Lacquistry Amazeballs Extra Fine and OPI Sheer Tints Nail Art!

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  Today, I have some super fun nail art to share with you!  As you might remember from a few posts back, the new OPI Sheer Tints can be a really fun way to dress up a manicure and do some simple nail art!

  

Well this past week, I finally bought Lacquistry Amazeballs Extra Fine, a super reflective one coat polish.  I then added some sheer tints for some nail art!  Now, without further ado, onto the polish!

 Above:  Lacquistry Amazeballs Extra Fine with flash

 Above:  Lacquistry Amazeballs without flash

Above:  Lacquistry Amazeballs with macro shot

Lacquistry Amazeballs is, well, amazeballs!  This super reflective flakie polish is a warm leaning gold that has this much coverage in ONE COAT.  It's basically the magical unicorn of nail polish.  Super bright, super shiny, just absolutely gorgeous!  AS you can see in the first picture, it almost looks like glitter but it's really not, just a reflective coating to the nails.

Then, since I wanted some color, I did the exact design I did the last time with the OPI Sheer Tints.

Had to include my macro olloclip shots as well.  The darker parts you see are the reflection of my phone because that's how reflective this polish is, it acts like a mirror!  I love how the shiny, reflective flakiness of Amazeballs still shines through but how vibrant the shades become with the OPI Sheer Tints.  I'm really a fan of them!

All in all, I"m obsessed with all of these polishes.  Bright, fun, reflective, and unlike anything else in my massive collection.  Now to talk myself out of buying the other 3 sizes of Amazeballs!

What did you think of these polishes?  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.

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.

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.

OPI Sheer Tints Nail Art!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far.  Today, I want to share with you a super fun manicure I did last week!  When I received the OPI Sheer Tints to review, I wasn't entirely sure what to do with them.  They aren't jellies, they are just a super sheer top coat!  So when I saw an adorable layered rainbow tutorial from Adventures in Acetone, I knew I had to test it out with my own little spin.  Now, without further ado, onto the polish!

To begin with, I used two coats of OPI Solitaire from the James Bond Liquid Sand collection because I wanted a glittery base as well as being too lazy to wait for any other streaky white polish to dry.  This turned out to be an excellent choice because I LOVE how it looks!  I then began to layer them to make a rainbow by painting half of my nail one color and then painting another over the other half, so the middle third was a combination color.  

For the pointer, I used Be Magentale with Me layered with I'm Never Amberassed to make pink, orange and yellow.  For the middle finger, I started with I'm Never Amberassed and then added I Can Teal You Like Me to make yellow, green and blue.  The ring finger is I Can Teal You Like Me with Don't Violet Me Down to create blue, indigo and violet.  Lastly the pinky finger was Don't Violet Me Down and Be Magentale With Me for purple to pink, although this one had the least amount of color showing with the overlap.  I did two coats of each because I wanted the colors to be bright and not just a sheer wash.

Here are some closer up looks.  I also tried for a water color effect on my thumb by simply using the brushes in the bottles to dab the colors in different spots.

All in all, I think this is an interesting collection.  Will I use it super often?  Probably not but it's fun once in awhile to spruce up a color or change the tone.  I'm going to experiment a bit with layering over different colors to see how it changes them.  The OPI Sheer Tints collection retails for $9.00 per bottle wherever OPI is sold.

What did you think of this manicure?  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.

OPI Brazil Flower Nail Art!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday to you all!  Spring is FINALLY almost here and I for one have had enough of this crazy winter!  So, just a quick post today of some nail art to celebrate the imminent arrival of Spring!  Now, without further ado, onto the polish!

I used the new OPI Brazil nail polishes for this flower dotticure!  The base is AmazON,...AmazOFF.  The yellow center to the flowers is Just Can't Cope-acabana.  The flowers are Live.Love.Carnaval , Where Did Suzi's Man-Go? and Kiss Me I'm Brazilian!  I just love how easy making dot flowers is and they look so festive and fun!

I really loved these polishes!  Such fun cremes for Spring time and super vibrant shades.  Each color was opaque enough to just do one dot for full opacity and showed up really well on the darker background.  The OPI Brazil Collection is on sale now for $8.00 a bottle wherever OPI is sold.

What did you think of this manicure?  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.

Lacquered Lover Nail Art Extravaganza!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  I'm in a fantastic mood today because thanks to all of you, my Lacquered Lover Facebook page his over 5,000 likes yesterday!  Thank you to everyone for all of your continued support!  So, to celebrate, I thought it would be fun to go back and post up some of my nail art over the last few months while I was on hiatus from the blog but still posting on social media in case you missed it!  

There are dotticures, penguins, gold leaf, gradients, and more! Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 Above - American Apparel Neon Gradient

 Above:  China Glaze Neon Rainbow Gradient

I did this manicure twice, in two different ways, over the course of 2 weeks last summer!  The first one I did for Pride in NYC and did it as I usually do a gradient.  Then for the Color Run, I decided to try a sideways gradient and absolutely fell in love with it!  Just adore these bright shades!

 Above:  Ciate Feather Manicure Kit

Yes, I put actual feathers on my nails.  I actually loved this manicure, it was a lot easier than I expected!  You paint your nails, put on a clear coat, gently place the feather on the nail, top coat again, and then just file off the excess!  Pretty neat idea!

Above:  CND Nail Art

I was lucky enough during NYFW last September to be invited up to the CND Design Lab to have one of their master manicurists do a nail art look on me!  On my thumbs, she used shellac to recreate the Red Rum look from the Blondes AW2013 show and the rest was the silver foil manicure from the Michael Van Der Ham London shows!  Such a fun look!

 Above:  Deborah Lippmann Mermaid Gradient

 Above:  Illamasqua Textured Dotticure

 Above:  Jesse's  Girl Julie G Frosted Gumdrops Gradient

 Above:  Jin Soon Epidote and Gold Flake Nail Art

Above:  Nails Inc. Leather and Denim

 Above:  Nails Inc Nail Wraps in Fowl Play and Emerald Bay nail polish

 Above:  Nails Inc. My Dad Invented That and Clueless Nail Wrap

 Above:  OPI James Bond Gradiant

 Above:  OPI Alcatraz Rocks and Solitaire Gradiant

 Above:  Penguin Nail Art

 Above:  Zoya Casey and Gilty

 Above:  Zoya Hunter and Gilty

 Above:  Zoya Fall Gradiant

Above:  Zoya Texture Dotticure

So there you have it!  A LOT of nail art!  This is making me want to do an epic manicure coming up this weekend!


What did you think of these manicures?  Which is your favorite?

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