Check Out My Guest Posts!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I have been extremely busy the past week with getting the room set up for the arrival of my daughter, OBGYN/Perinatal appointments, my son's graduation from Kindergarten and just life in general. I haven't had much time to do my nails. However, today's post features two guest posts I did for the lovely Liz over at Nothing But Nail Polish! Please head on over and show Liz some love by following her blog and checking out my two manicures. I hope you all are having a great week, xo!

~Jessica

You can find out what colors I used and how to achieve this fruit inspired manicure by clicking here!

To find out what colors I used and how to achieve this splatter mani click here!

Phone Case Inspired Manicure

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all are having a fantastic week thus far. Today I have a pretty cool mani to share with you all. Last week I received a new phone in the mail after having to replace my old one. We got a new puppy a few months ago and let's just say she thought that my phone was her chew toy. Bad Cookie (our puppy's name)! So I got to upgrade my Samsung Dart to a Samsung Galaxy S Blaze. I love my new phone! We took a trip to the mall and I picked up a pretty case for it and it is the inspiration for my manicure today.

Isn't that cute?! I love the colors and the design of my new case. I have caught myself staring at it a couple times this week and thought that it would be a really awesome design to have on my nails. I got around to trying it today, so let's get to the mani, shall we?

For this manicure, I began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I used 2 coats of Bettina Secret Garden as the base color for this manicure. Secret Garden is a gorgeous berry toned purple that looks amazing on warm skin tones. The application and formula for this creme is flawless.

I then got out all of my stamping plates and narrowed down three images that would help me translate the case to my nails. First I used Red Angel image plate RA-116 and Bettina Giacinto to stamp on the leaves. Giacinto is a gorgeous pink creme with purple undertones and is part of Bettina's new Flori Collection. Next I stamped on a couple of the same leaf images from RA-116 using Konad Special Stamping Polish in white on my nails. I then used the white special polish and RA-115 to stamp on a few scroll-looking images and my BM06 plate by Bundle Monster was used for the flowers. I completed this mani with a coat of Good To Go topcoat by Essie.

I am seriously loving this manicure! I think it goes really well with my phone case and the colors are all gorgeous. Sometimes I look at my stash of plates and wonder why I have so many. When you can mix and match them and be able to come up with something like this it all makes sense to have such a great variety. Have you ever tried to replicate your phone case on your nails? I would love to know what you think of this manicure 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

Retro 80's Neon Splatter!!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a pretty cool post to share with you. Lately I have been seeing neon colors everywhere. Shoes, handbags, shirts, you name it! Everytime I see these bright colors it reminds me of my childhood for some reason. I'm an 80's baby. You know, that time period where everything rocked! =) I always think of seeing bright neon legwarmers and wayfarer glasses and it just puts me in a happy place. Well today, I'm taking it back with a retro-80's inspired manicure.

First, I would like to point out that these pictures do not do the colors of this manicure any justice. They are so much more vibrant than what my camera could pick up. Anywho, my mani began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I then used 2 coats of Bettina Matte nail polish. Using a white base really makes any neon polish pop.

Next I applied two coats of China Glaze Celtic Sun. This polish is literally like a yellow highlighter marker. Super bright and in your face.

Once that dried, I began to use the splatter technique using a straw. I poured small amounts of polish onto the back of an old magazine (I wouldn't use paper for this as it would just soak up the polish; the shiny surface of the magazine doesn't do that). The polish colors I used for my splatter are China Glaze Pool Party (neon pink), KleanColor Neon Orange (name says it all) & Bettina Matte (white). I dipped the end of the straw into the polish and blew short quick puffs into the opposite end of the straw which then splatters the polish onto your nails. I topped this manicure off with a coat of Color Club top coat.

L-R: Bettina Matte, CG Celtic Sun, CG Pool Party, KleanColor Neon Orange

I got so many compliments on this mani while I was at the Dr.'s office yesterday. My nurse asked me if they were nail stickers and was really surprised when I told her it was all nail polish and that I always do my own nails. I think this is such a fun technique and can be done with a variety of different color combinations. This would definitely be awesome to rock if you were planning to dress up like someone from the 80s for Halloween or just a very fun look for a day at the beach. I would love to know what you think of this manicure 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

Tropical Manicure with Hummingbirds & Hibiscus'

Hello Lacquer Luvers! If you guys follow me on Facebook, you know that the past few days nail polish just was not feeling like being my friend. I decided to let it be for a while and come back to it a couple days later and guess what? It loves me again! Yay, lol!

I'm in a group on Facebook for nail art stamping and every Sunday there is a challenge. Today's theme is "The Sky's The Limit." For this theme, you can use any images you want to create a manicure that showcases anything you would see in the sky (planes, butterflies, birds, stars, etc). While going through my stamping plates I was inspired by images of hummingbirds. I Googled images of hummingbirds and was captivated by these two photos which also happened to include my most favorite flower:

Photo Credit: http://hoosiergardener.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/hummingbird-hibiscus-steve-byland-a-Fotolia_15250719_S.jpg

Photo Credit: http://shenthreedees.blogspot.com/2010/10/hummingbird-hibiscus-interaction.html

My manicure today began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I used 3 polishes by Bettina to water marble all of my nails and used the same 3 polishes to do a gradient on my accent nail. The polishes I used were Peppermint, Ocean, and Marshmallow. I chose these colors to symbolize the grass, sky, and clouds. I know that Ocean isn't really green-green, it's more of a aqua/green kind of color but I liked the way this color combination worked better than when I tried it with a true green (Bettina Mojito).

Next I used M72 from a set of plates I purchased from BornPrettyStore and Sally Hansen Color Quick pen in Fuchsia for the hibiscus image. Then I used my Sally Hansen Color Quick pen in Green to stamp on the hummingbirds which were on the H26 image plate by Chez-Delaney. I completed this manicure with a coat of Good To Go topcoat by Essie.

I really do love the way my manicure came out today and am glad that I had the patience to wait out a couple days for nail polish to once love me again. I like the chrome/metallic in the Sally Hansen pens and how it gives the hummingbirds that bit of sheen that you see in their feathers. This manicure makes me want to take a trip to Hawaii! What do you guys think of this manicure? What would you have come up with for this Sunday's theme for the challenge? 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

Floral Mani With Bettina Ortensia

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I am so sorry to have been neglecting my blog the past week. I have had a severely sore throat, nausea, and a nonstop headache for a few days. I'm finally feeling better today, though I'm still not 100%. I wanted to do a mani for you guys featuring one of the Bettina polishes from their new Flori Collection. This polish was gifted to me amongst 6 others as a Mother's Day gift from my husband and son =)

My manicure today began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next I applied two coats of Bettina Ortensia (my bottle label spells it with an "s", however the website has it spelled with a "c"). This shade of green has strong yellow undertones and actually reminds me of my Mom's pea soup. The formula of this polish was fantastic and application was very easy, reaching full opacity in just two coats.

Because this is a floral collection, I wanted to stamp on some pretty yet simple flowers. This design was achieved using Konad Special Stamping Polishes in black and white along with my Cheeky image plate CH7.

I added a little "bling" with these opalescent flat stones placed in the center of the flowers.

Excuse the awkward positioning on this photo, I wanted to capture the opalescent shine of the flat stones for you.

I've had these stones for a few years now and I like them because they are flat and small. These were found in my local beauty supply store for $1. This manicure is simple but I think it's really pretty. I like the way the black and white contrast with the green. Let me know what you all think of this mani and the other colors of Bettina's new collection. I also got Glacinto, which I hope to try this week. 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

A Yummy Zoya Jelly Sammich!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a beautiful jelly sandwich mani to share with you all featuring Zoya Starla. I received Starla as part of my Bloom.com order. I mentioned this offer on my facebook page where the first 4,000 people would receive a $20 coupon to purchase whatever you like on Bloom and Starla is part of my order.

My manicure began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next I applied 3 coats of Zoya Starla. Starla can be described as "Vivid nearly-neon purple with strong pink tones accented by silver microglitter. A universally flattering bright with a sparkly, jelly-like finish." I love the application and formula of this polish. It builds it's color nicely.

Oooh, I am loving the silver microglitter!

Once Starla dried, I applied one coat of KleanColor Fuchsia Glitter. This polish contains a clear fuchsia base with small, medium, and large hex holographic glitter. Application for this was not a terrible mess as I expected it to be with the large glitter. Some needed placement but it wasn't too bad.

I applied one coat of Starla over Fuchsia Glitter to complete this manicure. I didn't use a topcoat because Starla is already so shiny and squishy looking. I really like this look. It's really fun and not hard to achieve. I would love to get my hands on the Blogger Collection by Birchbox which features 3 new jelly polishes by Zoya. Zoya does jelly finishes so well, although, there isn't many of them. What is your favorite jelly polish? 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 Winner!!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I was supposed to announce the winner of my giveaway yesterday but unfortunately I wasn't feeling too well. After going through all of the entries, I'm happy to announce that the winner is....

CONGRATS to Traceys Nails! I will need you to contact me via email with your shipping address so that I can get your prize out to you. My email is luvmylacquer@yahoo.com. You will have 3 days to get in touch with me to claim your prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway! I will have another when I hit the big 1,000 so go ahead and tell everyone to follow my blog. I'll be back soon with a blog post for you all =)

xo,
Jessica

On trend with Zoya neons and animal print!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Before I even begin, I just wanna say I LOOOVE my nails today! The pictures really do speak for themselves but of course I will share with you all how this look was achieved.

My manicure began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I alternated two polish colors on all of my nails. I used two coats for each of these colors. Zoya Lolly is part of their 2011 Mod Matte Nail Polish Collection and can be described as: Bold, saturated medium magenta pink cream with a velvety matte finish.  A very colorful new matte style for perfect stand-out Barbie pink nails. Zoya Jancyn is part of their 2010 Flash collection and can be described as: Not neon but bold, not pastel but soft - this is the perfect tangerine shade. Okay, okay..so Zoya says that Jancyn isn't neon but it's still bright and in your face enough that I can put her in that category, right? =)

Once my polish dried, I applied matching color glitter to my nails. I did this one nail at a time and used FantaSea Cosmetics Nail Glitter in orange and pink (the sticker on the bottom of my pink jar fell off). A coat of Color Club top coat was applied first, then I used a false nail tip as a scoop for the glitter. I sprinkled it onto the wet clear polish and tapped off the excess.

After that set, it was time for me to get funky! But first I had to add 3 coats (I know, I know - sooo time consuming but totally worth it) of the Color Club top coat to smooth out my surface because stamping won't work on loose glitter. So, once my 3 coats dried, I got out my Konad M78 image plate and Special Stamping Polish in black and put this awesome zebra/leopard design on my nails. This manicure was topped off with a coat of Color Club's top coat.

As I've already said, I LOOOVE this mani! It is so summery and fun and was perfect for today since it was 88 degrees here and I had a blast at the park with my son. The only thing I didn't like about this was how time consuming it was with trying to get a smooth surface before stamping. I definitely need to get to Sally's and pick up a bottle of Gelous which I'm sure will cut down the time. Please, let me know what you think of this mani 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

Palette Cleanser

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I've missed you guys so much! This past week has been rough for me. I've been dealing with extremely swollen gums and have not been able to function. I handle pain really well but when it comes to my mouth I just can't bare with it. Anyway, today is a post of a manicure that I created a few days ago but haven't gotten around to posting it. After all of the blue manicures I did last month for Autism Awareness, I wanted to do something neutral to cleanse my palette. Of course it had to be jazzed up a bit, too. Let's get on to the mani, shall we?

My manicure began with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by 3 coats of China Glaze II. This is the polish I would call my "gateway drug." It's the one that got me hooked into this beautiful world known as the nail community. From China Glaze's 2007 X Collection, this lovely is a neutral/nude that has peach and gold shimmer throughout it which compliments warm and dark skin tones very nicely. The sun wasn't out to play when I took these pics so you can't really see the shimmer, but believe me, it's there and it's gorgeous!

Next I applied one coat of Jewelry Heist by Spoiled. The Spoiled polishes can be found at CVS and are a line by WetNWild. These lovelies retail for $1.99 and have a variety of colors that range from neons, to shimmers, to beautiful glitters. Jewelry Heist is a glitter polish with large gold & rose gold hex glitter, medium silver hex glitter, and small square iridescent flakes that flash blue, pink, yellow, and green suspended in a clear base. It is most definitely a unique combo of glitters and one that I adore!

please ignore the tip of my middle finger, I bumped it grabbing my camera..

To make this mani even more interesting, I went and gave it a coat of Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love. This topcoat mattifies any polish and gives your nails a completely different look. Ah, after all of those blue mani's this one was definitely a nice change for me. I really love the base color, glitter, and matte top coat. What do you all think of this manicure? Do you like Jewelry Heist or any of the Spoiled polishes? How do you feel about matte top coats? 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