Lara + Sticks N Stones (Guest Post by Lizzy of TheDIYLady)

Hey darlings, or should I say " Hello Lacquer Luvers" as Jess says? Lol...

It's my joy, pleasure and honor to be here today sharing this mani with you all. As you all know, Jess is away bringing to the world the most precious baby girl - Gabby! I haven't seen this bundle of joy yet, but you all must know, I already love her!

For my guest post today, I planned to do a water marble like the ones Jess is famous for, but my attempts proved futile! :-( The polishes made a mess in water, and yeah, that plan didn't work. 

I guess we all can't be like the queen of marbling a.k.a Jess. Lol...

Anyhoo, I chose to settle for a girly mani in honor of little miss Gabby. 

I used two coats of Zoya - Lara as my base color, and then applied 1-2 coats of Sticks n Stones over it. 

SnS is a dupe of a famous polish by the lady who shall remain nameless. I must say, I have that other polish by her, and I love SnS more than it. I Love that there's no shimmer in this one.

 When I got done with this mani, I was seriously impressed because the glitter splatter almost looks like nail art. The pink base is exactly what I wanted, girly and fun! I can wait till Gabby's old enough to start wearing cute girly polishes that she won't need to buy because her mama has enough for two. :-D

Well, That's it for now my dearies....

Oh wait, wait, wait, I'm not on my blog... I meant to say: I Hope you all liked this post dear Lacquer Luvers... I'm glad to be here with you all today, and I look forward to the return of Jess, so she can keep sharing her awesome talent with us.

In the true form of TheDIYLady, I must now say, 

Till Later, God Bless. :-)


Lizzy, you are so sweet! I'm sorry that the water marble didn't work for you. Just keep on trying hun, you'll get it! I'm sure lots of people think that I got it done my first try. Let me be the one to tell you all that that is FAR from true! Water marbling was one of the hardest techniques I've tried to master and it took me quite some time to get it right. Being the persistent person I am (well, that and the fact that I loved it soooo much and HAD to have it on my nails, lol) I didn't give up. I finally found polishes that worked for me (Bettina) & watched hours of youtube videos (mainly by Colette of My Simple Little Pleasures) until I finally got it right. So don't give up, hun! As for this manicure, I'm sure you know that I love it already. Pink, black and white is one of my all-time favorite color combinations and I absolutely love the polishes you chose. Lara is in my collection and I have a black and white glitter polish so maybe I'll copy cat this mani one day. Thank you so much Lizzy, for writing up this fabulous post! Lacquer Luvers, if you aren't already, please head on over to The Do It Yourself Lady and check out all the great posts Lizzy has shared with us!

Baby Butterflies (Guest Post by Yamii of YamiiDoesNails)

Hey there, polish lovers! I'm Yamii from Yamiidoesnails!

When Jessica asked me if I could do a guest post for her while she takes care of her new born baby girl & adjusting to a whole new life of joy, I said, "sure anything for you hun," because I've been a fan of Jessica's since before I stared my own blog. To me, this is a privilege.

I started off with a base coat of Essie Grow Stronger then painted my nails with China Glaze Dance Baby. I let it dry completely. Now, using pieces of makeup sponge on a tweezer, I dipped the sponge into CG Dance Baby & China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic. Lightly press the sponge on your nails as many times necessary until you get the gradient color that you want. For the design, I stamped using Bundle Monster 307 with Konad special polish in white. To finish off, I applied my favorite top coat, Seche Vite.

Jessica, I wish you and your new family member the very best. May this exciting time be filled with lots of joy and loving memories & I hope you like this manicure as much as I do. I had a great time creating it & it was a pleasure doing this post for you & your lovely followers. Take care.

Love,
Yamii

 

 

Yamii, everything about this manicure is perfect! I adore the colors you chose for the gradient. The butterfly stamping is magnificent! This super girly mani is something I can't wait to put on Gabrielle when she's old enough to have polished nails =) Thank you so much for taking the time to create this guest post for me! Lacquer Luvers, if you aren't already, head on over to YamiiDoesNails and give her a follow!

20% Cooler (Guest post by Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog)

Hello there!

My name is Lindsey and I'm visiting from Neverland Nail Blog. The lovely and talented Jessica graciously asked me to prepare a guest post for her since she is busy welcoming baby Gabrielle to the world, and I was more than happy to help! Since many of you are meeting me for the first time, I felt it would be most appropriate if I "introduce" myself with a mani that represents my style and love for color. Well, what better way to do that than with a glittery version of my favorite technique?! I used a base of SinfulColors Cinderella (3 coats) topped with a reverse gradient of Rainbow Honey 20% Cooler. Check out these cute nails =]!

What do you guys think? I'm a huge fan of this look! Then again, it's rare that I'm not a fan of glitter...or a gradient.

A special thanks to Miss Jessica for allowing me to do this guest post for her =]! Wishing you, your family, and baby Gabrielle the absolute best! I expect some uber cute pictures of mommy and baby ASAP ;D

Have a fabulous day, everyone!

<3
Lindsey


Lindsey, I love this manicure so much! Cinderella is one of my favorite colors even though it's so hard to capture the awesome pink shimmer/flecks throughout it on camera. The various colors in 20% cooler are amazing! It looks like a rainbow exploded on your nails =) Thank you so much for taking the time to write up this guest post for me as I take the time to care for Gabrielle! Lacquer Luvers, please head on over to Neverland Nail Blog to check out more of Lindsey's work. She has a really unique style and is always coming up with new techniques that are fab!

A Special Mani/Pedi (Guest Post by Holly of Madness and Polish Collide)

Today I went for my for my first mani/pedi with my future mother-in-law. I had a blast. I haven't had one in years, so this was a real treat. The chairs were amazing and comfortable. The two women worked on my hands and feet at the same time which was amazing. I especially loved the massage. On my toes I picked out come to Poppy from the Nice Stems Collection. On my nails, I picked out some purple glitter which the lady had some problem with and proceeded to pick out a different color, and started doing my nails. The color was I Mainely Eat Lobster. It was pretty but not exactly what I wanted. Oh well. Anywho, I had a lot of fun with my MIL.

As Always Much Love,
<3 Holly

Holly, I think these colors both look great on you! Too bad that the purple glitter wasn't working well for the tech. I think it's really sweet that you are spending quality time with your future in-laws and getting pampered at the same time =) Thank you so much for sharing this post with my readers! Lacquer Luvers, head on over to Holly's blog, Madness and Polish Collide to see more of her work and give her a follow.
xo,
Jessica

Girly-Girl Mani for Gabrielle (Guest post by Jin of Superficially Colorful)

Hi Jessica's readers :-D I'm Jin, and while Jessica is oh-so-busy with her new little baby girl Gabrielle, I prepared for you a special mani. When Jessica asked me if I could do a guest post for her amazing blog, I knew I had to do something sweet and girly, in honor of little Gabrielle. But I am not too girly-girl, and I am not as talented as Jess in nail art. That actually was a big challenge for me, and I really hope you will like the result.

Taken in direct sun.

I started with Zoya - Sweet. Zoya describes this polish as A super-sweet, pale shade of bubblegum pink creme. What can be more girly then that? This polish has a lovely formula and is opaque in two easy coats. 

Taken indoors under artificial lighting.

Then I did some sponging. I don't use the common technique by the Nailasaurus. I don't know why but it never really works for me as easy as it looks. I prefer this way by The Beauty Department to do a gradient, and this works perfect for me. I used the same pink - Sweet by Zoya, combined with White on the spot by Milani and I applied to my sponge a line of Sweet, then a line of White on the Spot and then another line of Sweet. Then I needed something fun for the accent nail. I am not as good with stamping as Jess, but I do try. I covered my stamping pattern (DRK_A plate from Ninja Polish) with drops from a handful of colors. I have there Color Club - Pucci-Licious, Sally Hansen Xtreme wear - Blue me away, Sun Kissed and Mello Yellow, Sally's Complete Salon Manicure in Thinking of Blue, Zoya Holly and the special red polish by Konad. This is how much plate looked like: 

And this is what I ended up with:

Zoya - Sweet. Taken indoors under artificial lighting.

While I liked it, I didn't feel like it was a finished manicure, so I used the same flowers again, but this time I only used the white and pink that are already on my nails. Just this time I reversed the order of them. I used a line of white then a line of pink and then another line of white all on my stamping pattern.

Taken indoors under artificial lighting.

Well, I may not be the best when it comes to either stamping or cleaning, but I do like the final result. Here's a close up on both the colorful stamp and the pink and white stamp:

So this is my girly-girl mani, in honor of sweet Gabrielle. I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to peep into my blog and see how I try to improve in nail art.

 Yours,  Jin




Jin, I absolutely adore this manicure! I love everything from the rainbow flowers accent nail to the base color. This manicure made me think about a few things. Some of you may know that we unfortunately miscarried back in October. We were so excited when we got pregnant again and my friend, Liz, let me know that Gabby is our rainbow baby. She said that after every storm (miscarriage) comes a rainbow (Gabrielle) & it was the sweetest and most comforting thing to hear at the time =) Also, I thought about my Zoya Valentine's Day giveaway where Sweet was one of the colors that I gifted to the winner. It's such a beautiful pink and a perfect color for girly-girls. Ladies and gents, please make sure you head on over to Jin's blog, Superficially Colorful, to check out more of her work and give her a follow! Jin, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to create this beautiful post for me so that I can spend more time with my little lady. It means alot to me <3

New York Summer Hot Purple Jelly Sandwich (Guest Post by KayJay of Refined And Polished)

Hi dolls! It is my pleasure to guest post for Jess as she welcomes her new little bundle of joy into the world. I’ve been a follower of her blog for a long time and we’ve become great polish friends through a facebook group. She guest posted a few months ago for me when I was on a hiatus, so I’m more than happy to return the favor.

When trying to think of something to do for this guest post, I immediately knew what I wouldn’t attempt – water marbling. Jess is amazing at marbling and while she inspires me all the time, I am just no good at it. I decided to stick with something I am good at and that’s the jelly sandwich. I’ve wanted to experiment with layering glitters and flakies, so I set out to do just that. I started with one coat of New York Summer Hot Purple, a deep purple that was pretty opaque for a jelly. Next, one coat of Zoya Maisie, a green-blue flakie, was added.

For a little sparkle, I then added one coat of Essie A Cut Above, a rose pink multi-sized glitter. Now this doesn’t look like much in the picture, but just wait to see the final result.

Finally, one more coat of New York Hot Purple was added to complete the jelly sandwich.

I absolutely adore the way this jelly sandwich turned out! The flakie and glitter combination added a lot of depth to the overall look. I hope all of you enjoyed this look. Thanks again Jess for inviting me to your corner of the nail world!



KayJay, this is my favorite jelly sandwich I've seen you come up with! I'm kicking myself for not partaking in that group buy on these New York Summer jellies. I am seriously digging the final result and want this on my nails NOW! Lacquer Luvers, head on over to Refined and Polished to check out more of KayJay's beautiful mani's! Thanks again, hun, for helping me out. I sincerely appreciate it, xo!!

Ladybug Mani (Guest Post by Liz of NothingButNailPolish)

Hey guys as you can see I'm doing a post for Jess because either shes about to pop or already did...lol. Jess asked me to do a guest post for her, so I decided to do my ladybug mani for baby Gabby!

This was a super easy and fun mani to do. 

I used Zoya Sarah, Wnw French White, and a black stripper. Oh and a dotting tool.

This mani is perfect for spring/summer!! 

I hope you guys enjoyed this mani as much as I do. See you next time!



Liz, this mani is sooooo adorable! My very first tattoo was of my name with a heart over the "i" and a ladybug right below it on my ankle so you know I love this! The sparkle in Zoya Sarah really makes this special. I think it would be great for a Wizard of Oz mani, too, a la Dorothy's shoes. Lacquer Luvers, head on over to Liz' blog, Nothing But Nail Polish, to check out more of her work and give her a follow! Thank you so much for doing this for me and my little ladybug, Liz!

Say Hello to the Newest Member of the LuvMyLacquer Family!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is so special to me because I get to share awesome news (and pics) with my blog family. Since I began blogging, I've come to think of you all as members of this family. You are always so supportive of my work and made me feel as though we are all one big happy polish family and for that I'm forever grateful. As you all know (or might suspect), my daughter, Gabrielle Lynn, is finally here! She was born August 15, 2012 at 1:03pm. She weighed 7lb8oz and was 19.5 inches long. Not only is she the final piece to my family's puzzle, she's also the future of LuvMyLacquer!

Big Brother Tyus loves his Little Sister Gabby!

I feel incredibly blessed to have two happy, healthy, and beautiful children. It was always my dream to be married and have two kids; a boy and a girl. I can't believe that I have that and what an amazing feeling it is to be able to say that my dreams have come true. You all know how much I adore my son, Tyus, from previous posts. Now I get to have Mommy and Me mani time (not anytime soon, of course) with this precious little girl and I cannot wait to share these special moments with her! I really do feel like I'm on Cloud 9 right now.

I kind of have this thing where I like to celebrate special moments the best way I know how - with nail polish, of course! So, to celebrate the arrival of Gabrielle Lynn, I am going to host a giveaway. The prize will be one bottle of ZOYA GABRIELLE. Zoya is one of my absolute favorite brands and how could I resist picking up my daughter's namesake polish? Well, actually I got two bottles - one for me and one for one of you! Gabrielle can best be described as "Translucent shimmering orange with flecks of golden glitter. Outshine the sun in this perfect summer shade."

Rules to enter:
1. Fill out Rafflecopter form below (all entries will be verified)
2. Being a GFC follower of LuvMyLacquer AND leaving a blog post comment are MANDATORY entries.
3. Giveaway begins 8/24/12 and ends 9/24/12
4. Open to US residents only (this includes Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico)

Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

xo,
Jessica

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Floral Water Marble (Guest Post by Carolina of ColoresDeCarol)

Hello dear readers from Luv My Lacquer, while Jess is a little bit busy taking care of the beautiful Gabrielle, I'm going to show you a manicure I did for you to enjoy. I could never beat Jess's marbling skills but I tried to do something nice for you. I started painting my nails with a white nail polish and used the following polishes for the marbling effect: KIKO,338,340,297 and 280. Stamped some white flowers using the image plate Fun 2 from Fab Ur Nails, on top of the flowers I added China Glaze Fairy Dust.

Thank you very much Jess for this opportunity to show your readers my work, I hope you enjoyed. Kisses to Gabrielle!! Carolina, ♥




Carolina, you have got to be kidding me! Your water marbling skills are AMAZING! For those of you that don't know, Carolina is one of my biggest nail inspirations. Her blog is one of my absolute favorites and myself and a few other girlies call her our "fairy nail Godmother." Lol! Seriously, she is one of the people that got me wanting to share my work and create a blog. This marble is so gorgeous! I love the colors and I would never have thought to do it but the stamping over top of it makes it that much more interesting. Love, love, love! If you aren't following Carolina's blog, Colores de Carol, you should click on that link and check out her work. Trust me! Carolina, thank you so much for guest posting for me. It's such an honor to have you on my blog. I will give kisses to Gabrielle for you, xo!!

NYC in FLA (Guest post by Kari of Got Polish?)

Meow, kittens!  Today I'd like to share two polishes I picked up during my recent trip to New York.  You may not be familiar with this brand (I wasn't until last summer).  It is called Mattese Elite and is sold exclusively at Ricky's NYC, a funky shop with several locations throughout New York as well as a store each in Hoboken, NJ and Miami, FL.  You can also click HERE to visit Ricky's NYC online.  Anywho, I happened to find the following two colors that looked promising on sale for 99 cents each.  Score, right?  I'll let you judge for yourself.  Feast your eyes on Temptation and Russian Mafia.

Two coats each of Temptation (thumb, middle, pinky) and Russian Mafia (index, ring), shot indoors.

Two coats each of Temptation (thumb, middle, pinky) and Russian Mafia (index, ring), shot indoors.

Temptation and Russian Mafia

When I initially picked them up, I expected Russian Mafia to be purple but it is definitely "Blurple" - dark blue, almost navy, with hints of purple, definitely more blue than I expected it to be which, for a blue lover like myself, was not a bad thing.  Temptation is a nice medium blue, not all that different than several others in my collection but not bad for 99 cents.  Alas, here comes the rub.  I had purchased one other Mattese Elite polish during a visit to New York last summer and, as was the case with these two, thought the color looked really pretty in the bottle.  Also like these colors, that polish was on sale for 99 cents.  However, the third thing these polishes had in common was that they took FOR-EVER to dry and I ended up smudging several of them, even upwards of 30 minutes after polishing.  I didn't think my coats were particularly thick and I did add top coat so I'm not sure why I had such issues.  It could have been "user error" but to have this be the case with all three Mattese Elites I own, I have to wonder if it's the formula.  For 99 cents, I'm not unhappy with these polishes and I will certainly experiment with even thinner coats and more drying time but I wouldn't run out and purchase any more of this brand until I figure out why I'm having such issues.

Thanks so much for looking!  As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xoxo,

K

Kari, I have never heard of this brand before this post (not that I can recall, anyways). What a shame that the drying time was terrible because they really do look great on you. I know how you love your blues! Perhaps you can mix these with some other polishes and create some pretty frankens out of them ;) Lacquer Luvers, head on over to Kari's awesome blog, Got Polish? to check out more of her work! Thank you so much for guest posting for me, lovebug! xo

Welcome, Little Gabrielle! (Guest Post by Lillibit)

Lovely Lacquer Luvers,

My name in the blogosphere is Lillibit and I have a little Spanish blog called "Lillibit´s Nail Art World". 
I am soooo excited to be here!!!  I'm honoured that Jessica was so sweet to ask me to Guest Post and I am very happy to show you the manicure I´ve designed for this occasion.
I needed to come up with something special for her... something meaningful. So I thought nothing could be more special for her these days than Gabrielle´s birth. That is why this is a manicure inspired by and devoted to little Gabrielle :-)

Welcome, little Gabrielle!

I used two different base colours:
- Two coats of a Claire´s pink polish on the index and ring fingers. You´ll see below the cute bottle, which came in a set with two other beautiful shades.
- Two coats of Yes Love 337, plus one coat of Kiko 205. Then I topped with Yes Love L06 round the images. For the details in blue I used Kiko 267.


Let me explain you the meaning of this manicure:

On my middle finger we have baby Gabrielle´s face ;-) stamped from plate T28 using Beautiful Scratchers´ ice rose.
On my index and ring fingers I stamped the image with baby´s bottles and hearts from BM307 using Essence´s 001 Stamp me! white . They represent all the love and care she is going to receive from her loving family.

On my thumb I stamped a baby´s rattle from plate SdP35. It symbolises all the games and joy she´s having.
Finally, on my pinky I stamped the candy from plate BM322 . With it, I´d like to wish her all the sweetest things on the world.


As you can see, I always make complete manicures by painting both hands´ nails with the same design:

Here you can see all the instruments I used:

1. Prebase: Mavala 002
2. Yes Love 337
3. Kiko 205
4. Claire´s pink polish (sorry, I can´t find the reference number in the bottle)
5. Image plate SdP35
6. Image plate T28
7. Image plate BM307
8. Image plate BM322
9. Essence´s 001 Stamp me! white
10. Beautiful Scratchers´ ice rose
11. Kiko 267
12. Yes Love L06
13. Top coat: Seche Vite

I hope you like baby Gabrielle´s manicure :-) I had so much fun creating it. I think manicures where each nail has a different look are fun.

And a huge thanks goes to the lovely Jessica for letting me share this with all of you.

Love,
Lillibit




Lillibit, this is the most adorable manicure I've seen in ages! I love that you made it so personal and kept  my little Princess in mind. I love the colors you used and the stamping is perfect. Thank you so much for this post and giving me a hand as I steal lots of snuggles from Gabby! Lacquer Luvers, please head on over to Lillibit's blog and check out more of her work! She really is awesome =)

Nails On Fire Mani (Guest Post from Lucy of Lucy's Stash!)

Hi everybody! My name is Lucy and I’m a blogger from Lucy’s Stash and I blog about nail polishes and nail art. I’ve been asked by lovely Jessica who’s having a baby to fill in with a guest post. I’m very happy she asked me as I really like her blog!

I’ve chosen to show you a ‘Nails on Fire’ manicure. Firstly I painted my nails with OPI Natural nails base coat and then with two coats of OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know?. Then I applied The Best Glue Ever with a small brush in short irregular strokes. When the glue dried properly I started to dab a gold mylar foil on the nail. I’ve repeated the glue and foil application again after I was done with the gold foil. In the end I’ve sealed everything with Seche Vite topcoat.

Some time ago I’ve done a similar manicure and tutorial but only with gold foil. If you would like to learn how create this manicure, here is a tutorial for it.



Lucy, this manicure is ah-mazing! I was just discussing with a friend recently that I would like to try nail foils and this manicure only makes me want them more! I love how these colors work so well together. I have long been a fan of Lucy's blog and I'm sure you guys will love it just as much so head on over to Lucy's Stash & check out more of her stunning manicures! Lucy, thank you so much for helping me out with this post! xoxo