Oxygen Bar Just Blue Me Away!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! As promised, I have my first Valentine's Day mani to share with you guys today. Before I get into it, I just want to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you! LuvMyLacquer hit 1,000 followers this weekend and I am still over-the-moon with excitement about that! You all have been so supportive since day one and I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate you for joining me on my blogging journey and having me as part of this amazing community. 

Today's manicure is a little unconventional when it comes to the Valentine's Day theme. It's not your typical pink, red and white manicure but it sure is cutesy and would be great to wear on the day for lovers, don't you think? Let me share with you how I achieved this look. 

This manicure began with two coats each of Essie Play Date and Bettina 190. The formula for both of these polishes is really nice. They went on smoothly and had a high gloss finish without a topcoat. I chose these colors to play up the fabulous glitter I used, Loaded Lacquer Oxygen Bar. Oxygen Bar is described as matte neon pink, matte neon blue, metallic purple, holographic lavender and periwinkle hex and squares in multiple sizes. I love everything about this polish. The neon glitters are incredibly eye catching while the periwinkle glitter lends a softer feel and the tiny holographic glitter keeps it playful.

These stamping decals were created with Pueen43, Cult Nails Tempest, Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!, & China Glaze Gothic Lolita. I applied a coat of Orly Prisma Gloss Silver because..well, one could never have too much holo sparkliness, right? I sealed all of cuteness in with a coat of my favorite glossy topcoat, HKGirl, and voilà!

Do you all love this mani as much as I do? I just love the glitter in Oxygen Bar and it was a great inspiration for this look. Did you know that you have a chance of winning this polish and lots more goodies by entering my Fan Appreciation Giveaway? Are there any looks you'd like to see from me for Valentine's Day? 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

Model City: "More Than Words", I Love Your Sugar Cookie!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! A few weeks ago I just so happened to be on Facebook at the right time because I came across a flash giveaway and was lucky enough to actually win, yaaaay!! The giveaway was held by Above The Curve and Model City and the winner simply had to guess a number between 1-1000. I chose 815 (Gabrielle's birthday) & got to pick a polish and cuticle oil from Model City as my awesome prize. 

Admittedly, I haven't heard of Model City before this giveaway but was instantly intrigued by the beautiful creations in her shop upon clicking the link in her Facebook bio. I mean, wow! Gorgeous holos and glitter polishes, what was there not to love? It was hard to pick one but I'm very happy with the pretty that I chose.

More Than Words is described as a berry holographic jelly blend with a splash red micro flakes. The description is dead on! I applied three coats of this beauty for this look. I liked this polish more and more with each coat. The berry color is super pretty and the scattered holo particles blinged it up perfectly, but the red flakes in it are what made me fall in love with this polish. Just look at them in the macro below!

Stunning, isn't it? One of the things I really loved about this manicure was that I didn't use my clean up brush once! The formula and brush are perfection as was the scent of the sugar cookie cuticle oil I received in this prize pack. This blend of Sweet Almond oil, Avocado oil, Vitamins A, C, D, & E, and fragrance oils, absorbed into my cuticles very fast and didn't leave a greasy feel. It really did smell like sugar cookies, too! 

If you are a fan of holo, jelly, and glasss fleck polishes like I am you will absolutely adore More Than Words! I love this color and really want to try more of the Model City polishes now. Model City nail polish retails for $8.50/15mL bottle. The cuticle oil is a steal at $4.50, too! Check out more Model City goodies by clicking here. 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

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

Holographic Gradient With Striping Tape

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Hope all is well with you guys! Today's post is a striping tape gradient manicure that I did a while ago but I love it so much I wanted to share with you guys. It features the three holographic polishes from Zoya's Ornate Collection.

My mani began with a base of Essie grow Faster. I proceeded to paint my pinky, index and thumb Zoya Storm. Storm is a black base with scattered holographic particles, it's amazing! I then painted my ring and middle fingers with Blaze. Blaze is a magic in a bottle. I believe I wore this color at least 4 times already. I can't get enough of that gorgeous berry toned red.

I applied striping tape to my accent nails in the same pattern. Using a makeup sponge, I created a gradient over the striping tape using Storm, Blaze and Aurora. Aurora is a scattered holo that's purple perfection! I removed the striping tape once i was done with the gradient and topped it all off with HK Girl topcoat.

In person the gradient appeared to have been suspended over the base. It was really cool and I got a lot of compliments on it! How did you guys like this collection? Have you done a striping tape 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

**These polishes were sent to me for review.**

Happy Pink Holo Wednesday!

Hello Lacquer Luvers and welcome to Pink Wednesday! I hope you all are having a fantastic week so far. Today I get to share with you a pretty pink holo that I received in a swap with the lovely Ms. Nikki! Nikki always spoils me in swaps and sends the prettiest colors to me. Thank you Nikki! <3

Today's manicure began with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by three coats of Kleancolor Neon Pink. This pink has been in my stash for quite some time now & I was really excited to use it. Unfortunately, my bottle has a wonky brush that made application a mini nightmare. No matter how lightly I tried to apply each coat the brush would leave marks and some spots were not level because of it. I don't know how else to explain it. I really do love this color, and the formula was great for a neon but I really do wish the brush wasn't so terrible. Because this is a neon, it dried to a matte finish which I was not a fan of so here it is topped with a coat of Essie Good To Go topcoat. The topcoat seriously helped to cover up all the imperfections.

Next I layered one coat of Kleancolor Holo Pink over my pink base. Holo Pink is a sheer pink base with holographic glitter in it. The brush on this one gave me no problems with application. I am not sure how this color would work on it's own since it's on the sheer side but it is really great for layering over a pink cream. It gives it that bit of oomph & sparkle that I think is really pretty.

Once that dried, I stamped on a design from Konad's M70 plate using their Special Stamping Polish in black. I finished this mani with a coat of Essie's Good To Go topcoat.

Pink and black is one of my favorite color combinations and I really love how the holo glitters shine in this mani. What do you think luvs? Is this something you would wear? I think it's a fun mani and a great way to get through hump day. 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

Gorgeous Glitter Gal

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and that your Monday is off to a better start than mine. My son spilled grape juice all over his uniform right before getting on the bus for school. I had to scramble getting something for him to wear in about 4 minutes before the bus came, which made for a pretty hectic start for the week. However, everything gets better once you paint your nails, right? Right! =)

Last week I received the best swap package ever from Mary! I have been lemming for Glitter Gal's Light As A Feather foreverrr and she was kind enough to swap me for it. I sent her a nail polish ring I made using my franken, Pink Aurora, along with a red polish (her favorite shade) & some other little treats. Mary sent me a lovely card, some yummy candy (Tyus, my son, went at the candy before I could open the card, lol!), Diamond Cosmetics Don't Teal My Heart Away (this shade was made for Ovarian Cancer Awareness) & my lemming - Glitter Gal Light As A Feather!

I couldn't wait to get this beauty on my nails! Although I loved my splatter mani from Friday, I just couldn't wait any longer so I took it off this morning and sat down in my polish room to paint on some epic gorgeousness. And believe me, a white-grey holo is indeed EPIC!

I began my manicure today with a base coat of L.A. Colors hardener-strengthener. It's a clear blue polish that you can find in dollar stores and serves as a dupe for NfuOh's Aqua Base (the suggested base coat for holographic polishes). Once dried, I applied three coats of Light As A Feather. I didn't use a top coat for this manicure as I didn't want the holo effect to get "lost." Light As A Feather has a great formula and brush. I didn't have any brush strokes and it applied effortlessly, though you do need at least three coats to reach full opacity as it is a bit sheer.

I've seen this polish described as a white holo. I would definitely say it's more of a pale grey. All-in-all it is oh so yummy!

I can't stop staring at my nails! I would say this is one holo that would be okay to wear to work since it's so light and the holographic effect is subtle, yet very much there. Next time I wear this I will layer it over Bettina Sand Blast since the bottles are small (9ml) & I want this to last me forever! What do you all think? What's your most favorite holo polish in your collection? I would like to thank Mary, again, for swapping with me! I absolutely am in love with this baby. 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

**Glitter Gal holographic nail polishes can be purchased directly from their site, www.glittergal.com/au as well as on Leah Ann's website, www.shop.llarowe.com**

10 Day Challenge: Day 5

Hello Lacquer Luvers and welcome to the halfway point of the 10 Day Challenge that Kelly & I are doing! Yesterday we both agreed that since we would be busy shopping for Black Friday it would be best to just hold off a day for the challenge. Today calls for blue nails. Whilst looking through my stash, I realized I don't have many blues. However, one did stand out far above the rest. Today I bring you the amazing Glitter Gal Marine Blue!

This post will be short because, well, quite honestly the pictures speak for themselves. I began with a coat of OPI Nail Envy for this mani and applied 2 coats of Marine Blue. The formula for this was a little thick but went on very nicely.  Now on to the blue holographic goodness!

I didn't think this mani needed any art since the holo is so pretty. Maybe next time...I don't know why I can't bring myself to put art on holographic polishes. What do you all think of blue polish? Which is your favorite? Don't forget that  Ms. Kelly from Posh For Polish is doing this challenge with me so please go take a look at her take on blue nails and make sure to follow her as well! 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

Hello, Holo!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! The sun came out to play today & so did this little bottle of holo awesomesauce known as NfuOh 61. NfuOh has a series of linear holographic nail polishes numbered 61-66. #61 is a silver based holo that I was lucky enough to win in a giveaway from Jessicav.Polish =)

For this mani, I began with my usual base of OPI Nail Envy. NfuOh recommends using their Aqua Base for their holographic polishes. I don't have the Aqua Base and remembered someone posting in a nail polish group on Facebook that L.A. Colors Hardener-Strengthener works well as a base and that it can be found in dollar stores. I was happy to find it at Family Dollar and put on one coat after my Nail Envy dried. I then did 3 thin coats of NfuOh 61. I was scared after the 1st coat because it was awfully streaky but I am loving the end result. I didn't put a top coat over this or any designs because I just couldn't bring myself to covering it up. Next time I might, though.

Just look at that rainbow! Wow!

Do any of you have NfuOh 61 or any of their other holos? I have #66 also, which is a green based holo that I can't wait to show you at another time. I hope you enjoyed today's post my lovely Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing another one with you tomorrow, xo!

~Jessica