Guest Post by Rachel of Rachel's Makeup and Skincare Blog!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Saturday!  I am currently away on vacation in Ohio visiting the boyfriend's family for Christmas but I have lined up some awesome posts by fellow beauty bloggers in my absence!  Today we have a post from Rachel of Rachel's Makeup and Skincare Blog.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

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Good afternoon lacquered lovers! I'm Rachel from Rachel's Makeup and Skincare. I thought I would share with you the nail polishes I received in my December Glossybox and my Winter Loosebutton Luxebox! The colors I received were an Essie polish in Leading Lady and a Zoya polish in Storm. Both have two coats of polish.

Both these polishes were wonderful to use. The sparkles spread evenly across the nail and there is no coarse texture. The Zoya polish is very similar to Butter London's The Black Knight.


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Well there you have it Lacquered Lovers!  I love black and red together in a manicure, there is something so classy but edgy about it!  Stay tuned for more guest posts throughout the next week!

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

Essie Gym Dandy Swatch and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday!  Just a quick post this afternoon to show you a new fun polish I got!  Essie recently released the Yogaga Collection (note that this is NOT the same as the Fall Collection!) which is 6 fun, light cremes!  I will be showing you Gym Dandy today so now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Gym Dandy

Gym Dandy is a great neutral color!  This is a very greyed out brown.  I like that it's darker than a greige shade we saw a lot of last year and definitely leans more to the brown side.  I really can't think of any dupes that I have of this!  The formula is impeccable as always for Essie, opaque in two coats and very easy to use.

All in all, I liked this polish!  Sometimes it's nice to have a good neutral on as a palette cleanser or when something exciting isn't appropriate.  The Yogaga Collection is available now wherever Essie is sold for $8 per bottle.


What did you think of this polish?

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

Essie Mirror Metallics Collection for Summer 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I was so excited about this post that just had to post twice today!  This afternoon, I have the new Essie Mirror Metallics Collection to show you:

This collection is comprised of 5 polishes all that have a chrome like finish to them.  I was honestly prepared to have these be a streaky, brush strokey disaster of a collection and boy, was I pleasantly surprised!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

Above:  2 coats of Blue Rhapsody

First up is Blue Rhapsody which is a gorgeous cerulean (yes I looked up the Wikipedia to make sure that's the color name I wanted) blue chrome nail polish.  It amazes me how little you can see the brush strokes!  This is just two coats which perfectly covered and even one coat was pretty close to opaque!  It's just stunning!  I love how the light reflects off of it!

Above:  2 coats of Essie Good as Gold

Good as Gold is a yellow gold chrome that kind of makes you look like you dipped your fingernails in gold.  Yes, I love it!  Sometimes yellow golds make me look sickly but this one looks really nice!  I love how shiny this is and how smooth the finish is.  Two coats made it completely even and opaque.

Above:  2 coats of No Place Like Chrome

Since I got really into nail polish, I've been searching for a nail polish with a mirror like finish.  While No Place Like Chrome isn't quite there, I could absolutely see a fuzzy reflection while looking into my nails!  No Plasce Like Chrome is a very white based silver chrome.  It's insanely shiny and you can seriously see fuzzy reflections of things in it!  It looks like tin foil!  You can see a tiny bit of brush strokes on here but if you go slow enough, you can probably cut that out!

Above:  2 coats of Nothing Else Metals

Nothing Else Metals is a lavender chrome.  Honestly, I didn't think I would be that into this one because it looks kinda pinkish in the bottle but on the nail it's really pretty!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and no streaks!

Above:  2 coats of Penny Talk

Last but not least is Penny Talk which is described as being copper but to my eye it shows up more like a rose gold.  Either way, it's super pretty!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and very shiny.

All in all, I really liked this collection!  Every other "chrome" nail polish I own is very brush strokey and can be a streaky mess but these applied like a dream.  I love how reflective they are and how great they look!  I did try a top coat over them and it totally dulled the chrome effect so I'd recommend not using one.  Also, if you have really severe ridges, they will show with this polish as will any dent so be sure to use a ridge filling base coat!  I found these at a Walgreens and they are starting to pop up now wherever Essie is sold.

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

Monochrome Monday Featuring Gradient Dots!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday!  First, I want to apologize for my lack of posting last week, about 20% of my office got knocked out by a nasty stomach virus and I was one of them!  Luckily I'm finally feeling better!  And, I have a super fun manicure for you today!  As some of you have seen, some lovely fellow bloggers and myself (and a few nail art fanatics) have been doing challenges every couple of weeks just as a fun little event between us all!  This weeks challenge was "Monochrome Monday" meaning black and white!  After seeing this amazing Gradient Dot manicure by Sarah over at Chalkboard Nails, I knew I wanted to try it using black, white and grey!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Don't mind my poor broken left ring finger nail, the rest of my nails will be chopped off tonight so I don't look so lopsided!  The colors used in this manicure are Milani White on the Spot, Finger Paints Black Expressionism and Essie Cocktail Bling.  I used dotting tools to make the different sized dots and love how it came out!  I do prefer the ones with the white base more but I think it came out really fun!  It was a bit time consuming but since it's all just dots, it really wasn't too bad for how complicated it looks!  I will definitely be trying this again with different colors!  Make sure you check the links below for the other amazing ladies participating!

What did you think of this manicure?  What other colors would you like to see?

Milani Jelly Sandwich Featuring Teal and Hot Pink!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  To start with, let me apologize again for my lack in posts.  The dentist is driving me insane!  One more appointment today and one next week and then hopefully I'm done for a LONG time!  This week it is my mission to get back into swatching even though I have a broken ring fingernail on my swatching hand!  But, for today, I have a fun jelly sandwich I did last week:

I have a new found obsession with jelly sandwiches but this one was gorgeous even before the jelly on top so I wanted to show you the glitters too!  As you can see I did my signature opposite hand manicure here but I'm only going to show you the mostly blue side in this post.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I started with two coats of Essie Blanc for a white base and then did one coat of Milani Teal with an accent nail of Milani Hot Pink.  I love both of these glitters!  Teal is blue, teal and green large hexagonal glitters with a bit of silver mixed in and tiny little blue micro glitter.  Hot Pink is a bright pink glitter and silver glitter both that are larger hexagonal.  Both of these were in clear bases and had a lot of glitter so they were super easy to use!  I love it!

Lastly I topped the manicure with two coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu.  I love how it gives the glitter a muted look!  I really need to branch out into different colors since I keep doing white based glitter sandwiches but I love how it looks like Pop Tarts frosting!

So there you have it, a jelly glitter sandwich!  I really love how this one came out!  And I have to say, these Milani glitters really impressed me!  I love not having to fish for glitters and having them easy to use and so far, all the Milani glitters I have tried were a dream to apply!  Stay tuned this week for me to get back into swatching, a pretty awesome tutorial for Divine Caroline and the start of celebrating my one year blogging anniversary!

What did you think of this manicure?  What other color combinations would you like to see?

Some of the products in this post were provided to me for my unbiased review.

Essie Wedding Collection for Summer 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you are all having a lovely Tuesday!  It's super windy here in NYC today but the sun is shining so I can't complain!  Today I have a brand new collection to show you!

Yes I know this picture isn't color accurate but I took it this weekend on Instagram and I love it!  Every Spring, Essie releases a wedding collection.  Last year I discovered the perfect red creme from their Wedding Collection (First Dance) so I was super excited to see what they came up with this year!  I decided to buy the mini cube rather than full sized because I don't wear pastel colors too often.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  3 coats of Instant Hot

Instant Hot is a very slightly off white polish.  The little bit of shimmer you see in the bottles does NOT translate onto the nail which was a bit disappointing.  The formula on Instant Hot was also pretty hard to work with, I used three coats above and it's still a bit streaky.  This was my least favorite of the bunch because it was just a pain to apply!

Above:  3 coats of Like To Be Bad

Like To Be Bad is a dusty pale pink that almost looks nude on my skin tone.  Again, the shimmer that you can see in the bottle, which is a really pretty brighter pink, just does not translate onto the nail well.  In direct sunlight, you can see the tiniest hint of it.  The formula on Like To Be Bad was much better, I still used three coats but the third coat really balanced it out to make it not streaky and fully opaque.

Above:  2 coats of Love & Acceptance

Love & Acceptance is a very dusty, greyed out lavender.  It's so greyed out that it's virtually grey but has just enough of a hint of purple to still call it a purple.  I really liked this one although it reminded me of many polishes I already have, namely the Zoya Feel Collection greys.  The formula was really good on this one, only two coats to be opaque and streak free!  Not the most unique but if you are missing a polish of this shade the formula on this was great!

Above:  2 coats of Who Is The Boss

Am I the only one a bit disappointed in these names?  Luckily, this polish doesn't disappoint!  Who Is The Boss is a really pretty pale blue with a bit of green to it.  It's very pale, just gives a slight wash of color but I somehow really like that!  The formula was great on this one, opaque in 2 coats and no streaks.

All in all, this collection was just ok in my mind.  The shimmers were a pain to apply, none of them were terribly unique and I wish there was more color!  In my opinion, the 2011 Wedding Collection far surpasses the 2012.  I'm really glad I got the minis rather than the full sized because I can't imagine I will use these enough to justify the full.  These polishes are available now wherever Essie is sold!

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

Fun Friday featuring an Essie and OPI Skittles Glitter Jelly Sandwich!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I was slacking on my "Fun Friday" posts for awhile because my life was so hectic but never fear, they are back and better than ever!  For this week's fun Friday post, I dug into my vault of polishes (which is currently spread out on my living room floor while I am re-organizing and going through my stash) and decided I wanted to try a Jelly Sandwich once and for all.  Now because I couldn't choose just one color, I decided to pick out 5 of my favorite Essie pastel polishes to then top with some OPI glitter and one of the new OPI Ballet Collection sheer polishes on top!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

This is so not my typical type of manicure but I loved it so much I left it on for almost 3 days!  In lacquered lover world, that's like 3 weeks!  So here are the polishes that were involved in this awesome pastel explosion of glitter and awesomeness.  The thumb was the first nail polish I ever bought (I think) Essie Fiji, which coincidentally is still my favorite pedicure color because it makes my feet look tan.  The orange is Essie Van D'Go which is a really cool peachy shade.  Middle finger is Essie Mint Candy Apple which is probably my favorite polish in the bunch here!  Ring finger is Essie Sweet Talker which has the tiniest hint of a shimmer that you can't see in this picture but is really cute in real life!  Lastly the lavender is Essie To Buy or Not To Buy which also has the tiniest hint of shimmer.

Then, all of the polishes were topped with one coat of OPI Rainbow Collection from the Muppet Collection.  I own a ton of multi colored glitters but this is the first one I could find so on it went!  I really enjoy the large orange pieces in this!  Lastly, I topped it all with one coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu which is a sheer white polish.  Looking at the pictures now I kind of wish I did two coats of Don't Touch My Tutu to mute the glitter even more but I really like how this turned out!

What do you all think of this manicure?  Are you a jelly sandwich fan?  What other combinations should I try?

Lacquered Lover's Divine Caroline Flower Tutorial!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you are all having a fabulous Friday!  Just a quick post this morning to share with you my latest nail art tutorial for the website Divine Caroline!

Essie polishes made the perfect combination for simple flowers made with bobby pins!  Check out my tutorial HERE for the polishes used and how to get this fun spring look!  Stay tuned later today for the return of the Fun Friday posts!

What do you think of this tutorial?  Is this something you would try?

Green Swatch Spam for St. Patty's Day!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  As (sort of) promised, here is post number two of the day!  Since St. Patty's day is fast approaching, last night I decided to pull ALL my green polishes out of my collection.  I surprisingly had a lot!  So today, I have a bunch of swatch spam for you all!  Just lots of pictures of gorgeous greens!  Stay tuned throughout the week for more!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

 Above:  Barielle Green Opal

 Above:  Butter London Bossy Boots

 Above:  Butter London British Racing Green

 Above:  China Glaze Cha Cha Cha

 Above:  China Glaze Gaga For Green

Above:  Color Club Holiday Splendor

 Above:  Dior Water Lily

 Above:  Dr.'s REMEDY Essential EMERALD

 Above:  Essie Armed & Ready

 Above:  Essie Navigate Her

 Above:  Illamasqua Kink

Above:  Illamasqua MILF

 Above:  NARS Night Porter

 Above:  Here Today Aragon Tomorrow Suede

 Above:  Pretty and Polished Sphere

 Above:  Sinful Colors Call You Later

 Above:  Wet N Wild SaGreena The Teenage Witch

 Above:  Zoya Evvie

 Above:  Zoya Holly

 Above:  Zoya Ivanka

Above:  Zoya Rina

Whew, that is a LOT of green!  The good news is, I have so much more!  Who would have thought I had so much green in my collection?

What do you think of the greens?  Which are your favorites?  Which are your least favorites?