimmer. I'm constantly trying to create one of those "WOW" frankens, but i think i'm going to have to invest in some suspension base and various glitters before that happens. This is three coats of my franken.

I have a whole plan of bottles, labels, and creating beautiful frankens to mail out to bloggers and NB girls, but i think i have a long way to go before anyone will want my frankens. haha! So um, i don't really know what else to say in this post. I hope that as i post more FFs you'll be able to watch my progress with me, and hopefully watch me improve!

In your opinion, what separates an ok franken from an amazing one? Do you like seeing more glitter bomb type frankens, or simpler ones? Thanks for reading, and have a nice weekend!

N.Y.C. Swatches

2011-06-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

I've been reading the suggestions that you all are sending in for my giveaway (check it out in the sidebar if you haven't already entered!) and a lot of you are requesting cheaper or drugstore brand swatches. So i thought i'd show you my N.Y.C polishes that i own! I got quite a few of these from the Dollar Tree, or from my sister.

I'll start things off with i209A, a frosty light melon colored pink. The brushstrokes are really visible upon application, which was pretty obnoxious considering i didn't mind the melon-y pink color. This is four coats, and it's not even completely opaque.

Kisses is a light milky lilac with very fine aqua shimmer. On it's own this color doesn't become opaque within a reasonable amount of coats (I used four here). I thought maybe it would work better layered over black, but i haven't tried that yet. However, i did discover this is a great color for frankening- the aqua shimmer really stays strong when mixed.

This is Big Money Frost, a very frosty light green. This polish pretty much showed every single imperfection in my nails, and was brushstroke after brushstroke of frosty awfulness. Not fully opaque even after three coats. This seems to be a theme...

And last but not least, the one polish that redeems this grouping of colors. This is 109A (name your polishes NYC!!) a pretty hot pink coral-y creme. This was almost a one coater, but i did two coats just for good measure. Probably a good polish for stamping, although it's almost identical in color to the pink rubber on my double sided stamper, so it would be hard to see where it was to place the stamp!

And that wraps up my post! Sorry for the late night posting, but my day was jam-packed and i didn't have a moment except for right before bed. I'm so glad it's Friday though tomorrow- last day of the work week, plus i get to show you all my franken! Thanks for reading!

What To Do With Wednesday

2011-06-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

So i wanted to try something a little new on my blog since i'm trying to come up with a blog schedule. I figured mondays would be nail art (because i have time to dedicate to it over the weekends), tuesdays would be swatches, thursdays would be tutorials, and fridays would be franken fridays (of course! because that's the obvious choice). But wait... where does that leave wednesdays? Well, one of the things i talked about on monday was how i try to find inspiration for my manicures, and how i look at inspiring pictures. One of the folders in my nail pictures section on my computer is titled "Color Scheme Inspiration", and most of the images in that folder come from a fantastic little site called Design Seeds. Basically they post pictures with color schemes in swatches under the images, which make finding color inspiration quick and easy. Last time i was looking at the pictures i thought to myself "Hey, i could do something with this!" and voila! The idea for wednesdays was solved. So each week i'll be posting a color scheme i found inspiring, along with polishes that match in those colors. And maybe sometimes i'll even throw in a nail art manicure using the colors if i have time! Ultimately i'm doing this to share with you where i draw my inspiration from, and maybe helping you find color schemes that you wouldn't have put together on your own, but that you really like! Or hey, it might even inspire you to do a manicure with the colors i post (i'd love to see it, if you do!). But yeah, so that's what will be happening on wednesdays if it works.

So if you've managed to find your way through that giant paragraph of my rambling explanation, here is this week's color inspiration!

And the polishes i chose to go with it are:

Sally Hansen Gray By Gray, Essie Cute As A Button, and OPI Stranger Tides.

Do you like this type of post, or would you rather i just throw in an extra swatch on wednesdays? and Do you have any ideas for a cute or clever name for this weekly feature? I'd love your input! Thanks for reading!

OPI Houston We Have A Purple

2011-05-31T10:00:00.004-05:00

So i'm pretty much mentally drooling over this polish. Squishy shiny jelly finish? check. Pretty color? check. Summery and fun? check. I love love love this color! I think i've found my polish of the summer- i can't believe i took so long to finally buy this. Definitely going back for a back-up bottle.

I'm talking about OPI's Houston We Have A Purple of course! This juicy jelly polish has a super shiny finish and is a gorgeous mix between fuchsia and purple. I debated for so long about buying any of the polished from OPI's Texas Collection, but i'm so glad i gave into my lemming and purchased this one. This color is perfect for tips or toes (this coming from someone who doesn't like painting my toes!)- and i think it will most certainly be my favorite summer color. This is three sorbet-tastic coats, but i could have gotten away with two if i had done a better job with application. This applied very nicely and dried to a typical jelly finish with glassy shine. There is topcoat in these pictures, but i definitely only added it for added durability and wear time, because even SV couldn't have improved on the shiny-ness of this polish!

The only thing i dislike about jellies is how at the very tips of the nails it looks like you already have a bit of tip wear, even though it's a brand new mani. hmph. Oh well, the color is so worth it!

Did you buy any of the colors from the Texas Collection "Sorbets"? Do you like jelly polishes or are you completely turned off by the idea of any translucency in polish? Thanks for reading!

Super Fast Nail Art

2011-05-30T10:00:00.001-05:00

So... I'll admit it. I was eyeing the bottle of OPI Houston We Have A Purple that had been sitting in my untried bin all weekend. So when the time came to change my polish, i didn't really want to do any nail art. Solution? Quickly come up with an idea using stamps, glitter, and my current polish. And actually, i ended up kind of fond of the end result. It reminds me of cherry blossoms, although that's not what the stamp is at all. But now i really want to try something soft and pretty that does look like cherry blossoms!

Anyway, back on subject. This manicure has a base of two coats of China Glaze Ruby Pumps- a personal favorite red of mine. I quickly sponged on some Love & Beauty Baby Pink on the tips in a gradient, then used Wet N' Wild Tickled Pink to stamp the image from BM-213. To finish i added some Milani Jewel FX in Silver to the tips- i really should have sponged on some silver polish before i did the glitter, but i just wasn't thinking this through (Lazy me, sorry). So yep, quick and easy nail art for monday's post.

I apologize for not putting more energy or thought into this nail art, but i really really wanted to wear HWHAP! But i promise that next monday's post will be ten times better, more along the quality and thought that went into Feather & Dot (which was really well received, thank you!). Oh, and i figured i should also apologize for shirking my blogging duties last week- I got busy with other things and before i knew it it was Friday and i didn't have any posts! oops! So yeah, i apologize. I also have this goal for June to post every single weekday, because i noticed i don't have one month in my archives where i've posted every day! What's up with that?! shame on me.

Moving on, the question of the day! If you have a blog, have you ever whipped out a quick manicure simply for a blog post with no real intention of wearing it past the pictures? If you don't have a blog, Have you ever slapped on some polish in a hurry because you'd rather be wearing any polish than no polish? Thanks for reading!

Absolutely Alice

2011-05-24T20:14:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or do most people have terrible wear time with glitters? I swear, i loved loved loved this polish when it was on my nails, but every time i would turn around there was a huge chip! I couldn't even go one full day with this manicure without it peeling and having to do repairs.

Any who, i don't think this polish needs much of an introduction- she's blue, she's gorgeous, she's super-duper sparkletastic, she's Absolutely Alice ;) (ok, a little corny, but i thought it was kinda cute). This is three coats with topcoat.

in indirect sunlight so you can see the glitter!

I wanted to love this polish so badly, but unless i can find a way to make it not chip so badly then she'll probably have to remain gorgeous in the bottle instead of on my nails ): Does anyone have tips for wearing glitters? Because i could sure use some help! Thanks for reading!

Feather And Dot

2011-05-23T15:40:00.001-05:00

So i'll just start off by saying that this manicure did not end up at all as what it started as, but i love it so so so much more than the original idea. This manicure is really what re-kindled my love for konad. I have been doing a lot of swatching (as you have seen) and i was truly just enjoying wearing polish and really appreciating solid colors. But i felt like bringing it up a notch since my best friend (who i hadn't seen in 4+ months!) was coming over last night, so i did this! I also did her nails, but i didn't get pictures.

This mani has a base color of China Glaze Pelican Gray. The other colors used were OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue, China Glaze Harmony, Sinful Colors Snow Me White & Black On Black, and a gray franken i mixed specifically for this manicure. On my thumb, middle, and pinky fingers i used a dotting tool to create a gradient of dots. On my index and ring fingers i started by stamping the pebble image from BM-211 with my gray franken, then i stamped the double feather image from BM- 214 with Harmony and YGTB. Of course i topped everything off with a generous coat of SV.

I think my favorite part about this manicure was the layering of the two stamps to create more depth- this is definitely something i'll probably use again in future konadicures! I've been reading my giveaway entries as they come in and a lot of you are requesting more konadicures/nail art posts, so i'll try to have at least one every week from now on. I'm going to try to come up with a schedule of what to do everyday since that seems to work for a lot of other bloggers. I think i'll have at least one nail art post, one swatching post, and one franken post every week. I'll see if i can crank out a tutorial post once a week (since that was requested as well) and maybe a little something special for that leftover day. As you all have probably realized i only post Monday-Friday. I don't post on weekends because it's my only time off from work and i like to spend it with friends and family, so i'm sure you understand!

And to wrap things up, the reader question! How do you get out of a konad/nail art rut? Is there a trick you use to get inspired again? I usually go and look at pictures i've saved of manicures i love, and that gets the motivation going again for me! Thanks for reading, and have a great monday!

Summer Sunset Gradient

2011-05-20T13:41:00.002-05:00

Blech- it is nothing but dark and dreary outside today! The kind of day where you just want to stay in bed. Thankfully, this manicure is anything but dark and dreary- it's full of bright reds and oranges! This gradient kind of reminds me of a fruity smoothie or something summery.

To create this gradient i started with a two coat base of OPI's Burning Love then sponged on Pure Ice Hot Tamale. I sponged a bit of OPI's The Show Must Go On! on the tips, and finished with a light coating of Claire's Crush for a little bit of added sparkle.

I really liked this manicure when i first did it because i liked how bright it was, but the more i wore it the more i realized it just wasn't me. hmph. I will wear brights and like it this summer! On another note, i got my frankening supplies in the mail yesterday and spent about two hours watching House and assembling the mini bottles. So expect a few franken posts in the upcoming weeks- i'm excited to share with you all how much fun i've been having with them :) Thanks for reading!

Essie It's In The Bag

2011-05-18T16:29:00.000-05:00

There's hardly anything better than getting an eight dollar nail polish for two bucks. Except when it's in a color you wanted to try, of course! Okay, so i was originally wanting to test out Essie Marshmallow, but when i saw It's In The Bag in the clearance bin at Ulta's, it was good enough for me. Now that i've seen some people complaining about Marshmallow's formula i'm glad i got this color instead. It's In The Bag is a squishy, shiny off-white jelly polish that is mostly opaque with three coats. I didn't have any issues with application. I originally purchased this thinking i wanted a white jelly base for frankening, but i've fallen in love with it so it's saved from the frankening bin!

I wanted to add just a little something extra to this manicure so i swiped two coats of Essence Space Queen over my ring finger. I originally bought this for frankening as well, but i'm stashing it instead! I guess i'll just have to make another trip to Ulta for a few more bottles of this pretty glitter.

Are you a fan of white nail polish, or jellies in general? I kind of want to pick up some of the jellies from OPI's Texas Collection, but i'm not positive yet. Thanks for reading!

And don't forget to check out my 100 Follower Giveaway!

P.S. a quick hello to all the new followers! :)

Pure Ice Swatches

2011-05-16T18:05:00.000-05:00

Some swatches of polishes from my pre-nail obsession days! I bought and used all of these Pure Ice colors except for Naughty Girl years before i ever really got into polish. Gold Mist was my favorite because i could just wear it with one or two coats and it looked sparkly and wasn't visible if i didn't do any cleanup. I now cringe at all that VNL and probably messy, messy cuticles that happened back then.. thankfully, i now know better. Anyway, I'll be showing you swatches of four colors- Gold Mist, Naughty Girl, Really Rio, and Frosted Ice Hot Tamale.

First up is the aforementioned Gold Mist. This polish has a sheer goldenrod yellow base with very fine silver and light pink glitter. Honestly, the only time the pink is visible is when your face is about two inches from the nail, or when you're removing the polish. This is four coats and still has visible nail line. I still like this color as a quick and easy pedicure because i don't usually wear super noticeable colors on my toes because let's face it- feet are weird. And i don't like more attention being drawn to them than i have to have.

Moving on, this is Naughty Girl- a pale green leaning yellow orange. This has a darker orange shimmer which keeps it from being a creme, and is opaque in three coats.

One of the few bright colors i actually really love, this is Really Rio- a pink orange base with fine silver glitter. Swatching this one really reminded me of how much i used to wear it in the summer, and it made me want to start wearing it again. This is two coats.

And last but certainly not least is Frosted Ice Hot Tamale. I know, i know... "frosted". But i promise you that your twitch from hearing that word is unwarranted for this polish. Now, brushstrokes only show up a little in macro, but in person they're not noticeable at all. And this is a fantastic warm orange- i loved loved loved wearing this color. This is two coats.

I bought all these polishes probably when i was in 8th or 9th grade, back when i wore polish. All through high school i didn't wear nail polish at all because i couldn't stand it- it drove me crazy and it made me feel like my nails were suffocating. Those are my "lost years" of nail polish... makes me think about probably all the colors that are HTF now that i could have picked up easily back then. Oh well- important thing is that i'm now completely addicted and obsessed with nail polish. Cause that's so much better, right? (Just say yes.)

What are some polishes you owned before your nail polish blogging/collecting days? Thanks for reading!

And don't forget to check out my 100 Followers Giveaway!

100 Follower Giveaway!

2011-05-14T14:04:00.003-05:00

Thanks for your entries- this giveaway is now CLOSED.

**NOTE: Blogger went down and i lost the original post for this. If you have linked that previous post in your sidebar/blog posts about this giveaway, please update your links!**

Can i just start off this post with a huge THANK YOU to every single one of you who read my blog or comment on my posts? Seriously, from the second i gained my first follower i started planning this giveaway. I didn't know if it would be in a few months, a year, or ever even happen. I just knew i wanted to give something back for you all not letting me just talk to myself! I'm so thrilled that i've reached 100 of you lovely polish lovers, and again, thank you!

For this giveaway i knew i wanted to include polishes that you guys would actually want- not just whatever was on sale, or whatever I just liked. I tried really hard to pay attention to what were highly popular or in demand colors from collections, and every time i found a sought after collection polish i tried to snag two, so i could have one to give away to you! So i present my gift to you: Eight polishes in total, of various brands, plus some extra nail and beauty goodies!

Orly Royal Velvet, OPI What's With The Cattitude?, Revlon Black With Envy,
Sinful Colors Green Ocean, OPI Teenage Dream, Wet N' Wild Party Of Five Glitters,
and Orly Space Cadet.

Aren't they pretty?! You know you want them to go home with you!

Essie Clearly Matte Top Coat (same as Essie Matte About You), A set of brand new dotting tools,
E.L.F. Lip Glosses in Melon Mayhem and Candy Fix.

I know it's not the largest or most spectacular or most expensive nail blog giveaway, but i hope it expresses my gratitude to you for joining me in my little nail polish journey! Now, down to the specifics on how you can win these beauties!

Rules and Information for Participation

1. You must be a follower of my blog via Google Friend Connect. New followers are welcome!

2. You must love nail polish! (pshhh isn't this obvious?!)

3. This giveaway is available to international readers. Which means that if you live outside the United States, you can still enter! I know not all of my followers are from the US, and i want everyone to be included!

How To Enter

There are 5 possible entries per person. I didn't want to include entries on sites like twitter or facebook because i know not everyone uses those social media networks, and i don't want people to feel like they have to miss out on extra entries.

1. Simply fill out your GFC name you follow me with, and your email address. (1 entry, required)

2. Do a dedicated blog post about my giveaway on your blog. This blog post must include the first picture in this post, along with a link back to this post. (1 entry, optional)

3. Have my giveaway listed on a giveaway page or giveaway sidebar on your blog. This must include the first picture in this post, along with a link back to this post. (1 entry, optional)

4. Fill out the form with your answer to the question "What is your absolute favorite nail polish?". (1 entry, optional)

5. Fill out the form with your answer to the question "What would you like to see more of on my blog, or what could i improve upon?". (1 entry, optional)

Giveaway ends June 14th, 2011

(Any entries received after this date will not be considered valid)

CLOSED

Mummy May I + Zombie Zest

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

Some random China Glaze Swatches today! I had seriously been lemming these two polishes for a while before i got them through a blog sale, and i have to say that even though i'm totally in love with Zombie Zest, i'm not so crazy about Mummy May I.

Mummy May I is a blackened burgundy base with medium sized magenta square glitters. This is four coats, and let me tell you- this is gritty city! And macro makes it look like it's not completely opaque on my middle finger. hmph. Maybe i'll try layering with this one, because i'm not feeling it alone.

Zombie Zest on the other hand.. can i just say that there has never been a prettier ugly sister? This is definitely one of those obscure, funky, grimy colors that you either absolutely love or absolutely hate. Me? I love it. Love love love it!

Had to repost this because blogger decided to go on the fritz. sorry, i don't remember what the rest of the post was ):

Nail Polish Storage + Polishing Space

2011-05-10T18:54:00.000-05:00

I'm always fascinated by how other people store their polishes and what their polish rooms/desks/areas look like, and i'm always on the lookout for better ways to store mine! My polish collection is still well under 200 bottles, so my storage isn't anything wild or crazy. It all fits on a desk in my room, right next to a window.

My humble little nail polish desk!

The latest addition to my polish desk- my storage shelves! The top tier is all my removers and cotton rounds- i also have some makeup sponges that live there but are missing in this picture. Second tier is all my manicure blocks, mani tools, and q-tips. The green box is where all the polishes i bought for blog giveaways live ;) Third tier is where all my frankening supplies are. It's not much right now, but i'm practicing! I have some glitters, some pigments (not pictured), and two little bottles. I'm definitely planning on expanding that area soon. The papers to the right are how i catalog all my plates- i have sheets with little rectangles on them, and i stamp each design in black inside the boxes. That way i know what plate each design is on, and if it stamps crisp or messy. This also helps when i do other people's nails- its a lot easier than having them look through small metal plates.

My supplies! Konad plates, stamper, and scraper are in the top bin along with a SH nail strips sample and tweezers. Rhinestones and half-pearls are in the middle and bottom bins. Topcoats & basecoats in front, and all my BM plates are in the round container (it fits them perfectly! It's an old Elizabeth Arden make-up container from my mom- it held little gold pods of liquid or something originally). In the cup are my stripers, dotting tools, brushes, my file, and a SH nail art pen.

This bin holds all my untrieds. Right now there are a lot more than usual- i usually only have about half this amount, but there are a lot of colors i bought on sale and such, so i don't feel too bad! haha.

My polishes! drugstore/inexpensive polishes in the left bin, Essie/Zoya/ and a few Pure Ice colors in the middle bin, and Orly/OPI/China Glaze in the right bin. I got these little fabric bins from Dollar Tree- they're the perfect height for storing nail polish!

So yep, that's it! Where all my polishes live, and where i use them! I'm sure that as my collection expands so will my storage, but this is good for where i'm at right now.

How do you store your polish, and where do you usually paint your nails? Thanks for reading!

OPI's My Private Jet (Holo)

2011-05-09T19:07:00.000-05:00

I don't think i need much of an introduction for this one- the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Three coats of OPI's My Private Jet, one coat of topcoat, and another coat of MPJ on top.

Overall, i'm in love. i keep staring at my nails and purposefully finding spots of sunshine just so i can see the sparkle. When i first showed my sister the bottle she said it looked like someone had captured a rainbow and stuffed it inside- pretty accurate description! haha! Besides the awesome holo, i think i need to find a gray that is a match for the base of this color- i love it! Does anyone know of a match / similar charcoal polish?

And just a little picture of one of the furballs we have running around our house at all times- this is the very demanding, yet irresistibly snuggly and adorable Thusa. She's my sister's cat, but she has no loyalties when it comes to who's bed the sun is shining on!

caught her mid-yawn. gee, rough life eh?

Thanks for reading :)

How I Dusty Hunt

2011-05-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is a bit of a random Sunday post, but yesterday the lovely Leslie from Nail Polish Art Addiction (seriously, go check out her blog if you haven't already- the girl knows how to wield a nail art brush!) jokingly commented that i should give lessons on how to dusty hunt, since i seem to have so much luck! And that got me thinking that maybe i don't hunt like everyone else? Well, i figured i'd tell you how i went about my searching, since i'm always curious as to how other people do things so i figured maybe some of you would be interested/curious as well!

The first thing i did was to go to my local phonebook and make a table of all the salons in my area- listed with name, address, and phone number. Good golly, for me living in a small town i don't know how we can support so many salons- there must have been forty or more! After i made my list i sat down and called each salon individually and asked the following questions:

"Do you sell nail polish?"

"What brands do you sell?"

"Do you carry mostly older or newer collections?"

"What are your hours?"

Obviously if the answer was no to the first question i said thank you very much and ended the call. I think it helps to make a plan of exactly what polishes you can get where, and what stock they have. Every salon i called was pretty good about knowing what brands they had and whether the polishes were old or new. A few i had to get more specific with, such as "Do you have any polishes older than the Katy Perry Collection (sometimes saying 'the collection with the blue and pink glitters and black shatter')?" but everyone was very cooperative and happy to answer all my questions.

Don't be discouraged if salons say they don't carry nail polish. Out all the salons i called only about six had any polishes older than this year. After you've crossed off and highlighted various salons on your list, make a plan for how your driving/travel route will go- this part is important as you don't want to be going back and forth wasting gas or your time! Find out where each salon on your list is and make a loop to travel.

Other important things are that you'll need a pen and a small notebook with hard covers. Not every salon will have a table you can write on, so the hard covers help! You'll want to write down any polishes you could be interested in, and make sure to divide your lists by what salon they are located in so you can find them easily when you need to. I forgot my pen on my last dusty trip, so every time i made a stop i had to ask to borrow one- it was annoying for me, to say the least. Another good tip is to be really nice to whomever is around- chances are they'll start showing interest when you whip out a mini-flashlight, notebook, and pen and start inspecting their polishes! I got to talking to one of the manicurists at a dusty and after learning that this was my hobby she was more than willing to talk polishes with me, and she even showed me her favorites from the salon stash (nope, didn't let me buy any from their stash though- *sigh*).

So there you have it- how i dusty hunt! I hope this helps some of you, or at least satisfies your curiosity or something. Go forth and dusty fellow polish addicts! I wish you the best of luck in finding your lemmings :)

OPI Merry Midnight + A Surprise!

2011-05-07T11:29:00.000-05:00

So this post is all about results from dusty hunting. I don't know why it took me so long to start looking in my local dusties, but it certainly was worth the effort! I found the polish i'm going to show you today at a local dusty, and there's a surprise at the end of the post if you make it that far.

This is OPI's Merry Midnight. I was so excited when i saw this little gem sitting on a shelf gathering dust, and when i picked it up i was swooning over the gorgeous red flakies and blurple micro glitter. I think there might even be a bit of glass fleck in this one? not sure. Merry Midnight has flakies and glitter suspended in a gorgeous plum base. Color me impressed OPI! This is three coats with topcoat.

And now for the little treasure i found...

Yep, OPI's My Private Jet. Oh, and did i mention it's the holo version?

My jaw about hit the floor when it saw it sitting there, literally covered in dust. Am i the only one who lovingly brushes off the dust and pretends like the polishes are little unhappy orphans and i'm adopting them, taking them home to a polish life of love and adoration where there are lots of other little polish friends for them?

.... just me then?...

Anywho, thanks for reading today fellow polish lovers! Have a great weekend!

Lilac It Like That

2011-05-06T22:40:00.001-05:00

Busy day today- i went dusty hunting again, and if you thought i got some good polishes last time, you'll be blown away when i tell you about what i found today in tomorrow's post. Seriously, my jaw dropped when i saw it sitting there, gathering dust! I also updated my swap page with more information on what collections and polishes i can find in my dusties. If you're looking for a lemming in particular, feel free to drop me an email and ask about it!

Anyway, today i'll be showing you some nail art i did using OPI Rumple's Wiggin', Sally Hansen Insta Dri Purple Bolt, and Orly Ancient Jade. I used Rumple's Wiggin' for a base, then stamped with BM 204 in Purple Bolt. For my accent nail i used a base of Ancient Jade and used a white striper to create thin vertical lines then added various half-pearls and rhinestones.

That's all for today, but due to no posts for a few days i'll be posting again on Saturday. Thanks for reading!

Random OPI Swatches

2011-05-03T20:04:00.000-05:00

Some more OPI swatches today! I promise i'm working on nail art ideas and i should be posting some soon- i need to get back in the habit of doing nail art, not just enjoying solid colors! Anyway, today i'll be showing you my swatches of Cuckoo For This Color, Ski Teal We Drop, and You Don't Know Jacques- all three of which i seriously love!

Cuckoo For This Color is the perfect name for this polish. It's a gorgeous dark teal green with aqua shimmer. It's incredibly pretty on it's own with just two coats to be opaque.

Ski Teal We Drop is the perfect dark teal. Application was smooth and easy, and it's opaque in just two coats. I also tested this for stamping, and it works wonderfully. I really, really like this color- it's unique in my collection right now, and i find myself reaching for it frequently.

You Don't Know Jacques is a fan favorite for a reason- this gray mushroom brown is one of the colors i pick when i want something that is effortlessly chic. I know some people are way over the gray/brown/taupes but i only own a few so i'm not tired of them yet. This is two coats.

And this would have rounded out my OPI collection when i first swatched these, but of course it's grown since then, in typical polish addict fashion. I'm really excited to show you swatches of my newer purchases, but i'll try to put up nail art posts more frequently!

When Dusty Hunting Pays Off

2011-05-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

So today i did a little dusty hunting by further inspecting the salon i found the OPI Pirates Collection in on Friday. And i was so happy with my spoils! Pretty sure i squealed a little when i saw some of these colors. I was pretty much rambling about how amazing and excited i was to the receptionist, and i didn't even care that she thought the Texas Collection had prettier colors (uninformed fool! jk, she was nice, love you Mary!). Anyways, i'm pretty sure i can barely contain my excitement any longer from wanting to show you the colors.. so here they are!

First up is OPI Jade Is The New Black from the Hong Kong Collection, and Mad As A Hatter from the Alice In Wonderland Collection.

Also picked up OPI's Merry Midnight from the Holiday Wishes Collection and Meet Me On The Star Ferry from the Hong Kong Collection.

I couldn't believe my luck, since all these colors are so gorgeous! The little salon did have tons and tons of DS colors, along with other colors from past 2008-2010 collections. I've never done nail polish swaps before, but if someone is willing to tell me about it and wants a color from one of those collections, i can go see if they have it! Have you ever found success by dusty hunting? Thanks for reading!

Cuckoo About Shatter

2011-04-29T15:06:00.000-05:00

So today at work a girl came in and was showing her nail polish to the cashier. Me, being the polish crazed addict i am immediately realized she had on OPI's Silver Shatter and promptly asked her "Where did you get it?!". She told me it was the salon across the street from the coffee shop i work at, so right after i got off work i high tailed it over there and snagged a bottle of Silver Shatter and Stranger Tides. Needless to say i was super excited and immediately removed my current nail polish (China Glaze Shocking Pink w/ Black Shatter) to play with Silver Shatter. In fact, i'm typing this post with my nails still wet! I didn't like the combinations of SS with any of the rest of the collection, so i rummaged through my dark colors to find a pretty shimmer that would look great under the shatter. I settled on OPI's Cuckoo For This Color- a dark teal green with bright teal shimmer. This is two coats of CFTC with one coat of SS.

Overall, i like Silver Shatter. However i think it's a bit too sparkly to really be able to see the crackle effect like you could with Black Shatter, or the China Glaze Crackles.

Have you gotten your hands of Silver Shatter or the rest of the Pirates Of The Caribbean Collection? Thanks for reading!

OPI Swatches Pinks & Reds

2011-04-28T17:25:00.000-05:00

And the swatches continue...... with my OPI pinks and reds! I'm actually surprised at how much i liked these colors since i usually don't consider purchasing very many pink polishes. All three of the OPI pinks i own were given to me by my mom, and the one red OPI i own was a gift from her as well.

First up is Strawberry Margarita, my mom's favorite summer color. It's a fun Barbie pink with a smooth formula that is opaque in three coats. I think this came from OPI's 2008 summer collection, although i'm not positive.

Party In My Cabana is a dark bright bright pink that covers in just two coats. No issues with application. I couldn't quite get this to photograph correctly, so it's a tad dark in the picture. On a side note, every time i type the name of this polish i somehow end up typing "Party In My Banana" which i then have to go back and correct.

To round out the last of the "pinks" i have I'm His Coral-Friend. OPI, i sometimes don't understand why you name your polishes certain things. Honestly, i don't even understand what this polish name is supposed to be a play on words of. no clue. Anyway, I'm His Coral-Friend is hot pink-coral jelly that i think is borderline neon. It definitely isn't quite as orange as it looks in the below swatch, in reality it is a much pinker, brighter polish.

And last but certainly not least is the beautiful gem that is The Show Must Go On!. Thank you, thank you, thank you mom. I love this color- love love love it! It is one of those polishes that photos just can't do justice, so you'll just have to see it in person. This is a shimmery burgundy pink red with a sparkling golden duochrome and tons of dense magenta shimmer. Three coats to opaque.

Weird lighting to show the pretty golden duochrome!

What's your favorite pink polish? Are you a fan of pink nail polish, or are you a lover of another color? (i have to admit that made me giggle a little!) Thanks for reading!

Essie Swatches

2011-04-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

There's something so addictive and lovely about Essie polishes. Whether it's the cute, simple bottle or the myriad of pretty colors i'm always drawn to the Essie rack of polishes whenever i visit Walgreens or ULTA. However usually the excitement wears off by the time i remember how much each bottle is. Oh well. Today i'll be showing you swatches of the Essie colors that i do own, and like most polish addicts the collection has grown already since i swatched and took pictures of these. I'm not sure if it's just the typical Essie finish or not, but all of these colors except one had the squishy, jelly feel to them.

First up is French Affair- a pretty pastel marshmallow lilac pink creme. I say marshmallow because there is something about this color that reminds me of those tiny mini pastel colored marshmallows. There was a little dragging with this polish, but after the third coat it looked alright. If i hadn't been in a hurry i probably could have applied it better to get a smooth even finish.

Cute As A Button is a bright coral pink, perfect for summer. This looks super cute with white polka dots from the BM plate on top! It certainly lives up to it's name. This is three coats.

Oh Lollipop, you are the perfect summer red- I'm so glad you came home with me! I love this color. It's a delightfully squishy, jelly, bright red-orange that just makes me smile. I originally saw this when my sister pulled it out of her little nail polish bag, and i had to have it after seeing it on her nails. If you aren't big on Essie's but want something fun to try, definitely snag this color.

Speaking of my sister's nail polish bag, this is one she gave to me! She purchased it only to realize that it was pretty close to another Essie polish she already owned, except without the shimmer. Of course if it had been me i would have kept both because c'mon- shimmer and no shimmer is totally a huge difference and it makes total sense to own both, right? right? just say yes. This is two coats of Big Spender, a bright fuchsia with grape undertones.

Merino Cool is just that- cool. I love this polish for it's effortlessly chic feeling it gives me when i wear it. It's a dusty purple gray, and i feel like it's one of those sophisticated yet slightly edgy colors. This is three coats. Please excuse how dreadful my cuticles look in this picture- direct sunlight is unforgiving.

Do you own any of these colors? Are you as drawn to the cute little Essie bottles as i am? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Hard Candy Beetle

2011-04-26T14:37:00.000-05:00

I originally bought this polish because i couldn't get my hands on Orly Space Cadet, and i had seen that Hard Candy Beetle was a good dupe. However a few weeks ago i stopped in at ULTA and not only did they have the entire Orly Cosmic FX collection, they had multiple bottles of everything, including Space Cadet. I plan on going back soon armed with coupons so i can get the best deal for completely that collection! Anyway, onto the swatches! This is three coats of Beetle, and it is gorgeous, seriously seriously gorgeous! I love it! No issues with application either, which makes it even better.

After a few days i started to see a little wear, so i just painted some OPI Black Shatter over it, and voila! instant awesome. The colors of Beetle really shine through and look amazing under the shatter- i'll definitely be pairing these two polishes again.

Do you own Space Cadet or one of it's many dupes? Thanks for reading!

OPI Mattes

2011-04-22T12:02:00.000-05:00

So i feel like i have to explain myself a little, since i didn't post yesterday. Normally, i would just continue on and not mention it, but i feel like maybe some of you will do the whole "ohhhhhhh totally makes sense- i get it!" thing. See, yesterday i received The Sims 3 as a gift. And consequently lost about five hours of my life. So.. yeah. Sorry about not posting!

Anyway, onto the nail related portion of this post! Today i'll be showing you those OPI Matte polishes i got back when i was on vacation- at an outlet mall for get this... $3.50!! crazy, right? Now, i had read several not so favorable reviews of this collection, but for that low a price i just couldn't pass them up. I picked up Gargantuan Green Grape Matte, Russian Navy Matte, and Lincoln Park After Dark Matte. Now i'm wishing i would have picked up the pink one as well (the name escapes me)! Despite negative reviews, i didn't have any real problems in application and they all shine up beautifully with a layer of topcoat. All application was typical of matte polishes, and dried quickly between coats.

Gargantuan Green Grape Matte is a bright, fun, and funky pastel lime green. This makes me wish i had the original GGG, but the matte version will quench that need for me for now. This was the first color i swatched, and it made me remember just how much i love the Pro-Wide brush- it just makes application a breeze for me!

With Topcoat

Well, i can tell you that Lincoln Park After Dark Matte certainly didn't live up to my excitement of finding it. I've heard some serious raving about this polish, but to me it just doesn't venture far enough away from black for me to enjoy the deep plum red color. If it had been just a tad lighter, i probably would have loved it. But it's just a tad too dark and would look black in most lighting.

With Topcoat

Russian Navy Matte is lovely. It's just that- a true navy blue. This color doesn't look black like LPADM, and you can really appreciate the navy of this color. With topcoat, it's just.. so. nice. But i'm a sucker for a dark color, and i think i will find myself searching for the original- i'd love to have a great navy blue for stamping!

With Topcoat

Overall, all three were definitely worth the impulse buy, and i'm happy i own them. Do you have any of the OPI Mattes, or the originals? How do you think they compare?

Zoya Joy & Harmonie

2011-04-20T17:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, i want to start this post of by saying that i seriously love Zoya polishes. I only own four, but they are some of my favorites. Plus the huge range of Zoyas that are available- there are some seriously gorgeous colors i'd love to have! Here are the other two polishes by the brand that i own- Harmonie and Joy. No base or top coat on either swatch.

Harmonie is a lovely medium purple with magenta shimmer. It goes on perfectly with just two coats, and i couldn't be happier- i mean, look at her! Purple favoritism aside, this is one pretty color. I actually got this polish from my sister's old stash way before i really got into nail polish.

I picked up Joy during Zoya's three free promotion a while back, and i love it. Usually i'm not a pink nail polish type of gal, but how could i possibly resist this dark pink with tons, and i mean tons, of golden shimmer? And it's not just golden- it has this warmth to it that's just stunning. Definitely will be using this color for some summertime manicures! Again, a perfect two coater.

Do you own any Zoyas? If so, which are your favorites? Personally, i'm having a super hard time resisting the urge to get almost every single color in the Intimates collection- i need them all!!

Sinful Colors Part Two

2011-04-19T19:41:00.000-05:00

This post will be short and sweet today, with lots of swatch spam! So if you like checking out pretty and cheap colors, read on! Today is the second half of my Sinful Colors swatches, and this concludes the polishes i currently own of this brand. These are the cooler toned colors.

Love Nails is a bright blue with a gorgeous aqua green shimmer- it reminds me of the ideal swimming pool blue that always makes me think of summer. This is four coats.

Next up is Fiji, a very lovely medium purple base with magenta and light blue shimmer. Please pardon the strange lump on my ring finger- not quite sure what that is! haha! Anyway, this is four coats. I acquired this polish pre-blog/obsession, and it was a gift from my college roommate because my favorite color is purple. Little factoid there for you.

This glitter goes by the name of Frenzy, and she's a funky little gal made up of small hexagonal light blue and magenta glitter in a clear base. It's a medium density glitter, and this is just two coats. I previously wore this polish alone and got it to be opaque within four or five coats.

Daddy's Girl is a dark purple jelly mixed with magenta glitter that is fairly sparse, but builds over time. This color looks really nice layered over black.

And last but certainly not least is fan favorite San Francisco. This is in my opinion, a perfect green- one that doesn't lean too yellow or too blue. I can certainly see why this color is loved, because the green shimmer is simply gorgeous on the nail. For two buck polish, this one is a definite winner and way worth that. This is three coats.

Tired of swatch spam yet? I hope not, because there's lots more on the way. I'll try to break it up by throwing in nail art and maybe some frankens (yay!) along the way. Thanks for reading!

Sinful Colors Swatches Part One

2011-04-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Let the swatches begin! I decided to swatch my entire collection so that i wouldn't feel bad about going to Ulta later today and buying new polish. I figured that if i had already swatched every color i had, then that was totally a good reason to go get more polishes, right? Uh.. yeah. So anyway, today i'm posting the first half of my Sinful Colors collection, the warmer colors, plus a green because it just split evening if i had five polishes each day. A little note that goes for pretty much all the following polishes- If you know Sinful polishes, you know that most of the polishes are sheer. With very few exceptions most of their polishes are great for layering, but require several coats for full opacity. All swatches are with no topcoat, and most are without base coat (i used a base on some i thought that might cause staining when i removed them).

This first polish is Sinful's Nirvana. It's a nice mushroom brown, just the right mix between chocolate brown and gray to fit with the trend. I didn't have any issues with application- this is three coats.

Sinful's Vacation Time is a surprisingly pretty dusty cherry brown. In the bottle i wasn't really impressed or wow'ed by the color, but on the nail i thought it was really flattering! I definitely lean towards dusty or muted colors more than brights, so for me this was a great way to have a "fun" muted color. This is two coats, which is pretty rare for a Sinful polish.

Oh Unicorn, i thought we would get a long so much better than we did. Holy stain city with this color! I actually did a full manicure with this as the base (Audrey's Spring Fling), and when i took off this polish i was disgusted. It left nasty dark yellow stains on my nails, and was a pain to remove. Not to mention the four thick, gloopy coats it took to try to even it out, and even then there were still bald spots. Oy Vey! Definitely a polish that i'll probably only reach for when i'm stamping or doing dots. To give you an idea of how bad the staining was, i did the Spring Fling manicure March 28th, and my nails still aren't back to the normal color. blech.

Let's Meet is the nicer, less awful, prettier sister of Unicorn. A gorgeous golden lemon yellow jam packed with pretty gold shimmer, and easy to apply. Since i only swatched it i can't say if it will stain or not, but it doesn't really matter anyway because this color is a bit too sheer for me to wear alone. This is four coats and there is still a ton of VNL. I'm not super picky about a little VNL here and there, but i prefer it to come in the form of sheer pinks or more natural colors.

Show Me The Way is a medium olive green that is accented by a pretty golden green shimmer that makes it sparkle and glow like crazy on the nail. It's on the sheer side though- this is four coats. I'll definitely be keeping it around for layering over other greens.

Overall if you don't mind layering or some VNL, you can't beat the price of Sinful polishes. At just $1.99, you get a nice color, workable brush, and now and then a real gem of a polish. I'll post part two with five other Sinful Colors tomorrow!