Zoya Pixie Dust Nail Art Gradient!

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Tuesday to you all!  I LOVE coming back to work on a Tuesday and only having a 4 day week!  Feels like I won a prize!  For the long weekend, I went down to Washington DC with my boyfriend and his family and we had a fantastic time.  I decided to do some fun Zoya Pixie Dust nail art because they just wear like iron on me (and let me tell you, the little girls I was with were OBSESSED with it!)  5 days later, it's still wearing strong!  Now, without further ado, onto the polish!

So I did this gradient a little differently than usual.  Rather than just sponge the entire gradient, first I painted each nail half of each color.  So for the thumb, on the outside is Tomoko and the inside is Solance.  The pointer finger is Solange and then Beatrix.  The middle finger is Beatrix and then Dhara.  The ring finger is Dhara and then Miranda and then the pinkie finger is Miranda to Arabella.  Then I mixed a tiny bit of the two colors for each finger on a piece of wax paper and just dabbed that in the middle of the nail with a makeup sponge. I love how this ended up looking like a sunset with the bright colors and they just blend so well.  The best part is that the entire manicure took about 10 minutes and then it was dry a few minutes after that!

I really love all of the Pixie Dust nail polishes.  Zoya did a fantastic job with them!  They are vibrant, sparkly, a wonderful texture and dry super fast.  I find myself reaching for these more than anything else!  They are all available now wherever Zoya is sold for $10 each.

What did you think of this nail art?  Would you try it?  

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

Deborah Lippmann 80's Rewind Dot Nail Art!

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Friday to you all!  If you are in the US, happy 3 day weekend!  I'm heading down to DC this weekend with my boyfriend and his family and am so excited to get out of NYC for a few days!  But first, I had to show you the adorable manicure I did with my new favorite Summer nail polish collection, Deborah Lippmann's 80's Rewind Collection!  Now, without further ado, onto the polish!

I think this is one of my favorite manicures I have done recently!  I wanted to use all of the colors in this collection without making it look like a rainbow.  Since they are all super pigmented, I figured out that the yellow matched all of them and I could do dots!  I didn't want to just do "normal" polka dots though so I used two different sized dotting tools and switched up the direction of the designs!  I really love how it came out!  

Let's talk about the colors quickly.  Each color only required two coats and actually seemed like 1 coaters, highly pigmented with a creamy, easy to use formula.  On the thumb is Don't Stop Believing, which is a very orange based red, super bright and cheery for summer.  The pointer finger is Video Killed the Radio Star, a perfect dark royal blue.  The middle finger is Whip It, a bright slightly blue leaning pink.  The ring finger is probably my favorite, She Drives Me Crazy, a gorgeous green leaning teal.  Lastly the pinkie finger is Maniac, a bright purple cream.  All of the dots were done with Walking on Sunshine, possibly the best yellow creme I have ever encountered, so opaque that each dot only had to be placed on once.

Above:  A closer look at each nail

I really love this collection.  The colors are super bright and cheery for summer.  I'm so, so glad someone finally made a yellow that is super pigmented, not streaky, and works like a charm!  This is just so perfect for summer, every color had a wonderful formula and are great staples to have in your collection.  These polishes are all available now wherever Deborah Lippmann is sold for $18, but they are limited edition so be sure to snag them (especially Walking on Sunshine, Video Killed the Radio Star and She Drives Me Crazy!)

What did you think of these colors?  Would you try it?  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.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Spring 2014 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Thursday to you all!  Here in the US, we are gearing up for a long weekend (yay!) so today, I have some fun makeup to share with you!  Last night, I was lucky to be invited to a Birchbox Birchbloggers event at the Madison Avenue Cynthia Rowley Boutique.  It is such an adorable spot in NYC, hidden behind a gorgeous gate with a small candy area upstairs for little girls to have birthday parties!  Last night, we got to preview the new Spring 2014 Makeup Collection by Cynthia Rowley and were gifted it to take home!

The new collection consists of an eyeshadow palette with 5 shades, 5 new pencil eyeliners, and a trio of lightweight lip stains.  I have some quick swatches for you today and will work on more coming up!  Now, without further ado, onto the makeup!

Above:  Eyeliners from the top down - Silver, Charcoal, Violet, Sky Blue, Black

First up are the eyeliners.  I have to say, I was very impressed with the formula on these, the shimmery ones reminded me a bit of the Urban Decay formulation and the Sky Blue had as much pigment and pop as my favorite Stila matte eyeliners.  Silver, Charcoal and Violet all have a really intense sheen and shimmer to them that really make them pop out.  Sky Blue and Black are super matte and super pigmented.  Here is how Sky Blue and Black look on my eyes below:

As you can see, they are super pigmented and really brighten the eyes.

Above:  Creamy Lip Stain Trio from the top down - Tulip, Valentine and Sugar

The Creamy Lip Stains feel like a very non-sticky gloss that wears off fairly quickly (after about an hour and a cup of coffee it was mostly gone) but leaves behind a nice stain so the lips still have a punch of color.  Violet is a very Radient Orchid type of color, Valentine is a fruit punch pink and Sugar is a light pinky nude.

Above:  Creamy Lip Stain in Valentine

Valentine looked really nice and bright on my lips, it didn't really bleed into my lips at all and went on really nicely.  It has a tiny bit of a cooling sensation when you first put it on as well!  IT is also fairly moisturizing which is really nice.

Above:  Cynthia Rowley Eyeshadow Palette No. 2

This palette definitely screams SPRING!  I haven't had a chance to swatch it yet but will soon.  It consists of 5 shades - Cotton Candy which is a violet shade (shouldn't it be pink?), Licorice which is a shimmery black, Confetti which is light pink with purple and yellow spots throughout, Cloud which is a pistachio and Marshmallow which is an almost yellow.  All of these are powder shades.

Here is the full look I did today with these:

All in all, I"m really impressed with the Cynthia Rowley Beauty Spring 2014 collection so far!  The eyeliners are pigmented and bold and the lip stains are light, not sticky, fun colors and do leave a nice stain.  All of these items are available at Birchbox.  The Eyeliners retail for $16 each, the Creamy Lip Stain Trio is $45 or individual Cream Lip Stains are $20 each. They Eyeshadow Palette is $24 or you can get the Spring Set of the eyeshadow palette, a neoprene makeup bag, mini black eyeliner and mini lip stain in Valentine for $35!

What did you think of these colors?  Would you try it?  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.

3 Year Blogging Anniversary - A Look Back at Lacquered Lover! (and a Deborah Lippmann Nail Art Manicure!)

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Tuesday to you all!  First, let me show you my fun manicure today to celebrate:

Above:  Simple Nail Art with Deborah Lippmann Spring Reveries collection

Today, I have something a bit different.  On May 20th, 2011, I decided, mostly on a whim, to start a blog.  You see, I have a degree in Journalism but was having trouble finding a job writing and was working at an architecture firm at the time.  I missed being a writer and wanted to get back into the habit.  I read a few nail polish blogs since I had stopped biting my nails a few years prior and become obsessed with nails.  I probably had about 25 nail polishes that I kept in a cosmetics bag in my apartment that usually I would bring to a salon to get a manicure or sometimes would just change my nail polish at home.  Every once in awhile, I would do something fun like put a glitter on top or do my nails different colors.  So, I decided that I too could write about nail polish and combine my wanting to write with my love of nail polish.  This was the first picture I ever posted to Lacquered Lover:

Let's all soak that in for a second.  It was blurry, cut off, not cropped, and taken with my BLACKBERRY.  I didn't have an Instagram account for another 6 months, and once I did, this was my first pic:

I never could have guessed the amazing things and opportunities that would be in store for me over the next three years.  I've gotten to meet some of my nail polish idols like Essie Weingarten, Deborah Lippmann, Suzi from OPI and Zoya herself!

 Above:  Me with the gorgeous Deborah Lippmann

 Above:  Essie loved my mani!

Above:  Suzi was the sweetest!

Above:  Zoya is amazing!

I had the opportunity to name a ManGlaze nail polish due to a funny Facebook conversation and create a polish with the amazing Pretty and Polished:

 Above:  ManGlaze Lesbihonest by yours truly

Above:  Pretty & Polished collaboration with me New York City Lights

I've gotten the incredible opportunity to attend 5 seasons of New York Fashion Week and had some awesome opportunities from it:

Above:  Just hanging out on the runway at NYFW

I've gone to an event in Vegas, countless in NYC, met fellow bloggers, and basically had an incredible 3 years.  I invented my Carly manicure and style of pictures, learned (sort of) how to do nail art and started to blog about makeup:

 Above:  The first ever "Carly" manicure

 Above:  my favorite gradient

 Above:  An early dot manicure

 Above:  A tape manicure to be proud of

 Above:  my first attempt at free hand nail art

Above:  My first ever makeup post!

All in all, it's been an amazing 3 years.  That little collection of 25 nail polishes is now in the thousands with a bunch of makeup as well that I've gotten to share with you guys.  I've been able to work with some unbelievable brands reviewing their products and it's been incredible.  And the reason it really has been amazing is from the support of my incredible family, my amazing friends, fabulous fellow bloggers and my loyal readers who have been on this crazy journey with me for the last 1,097 days and almost 1 million page views.  So thank you to all of you, you are all amazing for looking at my little corner of the Internet, saying hi on Facebook, liking a picture on Instagram and tweeting back to my ramblings.  I love you all and am looking forward to what's next!

OPI Neon Collection Nail Art!

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Friday to you all!  I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!  I for one am very excited for the weekend!  I get to see some of my favorite people and work on setting up some things in my apartment now that I have a new roomie!  :-)  When OPI sent me their new Neon nail polish collection for Summer 2014, I knew I had to do something really fun with it and try out some nail art!  I found an amazing tutorial from Chalkboard Nails for a Distressed manicure and had to try it!  Now, without further ado, onto the polish!

I'm kind of obsessed with this look!  For starters, it's super easy to do, and it just looks kinda grunge and punk and bad ass!  I used the white base coat that comes with the Neons and all of the neon polishes on top, and the black is Zoya Raven.  Be sure to check out the Chalkboard Nails tutorial I linked to above if you want to see how I pulled off this manicure.

Above:  All of the new OPI Neons layered over white

All in all, I love the OPI Neons!  The formula on these are definitely sheer and dry to a matte like most true neons, but layered over white they are pretty amazing.  I especially love the ones with the shimmer to them as they have a lot of depth.  I'll have a full review soon!  These are now available wherever OPI is sold.

What did you think of these colors?  Would you try it?  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.

Deborah Lippmann Spring Summer 2014 Flower Nail Art!

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Tuesday to you all!  I hope you are all enjoying this lovely Spring weather!  NYC has been beautiful lately and I wanted to do some fun nail art to reflect that!  As you all know, I absolutely adore Deborah Lippmann nail polishes and when I was sent her current Spring Reveries and 80's Rewind collections, I couldn't choose just one!  Now, without further ado, onto the nail polish!

Above:  Dot flower manicure

For this manicure, I started off with a base of both Blue Orchid and Flowers in Her Hair from the Spring Reveries Collection.  The dots in the middle of all the flowers is Walking on Sunshine from the 80s Rewind Collection.  The flowers utilize all of the other colors from both collections!  I love how bright and cheery this manicure was and the colors all just look so good together!  I used a dotting tool to create the flowers and all in all, the entire manicure probably took about 20 minutes.  Below, here is a picture, in rainbow order, of all of the polishes from both collections:

Ah they are just so fun and bright!  In fact, I think I will put them back on tonight!  The formulas on these were great, I was especially impressed with how well the pastels went on, completely opaque in 2 coats, no streaking!  All of these polishes are now available wherever Deborah Lippmann is sold for $18 each, however the 80's Rewind Collection is Limited Edition!

What did you think of these colors?  Would you try it?  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.

Sephora Formula X Fall 2014 Nail Polish Preview!

Good morning 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 the launch of Sephora's Formula X Fall 2014 nail polish line!  There are some great goodies below so now, without further ado, onto the polish!

Above:  Brushed Metallics

Above:  Motivated (orange with gold shimmer)  and Ambitious (bright yellow gold with gold shimmer)

Above:  Mind Games (Green with Gold shimmer) and Discovery (teal with blue shimmer)

Above:  Destiny (light blue with pink shimmer)  and Prophecy (dark blue with purple and pink shimmer)

Above:  Valor (purple with pink shimmer)  and Spectacle (Magenta with pink and blue shimmer)

Above:  Wonderment (beige with pink shimmer), Singularity (greige with blue shimmer) and Determined (brown with blue shimmer)

Above:  Synapse (taupe with pink shimmer) and Fate (beige with blue shimmer)

The Brushed Metallic Collection consists of 8 jewel tones and 6 neutral nail polishes that are all full of mica and dry to a mostly matte finish.  All of the shimmer is either pink or blue, some of them shifting between the two for a duochrome effect, however this is mostly only clear in the bottle or if you put a clear top coat on the polish.  I love how rich the jewel tone shades are and how much the colored shimmer pops against the nudes!

Above:  Press Pods for Fall 2014

Above:  Impeccable, Atomic, Orbit, Pyrotechnic, Ignite,  Dark Matter,Thrilling

Press Pods are a one use manicure capsule that Formula X has previously released that hold enough polish for one full manicure and comes with a brush attached for easy use.  For Fall, they are releasing this kit with 7 colors (all existing) that are perfect for traveling!  This kit will retail for $15, which is a huge value when most Formula X cremes retail for $10.50.

Above:  The Cut - Enticing, Memorable, Grand

The Cut are 3 new cremes for Fall that reflect the urban landscape.  They consist of a mustard yellow, a slate blue and a greige, all fairly neutral without being boring.  I'm really digging that slate for Fall!  That's my version of a palette cleanser polish.

Above:  The cool X installation at the event

All in all, I think Formula X is coming out with some cool things!  I love the idea of the brushed metallics, and while I wish the shimmer showed more on the nail without a top coat, I think they are gorgeous jewel tones and neutrals for Fall.  The Cut collection is a great mini Fall showing for those who like some out of the box colors like mustard and don't want to just do darks.  The press pods would be great for travel and I'm actually looking forward to trying them!  All of these polishes will be released August 1, 2014 at Sephora!

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