Lacquered Lover featured on Intergloss!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday to you all!  My week is certainly starting off with a bang!  Today, I am super excited to show you guys that my blog was featured on the awesome website Intergloss!

Intergloss is a fabulous website where you can go and search for all your favorite and unknown beauty products!  Real people (like me!) go on and review products when they like them or search for new ones!  You can find your own new products and help others find them!  It's a great community for beauty lovers like all of us and I highly recommend you check it out HERE.  You can also read the full interview with me and learn a bit more about me, my blog and my life!  Hope to see you all on there soon!

Jessica Cosmetics It's A Girl Thing Collection for Spring 2013 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday to you all!  I hope you have fun weekend plans!  I get to hang out with a blogger buddy as well as go shopping for NYFW!  But first, today I have a fun new Spring Collection to show you!

The Jessica Cosmetics It's A Girl Thing Collection consists of 6 gorgeous, bright shades for Spring!  I'm so happy to see a non pastel collection!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Ava

First up is Ava, a gorgeous lilac that has a subtle silver shimmer that's hidden until the light hits it.  I love it!  It's a light shade but still really bright too.  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats and easy to use!

Above:  2 coats of Sophia

Sophia is a light but VERY bright cornflower blue with a hidden silver shimmer.  This is hands down my favorite from this collection!  So beautiful!  The formula was good, thick but easy to work with and opaque in 2 coats.

 Above:  2 coats of Nadia

Nadia is not quite a silver polish but more a light grey with silver shimmer.  I really like that this isn't quite silver but is still a neutral with a little sparkle!  The formula was a bit frosty on this one but easy to use.  If you don't like brush strokes though, this may not be for you.

 Above:  2 coast of Amira

Amira is a BRIGHT pink with a hidden silver shimmer.  I really like how fun and bright this is!  I'm not normally a pink person but this is definitely fun for Spring.  the formula was good, opaque in 2 coats!

 Above:  2 coast of Alia

I have to apologize but my camera wants this to be a watermelon pink when really, it's a pretty bright orange with a silver shimmer!  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats.

Above:  2 coast of Alexis

Last but not least is Alexis, an orange toned red full of hidden silver shimmer.  This is the perfect summer pedicure color!  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats and easy to use.

All in all, this was a solid collection from Jessica Cosmetics.  It's bright but still springy and the hidden silver shimmer in each shade brought something a little fun and unique to every color!  Each polish retails for $7.50.


What did you think of these polishes? 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.

A Fundraiser and Giveaway for Sandy Hook

As many of you know, on December 14th, 2012, 26 innocent children and teachers lost their lives in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  This unspeakable event has touched so many lives from the victims families to anyone who can sympathize with this tragedy.  A group of wonderful bloggers, nail polish creators, accessory creators and others have come together to try to show the community of Newtown, CT that there is still good in the world.  We wanted to find a way to encourage donations to the charities that the families of the victims have requested.

Over 25 wonderful people and business have donated items and even created special memorial items in honor of the 26 people who were killed that day in order for us to have a fundraising giveaway!  There will be FIVE winners, each getting an identical prize pack!  These generous and wonderful people have all taken the time, energy and money to create these items below (a list of each person and their donation is at the bottom of this post).  Also please note that there are more donations pouring in and I will add them as I receive them!

 

In order to enter, first fill out your email address on the Rafflecopter form below.  Then please put in the amount that you are donating to any of the charities below of your choice.  Then, I ask that you please send proof of donation to sandyhookdonations@lacqueredlover.com .  You will receive 1 entry per every $1 donated.  You can send a screenshot or forward your receipt if you donate via an online service, or if you are sending a check, please send a picture (with any information you feel appropriate blacked out.)  A spreadsheet will be created in which each person receives 1 entry per $1 received.  At the end of the giveaway, we will choose one winner from Rafflecopter and the other 4 from the spreadsheet using random.org .  Here is a list of the charities and the ones the family members have asked for:

 

Sandy Hook School Support Fund - Donate online HERE

Victoria Soto (one of the teachers who now has a scholarship fund)- Donate online HERE

Anne Marie Murphy (a teacher - all donations go to Autism Speaks) - Donate online HERE

Rachel D'Avino Memorial Fund to help teachers - Donate online HERE

Olivia Engel (loved animals & donations to Newtown Park and Bark)- Donate online HERE

Josephine Gay (donations to Joey's Fund for Autistic children) - Donate online HERE

Dylan Hockley Fund (support for children with special needs) - Donate online HERE

Catherine V Hubbard (loved animals & donations to The Animal Center) - Donate online HERE

Ana Marquez-Greene Music Scholarship (loved music) - Donate online HERE

Charlotte Bacon (Act of Kindness fund to promote kindness) - Donate online HERE

Jack Pinto (donations to help children and families)- Find out how to donate HERE

Caroline Previdi Memorial Fund (provides college scholarships) - Donate online HERE

Lauren Rousseau Scholarship Fund (provides college scholarships) - Donate online HERE

Mary Sherlach (donations provide mental health services)-Donate online HERE

Emilie Parker Fund (to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund) - Donate online HERE

Chase Kowalski Fund to help protect children and keep them safe- Donate online HERE

Dawn Laffery Hochsprung Fund in honor of the Principal - Find out how to donate HERE
Noah Pozner Noah's Ark of Hope (to help his siblings) - Donate online HERE
Allison Wyatt Fund (to help siblings)- See how to donate HERE

Jesse Lewis Memorial Fund (to help pay for his brother's education) - Donate online HERE
Daniel Barden Fund (to assist the family during this time) - Donate online HERE

Benjamin Wheeler Fund (in honor of his siblings) - Donate online HERE

Avielle Richman - Avielle Richman Memorial Fund, PO Box 686, Newtown, CT 06470
Madeleine Hsu Memorial Fund, c/o Wells Fargo Bank, 26 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470

James R. Mattioli Memorial Fund c/o Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.

Grace Audrey McDonnell Fairfield County Community Foundation, 383 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851.
Jessica Rekos Memorial Fund PO Box 713, Newtown, CT 06470-0713
 

Please fill out the form below and don't forget to email your receipt of donation to sandyhookdonations@lacqueredlover.com !  Every dollar counts so please donate what you can to show the families and friends of the victims that we still remember their loved ones.  Good luck to everyone!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A HUGE thank you to the list of prize donors:

Llarowe ($25 gift certificate not pictured above)  Planet Beauty (prize pack not pictured above), KBSHIMMER ($20 gift certificate not pictured above), Pretty & Polished , Literary Lacquer , Lacquerhead Polish, , Black Cat Lacquer , SoFlaJo , A Rhyming Dictionary Polish , Jindie Nails , Northern Star Polish , A Study in Polish , Candii Polished , Different Dimension , Dandy Nails , Glitzology, Happy Hands , Sparkle Nail Lacquer , The Polish Bar, Daily Lacquer , Paint Box Polish , Body by Mersado , Puzzled and Polished , Gee Whiz , Bay Street Bead Works , The Nail Network , Steel and Sashes , D'Lu Delicacies , Captain Hook Crochet , Love for Lacquer , Beauty Pop Shop

 

And keep checking back for more!  Thank you all so much in advance for your support and your donations!  Good luck!

 

 

OPI Mariah Carey Collection Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Tuesday!  I hope all those of you who had yesterday off had a nice three day weekend!  Today, I have a really fun post lined up for you all, including a new type of nail polish!

The OPI Mariah Carey Collection that was just released includes 4 of the new liquid sand texture!  If you follow my Instagram you've seen a lot of these already!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 

Above:  2 coats of A Butterfly Moment

A Butterfly Moment is a very pale peach toned nude that's full of gold shimmer.  I was a little worried it might have a frosty finish but in the end, you can barely see any brush strokes.  It's very pretty and glowy for a neutral.  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats.

 Above:  2 coats of Anti-Bleak

Anti-Bleak is a very red toned purple.  It's not quite dark enough to be a plum but it's right on the border!  I was a little disappointed in the formula as it was not quite as opaque as I expect from OPI Creams.  It really needed a third coat to not be patchy at all.

Above:  1 coat of Pink Yet Lavender over 2 coats Anti-Bleak

Pink Yet Lavender is a glitter topper.  It's a clear base full of larger light pink hex glitters, smaller lavender glitters and tiny holographic glitters.  It's very girly and fun for Spring!  The formula was good, easy to get out the glitters and apply evenly.

Above:  2 coats of Sprung

Ah Sprung.  Sprung is a beautiful copper shimmery polish that has hints of gold and pink to it.  I really wanted to love this one but like On Her Majesty's Secret Service from the James Bond collection, the formula is rather thin.  I used 2 coats for these pictures and it is clearly not enough.  If you have the patience to build it up, it can be beautiful though!

 Above:  2 coats of The Impossible no top coat

Above:  2 coats of The Impossible no top coat macro olloclip shot



Above:  2 coats The Impossible with top coat

First of the liquid sand polishes is The Impossible.  The Impossible is a pink toned red jelly that's full of small glitters, red hexagonal glitters and holographic star glitters.  You definitely have to fish for the star glitters a bit but it's so cute!  This is one of the least textured looking in real life although the star glitters seem to stick out a bit.  Adding 2 coats of top coat give it a super glossy, smooth finish!

 Above:  2 coats of Get Your Number with no top coat

Above:  2 coats of Get Your Number macro olloclip shot

Above:  2 coats of Get Your Number with top coat

Get Your Number is a medium blue jelly base that's full of different sized glitter and bits of holographic glitter!  When the light hits it even without top coat you can see how sparkly it is.  I think this might be my favorite of the bunch!  The formula was good although a third coat would probably get rid of the VNL in direct light.

 Above:  2 coats of Can't Let Go with no Topcoat

 







Above:  2 coats of Can't Let Go with topcoat

Can't Let Go is a gorgeous royal purple full of different sized glitters.  I love it!  It's so rich and vibrant even without top coat and I love the liquid sand effect on this one!  The formula was very easy to use and I love it both with and without top coat!

 Above:  2 coats of Stay the Night with no topcoat

Above:  2 coats of Stay the Night no topcoat macro olloclip shot

Above:  2 coats of Stay the Night with topcoat

Last but not least is Stay the Night.  Doesn't this one look like asphalt?  Stay the Night is a black jelly like base full of pink small glitters.  This is the one I'm the most on the fence about, sometimes I love it and other times it's a bit odd.  The formula was great, easy to use.

All in all, I liked this collection!  I really liked the Liquid Sands, I think they are unique and something really special in the nail polish world.  I like seeing brands branching out and trying new things and this is definitely something new and different!  The Mariah Carey Collection is now available where OPI is sold!


What did you think of these polishes? 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.

 

LCN Urban Expressionism Collection for Fall 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  I hope you are all having a lovely week and are looking forward to the long weekend!  I will be spending a good portion of my weekend reorganizing my stash, updating my spreadsheet and getting some really exciting stuff for Lacquered Lover queued up.  But first, I have a collection from last Fall to show you!  I know, I'm behind BUT this collection is some gorgeous grey's which is perfect for this time of year!

The LCN Urban Expressionism collection consists of 4 cremes based off of 4 major fashion cities in the world!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Tokyo Expression

First up is Tokyo Expression, a very dark grey creme.  I like how this shade is still definitely grey but has a lot of pigment and vibrancy to it.  The formula was fabulous, practically a 1 coater although I added a second coat out of habit.

Above:  2 coats of Paris Chic

Paris Chic is a very yellow toned beige.  I don't really think this is a nude because I can't imagine any one's skin tone being this color but if you're a beige fan, this could be a good palette cleanser.  It's a bit too yellow toned for my skin.  The formula was great, opaque in two coats.

Above:  2 coats of London Beat

London Beat is a mushroom shade of taupe that has hints of grey and purple to it.   I actually really like this shade!  It's darker than a nude but very professional looking!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and lots of pigment.

Above:  2 coats of New York Glam

Last but certainly not least is New York Glam!  I think this is my favorite of the bunch and not just because it's named after my city!  New York Glam is a very green toned deep grey creme.  It's gorgeous!  The formula was practically a 1 coater but I added a second out of habit and I love how rich and creamy it is!

All in all, this is a great collection of cremes that everyone needs in their collections.  Sometimes you need the basics either on their own or as a layering polish!  The formulas on all of these were great.  You can buy all 4 of these as a set on the LCN Website HERE for $29.90 and each polish is 8ml.


What did you think of these polishes? 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.

NARS Disco Inferno for Spring 2013 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  I hope you are all having a lovely week so far!  Today, I have a gorgeous new polish from one of my favorite brands, NARS, to show you.

 

 

Yes what you are seeing above is the same nail polish in different lighting and on its own vs. black!  Amazing right?  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 Above:  3 coats of NARS Disco Inferno with flash

 Above:  3 coats of Disco Inferno

Above:  Disco Inferno macro bottle shot

NARS describes this shade as being an iridescent silver green and that's pretty on point.  This is a sheer polish that's a light silver with tiny silver micro glitter that flashes green and a hint of purple depending on how the light is hitting it.  All the pictures above are three coats and you can see how different it looks depending on the lighting!  However since it is sheer, you can see that in direct lighting, there is some visible nail line.  An easy fix for that is putting 1 coat of a nude underneath.  However I wanted to try it out with a dark color so see below:

 Above:  1 layer of Disco Inferno layered over 1 coat of Kata

I am seriously in love with how this looks layered over black!  I used 1 coat of NARS Kata from the Kuroko Kabuki mini set which is a plain black creme and then put 1 coat of Disco Inferno on top.  It's amazing!  The iridescent and duochrome really shines when over a dark color plus you can see the glitter!

All in all, I think this was a great polish.  There are others that are close like Butter London Knackered however this is without the holographic glitter and has more of a flash over a dark color.  This also has more tiny silver glitter to it that really makes it multi dimensional.  If you are not a VNL fan like I'm not, then definitely layer this polish.  You could probably achieve full opacity at 4 coats but then you don't get the amazing flash you do when you layer it!  I'm looking forward to layering this over dark blues and purples to see how that changes the look!  This polish is now available on NARS website and at their stores for $18.


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.