It's My Birthday!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! For my 29th birthday I have a short and super sweet post to share with you guys. I wanted to try something that I'm sure we've all seen before - the birthday cupcake mani! Here's my twist on these cute festive nails that are so easy and fun to do..

For my mani I used Essie Feed Me as the base coat followed by two coats of Zoya Yummy on my nails and two coats of Zoya Blu on the accent finger. That gorgeous glitter is Shimmer Polish Julia, love! The cupcake was done with Zoya's Yummy & Blu, Bettina Marshmallow, Shimmer Julia & a cute heart shaped rhinestone from born pretty store.

I love the macro shots! They really show how gorgeous Julia is. You can expect to see more Shimmer Polish on my blog in the very near future. I love that these were so easy to do and that I kept them blue for Autism Awareness month! 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    

When Water Mabling Goes Blue for Autism Awareness!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Before I get into my post I would like to take a second to thank you all and to apologize. I feel so bad that I haven't been posting regularly. There are alot of things and changes going on in my personal life that are taking the majority of time. I'm trying my best to keep up with everything and trying to take it all in stride. I just wanted to thank you guys for sticking around and baring with me. It truly does mean a lot to me. Now, on to the good stuff! =)

I began my mani with a base of Essie Feed Me then proceeded to build my bullseye. Yup, you read that right. I didn't use a base color for these because I was pressed for time. What I love about Bettina polishes is that their buttery smooth formulas are incredibly pigmented! The colors more or less stay true even in the water. Here I used Bettina Elegant Blue, Vintage & Marshmallow and finished it with a coat of HK Girl.

These colors went nicely together, I think. I love how each nail comes out differently but sometimes wish they all came out the same. I like my middle finger best here. Do you water marble? Have you guys been lighting it up blue? If you are on Instagram tag me (@luvmylacquer) so that I can see!

Early intervention is key with this disorder and that's what I want to get out to the world today. My family began to notice that our son wasn't talking at all by the time he was 18 months old. We asked his Dr. about it and were immediately referred to specialists at the University of Miami. Although hearing that something could be wrong with him devastated us, we knew it was important to try and get him help early on. The specialists at UM did a wonderful job of explaining the disorder to us & guiding us on the right path to get him all the therapy available at the time. Not only was this a huge step for us as a family to gather as much information as possible so that we could aid our baby, it has proved to be fundamental to his success! If you suspect a developmental delay in your child I urge you to go and find out as much as you can. It will make it easier on all parties involved and once your child starts to show you how much they're progressing you will automatically feel rewarded for your determination in taking these early steps. 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    

The New Professional Nail Polish Neutral from Zoya!

The New Professional Nail Polish Neutral from Zoya!

“Work Appropriate” nail polish doesn’t have to be boring.

Get to work with the best neutral nail polish: Zoya Godiva

We all know that “work appropriate” fashion and beauty office guidelines vary greatly from company to company depending on the business at hand. And fingernails are often viewed as best covered in clear nail polish, just buffed or a worn in classic French Manicure to error on the side of humdrum and boring but safe in some environments...

Zoya PixieDustTM in Godiva solves this common workplace dilemma with a neutral nail polish color option that is modern, soft and stylish and works as well in the classroom, boardroom and courtroom as it does at a red-carpet movie premieres.

 

Here’s why... the textured, matte nude nail polish Godiva is beautifully buildable from semi-sheer as a single coat to full-coverage in just two coats, depending on your personal color intensity preference. No matter what, the look is always that of impeccably groomed and modest with just enough sparkle to keep things feminine (and a dare we say a bit sexy too - work it girl!).

 

The unexpected and huge bonus to Zoya’s PixieDustTM Godiva formulation is that the color dries quickly, requires no base or top coats and is long wearing - which saves precious time for busy professional women (and Mom’s) who always want and need to look their best in a variety of professional situations.

 

 

INSIDER PRO MANICURE TIP: If you would like to customize Godiva to perfectly match your skin tone, it’s easy. Simply add a drop or two of another Zoya PixieDustTM color, usually Chyna, as desired to the bottle and blend by gently stirring the two shades together. Wearing the color as a semi-sheer single coat also allows your natural skin tone to show through for subtle “naked nail” look that works beautifully with any light or dark skin pigmentation.

 

See the “Zoya How to apply Zoya PixieDustTM Video” for more great beauty tips and tricks to use when applying Zoya PixieDustTM.

 

Credit Info
Zoya PixieDustTM Nail Polish in Godiva
$9 ea (US)
www.zoya.com

 

Photo credit: Zoya Nail Polish

 

All About Nail It! Magazine

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today's post is all about the hottest magazine in newstands, Nail It! I first saw this magazine in my Instagram feed & was on a mission to get a copy in my hands. The cover of the premiere issue is incredibly cool with the model rocking some fierce studded gloves accompanied with an equally fierce studded manicure. I couldn't help but to snatch this up as soon as i saw it at Target!

The articles in this magazine cater to those of us who like to stay on trend. While it features professional/salon products, it isn't a pro only magazine & I like that. It features lots of articles targeted to everyday consumers (AKA polishaholics like us lol) and even comes equipped with a salon checklist so that you can know what to look for for a safe salon mani/pedi experience.

My personal favorite manicure in the magazine. These icecream nails were crazy cool!

So, as stated on the cover there were some free nail decals inside:

Aren't these designs by Kiss cute? I have only tried nail decals like these once so I was really looking forward to trying them again. I'm sure you guys see my slight obsession with animal print nails throughout my posts so there's no guessing which decal I couldn't wait to try!

There was one sticker to each design so I went with a skittlette for my mani. I used Sinful Colors polishes in Black on Black and Pink as my base colors. On my index is the ever so fabulous black and white glitter topper from Different Dimensions called Social Suicide. I matched the pink of the sticker to the pink nail polish but  didn't realize that the black polish would make the sticker darker. Although I had a little wrinkling at the edges (this is user error) I really really liked how easy these were to apply! Had I done this by hand it would've taken forever which makes the strips very convenient.

So Lacquer Luvers, for $5.99 I got a fantastic new magazine and got to create a mani from it! I urge you all to pick this up when you see it on newsstands, you will LOVE it! You can also subscribe to it which is what I did after reading the first issue. 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


**The regularly scheduled blue mani's for Autism Awareness month will presume. I just wanted to get this awesomeness out to you guys!**

It's World Autism Awareness Day!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend and got to enjoy some time with your families. I'm really excited to share today's post with you all. As most of you are aware, my son, Tyus, is autistic and today is World Autism Awareness Day. Last year we rocked blue manicures during the month of April in support of my not only my son, but for families everywhere who are affected by autism and I hope you guys join me again this year! Here's my very first Autism Awareness manicure for 2013:

My mani began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by one coat of Bettina Elegant Blue. Elegant Blue is a gorgeous dusty navy one coater with a smooth-like-butter formula. Next I applied one coat of Pure Ice Strapless which is a really pretty blue glitter. I then used Bettina Vintage to stamp on the puzzle piece images using BM319 & my Konad Special White polish and BM321 for the ribbons. Puzzle pieces are logos for autism and although my ribbons really should've been blue, I wanted them to pop with a little white. My mani was topped with a coat of HK Girl topcoat.

We got a kick-start on Autism Awareness Month last night by putting a blue light bulb in our porch light. Tyus was so excited because blue is his favorite color! I am really happy with how my mani came out and am looking forward to a month of blue manicures. I hope you will join us again, dear friends! 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

Bettina Lilac and Pink Water Marble

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I'm really excited to share today's post with you guys! As you all know, water marbling is one of my favorite types of nail art. It's been so long since I've had a chance to get one done and I'm really happy with the results of this one.

This is a Bettina marble and the colors that I used were Marshmallow, Haze & Giacinto. I began with a coat of Essie Feed Me followed by one coat of Bettina Marshmallow. I then began to build my bullseye in the water with the three colors and proceeded with the design. I topped this off with HK Girl topcoat.

I really love how delicate and girly this mani came out. The design is one of my favs for marbling, too! Have you guys tried water marbling? I know it's alot of work and very hard to get right but the results are always beautiful and unique. 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

A Sugar Rush Splatter

Hello Lacquer Lovers! Today's post features what was probably Walgreens' most anticipated collection for Spring. The Sugar Rush Collection by Sinful Colors contains 7 new pastel shades and 1 preexisting shade that are sure to send you on an eye candy high.

L-R Unicorn, Orange Cream, Cotton Candy, Sugar N Spice, Sweet Tooth, Candy Coated, Sugar Rush, Sweet Nothing

 My mani began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I used Unicorn, Cotton Candy, Sweet Tooth & Sugar Rush for the splatter. This look is achieved by dipping the end of a straw into a puddle of polish and blowing short quick puffs of air into the other end. HK Girl topcoat completed my manicure.

I really love how fun and easy these splatters are. The end results are always unique, too!

Above is a photo of a manicure using some of the Sugar Rush polishes. I applied 2 coats of Snow Me White and used a makeup sponge to create this gorgeous gradient with Cotton Candy, Sweet Tooth & Sugar Rush. The candies were stamped using my Konad Special white polish & a Bundle Monster image plate (BM306). The gradient for this mani made it so hard not to stare at my nails all day, I loved it!

So Lacquer Luvers, do you have the Sugar Rush Collection? Which are your favorite colors? Both of these manicures were really fun and I'm excited to hear what you all think of them! 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