Funky Leopard Friday!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope everyone has had a fantastic week and you guys are looking forward to an awesome weekend. I personally haven't been feeling too well this week. I've had a horrible bit with teeth pain and nausea as well as not getting much sleep because I'm so uncomfortable but this will all be over in a few weeks! I needed to do something to perk me up and did this awesome design on my nails last night. I couldn't wait to share it with you guys. Are you ready?

The above photos were taken with my phone last night. The colors aren't as accurate as the below photos (which were taken this morning) but I hope you like the collage/tutorial I created for you! This manicure began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. I applied two coats of Zoya Kieko to my pinky, middle and thumb nails & two coats of Zoya Wednesday to my ring and index nails.

I used my Konad Special Stamping Polish in black along with Konad M57 image plate for the leopard print design. A dotting tool was dipped into Kieko and Wednesday to fill in some of the spaces of the print (I only did this to the left sides of my nails since I knew I would be covering the right side in black). I used Scotch tape and applied it to the left side of my nails and then applied one coat of Bettina Onix to the right side. This manicure was topped off with a coat of Essie Good To Go topcoat.

Leopard print never gets old to me and I love how it's so versatile. I love this color combination and guess what? The Zoya Fairies did, too! I shared pics from the first collage on my Instagram account (username: luvmylacquer) & they complimented the combo. That might not be a big deal to some people but in my little nail polish filled world it totally made my night! What do you guys think of this combo? Is it something you would wear? 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

Zoya Diva Collection for NYFW 2012 (swatches and review)

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have swatch photos and a review to share with you of Zoya's Diva Collection for NYFW 2012. This gorgeous collection contains 6 metallic shades that are perfect for Fall. All of my swatches were done with base coat and no top coat. The number of coats varied so I'll let you know how many I used along with the color description below. These photos were taken in natural light.

Elisa: Crimson red metallic. This beauty is gorgeous! Zoya is doing me in and making me really like red polish. Unfortunately, the sun was so bright it washed out some of the metallic in this baby. 2 coats.

Suri: Royal purple metallic. This purple is really special. It has some red and blue sparklies in it. So pretty! 2 coats.

Song: Egyptian blue metallic with a subtle sparkle. Now this, THIS is a blue! The sparkle in it is lovely. 1 coat (that's right, ONE coat!).

Ray: Pine green metallic. This is a blackened green. It's a little frosty. Reminds me of Christmas trees =) 2 coats.

FeiFei: Magic blue foil metallic sparkle. So, you know you have something special when you text a friend in the middle of swatching and the text reads "OMG FeiFei is like unicorns, puppies, cupcakes, and rainbows in a bottle! It's magical!"

So amazing I had to add another photo! I can't even tell you how many shades of glitter are in this. It's seriously stunning! 3 coats.

Daul: Magic violet foil sparkle metallic. This is another stunner! The gold sparkle and shade of purple here remind me of royalty. Love love love it!

Yes, she deserved another photo, too! Isn't she lovely? 3 coats.

I knew when I looked at this collection that I would love specific colors but did I expect to fall in love with each of them when I put them on? No, I did not! It was such a pleasant surprise. The must-have's for this collection are Song, FeiFei and Daul. The formula on these were fantastic. This collection will be available mid-July and retails for $8.00 per 0.5oz bottle on http://zoya.com/. I would love to know which colors you look forward to from this collection and what you think of it as a whole! Up next is the Gloss Collection. 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

**This collection was sent to me to review.**

5 Minute Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I know I promised that the next post will be of swatches and my review for the Zoya Diva Collection. I am working on my swatches and photos today but in the meantime, I wanted to share a quick post of a 5 minute mani I created yesterday. I needed to come up with something quick so that I could go to lunch and do a little shopping for Gabrielle with my husband, Ty.

I began this mani with a base of Milani Smoothe Base Coat. Next I applied one coat of Sinful Colors Social Ladder to my ring fingers and then to the rest of my nails. The reason I painted my ring fingers first was because I wanted to stamp something on my accent nails and wanted it to be dry by the time the rest of my nails were painted.

I used my Konad Special Stamping Polish in white along with BM-318 for my accent fingers. If you don't know, hibiscus' are my favorite flowers and this image is so elegant it had to be the first one I used from their new set of plates! I topped this mani with a coat of Color Club's top coat and voila, this mani was done in 5 minutes!

Above is a photo of what I wore with this mani. I had on jeans and brown sandals to complete my outfit. The necklace I wore is a peacock feather that is brown, gold, and green. I wore a heart shaped nail polish ring that I created which was green. The ring was featured in my first blog post ever and you can click here if you'd like to see it. As you guys can see, my belly is getting pretty big! I am 35 weeks right now and my baby girl will be making her debut in 4 weeks. I can't believe how fast time has flown but I am so very excited to welcome her into the world and our beautiful family! 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

Zoya Designer Collection for NYFW 2012 (photos and review)

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today's post features my swatches of one of Zoya's Fall 2012 Collections, the Designer Collection. This collection contains 6 gorgeous cream nail polishes that are perfect for Fall. (All of my photos are swatches of these beauties using base coat, 2 coats of color, and no top coat.)

 Evvie: Evergreen green cream (custom created shade for Peter Som)

Monica: Dark mulberry purple cream

Natty: Smoked navy blue cream

Noot: Charcoal green gray cream

Rekha: Blood red cream (custom created shade for Bibhu Mohapatra)

Toni: Dark maroon red cream

Upon arrival, I was amazed at how gorgeous these colors are in person. I am such a fan of bright colors that I wasn't expecting to love these as much as I do. For me, the winners of this collection are Rekha (yes, a red!), Natty, and Evvie. I absolutely adore those shades. The formula on these were great, as per usual with Zoya. I achieved full opacity with every single color in just two coats and I love how glossy they dry. This collection will be available mid-July and retails for $8.00 per 0.5oz bottle. I would love to know which colors you look forward to from this collection and what you think of it as a whole! Up next is the Diva Collection. 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

**This collection was sent to me to review.**

Quite Frank(en)ly, I Love Pink Wednesday!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! It's the middle of the week and that means it's time for Pink Wednesday! This one is very very special as I have a beautiful franken that I created to share with you all as well! I really hope you enjoy this post even though it's pretty late =)

My manicure today began with a base of Milani Smoothe Base Coat followed by two coats of Zoya Barbie. Barbie can best be described as: Soft, warm medium baby pink with very subtle hot pink shimmer. An adorable girly shade to accent any outfit.

Macro shot so that you can see the gorgeous hot pink shimmer that's in Barbie

This photo was taken with my phone

Featured in the photo above is my franken surprise for the day! I created the lovely that I am holding in my hand. I have yet to name it but it contains one of my all-time favorite color combinations: pink, black and white. This glitter topcoat is full of 2 shades of pink hexagonal glitter, black hexagonal glitter, large white hexagonal glitter and white bar glitter. All of these glitters are matte (not metallic).

I am not looking to be an indie seller (well, not anytime in the near future at least). I was just playing around with some pretty glitters and I adore the combo that I came up with. I like that the bar glitter is not overwhelming and that they actually lay flat. I hope to make a few more frankens in the future. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this one and if you have any name suggestions I'm all ears (well, eyes!). As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing tomorrow's post with you, xo!

~Jessica

A Seriously POPtastic Summer Collection from SINFUL COLORS (Press Release)

A Seriously POPtastic Summer Collection from SINFULCOLORS

Iconic imagery. Bold brights. That's the message this season as the SinfulColors POPTastic Summer 2012 collection pops up everywhere, from pointers to pinkies. These eight eye-popping, jaw-dropping, tip-delighting, pop culture hues take pop beyond an artistic style to a lifestyle that's all the rage. Envision lots of pizazz with super-shiny polish, a whole new way to express yourself, compliments of SinfulColors. The POPtastic collection of 8 shockingly rich color meets serious shine from SinfulColors includes: Citrine: A bold, but wonderfully wearable, slice of juicy delight Why Not: A matte turquoise that pops Let's Meet: Sunshine at its finest Outrageous: A poppy, fresh bubble-gum shade Energetic Red: A classic fire engine red Exotic Green: Move over Grover, a take on the classic tree & plant inspired shade Dressed To Kill: Hello Kitty never had it so good with this shade of pink Clementine: Everything a citrus fruit should be: juicy, bright and zesty    SinfulColors surpasses the masses with more than 150 amazing shades of nail polish, including the above-mentioned shades. All hues are available for $1.99 at major drug and mass-market stores nationwide such as Target & Walgreens, by calling 1-800-448-0763 or online at www.walgreens.com.

Zoya Designer, Diva & Gloss (Press Release)

NYFW 2012

DESIGNER, DIVA & GLOSS

three new couture nail color collections ZOYA for Fall 2012

 

Inspired by backstage beauties, talented designers, runways and VIP fashion events, the NYFW 2012 Color Collections by Zoya for Fall 2012 are simply stunning. Choose from full-coverage creams and metallics or incredibly shiny jellies. If it’s in style this season - Zoya has it!

 

Each New Fall Collection (Designer, Diva and Gloss) features color that is beautiful, long-wearing and “haute” off the New York Fashion Week (NYFW) Fall 2012 runway!

 

Zoya NYFW 2012: Designer Collection

• Rekha (ZP626) - Blood red cream (Bibhu Mohapatra custom shade)

• Toni (ZP627) - Dark maroon red cream

• Monica (ZP628) - Dark mulberry purple cream

• Natty (ZP629) - Smoked navy blue cream

• Evvie (ZP630) - Evergreen green cream (Peter Som custom shade)

• Noot (ZP631) - Charcoal green gray cream

 

Zoya NYFW 2012: Diva Collection

• Elisa (ZP632) - Crimson red metallic

• Suri (ZP633) - Royal purple metallic

• Song (ZP634) - Egyptian blue metallic with a subtle sparkle

• Ray (ZP635) - Pine green metallic

• FeiFei (ZP636) - Magic blue foil sparkle metallic

• Daul (ZP637) - Magic violet foil sparkle metallic

 

Zoya NYFW 2012: Gloss Collection

• Katherine (ZP638) - Sheer eggplant jelly gloss, buildable formula (Peter Som custom shade)

• Paloma (ZP639) - Sheer berry red jelly gloss, buildable formula

• Frida (ZP640) - Sheer teal blue jelly gloss, buildable formula

 

ZOYA IS THE NEW COLOR OF FASHION!

 

Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

 

Find over 300 other Zoya shades at www.zoya.com. Each and every name has a color as unique as the women who inspired it.

Splattered Gradient

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Mine was spent getting things ready for the arrival of Gabrielle. I cannot believe how fast time is flying and that we will have a beautiful baby girl in our home in about 6 weeks. I am so excited! Today I have a manicure to share with you all that features my all-time favorite color combination; pink, black an white. I love how it came out so let's get to it.

For this manicure I began with a base of Milani Smoothe Base Coat followed by two coats of KleanColor White. I applied two coats of Sinful Colors Pink to my ring and index fingers. Starting with a white base really makes a neon pop. This pink is so much brighter in person.

I used a makeup sponge and created gradients on my nails. On the nails that were white I used pink beginning at the tips of my nails and on the nails painted pink I used white at the tips. I repeated this process numerous times (about 3 or 4) to make the colors pop and become opaque. Next I used a straw and WetNWild Fast Dry polish in Everybody Hates Chris for the splatter. I used a straw from Miami Subs which is wider than the one I usually use from Dunkin Donuts. I think the width of the straw you use creates a different type of splatter which is pretty cool. This manicure was topped with a coat of top coat by Color Club.

If you haven't noticed, neons have been my thing this summer. I have always loved bright colors and playing with them in the middle of the summer is so much fun! I really like this color combination and the gradient that's under the splatter, too! I would love to know your thoughts on this manicure. 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 (belated) 4th of July!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope everyone had a fantastically fun and SAFE holiday yesterday! I created an awesome patriotic mani to share with you but did not have time to edit pictures and get a post up because yesterday was spent cooking a few dishes and getting my troop ready to celebrate at my mother-in-law's bbq. So I'm sorry for the late post but I love my mani so much I wanted to share with you guys regardless of it being late.

My manicure began with a base of Milani Smoothe Base Coat. I applied two coats of Zoya Snow White to all of my nails except my ring finger. Snow White can best be described as "A pure white creme that's as clean and bright as freshly-fallen snow. The perfect French manicure shade." Next I applied one coat of Zoya Snowsicle. Snowsicle can best be described as "A sheer veil of sparkling, snowy white with iridescent glitter. Adds a glistening icy look to any color or French manicure."

Next I used Zoya polishes in Yummy & America along with Konad plate M70 for the squiggly design. I first stamped it on using America, which can best be described as "Bright, bold, medium retro tomato-red creme. This unique red screams retro pin-up girl glamour." I rotated the stamp so that the image wouldn't overlap then repeated it with Yummy, which 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. "

For my accent nail, I used Scotch tape and applied one coat of Yummy. I then put the tape over Yummy once it was dry and painted the rest of the nail in America. I used Cheeky image plates CH6 for the stripes and CH26 for the stars along with Konad Special Stamping Polish in white. I topped this manicure with one coat of Color Club's top coat.

Macro shot so that you can see the sparklies from Snowsicle =)

L-R: Snow White, Snowsicle, America, Yummy

I got lots of compliments on my mani yesterday and was even able to get the word out on the awesomeness that is Zoya Nail Polish. Speaking of, did you guys know that Zoya is now running a promo where you can get America for FREE with a $10 purchase on their website along with FREE shipping! For more info on this promo, click here. Because I already have America I'm skipping on this one but for those of you that don't have her and love reds I would definitely say get her while you can! 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

Wild Thing! (neon gradient + animal print)

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope everyone's week is off to a lovely start and that you guys are all okay. I have a fun post to share with you all today. It's another one that reminds me of my childhood and the awesomeness that is Lisa Frank. I was totally obsessed with the animal print folders and trapper keepers. The vibrant colors and images always captivated my interest. Sooo, you wanna see what's on my nails today?

L-R: Bettina Matte, China Glaze Celtic Sun, Color Club The Lime Starts Here,
Ruby Kisses Orange You Jealous, Ruby Kisses Pink Hot Pants

To begin my manicure, I chose four colors I thought would work well as gradients along with my favorite white base.

I applied one coat of Milani Smoothe Base Coat then 2 coats of Bettina Matte (white).

Once Matte dried, I took a makeup sponge (I found them at Target) and began my gradients. I put a bit of the yellow on the back of an old magazine, picked it up with a sponge and applied it to the top of my pinky, middle & thumb fingers. I took another sponge and applied the orange to my ring and index fingers. I repeated this process three times until the polish reached an opacity to my liking. Using the same sponges (the opposite sides that were polish-less) I applied the green and pink to the corresponding nails. Again, this was done three times.

Next I used my Konad Special Stamping Polish in black along with Konad's M57 image plate and stamped on the cheetah/leopard print on my pinky, middle and thumb fingers. I used the zebra print image for my ring and index fingers. This manicure was topped off with a coat of Color Club's top coat.

(not sure why this photo is sideways)

I absolutely adore this mani! It's so vibrant and playful and reminds me of the good ol' days! At one point I gave up on gradients because no matter what I did they were just not turning out right but I'm happy to say I got my mojo back (though, these aren't the best). I wish I could have this design on my toes but my belly is getting way too big for me to do a pedi right now lol! So, what do you think lovelies? Is this something you would wear or a bit too loud for your taste? 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