Le Chat DJ Mix

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have a lovely mani to share with you. I was inspired by the outfit I'm wearing today: teal shirt, jeans, & blue/teal/green flowery wedges. This teal polish is a neon which made it hard for my camera to capture the true color. It's called DJ Mix by Le Chat & I picked this one up around Thanksgiving when my sister came down to visit.

I began my manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next I applied two coats of DJ Mix by Le Chat. This polish has a pretty good formula. It's really pigmented & is completely opaque in just two coats. Like I said above, because this is a neon, my camera didn't really pick up the true color. It is a bit more green in person. I paid $1 for this at a nail supply store called Hollywood Nails.

For nail art, I stamped on an image from BundleMonster's BM224 image plate using Konad Special Stamping Polish in white. I've used this design before here. I topped my mani off with Essie's Good To Go top coat.

This manicure reminds me of Spring. I really like this shade of teal and the white stamping really does pop off the base color. What do you think lacquer luvers? Like it, love it, or hate it? Have any of you ever tried Le Chat's Dare To Wear nail polishes? 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**

Fun Friday Splatter Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! It's the end of the week and I have a fun Friday manicure to share with you all. I was inspired by Ms. Jodi over at Captivating Claws to do this mani today. Jodi posted An Electropop Splatter manicure on her blog & I could not stop thinking about how fun it looked and how I really wanted to have this on my nails! I do not have the Electropop Collection by China Glaze, however, I have some pretty awesome Bettina's that I thought I could do this with. For my splatter mani, I used the following colors by Bettina: Matte, Yellow, Sherbet, Pink Bikini, Green Apple, Peppermint, & Secret Garden (see photo below).

I began this manicure with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Next, I applied two coats of Matte. Matte is a white cream polish that is just so perfect. I love this polish because white polishes tend to be streaky, uneven, and thick. This one, however, is totally opposite of that. The formula is amazing!

Once the two coats of Matte dried, I began splattering. To achieve this look, you will need some straws. I used 2 straws that I got from Dunkin' Donuts and cut them into three pieces each so that I could have six short straws (1 for each color that I splattered). On a piece of glossy paper, I dropped a few drops of Secret Garden. I dipped the end of the straw in the polish and blew short strong puffs into the opposite end of the straw to push the polish out and onto my nails. Once you have your first color down, you just rotate the straws and the polishes until you have each color on all of your nails.

Ooooh, pretty colors!

How fun does that look?! I LOVE this so much! It looks like someone dropped buckets of paint onto my nails. What do you all think of this mani? Is this something you would wear? I had so much fun recreating Jodi's manicure. Make sure you all go have a look & follow her blog, Captivating Claws, as I am sure you all will love it just as much as I do! There are a few great tutorials on YouTube, also, that show you how to do this (just type in splatter mani). 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

~*Pink Wednesday*~

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all are having a great week so far. I must say, I am in a GREAT mood today! It is Wednesday and you all know what that means - pink, pink, pink!! =)

I began my manicure today with a base of Essie Grow Faster. Once dry, I applied three coats of Island Fuchsia by Jordana. I LOVE this pink! It is a lovely shade that leans a bit towards a dusty purple. This pretty has opalescent shimmer in it that is just so much fun to look at. The formula for this polish is
great! I could've gotten away with two coats, however, Last Chance (the green I reviewed in yesterday's post) stained my nails so bad that I had to use 3 coats to cover it up.

Ooooh the shimmerrrr!! For nail art, I used a pretty flower design from BundleMonster's image plate BM221. I used my white Konad Special Stamping Polish for this design.

I can't tell you how much I love this manicure! The name Island Fuchsia & this particular design really compliment eachother. It gives off one of those tropical Hawaiian shirt vibes. What do you girls think of this manicure? Do you love this pink as much as I do? If you are wearing pink today let me know which color you have on in the comments below! I'm on the hunt for some new fab pinks and I know you all know of some great ones. 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

My Zoya Will You Be Mine, Sweet Valentine(a) Giveaway!!

Hello my sweet Lacquer Luvers! I am so excited to share this with you guys! I want to spread my luv for lacquer and couldn't think of a better way to do so then to give away 2 bottles of polish from one of my all-time favorite brands, Zoya. To show you girls how much I luv you, I'm giving you all (yes, ALL - my international luvs can enter, too!) a chance to win two Zoya pretties: Sweet & Valentina.

Zoya's description of these polishes-

Sweet: A super-sweet, pale shade of bubblegum pink creme. This candy-like shade is a must have for any girly-girl.

Valentina:  Bright metallic Venetian red with smooth pink and gold metallic shimmer. A head-turning Valentine's Day red that's romantic all year round.

To enter, all you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below! Good luck to you all! I can not wait to see who Will Be Mine, Sweet Valentine(a)!

xo,
Jessica

**This giveaway was not sponsored. All prizes were purchased by me. Ends 02/07/12**

To purchase polishes from Zoya, visit http://zoya.com/ <3

SinfulColors Holiday 2011 WISH Collection

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I have swatch photo's of SinfulColors' Holiday 2011 WISH Collection. This collection was sent to me for review & includes 5 gem-inspired shades of polish & 2 metallic nail art stripers.

Bells are jingling, snow is glistening and merry tunes abound: It's the season of shimmer (aka; the holidays) and glamour, of course. And your nails deserve a little gift and loving too. Welcome the SinfulColors holiday collection, Wish, which delights and excites. The collection takes classic colors- like red, green, silver and blue-and kicks them up a notch to be fashion-forward and festive to ring in 2012.

Each swatch photo began with a base of Essie Grow Faster & 2 coats of color. I didn't use a topcoat for these photos.

OUT OF THIS WORLD: a perfect silver with swirls of glimmer

SUGAR SUGAR: a candy cane, red-hot tint

LAST CHANCE: an emerald with depth and allure

MIDNIGHT BLUE: a bold, bright twist on navy

DADDY'S GIRL: a deep purple with a drizzle of shimmer and glitter

FLOWER GIRL: a bronzy gold with tons of sparkle & FASHIONISTA: a glitter-laden pewter

SinfulColors surpasses the masses with more than 150 amazing shades of nail polish, including the above-mentioned shades. All hues are available for $1.99 at major drug and mass-market stores nationwide, by calling 1-800-448-0763 or online at www.walgreens.com.

Another Posh For Polish Guest Post

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I did another guest post for Kelly over at Posh For Polish. For more information on this manicure please visit her blog here!

Make sure you follow her blog, too, my sweet Lacquer Luvers! It's great!!

~Jessica

Abstract Metal Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I hope you all are having a fantastic Friday! Today I will be sharing an abstract nail design with you along with a polish that was gifted to me by my sister. I was beyond excited when I opened my sister's gift to me for Christmas. She got me two pretty polishes from Claire's. The one I'm sharing with you today is called Dark Green. It is a metallic polish from their Point The Finger line. You all know how much I love greens and this one is right up my alley.

I began my manicure today with a coat of Essie's Grow Faster for my base. Once dried, I applied three coats of Dark Green. This polish has a metallic finish. As you can imagine, and as with most metallic polishes, this one did leave brush strokes on my nails. Honestly, I didn't mind that so much because I just loved the color! Dry time for this polish was average.

For nail art, I chose two abstract designs off of the same image plate to play with. The image plate I used is BundleMonster's BM-208. I alternated the design on each finger which made my pinky, middle and thumb the same, and my ring and pointer fingers the same. I used Konad Special Stamping Polish in black for the nail art. I topped my manicure off with Essie's Good To Go fast-drying top coat. This was the first time I used anything besides Seche Vite over stamping. Most topcoats have a tendency to smear stamped designs. To my surprise, this one didn't & I was very happy about that.

So Lacquer Luvers, what do you all think of this manicure? I'm quite fond of this shade of green on my skin tone. I love that the stamping covers up some of the brush strokes, too. Would you wear this color or this design? How do you feel about metallic polishes? 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

Pretty Peri-wink-le

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I get to share with you an oldie but goodie. While visiting family and friends during the holiday's I made a few trips to Sally's & this was one of the polishes that I picked up - China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le. This beauty is part of China Glaze's 2008 Operation Color Collection.

For my mani today, I began with China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat followed by two coats of Secret Peri-wink-le. This dusty cream is essentially exactly the color of it's name - periwinkle. It's right in between being lavender and blue. The formula seemed a bit watery (not sure if it was just my bottle or if it's because it's an older color and the formula itself has changed). I was, however, able to reach full opacity in just two coats and didn't have much of a problem with application.

For nail art, I went ahead and water marbled all of my nails. For my marble, I used Jordana French Manicure polishes in White & Barely Pink. Barely Pink is a sheer polish & when you use it for marbling it has a transparent effect that allows the base color to peek through. Pretty cool, huh? To seal in my manicure, I used Essie's Good To Go topcoat.

I really like how this came out. It's simple but pretty. Secret Peri-wink-le is a very unique color in my collection and I can see myself wearing this alot in the spring. Do you ladies own this color? What do you think of my marble? 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

Congrats to my 100 Follower Giveaway Winner!!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! It is with great pleasure that I announce the winner of my 100 Follower Giveaway today, CONGRATULATIONS TO NICOLE FRANKLIN! I am completely amazed at the 568 entries for this giveaway, I would have never guessed I would receive so many entries. You all are awesome! Please don't be discouraged if you didn't win, there will definitely be another giveaway up soon! I will be sending Nicole an email and she will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be announced.

I would like to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for following my blog and leaving me such sweet comments daily. It really is a pleasure to read them all and knowing that there are so many lovelies that share the passion for polish is incredible! Again, Congratulations to Nicole! I hope you enjoy your new pretties, xo!

~Jessica


***I am updating and adding some amazing new Giveaways here! Make sure to check them out and have a look at some awesome blogs, too!**

My Whimsical Mani

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today I wanted to share with you some photos of one of the polishes that is included in my 100 Follower Giveaway. If you haven't entered already, there's still plenty of time to do so. And just a reminder, you guys can get extra entries just by tweeting about my giveaway daily. It's all in the Rafflecopter form so go, go, go! =)

For my mani today, I wanted to show you lovelies Revlon Whimsical. Whimsical is a sheer blue polish that has large hexagonal baby blue and pink glitter along with smaller silver glitter and some iridescent blue/teal glitter. This polish is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter In The Air. Because this is a sheer polish, I wanted to layer it over something. I went along with the blue tint of Whimsical's base and decided that I'd try it over Bettina Peppermint.

I began my manicure with a base of OPI Nail Envy. Next I applied two coats of Bettina Peppermint, a nice sky blue shade. I picked this one up not knowing if I would like it or not because blue typically isn't a color I gravitate to as far as polish but I am so glad I got this pretty. Peppermint is part of Bettina's Candy Collection and has a great application and formula. The first coat of this was a little patchy but by the second coat it evened out to this really nice cream sky blue. The dry time was a bit faster than average and it does have a nice shine once it's completely dried. The above photos are without topcoat.

Next I went ahead and applied one coat of Revlon Whimsical over Bettina Peppermint. I like that the sheerness of this polish didn't change the color of my base so much. The glitter in Whimsical is really pretty! I love the varying sizes of glitter and the iridescent glitter is a really nice touch. Application and formula was typical for a glitter polish. I didn't have too much of a hard time with placement. I do, however, wish the brush grabbed just a bit more of the larger baby blue and pink glitter. This was topped with Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat.

I really like this combination. I wonder what Whimsical would look like over a pink. Or maybe the sheer blue tint will clash too much with it? Hmmm.. So how do you all like this one? I know people have been looking for this polish like crazy, that's why I was so happy to get the last two bottles on the display! I'm excited that one of you will also get to have this pretty in your collection, too! Again, if you haven't already, you can still enter my 100 Follower Giveaway 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

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

Pink Wednesday & My Franken

Hello Lacquer Luver's & welcome to another Pink Wednesday! Today I have a pretty pink mani to share with you as well as two other goodies: a franken I made & a nail polish ring. I'm really quite fond of them both and am so excited to hear what you all think of them so let's get on to the pics, shall we?

Today's manicure began with a base coat of OPI Nail Envy. I chose Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Hot Magenta for my pink today. Hot Magenta can best be described as a hot pink polish with subtle shimmer and blue undertones. The blue undertone in this is really really beautiful in the sun. The formula on this is great, it applies very nicely and needed two coats to reach full opacity. The brush on the SHXW line bottles can be a bit wide for some people, but for me, I like it. Dry time on this polish was average and although it doesn't dry super shiny there isn't an absolute need for top coat either.

To make my mani more interesting, I went ahead and layered on one coat of my franken polish. This is a polish I made just before the holiday's. It's absolutely gorgeous layered over pinks and is incredibly stunning over darker colors like black. I don't know the exact measurements of product used to create this as I honestly just did it on a whim and mixed/poured until my bottle was full. The bottle was about 1/5 full with LA Colors Nail Hardener. I began to pour in a bit of Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter (a pink tinted base with iridescent glitter), Jordana INCOLOR Girl's Night Out (a sheer, virtually clear, polish full of pink shimmer) & some of WetNWild's clear top coat.

Pretty right? My one gripe about this over this particular pink is that you can barely pick up on the pink shimmer since it kind of just blends right in. However, as I mentioned before, this is really gorgeous over dark colors like black. I made a polish ring using my franken and WetNWild's Ebony Hates Chris. Now you get to see all the yummy pink shimmerrrrrrr!

 Isn't it purr-ty?

In the last photo you can REALLY see the pink shimmer. I absolutely adore it! It's just so sparkly, so unexpected, so ME! What do you think ladies? Like it, love it, hate it? And another thing, notice that I didn't have a name for this baby yet? I was thinking you guys could help me with that! So if you have any suggestions, please, leave me a comment below and perhaps I'll give it your name =) 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