The Lacquer Legion: On Holiday

This month, us fine folks at The Lacquer Legion decided to use summer vacation as inspiration and take our nails on holiday.

This theme can be interpreted so many ways because everyone has a favorite way to kick back and relax while on holiday (or maybe not relax and just shop,) so I am looking forward to seeing all the nails today!

I recently picked up a mini set of Orly's summer collection, Baked, and the colors were already arranged in a perfect sunset gradient and I just had to translate it onto my nails ASAP. Bonus points for it coincidentally being at the right time for this LL prompt!

The four colors in the set are: 

Orly - Tropical Pop (yellow)

Orly - Ablaze (orange)

Orly - Hot Tropics (fuchsia)

Orly - Saturated (purple)

The two middle colors have a really heavy gold shimmer that was a bit of a pain to deal with in the gradient because if you dabbed too much, all the shimmer would come to the surface and overpower the gradient. It took more effort than I am used to to get the perfect effect, but I worked it out! 

I decided that I wanted to add the sunglasses stamp from Cheeky CH37 to make it a bit different from a typical sunset-and-palm-tree mani. Buuuut I also had to add a palm tree just because. It was too pretty not to.

I freehanded the lil' tree with acrylic paint and a super small brush.

Hope you guys like this mani! Can't wait to go stalk Instagram and Facebook for all the great manicures from you lovely folks. Don't forget to use the hashtag #LLonholiday so everyone can see your masterpieces! 

31DC2013 - day 21

Hello to everyone who has been following me on the 31 Day Challenge! Not going to lie, I am happy the challenge is now in its final stage and I won't have to be doing it for much longer.
I'm getting burned out on these prompts!

The theme for day 21 is Inspired by a Color. This is always a weird theme because like, aren't the first 8 or 9 days basically that already?
I always choose to be inspired by a particular nail polish instead of a color.

The glitter here is OPI - Pink Yet Lavender. I think that is a really stupid name but it works for the color I wore underneath it, Orly - Lollipop. 

Today I was wearing a shirt that was actually the exact color of Lollipop and my mom said something along the lines of: "That shirt is pink but also like, lilac. I like it."

And my brain went PINK YET LAVENDER and that was how I decided on this manicure. 

However it did NOT cooperate with me because for some reason as soon as I touched it with topcoat it said NO and dragged and bubbled... I think it was due to a weird new bottle of Seche Vite.
Thus I didn't get to photograph the nails with the shirt but hey. You win some you lose some.

Pink Yet Lavender. Interesting choice Mariah Carey + OPI. 

Now what to do for the remaining 10 days...

skittles with a bow

Hello lovelies! Hope you're having a nice lazy Sunday like I am.

I've got some cute nails for you today! They're kinda Valentines-y... Sorta.
Maybe more like Easter-y... How about just springy? Whatever. They're cute. And that's what matters.

Tada! Pastel skittles with a bow.

Here are the polishes I used:
China Glaze - Dance Baby (pinky and thumb)
Orly - Lollipop (index)
Lime Crime - Lavendairy (middle)
China Glaze - For Audrey (ring)

The squiggle/splatter image is from Konad m70. It's one of my favorites!
The bow comes from Bundle Monster BM-317. You know I love bows.
I did the stamping with Konad special polishes.

I adored wearing this manicure! Pastels will always be my favorite, I think! And bows, of course.
Whatchu' think?

seven random swatches for your viewing pleasure!

Hey guys! Tonight I'm gonna just post some totally random swatches I have had laying around in my folders for a while. They don't deserve their own posts, but they deserve to be seen!
(Two of them are pretty old and bad but don't hate.)

I still aim to one day have posted swatches or manicures of my entire collection... It will probably never happen but a girl can try!

Let's start with a cute OPI.

OPI - Panda-Monium Pink
This is an older color but I think it is in the core line. Maybe. Can't remember. I picked this up in a clearance sale for two dolla!
It takes three coats to cover fully but the color is really cute.

Orly - Shockwave
This is one of the colors from a recent collection, Electronica. I didn't pick it up originally but when I found it on clearance at Sally's, plus an extra 50% off, it came home with me.
I'm glad it did, because the formula is great and I don't think I have another royal blue like it really! 2 coats.

Essie - Pretty Edgy
Picked up this one in a blog sale recently. 2 coats for full coverage. Fun green. I love green nails.

Sation - Love At First Lavender
This is a new-to-me brand that I found recently at Winners. They were just $3.99 a pop so of them followed me home. This one is that color between pink and purple that I can't seem to resist! Formula was good, no complaints.

Sation - Periwinkle Princess
Shown over Love At First Lavender, this is a glitter topcoat with fuchsia and blue glitter as well as some short holo bars that are kinda hard to see in the pictures, but they are there!
It looked more fun in the bottle than it did on the nail. Not really satisfied. But it's okay.

Sinful Colors - Cinderella
This is a color from SC that got really popular, but I can't really understand why because it is soooo sheer and annoying to apply. I put on 4 thick coats and it was still sheer, not to mention too thick to dry.
I gave this away. Not a fan.

Savina - Purple Hologram 
This is an old swatch, sorry for the crappy pictures. Cute pink polish with pink glitter and holo glitter. I think this is three coats.

There you go! That gets some clutter out of my swatch folders. But there is still a lot of unposted crap in there... Ah!
Have a lovely evening!

P.S.
Do you love my holiday blog layout?! I sure do!!

quit while you're ahead...

Good morning! This is my last day in the Big Apple. I'm sure I'm probably crying about it right now. I probably never wanna leave.
I wonder how much shopping I'll have done by now... I guess you will soon see!

Today's post is something I thought I wouldn't post because it is so weird but I figured I should always share my hilarious fails just so you don't think I am alllllways perfect... ;)

This manicure started with good intentions! Lime green glittery goodness!

This is one coat of Orly - Here Comes Trouble, a great glitter from the Pin-Up Collection, over 2 coats of China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard, the neon green from the Summer Neons collection.

I love both of these polishes and they pair together really well!
I wore them for a day but then I felt like I should add some more glitter.

I said hey, let's add some more Orly glitter! I slapped on a coat of Orly - Spazmatic.
It didn't really do it for me.

Hey, let's add MORE!

...Still not pretty. The added coat of Milani - Fuchsia Jewel FX didn't make me happy.

Now I had no idea where to go.
For some reason I said to myself, "I bet this will look REALLY good if I made it into a jelly sandwich!"
...Wrong.

Oooooh boy. Someone threw up their easter eggs. Yuck!
China Glaze - Oxygen is the white jelly.

The moral of this story, quit while you're ahead, and enjoy that green glitter without adding a bunch of crap.

See you tomorrow with a live post, so long as I don't spend my entire day sleeping/recovering. Yikes!

neon 'n nude

Hello! If all goes as planned, this post will be coming to you as I am in the air somewhere on my way to NYC!

Thankfully I had some manis and swatches built up on my computer and I was able to throw together some posts so my little blog isn't all lonely while I'm gone.

Neon and nude was a huge trend this year! And it made for some pretty cool nails like these.

I did this manicure using some of my fave polishes!
OPI - Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? is the great nude, and Orly - Fancy Fuchsia for the dots.

Perfect polish, covers great in 2 coats. So glad I picked this up.

I was a big fan of this extremely simple yet very chic look!

Don't miss me too much while I'm gone. I wonder what the Big Apple will have in store for me...

31dc2012 - day 26

Hello and welcome to Day 26 of the 31 Day Challenge! I am really getting tired of this now. Haha.

The theme for today is Inspired By A Pattern.

I took inspiration from an adorable notebook!

The notebook features polish bottles so of course I had to do a matching mani!
(Thank you to my friend Jini/MakeupMom123 for sending it to me!)

Doing polka dots was probably a cop-out choice for today's theme but hey, this is my challenge, don't judge. Haha.

I tried to match the colors exactly and I did a damn good job if I do say so myself.

The background is Essence - L.O.L
The blue glitter is Color Club - Sexy Siren
The pink glitter is Orly - Bubbly Bombshell
The silver glitter is OPI - Crown Me Already!
The blue is OPI - Fly
The pink is Orly - Blushing Bud
The nude is Orly - Decades of Dysfunction
The purple is China Glaze - Spontaneous

I love the glittery bottles on the notebook and I love the added glittery dots on my nails!
This is a fun mani and I'm enjoying wearing it for today.

Just 5 days until I can wear whatever I damn please on my nails for more than one day! LOL.

31dc2012 - day 24

The theme for Day 24 is Inspired By A Book.

Just like last year, I turned to my favorite author to find inspiration for this challenge.

I chose to do my nails like the cover of Ellen Hopkin's Glass.
I think I really got this one dead-on!

To create this look, I started with a purple base (one coat of China Glaze - Gothic Lolita followed by one coat of Orly - Preamp) which I let set completely.
Then, I quickly applied a coat of Essence - Black is Back, and immediately dabbed off most of it with a balled-up tissue.
I really like the texture this technique creates! And it is perfect for the look from the book cover.

Another day complete! Just one more week to go!

31dc2012 - day 19

Hey everyone!

It is now Day 19 of the 31 Day Challenge and the theme for today is Galaxies!

I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to create the look I wanted for today but I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

A purple galaxy!

This manicure was inspired by the amazing purple galaxy by Coewless Polish. Mine didn't turn out just like hers but I think both versions are fab!

I used a whooooole bunch of polishes to create this look.

The base color is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Trouble Maker. I totally forgot how much I adore this polish! The formula is fantastic and the brush on the CSM polishes is so flawless. I gotta remember to bust out my old faves more often!

I created the galaxy look by sponging on all the other colors randomly:
China Glaze - Spontaneous
China Glaze - Grape Pop
China Glaze - Dance Baby
OPI - A Dozen Rosas
OPI - Dim Sum Plum
Orly - Galaxy Girl
Lime Crime - Lavendairy
Essence - Very Berry
 
I did the stars using Color Club - French Tip and a very small dotting tool and brush.

 
I think my middle finger is especially awesome! I had a lot of fun creating these nails.
What do you guys think? Successful purple galaxy?

Have a lovely day!