OPI Liquid Sand Gradient Nail Art featuring Solitaire and Alcatraz,...Rocks!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday!  It's been awhile since I posted on here but I'm back with some AMAZING new things to show you coming up!  My life in NYC has gotten a bit hectic in the last several months, new job, lots of life changes, but my love of nail polish and makeup has held strong which you can see if you follow my Instagram and Facebook @lacqueredlover !  In the last few months I've traveled, attended NYFW and been enjoying NYC.  Today, I want to share with you a quick nail art I did for today's Blogger Breakfast with Suzi from OPI!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

For this manicure I started off with two coats of OPI Solitaire, which is a gorgeous white textured glitter with hints of gold to it.  Then I sponged OPI Alcatraz,... Rocks onto the tips to give the gradient look!  I love how these colors blend together and how they bring out the gold in each other!

So there you have it, just some quick nail art!  I'm so happy to be back to blogging and can't wait to share more with you all soon!

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

A China Glaze Neon Gradient and the Color Run Brooklyn!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  I hope you're all having a lovely week so far!  This past weekend, I participated in The Color Run Brooklyn with a few friends and had a blast!  For those of you who don't know, the Color Run is a 5k to which you wear white, where along the way, volunteers throw cornmeal that's dyed at you so you end up all colorful!  At the end, there is a huge dance party with a DJ and they give everyone more color packets and basically, you end up an awesome, colorful disaster.  Obviously I had to do some amazing nails for it as well so now, without further ado, on to the polish!

This was my awesome China Glaze Neon Gradient I did for the Color Run.  The colors I used were Surfin' For The Boys, Japanese Koi, Celtic Sun, I'm With The Lifeguard, Towel Boy Toy and Flying Dragon!  I did a layer of white and then sponged on the neons on top to really make them pop.  I LOVED how this came out!

Check out some photos of my Color Run below and even a video my awesome friends Caitlin and Salome  made!

Above:  Amazing signs before the race

 Above:  Me pre-race, yes I'm wearing a Tutu

Above:  Cait and Me after the race but before the color party began

 Above:  Color Explosions

Above:  The Full Aftermath of the Color Run

And now, a video of our experience:

So there you have it!  An awesome manicure and The Color Run!  What did you think of the manicure?  Have you ever done the Color Run?  Would You?

Sneak Peek at the new Sephora Formula X Nail Polish Collection including Swatches!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  I hope you're all having a lovely week so far!  Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be invited to an amazing event with Sephora for the sneak preview of their new Formula X nail polish line, coming September 2013!

This collection is comprised of 2 parts and has over 200 polishes in all!  The first is all special edition polishes with amazing finishes that have black tops.  The second is all the core colors full of creme and pearl finishes with white tops.  This line will be replacing the current Sephora X line and you'll be seeing some of the same shades.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

The following polishes are all part of the Effects line up with black caps:

 Above:  Brilliants

The Brilliants are 5 glitters that all have holographic pieces in them and the silver has larger holographic pieces as well.  These are full coverage glitters so no need to layer!

 Above:  The Celestials

The Celestials is the Formula X version of textured glitter a la Zoya Pixie Dust and OPI Liquid Sand.  I love the colors here (the cobalt and turquoise are especially amazing!)

 Above:  Chromes

These are your typical chrome finish, very reflective and I was told of a possible mirror finish coming soon!

 Above:  The Electrics

The Electrics are all neons!  Both creme and glitter versions in here, these are bright and amazing!  Especially in direct light, the shimmery glitters really come out and are beautiful!

 Above:  Holograms

Yep, Sephora is doing holographics!  These aren't super strong unless under direct light but still pretty!

 Above:  Lusters

The Lusters are a series of fine glitter with hints of larger glitters in a few colors.  These are full coverage glitters in two coats so no need for layering!

 Above:  The Shifters

Duochromes!  I love these!  You may recognize a few from the Sephora X line, specifically the more glittery ones, but trust me, these are really duochrome!  Gorgeous!

 Above:  The Sparklers

The Sparklers are really cool in that they are all in a golden shimmery base and full of multi sized/different color glitters!  These are more meant to be layered since they are so sheer but really cool!

Above:  Super Watts

The Super Watts are colored jelly bases full of holographic glitter!  That green one is just calling my name!

 Above:  Transformers

The Tranformers are gorgeous toppers that can be mixed and matched over any colors to give cool shimmery and a few glittery effects.

Above:  Xplosives

I nearly squealed with joy when I saw the Xplosives!  Matte glitters in different sizes and colors in clear bases!  I'm in love.


The following are all part of the core collection and are cremes or shimmers/pearl finishes and come in bottles with white tops!

In the New Classics and New Neutrals you have every bright, light, pastel and in between shade you can think of!  All of your basics and even some not so basics are here.

All in all, I'm looking forward to the Formula X collection!  The white topped bottles will retail for $10.50 and the black top bottles for $12.50.  Keep your eyes open at Sephora in September, 2013 for these to all be released!


What did you think of these polishes?  Which are you looking forward to?

Lacquered Lover Collaboration with Pretty and Polished: New York City Lights Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday to you all!  I hope you are all doing well on this hot summer day!  Today, I have something really special to share with you all:

Above:  Picture by Pretty & Polished

I was given the amazing opportunity to work with the lovely Chelsea of the brand Pretty & Polished along with 4 other bloggers to help create a polish for the upcoming Blogger Collection!  Chelsea based my polish off of my love of purple and sparkles and blue and flakes!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 Above:  2 coats of New York City Lights with no flash

Above:  2 coats of New York City Lights with Flash

New York City Lights (obviously named after my hometown of NYC) is a gorgeous semi sheer violet with blue iridescence.  This polish is sparkly, flaky and fairly duochrome all in one!  What I really love about it is that you can wear it on its own, OR you can layer it over a darker shade to get all sorts of fun colors!  And the best part is that even though it's a buildable shade, it's not thick and just 2 coats are needed for full opacity!

Above:  Macro shots of New York City Lights

I hope you all enjoy this polish because I had such a blast creating it with Pretty and Polished!  Be sure you are following the brand on Facebook and Twitter to find out when this and the rest of the Blogger Collection will be released and stay tuned for more swatches!

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.

My Birthday Manicure and Makeup Featuring Enchanted Polish, Urban Decay and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Thursday to you all!  This is a very happy Thursday as I happen to turn 28 today!  I figured I would share with you guys the super fun manicure and makeup I'm rocking today!  First up is the nail polish which the lovely Chelsea from Enchanted Polish was kind enough to send me to review so stay tuned for that soon!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  Pointer and Pinkie - Kids, Middle and Ring - Time to Pretend

 Above:  Pointer and Pinkie - Time to Pretend, Middle and Ring - Kids

 Above:  Top Row - Kids, Bottom Row - Time to Pretend

I decided to do a swap manicure because we all know I have trouble with having all my nails be one color!  The Time to Pretend Collection is all multichrome holographic polishes that are just gorgeous!  I used Kids, which shifts from turquoise/blue/copper/purple, and Time to Pretend which shifts from purple/blue/red/copper.  The holographic effect is super strong and can be seen even in indirect light!  Basically, I'm obsessed with these.  Here are some macro bottle shots for your viewing pleasure:

 Above:  Kids Macro Shots

 Above:  Time to Pretend Macro Bottle Shots

Now, for my makeup, I knew I wanted bright pink lips and my fab Sarah Potempa Beachwaver hair so I pulled out some of my favorite products!

I used my favorite OCC Lip Tar in Anime for my lips and my eyes are all Urban Decay with eyeliner in Deep End on the bottom for a pop of color!  I figured I wanted something fun and bright but that I could still wear to work!

So there you have it, my birthday hair, makeup and nail looks!  What do you all think?

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