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

Splattered Pink Wednesday

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a pretty neat splatter to share with you all. This one is a drug-store splatter. Well, at least for me it is. I picked up a couple of the Spoiled polishes a while ago when they were on sale for $0.99 at CVS. I know that Bettina isn't a drug-store brand for most of you but here in Miami you can find it in some Walgreens and also a pharmacy called Navarro.

I began with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by two coats of Tip Your Waitress. This is a neon pink polish, although in my pics it doesn't show how bright it really is. I LOVE this color! It's gorgeous and doesn't dry incredibly matte like most neons. The formula for this baby is perfection. I've heard horror stories about the brushes on these polishes. Mine are all fine. I actually quite like how wide they are, too. It makes application a breeze for me.

Once Tip Your Waitress dried (which was really fast, by the way) I began to splatter. I use small red straws from Dunkin Donuts for this but I'm sure just about any straw will do. To achieve this look, simply drop a few drops of polish onto paper and dip the end of the straw into it. On the undipped end of the straw blow short quick puffs of air which will blow the polish out and on to your nail. The colors I used were: Spoiled Kickin' The Habit (purple) & Bettina's Matte (white) & Aqua (blue).

I use the same straw during this entire manicure. I just snip the end off with a pair of scissors after each color I use. To finish this mani, I used one coat of Color Club's top coat.

I believe this is the third splatter mani I have showed you guys. I hope you aren't getting tired of them because I really do love doing it. They are so much fun and very easy to do. I love working with bright colors and this season I plan on doing a few more of these. 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

Girly-Girl Nail Art Challenge Day 4

Hello Lacquer Luvers and welcome to my Day 4 post of the Girly-Girl Nail Art Challenge. I am super excited about this post. Day 4's challenge is - "Inspired by the Runway: What is your favorite trend this season? Show us your stylish mani!" I've never been much of a "fashionista" but I had so much fun  searching for different trends & coming up with a manicure for this challenge.

One of the hottest trends this Spring is color-blocking & pastels. I've personally seen color-blocking everywhere from clothes to shoes and pastels seem to be a must-have in our closets this season. Upon searching for inspiration, I came across this website with a photo from Prada's Spring/Summer 2012 collection that was shown in Milan:

Photo credit: http://myp3r.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/loving-pradas-springsummer-2012-pastels-and-pleating/

I fell in love with the dress farthest on the right. It's so chic & stylish and I could definitely see someone wearing this walking around South Beach or for lunch and shopping on Ft. Lauderdale's Las Olas Boulevard. Now, on to my right-off-the-runway inspired manicure.

My manicure began with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by 2 coats each of new color from WetNWild. These colors, from the Megalast line, are Club Havana (an orange/coral creme) & I Need a Refresh-Mint (turquoise-y seafoam green creme). Both application and formula were very nice with these. The new Megalast line has revamped their bottles and brushes. The bottles went from short and round to a longer square shape which are much prettier, to me. The brushes are now tapered and wide which is great and makes for easy application.

Once the base colors dried, I took Scotch tape and placed it on my nails diagonally. Next I went with the opposite shade of the base colors and painted over it to create a two-toned look.

After that dried, I took another piece of Scotch tape and put it on my nails diagonally. I used WetNWild Fastdry in Ebony Hates Chris. This created a triangle effect. I topped this manicure off with a coat of Essie Good To Go.

Excuse the boo-boo on my ring finger. I was in a rush to get this done and the black polish wasn't completely dried and dragged a bit. Other than that tiny mistake I absolutely looove this look!! I really like these colors together and the color-blocking style that the tape helped me to create. What's even more awesome about this manicure is that all of the polishes I used are $1.99 and can be found in drugstores! So for $5.97 (plus tax) you can create a chic and stylish manicure inspired by your favorite high-end designer. What do you think of this mani luvs? To see some more manicures inspired by the runway, check out these blog posts of the other girls participating in this challenge:

Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog

Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road

Stephanie of A Little Polish

Kelly of Polish Enthusiast

Jodi of Captivating Claws

Danielle of Rock N Polish

Elly of Polishable

Olivia of Unprofessional Nails

Kate of This Charming Kate

Bethany of  A Plethora Of Nails

Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady

Eugenia of Talon-ted

Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind

Amanda of Nox Nails

Ashley of Smashley Sparkles

Sarah of See Sarah Swatch

Emily of The Lacquerologist

Tressa of O' Natur Nail

As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post (which will be today!) with you, xo!

~Jessica

Girly-Girl Nail Art Challenge Day 2

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today's post is part of the Girly-Girl Nail Art Challenge. I have fallen a bit behind in the past week but will be catching up this week. Today I have last Thursday's post, tomorrow I will have Day's 3 & 4 for you all. So, last Thursday's challenge was Gimme That Bling: Diamonds are a girl's best friend, so put some sparkle on those nails!

I immediately began singing Rihanna's song, We Found Love, upon reading the word diamonds. You know, "yellow diamonds in the night..". That was the inspiration for my blingy mani today. (Yes, I am aware that the yellow diamonds in this song are a reference to an illegal substance but I could not help myself and still thought of a sweet mani for this theme based off of that.)

I began my manicure today with a base of Essie Grow Faster followed by one coat of WetNWild's Ebony Hates Chris & an accent nail using two coats of Bettina Yellow on my ring finger.

Next I applied Color Club top coat to use as an adhesive for my "yellow diamonds." I applied them using a toothpick dipped in a tiny bit of clear polish.

I then used Scotch tape & Ebony Hates Chris to create a black funky french on my accent nail. Next I stamped on a black diamond using my Konad Special Stamping Polish in black and the diamond image from Bundle Monster's BM09 plate. I didn't put topcoat on the nails with the rhinestones but I did use Essie Good To Go on my accent finger to finish off this mani.

How's that for a sparkling manicure? I am really happy with the way this turned out. I have this song stuck in my head again as I type this and I'm sure some of you will, too! What do you think of this mani luvs? To see some more blinged out nails, check out these blog posts of the other girls partaking in this challenge:

Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog

Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road

Stephanie of A Little Polish

Kelly of Polish Enthusiast

Jodi of Captivating Claws

Danielle of Lacquer Lover

Elly of Polishable

Olivia of Unprofessional Nails

Kate of This Charming Kate

Bethany of  A Plethora Of Nails

Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady

Eugenia of Talon-ted

Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind

Amanda of Nox Nails

Ashley of Smashley Sparkles

Sarah of See Sarah Swatch

Emily of The Lacquerologist

Tressa of O' Natur Nail

As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post (which will be today!) with you, xo!

~Jessica

Pink Aurora

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all are enjoying the weekend. My weekend is going pretty well thanks to a surprise by the Hubby. He's been working out of town since November and wasn't supposed to return until May. However, he got some new puppies to train (he's a Greyhound trainer) so he's home for the next 2 months and that makes me incredibly happy. It's hard seeing him just 2 days a week, so him being home for the next 2 months is great news for me! =)

You girls loved the franken in my Pink Wednesday & My Franken so much that I just HAD to give her her own post! If you all remember, I had asked for name suggestions for this beauty as I was so stuck trying to come up with the perfect name for her. Lizzy O., thank you so much for your suggestion, Pink Aurora! That is exactly what this polish reminds me of - a pink aurora borealis - and it is the absolute perfect name! Before I get on to the pics, let me warn you now:

**WARNING/DISCLAIMER: LuvMyLacquer is not responsible for any drool that reaches your keyboard due to the gorgeousness of this post. Please, take a minute to get a tissue before you proceed.**

Outside in the shade

This manicure began with a base of OPI Nail Envy. I applied 2 coats of WetNWild Ebony Hates Chris. I could've easily gotten away with one coat but decided to do two for photo purposes. Once that dried, I applied one coat of my franken, Pink Aurora. I topped this manicure with a coat of Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat.

Outside in the shade

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

Outside in the shade

<3 Close-up/Macro shot <3

Photo credit: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast31jul_1/

So ladies, what do you think of my franken on the nail? I am absolutely in love with her! This polish can easily be used for a Galaxy Nail manicure as it looks so much like scattered stars amongst a pink sky. This is so much fun to look at. I can't stop staring at my nails! I especially love the iridescent glitter and watching the colors flash as I turn my hand different ways. Lizzy, I would love to thank you for helping me name this baby by sending you a ring! It will be the same as mine & totally new (lol). If you leave me your full name and shipping address in an email at luvmylacquer@yahoo.com I will be sure to have it in the mail for you this week! And don't worry, I use adjustable ring blanks so it will fit you =) 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