Happy New Year's Nail Art featuring Tom Ford and I Love Nail Polish!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday and Happy New Year's Eve Day!  First off, a huge thank you to the lovely ladies who did guest posts while I was gone!  I loved them all!  Unfortunately my plans didn't work out as expected and due to the weather, my bf and I didn't get to make it to see my family over the holidays.  However, they gave us a super awesome present by getting us tickets to the Jay Z and Coldplay concert in NYC tonight so of course I had to do extra special nails!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I started off with two coats of Tom Ford Bordeaux Lust which my amazing boyfriend surprised me with for Hanukkah!  It's a gorgeous oxblood polish (and seriously an amazing formula.)  Then I sponged I Love Nail Polish Matthew Peri onto the tips!  It's kind of an unexpected combination but I really love how it turned out!

So tonight I will be off celebrating but tomorrow I will be swatching a few more Spring collections for you all so get excited to kick 2013 off right!  And please, share your New Years Eve plans with me below!  Happy New Year to you all and thanks for a fabulous 2012!

What did you think of this manicure?

Guest Post by Rachel of Rachel's Makeup and Skincare Blog!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Saturday!  I am currently away on vacation in Ohio visiting the boyfriend's family for Christmas but I have lined up some awesome posts by fellow beauty bloggers in my absence!  Today we have a post from Rachel of Rachel's Makeup and Skincare Blog.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

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Good afternoon lacquered lovers! I'm Rachel from Rachel's Makeup and Skincare. I thought I would share with you the nail polishes I received in my December Glossybox and my Winter Loosebutton Luxebox! The colors I received were an Essie polish in Leading Lady and a Zoya polish in Storm. Both have two coats of polish.

Both these polishes were wonderful to use. The sparkles spread evenly across the nail and there is no coarse texture. The Zoya polish is very similar to Butter London's The Black Knight.


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Well there you have it Lacquered Lovers!  I love black and red together in a manicure, there is something so classy but edgy about it!  Stay tuned for more guest posts throughout the next week!

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

Guest Post by Alexis of XOXO Alexis Leigh!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday!  I hope you all had a lovely holiday!  Today I have yet another fabulous guest post by the lovely Alexis over at XOXO Alexis Leigh !  I hope you are all enjoying these awesome guest posts while I'm away!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

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Hi Lacquered Lover readers! I am ridiculously excited to be here sharing on Carly's blog! My name is Alexis and I'm a nail and beauty blogger on my blog, xoxoalexisleigh.com. For my guest post I wanted to do something that really represented my blog and me but I seriously struggled! I'm not going to lie, I did my nails 4 times before I finally settled upon something I really liked! I think all of the time payed off though because I am seriously in love with these nails. One of my favorite nail trends (seen a lot by nail artists like NailsByRegina, Hey Nice Nails, and AstroWifey) is skittle nail art so that's what I did today :)

I used a combination of white acrylic paint, LVX - Grey Matter, LVX - Tribute, and China Glaze - Glistening Snow. On my pinky I started with a base of Grey Matter, created the drips using Tribute, outlined the drips with white acrylic paint, and then drew on "shine spots" with Glistening Snow. On my ring finger I started with a base of Glistening Snow then drew on the damask/baroque type print with Tribute. On my middle finger I started with a base of Tribue then sponged on various blues and greys to create a galaxy effect. I used white acrylic paint for the starts and used Glistening Snow and WingDustCollections - Dancing Queen for the holographic accents. On my index finger I started with a base of Grey Matter, sponged on Tribute, drew on stripes with Glistening Snow, and added silver star rhinestones. Oh my thumb I used Tribute, then drew on stripes with white acrylic paint and Grey Matter. After that I added a 3D bow and painted over it with Glistening Snow. Whew, that's a lot!!!

I used Nail Nation 3000 - 45 Second Top Coat (which is my favorite top coat!) on all of my nails to create a smooth glossy finish! I hope you guys liked this mani as much as I did :D Blue is my favorite color so I had to include it and I have a weakness for holo! Thank you again, Carly for having me, it was so fun!!!!!!

Are you guys a fan of skittle nail art or do you prefer a more uniform look when it comes to your nails?

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I'm seriously obsessed with this manicure!  I wish I had these nail art skills!  Thank you so much to Alexis for sharing this gorgeous look with us!


What did you think of this manicure?

Christmas Guest Post by Destany of Manifest Destany!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Merry Christmas to those of you who are celebrating today!  I am in Ohio having my very first Christmas with my boyfriends family so you will hear all about it if you follow my social media!  Today, my very lovely friend Destany of Manifest Destany has done a super cute Christmas post for you all!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!


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Hello all you Lacquered Lovers out there! My name is Destany, and I am so honored that Carly asked me to guest post for her wonderful blog! I thought I would try something special for you guys - so I got out my crazy nail art skills (I call them fail art skills!) and tried some Christmas trees for you! :)

First I started with a base of one of my favorite reds, Cult Nails Evil Queen - it's just an amazing color :) I topped that with Seche Vite for quick drying. Once it was dry, I used Scotch tape, and taped off triangles on my nails, with the base of the triangle at the tips of my nails. Now, all my trees are varying sizes...cause, well, Christmas trees come in all sizes! (It's absolutely NOT because I tried and tried and tried to get them symmetric, and I just couldn't do it...) Once everything was taped off, I used Wet n Wild Sagreena the Teenage Witch and painted two coats over that. Once that was done, I took the tape off. I let that dry for just a little while, but then I used a Stripe Rite silver glitter (which was provided to be by It's So Easy) and swiped it a few times across the "tree" to represent garland, and then used a dotting took with Milani Signature Gold (which was provided to me by Milani) and put a topper on the tree. The final touches were dots in Pure Ice French Kiss (blue) and Zoya Pippa (yellow). So here it is!

Have you guys tried art like this? I need to do more of it! It was really simple and so cute when it's done! Thanks Carly for letting me show your readers my Christmas trees! :)

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How cute are these???  I love it!  Thank you again to Destany and I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday!  Stay tuned for more posts!


What did you think of this manicure?

Guest Post by Yulia of Vicerimus!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating today!  I am having my very first Christmas this year and am very excited!  Today, I have a wonderful guest post by the lovely Yulia of Vicerimus.  Check out her blog because her pictures are amazing!!!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

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Hey everyone!

First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Yulia, a nail blogger and a polish lover from Moscow, Russia, along with being a second-year law student. When I learnt that Carly needed some guest posts for her blog, I reached out immediately because I know the feeling when you have to leave your blog unattended, but you don't want to disappoint your followers. I was delighted when Carly responded that she would have me as a guest blogger, and I feel really honored to be featured on her blog today!

I wanted to do something special for her blog, instead of a plain swatches & review post, but having recently finished a nail art challenge, I've been feeling too exhausted for anything complex. I also have plenty of untrieds sitting on my shelf, glaring at me, so I've really been digging duo manicures lately.

 

 

For these special nails I've chosen Anny Hudson River Turtle and paired it up with BarryM Croc Nail Effects in Black. Hudson River Turtle is a great medium dusty khaki/olive green with the slightest brown undertone when under strong warm artificial light. Application was flawless, the polish spread over the surface of my nails like butter, and I did 2 really thin coats to reach full opacity. It has easily pass as a one-coater if you do a more generous one. Dry time is quite fast, about 15 minutes or so, however, I used my all-time favorite top coat, INM OTD, so I was good to go 5 minutes later. BarryM Croc Nail Effects Black is in the same vein as your average crackle polish, but the formula is different, it creates a reptile scales effect. The thinner the coat applied is, the smaller the scales appear. Also, mind that you should use it when the base color hasn't dried yet, I'd say waiting about a minute before applying Croc Nail Effects works best. By the way, be careful with your application, for it takes some effort to remove the polish from your skin - due to the formula, my guess is. I topped the accent fingers off with a coat of INM OTD, too.

 

 

And that's it from me! Hope you've enjoyed the post! How do you feel about khaki on nails? I used to be quite hesitant, but now I can't get enough! And how do you like the croc effect versus the regular crackle one?

 

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Thank you Yulia!  What a fabulous post!  And I love the pictures!  I hope you all enjoyed and have a happy holiday tonight!

 

 

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

Lacquered Lover's Divine Caroline Christmas Tree Nail Art Tutorial!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  I am getting ready to go away for my very first Christmas today so I thought it was fitting to share my Christmas tutorial for Divine Caroline!  I also have some amazing guest post lined up for you all over the next 10 days while I'm gone so I hope you enjoy!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I love my festive (and slightly goofy) Christmas tree!  In order to find out which lovely Zoya polishes I used and how to do this cute little manicure, head over HERE to see the full tutorial!  All you need is a few polishes and a dotting tool!

What did you think of this manicure?  Any plans for the holidays?

An Illamasqua and NCLA Galaxy Nail Art Manicure (and happy birthday Mom!)

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you are all having a good day!  I wanted to take a minute and wish my mom a very happy birthday today!  She's my biggest supporter of my little corner of the Internet here and probably the reason I love nail polish so Happy Birthday Mom! 

Seriously how cute is my mom? 

Now I just wanted to share a cute nail art I did a few weeks ago with  you guys!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I really should have written down which polishes I used for this but all the colors are Illamasqua and the glitter is from NCLA!  I love how these turned out for my first attempt at Galaxy nails!


What did you think of this manicure? 

SoFlaJo Red Carpet Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Thursday!  I hope you are all getting into the holiday spirit!  I am leaving tomorrow to go visit my boyfriend's family in Ohio for my very first Christmas and then to spend time with my family so I'm a busy lady!  But not to worry, I have a bunch of fun stuff including some amazing guest posts lined up for you all!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Red Carpet

Red Carpet is a gorgeous deep red matte polish with a hint of holographic glitters in it!  I love how rich and warm this polish feels.  Plus even with the tiny glitters it dries super smooth and level and has an almost suede like texture!  The formula was great, opaque in 2 coats and very easy to apply!


Red Carpet and the rest of the Party Time Nail Polish Collection (which are all GORGEOUS) are on sale now at the Soflajo website HERE for $10 for 15 ml or $5 for 5ml.

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

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

I Love Nail Polish Glitter Toppers: A Selection of Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend!  I'm hurrying around trying to get everything ready for the holidays and going away so please excuse the absence of some posts recently!  Today, I have something really fun to share with you all!

I Love Nail Polish is a fabulous indie brand that has the cutest packaging and bottles (not to mention fabulous glitters!)  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

 Above:  1 coat of Fully Turqued over 2 coats of Zoya Kristen

First up is my personal favorite, Fully Turqued!  It has everything I love about glitter polishes, black and white matte glitters, blue and squares!  I love all the different size and shaped glitters and the turquoise squares really add something unique!  The formula was super easy to use and I had no trouble getting out the glitter!

 Above:  2 coats of Goldie Boo...Boo! over 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism

Goldie Boo...Boo! is a great Fall polish!  This clear base is full of different sized hexagonal glitters in black, silver, orange, yellow and red.  Also, the name cracks me up because I am addicted to that show!  The formula was good, didn't have much trouble with the glitter although I did use two coats to get the amount of glitter I wanted.

Above:  1 coat of Little Mermaid over 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism

Next up is Little Mermaid.  This definitely has a scaley effect to it!  There are multiple sized and shaped silver, light blue and a hint of purple, pink and holographic glitters in this clear base.  There are even two different sized/thickness of bar glitters!  This was a very densely packed glitter and with three coats,  you could probably make it opaque!

 Above:  1 coat of Something About Merry over 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism

Something About Merry is a fabulous Christmas polish!  The combination of red, white and green glitters in a clear base is really fun and I love the white matte shards!  The formula was great, easy to use and the glitter came out well.

Above:  1 coat of Matthew Peri over 2 coats Zoya Kristen

Ah Matthew Peri.  What a stunning polish!  It has different sized and shapes of holographic, silver, gunmetal and light blue glitters in a clear base.  I love how soft it is but still fun!  The formula was really good, only required one coat to get a lot of glitter on the nail!


All in all, I'm really impressed by this brand.  The bottles are great, printed on and have a rubberized cap to open them easily.  All of the formulas were great for glitters, not too thick and easy to use.  I also really like the unique color combinations!  I Love Nail Polish is available now on their website HERE for $10 for a 12 ml bottle which also comes in a really cute box!

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

 

 

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

Lacquered Lover's Divine Caroline Hanukkah Dreidel Nail Art Tutorial!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday once again!   I hope your days are still going well today!  I'm very excited to bring you guys a Hanukkah tutorial today!  As tonight is the 4th night of Hanukkah, why not celebrate with some Dreidel nails?  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

To find out what polishes I used and how to make the dreidel, be sure to check out my tutorial at Divine Caroline HERE!  It's super easy to do and a great way to be festive during Hanukkah!

What did you think of this manicure?

Lacquered Lover's Divine Caroline Snowflake Tutorial!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday!  I hope you're all having a lovely week so far!  This morning, I just wanted to share with you a simple snow flake tutorial I did for Divine Caroline last week!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I used the gorgeous KB Shimmer Snow Way! that I showed you all this weekend as a background for falling snow and just love how this came out!  To read the full tutorial, check it out HERE and be sure to check Divine Caroline later for a Hanukkah tutorial!

What did you think of this manicure?  Will you try it?

KBShimmer: A Selection of Winter 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Sunday to you all and Happy Hanukkah to my fellow readers who began to celebrate last night!  Today, I have a wonderful indie collection to share with you!

KB Shimmer released their Winter collection last month and I have five of these glitter beauties to share with you today!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  1 coat of KBShimmer Candy Cane Crush over 2 coats LCN Tokyo Expression

First up is Candy Cane Crush.  Since this is a glitter topper, I put it over a dark grey.  Candy Cane Crush is multiple sized glitter from tiny to large in a bright red and pure white in a clear base.  It's adorable and really does look like a crushed Candy Cane!  Also, it's scented like peppermint!  This polish was pretty easy to use, some of the really large glitters required a bit of fishing out but they went on smooth and evened out with top coat!

Above:  2 coats of Cocoa Nut

Cocoa Nut is a gorgeous milk brown chocolate base full of multi colored pink glitter in different sizes and shapes, including irregular flakes.  It's also full of a gold micro shimmer that really adds a lot of depth.  It reminds me of truffles or hot cocoa with raspberries!  I love how rich this color looks on the nails.  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and evened out with one coat of top coat!

Above:  3 coats of Hex Appeal

I think Hex Appeal is my new favorite glitter nail polish!  Hex Appeal is a navy almost jelly like base full of magenta, blue and silver hex glitter in different sizes with tiny bar glitters as well.  I LOVE it!  I used three thin coats since the base is fairly sheer but with three coats, I had full opacity.  The glitters came out really easily and evened out with one coat of top coat!

Above:  3 coats of Snow Way!

Snow Way! is an adorable polish that actually looks like falling snow to me!  The base is a light milky blue full of multi sized hexagonal white matte glitters.  I love it!  The formula was a bit thick so I found that 3 thin coats worked best for full coverage.

Above:  2 coats of Sugar Plum Faerie

Sugar Plum Faerie is a pink toned plum milky jelly base full of purple, bright green an pink glitters in different sizes and shapes.  I really love how the green is so contrasting!  This polish is really rich and fun for winter time!  This polish was really easy to use, no fishing for glitter is necessary and it was opaque in 2 coats!

All in all, I LOVED this collection!  Really great showing from KBShimmer for Winter!  The glitters are fun and different and all of the formulas were really easy to use.  All of these polishes and the rest of the Winter collection are available now at the KBShimmer Website for $8.75 each!

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

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