Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Designer Fall Collection Part 2

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers! For starters, let me apologize for my lack of posts the last few days! I've been battling a horrible cold (actually I still am)and just did not have the energy to post. Today I'm a bit better so I thought I'd give you the second half of the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Designer Fall 2011 post! Let's see what the brand has to say about the polishes I'm about to show you:

Prabal Gurung’s five-color Complete Salon Manicure collection features eye-catching brights and creamy pale hues with an edge that reflect the designer’s fall aesthetic—Victorian romance with a dark undercurrent. On Prabal Gurung’s fall runway, models sported Crinoline, the palest of pink, topped with flecks of black for an Asian inspired design.

Echoing J. Mendel’s signature sophistication, Sally Hansen created Mousseline, a custom sheer cream Complete Salon Manicure polish to complement the luxe furs and structured pieces J. Mendel sent down the runway.

Sounds like fun! Again, apologies for the swatches as they were done amidst sneezing and coughing attacks! Now without further ado, on to the polishes!




Above: Madame X - 2 coats over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

First up we have Madame X, which happens to be my favorite of the group! Now pinks are never my favorite but this watermelon shade is just awesome! Fully opaque in two coats, it looks super juicy but isn't sheer like a jelly polish, and the color just screams summer time to me! Like many of the polishes in my first post, most of these don't seem like fall colors but I really liked Madame X and the name is just awesome.




Above: Courtesan - 2 coats over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Courtesan is a slightly lighter version of Madame X. I'd call Courtesan "bright pink." Like Madame X, it was fully opaque in 2 coats, the pigmentation was nice but it's definitely a cream and doesn't have the juicy look of Madame X. If you're a pink girl and you want a nice, bright pink cream for the summer months, then this is a perfect fit!




Above: Ballet Rouges - 2 coats over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Next up is Ballet Rouges, another pink from the Prabal Gurung collection. Like the other two pinks, Ballet Rouges is fully opaque in two coats and is highly pigmented as a lighter pink and retains some of the squishy, jelly like qualities of Madame X. I just personally was not a fan of this pink but for those who like more neutral colors that still have a bit of a punch, this is a good option.




Above: Dorien Grey - 3 coats over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Dorien Grey is a really pretty dove grey cream. I could see that the formula was a bit thin on this so I decided to use 3 thin coats to try to prevent streaking and it worked. I love greys, can't get enough, so I loved this! It reminds me of a slightly lighter version of Essie Chinchilly and I think this shade would be awesome for pedicures in the winter time!




Above: Crinoline - 2 coats over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Crinoline is a very pale pink which I liked mainly because it made my hands look tan. After the first coat it was a bit streaky due to a thin formula but the second coat mostly cleared it up. Looking at the pictures, a few fingers could have used a third coat. If you want a neutral, this color is very nice and would match pretty much any color outfit and any skin tone.




Above: 3 coats of Mousseline

Oh Mousseline, you and I are not friends. Mousseline is a light cream color that not only looks bad on me, but was a pain in the ass to apply. Super thin, very streaky even with 3 thin coats, bald spots, the whole nine yards. I just could not get this polish to cooperate with me no matter what I tried.

So there you have it, part two of the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Designer Fall Collection 2011. These polishes should be released nationally in drugstores in the next few weeks!

What did you think of the second part of this collection? Any must haves?

These polishes were sent to me for review by the company or a PR firm representing the company for my unbiased opinion. If you have any further questions, please see my disclosure policy above

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Designer Fall Collection Part 1

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Unfortunately I seem to be coming down with a cold so my weekend was a lot of hanging around, but on the plus side I did get to swatch virtually an entire new collection! Now, since there are 12 polishes in total, I decided to split my review into 2 so I could post more pictures!

So, for this post, I will be showing you the Tracy Reese Collection (well, 5 out of 6 polishes from it) and the Rachel Roy Collection from the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fall 2011 Collection. Whew, that was a mouthful! These colors were first seen during Fashion Week a few months ago for the Fall Collections this year! Here are a few snippets from the press release for these polishes:

Tracy Reese joined forces with Sally Hansen for the eleventh consecutive season to create six bold shades and rich metallics that mirror the designer’s opulent fall aesthetic. On the runway, models wore Complete Salon Manicure in Shiny Penny, a rich bronze, and Oxide, a gunmetal grey.

Rachel Roy enlisted Sally Hansen to create a rich neutral nail that suits all skin tones for her eclectic, 70s-inspired fall collection. The result? Terracotta, a creamy toffee Complete Salon Manicure shade— the perfect accent to Roy’s pattern-heavy, layered looks.

Also just a quick note to please excuse some of the messy applications below. I kept having sneezing attacks while swatching and couldn't find my clean up brush! Now without further ado, on to the polishes!




Above: 2 coats of Oxide

Oxide is a deep gunmetal grey packed with lighter grey shimmer. In hindsight, I should have used 3 coats of Oxide to really make it opaque as you can see some bald spots. The formula on this (like most of this collection) was fairly thin however I did think this was one of the more exciting colors of the collection. I love dark greys and this is definitely a color I would wear! Plus it's perfect for Fall since it matches everything and the metallic/shimmer look is really pretty.




Above: 3 coats of Shiny Penny

After I saw how sheer Oxide was, I decided to wise up and use three coats for Shiny Penny. Shiny Penny is somewhere between a copper and burnt orange shade that's packed with shimmer. Shiny Penny is actually the perfect name for this because it looks like a penny! I actually think this color is really pretty and it's unfortunate that it does not look good with my skin tone because I think this is a gorgeous Fall shade.




Above: 2 coats of Bewitched

Ah Bewitched. I love dark, vampy colors. They are probably my favorite. Bewitched is an extremely dark purple cream polish. This one only required 2 coats but I will say, beware of cuticles! It stains! However I do love this color. I'm sure I have a dupe somewhere in my collection but I don't even care because I love dark vampy purples! This is definitely a blackened purple that looks black unless you are in direct sunlight, but I'm totally ok with that! This was actually much more thick than the rest of the polishes in this collection and only required one coat to be completely opaque.




Above: 3 coats of Himalayan Blue

While I absolutely love this color, I have no idea what it's doing in a Fall Collection! That being said, Himalayan Blue is a gorgeous robins egg blue cream. Again not a very original color but I think it's a really pretty shade and not as thin as some of the shimmers. I still used 3 coats because I was getting some bald patches with 2 but I think if you just need a staple, light blue cream for your collection, this is a great choice!




Above: 3 coats of Green Tea

Green Tea, like Himalayan Blue, definitely does not look like it belongs in a Fall collection to me, but the only thing I can think of is that these colors were part of Spring Fashion Week (which is for Fall Collections) so maybe that's how these lighter and brighter colors ended up in here! Anyway, Green Tea is a nice shade if you are into mint greens, however they just do not work well with my skin tone. Even though Green Tea is not as yellow based as many light greens are, it just didn't work on me. The formula was similar to Himalayan Blue in that 3 thin coats made it opaque with no bald spots. If you're a light green fan, this is definitely nice and of the few pale greens I own, I don't have a dupe of this one!




Above: 2 coats of Terracotta

Terracotta is the one polish in this group that is not from the Tracy Reese collection but instead from Rachel Roy. For ladies that love the "mannequin hands" look, meaning when your nail polish is skin tone, Terracotta is the perfect version of a nude for Fall. It's definitely not quite a nude, it actually looks like terracotta with a bit of reddish to the medium brown. The formula on this one was by far the best of all the polishes, fully opaque in two coats. I personally don't love the shade because I'm more of a color girl but this polish could be great to use as a bass for nail art!

All in all, I liked about half of these colors. I was having some trouble with the brush on these because it's stiff and the polishes tended to be on the thinner side, so I found I was getting lots of bald spots. This is the first time I had used the Sally Hansen Salon Complete Manicure line and I'm wondering if with practice, I could remedy some of the issues I had with the brush. I did really enjoy the shimmers from the Tracy Reese Collection and found several of the others to be pretty, but not all that unique. This collection should be out in drugstores around the country in the next several weeks if you haven't seen it peeking up already! Stay tuned for part 2!

What did you all think of this collection? Any must haves for you? Any you are excited about trying?

These polishes were sent to me for review by the company or a PR firm representing the company for my unbiased opinion. If you have any further questions, please see my disclosure policy above.

CLOSED: LACQUERED LOVER 700 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY!!!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! First of all, thank you so much! You guys rock! I truly can't believe this little blog of mine has hit over 700 followers! You guys are awesome! I LOVE reading your comments and feedback and I hope you enjoy my ramblings about nail polish! So, in order to show my appreciation, I have a 2 super fun (little) prizes for you to win a chance at!



Brand new Butter London Wallis and Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Misbehaved! To see a review and swatches of Wallis go HERE and to see my review of Misbehaved go HERE.




There will be 2 winners, one will win Butter London Wallis and one will win Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Misbehaved! And, if this blog somehow makes it to 800 followers before the end of the giveaway, another polish will be added to each! Thanks again everyone for all your continued support! Be sure you check out my sidebar for other giveaways I have going on right now as well!

Just fill out the form below before October 14th, 2011 at 12 pm EST for your chance to win one of two great prizes! This giveaway is open internationally. You MUST be over 18 years old to enter or have expressed parental consent.

Nails Inc. Magnetic Polishes and Butter London Artful Dodger

Good morning lacquered lovers! First of all, I apologize for not posting yesterday. However, to make up for it, you are getting not one, not two, but THREE posts today! Yay! Anyway, this mornings post is about a new (to me) nail polish company, Nails Inc. Sephora recently started selling this british brand on their website and in several of their stores. Now I remember reading a few months ago about magnetic nail polish and knew I had to find out what it was all about, so when I saw that Nails Inc. had three magnetic colors, I knew I had to try them! I wasn't loving their gold color, Big Men, because it looks too yellow for me but I have the other two to share with you today!

According to Nails Inc Website, here is how Magnetic Polish works:

HOW DOES MAGNETIC POLISH WORK?
This unique formula has been specially developed with metallic particles to create a pattern on the nail using magnetic forces.

As the magnet is held over the nail, the iron powder in the formulation gravitates toward the magnet forming the pattern/design secretly hidden in the magnet for an astonishing finish!

I'll also put some tips and tricks at the bottom for those of you wanting to try a magnetic polish! Now, on to the polish!



Above: Butter London Artful Dodger - 2 coats over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Ok, I know this isn't what you were expecting, however there is a reason for the swatch of Butter London Artful Dodger in here! For starters, this has been sitting in my untrieds for a few months and I wanted to give it a shot. It's a beautiful turquoise cream that's fully opaque in two coats. I'll do a full review of it soon during my Butter London Week, I promise! Now, the reason it's in this post is that when I first tried out the magnetic polishes on a nail wheel, I realized you could see a base color under them! So, when I tried the grey Nails Inc Magnetic polish, I wanted this to be my base.




Above: Trafalgar Square - 1 thick coat over 2 coats Artful Dodger over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

First of all, I love this name! I hold a special place in my heart for London so seeing all of Nails Inc. names always makes me smile and remind me of the summer I backpacked through Europe. Trafalgar Square is a gorgeous deep grey shimmer when you first apply it. When you use the magnet, it turns almost silver! As you can see, the magnet pulls the polish into a pattern and leaves a tiny bit of the blue showing underneath. I love it! I love the kind of striped pattern that shows up with the magnet!




Above: Houses of Parliament - 1 thick coat over 1 coat Wet N Wild Black Creme over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Houses of Parliament was actually the polish I was most excited to try. I'm on a major purple kick lately and this fits right in! Since I had tried Trafalgar Square first and new I needed a base, I used my favorite trusty one coat black polish, Wet N Wild Black Creme for my base color before painting a thick coat of Houses of Parliament. Once the magnet worked its magic, the purple pulled up to a gorgeous deep royal purple while showing the black underneath! I think I'm in love with this polish.

Here are a few more pictures to show off the lovely magnetic polish, taken the way my mom likes it (Hi Mom!)




So fun! So now, here are some tips and tricks for using Magnetic Polish:

* Always put down a base color (preferably one that's opaque in one coat) because once the magnet comes into play, you need a base.

* Once the base is dry, you need to work one finger at a time.

* Apply a THICK coat of the magnetic polish and while it's still wet, hold the magnet over the nail as close as possible for 10-15 seconds. The Nails Inc. polishes have the magnet on the top of the cap with a lip you can rest on your cuticle to get the magnet as close as possible.

* After each finger is done, make sure to leave the finger on a table, laying flat, for a few minutes. If you don't, the magnetic particle start to separate and the lines aren't as crisp (you can see that in the Trafalgar Square pictures best.)

* Wait until the polish is set (should be about 5 minutes) before applying top coat.


So there you go! A mini tutorial and review of Nails Inc. Magnetic polishes! I love them! I love how the manicure kind of looks 3 dimensional but feels smooth! I'd highly recommend both of these!

What do you think of magnetic polishes? Have you tried any? Got any other tips for me?

Guest Post by Amy of I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers! I have a treat for you today! The lovely Amy from I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous and I decided to get together to do a swap guest post! Click on her link below later tonight to check out my post on her blog! We agreed to both do "fall themed" manicures! I love Amy's blog so be sure you check it out! So without further ado, here is her post!

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Hello lacquered lovers! *waves* I am so excited because this is my very first guest post, and I am so glad it is on Carly's amazing blog. Carly is featured on my blog today too! So please check it out over at my blog HERE.


I only own a few of the OPI DS polishes, and this post features one of them, OPI DS Illuminate. Because Summer is over and Fall is here, I decided to show you a Fall inspired manicure. Here is two coats of OPI DS Illuminate. This is an amazing brown holographic/shimmery polish. It is perfect for the season! My photos do not do it justice as they were taken indoors. It is a shame the sun wasn't out! That is the down fall of doing manicures late at night! I was not about to risk a smudge or something....So I took my photos immediately! =)






And of course I could not have do a guest post with a plain polish..... So I used Kleancolor Metallic Brown and Bundle Monster stamping plate BM19 to stamp on a subtle leave print. I wanted this print to somewhat blend in so it would not take away from the awesomeness of this polish. I added some little fimo leaves for a little something extra as an accent nail.








Thanks Carly for letting me be a guest on your blog! It was fun! Be sure you check out my blog HERE for fun reviews and giveaways!


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Thanks so much Amy for that awesome post! I hope you all enjoy these little guest posts I do sometimes! I figure it's a great way to expose all my amazing readers to new blogs and bloggers and it gives me a chance to learn some new tips!

What did you all think of Amy's manicure? Have you ever used the fimo slices before?