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.

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?

OCC Lip Tar Stained Gloss Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Thursday to you all!  I know it's been awhile since I've done a review but I'm back in action now and what better way to start off than with one of my all time favorite brands, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics?

At The Makeup Show New York this past weekend, OCC debuted their newest addition to the Lip Tar line, Stained Gloss.  I was lucky enough to receive all of them from the amazing David who created the brand and I'm so excited to share them with you!  All of these new lip tars have a translucent, glossy quality to them.  Now, without further ado, on to the lip tars!

Above:  Androgyne

First up is Androgyne, a gorgeous bright orange.  OCC describes it as a "Psychedelic Orange Gel."  I love that this gives a nice pop of color but is still sheer enough that you don't feel like you're wearing neon orange lipstick (although if you follow my Instagram you know how much I love bright orange lipstick.)  The color payoff was decent on Androgyne and they give your lips a nice orange juicy glow.

Above:  Jealous

Jealous was the first of these that I tried and I think it might be my favorite!  OCC describes Jealous as being "Popsicle pink/red" and that's pretty much exactly what it looks like.  This is a very warm pink based red that literally looks like a red ice pop melted and you rubbed it on your lips and it looks amazing.  The color payoff on this was great and the formula was so smooth and glossy!

Above:  Meta

Meta is described as being a "Red Orange Shellac."  This is another one with a big color payoff with a glossy lip!  It's not as sheer as some of the others but still has the glossy, juicy quality of all the Stained Gloss.

Above:  New Wave

New Wave is described as "Glassy neon pink" and again, that's pretty accurate!  This is a BRIGHT pink gloss with a very good color payoff.  This is a great pigmented, juicy pink that's perfect for Spring and summer this year!  The formula was really smooth and just glides on.

Above: Rhythm Box

Rhythm Box is the darkest of the Lip Tar Stained Gloss collection and it's just beautiful!  It's described as being "translucent purple burgundy  and while it looks like that in the tube, on the lips it's more of a deep pink with purple undertones.  I like that this isn't as dark as it looks in the tube because the color payoff on the lip is gorgeous!

Above:  Voyeur

Voyeur is a little weird as some OCC Lip Tars tend to be but then again it wouldn't be OCC without something quirky!  Voyeur is described as "Yellow Glaze creates a Peach Neutral" but on me, it's more just yellow.  Now this isn't one I'd wear on my own BUT I think it could look really cool layered over a more pigmented lip tar.


All in all, I'm a big fan of the new Lip Tar Stained Gloss collection.  There is a pretty good color payout on these for being a gloss and I find I can get about 5-6 hours of wear out of them!  The formulations are pretty smooth, a tad bit sticky when first applied but that wears off in a few minutes and  you get a glossy, juicy color on your lips.  I can't wait to try these over some lipsticks to really add some shine and depth to them!  Here are a few pictures of me wearing Jealous:

The OCC Lip Tar Stained Gloss Collection will be available May 23rd, 2013 at Sephora and OCC for $18 each.

What do you think of this collection?  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.

Butter London Sweetie Shop Collection for Spring 2013 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday to you all!  I may be a bit silent on here in the next few days because NYFW is starting but be sure to check out my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (@lacqueredlover) for up to the minute behind the scenes beauty access!  But first, today I have a really cute collection for you!

The Butter London Sweetie Shop Collection is a super cute collection of bright pastels that are perfect for Spring!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 Above:  3 thin coats of Cuppa

Cuppa is a light beige nude creme.  It's definitely a palette cleanser type of color, very professional looking but beige enough that it won't give anyone mannequin hands.  The formula was a bit hard to work with, fairly thick, so I found that three thin coats worked best.

 Above:  3 thin coats of Jasper

Jasper is a bright pastel yellow creme polish.  Now I'm not sure how something can be bright but pastel but this collection is just full of these gems!  The formula for a light yellow wasn't bad, three thin coats made it opaque and not streaky.

 Above:  2 coats of Kerfuffle

I really like saying Kerfuffle.  I have now incorporated it into my vocabulary.  Kerfuffle is a bright pastel coral.  This was a surprise favorite of mine from this collection!  There is a lot of pink to this polish but it's so fun and bright!  This will be a fabulous pedicure color!  The formula was a bit thick but 2 coats worked for this polish, just let them dry for a minute or two in between.

 Above:  2 coats of Fruit Machine

Fruit Machine is a bright baby pink creme.  If you're a pink kinda gal, this color is right up your alley for Spring!  The formula was good on this one, a bit thick but 2 coats worked perfectly!

 Above:  3 thin coats of Fiver

I am loving all the mint greens this year that actually don't give me lobster hands!  Fiver is a gorgeous ice mint green.  I love that it's bright but pale at the same time!  The formula works best when you use three thin coats to even it out.

Above:  3 thin coats of Molly Coddled

Molly Coddled is a bright lilac creme.  I really like how this shade looks and don't think I have an exact dupe for it!  The formula was a bit thick so I found that three thin coats worked the best for full opacity.

All in all, I liked this collection.  I had bought these when they were buy 2 get 1 free at Nordstrom and am glad because a few of the formulas I wasn't in love with.  They all look great eventually but I like my polishes to be 2 coaters.  I will say that Fiver, Kerfuffle and Molly Coddled were definitely my favorites from this collection and fairly easy to work with!  This collection is on sale now for $15 wherever Butter London is sold.

What did you think of this collection?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?