Lustrous Lacquer

Friday, October 31, 2014

My Spooky Scene Halloween Manicure.

Happy Halloween Everyone! So you might remember from my post on Wednesday about how tired I was after taking care of sick children and the household duties. Well right after I finished that post I tried to go to bed, I say tried because as soon as I closed my eyes the idea for this year's spooky scene Halloween manicure popped into my head. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Of course, I couldn't just fall asleep then. I had to really think about the idea and how I would create it on my nails. And then I was wide awake, over thinking the manicure and ended up with this.

Taking my inspiration from all those black lace manicures that have been floating around the internet lately, I tried for a foggy, haunted house look. Trust me this looked amazing in my head. Turns out I didn't have the exact images I wanted in my stamping plate collection. Guess what I will be working on in the next few months. You guessed it, picking up some holiday-themed stamping plates.

For this manicure, I started out with 2 very thin coats of Sally Hansen Big Smoky top coat. After that was dry, using Zoya Black Swan and image plates BM-213 (bats) BM-305 (house) and SH-207 (tree) I created my spooky scene. I topped everything off with a healthy coat of Seche Vite.

I actually like the ring finger best and it was a bit of an accident. I ended up bumping the tip of the finger before it was dry. In my attempt to fix it I dabbed on a little more of the Big Smoky top coat. I like the way it looks like there's actual ground there and not just VNL. It made me wish I'd stamped the other images higher up on the nail so I could make the same effect on all of them. I'll have to remember that for next time.

I still really love the concept for this manicure, I just wish I would have executed it a bit better. One thing that I am proud of is that this turned out much better than my attempted Halloween manicure from last year. That shows I'm making progress in my nail art ideas and skills. And that ladies and gentlemen is the reason why I started this blog. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Press Release

MoYou London - The Cookbook Collection (Press Release)

*Press Release*

This Friday MoYou London will be releasing a brand new collection: The Cookbook Collection. With this first release, there are 5 plates inspired cooking and baking.

It is almost Friday!
And a BRAND NEW collection has just arrived!

Meet Cherry, she cooked you something special for this Friday's release and you won't be disappointed!

“I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and say to myself "well, that's not going to happen”
― Rita Rudner

<< COOKBOOK COLLECTION >>

These 5 plates will be released this Friday the 31st of October.
Have a great day!
The MoYou-London Team

I'm not as excited by this collection as I have been by some of the other plates released recently. There are some cute images, just not ones I see myself using. Maybe it's because I'm not a big baker or cook. Are there any plates here that have caught your eye?

MoYou London plates are available from their website and as mentioned above these plates will be available Friday, Oct. 31st. These plates are £4.99 each or about $8 U.S. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Shimmer

Julie G - Tahiti

*Nothing to Disclose*

Today I have for you Tahiti. Another nail polish from the Cruise collection by JulieG. I have to admit that as much as I want to have a fun post for you today, after taking care of 2 sick children and trying to keep up with the housework I'm exhausted. So please bear with me on this one as my sense of humor might be a little off.

Tahiti is a mint green nail polish with teal micro-shimmer. Unlike Santorini, the shimmer in Tahiti is visible even though it's very subtle.

The application was pretty much on par with the experience I had with Santorini also. There was some slight dragging when applying thin coats. I also experienced a few patchy places at the cuticle line with the first coat. Tahiti does level itself out and reached a nice full opacity after 2 coats. Shown here is 2 coats without top coat.

mint green nail polish. Tahiti from Julie G Cruise Collection

I do love the way the shimmer seems to float within the polish. It almost gives the appearance of micro flakies. Which is a new finish that I am completely fascinated with at the moment. I also think it helps this polish stand out a bit from the other minty nail polish colors out there. Plus it makes a great base for glitters toppers!

Here I used Tahiti as a base color for Teal Beam from the Veils Collection by Maybelline. Overall the application issues were not enough to keep me from using this polish again. And I'm looking forward to trying the rest of the colors in the Cruise collection. Do you like it with or without the glitter on top? Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Sprout

Finally a top coat that wont ruin nail foils! Sprout- Raindrop clear

*Nothing to Disclose*

Today I have for you the answer to all your nail foil prayers. Ok well, to be honest, I don't know if that's true, but I did find a top coat that works with nail foils. Finally! You might remember my previous post: My love/hate relationship with nail foils from earlier this year. Sprout Raindrop clear top coat was the answer to my needs.

For this test, I used some nail foils that I picked up at Dollar Nail Art. They are not the easiest to apply, but I'm hoping that I'll get a little more practice now that I've found a way to actually wear them. I'll start out with a picture of the nail foils alone.

And here's a macro shot just in case you want a better look. As you can see I still struggled with getting these applied just right, but I was still able to get good results for the top coat testing.

After applying the foils I added a thin coat of Sprout, making sure to not drag the brush across the surface of the nail. This is not a quick dry top coat and did take about 20 minutes to fully dry for me.

While I still didn't get absolutely perfect results from Sprout it is leaps and bounds better than my traditional top coat that I attempted to use the last time. There is still some slight wrinkling of the foils but it's minimal. This next macro shot makes it seem much worse than it is to the naked eye.

On the left is a nail foil with only Sprout Topcoat applied, on the right is the addition of a quick dry top coat. I wanted to see if the quick dry top coat would still ruin the nail foils after Sprout was applied and also which way would hold up better. The additional top cost also seemed to smooth out any wrinkles in the foils.

Now the real test. How did everything hold up after a day filled with laundry, dishes, and raking leaves?

Well, not as good as a traditional manicure that's for sure. But it was a completely different experience for me than the first time wearing foils. The ring finger held up the best as that was the only one with both top coats on it.

Sprout Raindrop clear didn't turn out to be the miracle product I was hoping it would be, and allow me to wear nail foils for a few days. But it is the only top coat I've used that didn't ruin the foils the minute it touched the nail. And now I can wear nail foils without my nails being a complete disaster after walking out the door. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Press Release

MoYou London- The Rebel Collection (Press Release)

*Press Release*

This Friday Moyou London will be releasing 2 new plates in the Rebel collection. While these plates might not be for everyone, there are some cute ideas here. Check it out.

It is almost Friday!
And the Rebel is back!

Meet Amy, You just don't mess with her.

<< REBEL COLLECTION >>

These 2 plates will be released this Friday the 24th of October.
Have a great day!

The MoYou-London Team

I like the idea of the keep calm plate, I'm just not sure how many of those images I would use, or if they would fit on my nails. Thoughts?

MoYou London plates are available from their website and as mentioned above these plates will be available Friday, Oct. 24th. These plates are £4.99 each or about $8 U.S. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*UPDATE*

I just received an e-mail from MoYou letting me know that the latest plate from the Zodiac collection is available TODAY. And it just so happens to be my sign... Check out the Scorpio plate.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM The New Black

Newspaper Nails with Born Pretty Store Decals

*Affiliate Link*

Raise your hand if you want to see some nail art today! Did I get anybody to raise their hand? You'll have to let me know in the comments if you did. Today I have for you a manicure featuring another technique I've been wanting to try for a while now. The Newspaper nail.

I actually found a kit from The New Black on clearance at TJ Maxx that was meant for this exact technique. Of course, I snatched it up because I'm all about making nail art easier.

Let me just save you the money right now and tell you not to buy it. It's a gimmick that actually adds extra steps. Take that transfer solution for example. You're supposed to apply it to your nails, place the newspaper on your nail while it's still wet, Apply another layer of the solution on top and then place a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol on top of that. Umm, excuse me? Who has time for all of that!

I did use the base color provided in the kit because it has that old worn out paper look that I was going for. I hate to say it but I'm not entirely sure what the name of that color is. The label on the bottom is printed really small. I think it's called Gold Grenade.

After letting that dry completely I dipped each finger in rubbing alcohol and pressed sections of newspaper onto the nail. This turned out to be a little trickier than I had expected since the paper wanted to stick to my fingers more than the nail and moved a little as I tried to evenly disperse the pressure. But here is my finished result.

Not bad but a little plain, and remember that old worn out paper feel I mentioned earlier? I really like the look of vintage manicures and decided that some flowers would complete my look.

This was my first time using water decals. These are #G065 from Born Pretty Store. Apparently, the directions weren't exactly as clear as I needed them to be. I put the first one on backward! So off to Youtube, I went to see what I did wrong. Can I just say Thank God for Youtube and all the nail art vloggers out there! They sure have saved me on more than one occasion.

I'm really happy with how this all came together. It has that vintage feel that I was going for. I lucked out that the colors of the flowers played nicely with my base color.

Have you had good luck with water decals? I'd love to hear about your experiences good or bad. If you'd like to purchase these exact decals you can follow the direct link here G065 and use code LAUNX31 to get 10% off your order. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Monday, October 20, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Maybelline

Julie G- Santorini

*Nothing to Disclose*

Today I have Julie G Santorini from the Cruise Collection for Summer 2014. I know this is not your typical fall colored nail polish but, today I'm shaking things up and throwing the rulebook out the window!

Santorini is a light cornflower blue nail polish that reminds me of a beautiful cloudless sky. There was a hint of shimmer that caught my eye in certain lighting but was so subtle that my camera couldn't capture it.

The application was pretty good, This polish was a little thicker than I am used to and I had some small splotches at the base of my nails with the first coat. I had to wait for the first coat to dry completely before applying the second or I got some slight dragging. Everything dried to an even, smooth, glossy finish. Shown here is 2 coats without top coat.

This is such a pretty shade of blue. I can't wait to wear this again with some glittery tips. I just got the perfect glitter polish in the mail to use. How's that for luck! Speaking of glitter polishes, I used Santorini as a base color for a glitter topper earlier this year. Check out this image from my review of the Veils Collection by Maybelline.

Don't they look made for each other? How would you wear Santorini? Alone, with glitter, or as a base for nail art? Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Press Release

MoYou London- The Kitty Collection (Press Release)

*Press Release*

It is almost Friday!

And we hadn't had any news from the Kitty for a while!

Meet Mia, she's all cuddly and stuff.

She says to keep your claws in style..

<< K ITTY COLLECTION >>

These 3 plates will be released this Friday the 17th of October.
Have a great day!
The MoYou-London Team

Those butterfly wings are absolutely calling my name! For my short nails, I think only plate #12 would work, but I think they all are beautiful.

MoYou London plates are available from their website and as mentioned above these plates will be available Friday, Oct. 17th. These plates are £4.99 each or about $8 U.S.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Satin

OPI- 4 In the Morning

*Nothing to Disclose*

Today I have a quick post about OPI 4 In the Morning to share with you as I scramble to get things ready for our last minute vacation this weekend. You know how people say procrastination is their middle name, well I have them beat it should be my first name! I am the queen of procrastination. I had been planning this idea for a mini vacation while the kids had a break from school for a few weeks, didn't make the hotel reservations until Monday afternoon. But enough about my bad habit lets get on to the polish.

4 In the Morning was released in January of this year as part of the Gwen Stefani collection. It dries to a satin finish with micro gold flecks. There is a bit of texture but not enough to be rough. Sadly the golden flecks are hardly visible when dry. A layer of top coat helps to make them pop a little more.

Even though this is a highly pigmented polish I had visible streaks on the first coat but reached full opacity after 2. An added bonus is that this dries really quickly. I was using it for undies for the Maybelline Veils collection and didn't have to wait for any dry time between layers.

Because of its satin finish, 4 In The Morning is extremely unforgivable with imperfections in nails. As you can see by the dent in my pinky finger. No that's not a dent in the polish, it's a dent in my nail. I guess that's what I get for wearing acrylics for 2 weeks. 3 months later and the dent has almost grown out!

Overall I like this polish. It covers nicely, dries quickly and makes a great base for whatever you want to layer over it. My only complaint is that the gold flecks are really hard to see. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing! I'm off to do more packing.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Tape Manicure

My First Chevron Manicure featuring the KBShimmer 6th Anniversary trio

*Nothing to Disclose*

After doing reviews all week I decided to mix things up a bit today and share a little nail art with you. I've loved the look of chevron manicures since the first one graced my computer screen, but they were a little daunting at the same time.

Just thinking about making all those even, straight lines were enough to send me into a semi-panic. I know we all start at the beginning with nail art, and I've even posted a few of my failed manicures on my blog. But I also want to show you good nail art and I have some serious self-doubt when it comes to my own skills. Thankfully there are decals that make this look a whole lot easier.

For my first attempt at chevrons, I decided to start out slow doing only an accent nail. Even with this, I was a little worried. Even decals won't give you a flawless manicure. First, you have to get them on straight and evenly spaced. I had visions of the decals not sticking properly and polish pooling underneath. Ugh, who knew a simple manicure could give someone so much stress. But I was determined to try this look, and I'm so glad that I did!

For the accent nail, I used 2 layers of Hexy Bikini and then alternated Beach Please (pink) and Shore Thing (teal) on my other fingers and topped everything off with a generous coat of Pure Ice Girl on the Run top coat. Once everything was completely dry I applied the chevron decals that came along with the trio and added another 2 coats of Shore Thing. I waited about 10 seconds and then removed the decals. Another generous layer of Girl on the Run and Viola my manicure was done.

All that panic and stress was for nothing. This was easy peasy and I love the finished results. And about that vision of polish pooling under the decals...pfft nothing to worry about. Just make sure you push down the decals really well along the sides of your nails. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 6:00 AM Press Release

MoYou London - The Gothic Collection Part 3. (Press Release)

*Press Release*

It is almost Friday! and here is our last GOTHIC release!
3 beautiful plates!

<< GOTHIC COLLECTION >>

And as you know it is almost Halloween! And because you have been very patient :) Well, we thought...
As a treat....
That maybe...
We should...
Because it's Halloween... Soon...

ADD 2 HALLOWEEN PLATES

<<FESTIVE COLLECTION>>

Meet Raven > Black is her favorite color.
"Though I know I should be wary,
Still, I venture someplace scary,
Ghostly hauntings I turn loose,
Beatlejuice, Beatlejuice, Beatlejuice!!!"

These 5 plates will be released this Friday the 10th of October.
Have a great day!
The MoYou-London Team

MoYou London plates are available from their website and as mentioned above these plates will be available Friday, Sept 12th. These plates are £4.99 each or about $8 U.S.

To see the other plates released recently in this collection check out my previous posts on part 1 and part 2.

Plates 11, 15 and, 16 have kind of caught my eye. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I need some good image plates to celebrate. Thanks For stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Lustrous Lacquer 10:08 AM Press Release

Head Down South with Brooke Anderson & Gabriel Cosmetics - A New Nail Collaboration for Fall‏ (Press Release)

*Press Release*

Gabriel Cosmetics has released a new collaborative collection consisting of 3 shimmers, and 3 glittery polishes. With colors that are sure to be a hit this fall season. Let's take a look at the inspiration behind this collection and get a sneak peek with some bottle shots.

Gabriel Cosmetics is headed down South just in time for fall with Brooke Anderson by Gabriel Cosmetics Nail Collection! The collection of SIX “5-Free” Limited Edition shades are a wink and a curtsey to the Entertainment Tonight Host’s Southern Georgia roots infusing beloved Southern expressions from classic films like Gone with the Wind and everyday Southern terminology into a collection fit for a Southern Belle (Don’t we have some of them in LA?)!

• Hush Hush: Steel Grey / Shimmer

• Southern Belle: Boysenberry / Shimmer

• Shine Y’all: Chrome / Glitter

• Blue Belle: Mariner Blue / Shimmer

• Darlin’: Aqua / Turquoise Glitter

• I Do Declare: Graphite / Sparkle

A collaborative effort by both Brooke and Gabriel, the collection is inspired by the ideals of happiness and a central theme of femininity – and of course some good ‘ol Southern charm, Y'all! The line showcases Brooke’s fun, witty spirit by marrying rich, bold colors with high-shine, sparkle, and shimmer finishes that any farm or city girl will love.

The Brooke Anderson by Gabriel Cosmetics Nail Collection is available October 1^st through the holidays at www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com and retail individually for $8.50.

Gabriel Cosmetics is a vegan, USDA Certified organic, gluten-free and cruelty-free - Listed as a PETA's "Beauty without Bunnies" Company.

These colors look like a lot of fun. I'm especially excited to see Darlin', I Do Declare and Shine Y'all. Which ones are you excited to see swatches of? Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!