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Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
I can't believe it's already July, I feel like summer just began and that it's flown by me at the same time. But with the new month brings us 4th of July and a ton of nail art celebrating the holiday. I wanted to do something unique this year but was stumped when it came to ideas. Then one night while I was trying and failing to fall asleep an idea came to me. Fluid nail art is very popular these days and while I love the look I had a feeling a few people would be taking that route, so I went for an old-school technique using rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. The first time I tried this technique was over 3 years ago and I figured it was time to revisit it again.
This is a very messy technique much like watermarbling so it's important to protect your skin to limit clean up. Usually, I'd use liquid latex for this but I wanted to give the latex free nail protectors from Beauty Big Bang a try.
These nail tapes are a bit more awkward to apply than liquid latex but I was pleased with how snuggly they fit around my nails.
I did use a little silicone tool to press down the edges around my nails to make sure they were firmly in place and that no polish would seep underneath. You could probably skip this step if you want to as they seemed snug and tight on their own.
As you can see they worked out really well. My only complaint would be that they didn't cover farther up my finger but that's more personal preference than a problem with the product. If you'd like to order a set for yourself be sure to use code LUSTROUS for 10 % off your order.
As I mentioned above I used rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to create this look. My base color is Sinful colors Whiteboard from the School Goals collection released the the fall of 2011. To get the layered effect I used one color at a time from darkest to lightest. The Blue is Sinful Colors Endless Blue from the 2013 Buff to Bright collection. Ruby Ruby was released in 2011 as part of the go plaid collection and was the perfect shade of red. Another layer of Whiteboard gave a lighter feel to the manicure and I topped it off with a glossy top coat.
Now my original idea had the cells being much larger and the final result is a bit more muddled than I wanted but I love the finished results. It's a greater marble effect than intended but it works.
I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some previous 4th of July looks I've created over the years. It's a fun way to see how I've progressed with my nail art and who knows it might inspire someone. So here they are from oldest to newest.
I hope you enjoyed that stroll down memory lane as much as I did. I'll admit there were a few cringe-worthy manicures in there, but we all start somewhere right. Now just in case, I haven't given you enough manicures to look at it's time for the link up. Check out the fine work of some fellow bloggers below. And feel free to add your own link if you'd like. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
Sunday, July 1, 2018
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Color For Everyone! There is still time to stock up on colors! Celebrate July 4th early with us, and add a little sparkle to your nails! Buy Any 3 Colors, Get Any 3 Colors on us! Plus, we'll cover shipping! Use Code: SPARKLE Valid 6/20/18- Sunday 7/8/18 (11:59pm ET)
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Thursday, June 28, 2018
It's the end of June and that means it's time once again for a round-up of my favorite nail art looks from the last three months. Becuase I took a bit of a hiatus for the month of May this post will be less extensive as the previous version. But that's no excuse to not sit back, relax and revisit a few of my favorite post, enjoy!
April was a busy month for me when it came to marbled looks. I shared a drip marble and a watermarble. You'd think either one of those would have made it into my top 3 looks but I actually liked my Neutral nail art look the best.
This simple look had two different accent nails which is something that I don't often do, in fact, I'm not sure I've ever done it before. It was a pleasant surprise when I fell in love with it and that's why it is my favorite look from April.
May was the month where I lost my blogging mojo, the weather finally warmed up and so did my personal life. There are only a few posts to pick from but the one that truly stands out is my Parchment Manicure.
I am very proud of how this turned out and even more proud of the fact that I was able to film a tutorial video for my Youtube channel. I have to admit that this is my favorite manicure of the last three months, and let you know that I have a few more that I'm proud to share this summer.
June was a stressful month for blogging because I fell behind on the Untried A-Z Challenge. Not only did I need to catch up on that but I needed to write posts to cover while I was gone on vacation. That left little time for nail art. I ended up only sharing one nail art look this month unless you count that look I created for my Letter L post. Which wasn't a nail art post specifically, but maybe I'll still count it just to make me feel better. My one and only nail art specific post for the month of June was my 80's Funky French mani.
Now I know this isn't some of my best work, and it might be considered a fail depending on my mood but it made my list of favorites for what it represents. For me, this manicure humbles and encourages me. It humbles me because even though I've been blogging about nail art for years I still make mistakes and it encourages me to keep trying those techniques I'm not comfortable with.
I hope you enjoyed this look back at my last three months of blogging. I'd love to know which look is your favorite. Stop back next Tuesday to see my 4th of July nail art, which I'm hosting a link up for and everyone is welcome to join if they want. The inlinkz code can be found on my Facebook page or feel free to send me an e-mail at lustrouslacquer@live.com or send me a dm asking for it. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Hey Everyone, it's time once again for the Untried A-Z Challenge and this week we are at the halfway point with the letter M! I can't believe we are at the halfway point already, this challenge seems to be flying by. Don't worry there is still time to join in whenever you want. Even if you didn't plan on joining the challenge but happened to blog about a polish with the corresponding letter, add it to the link up. It's the more the merrier for this challenge and all are welcome. 😊
This week I am not only sharing an untried polish with all of you but it's also an untried brand for me as well. It's a double whammy! I'd only heard of Love, Angeline a few times and sadly the name never really stuck in my head long enough for me to make a purchase and in 2017 the shop closed. I recently pick up a few bottles to try from a destash. One of those bottles was Metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis was released in 2013 as part of the Smoke & Mirrors collection. It's an elephant grey crelly with various sized hex glitters in purple, grey, orange, and gold that dries to a glossy finish. I am so late to the crelly party, I recently discovered my love for them within the last year. I have no idea if they are still a trend or not but that's the story of my life, I decide I like something a year or two too late.
The first coat went on surprisingly sheer considering how dark of a grey this polish is, and the glitters were a bit sparse and wanted to slide to the tips of my nails. After the first coat, I added 3 drops of thinner to my bottle in order to get the glitters out easier. Like I mentioned above I purchased this bottle in a destash and have no idea how old it is but the 3 drops of thinner seemed to do the trick.
The second coat built up to a nice opacity with a decent clustering of glitters. I probably could have stopped there but I wanted more of the glitter to be visible since it seemed to be getting lost in the base color. I sponged on a third coat and that really helped get better glitter coverage as well as help them stand out against the grey.
I would definitely wear this polish again but would try the sponging technique on the second coat and hope that the opacity is there as well as a nice glitter coverage.
While I like this polish and have a new found love for crellies I never know what kind of nail art to do over them. Stamping seems like the obvious choice but I don't want to cover up all the glitters so it would have to be a subtle design and then that seems almost pointless. What kind of nail art do you add to your crelly polishes?
Metamorphosis was released in 2013 as part of the Smoke & Mirrors collection. It's an elephant grey crelly with various sized hex glitters in purple, grey, orange, and gold that dries to a glossy finish. I am so late to the crelly party, I recently discovered my love for them within the last year. I have no idea if they are still a trend or not but that's the story of my life, I decide I like something a year or two too late.
The first coat went on surprisingly sheer considering how dark of a grey this polish is, and the glitters were a bit sparse and wanted to slide to the tips of my nails. After the first coat, I added 3 drops of thinner to my bottle in order to get the glitters out easier. Like I mentioned above I purchased this bottle in a destash and have no idea how old it is but the 3 drops of thinner seemed to do the trick.
The second coat built up to a nice opacity with a decent clustering of glitters. I probably could have stopped there but I wanted more of the glitter to be visible since it seemed to be getting lost in the base color. I sponged on a third coat and that really helped get better glitter coverage as well as help them stand out against the grey.
I would definitely wear this polish again but would try the sponging technique on the second coat and hope that the opacity is there as well as a nice glitter coverage.
While I like this polish and have a new found love for crellies I never know what kind of nail art to do over them. Stamping seems like the obvious choice but I don't want to cover up all the glitters so it would have to be a subtle design and then that seems almost pointless. What kind of nail art do you add to your crelly polishes?
I'm currently driving home from vacation and will be stuck in my vehicle for 8 long hours which means I'll need something to do to pass the time. (Don't worry I'm not the one driving) I'd love to spend it reading your thoughts on this fun crelly and see posts from people participating in the challenge. It's ok if you haven't joined in yet, there is room for everyone at any time! You can find all the details in the event on my Facebook page. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
