Studded Neon Graffiti Nails

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far. Things are pretty busy around here but I'm enjoying spending time with my family. I got around to doing my nails last night and couldn't wait to get up and take pictures of this! I'm sure most of you are expecting something with hearts.. I'll have those up this week, I promise! It's been a while since I've done a neon mani though and the mood struck me to come up with this:

I received these 2mm round neon studs from The Daily Charme a while ago. While re organizing my stash, I came across them again and knew that I wanted to use them for my next mani. The plate that I used for this manicure was right under these studs and I haven't used that yet either so I grabbed these and an arsenal of neon polishes and got to work. 

I began with 2 coats of Bettina Matte and 1 coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism (FPBE). Matte is a basic white polish and was great for getting the neon colors to pop. Using a makeup sponge, I dipped the corners in various colors (Essie Bottle Service + multiple Island Girl neons) and applied the polish to my white canvases. Once that dried, I used FPBE to stamp on this image from Lily Anna 08 and sealed my nails with my oh-so-shiny HKGirl topcoat. I completed this manicure by adding the neon studs before the topcoat was completely dry.

I love how the studs pop against the black polish and the graffiti-ish vibe the image on this plate gives this manicure! You can find these awesome studs in The Daily Charme's Etsy shop for $3.50 & the Lily Anna 08 plate on Messy Mansion's website for $10.00. 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

It's Time to Think Pink!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I get to share my very first Breast Cancer Awareness manicure of 2013! This also happens to be the hardest post I've ever had to write. For those of you that have been following my blog for a while now, you may recall me mentioning that I always dedicate these mani's to my beautiful grandmother who was a warrior and two time survivor of breast cancer. This past April my grandmother was called to the heavens above and I miss her with every beat of my heart. I know a lot of you know through a post on instagram but I could never bring myself to write about it here. Although she didn't lose her fight with breast cancer, I still want to dedicate this manicure to her and to all of the survivors, those who are current fighters, family members, children and friends of those who are so strong and come face to face with this undeniably challenging battle.

My manicure began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by two coats of Bettina Silk. Silk is such a soft and delicate dusty pink. The formula was easy to manage and it dried pretty glossy. Once Silk dried I applied one coat of Orly Prisma Gloss Silver to all of my nails for a nice touch of scattered holographic prettiness.

 

For nail art, I wanted to try something a little different. I was inspired by two ladies on instagram with this idea. The other day I saw a manicure done by @nailmachine that I fell in love with. She was rocking a yellow water marble design with some thick slimlining in white. @pshiiit_polish had done quite a few gradients within a triangle on her nails that were always so pretty to me. I mashed these ideas together, and added a few studs and some Bundle Monster pink ribbon stamping on my thumb to complete my look. 

I used Bettina Pink Bikini & Matte for the water marble. Scotch tape helped me create the triangle and also was a great aid with clean up since most of the polish got on the tape instead of my fingers. Bettina 187 & BM321 were used for my pink ribbons. HK Girl topcoat completed my manicure and was used as the "glue" for the studs.

The ring I'm wearing in the photo above is one I inherited. The stone flips and reveals a cameo on the other side. So classy and beautiful, just like my grandmother. I have a few more ideas for breast cancer awareness manicures and I cannot wait to share them with you guys! If you have done or plan on doing a BCA manicure this month I would love to see it so please feel free to tag me on instagram. 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