2012 Autism Awareness Contest Winner!!!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I am happy to announce the winner of my 2012 Autism Awareness Contest: Congratulations to Rosemary! I anticipated that this would be a very difficult contest to judge so I asked 2 other bloggers, Liz of Nothing But Nail Polish & Jin of Superficially Colorful to judge as well. To my surprise, we all picked 3 different winners for this contest. I decided to throw the 3 names that we picked into a basket and have my son, Tyus, be the ultimate judge. Afterall, this contest was in honor of him and I thought that it would be the most fair solution to picking a winner.

He picked so fast that his hand is blurred in this photo, lol!

Tyus picked Rosemary, yay!!

This is the winning entry =) Rosemary said, "I call this Scribbles. Sort of represents how someone with Autism may feel trying to sort things out that come naturally to others."

I was very impressed with each and every entry for this contest. You girls did an awesome job and I want to thank you from the very bottom of my heart for participating. I hope that next year I will be able to do something like this again. Maybe even a fundraiser so raise awareness; nail polish related, of course. Again, thank you to all of the ladies who participated. You are all winners in my eyes, xo!

~Jessica

Autism and Love?

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a thought provoking post for you all. I had posted my contest in a nail group on facebook recently and it started a controversial issue. One of the ladies in the group mentioned that her son has Autism, too, and that she was happy I was raising awareness so that our kids' kids could have the possibility of not inheriting Autism. Another girl made a comment basically saying that an Autistic person should not reproduce because the unfortunate "truth" is that it can be genetically passed on to the child. Hmmmm.....

I thought about this without making a comment because, well, everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, I will voice how I feel about this subject here. Is Autism inherited genetically? Well, scientists aren't really sure and this is the reason I am bringing awareness to this disorder that has such a broad spectrum. As of right now, scientific research points to two possible factors that lead to Autism: genetics and environment. The probability of a sibling developing Autism is around 4%. Brothers of an Autistic child have an increased rate at 7%.

Having said that, I'm still left with the question: should Autistic people reproduce? Because the spectrum is so broad I think it requires alot of thought to answer this question. My son's disability is developmental and verbal. However, I DO see him being a productive member of society in his future. The statement that was made was very discriminatory to me. It was like saying blind or deaf people shouldn't reproduce because of their disabilities. Is that fair? I think not.

I began my manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I used two coats of Jordana White for my accent finger. The rest of my nails were water marbled with Bettina Vintage, Peppermint, & Over Dyed. I used a sponge and Vintage at the tip of my ring finger & used Over Dyed to stamp on the images of the boy and girl, which was on Cheeky plate CH29, & the hearts which were on Cheeky plate CH15.

The images I chose to use on my accent finger were meant to symbolize that everybody deserves to be loved & find love no matter what their disability is. And should they decide to reproduce and have children that should be a decision made by them, not society.

L-R Peppermint, Vintage, & Over Dyed

I really would love to hear what you all think of this subject. I am sure some of you may not share my opinion on it. I do ask that you remain respectful in your comments, however. I created this to spark some thought into my readers and to get some feedback from you. Let me know what you think below. As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

Showing Love for Autism Awareness

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have an Autism Awareness post to share with you along with two new products to show you all. I was talking to a friend of mine who told me that a local store here called Valsan had nail polish called Princessa and that they were really nice colors and formulas for polishes that were 2 for $0.99. Ummm, what?! Polishes that were 2x$0.99? Surely I couldn't pass those up so I headed to the store. Sadly, my Valsan only had 4 shades of polish from this brand; sky blue, neon yellow, gunmetal grey & black. I picked up the sky blue and neon yellow polishes since I had dupes of the grey and black already in my stash.

I began my manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next I applied two coats of Sky Blue. I must say, this polish is fantastic! Two coats gave me full opacity and the formula was just as good as those from my favorite well-known brands. It went on like butter. I cannot wait for my store to restock these. There were a few colors my friend showed me that I am dying to get my hands on.

As I mentioned above, I had two new products to share. The second is the new set of Cheeky stamping plates that arrived in my mailbox yesterday! I chose a design from plate CH15 which has a bunch of different hearts on it. I used my Konad Special Stamping Polish in white for my nail art today.

I really like this manicure. I wasn't at all a fan of blue but this month has made me grow really fond of them. I am really excited to try out more images from this set of Cheeky plates. My manicure shows love to those who have Autism and their families and friends. It also is my way of showing all of the ladies who have participated in my Autism Awareness Contest some love for spreading awareness through their gorgeous blue manicures. The last day to submit an entry is tomorrow, 04/27/12, so if you haven't already please try to get your entry in. Let me know what you think of this manicure Lacquer Luvers! I love hearing from you all =) As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

Save 50% from Dr.'s Remedy Enriched Nail Polish and Treatments

Hello lacquer luvers! Here's a quick post for you all. Just wanted to share a promo code from Dr.'s Remedy =)

Blue Water Marble for Autism Awareness

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Yesterday it rained and rained and rained some more so we rented a few movies, cuddled up in the living room and had a really relaxing time. It was awesome! The sun is attempting to peek through today which is nice because my flower bed took a beating from those downpours. Today I have a blue water marble to share with you guys. Let's get on to it, shall we?

I began this manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Once that dried, I applied two coats of Sinful Colors Cinderella as my base color for the marble. Usually I use my Jordana french polish because it is sheer and allows the base color to peek through. Today I used Bettina French 3 and Sinful Colors Midnight Blue.

I didn't realize that Bettina French 3 was so much more opaque than the Jordana french polish. So, as you can see, Cinderella did not peek through. That's okay, though, I think this marble still has plenty blue in it & it also reminded me of how much a learning process water marbling is.

Because I tried to repeat the same design on each nail for this manicure, I wanted to talk a little about repetitive behaviors and Autism. Repetition is a core symptom of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and includes a variety of behaviors such as hand-flapping, rocking, jumping and twirling, arranging and rearranging objects, and repeating sounds, words, or phrases. My son has grown out of the hand-flapping and rocking, however, he still exhibits these other behaviors on a daily basis. I found this sentence on the Autism Speaks website to be extremely true in my household: "These extreme interests can prove all the more unusual for their content (e.g. fans, vacuum cleaners or toilets) or depth of knowledge (e.g. knowing and repeating astonishingly detailed information about Thomas the Tank Engine or astronomy)." Tyus can tell you who every single train is on Thomas and repeats what they say. The Thomas trains are his absolute favorite toys and he knows the names and functions of each and every one of them.

I want to try another blue water marble before the month finishes to share with you all. I hope you guys are enjoying all of my blue manicures. If you haven't already, you should check out my 2012 Autism Awareness Contest for your chance to show off your pretty blue nails and win three blue nail polishes! The contest ends in 5 days (April 27th) & I would love to add more entries to the amazing one's that I've received thus far. What do you all think of this blue water marble? I would love to read any comments you may have for me so please leave them below. As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

500+ Follower Giveaway

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I am soooo excited to have reached over 500 followers on my blog and would like to thank each and every one of you for being so kind to me and sharing my blog with others. I would consider myself to still be new to blogging and I think it is amazing that so many of you have stopped by to check out my work. To show you how much I appreciate you all, I am having a 500+ Follower Giveaway! Below is a photo of the prize that will be awarded to the winner as well as a close-up photo of the polishes.

The winner of this giveaway will receive the following: 1 bottle of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, 1 Burt's Bees Tips And Toes Kit (which includes Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream, Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil, Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil and Cream, Coconut Foot Cream, Hand Salve, & Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream), and 4 Jordana Glitters nail polishes (Magenta Magic, Gemstones, Celestial, & Rhinestones).

To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please note that you MUST be a public follower of LuvMyLacquer to qualify. This giveaway is open internationally. Must be 18 years or older to enter.

This prize was not sponsored. All of the items were purchased by me.

Nail Mail & Birthday Gifts

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I just wanted to make a quick post to share with you guys the lovely gifts I've received for my birthday & to thank those who were so sweet and got me some of my favorite things! First up is a photo of goodies from the lovely Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady, my mom, and a polish I ordered from Copious.

Lizzy sent me the first 3 polishes, Zoya's Reagan & Wednesday and Deborah Lippmann's I Know What Boys Like. Lizzy told me her reasoning behind choosing these colors: "Lol.. I Stylishly asked you if you had any of the New Zoya collection because I didn't want you to have dupes. Lol... But when you said you didn't have any.. I was soo happy to get you a pink one(since I remember reading that's one of your fave colors), and Wednesday is just everyone's favorite. Such a unique and pretty color. Then, the DL, I had never seen you post about a DL polish, and thought, every needs a DL polish. Lol.." Isn't she the sweetest thing? Thank you so much Lizzy for thinking of me and putting thought into your gifts, it meant the world to me! The 4th polish is Zoya Myrta, another one from Zoya's new Beach & Surf Collection and that one was sent to me by my mom. I think this color is gonna be fab as a pedi color come summer time. I can't wait to try it! The last polish is Zoya Jancyn which I got to order for -get this- $0.34 off of Copious. I signed up through this link which gave me a $10 credit to their site. Alot of the items on there have free shipping so go ahead and check it out loves! I got Jancyn to layer Gabrielle over since Gabrielle is a sheer polish.

Above is the Betsey Johnson mini collection. I got these pretties at Sephora thanks to a gift certificate my beautiful sister sent me for my birthday. I love the packaging for this collection and cannot wait to swatch them for you guys!

Last but not least is a photo from a package of goodies that I received from Jeanne of Jeanne's Creativity Spot. She sent me 2 bunny coin purses, 3 Easter eggs that have mini polishes in them (a pink, blue, and purple..how CUTE are those?!), a 4-way nail file, yummy chocolates & a gel eye mask to help ease the pain from the terrible migraines I suffer from. I thought that was the sweetest most thoughtful thing!

Just wanted to say THANK YOUUUUUU, again, to everyone that thought of me on my special day. It means the world to me that I have amazing family and friends who support my passion. People like them are hard to come by and I sincerely appreciate all of you. As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

CG High Def for Autism Awareness & Baby Update

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Not only do I have an Autism Awareness mani to share with you all today but I have a bit of news and updates to share with you guys. First, I had the weirdest thing happen to me a few nights ago. Every night before bed I apply Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream to my nails/cuticles. As I applied it, I didn't see anything wrong with my nails. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and was flabbergasted to see this:

How on earth did my nail break during my sleep? If anything, I would've thought it should've broke throughout the day seeing as I was doing some major cleaning around the house. How weird, right? So because of the nail on my ring finger breaking I had to do a major chop. I'm okay with it because my nails have been growing super fast due to my Essie Grow Faster that I use as a base coat as well as the prenatal vitamins I'm taking. Anyway, say hello to my new nubbies:

Zoya Blue Gradient for Autism Awareness

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have an Autism Awareness manicure that includes a blue gradient with stamping. My duty this month is to inform you all of some of the facts pertaining to this disorder while bringing you pretty blue nails. One of the facts that stuck out to me this week is that 1 to 1.5 million Americans live with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I don't know about you, but to me that is a very large number. It brings into perspective, for me, just how many people have this disorder. Not only that, it makes you realize the impact of not only those that have it, but how many families there are that have to deal with the daily issues that come along with this disorder.

I began my manicure today with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by two coats of Zoya Yummy. I received Yummy in my GMA promo pack that also included Lola and Tobey. This trio of polishes was just $12 + $2 shipping. Not only does Zoya have a great formula and color range behind their polishes, they are always having amazing promos. I would highly recommend you follow them on their facebook & twitter pages. Yummy can best be described as "Bright, cheerful light robin's egg blue in a milky creme finish. A sweet sky-blue that pops on both deep and pale skin tones." I used a makeup sponge to create a gradient using Zoya Indigo. Indigo can best be described as "A dark indigo blue shimmer with a pinch of holographic microglitter. A dramatic polish that resembles the night sky."

Once that dried, I used my Konad Special Stamping Polish in white along with Red Angel image plate RA-105 to stamp on this design. Oddly enough, the complexity of this design reminds me of Autism in that the disorder itself is very complex. To finish this mani, I applied a coat of Good To Go by Essie.

The following picture is blurred just so that you can see the holographic microglitter that is in Indigo.

Although my gradient nor my stamping is perfect, I really like how this manicure turned out. What do you think lacquer luvers? Is this a manicure you would wear? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Also, for those of you that haven't, please check out my 2012 Autism Awareness Contest. I am receiving lots of great entries already but would love to see each and every one of you participate! As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

2012 Autism Awareness Contest

Hello Lacquer Luvers! As you all know, April is Autism Awareness Month. As a mother of a 6 year old boy who has been diagnosed with Autism, I am always trying my best to explain to others what Autism is and informing them of the known facts behind it. I have done an Autism Awareness manicure and plan to do a few more throughout the rest of the month. In an attempt to spread awareness and get others to show their support for the many people who have Autism (1 in 88 children are diagnosed with it) I wanted to host a contest. I want to see how many of you are joining in and spreading awareness by wearing awesome blue mani's!

Above is a photo of the prize that will be sent to the winner of my 2012 Autism Awareness Contest. Up for grabs is Jordana Glitters Blue Bash, Revlon Whimsical, & Sinful Colors Cinderella.

Contest Rules:
*e-mail me at luvmylacquer@yahoo.com with the subject Autism Awareness along with a photo of your blue manicure & I will count it as an entry. Please include your name with the photo (nicknames are fine). I will add these photos to a special folder on my facebook page so that everyone can see how many of us are supporting Autism Awareness =)
*Manicure options are endless. You can stamp, water marble, use decals/stickers, freehand or just do a plain blue mani. The only requirement is that is must be blue so let your imagination and creativity run wild!
*Two entries per person.
*Open to U.S. residents only.
*Ends 04/27/12, winner will be announced on 04/29/12.

**Prizes were not sponsored and were purchased by me. There will be 3 judges for this contest: myself, Liz of Nothing But Nail Polish,  & Jin of Superficially Colorful.

Birthday Cake Inspired Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I would love to send out a huge hug to you all for your sweet birthday wishes yesterday. It made me smile to read all of your lovely comments and I love that I got to share something special from my day with you. I am still so shocked and amazed at the Bettina Birthday Cake my husband got me for my birthday yesterday. So much so that I wanted to translate the custom color, which he created and appropriately named Birthday Girl, to my nails (well try to, at least).

Above is a piece of fondant from the cake (which cracked as I lifted it, oops!). It is a bit more purple than what my camera shows. I love that he gave the color some flair by adding iridescent glitter/sparkles to it. I took the picture half in the sun, half in the shade in an attempt to show you guys how it glistens. Isn't it pretty?! He told me that he took my bottle of Bettina Grape when he met with the designer. When she asked if that was the color he wanted the cake to be he said he wanted it to be a little more purple since Grape is a blue based and he wanted it to be more of my favorite color.

I began my manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by two coats of Bettina Grape. I layered a coat of an unnamed color by L.A. Colors. It is a clear base full of iridescent glitter. Once that dried, I stamped on the large heart design using Konad Special Stamping Polish in white and Red Angel image plate RA-110. Next I used plate M66 from BornPrettyStore to stamp on the word "love" and the random hearts. I decided on this design for the accent finger to symbolize how much I loved the cake! This manicure was topped off with a coat of Good To Go by Essie.

I seriously love this mani! Although my base color isn't the same as the custom color he created, it's pretty close. What do you all think of this manicure? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

It's my Birthday!! =)

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is my birthday and I just wanted to share some epic awesomeness with my lovely readers! My husband got me the most amazing birthday cake ever & I just had to make a quick post to show you all! Not only did he get me a BETTINA birthday cake but he created a custom color and even named it! The label on the top of the bottle says "Birthday Girl". OMG I am just so freakin' amazed that he put so much thought into it and got me something so special. Well here's the pics, luvs, enjoy!

I'll be back with a nail post tomorrow <3

xo,

Jess

Zoya Areej & Lael Floral Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a floral mani to share with you all featuring two gorgeous shades from Zoya. I also get to show you guys my first mani done with Red Angel stamping plates. Yes, I know, I used a RA plate in my Easter mani but I did this one before I got sick and am just getting around to posting it. So let's get to it!

I began this manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by two coats of Zoya Areej. Areej can be best described as: "Soft, muted cool fuchsia pink with an opaque cream finish. A pink for when you want a bold pop of color but not something neon-bright." Although this color is more suited for cool skintones, I love the way it looks on me! This lovely comes from Zoya's Summertime Collection and the formula and application is superb. Not surprising, though, right? Zoya's formula for their polishes are always perfection!

For nail art, I stamped on a floral design from Red Angel image plate RA-119 using Zoya Lael. Lael can best be described as: "A deep, saturated red-toned plum purple with a shiny creme finish. A rich grape shade for fall glamour." I really liked how this color stamped, although it didn't come out perfect. The two shades went nicely together. I added a funky french tip using Lael & Scotch tape and finished this manicure with a coat of Essie Good To Go topcoat.

So what do you think of this manicure my dear lacquer luvers? How do you like these two shades together? I'm very excited to get to try out the rest of the images from the RA plates. There are alot of gorgeous designs that I am dying to use throughout the rest of the year. As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

Happy Easter!

Hello Lacquer Luvers & Happy Easter! I have not been feeling well at all the past week. I caught a cold from my son and have had the sniffles and a very sore throat accompanied with sinus headaches. It's hard enough having to cope with a sick child in the house but when I'm sick, too, things get really rough. We are both feeling a little better today, however, and I've decided to go ahead and create an Easter mani for my lovely readers.

I began my manicure today with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I painted my accent nail two coats of Bettina Yellow. I used Scotch tape (and scissors) and Bettina Matte to make an eggshell on my accent finger. The face for my hatching chick was done with Konad Special Stamping Polish in black and Red Angel image plate RA-117. This plate has a bunch of funny faces. I just used a toothpick to erase everything but the eyes and stamped it on my nails. I took the end of a toothpick and dipped it in Bettina Sherbet for the beak of my chick.

My water marbled nails began with one coat of my base color, Bettina Matte. I then used Bettina Sherbet, Yellow, & Grape to create the design in the water. This manicure was topped off with a coat of Essie Good To Go topcoat.

L-R: Matte, Yellow, Sherbet, Grape

I really enjoyed creating this manicure today. It was really nice to get back into the swing of things. I love how all the colors pop in my marble & the hatching chick is so adorable to me. By the way, I got the idea of the hatching chick after doing a search for Easter nail ideas and came across this blog, The Little Canvas. I would love to know what you all think of my mani so please leave a comment below. As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

World Autism Awareness Day

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is World Autism Awareness Day! I have mentioned here before in my Day 6 post for the Girly-Girl Nail Art Challenge that my son, Tyus, was diagnosed with Autism and I wanted to do a manicure today in his honor. Not only will I be sharing a blue mani today, but I will be showing you all some awesome blue polishes throughout the month since April is Autism Awareness Month.

My manicure today began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next I applied 3 coats of China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara and 1 coat of Color Club Cold Metal on my accent finger. I applied a coat of Color Club topcoat to my ring finger and while it was still wet I created a blue ribbon by setting blue rhinestones into the wet polish. I finished this manicure by applying a coat of Color Club topcoat to the remaining nails.

I really enjoyed creating this manicure in honor of World Autism Awareness Day and for my amazing son Tyus. He brings so much joy to my heart and is the reason why I am guaranteed a smile every single day. Though we face our challenges, I wouldn't change a single thing about my family. Everything we go through dealing with a child who has Autism makes us so much stronger and I feel that we are a very close family because of it.

I wanted to share a few facts about Autism with you all:

1 in 88 children in America are diagnosed with Autism.
Out of those 88 children, 54 are boys.
40% of those diagnosed with Autism have above average intellectual abilities.
25% of people diagnosed with Autism are nonverbal but can learn to communicate by other means.

If you would like to learn more about Autism and how you can spread awareness, please visit these sites:

Autism Speaks
Light It Up Blue
Autism Society

I hope you all enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers! Perhaps some of you even learned something new. I would LOVE to read how you are celebrating World Autism Awareness Day or Autism Awareness Month so please share it with me in the comments below. The last thing I wanted to share with you all is another awesome blue mani by the lovely Cristina of Let Them Have Polish! which you can see by clicking here! Thank you Cristina for letting me share your post with my readers and thank you for helping to spread the word on such an important cause! As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica