31DC2013 Day 7 - B&W Nails

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is Day 7 of the 31 Day Challenge and I have some awesome black & white nails to share with you all. Black and white has been really big in fashion this year so it's no wonder it made it on the list fir the challenge. Afterall, nails are very much a part of fashion, right?

My black and white manicure began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by 1 coat of Cult Nails Tempest on my pinky & index fingers and 3 coats of China Glaze Recycle on the rest of my nails. I then used a makeup sponge to create gradients using Tempest and Recycle on my pinky and index and Recycle and Finger Paints Black Expressionism on the other nails. 

I used my PUEEN16 image plate and my Konad Special Stamping Polish in White & Black to stamp on this really cool asymmetrical design. I also alternated the stamp upside down on a few nails to make it even more random. This mani was complete with a coat of HKGIRL topcoat. (The smudge on my index finger was a result of my brush slipping during clean up, not the topcoat.)

I'm really enjoying this challenge and hope that you all like what I've been coming up with the past week. Here's a collage of Week 1's manicures, which is your favorite? As always, I hope you all enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

Manis For MJ

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is the King of Pop's 55th birthday and I'm joining in on a fabulous idea that my friend Tiffany came up with. Not only is Tiffany great at painting her nails, she's an amazing dancer and dance teacher and it's no wonder that she would inspire us all to do manicures inspired by one of her favorite artists. Tiff came up with the idea to do silver glitter bomb accent manicures today to represent Michael's infamous glove. How could I turn down the opportunity to 

celebrate one of music's most iconic figures with glitter?!

I threw around so many ideas until it clicked while watching "Beat It" on YouTube. I finally knew exactly what I was going to do! I just HAD to replicate that fabulous red leather jacket on my nails! I mean, besides the glove isn't that what we all think of in terms of fashion and MJ?

My manicure began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by 3 coats of Bettina Flame. Of all the reds in my collection I chose Flame because it is a crelly and that tiny bit of squishy factor went so well with the patent shine on his jacket. I also really love the formula of this polish. It isn't too runny like most reds I've tried.

I imitated the zippers on Michael's jacket by using Essie No Place Like Chrome and a zipper image on Bundle Monster's BM202 stamping plate. China Glaze Glistening Snow was perfect for my silver glitter bomb accent! I used 3 coats to achieve complete oppacity and used my ultra glossy HKGirl top coat to complete my manicure.

With all the controversy surrounding Michael Jackson and his family these days, I'm so glad Tiffany made a way for us to have fun and celebrate the icon that he truly was. I hope you all are joining us and can't wait to see your silver glitter bomb accent manis! Don't forget to tag your pics #manisformj on instagram so that we can see them & follow Tiffany's blog, Tiffany's Tasteful Talons. Happy Birthday Michael Jackson!! As always, I hope you enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I like forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

Happy International Nail Art Day!!!

 Hello Lacquer Luvers and Happy International Nail Art Day! The lovely @nailsbymimi (check out her awesomeness on Instagram) came up with the brilliant idea of having a holiday to celebrate something we polishaholics all love, nail art! You all know that while I very much enjoy swatching beautiful nail polishes, my heart is in the art. I love expressing myself through it and couldn't pass up the opportunity to join in on the festivities today!

Today's look features three forms of nail art that took me so many practice sessions to get right, each earning their very own lane in my nail art world. I absolutely LOVE these types of nail art and think they're all equally fun to do. I've got some gradient/stamping/water marbling goodness going on for INAD and I love how my nails came out for this special day!

I started with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by two coats each of China Glaze Tantalize and Essie Marshmallow on my accent finger. I created a gradient on my accent finger with Marshmallow, Tantalize Me & Gothic Lolita with the help of a makeup sponge. Once that dried, I topped it with Orly's Prisma Gloss Silver for some scattered holo glitter prettiness! 

Next I began to water marble my nails using the colors mentioned above. For those of you who have ever tried marbling, I'm sure you can agree that it is one of those things you have a love/hate relationship with lol! I've always loved the final look of this beautiful art though and don't mind the process of getting it just right because it's so mesmerizing to look at all day!

I went back to my ring finger for the stamping part of my manicure. With the help of MASH-41 & some Konad Special Stamping Polish in white, I went over my holo glitter gradient with this stunning floral image. My mani was complete with a coat of the scattered holo polish over my water marbled nails and a final coat of HKGirl topcoat on all of them.

I had so much fun coming up with this look for International Nail Art Day and am so happy that we have a day to call our own! Nail art has been a way for me to express how I'm feeling through color and is most definitely my favorite "me time". There was a recent rumor going around, someone said nail art was dead. I guess we're proving them wrong today! Don't forget to tag your nails with #INAD on Instagram for those of you joining in. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica

China Glaze Introduces New Color Matching App!

BRING NEW MEANING TO LIVING IN COLOR WITH CHINA GLAZE® APP FOR iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®

Leading nail polish brand launches new app on the App Store

Los Angeles (March 19, 2013) – Swatch it, watch it, match it! China Glaze® brings the world of nail color to life with the launch of the NEW China Glaze® App for iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®. The free app offers multiple features perfect for every nail polish enthusiast, and utilizes the latest cutting edge technology to transport users into China Glaze®’s colorful universe.

The new China Glaze® App offers a first of its kind “Match A Color” feature, where users can truly “Live In Colour” from the palm of their hands. “Match A Color” was created with the latest technology to allow users to take a photo of anything they desire with their iPhone®, iPad ® or iPod® touch and then browse through multiple options, from exact shade matches to related textures from the brand’s expansive treasury of over 300 colors.  This must-have feature allows nail polish enthusiasts to find polish-spiration anywhere at anytime.  That hot pink bag you were eyeing? Yep, there’s a China Glaze® polish for that.

In “Try It On,” users will find themselves in a China Glaze® fitting room, where they can select shades from the China Glaze® closet to try on customizable virtual nails. Users can determine which shade looks best on them by adjusting the nail length and skin tone to match their own hand, and save desired shades to the device’s camera roll for easy reference.

Sharing is caring, and in the colorful world of China Glaze®, “What’s Haute” is the place to see what’s hot. Connect here with the brand to see real-time updates of new collections, nail trends and “how-to” video feeds from the official China Glaze® YouTube Channel.  All features on the China Glaze® App allows users to share their favorite shades with their social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Did you say your friend really liked the shade Re-Fresh Mint you were wearing yesterday? Send the color straight to her Facebook page, or @her on Instagram.

Nail professionals, the China Glaze® app has something for you, as well. Salons and nail pros can register for product updates and to be listed in the Salon Locator feature, currently in development for future updates. Also in the works are features to expand the China Glaze® app into a true community, including Discussion Boards, Wish Lists and more.  

The China Glaze® App is available for free download from the App Store on iPhone®, iPad® or iPod® touch or at www.AppStore.com.   

China Glaze® is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde. China Glaze® nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze® on Facebook (facebook.com/chinaglazeofficial), Twitter (@chinaglaze), Instagram (@chinaglazeofficial) and Pinterest (@chinaglaze).

China Glaze® is a division of American International Industries.

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

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

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

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:

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

Rockin' My Neon Animal Print Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all have some great plans for this weekend. As for myself, I will be enjoying family time and just kicking back with Tyus. I am thinking of taking him to the park later on today. Anyways, today I have a rockin' mani to share with you all. I woke up feeling cheery and what better way to express that on your nails than with neon colors and glitterrr?!

My manicure today began with my usual base coat of Essie Grow Faster. Once dried, I applied two coats of China Glaze Celtic Sun. Celtic Sun is like liquid yellow highlighter in a bottle. It is super bright and in your face! It's also not as opaque as I would've thought it to be. If I was using this color on it's own I would probably apply two coats over a white base.

Once my two coats of Celtic Sun dried, I applied one coat of Color Club's top coat. I didn't apply this to all of my nails at one time because it was used as an adhesive for the neon yellow glitter. So while the top coat was still wet, I took a loose nail tip and used it as a scoop to pour the glitter on to my nails. I lightly tapped my fingers so that the excess glitter would fall off.

After the glitter was applied to each of my nails it was time to make it smooth enough for me to stamp over it. To do this, I simply applied three coats of the Color Club top coat over my nails. After the three coats of top coat dried I used my Special Stamping Polish in black to stamp on this cheetah meets zebra design that is on Konad's M78 image plate. This manicure was topped off with two coats of Essie Good To Go topcoat.

I picked up the jar of neon yellow glitter while visiting my sister last summer. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a label so I cannot tell you what brand it is but you can find glitter for nails in nail supply stores and online.

Macro shot of the neon yellow glitter

I am loooving my mani today! It's so bright and fun =) What do you think luvs? Have any of you used loose glitter on your nails? I cannot wait to do another mani like this. I have quite a few glitters so we'll see what I come up with next. 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

Today I am a Gothic Lolita!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all are having a fantastic Friday! In my post yesterday I asked which of the polishes Ty got me you all would like to see next on the blog. Today's post is of my first reader request which came from Ms. Lizzy O. who said she'd like to see Gothic Lolita and that it was on her wish list. I received another request for Sinful's Cinderella from Ms. Val Greeley so you can expect to see that one in my next post =).

Gothic Lolita is part of China Glaze's 12 pc. Electropop Collection. This beauty is a medium red-toned purple that has some red and blue shimmer in it. The shimmer is so fine that it only comes out to play in the right lighting but once it appears you can instantly see the depth it adds to this color.

My mani today began with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next I applied two coats of Gothic Lolita. I've read a few reviews on this one, some said it was runny, others said it was a bit on the thick side. My bottle, however, did not have any of these issues. I felt that the formula was really great & application was effortless. All I needed was two coats to reach full opacity. I instantly fell in love with this color the second it reached my nails!

For nail art, I wanted to cater to this polish's name. At first, I googled Gothic Lolita and spent about an hour in amazement at the fashion (click on the "googled" link to see what I mean). If you know me personally, you know that Japan is on the top of my destination places I would like to visit. The Gothic Lolita style is definitely something I imagine that would be seen as street-wear over there. I then googled "Gothic Lolita purple" and found my inspiration pic (see below).

Photo credit: http://www.mechanicalbunny.com/oscmax/tripp-purple-petticoat-gothic-lolita-skirt-p-668.html

I used Konad's M57 image plate for the corset look. Nothing says gothic, to me, like black roses so I used image plate M73 from a set that I purchased over on BornPrettyStore.com. Both of these images were stamped onto my nails using Konad Special Stamping Polish in black. I used Scotch tape and WetNWild's Ebony Hates Chris for my black french tips. This manicure was topped with Essie's Good To Go topcoat.

I had a little accident where I bumped my middle finger and caused it to smudge & couldn't stand to look at it which is why I didn't post a close-up shot of my entire mani like I normally do. It's not really -that- bad but I just couldn't stand it lol! Otherwise, I'm loving this manicure. I think it would be perfect for a Gothic Lolita! What do you all think luvs? I'm really excited to show you all my next reader request color, Sinful Colors Cinderella, in my next post. 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 Pink Water Marble Wednesday!

Hello Lacquer Luvers & Happy Pink Wednesday to you all! I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day yesterday & if you didn't I hope today is a much better one for you =) I got the best gift ever from my husband, Ty. He did so good! Below is a picture of part 1 of my gift. He got me a dozen polishes!

(L-R: (Top) Finger Paints Art You Wondering?, SC Oasis, SC Cinderella, OPI Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?, OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam, ORLY Purple Crush, (Bottom) WNW I Need A Refresh-Mint, CG Pool Party, CG Naked, CG Gothic Lolita, CG Turned Up Turquoise, & WNW Club Havana)

I thought that was it (and totally more than I thought he would get me) but he came home with a part 2 which was lilac roses and chocolates. It really was a special day for me! Since today is Pink Wednesday, I used two of the pretties he got me yesterday for today's manicure. Let's get to it, shall we?

My mani today began with a base of Essie's Grow Faster followed by 3 coats of China Glaze Naked. Naked is a rosy pink that has pink and silver micro-shimmer in it. This shade was not as opaque as I would have liked so it took 3 coats to reach full opacity. However, application and formula was very smooth & dry time was average.

See the micro-shimmer, pretty isn't it? For nail art I wanted to do a water marble & thought that Sinful Colors Oasis would be a great choice since it was a darker shade of pink than Naked is. It also shares the same shimmer quality that Naked contains in that it has purple iridescent shimmer throughout it. I used Jordana's Barely Pink so that Naked would still peep through the sheerness of Barely Pink. This manicure was topped off with Essie's Good To Go topcoat.

I love how this came out! I think the two pinks work really nicely together. What do you think Lacquer Luvers? I would also like to know which of the new polishes I got you want to see on my blog next so please leave a comment below letting me know which one's you would like to see. 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

Pretty Peri-wink-le

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I get to share with you an oldie but goodie. While visiting family and friends during the holiday's I made a few trips to Sally's & this was one of the polishes that I picked up - China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le. This beauty is part of China Glaze's 2008 Operation Color Collection.

For my mani today, I began with China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat followed by two coats of Secret Peri-wink-le. This dusty cream is essentially exactly the color of it's name - periwinkle. It's right in between being lavender and blue. The formula seemed a bit watery (not sure if it was just my bottle or if it's because it's an older color and the formula itself has changed). I was, however, able to reach full opacity in just two coats and didn't have much of a problem with application.

For nail art, I went ahead and water marbled all of my nails. For my marble, I used Jordana French Manicure polishes in White & Barely Pink. Barely Pink is a sheer polish & when you use it for marbling it has a transparent effect that allows the base color to peek through. Pretty cool, huh? To seal in my manicure, I used Essie's Good To Go topcoat.

I really like how this came out. It's simple but pretty. Secret Peri-wink-le is a very unique color in my collection and I can see myself wearing this alot in the spring. Do you ladies own this color? What do you think of my marble? 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