31DC2013 Day 3 - Yellow Nails

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today's post will be as short and sweet as possible as it's a late one. I've had some Internet issues today and finally got my pics to load as I'm getting ready to end the day. Day 3 of 31DC2013 calls for yellow nails. If you recall a few weeks ago, I was on a yellow kick so I'm happy this made it into the challenge!

My manicure began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by 2 coats of Essie Marshmallow. Next I began to create a gradient using Marshmallow, Sally Hansen Buttercup & Zoya Darcy with the help of a makeup sponge. I repeated this process 3 times. 

Next I applied one coat of Orly Prisma Gloss Silver over my accent nail. I used Konad Special Stamping Polish in white & RuiZ03 from BornPrettyStore for the polka dots and Mash46 for the flower design on my accent nail. My manicure was topped with 1 coat of HK Girl topcoat.

I seriously am deeply in love with this manicure! I'm really happy with how my gradients have been coming out lately. I've been working so hard on those! I'd love to know what you all think of my yellow nails! Would you wear this? 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

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

MASH Review: Nail Art Stamping Polish

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a review post for you all. I was asked to review MASH's Nail Art Polish for Stamping. After being so impressed with their last set of stamping plates, I accepted the offer with no hesitation. I hope you all enjoy this post.

Since I am reviewing their black and white stamping polishes I thought it would be best to test their opacity ability on contrasting colors. I used Bettina Matte (white) on my ring and index fingers and Bettina Onix (black) on my pinky, middle, and thumb.

I chose an image from MASH-45 and began stamping. On the fingers I painted black, I used their white stamping polish. On the fingers I painted white, I used their black stamping polish.

You all know that my go-to stamping polishes for black and white designs are from Konad so that's what I will be comparing these to. The first thing I noticed is that the polish bottles were larger than Konad's bottles. MASH Nail Art Polish is .50 fl oz while Konad's is .42 fl oz. The next thing I noticed was that the consistency of these polishes were considerably thinner than Konad's. For me, this leaves issues with opacity as you can see in the pictures. However, it also means that I am not in a rushed frenzy to transfer the image to my nails because it doesn't dry as fast on the plate.

Upon completion of this review, I would say that the MASH Nail Art Polish for Stamping is a great alternative. These work well especially for those of you who have gave up on stamping just because you can't get it fast enough (trust me, I've been there, too!). The price is fantastic as well! These retail on MASH's website for $5.99 and shipping is FREE! Overall, I think these polishes are fantastic for anyone starting out with stamping. I would definitely recommend these to beginners and pro's alike. If you are interested in purchasing these stamping polishes, just click on this link. MASH also offers a great variety of accessories, tools, and nail care products so make sure to check out their website http://www.mashnails.com/. 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

**EDIT: I MUST add that these polishes clean up so much better and easier than Konad's. They do not stain and with a quick swipe of a q-tip dipped in nail polish remover or acetone it is GONE! That, my dears, is a HUGE plus!**

Goth Mani (Stamping Sunday Challenge Theme)

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I will be sharing a mani with you that I never would have thought of doing. Today's theme for the Adventures In Stamping group on Facebook is Goth. I would normally never gravitate to a theme like this just because it isn't a genre I know much about. This is one of the reasons joining a group like this is great. It allows you to push your creative boundaries and come up with ideas you normally wouldn't think of.

Photo credit: http://www.vampirerave.com/profiles/profiles2.php?profile=bbbchick

Like I mentioned above, I know nothing about Goth so I decided to ask my good ol' friend Google! As I was searching images of what Goth looks like I noticed there were a bunch with fairies in them. I decided that the photo above would be my inspiration image for the day.

My manicure began with a base of Milani's Smoothe Base Coat followed by two coats of OPI My Private Jet. This is the not-so-awesomely-holo version of this polish. I still like it very much, though. My Private Jet is a dark brown base with scattered holographic glitter throughout it. Application and formula was very nice and so was the dry time.

Next I used my Sally Hansen Color Quick pen in Purple Chrome along with Red Angel image plate RA-116 on my thumb, index, middle, and pinky fingers to stamp on a large rose image. I chose to only use about half of the rose and stamped it on the right edge of my nails.

Next I stamped on the skull which comes from MASH image plate MASH-29. I used Sally Hansen Color Quick pen in Gold Chrome for the skull. Then I stamped on the fairy which was from RA-113 and I used the SHCQ pen in Pink Chrome. I gave the fairy wings which came from RA-115. The small roses under the skull come from CH14 which is a Cheeky image plate. I used the Purple Chrome for those.

I am very much pleased with how this manicure came out. I think it's Goth with a bit of a girly touch. What do you think, did I nail this one? What kind of manicure would you do for a Goth theme? 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 Pink Wednesday!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is officially the first day of summer and it's Pink Wednesday, too! I have a lovely summery pink mani to share with you that also features something new. Yesterday my MASH nail stamping plates came in the mail and as soon as I went through all the plates I knew exactly what image I would be using for today's post.

My manicure began with a base of Milani Smoothe Base Coat followed by two coats of Zoya Tobey. Tobey can best be described as: "Very bright nearly-neon fuchsia-based candy pink creme. This fun shade is so bright, you can't help but smile when looking at it." This color is part of Zoya's Classics collection and the application and formula (as you can probably guess) was flawless.

I wanted to glam Tobey up a bit so I decided to apply one coat of Zoya Starla over her. Starla can best 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." These two polishes paired up extremely well and the sparkles from the microglitter gave me exactly what I was looking for!

Next I got out my Konad Special Stamping Polish in white and my new MASH plates. I fell in love with this flowery full nail image that was on plate Mash-42. Once all of my nails were stamped, I topped this manicure off with Color Club's top coat.

Isn't this mani so pretty for the first day of summer? I really do love the colors I chose for this one as well as the image for the nail art. I am very impressed with the quality of the MASH stamping plates. They are incredibly inexpensive and are etched well. If you would like to check out the rest of the images on these plates you can visit MASH's website and purchase the plates here. 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