SoFlaJo Frankie's Lab Dance Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Saturday to you all!  I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend so far!  Today, I have one of the new polishes from indie nail polish brand SoFlaJo's Terrified Collection for Halloween!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Frankie's Lab Dance with top coat

Frankie's Lab Dance is an iridescent green with the tiniest flashes of purple and is full of micro glitter in orange, purple and green.  I love how much texture it looks like this polish has!  I'm always a fan of iridescence in polish because I love seeing the subtle purple sheen to it.  The formula was great on this, opaque in two coats but would also look really fun layered over a black!  The glitter does dry rather gritty so I would definitely use a top coat to make it more smooth.


All in all, I love this polish!  And I love that the bow on it says Trick or Treat, it's such adorable packaging!  This polish and the rest of the Terrified Collection is available on SoFlaJo's website for $5 for 5ml or $10 for 15ml!  I definitely want to pick up Purple Reign of Terror and The True Death as well!

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.

Butter London Scouse and Swinger Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  I hope you all have fun plans for the upcoming weekend!  I have no plans this weekend and am actually really happy to just be able to hang out!  Today, I have two really fun nail polishes to show you from Butter London.  Scouse is a Dillard's exclusive nail polish but both are available on Butter London's website.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  3 coats of Scouse

Scouse is a gorgeous deep blue full of purple glass fleck like shimmers.  The purple is much more evident in the bottle than on the nail but it's still a gorgeous shade!  I love the glass fleck finish, it makes the polish have so much depth and dimension to the color.  The formula was a bit thin as glass flecks can be so I used 3 coats to make it fully opaque.

Above:  2 coats of Swinger

Swinger is a gorgeous "grass green glitter" according to Butter London's website and I have to say that's pretty accurate!  I love how there is a ton of tiny green micro glitter to help it achieve more full opacity with slightly larger pieces to make it multi dimensional.  The coverage on this was great, in just two coats it was opaque!

All in all, these are two fabulous shades from Butter London!  I love seeing them experiment with different finishes recently like holographic, more glitters and glass fleck!  Both of these polishes are available at Butter London's website for $14 each through early 2013.

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

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

Glitter Gal 3D Holographic Nail Polish in Belgian Chocolate Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Thursday to you all!  I hope you are all having a nice week so far!  Thankfully I'm finally kicking my cold (although I gave it to the boyfriend) but I'm feeling better so back to blogging more regularly!  Today, I have swatches of one of the gorgeous new holographic nail polishes from Glitter Gal, the Australian based company run by two friends.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Belgian Chocolate

Belgian Chocolate is a gorgeous, rich brown with lots of red undertones to it.  I love how this reminds me of a cup of hot chocolate!  The holographic effect is very linear and really looks great against the darkness of the polish.  This is a great way to extend wearing holographic polish into the Fall!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and just gorgeous!

All in all, I really love this polish!  Usually linear holographic polishes are lighter or brighter polishes but Glitter Gal has a great range of them in darker shades that really makes them stand out.  You can follow Glitter Gal on Facebook or Twitter at GlitterGal_AUS for all of their up to date information!  Their polishes are all 5-free and don't require a top coat so they dry very fast!  Their polishes all come in either 10ml or 15ml sizes.  In the US, you can order from Ninja Polish or Harlow & Co!


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

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

Guest Post by Christopher Box of Hair Extension Geek All About Hair Extensions!!!

Good evening my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  Tonight, I have a really special post for you all!  As some of you may have seen, during NYFW I had the very amazing opportunity to get hair extension!  I had met a fabulous stylist, Christopher Box, while backstage at a show in February.  When he was coming back for Fashion Week in September, he asked if I'd like to try out some great tape in hair extensions from Easihair Pro.  Since cutting off my hair last year I've been missing my long locks so I jumped at the chance!  You can read all about my adventure at Lacquered Lover Gets EasiHair Pro Extension for NYFW!  

I absolutely love them!  Since then I've gotten a ton of questions from you guys all across my social media (as well as questions from everyone who has seen me in person) about the extensions.  Who better to tell you about them than the man who did them?  Now, without further ado, I give you Christopher Box!

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

I met Carly at NYFW last season behind the scenes of Porter Gray. I was there supporting easihair pro extensions. You wouldn't believe how much extensions are used on the models of Fashion Week!

Carly was super cool and gave me some fab suggestions on restaurants in NYC. We swapped some conversation about her blog and mine: www.hairextensiongeek.com. She gave me her card and when I got back I checked out her blog site: www.lacqueredlover.com. I loved her style and I realized immediately that our sites were very much related. In my opinion, nails are extensions too!

Flash forward to Fally 2012: I was green lighted from easihair pro to do some makeovers on some beauty bloggers while back in town for New York Fashion Week. Carly was the first person that popped into my mind. I knew she would be perfect for easilengths tape hair extensions. 

I got her scheduled and ended up applying the extensions in a teeny tiny tic tac sized hotel room. She was a great sport about the cramped space. I think maybe the wine helped a little. When I got done I was in love with her big sexy hair. She really knows how to carry the look well. A lot of what makes something work is the attitude behind it. 

I realized when I got done doing Carly's hair extension makeover that she probably would be getting lots and lots of questions about her new look. That's why when I got back to Hair Extension Geek Headquarters I went through our archives and put together my top 10 Favorite Hair Extension Blog Posts.

Educational and Entertaining, these posts will give you all the info you need to get your very own hair extension makeover!

Top 10 Best Hair Extension Blog Posts

1. How Much Do Hair Extensions Cost | Part 1: Just how much do they really cost? Find out some basics that will get you pointed in the right direction. It is all about the research.

2. How Much Do Hair Extensions Cost | Part 2: DR Hanson (not Doctor, it is pronounced D like the letter and R like the letter) travels the Route 66 researching just how much exactly do hair extensions cost. He hits up 3 salons and they weigh in on this much debated question.

3. Hair Extension Myths and Facts: Move over Big Foot there is a new mythical beast in town. Get the scoop on what is real and what is hype.

4. Sex and Hair Extensions | How to Handle an Intimate Moment with Style: It is okay to blush. I did when I asked Extension Expert, Jennifer Pompa, to write this. It is well written and is a question that my clients over the years have asked many times.

5.  Bad Hair Extensions | The Tale of Happy Meal Barbie: Turns out Barbie doesn't have everything. Have seen her bad pastic wig? A guide on how to avoid her fatal mistake that finally drove Ken away.

6.  Why Your Stylist is Running Late | It’s All Your Fault: Ever wonder why your stylist is running late? Here is the true story and how to help avoid this situation.

7. The JPompadour Extension Style Tutorial:  What do with your hair once you have extensions in. Styling hair extensions can be a little different than styling your own hair. This is a cool style that marries the pompadour, a braid, and a little bit of messy boho chic.

8. Easilengths Tape in Hair Extensions | A Review: This is the kind of hair extensions that I used on Carly. This video breaks down how the product works.

9.  The Truth about Hair Extensions | The Horror Story: Cue the theme from Halloween. Get some popcorn and dim the lights, we are about to go on a journey of some scurry weave ladies.

10. Where Hair Extensions Come From: My personal journey to China with easihairpro. I got to see how hair extensions are manufactured and produced. Be nice, this video is my personal journey and was not intended to be anyting but a rambling mess of fun!

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

So what did you guys think?  Would you try tape in hair extensions?

Birchbox Color Club Custom Collaboration Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday!  Just a quick post this morning!  As you may know, the nail polish brand Color Club has been sold on Birchbox for a few months now and they got together to create a special collection!  All of the names are social media related which is so cute!  I was lucky enough to get to go to the Birchbox sample shop during NYFW where we were allowed to pick a few samples and make our very own Birchbox so clearly I got all of the nail polishes!  Also, I'm trying out rounded nails for a bit so here is your first peek at them!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Insta-This

Insta-This is a really fun bright royal blue!  I love how intensely pigmented it is!  It's so bright on the nail, like Nails Inc. Baker Street.  The formula was great, opaque in 2 coats and it didn't stain!

Above:  2 coats of Put a Pin In It

Put a Pin In It is a really pretty rose gold foil.  Unlike other rose gold polishes, you can actually see the pink hint in this one!  I love that it's a warm shade without being a yellow gold.  The formula was great, practically a one coater but I added a second for good measure!

Above:  2 coats of Status Update

Status Update is a deep grey creme that has a lot of green to it.  It's really deep, it almost looks black but has enough grey and green to it to make it not gothic looking.  This is a great fall shade!  The formula was good, opaque in two coats and a lot of pigment.

Above:  3 coats of Tweet Me

Tweet Me is a green based yellow, kind of reminiscent of some of the OPI Shrek colors to me.  Was anyone else expecting the Twitter color to be blue?  That being said, this is definitely a bright color that would work better on someone who isn't as pale as me.  The formula was a bit tricky, I needed three coats to make it even.


All in all, I liked this collection!  I especially liked Insta-This and Put a Pin In It!  For the most part they had a good formula and the names are really cute!  The Birchbox Color Club Custom Collection is available at Birchbox for $8 per bottle.


What did you think of this collection?  Any Must Haves?  Any Dupes?

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars in Lydia, Strumpet, NSFW, Starling and Black Dahlia

Good evening my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Sunday!  Today, Lacquered Lover is venturing into new territory.  I'm going to try out mixing in some makeup posts from now on to show you guys my love of all things cosmetics as well as nail polish!  Not to worry, my main focus will still be nail polish (in fact I swatched a bunch while I was sick this weekend) but thought this would be fun!  Now, without further ado, on to the lip tar!

Above:  OCC Lip Tar in Lydia, Strumpet, Starling, NSFW and Black Dahlia

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) is a really cool brand out of NYC.  I discovered their lip tar during Fashion Night Out earlier this month when I tried NSFW for the first time and fell in love.  I knew I had to try more!  Lip Tar is basically a pure pigment so these are like lipstick in lip gloss form.  All of the Lip Tars dry to a semi matte or satiny finish!  Let's see some swatches!

First I have to show you my "naked lips" for a reference of what the coverage on the lip tars are.

 Above:  Lydia

Lydia is a medium pink that has a lot of purple to it.  I've seen it described as a "plum" and I can definitely see that.  I was a little worried it would be more of an older color for me but it's actually really wearable and pretty for Fall!  The coverage was great and a tiny bit went a long way.

Above:  NSFW

NSFW (love this name haha) was the Lip Tar that started my obsession!  NSFW is a true red lip stick.  This isn't blue or pink leaning, just a real red lipstick.  The wear on this is great, I made it through 6 hours and a meal with it staying on perfectly!  The coverage is great and a tiny bit made my lips opaque.

Above:  Strumpet

OCC calls this a deep red burgundy but to me this definitely pulls more pink on my lips.  It's a deep, bright pink but definitely not a red.  Either way, it's gorgeous!  I love this shade for when I want a pink that's bright without being neon!  The coverage was great and a tiny bit went a long way.

Above:  Starling

Starling is a really beautiful brick red shade.  I never thought I'd wear a brownish shade but I decided to try it and really love it for Fall!  It's just the right amount of red, orange and brown mixed in.  The coverage was great, very opaque.

Above:  Black Dahlia

Black Dahlia is a blackened red that has a lot of purple to it.  This color is just too dark for someone like me without going into Gothic territory.  The formula on this one was also very different than the rest of the lip tars.  It was more runny and felt more like a stain than a lipstick.  I am going to try to use this as more of a gloss over a lip stick and see how that works.

All in all, I am in love with lip tars!  A few words of advice if you get these:

• A tiny bit of lip tar goes a LONG way.  You need the tiniest little dot to attain full coverage.
• A lip brush is probably necessary for these as they can be a bit tough to apply without.
• Lip liner helps to prevent the bit of feathering at the lip line.

OCC Lip Tar is available either on their website or now on Sephora.com for $16 each.  Considering how long they will last, that's a great deal!

What did you think of these lip colors?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?

Louboutin Ruffian Nail Art and A Sneak Peek at Upcoming Makeup Posts!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  Unfortunately I'm still horribly sick but I wanted to show you some really fun (and easy) nail art I did last week!  Also, Lacquered Lover is moving into makeup territory soon as well as nails so I thought I'd show you a peek at once of my favorite recent makeup looks!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish (and makeup!)

I started by doing the "Louboutin" part of this manicure which involved me painting under my nails with Butter London Knees Up, still the perfect red in my opinion.  Then I did some clean up with a makeup brush and acetone because it's not easy to paint under your nails!  Next I painted my nails with Deborah Lippmann Stardust, a great silver foil that was practically opaque in one coat.  Lastly, I added the Ruffian aspect by using Illamasqua Scorn, a fantastic black rubber finish polish!

And since I'm venturing into make up territory, I decided to try my new Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in NSFW.  This lip tar (which is basically pure pigment in liquid form so the tiniest little bit goes a LONG way) is a true red, not pink or blue leaning at all.  I love how it perfectly matched the underside of my nails!


What did you think of this look?  Have you ever tried the Louboutin or the Ruffian before?  

Pomegranate Nail Lacquer in Blue Screen of Death, Cyberspace and Velvet Lounge

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Thursday!  I apologize for the lack of post yesterday but I've been hit with a nasty cold.  I'm still sick but hopefully getting better!  Just a quick post today to show you a really cool new (to me) brand called Pomegranate Nail Lacquer.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Blue Screen of Death

I had to laugh when I saw the name of this one!  Who hasn't gotten the blue screen of death on their computers before?  Blue screen of death is a gorgeous deep cobalt blue that's full of light blue glass flecks.  It's so sparkly and gorgeous!  It almost has a jelly like quality to it but it's opaque in two coats.  For a blue lover like me, this is a fabulous polish!

Above:  2 coats of Cyberspace

Yay a holographic polish!  Cyberspace is a deep grey, not quite gunmetal, that's full of super fine holographic particles that gives it a beautiful scattered holographic look.  I'm usually more of a linear holographic fan but I love how subtle this is for Fall and winter.  The formula was good, opaque in two coats and a great scattered holo effect.

Above:  2 coats of Velvet Lounge

Velvet Lounge is a royal purple shimmer with hints of blue to it.  In the bottle it almost looks duo chrome but on the nail it has flashes of blue when the light hits it right.  It's very rich and saturated and looks great on a pale girl like me!  Formula was great, opaque in 2 coats and easy to apply.


All in all, I liked these polishes!  Blue Screen of Death was probably my favorite, both for the name and the glass flecks, and I love how rich all the colors were.  Plus who doesn't like a great scattered holo?  Pomegranate Nail Lacquer is available through their website for $9 each but if you hurry, a bunch are on sale now for $4.50!   Plus they just released their Fall Collection which looks great and I'll have some swatches soon!

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

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

Cupcake Nail Art featuring Nails Inc Pudding Lane and Topping Lane!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday!  I am unfortunately getting sick plus it's rainy and gross in NY so I'm hoping your days are better than mine so far!  Since it's so gloomy, I thought I'd show you some nail art I did last weekend for one of my best friends birthdays!  (Happy birthday Caitlin!)  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I actually started with a base of new Color Clubs Port-Folio and Muse-ical (full swatches of the Fall Collection coming soon!)  Then I used Deborah Lippmann Stardust as the silver base for the cupcake wrapper with a white striper to make the white lines.  Then I used Nails Inc. Pudding Lane and Topping Lane to make the frosting and it already had sprinkles built in!  Lastly I used a dotting tool and Zoya Elisa for the cherry on top!

This was just a fun little manicure for a birthday and I loved how it came out!  The Nails Inc. polishes were perfect for the frosting and I don't know why I never thought to make a silver cupcake wrapper before because it's so cute!


What did you think of this manicure?  Do you like the glitter frosting or do you prefer the normal dotting tool technique?