Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez Collection Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Friday!  I hope you all had a love first few days of 2013!  Today, I have a really bright and fun new collection by Nicole by OPI to show you!

Whew this is a big collection!  14 polishes in total so get ready to see lots of swatches!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

 Above:  3 coats of Hit The Lights

First up is Hit the Lights, a BRIGHT yellow cream!  Now I'm not really a fan of yellows usually but this one actually looked good on me!  The formula was good, not as streaky as most yellows but I used 3 coats to even it out.

 Above:  1 coat of Inner Sparkle over 3 coats of Hit the Lights

Inner Lights is medium sized light purple and light pink hexagonal glitter with tiny gold glitters in a clear base.  I layered it over Hit the Lights and actually really like the combo!  This glitter is packed so all that glitter came out in one coat! 

 Above:  2 coats of Naturally

Naturally is a bright bubblegum pink with a bit of hidden silver shimmer to it when the light hits it just right.  The formula was good, opaque in two coats.

Above:  1 coat of Mi Fantasia over 2 coats of Naturally

Mi Fantasia is a periwinkle small glitter with greenish holographic bar glitter.  This isn't my favorite because it gives that kind of "hairy" look to it.  The formula was good, the glitter came out easily although you have to be careful with the bar glitter hanging over your tips.

 Above:  2 coats of Selena

Selena is a peach leaning pink shade that has a bit of a hidden silver shimmer to it when the light hits it right.  This is a shade that probably works on most skin tones and is nice for when you want something subtle.  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats and easy to apply.

 Above:  1 coat of Sweet Dreams over 2 coats of Selena

Sweet Dreams is medium sized aqua and silver hexagonal glitters with smaller light purple glitters as well.  This is a great glitter for spring!  There is a LOT of glitter packed into here so a lot comes out on the nail.  The formula was very easy to work with and the glitter spread easily.

 

Above:  2 coats of Spring Break

 

Now this is a BRIGHT pink!  Spring Break is a bright pink creme that definitely has the perfect name!  The formula was a bit thick but 2 coats was perfectly opaque and easy to use! 

 Above:  1 coat of Kissed at Midnight over 2 coats of Spring Break

Kissed at Midnight is a combination of multi sized gold hexagonal glitters with a few silver hex glitters thrown in as well.  It is definitely more gold looking on the nail but up close you can see the silver.  The formula was good and easy to get the glitters out.

 Above:  2 coats of Love Song

Love Song is a pretty lilac polish with the hidden silver shimmer many of the polishes in this collection have.  The formula was good, opaque in two coats and easy to use.

Above:  1 coat of Stars at Night over 2 coats of Love Song

Stars at Night is another in a line of holographic bar glitter polishes lately.  I'm not a fan of bar glitters but if you are, this one is very holographic!  the formula was a bit thick but the glitter payoff was good.

 Above:  2 coats of Scarlett

Scarlett is more of a fuchsia to my eye but I love it!  This was really a stand out of this collection to me.  It's somewhere between a glass fleck and foil with hints of gold to it!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats.

 Above:  1 coat of Confetti Fun over 2 coats of Scarlett

Now I know what you're thinking, oh another rainbow glitter.  However Confetti fun also has a shimmer base to it that's really fun!  I always love a multi sized and colored glitter and this is no different.  The formula was really easy to use and color payoff was great!

 Above:  2 coats of Pretty in Plum

Pretty in Plum is a very nice red toned purple shimmer.  It has a kind of glowy look to it that's really nice in the light.  The formula was good, opaque in two coats and not at all streaky.

Above:  2 coats of Heavenly Angel over 2 coats of Pretty in Plum

I really wanted to like Heavenly Angel but the iridescent flakes were really hard to get out of the bottle.  I had to use two coats to get the amount of flakes you see in this picture above.  The rest of the glitters like this a la Color Club Covered in Diamonds are much easier to use.


All in all, this was a decent showing from NOPI.  Some of the shimmers like Scarlett were real stand outs to me and I enjoyed the glitter combinations they came up with.  The Selena Gomez Collection is now available for $7.99 per polish.


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.

Zoya Lovely Collection for Spring 2013 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy New Year to you all!  I hope you all had a great kick off to 2013!  Today, I have a super exciting new Spring collection to share with you all!

The Zoya Lovely collection for Spring 2013 comes out this month and is so pretty!  You may recognize a few of these colors that I reviewed for you during NYFW as some are from the Peter Som and Zang Toi collections.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

 Above:  2 coats of Zoya Blu

First up is Zoya Blu.  Blue is a lovely light blue creme that Zoya described as being "hyacinth" blue.  I love the shade for the Spring!  I found that applying three thin coats gave me more even coverage than just two.  The formula was easy to apply and looks fabulous!

 Above:  2 coats of Gie Gie

Gie Gie (which I still can't figure out how to pronounce) was part of the Zang Toi trio!  I was lucky enough to be invited to go to his fashion show where these were shows in September and it's still a gorgeous light pink full of silver shimmer!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and easy to use!

 

Above:  2 coats of Jacqueline

 

Jacqueline, which was from the Peter Som Collection, is a full coverage yellow based nude.  It's halfway between a super pale yellow and a light nude to my eye.  The formula was good, opaque in 2 coats and easy to use.

 

 

 Above:  2 coats of Julie

Julie, named after Julie Macklowe who was the muse for Zang Toi's Spring 2013 Collection, is probably my favorite in this batch!  This lovely light purple is full of silver shimmer that almost gives it a metallic look!  I just love how springy and fun it is!  The formula was great, opaque in 2 coats and easy to use.

 Above:  3 coats of Neely

Neely is another polish I love from this collection.  Neely is a gorgeous light minty green shade that actually doesn't give me Lobster hands!  I love it!  The formula was similar to Blu so I used three thin coats to receive full opacity and evenness.



 Above:  2 coats of Piaf

I can honestly say I have never seen a shade like this before!  Zoya Piaf is a medium yellow that's full of silver shimmer like Gie Gie and Julie.  The shade is so unusual and I love that it's not just a pale yellow for a Spring collection!  The formula is great, opaque in 2 coats and just beautiful.


All in all, I liked this collection!  There are some solid pastel cremes in here which are a necessity for Spring and I really like how unique the shimmers are!  The Lovely collection went on sale yesterday on Zoya's Website for $8 each!


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.

 

 

Happy New Year's Nail Art featuring Tom Ford and I Love Nail Polish!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday and Happy New Year's Eve Day!  First off, a huge thank you to the lovely ladies who did guest posts while I was gone!  I loved them all!  Unfortunately my plans didn't work out as expected and due to the weather, my bf and I didn't get to make it to see my family over the holidays.  However, they gave us a super awesome present by getting us tickets to the Jay Z and Coldplay concert in NYC tonight so of course I had to do extra special nails!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

I started off with two coats of Tom Ford Bordeaux Lust which my amazing boyfriend surprised me with for Hanukkah!  It's a gorgeous oxblood polish (and seriously an amazing formula.)  Then I sponged I Love Nail Polish Matthew Peri onto the tips!  It's kind of an unexpected combination but I really love how it turned out!

So tonight I will be off celebrating but tomorrow I will be swatching a few more Spring collections for you all so get excited to kick 2013 off right!  And please, share your New Years Eve plans with me below!  Happy New Year to you all and thanks for a fabulous 2012!

What did you think of this manicure?

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!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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?

Guest Post by Alexis of XOXO Alexis Leigh!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Wednesday!  I hope you all had a lovely holiday!  Today I have yet another fabulous guest post by the lovely Alexis over at XOXO Alexis Leigh !  I hope you are all enjoying these awesome guest posts while I'm away!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Lacquered Lover readers! I am ridiculously excited to be here sharing on Carly's blog! My name is Alexis and I'm a nail and beauty blogger on my blog, xoxoalexisleigh.com. For my guest post I wanted to do something that really represented my blog and me but I seriously struggled! I'm not going to lie, I did my nails 4 times before I finally settled upon something I really liked! I think all of the time payed off though because I am seriously in love with these nails. One of my favorite nail trends (seen a lot by nail artists like NailsByRegina, Hey Nice Nails, and AstroWifey) is skittle nail art so that's what I did today :)

I used a combination of white acrylic paint, LVX - Grey Matter, LVX - Tribute, and China Glaze - Glistening Snow. On my pinky I started with a base of Grey Matter, created the drips using Tribute, outlined the drips with white acrylic paint, and then drew on "shine spots" with Glistening Snow. On my ring finger I started with a base of Glistening Snow then drew on the damask/baroque type print with Tribute. On my middle finger I started with a base of Tribue then sponged on various blues and greys to create a galaxy effect. I used white acrylic paint for the starts and used Glistening Snow and WingDustCollections - Dancing Queen for the holographic accents. On my index finger I started with a base of Grey Matter, sponged on Tribute, drew on stripes with Glistening Snow, and added silver star rhinestones. Oh my thumb I used Tribute, then drew on stripes with white acrylic paint and Grey Matter. After that I added a 3D bow and painted over it with Glistening Snow. Whew, that's a lot!!!

I used Nail Nation 3000 - 45 Second Top Coat (which is my favorite top coat!) on all of my nails to create a smooth glossy finish! I hope you guys liked this mani as much as I did :D Blue is my favorite color so I had to include it and I have a weakness for holo! Thank you again, Carly for having me, it was so fun!!!!!!

Are you guys a fan of skittle nail art or do you prefer a more uniform look when it comes to your nails?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm seriously obsessed with this manicure!  I wish I had these nail art skills!  Thank you so much to Alexis for sharing this gorgeous look with us!


What did you think of this manicure?

Christmas Guest Post by Destany of Manifest Destany!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Merry Christmas to those of you who are celebrating today!  I am in Ohio having my very first Christmas with my boyfriends family so you will hear all about it if you follow my social media!  Today, my very lovely friend Destany of Manifest Destany has done a super cute Christmas post for you all!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello all you Lacquered Lovers out there! My name is Destany, and I am so honored that Carly asked me to guest post for her wonderful blog! I thought I would try something special for you guys - so I got out my crazy nail art skills (I call them fail art skills!) and tried some Christmas trees for you! :)

First I started with a base of one of my favorite reds, Cult Nails Evil Queen - it's just an amazing color :) I topped that with Seche Vite for quick drying. Once it was dry, I used Scotch tape, and taped off triangles on my nails, with the base of the triangle at the tips of my nails. Now, all my trees are varying sizes...cause, well, Christmas trees come in all sizes! (It's absolutely NOT because I tried and tried and tried to get them symmetric, and I just couldn't do it...) Once everything was taped off, I used Wet n Wild Sagreena the Teenage Witch and painted two coats over that. Once that was done, I took the tape off. I let that dry for just a little while, but then I used a Stripe Rite silver glitter (which was provided to be by It's So Easy) and swiped it a few times across the "tree" to represent garland, and then used a dotting took with Milani Signature Gold (which was provided to me by Milani) and put a topper on the tree. The final touches were dots in Pure Ice French Kiss (blue) and Zoya Pippa (yellow). So here it is!

Have you guys tried art like this? I need to do more of it! It was really simple and so cute when it's done! Thanks Carly for letting me show your readers my Christmas trees! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How cute are these???  I love it!  Thank you again to Destany and I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday!  Stay tuned for more posts!


What did you think of this manicure?

Guest Post by Yulia of Vicerimus!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating today!  I am having my very first Christmas this year and am very excited!  Today, I have a wonderful guest post by the lovely Yulia of Vicerimus.  Check out her blog because her pictures are amazing!!!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone!

First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Yulia, a nail blogger and a polish lover from Moscow, Russia, along with being a second-year law student. When I learnt that Carly needed some guest posts for her blog, I reached out immediately because I know the feeling when you have to leave your blog unattended, but you don't want to disappoint your followers. I was delighted when Carly responded that she would have me as a guest blogger, and I feel really honored to be featured on her blog today!

I wanted to do something special for her blog, instead of a plain swatches & review post, but having recently finished a nail art challenge, I've been feeling too exhausted for anything complex. I also have plenty of untrieds sitting on my shelf, glaring at me, so I've really been digging duo manicures lately.

 

 

For these special nails I've chosen Anny Hudson River Turtle and paired it up with BarryM Croc Nail Effects in Black. Hudson River Turtle is a great medium dusty khaki/olive green with the slightest brown undertone when under strong warm artificial light. Application was flawless, the polish spread over the surface of my nails like butter, and I did 2 really thin coats to reach full opacity. It has easily pass as a one-coater if you do a more generous one. Dry time is quite fast, about 15 minutes or so, however, I used my all-time favorite top coat, INM OTD, so I was good to go 5 minutes later. BarryM Croc Nail Effects Black is in the same vein as your average crackle polish, but the formula is different, it creates a reptile scales effect. The thinner the coat applied is, the smaller the scales appear. Also, mind that you should use it when the base color hasn't dried yet, I'd say waiting about a minute before applying Croc Nail Effects works best. By the way, be careful with your application, for it takes some effort to remove the polish from your skin - due to the formula, my guess is. I topped the accent fingers off with a coat of INM OTD, too.

 

 

And that's it from me! Hope you've enjoyed the post! How do you feel about khaki on nails? I used to be quite hesitant, but now I can't get enough! And how do you like the croc effect versus the regular crackle one?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Thank you Yulia!  What a fabulous post!  And I love the pictures!  I hope you all enjoyed and have a happy holiday tonight!

 

 

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