Laquerlicious Polish Review!

Reviving my blog for swatches & reviews of five fabulous Laquerlicious handmade indie polishes!

Please click on images to enlarge :)

First up we have "Supreme Queen", part of the Laquerlicius shimmer collection.

This is 2 coats, over Essie "Where's My Chauffeur?" and Seche Vite topcoat.

This color is beautiful!  I got many compliments on it.

 Hard to describe - almost like a light grayish blue.  Kinda reminds me of a robin's egg!  

There are tons of beige, royal blue and teal shimmery glitters in a blue-gray base.

Here is "Emerald Glaze", part of the Laquerlicious glaze collection.

This is 2 coats, over OPI "Cuckoo For This Color" and Seche Vite topcoat.

Despite looking very opaque in the bottle, Emerald Glaze is actually quite sheer!

It's jam packed with gorgeous green, teal and purple tiny glitter in a green base.

The purple glitter offers an amazing pop of color against the green/teal.  

I absolutely loved the way this looked on my skin tone :)

This lovely color is "Divine Doll", part of the Laquerlicious shimmer collection.

2 coats, over Essie "Play Date" and Seche Vite topcoat.

I have become a purple addict, so this polish was right up my alley :)

A beautiful shimmery combination of purple, beige and a hint of teal.

This is the perfect polish for anyone who loves a cheerful purple!

This gorgeous glitterbomb is "Bottle of Bubbly", from the Laquerlicious New Year's 2014 collection.

This is one generous coat, over Spoiled "Visually Slimming" and Seche Vite topcoat.

An incredible mixture of silver and gold holo glitters in a clear base.

There are all sorts of shapes & sizes in this polish!

Round, hex, micro, stars and bars just to name a few.

Application of this polish was a dream, didn't really have to dab at all or fish for glitter!

Definitely have plans for this baby as New Years Eve mani.

Last but not least, "Countdown to Midnight", also from Laquerlicious New Year's 2014 collection.

1 generous coat, over China Glaze "Stone Cold" and Seche Vite topcoat.

This glitter bomb is made up of varied sizes of round white, black, pink, purple and teal glitters in a clear base.

This is a super fun, playful polish.  I really enjoy the contrast between all of the colors.

This is the type of polish that would go well with just about any color as a base, so the possibilities are endless!

Application was fairly easy, although I did have to dab and fish a bit, but that doesn't bother me at all.

Final verdict is that these polishes were fantastic.

I fully believe in supporting indie polish makers and really I loved the unique glitter color combinations that Laquerlicious has to offer! 

They dried super quickly, application was a dream and Michelle (IG @creativenailchick) was a pleasure to work with.

I will be using many of these polishes again in the future.

All of the polishes that were reviewed are currently available for purchase at www.Laquerlicious.com :)

Heart Shaped Ikat for V-Day!

I decided to do some heart ikat nails to get in the Valentine's Day spirit!

These are done just like the regular ikat design, except in a heart shape instead of the typical oval!

Colors used:

OPI - "Pink Friday" (base color)

Black & white nail art stripers

Sinful Colors - "Fusion Neon" (pink inside of the hearts)

Essie - Luxe Effects glitter topcoat "A Cut Above"

What are you doing to get into the Valentine's Day spirit? :)

Happy New Year!

So sorry for my lack of posts, I've been busy with the holidays and also very sick for a few days - I even had to stay home from school :(

Here's a few photos to show what I've been up to recently:

On Christmas Eve I went to visit my best friend's mom who also lives in Florida!

Then, on Christmas Day we drove over to Orlando and went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure park!

It was awesome, because there is a Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter section of this park :)

 Seuss Landing :)

 Paul standing in huge crowd of people!

I met the Cat in the Hat!

 Hogsmeade

 Ollivander's Wand Shop

 Standing in front of Hogwart's

 Hagrid snowman

 Hogwarts Express train!

 All of the pictures talked and moved, just like in the movies!

 Various stuff from the classroom

 Dragon skeleton from the classroom

The Hogwarts ride was freaking amazing - even though we waited 2 1/2 hours on line!

My mom got me a really cute crock pot slow cooker for Christmas, and I already made chili and pulled chicken in it!

Here is my New Year's Eve design, a glass of champagne and a martini!

How was your holiday/New Years Eve? 

I hope you all had a great time :)

Tutorial Tuesday: "Liquid Sand"

This week's tutorial is for the newest upcoming nail texture trend called "Liquid Sand".

About 2 weeks ago Opi's Facebook page announced their new Mariah Carey x Opi collection called "Liquid Sand" to be released in January.

 image via

I've found a way to get the look before it even hits stores!!

 How To Choose Colors For This Design:

Any color will work, but if you want the texture to be more noticeable, try to choose a lighter color.

Suggested Materials:

ANY brand is fine, listed below are the ones used for this particular mani

- Salt! Sounds weird but it works.  I used some fine grain Sea Salt from the supermarket

- Base coat - Seche Clear

- Top coat - Seche Vite

- Clear polish of any brand, as long as it is NOT a fast-drying topcoat - Sally Hansen Diamond Strength "Flawless"

- Nail color - L'Oreal "Butterfly Kisses"

- A clean, small paintbrush or cotton swabs, for cleaning the cuticles afterwards (optional)

- Nail polish remover (optional)

Before You Begin Painting Your Design:

These steps are optional, but definitely recommended!

- Put down some paper towels in your work area, in case of any spills.

- Be sure to remove any old nail polish.

- Gently file nails into desired shape and remove any ridges with a buffer.

- Push back cuticles with a cuticle pusher or orange wood stick and trim if desired.

- Apply a base coat to protect from potential staining from color polish; wait for it to dry completely.

 Step 1:
Before you begin polishing, pour the sea salt into a clean bowl and keep it near by!

 Step 2:
Apply 2 coats of your nail color and allow to dry.

Step 3:
Apply a fairly thick coat of clear polish to one  nail.
*Do not use fast dry topcoat, you want the nail polish to remain wet for now.*
*Make sure you do this step one nail at a time*
Press your finger down firmly into the sea salt.
Make sure you have a decent amount stuck to your finger.

Step 4:
While the clear coat is still wet, quickly place the sea salt on your entire nail.
Use a firm, patting motion while applying the sea salt.
Apply as many layers as you can, until the salt begins to look dry.

 Step 5:
All of your nails should be covered, and your nails will look a little dry or dull.
Make sure to shake off any excess salt.
Once your clear polish seems to be dry, you can gently brush off any large clumps on the edges of your nail.

 Step 6:
Evenly apply your favorite top coat.
Make sure the top coat is covering all of salt, so that it's "sealed" onto your nail.

 Step 7:
This final step is completely optional, but it will really help to achieve a neat & clean looking mani.

You can use either a small paintbrush or cotton swab, dip it in nail polish remover, and use it to remove any excess polish on your cuticles and skin.

Be careful not to use too much remover, otherwise you will risk ruining your mani.

 Here's the final product!

If you have sealed the salt correctly and you're not too hard on your nails,
this mani will hold up for at least 4 or 5 days!

I tested it out and it was able to withstand being submerged in water such as hand washing, dishes, bathing, etc.

*Disclaimer: This texture can be a little rough so be careful!!  Especially while picking your nose ;) * 

For all past Tutorials click here

Tutorial Tuesday: Zebra Print

This week's featured tutorial, by popular request, is zebra print.

How To Choose Colors For This Design:

Typically bright or lighter colors work best as the base.  Anything that the black stripes will show up well against.  I also chose to do an accent nail with silver sparkles, but that's totally optional!

Suggested Materials:

ANY brand is fine, listed below are the ones used for this particular mani

- Base coat - Seche Clear

- Top coat - Seche Vite

- Base color - Sinful Colors "Fusion Neon"

- Any brand of black nail art striping brush
- Accent nail color - Opi "Crown Me Already!" (optional)

- A clean, small paintbrush or cotton swabs, for cleaning the cuticles afterwards (optional)

- Nail polish remover (optional)

Before You Begin Painting Your Design:

These steps are optional, but definitely recommended!

- Put down some paper towels in your work area, in case of any spills.

- Be sure to remove any old nail polish.

- Gently file nails into desired shape and remove any ridges with a buffer.

- Push back cuticles with a cuticle pusher or orange wood stick and trim if desired.

- Apply a base coat to protect from potential staining from color polish; wait for it to dry completely.

 Step 1:

Apply 2 coats of base color and allow to dry.

 Step 2:

Using the nail art striping brush, start from the outer edge of the nail and pull a line inwards.

The line should be thicker on the outer edge and thinner towards the middle.

I also find it easier to start in the middle of the nail and work outwards, this way you don't run out of room quickly.

 Step 3:

Using alternating directions, begin to pull lines above and below the first stripe.

If you want to, you can just repeat these steps until the nail is done.

If you are comfortable working with the striping brush, proceed to the next step. 

 Step 4:

To make your zebra print look a little more realistic, you can start varying your stripes.

You can do some imperfect sideways V or Y stripes, or pull some stripes completely across the nail.

 Step 5:

Continue working towards the top and bottom edges, using slightly smaller and shorter lines, until the nail is full.

 Step 6:

This final step is completely optional, but it will really help to achieve a neat & clean looking mani.

You can use either a small paintbrush or cotton swab, dip it in nail polish remover, and use it to remove any excess polish on your cuticles and skin.

Be careful not to use too much remover, otherwise you will risk ruining your design.

 Finish off with a top coat, and you're done!

For all past Tutorials click here

Tutorial Tuesday: Tape Manicure (Requested)

I've officially decided that I will have "Tutorial Tuesday" as a regular feature on this blog, so you can learn something new to try with your nails each week :)

This week's Tutorial Tuesday will feature the tape manicure.

Last week my lovely friend & fellow blogger Michele of shortgirllongisland.com requested a tutorial for an easy way to do thick stripes.  In my opinion, the easiest way to achieve thick stripes is by doing a "tape manicure" which means using tape to block off the colors and then painting over it.  

For more intricate designs, some people use blue painter's tape and Exacto knife, but I'm keeping it simple so just regular scotch tape and scissors will do.

How To Choose Colors For This Design:

You have a lot of artistic freedom with a tape mani, since nothing really has to coordinate.  

You can do 2 similar colors, you can do 3 different colors, you can leave your natural nail showing and just paint certain sections, you can do the same color but matte and glossy.  There's lots of options!

Suggested Materials:

ANY brand is fine, listed below are the ones used for this particular mani

- Base coat - Seche Clear

- Top coat - Seche Vite

- Top color - Opi "Glitzerland"

- Base color - Essie "Bikini So Teeny"

- Scotch tape or blue painter's tape

- Small scissors or Exacto knife

- A clean, small paintbrush or cotton swabs, for cleaning the cuticles afterwards (optional)

- Nail polish remover (optional)

Before you begin painting your design:

These steps are optional, but definitely recommended!

• Put down some paper towels on your work area, in case of any spills. 

• Be sure to remove any old nail polish.

• Gently file nails into desired shape and remove any deep ridges with a buffer

• Push back cuticles with a cuticle pusher or orange wood stick and trim if desired.

• To make things easier to find (and because I'm super neurotic) I always set up my polishes in the order that they will be used.

• Apply a base coat to protect from potential staining from color polish; wait for it to dry completely.

Step 1:

Take a piece of tape and stick it to the palm of your hand.  Remove it, and re-stick it 3 or 4 times.  

This is to reduce the stickiness of the tape and makes it much easier to peel off of your nails later on.  

You can also now cut the tape to accommodate your nail length & width.

Step 2:

Cut out your shapes!

Simple shapes work best, so I went with thick stripes & a zig zag just for fun.

Try to cut these as evenly and straight as possible, so your stripes will be uniform in thickness.

You can cut a bunch of pieces just in case they rip, get messed up, etc.

Once they are cut, I like to stick them half way onto the edge of the table, with the end of the tape hanging off.  

This way they won't get lost or stick to each other and will be easier to find. 

Just don't stick it completely on the table or get it stuck to your clothing otherwise it'll be ruined.

Step 3:

Apply 2 coats of the base color and allow to dry.

If you are using a light and dark color for this mani, try to use the lighter color as the base.  Most light colors tend to be less opaque and will not cover a dark color very well!

Don't worry too much about being super neat, you can remove excess polish from your cuticles later.

**It is VERY important to allow all polish to dry before applying the tape over it, otherwise the polish will get stuck to the tape and come off**

Step 4:

Gently  apply your tape strips.  

Try to make sure the space between the tape is about equal to the width of the tape itself, this way your stripes will be nice and even.

The nail naturally curves, so the tape will curve with it.

*Try to avoid any bubbles near the edges of the tape, because the top color could get into the bubble and you'll have to start all over!*

Step 5:

Paint 1 or 2 coats of top color over the entire nail, making sure you have even coverage.

The best way to ensure even coverage is to paint in the same direction as the tape strips (vertical, diagonal, etc)

I chose just 1 top color, but you can use as many as you want.

Each section can be painted a different color if you'd like!

Step 6:

Gently  peel the tape off once the top color is mostly dry.

Be very careful not to rip it off too quickly, or the polish could come right off.

Also, be careful if the polish is still very wet on the top of the tape, it could get onto your base color.

As you can see, I did a different pattern on each nail; horizontal, vertical, diagonal, zig zag and random.

You can definitely re-use the tape strips, if they are still sticky enough and the polish has dried. 

More intricate designs, such as the zig-zag, might rip when it's being peeled off and can not be re-used.

Step 7:

This final step is completely optional, but it will really help to achieve a neat & clean looking mani.

You can use either a small paintbrush or cotton swab, dip it in nail polish remover, and use it to remove any excess polish on your cuticles and skin.

Be careful not to use too much remover, otherwise you will risk ruining your design.

If you opt for the brush, be sure to use brushstrokes in the same direction; don't "swish" the brush around because it tends to spread excess polish around rather than remove it.

After finishing off with a coat of Seche Vite topcoat, here's the final product!

If you'd like to request a nail design for Tutorial Tuesdays please leave a comment and let me know :)

For all past Tutorials click here