Blue Holo Gradient

This will be my 3rd mani for Autism Awareness month!

For this mani I used China Glaze Hanging in the Balance and Color Club Over the Moon.

I painted one coat of Hanging in the Balance and then used the sponge gradient technique and sponged on a couple coats of Hanging in the Balance and Over the Moon.  I was surprised at how well they blended.  Unfortunately, I was not able to capture the holo goodness that is Over the Moon, but in real life the subtle depth is very elegant.

On a sad note...the Boston Marathon bombings are weighing heavy on our nation and our hearts.  My husband is a runner (sometimes I am too) and we have both participated in the Houston Marathon in the past.  I can only imagine what the people of Boston are going through.  My prayers and thoughts are going out to all effected either physically or emotionally.  Yesterday (late) I saw notices on Instagram to paint your nails purple for Boston today (4/16), but it was too late to do so.  So I will paint it purple tonight and share tomorrow. 

Please continue to pray for our nation.

Cartoon Drips

I know this has been done...a lot...but I have not done a drip mani yet so that's what I'm going to show you today.

For this mani I used 2 coats of Color Club's "Over the Moon" (2013 Halo Hue's) and used Sally Hansen "White On" and a dotting tool to make the drips.  For some added cool toned sparkle I used a coat of Confetti "Ice, Ice Baby" on the drips.  The "cartoon" part (the black outline) was done using Sally Hansen's Nail Art Pen in Black. 

Overall I think it came out great!  I think next time I will make thinner drips.  How do you feel about "Drip" mani's?  Yay or Nay?

Color Club Halo Hues 2013!!!

Color Club has released  a new set of Halo Hues for 2013 and

they are even more dreamy than the first set.

 The 2013 set has a jewel toned base color vs. the 2012 pastel base color.

The first set was gorgeous, but I prefer this one mainly because I can actually tell what the base color is supposed to be.

As a warning this will be a long post so I can show you all the colors in one post.

(sorry in advance for my cuticles. Crazy weather and constant preventative illness handwashing has done a number on them)

 Without further ado....

Miss Bliss

Miss Bliss is a dusty rose pink

Eternal Beauty

 Eternal Beauty is a gorgeous royal purple.  

Kismet

 Kismet is a light sage green.  

Cosmic Fate

 Cosmic Fate is a beautiful copper/gold.

This is a perfect color for a natural/nude mani with a little extra flare....spectraflare that is!

Over the Moon

 Over the Moon is a bright sea blue.  This is the color I was most excited about in this collection, and I'm certainly not disappointed...it's gorgeous.  I'm a sucker for blue and green polishes.

Beyond

 Beyond is the blackest holographic polish that I have seen.  Usually black holos are really just dark grey, but this one is perfect.  I see this being used in some galaxy mani's in the future.  This one does stain in removal.

When I saw that there was going to be a black in this collection I wondered how it would compare to Color Club's Revvolution (2009). Well here ya go....

You can tell just by looking at the bottles side by side that Revvolution has more silver and less fire than Beyond.  On the nail this difference is much more noticeable. Beyond, as well as the rest of the collection, must be made with a finer particle of holographic pigment.  They are both beautiful despite their differences.

For all of these photos I used 2 coats of each polish and 1 coat of top coat (no base).  The first coat goes on nice a smooth and dries very quickly.  The second coat is where you need to be careful.  I found that this polish does not like to be over-brushed.  It is very easy to brush a bald spot or dent in both coats of polish.  I recommend that you use as few strokes as possible when using this polish (2 to 3 if you can).  I am super impressed with the colors and the fire that these Halo Hues have.  They sparkle and glow even in low light.  I promise you will be looking at your nails constantly. 

 I'm not sure when these will be available in stores (if they aren't already), but I know you can find the full sets on eBay.  Stay tuned for some nail art with these beauties.

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge Day 10 - Favorite Ornament

Today is Day 10 of Nicole's Christmas Nail Art Challenge - Favorite Ornament

I prefer the winter wonderland/frosty colors for Christmas....there is quite a lot of red and green elsewhere and I like to be different.

At home I have a white Christmas Tree and decorate with blues, turquoises, white and silver.   Because of my schedule I knew I would not have time to do a super difficult mani, so I chose to do snowflakes....which are all over my tree (you can see part of one in the pic)

I was always so intimidated by sponge gradients until I made myself do them....now I love them despite the clean up job.  

I sponged with a mix of Frostbite, Pacific Blue and White On.  Stamped silver snowflakes with a mix of plates and did a light coat of Northern Lights on top.  I think it came out pretty good.  What do you think?

Quick Swatch Spam - I'm not Lion

Just wanted to share a quick swatch of China Glaze's "I'm Not Lion."

If you follow my instagram (@lovelylacqueredlife) you have probably already seen it, but for those of you that don't here is a quick swatch.

This polish is a full glitter polish with a sandy/champagne color to it.  Its full of silver and light gold glitter...with a healthy dose of holographic glitter thrown in

Here is it out of focus on purpose so you can see the holo glitter going on. 

This polish is so sparkley!! Whenever my had caught the least little bit of light I would have to stop and stare.  It applied nicely, opaque in 2 coats, and dried pretty quick.  It does dry with a grainy almost matte finish.  I used two coats of Seche Vite over top to smooth out the finish and give it a great shine.....really brought out the sparkle.

Cant wait to try China Glaze's Holiday 2012 collection.  They have glitters very similar.



Special effects top coats - just for funzies

so after doing the swatches of L'Oreal "The Muse's Attitude" I decided 

to slap on some special effect top coats just for fun.

left to right:  Pretty Me Polish SpectraFlair Topcoat, Pure Ice "Oh Baby!", Pure Ice "Mint Dream", and Sally Hansen "Disco Ball"

Disco Ball - is a clear base with scattered silver and holo glitter - I've had it a while 

Mint Dream - is a pearl iridescent that is very sheer and just lightened things up a bit 

Oh Baby! - is a sheer pearl base with blue and green glass flecks that add a subtle sparkle

SpectraFlair - this is a gorgeous clear holo top coat (looks silver...but not) looks good over any polish - bought on here on etsy

sorry for the not so great photos.  my camera was misplaced after a roadtrip last weekend. 

more swatches coming up tomorrow.