Lacquer Love

Spring Green

2011-07-26T16:49:00.002-05:00

Wow, I didn't really plan to take such a long break from blogging. At first I stopped posting due to being busy with finals and high school graduation. Once you get out of the habit of doing something it can be hard to get back in.

Before I start rambling too much I'll start with what's on my nails at the moment! (Since that is the purpose of this blog after all..)

Click on the pictures to see them in more detail. I started this manicure off with Sally Hansen Green With Envy, a pretty lime creme. It covered in almost one coat and was pretty easy to apply. I layered OPI Simply Smashing over it, a yellow green tennis ball colour. It was part of the first Serena Williams set.

I like the way this layering combination looks in the shade better than in the sunlight. Taking pictures in the shade was also more comfortable since its about 100 degrees here!

A lot has happened since I last posted so I wanted to give an update on that. I graduated high school in May, went on vacation to California after that and had my 18th birthday June 17th. I recently enrolled in a college in my hometown. I have no idea what I want to do after college; I'm going for an English major.

Other than going on vacation with my family, this summer I've been spending time with my boyfriend and learning Japanese. I've always wanted to learn a second language and Japanese is one I've always loved. I like the way it sounds and the way the written language looks. I think I've made pretty good progress with my learning, especially with all the time I've had this summer.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Hard Candy Beetle ~ Amazing Duochrome

2011-04-29T20:25:00.001-05:00

I can't until this school year is over! Its finally starting to sink in that I will be graduated from high school in less than a month. Hopefully then I can get back to regular posting schedule. I haven't even been doing my nails that often...

Anyway, about a week ago Chase surprised me with this really cool nail polish. I always wanted Orly Space Cadet since I saw swatches of it online. I never found at Sally's and I didn't ever order it online. I found out Hard Candy Beetle was similar but I couldn't find it either. So it was a huge surprise that Chase picked it up for me! Judging by pictures it seems to be an exact match to Orly Space Cadet and its 5 dollars vs. 10 dollars for the Orly.

It was a little sheer...in really bright sunlight I could see a visible nail line even after three coats. But in normal lighting it isn't noticeable. I love colour like this; I can see pink, purple, green and yellow in just this one colour. The duochrome effect is extremely noticeable in the shade.

While looking through photos on my computer I found this extremely adorable picture. I can't believe I took this picture but never posted it on facebook or on here!

This picture is of my boyfriend's kitty Riku. He stayed over at my house once because his apartment needed to be sprayed for insects. He climbed in our Christmas tree and refused to come out. We had to lure him out with cheese. =P I was afraid he was going to knock of the tree! He knocked over a dining room chair once so I don't underestimate him. No matter how much trouble he causes I can't get mad at him....he is too cute!

I haven't been regularly posting so I haven't been checking new followers. For this post only, comment with a link to your blog so I can check it out!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Subdued Spring Nail Art (I'm back!)

2011-04-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

Wow, somebody should have warned me that the end of my senior year would be so busy. I really can't wait until this year is over! In addition to school stuff I have been working hard learning Japanese. =D Hopefully I can get back to a regular schedule of blogging....I really miss it and I feel bad when I can't post. I also miss reading and commenting on other blogs.

Anyway, enough excuses...on the the real post.

I wanted to wear Zoya Kelly on it own this time since last time I wore it the colour was completely changed by China Glaze Lighthouse. When I first got it I thought about doing white Konad on it. This time I did. I used a flower patter on the tips of my nails. I tried to get it to stamp diagonally but I stamped it straight for the most part.

Zoya Kelly is one of my favourite nail polishes. It goes on smooth and its almost opaque in one coat. Zoya's brushes are also easy to use. I have heard that some people have problems with Zoya with quick dry topcoats but I have never had a problem with that. Wear time isn't any better or worse than most other polishes. I use Orly Ridgefiller base coat and China Glaze Fast Forward topcoat.

Its been awhile since I blogged so how is everyone? Are you as busy as I am this time of year? Any interesting new collections being released soon? Fill me in!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Japanese Nail Art ~ Pray for Japan!

2011-03-16T14:34:00.002-05:00

I'm sure by now most of you know about the tragedy in Japan that happened March 11th. I've been following the whole thing closely since it happened and its really upsetting to me. I wanted to do some Japanese nail art as a tribute. I got a new white polish since the one I had before was streaky and thick. I bought Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On and it isn't any better. I really need to invest in a good white polish! I used LA Colors Art Deco striper to paint the kanji and Joe Fresh Cherry for the red. The two kanji together mean "Japan" in Japanese. The kanji is prounounced "Nihon".

This whole disaster feels somewhat close to me since I've been involved in Japanese culture all my life. I've mentioned a few times that I'm learning Japanese. Its been going well and I've been making Japanese friends online. I also follow American bloggers living in Japan. When I heard about the earthquake and tsunami I was immediately concerned for all my friends and bloggers/youtubers I follow. Thankfully, they are all safe but things are rough over there.

There is a lot of information out there, some is accurate and some is not. If you're looking for reliable sources there are links at the end of this post that are helpful. Especially the first link.

http://www.tofugu.com/2011/03/11/the-biggest-earthquake-ever-recorded-japan/ - At the end of this post there are some really good sources of accurate information.

I've heard that the news here is somewhat exaggerated, especially concerning the Fukushima nuclear situation.

If you can please donate to Japan...any amount helps. I don't really have any money to donate but I'm going to see about doing some fundraising at my school. This seems to be the best way to donate:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Peace and Love,
Serena

Iridescent Shatter

2011-03-09T17:47:00.002-06:00

こんにちは!

I got OPI Black Shatter a few weeks ago and I was thinking of something fun to do with it. The week before last I tried shatter over one of the OPI Texas "sorbets" and I didn't really like the way it looked. I wanted something really cool to put under it and I finally thought of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I put China Glaze Four Leaf Clover on first, then put Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure over it. Hidden Treasure is one of my favourite polishes because it transforms any colour. I especially like it over green and purple. Lastly, I put OPI Black Shatter on top of it all.

As always, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger! (I also think they look better in full size.)

Unfortunately, Hidden Treasure isn't available anymore but Nubar 2010 is pretty much an exact match. I love how the yellow and green shows through the shatter effect. I still haven't checked out the China Glaze Crackle polishes yet but I like the look of the white, grey and purple one. It seems like crackle polishes are the big thing lately. I really like the look of it but I have a feeling its going to be way overdone.

Do you have Black Shatter? (Or any other crackle polishes)
How do you feel about the crackle trend?

Peace and Love,
Serena

Odd layering combination - Zoya Kelly+China Glaze Lighthouse

2011-03-01T18:17:00.000-06:00

I can't believe its March already! The weather is really nice today which is great for taking nail photos. I recently got Zoya Kelly in mail (it was backordered from the 3 free promotion) and I also bought China Glaze Lighthouse. I didn't know which colour to get from the Anchors Away collection so I had Chase choose. I was surprised he chose Lighthouse since he normally hates yellow. He describes it as "the sun in a bottle". When he saw Zoya Kelly he told me I should layer Lighthouse over it. I didn't have any other ideas of what I should do with my nails so I tried it.

I was skeptical at first but I really like China Glaze Lighthouse. I don't think I would wear it on its on since its so sheer but I do like it for layering. I tried it over a turquoise colour on a nail wheel and it looked really pretty. It has a green-golden look to it when put on top of Zoya Kelly. I really like it.

I really want to wear Zoya Kelly on its own sometime. Its a gorgeous grey that leans slightly purple. It was almost a one coater. I might even do a Konad with this colour soon...it seems like it would work well for that.

On an unrelated note...I mentioned a long time ago that I got a 28 dollar nail file for Christmas. Since I mentioned it on here I want to a review for it soon. So tell me in the comments what you want to know about it...and what you look for in good nail file. I would appreciate your feedback so I can't write a good review. =)

Peace and Love,
Serena

Spring Stripes

2011-02-17T13:14:00.000-06:00

The weather here in Oklahoma has gone from blizzards to 70 degree, spring-like weather. All in one week. The weather is so unpredictable here. I really hope it stays this way for awhile but who knows what the weather will be like next week! This warmer weather has inspired me to wear spring green on my nails.

I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy as the base and L.A.Colors Art Deco stripers in purple and green. I've never seen Green With Envy before so I think its new for spring. I've always like Xtreme Wear polish. (I don't like how they spell 'extreme' though..) This one applied nicely in two coats.

Chase said this reminded him of candy. =)

I probably should have waited longer before applying topcoat...the purple stripes smeared a little bit. For Valentine's Day Chase got me something I've needed for a long time....a place to store my nail polish! For some reason I've never been fond of the nail racks you hang on the wall. I wanted something that would give me lots of space (room to grow!) and would be easy to move. Basically its a 3 drawer shelf and it has wheels on the bottom. I'll post pictures of it later, I'm typing this at school right now and I didn't take pictures of it yet. Before this all my polish was in an old Sephora box that was falling apart. The rest that couldn't fit in the Sephora box was scattered about my room and computer desk. =P

Who's ready for spring?
What do you use to store your polish?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Zoya Crystal + Snowpocalypse!

2011-02-11T22:14:00.000-06:00

WOW. I haven't blogged in awhile. Weather has been crazy blizzard like lately so I've been staying in a lot. Snow days are kind of fun every once in awhile but we've had so many I will have to come back to school even after I've officially graduated! I don't like that idea but we have gone way over our allowed snow days.

I got my Zoya 3 free order in about a 2 weeks ago (minus Zoya Kelly, which was backordered). Zoya Crystal seemed like the perfect icy blue to wear during this cold weather. It went on kind of sheer at first but built up nicely in only 2 coats. The colour is beautiful and has gold flakes in it. It looks really glittery but isn't gritty at all. My pictures don't really show how pretty it is, I had to take them quickly before my fingers froze off. I had never tried Zoya before and I'm impressed so far. The brushes are really nice and easy to use and I haven't had any chipping after a week.

I don't know about the rest of you but we have lots of snow! My boyfriend actually ventured out in the snow and it took him 2 hours to get to my house. (It normally takes 5-10 minutes.) One of those hours was spent shoveling his car out of the apartment parking lot. His car ended up getting stuck right in front of our house. My dad helped him get unstuck.

Have you tried Zoya polishes?
How is the weather where you live?
Peace and Love,
Serena

沢 - "Swamp" - China Glaze Zombie Zest

2011-01-26T17:21:00.001-06:00

China Glaze Zombie Zest is one of those "ugly pretty" colours. Its also a colour I would have never worn on my nails a year ago. Thankfully, my horizons are a little more broad. Zombie Zest is pretty sheer; After applying the first coat I thought I would surely need four coats! I only used three though and it turned out fine. I think it looks best in the shade so I didn't take any direct sunlight pictures of it.

Zombie Zest is from China Glaze's Halloween 2010 collection. I didn't get it until the beginning of January though. Sally's had it on clearance for 2.99. Zombie Zest is the perfect name for this polish. In addition to zombies, it reminds me of moss and swamps. I can't say I've received compliments on this colour...more like odd stares!

I feel a lot better now..my throat still feels a tiny bit sore and I still have a cough. I went to the doctor after five days of being sick and learned I got the flu. (My first flu believe it or not!) Unfortunately in order to start flu medicine you need to go to the doctor within the first 3 days so they couldn't do much for me. They did prescribe a heavy duty cough medicine for me but its disgusting. I missed a lot of school last week so I have some catching up to do - not fun at all!

Do you like "ugly pretty" colours?
Peace and Love,
Serena

紫 & 銀色 - Essie Sexy Divide Konad

2011-01-18T17:23:00.001-06:00

The Japanese in the title means "Purple and Silver". I was going to post this yesterday but I got sick. I'm still not feeling 100% better but I wanted to get this posted before it chipped. I'm surprised at how well I did the Konad considering I feel terrible. My right hand is a disaster though!

Sexy Divide is much prettier when there is actually some sunlight. My Walmart's Essie display was finally put up so I picked out three colours. (Sexy Divide, Beach Bum Blu, and Sew Pysched.) Chase, my boyfriend, bought these for me. =) I had never seen Beach Bum Blu before, it turns out its a Wal Mart exclusive shade. I know some people don't like the fact that Essie is now in Wal Mart but to me its a good thing. The only other Essie I have is Matte About You. The nearest place for me to purchase Essie is Ulta, which is about an hour away from me. The bottle is a little different so you can tell which ones are from Wal Mart. At my Wal Mart these were $7.25 each. I also heard somewhere that they changed some of the names, which I think is kind of silly. (Velvet Vouyeur, Velvet Voyage)

Have you seen Essie at your Wal Mart yet?
Peace and Love,
Serena

たまむし ~ Layering with Sinful Colors

2011-01-12T16:43:00.000-06:00

Hello! How are you? Cold? Sorry I haven't posted in awhile... School started and then after that we had some snow and ice. The snow is kind of melting (even though its still freezing cold.) so I can finally stand to be outside to take pictures. The last time I was at Walgreens I picked up a Sinful Colors polish called 'Let Me Go'. I was always curious about since it looked like a pretty, iridescent shade. Its extremely sheer so I layered it over my go-to purple, China Glaze Grape Pop. Grape Pop is my favourite purple because it can look good in one coat if you apply it carefully. It also works nicely with Konad. (Speaking of Konad...I haven't done that in awhile!)

I love green and purple together...this sort of reminds me of Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie. I'm not exactly sure how close it is since I don't own Scrangie (that sounded weird...) but it would be a good cheap alternative. (1.99 at Walgreens)

Speaking of Scrangie...she mentioned her inspiration for the colour was the iridescent wings of a beetle. The Japanese part of the title of this post roughly means "iridescent wings of an insect". I've been trying to learn Japanese for the past few months so I'm using as much of it as possible whenever/wherever I can.

If you have RBL Scrangie let me know how close this layering combination is to the real thing!

Peace and Love,
Serena

First Manicure of the New Year - OPI The Show Must Go On

2011-01-03T17:56:00.000-06:00

Happy (late) New Year! How has it been so far? Mine has been pretty good. I got a set a Burlesque minis for Christmas and the one that appealed to me the most was 'The Show Must Go On'. Its a pretty red-ish pink that shifts orange in certain ligthing. It looks gorgeous and unfortunately I wasn't able to capture how cool it really is. That's partially because I waited too long and partially because colours like this can be tricky to photograph.

I took the picture with China Glaze Peppermint Cuticle Oil since its hard to take pictures with the mini bottles. I recommend checking your Sally's clearance section; I found tons of discounted polishes at mine, especially ones from holiday collections. I also picked up this cuticle oil since they had a whole container full of them for .99 cents each. I actually really like it and the peppermint smell is nice.

On an entirely different subject...I have some cute pictures to show you! When I asked my boyfriend Chase what he wanted for Christmas the only thing he said he wanted was a kitten. So I got him one. He is so cute but don't let that fool you...he's a troublemaker as well! It was nearly impossible to take pictures of him. Most of them came out blurry. He even tried to attack the camera.

His name is Riku and he was about 8 weeks old when we got him. He's so small he gets in to everything but he is so adorable you can't be mad at him.
Once again, Happy New Years! Have you made any New Year's resolutions?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Grunge Nails ☆

2010-12-27T08:42:00.002-06:00

How was everyone's holiday? I had a good one. On Christmas Eve I spent time with family and Christmas day I just spent time with my boyfriend, sister and parents. I got 3 OPI mini sets for Christmas: Go Goth, Swiss, and Burlesque. For this manicure I used Obscurity (a matte black) and Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous. (a sparkly gunmetal grey).

I tried to make a gradient effect with the gunmetal grey colour but it didn't turn out exactly like I pictured. I still like it though, its very grunge looking. We didn't have any makeup sponges so I used a semi-fluffy craft brush and patted the grey on top of the matte black.

It only took 2 coats of the matte black to be opaque. I was pretty impressed with it, normally I have trouble with matte polishes. I also didn't have as much trouble with the mini bottles as I normally do. They haven't changed or anything, I guess my application must have improved. I think Lucern-tainly Look Marvelous would look spectacular on its own with top coat. Lightly applied here it doesn't look too glittery but in the bottle it flashes blue and pink sparkles.

My mom got me a really neat nail file for Christmas and so far I love it. It works so much better than emery boards and I even like it better than the glass and crystal files. After I use it for awhile I might review it if you're interested. Its a little pricey ($28) so I'll let you know if I think its worth purchasing.

What did you get for Christmas? How was your holiday?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Happy Holidays! (Red and Silver Nail Art)

2010-12-23T14:47:00.000-06:00

I can't believe its Christmas Eve tomorrow...time flies! I'm not much of a holiday nail person, but I wanted to use some festive colours.I used 3 coats China Glaze Thunderbird as the base and then painted silver X's on my nails with L.A. Colors Art Deco silver striper.

I wish the sun would have come out today! I took these pictures this morning before going out for sushi with my aunt. She is the only one who will go with me so I'm glad she is back in town. =) I'm thinking about changing the layout of my blog after the new year...any ideas on colours I should use?

I'm really hoping to get some neat nail art stuff for Christmas this year. What's on your wishlist?

Peace, Love, and Happy Holidays!
Serena

Christmas Confetti

2010-12-13T17:36:00.002-06:00

Yay! Finally I have a new blog post. =) I've been waiting to use China Glaze Party Hearty since the last week of October, when I first purchased it. I wanted to wait until closer to Christmas to wear it. I'm not really a seasonal person. Last Christmas I was wearing neon green. This colour has been layered over emerald green, silver, gold, white, black, and red by other bloggers so I wanted to think of something different. I chose to layer it over Joe Fresh Mint, a pretty mint green. It took three coats to become opaque. I painted one coat of Party Hearty, then touched up a few areas that didn't have as much glitter. It wasn't as gritty as I thought it would be but it definitely needs topcoat.

My mom bought that cute violin ornament you see in the last picture. Both me and my sister play the violin. I love this combination, I wasn't sure if it would look good but I've received several compliments on it. I have a feeling it will be my only Christmas manicure. I'm just not in to doing seasonal stuff. I do whatever I get inspired to do.

I need recommendations for a really moisturizing cuticle oil/hand cream. I already have dry skin and it is getting really bad in this cold weather. Solar Oil hasn't been working for me ever since it got cold.Thankfully it hasn't snowed yet!

I was tagged today by (Squoval)iscious! with an award/questions tag. I was surprised to find I wasn't following her yet! She has some really beautiful designs on her blog and I am thankful she tagged me.

1. Why did you create the blog?
I had been reading nail blogs for a year and finally decided I wanted to create one too. I liked the idea of sharing my manicures and I was just getting in to nail art too. The community is my favourite part; I love receiving feedback from the comments.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?
Mostly nail and beauty blogs. I am following a few random blogs, like a Beatles photo blog and a couple blogs about Japan.

3. Do you have a favorite make-up brand?
I'm not much in to makeup but I do like Fyrinnae. I love smaller companies because they always seem to have excellent customer service and unique products. Their products are often cheaper as well.

4. And a favorite clothing brand?
Not brand conscious at all! I can't really think of too many brands, I just wear what I like.

5. What make-up products are essential for you?
Lip Balm, mascara, lip gloss, sunscreen. I only wear eye makeup occasionally when I feel like it!

6. What's your favorite colour?
Purple or teal.

7. What's your favorite perfume?
I don't have a specific one. I like fresh scents like lemon, mint, cucumber. On the other hand, I enjoy fruity scents too. I really like most scents except sugary, vanilla, and cookie type scents.

8. What's the film you liked the most?
Ehh...I don't know. xD

9. What countries would you like to go?
I've already been to Germany and Austria but I would LOVE to go again. I also want to visit South Korea, Australia, the UK, and Japan.

I tag/award Starving Nail Addict! I love her designs. =)

I realized I haven't updated my blog link list in awhile so I am going to do that now. There are a lot of blogs I need to add to it. Also, I checked to make sure I am following everyone who is following me. If you follow me or comment on here I will most likley check out your blog and follow.

It's nice to post again...thanks for reading!

Peace and Love,

Serena.

Update: Time flies when you're writing essays!

2010-12-11T17:05:00.000-06:00

Essay + Finals= no posts. I can't believe how long its been since I posted anything! I have been seriously swamped with school work, essays, etc. that I haven't had an extra time to blog. I haven't even been commenting on blogs as I usually do. December 17th is my last days of school for this semester so I will get back in to the swing of things then! I wanted to do this quick update just to apologize and let all of you know what was going on. If you're interested in more random details about my life and what has been going on the last few weeks, keep reading. If not, I will have a relevant post up Sunday or Monday! The picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post. I added it in for two reasons: 1. It accurately depicts what has been going on inside my mind (pure chaos) and 2. I can't write a post without adding pictures.

Procrastinating my online class was not a good idea. Most of the insane work I have been doing lately has been my online Government class. It's a semester long course and is required for graduation in the state of Oklahoma. I had to take it online because my schedule couldn't fit another class. My schedule is like this: 1st hour: Orchestra, 2nd hour: Math of Finance, 3rd hour: Chemistry, 4th hour: British Literature. Next I have lunch then I go to a technical/vocational school in my area. I take a class called "Graphic Communications" which includes graphic arts/design, photography, printing, page layout, screen printing, typography, and bindery. We learn Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and a little bit of Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks. So long story short, due to Orchestra and my Graphic Arts class I didn't have time to take Government at school. At this point I really want to avoid online classes. The particular program they use for online classes is irritating. I have a teacher overlooking my course who grades projects and essays. She also has to unlock tests for me. I'm not sure why she has to do that...my counselor mentioned something about students skipping the essays and assignments and just doing the tests. My response to that is: wouldn't you fail the class if you skipped all the work and just did the tests? I have never in my life taken a class that had so many reports and essays. In total I have written 7 essays for this class in one semester. 1,000 word essays on Feudalism, Open Door policy, the U.S. Senate, political parties, etc. Another thing that irritated me about this online class is that when I submitted my essay it entered it in as a zero until it was graded by the teacher. The first time I turned in an essay I freaked out because my grade dropped from an A to D. I wish it would have just marked it as N/A or something like that until it was graded.

Besides my Government class I had a six to eight page research report for English, worth 1000 points. I got it done, it wasn't too bad and I am confident I did well on it. I won't know for awhile though, seeing as she has probably one hundred of them to grade. I procrastinated more than I should have on it but in the end it got done. I can't believe the first semester of my senior year is almost over. Time flies when you're ~~writing essays~~ having fun!

Congratulations if you read this far, sorry for rambling/complaining about my life. I'm more than ready for Christmas break, hopefully I will have time to post more often then.

Since I actually I have some free time right now I'm going to relax, comment on some blogs and do something fun!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Nail Fraud Review

2010-11-28T17:12:00.000-06:00

About a week ago Nail Fraud posted on their facebook page that they were giving out one free kit to anyone who sent them an email with their name and address. I had seen Nail Fraud on a blog once and wanted to try them out, so I sent in my information. Yesterday I got them in the mail and decided to use them today. I was sent 1 kit which includes 20 nail 'stickers' and an emery board. The instructions say to clean your nails using acetone or polish remover (regardless of whether or not you have polish on) and fit the stickers on your nails. The set comes with different sizes and for the most part I didn't have trouble fitting them onto my nails. It was a bit difficult to line them up straight and get them on your nails smoothly. I did have a few bumps. These decals are stretchy though so you can pull them to conform to your nails. Pulling them can also help take out creases. Here is how mine turned out:

These reminded me a lot of Incoco nail appliques, except these come in fun patterns. I wanted to like these but there are many things that prevent these from becoming an A+ product for me. The sticker started to come up less than an hour in to wearing these, so I put top coat over them and so far they have stayed. (I've been wearing them for about 3 hours now.) Also, they are a bit difficult to apply and not all your nails will come out perfect. I'm not sure if you can see the imperfections in my nails in the picture. (click to enlarge the images) The packaging says they're fast to apply but this product isn't really any quicker than painting your nails. I will probably keep these on until I get bored with them or they start coming off. Without topcoat, these don't last at all. One thing that bothers me about the website is that the leopard pattern on there doesn't match the one I have, which makes me wonder how accurate their product pictures are.

Pros: Fun patterns, relatively easy to apply once you get the hang of it, comes with more than needed in case you mess up.
Cons: Only available on their website, $12 for one application, inaccurate pictures, requires topcoat to last for more than an hour.

I'm not really sure if I recommend these or not. They are pricey and I wasn't impressed with the wear (before I applied topcoat) but they are kind of fun and the designs are cute. I'm curious how they compare to Incoco so I might test those out as well. The only reason I haven't yet is because their colour selection (in my local Walgreens) is really unimpressive. I will have a final verdict on the wear of these at the beginning of my next post.

I have been so busy lately with finals, research papers, the holidays, etc. I haven't been able to post two times a week as usual and I haven't been commenting on other blogs either. I will probably only post once a week until Winter Break starts. (December 17th) I can't wait to be off school again...these essays are killing me! >.<

Have you tried Nail Fraud or Incoco? What did you think of them? Do you think they're worth the money? Let me know what you think.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Peace On Earth (China Glaze Holiday 2010)

2010-11-22T20:15:00.001-06:00

I LOVE THIS COLOUR. I'm really happy China Glaze included this in their 2010 Holiday collection; it is an unusual colour, especially for a Holiday collection. This would be my first olive green polish and I can already tell it won't be my last. I also love the name, Peace on Earth. About a year ago I probably would have cringed at a colour like this. (That was back when I wouldn't wear anything but purple or teal/turquoise/blue-green on my nails.)

Yuck...my skin looks weird in the sunlight. I was catching the last bit of available sun at this point!

Despite my love for this colour, it does have some formula issues. =/ There are very slight brushstrokes and I had a hard time getting this too look even. It has the same troubles many metallic colours have. I used 2-3 coats. Some fingers have two coats, some have three. You might not have these same issues if your application skills are better than mine. The small flaws don't bother me too much though, I love this colour and it is unique in my collection. Plus the bottle has a silver cap! =)

Tomorrow is my last day of school before Thanksgiving Break and I'm excited! I really need a break; school has been tough lately. I normally like to do 2+ posts a week but that hasn't been happening lately. Hopefully during this break I can get to some of the posts I've been wanting to do. School should be slowing down soon though and before long I will be off for winter break. (December 17th I believe.) My senior year is flying by...

Thanks for reading!

Peace and Love,

Serena

Plum Plaid Nail Art

2010-11-16T17:37:00.000-06:00

I love plaid patterns. I can't believe its taken me this long to do plaid on my nails. I used Essence Plum Perfect as a base and used LA Colors Art Deco polishes for the stripes. The sun is setting even earlier now...I did this design immediately when I got home and rushed to take pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my camera so I almost missed daylight. I charged it enough to where I could take some picture though.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out. There are only 5 lines on each nail: a silver one slightly off centered, a white one on one side, a black one on the other side, and two stripes across the whole nail.

I'm working on a post soon about nail art and the tools I use. I'll probably keep this design on for awhile. Sorry about the lack of posts lately, school and life in general has gotten busier. I can't wait for Thanksgiving Break! I reached 100 followers not too long ago and I just want to say thanks to all of you. When I first started I wasn't sure if anyone would read my blog.

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Joe Fresh Cherry Konad

2010-11-09T16:59:00.000-06:00

No matter what shade of red I wear I always think it looks odd on me. I used to hate red nail polish and I would refuse to wear it. Now, I don't mind it so much. I didn't like it so much on its own so I stamped a circular patten to the tips of my nails using plate S06. The design even matches the polish bottle.

This is the first Joe Fresh polish I have used, and I had no problems with it. Its a jelly so it took 3 coats to cover. The brush is wide and flat so application is easy. I can't believe Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be here soon, which also means the school semester will be over soon. I have a feeling my senior year will go by really quickly once the new year starts. I'm already seeing Christmas displays out! Personally, I think Christmas displays should wait until after Thanksgiving.

I appreciate all the interesting feedback regarding the Rush topcoat review. It just goes to show that not all products work for everybody. Speaking of feedback, does anyone have any nail art ideas? Unfortunately I've been lacking inspiration lately. I've also been busy with school stuff too. Let me know in the comments if you do!

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Fail Topcoat Review (Rush 60 Second High Speed Nail Lacquer)

2010-11-06T16:45:00.001-05:00

At the very least all topcoats should give your nails shine and help protect them from wear. A good, basic top coat should also last on nails. This one can't even do that. There are only two positive things I can say about this topcoat: It is inexpensive ($4.99 at Sally's) and it does dry quickly. Other than those two things this topcoat was a complete failure for me. After using up Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, I went to Sally's and picked up this topcoat to try out. When I first used it I wasn't extremely impressed, nor was I disappointed. It dried quickly, left a shiny finish and wasn't too thick. I did notice it was unusually thin and it didn't give as much of a glassy finish as most topcoats I'm used to. I figured I had probably just got used to that from using Seche Vite and Insta Dri so I continued to use it. One thing I noticed about this topcoat is it doesn't last. I painted my nails around noon one day and by 6:00 PM the shine was noticeably diminished. My nails also had that feeling like they didn't have topcoat on them. I painted another coat on that night. At that point I wondered if I would get even halfway through the bottle.

As far as nail art goes, the first few times I used it my design smeared so I always took blog pictures before I used topcoat. Back when I did my Breast Cancer Awareness manicure I started to become fed up. The polish I used in that manicure didn't dry shiny, it had more of a suede finish. (Not completely matte, but slightly.) I noticed the topcoat wearing off with this manicure the most. I painted it on and my nails looked shiny, then 5 hours later they looked dull again. After my Hidden Treasure manicure I decided to get a new topcoat. Flaky polishes usually aren't too gritty but they do have a texture to them. This topcoat did not smooth out that texture.

Pros: Dries quickly, inexpensive
Cons: Topcoat wears off really quickly, defeating the purpose of applying topcoat. Smears nail art. Doesn't give as glassy of a finish as I would like. Not recommended for glitters at all, it wouldn't even make Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure feel smooth.

Have you tried this topcoat? I'm wondering if anyone else has had a bad experience or if it's just me.

EDIT: Just added a box under followers where you can like my facebook page without having to go to facebook. It took me way longer than it should have to figure it out, the code kept messing up. It still doesn't look quite like I wanted it to but it serves its purpose. Plus I'm tired of messing with it.

Peace and Love,
Serena

E.l.f. Metallic Orange Konad + FB page!

2010-11-02T17:19:00.001-05:00

Out of all the Elf polishes I got from my aunt awhile back, this one was the one I wasn't quite sure about. I prefer to wear cool toned polishes over warm ones and in my experience orange doesn't look very good on me. This one really impressed me though. It's a metallic pumpkin orange with a pink glow to it. It's really hard to describe and unfortunately my pictures failed to capture it. You can kind of see it in a few of the pictures. I wanted to do some Konad so I used plate S06 and stamped a diagonal line pattern on my nails.

Despite how much I love this colour, it was somewhat streaky and sheer. Three coats evened it out nicely though. I wanted to take a picture of this without Konad but by the time I remembered I had already stamped my left hand! So here is a somewhat awkward picture of my right hand. I'm pretty sure I'll never be photographing my right hand again.. I didn't even notice the bad chip on the middle finger so excuse that.

Pink flash still didn't show up but atleast you can see the pretty pumpkin orange colour! I'm holding my teal-ish pants in that picture, I thought it complemented the orange nicely.

I made a page on facebook! Feel free to "like" the page if you have a facebook. I thought it would be cool to get to talk to you without writing a blog post. I'm in the process of uploading all my current pictures on there and feel free to share your own manicures as well. =)

Peace and Love,
Serena

Autumn Leaves

2010-10-28T18:16:00.000-05:00

The first time I ever did this layering combination was last summer, in May. I thought it looked perfect for fall and I recently remembered it. I love Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, it transforms any colour and looks different depending on the base. Unfortunately, Hidden Treasure is discontinued, but you can buy GOSH Rainbow or Nubar 2010 to create the same look. Nfu-Oh might have a similar colour as well but I'm not sure. The base colour in this one is OPI Jade Is The New Black, one of my all time favourite greens.

This combination actually looks best in the shade, which is why the effect isn't as obvious in the last picture.

On an unrelated note, I've been thinking about creating a facebook profile or page specifically for this blog. I thought it would be cool to get to talk to you more often, get your feedback on things, etc. I would like some opinions on this though.. Should I make a facebook profile or a facebook page? There are pros and cons to both but I'm leaning more towards the actual profile. I feel it would be more interactive that way. On the other hand, if I made a page I wouldn't have to log in to another profile all the time. I could still be logged on to my personal facebook page, all I would have to do is visit the page when I want to post something. Either way, let me know which one you think I should do!

Thanks for reading. =)
Peace and Love,
Serena

Breast Cancer Awareness- Pink Ribbon Nail Art

2010-10-26T17:43:00.001-05:00

I meant to post this a few days ago but I've been really busy lately. I had a huge essay on medieval times due. Anyway, I wanted to do a Breast Cancer Awareness manicure before October is over. I really liked this manicure, it is simple but people still realized what it stood for. I used Elf Metallic Pink for the base colour and L.A. Colors Art Deco Baby Pink for the dots. There are a variety of things you can use as a dotting tool, but I used a pencil for this manicure. Elf Metallic Pink was perfect in two coats and is a bright pink with a slight blue flash. It didn't have any brushstrokes and application was smooth.

This picture was taken after about 4-5 days of wear and this polish really held up well. I wore it without topcoat for 2 days and I didn't get any chips or tip wear. By day five I did get tip wear but it wasn't horrible. Pretty impressive for a polish that is only one dollar!

Here are a few facts about breast cancer:

Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.
You are never too young to develop breast cancer! Breast Self-Exam should begin by the age of twenty.

Approximately 1400 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2000 and 400 of those men will die.

I was surprised by the last fact. Most people don't think about men getting breast cancer!

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Topcoat Review: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Topcoat

2010-10-20T17:46:00.001-05:00

Recently I have been using Sally Hansen Insta Dri top coat. Ever since my Seche Vite began to thicken and bubble I decided to start trying different less hyped topcoats. I went to Walgreens specifically to purchase a yellow polish and saw a display of Insta Dri colours. Each colour was packaged with a free Insta Dri topcoat so I picked the package that contained Lightening. I wasn't sure this topcoat would be as quick drying as Seche Vite, but I was pleasantly surprised. It dried just as fast and had a similar shiny, glass like finish. This topcoat isn't as good for nail art and konad; the big brush makes it easier to smear nail art no matter how hard you try to prevent it.

The biggest downside to this topcoat is it gets thick, stringy, and bubbles. I started noticing this when the topcoat got down to where the word "Dri" is on the bottle. Karen (Frazzle and Aniploish) told me that nail polish thinner can remedy this issue. I'll probably be purchasing some for not only my topcoats but a few bottles of polish I own that could use thinning. All things considered, this topcoat is pretty good. I bought this at Walgreens and it costs around 3-4 dollars.Walgreens has sales on these periodically so sometimes they can be found for cheaper. Walmart and other drugstores also sell this line. This topcoat works perfectly to use before nail art. I usually put a layer of topcoat on before doing nail art/konad to make sure the base colour is completely dry.

Pros: Dries quickly, inexpensive, can be found at Walmart and drugstores, gives a smooth, glassy finish.
Cons: Smears nail art and konad, thickens up towards the bottom of the bottle.

This would be a great topcoat for someone who didn't do nail art frequently, or for use before nail art. I wasn't expecting much out of this and was surprised at how well it worked. It also didn't thicken up as quickly as Seche Vite so you can get lots of use out of it before you need to add thinner. I have already picked out a new topcoat which I will review once I have used it for awhile. Before I review anything I will always use it for three weeks or use half the bottle, whichever comes first. I've already been using it for a week but its too soon to say anything yet.

If you have any ideas of a topcoat I could try out to review let me know! (Especially if you know or have heard that it is good for nail art.)

Have you tried this topcoat? What do you think of it?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Weird Ghost

2010-10-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

I've been loving the fall weather lately, but I don't like how early the sun starts setting! I rely on outdoor pictures so I guess I'm going to have to alter the way I take pictures for this blog. I might start taking pictures on my lunch hour before I go to tech school. Either way, I'll figure it out. Anyway, a few days ago I did a black and white ghost design. First I used GOSH Black Passion on all my nails, except the ring finger. I painted the ring finger white using Pure Ice Superstar. Using a pencil, I made a dotted x on my pointer, middle, pinky finger, and thumb. Using LA Colors Art Deco Black and a craft store brush, I painted the eyes and mouth of the ghost on the ring finger.

GOSH Black Passion is a soft charcoal black with fine silver shimmer. It looks extremely similar to Misa Dying Love, but not exactly alike. It applied almost perfectly in one coat, I used two out of habit. Pure Ice Superstar is the white I used...and I hate it. Its chalky, streaky, thick, and takes 4 coats to smooth out! I don't recommend it. I bought it because I needed a white polish quickly for some nail art awhile back. This is the first time I have used it on its own though. Normally I just use it for nail art. It works fine for that!

I've got a few different kinds of posts coming up soon. One of my ideas was to do a post about nail art. I'll cover tools, where to buy them, a few tips, and sources for inspiration. (Like tutorials, blogs, etc.) The second thing I will be posting soon is a quick dry topcoat review. I am thinking about doing several quick dry topcoat reviews because I want to try several different ones and find the perfect one for me. I want one that dries quickly, isn't too thick, won't smear nail art, and doesn't get unbearably thick halfway through. Seche Vite works great, but I need to thin it out half way through the bottle. Seche Vite is also kind of expensive, considering I use a lot of topcoat. The one I am going to review is one I have almost used all the way up. I won't do a review of anything unless I've either used half of the product or I've been using it for at least a few weeks. I just bought a new topcoat to try out so in about a month we'll see how I feel about this one. I won't say what it is until I review it..

Thanks for reading! =)

Peace and Love,

Serena

Giveaway Goodies! (and a small rant..)

2010-10-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

My giveaway goodies have finally arrived! Getting this package definitely brightened my day. =) This package came from Smita, I won her 100 followers giveaway. My pictures aren't so great, I would have taken them outdoors but I missed the sunlight today!

Here are the things I won:

L'Oreal Paris Ocean Breeze
GOSH Flamingo
GOSH Black Passion
GOSH Ocean
OPI Blue My Mind
Nicole by OPI Respect the World
Joe Fresh Mint
Joe Fresh Powder Blue
Joe Fresh Cherry
Sephora Top Coat
Essence Colour and Go No More Drama
Essence Nail Art Stickers

She also sent me candy!

So..which should I wear first?

I actually have some bad news I wanted to address real quick. I've been reading Kelly's blog (Vampy Varnish) for awhile now and I always enjoy her posts. Today she found out someone was stealing her content and reposting it on a site called Luuux. When I visited the thief's "blog" on the site I noticed Kelly wasn't the only beauty blogger she was stealing from. Polish Addict, Scrangie, ALU, Polish Mayhem, the Nailphile, and a few others were also on there. The worst part about this is that she is getting 'Luuux credits' that she can use to redeem prizes. It makes me sick that she is gaining from other peoples hard work. I encourage you to check out this Luuux site and report any instances of plagarism you see on there. (As well as check to see if your content is being stolen) She isn't just reposting pictures, but blog entries! Kelly wrote her own post on the topic which has additional details. Now she is reposting recipes that are obviously from another website. Here is where all the polish/beauty entries are: http://www.luuux.com/members/kelly-brennan?page=10 Don't comment on her posts because she gets luuux credits when you do. Just click the report button.

I can't believe she is doing this, even when confronted she still stands by what she is doing. I personally would never steal content like this. It can't possibly be rewarding for her to receive comments on a post she didn't create..

Alright, rant over... What do you think about all this?

Peace and Love,
Serena

Fright Night Claw Polish - Black and Orange Glitter

2010-10-09T10:40:00.001-05:00

I picked this Fright Night polish up at the same time I got the green one, Toxic. Unfortunately it was missing the sticker so I'm not sure what its called. Chase named it "Glitter Sh*t". =P This one is a pretty standard Halloween colour; black and orange glitter in a clear base. Its too sheer to be used alone. (In my opinion.) I was thinking of what I should wear under this and Chase suggested a metallic silver. So I chose China Glaze Millenium and then used 1-2 coats of the Fright Night. (Some nails needed more glitter.) I really like this combination, its much cooler looking than using a light orange creme...which was my first thought.

These are in the Halloween section at Wal Mart and cost three dollars each. Like I said in my previous post I think these bottles are cool looking and worth buying just for that. It is tough to get the glitter even on all nails. Some nails have 2 coats, others have one. This colour is nothing like Fortune Teller. Fortune Teller is a black polish with hexagonal and circular orange glitter.

Have you bought any of these coffin shaped polishes? Are there any you want to get?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Coffin shaped nail polish bottles? Fright Night Claw Polish - Toxic

2010-10-06T17:25:00.001-05:00

When I first saw these coffin shaped polishes on Jen's blog (the Polish-Aholic), I had to go to Wal Mart and look for them. It took me awhile to find them because my Wal Mart is extremely inconsistent about where they put the Halloween stuff. Some of it was in the clothing aisle, but most of it was in the back near where the car stuff is. They had several different colours: a glittering red, a creme red, black, orange, black and orange bar glitter in a clear base, and a metallic emerald green. I chose the emerald green, Toxic, and the black and orange glitter that didn't have a name sticker.

I decided to use the emerald green first. The colour selection on these isn't mind blowing or anything; Its the coffin shaped bottles that made me want to pick up a few! Holding the trapezoid shaped top is a bit awkward at first but its not too bad. I wasn't expecting great application with these but they applied well. I only needed two coats and the brush wasn't too thin either.

The colour is gorgeous, the application was fairly easy, and the bottles are to die for. These cost 3 dollars each and are only available at Wal Mart. Next post I'll be showing the black and orange string glitter. Its definitely nowhere close to Fortune Teller. This one has different shaped glitter (rectangular, not circular and hexagonal) and it definitely can't be worn on its own. (I did a three coat swatch on paper and it didn't come close to being opaque enough.)

Any application issues you see in the pictures are due to Seche Vite... both it and my bottle of Insta Dri aren't working anymore. They're thick, stringy and leave streaks and bubbles. Any quick dry top coat recommendations? I was really pleased with Insta Dri and Seche until they went bad on me before I even finished them! I want to see if I can find any quick dry topcoat that works better so if you know a good one let me know. =)

Peace and Love,
Serena

Lavender Paisley with Essence Colour and Go

2010-09-30T18:11:00.002-05:00

Last weekend my mom went to Ulta and while she was there she picked up 3 Essence Colour and Go polishes. They're mini bottles and contain 5 mL of lacquer. I believe they were .99 cents. The one I decided to wear this week is called No More Drama. Its a pale lavender creme and dried to a very shiny finish. It looked like I already had topcoat on. I was really impressed with the application of this, it went on really smooth and was almost opaque in one coat. The brush is also easy to use. Mini bottles are usually frustrating for me because most of them have thin, small brushes. At first it reminded me of the OPI Pro Wide brush but this one is not quite so wide and its more flat. The back of the bottle said, "Nail Polish with flat brush for a smooth and easy application, quick dry." I'm happy to say that this lived up to that claim. I really hope the rest of these Essence colours are as good!

Its been awhile since I did a Konad manicure so I did one last night. I love paisley prints so I chose plate m60. Then I used China Glaze Grape Pop to stamp the design. I love the way it turned out but stamping with non Konad polishes is a little bit tougher than if you do use their polish. I only have black and white Konad polish though, and I get bored of only using those. This one worked pretty well though. The design is clear, it didn't smear and the design picked up on the stamp. (Some polishes I've tested with Konad won't pick up on the stamp. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Gunmetal had this problem.)

Yesterday I reorganized my nail polish and updated my nail polish 'catalogue'. (Yep, when it comes to my nail stuff I try to be as organized as possible!) I have a sketch book where I paint a swatch of the colour on a page of the sketch book and put a number next to it. On another page I have a numbered list of polish names. I got the idea to update my original polish collection post and link to the polishes I have featured on this blog from that post. So if you go to that post, and see a polish name that you would like to see a picture of, click on the link. If its not linked, then I haven't used it since I started this blog. (edit: finished the links!) If you have any requests or questions, comment on this post, my collection post, or email me. (lacquerlove@gmail.com) What colour(s) would you like to see me use next?

Thanks for reading! =)

Peace and Love,

Serena

A nail art tribute to my kitties!

2010-09-27T19:28:00.000-05:00

I appreciate all the support and comments I received in my last post! I've been doing well, much better than I thought I would. I read over my last post and realized it had some verb tense issues. I originally wrote that post before she passed, on Friday. I planned to post it before we had her put to sleep but couldn't find the pictures. (Turns out I was looking on the wrong flash drive!) Then I put the pictures in the post I had written but didn't fix the verb tenses. Just wanted to clear that up, I didn't really proofread that post at all.

Friday night I was really upset and I wanted to take my mind off things so I did this manicure with paw prints. The base is Misa Cherry Topping and the paw print was done using a thin artist brush dipped in black polish. Cherry Topping has a jelly finish but is opaque in 3 coats.

I thought it would be appropriate to take pictures of my nails with Misty but cats aren't always cooperative in front of a camera. I did manage to get one decent shot though.

Maybe she likes to be viewed from the side? =P And here is a mess up one, just for fun. My nails are out of focus...

Once again, thanks for all the sweet comments. =)
Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

R.I.P. my precious kitty...

2010-09-26T13:30:00.002-05:00

I planned to have another post up yesterday but lately I haven't been feeling like doing my nails. My cat, Tikal has been really sick for a few weeks now. (Not the cat I posted pictures of in this post.) I've had this cat for eight years now and she has always been healthy. The vet took blood and figured out she had Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She hasn't kept any food down the past for almost the past week and she won't keep medicine down either. All she can do is drink water. Saturday my mom took her to the vet to be put to sleep... Part of me is sad to loose her but another part of me is relieved. She has experienced nothing but pain lately and it was extremely painful for me to see her suffering.

Its heartbreaking to see her everyday, barely moving. She used to be so active...she couldn't stay inside for too long. A dead mouse would be left on our porch (or somewhere around the outside of our house) every few days. Across the street from the side of our house is a large field and a hill. If you go over that hill you will see a small pond and further back, someones house. My kitty loved to go to that field, she loved to sit next to the pond. If I ever wanted to find her she was usually there.

Sorry about the depressing post, but I really wanted to write about this as well as share the pictures I took of her special place. R.I.P. Tikal... I miss you.

Thanks for reading...
Peace and Love,
Serena

Cosmic Blue

2010-09-21T17:30:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Cosmic Blue. Out of all the new Sally Hansen's this one looked the most interesting to me. Its a royal blue with small round holographic glitter and stringy bar shaped holographic glitter. This one looks crazy holographic in the bottle, even in shade.

That picture is just in the shade. Judging by the crazy rainbow effect in the bottle you would think (hope) that all of it showed up on the nail. Not exactly. The blue base covers most of the glitter, making it look like you have bumpy blue glitter. A few pieces of glitter show through and show a holographic effect, but not as much as I was wanting.

Capturing the glitter and holographic was difficult, but my pictures turned out accurate. My expectations are a little high though, this colour still looks neat and a several people noticed the holographic effect. It took 3 coats to get this one opaque and I didn't have any application issues. I wish more of the string glitter showed up on the nail, I only got a few pieces to stick.

What do you think of this colour, is it on your wish list?

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Matte Glitter

2010-09-17T14:55:00.000-05:00

How is everyone's Friday? I'm writing this post from class because I won't have any time to this evening. I also took this picture really quick at school before I went in, so its not my best but you get the idea. Since I haven't yet bought any of the China Glaze Halloween colours I decided to wear last years colour, Fortune Teller. Seeing Halloween displays at Walgreens got me in the Halloween spirit. Last year Scrangie showed this colour matte, so I wanted to try it out. Matte glitter looks really cool, I'll have to try this with other glitter polishes!

I got a few weird looks taking pictures of my nails in front of the school. =P Next post will be Cosmic Blue, because it looks so neat in the bottle and a few of you said you wanted to see that one next.

Does anyone know of a colour similar to the base colour of Chanel Paradoxal? I'm looking to make a 'Paradoxal but my way' layering combination. Any help is appreciated. =)

Thanks for reading!

Peace and Love,

Serena

Recent purchases and exciting news!

2010-09-16T17:37:00.001-05:00

Well, I was going to have a post up today but I just took pictures and they came out horrible. It's very overcast outside. Today ended up being a great day because I actually won a blog giveaway! Smita from My Nailz recently hosted a giveaway and I got an email informing me that I won this afternoon. I'm super excited to get my stuff because I will get to try brands like GOSH and Joe Fresh.

Anyway, I do have some things to show you. I haven't bought any new nail polish in about a month so yesterday I went to Walgreens to see what was new. There were several new displays, mostly Halloween and fall. Also, Wet n Wild was on sale for 79 cents. I got one of the new Sally Hansen Xtreme Wears, Cosmic Blue. It is an electric blue polish with circular and string holographic glitter. Normally I don't care for glitter (I hate removing it.) but I thought this one looked cool. Since Wet n Wild's were 79 cents I picked up Sunny Side Up, a bright orange creme. The second picture is a little blurry, but it shows the holographic glitter better.

Another recent thing I got is this set of Elf polishes. My aunt visited from San Diego not too long ago and brought me this. All three are metallic colours. The first one is named Metallic Blue, the second is Metallic Magenta, and the third is Metallic Orange. (Not very creative names...) Surprisingly the orange intrigues me the most, its a very unusual looking orange. The pictures don't show how interesting these look, the magenta has a blue-purple flash to it and the other two look more interesting in real life.

Let me know if any of these new polishes interest you, I always have trouble deciding which to wear first.
Tomorrow I'll have a real post up!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Anchor Nail Art

2010-09-11T15:45:00.000-05:00

There's a first time for everything I guess...I actually had to edit one of my photos for this blog. Normally my camera does a great job of capturing what the colours actually look like so all I have to do is crop my photos. I took the photos yesterday right before the sun set, so that's probably why the came out looking off. I took more just now in proper sunlight and they all came out accurate. The last picture in this post is edited, the rest are just cropped.

I have been in the mood to do freehand nail art lately but I have been lacking ideas. All of a sudden I thought I would do a nautical anchor design. The base colour is China Glaze Frostbite, a glowing electric blue. Then I used LA Colors Art Deco to paint stripes on all my nails except the ring finger. I put a few drops of white polish on a piece of paper and used a small artist detail brush to draw the anchor.

My edited picture shows how this colour looks in shade or indoors. My other pictures are in bright sunlight. I never take pictures indoors because the lighting in my house is horrible. We have dark walls and not enough windows. I hope to do more freehand designs like this, I find them really fun and more rewarding. Duplicating this design on my right hand was not fun though!

On another note, a few days ago I checked my blog email and someone emailed me asking to check out their giveaway. She is giving away several prize packages and for each package there are different ways to enter. I love watching beauty videos on youtube to get nail inspiration. Here is a link to her channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LovelysInstinct . Her contest is running until October 19th so you have plenty of time to enter. While we're on the subject of youtube, one of my favourite nail art channels is LOVE4NAILS. She does step by step nail art tutorials every week and she makes everything look so easy. I get a lot of ideas and inspiration from her. If you're interested in learning how to have strong, healthy, long nails she has several videos on that.

Do you watch nail related videos on youtube?
Who do you watch?

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Hypnotize- Purple and Lime Green Konad

2010-09-04T14:25:00.001-05:00

Hello! I don't know about you, but I'm happy its a three day weekend this week. =) Today I have a konad manicure using China Glaze Grape Pop, China Glaze Limelight, and Konad Special Polish Black. I wasn't sure what colours I wanted to paint my nails so I posted on facebook asking for recommendations. The first response I got was purple and lime green. I've seen people do one nail a different colour than the rest so I decided to try that. I chose Limelight as the accent colour and Grape Pop for the rest of my nails. Then I did a Konad design using plate S06. This design looks really funky and hypnotizing.

I've had a lot of people start noticing my nails lately. Just yesterday when I was picking up Chinese food for dinner the girl at the register asked me about them, and before long the whole wait staff wanted to see them. I have a hard time explaining Konad, or any other type of nail art stuff. Most people don't get the terms "image plate", "striper brush", "dotting tool", or "konad". I try my hardest to explain it but sometimes I feel ridiculous. Does anyone else run in to that problem? When I had my Pikachu manicure on the cash register at Hot Topic asked if I did the lines on my nails using a toothpick. (I'm terrible at using a toothpick..even when it comes to dotting!) I've been thinking about doing a post sharing my nail art/konad tips and what tools I use.. Would that be interesting to you? Let me know! =)

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Blue Diagonal Nails

2010-08-30T12:31:00.006-05:00

Today's manicure is a simple one. I decided to try a diagonal two colour look, using blue. The first colour I used is OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui, a dusty blue. Next to other blues it leans a little blue green. Then I did a diagonal side-swipe using China Glaze Up All Night, a dark navy blue that looks almost black unless you're in bright lighting. Up All Night looks like a creme indoors as well but in the sun it is noticeably shimmery. I think I did a pretty good job doing a straight line with a regular polish brush. This is really easy to do so if you want to try something different with your nails but don't have konad or can't do freehand this would be good for you.

I have no idea why I took that picture with the Dasani water bottle. Maybe I should try to find something random that matches my nails every time I take pictures! If you wanted to you could use a nail art striper brush to do this, but I don't like painting large areas with them. I'm starting to get inspiration, I don't know what was up with me last week. Reading other blogs and watching nail art videos on youtube has helped tremendously. I have 59 followers as of right now, which is amazing to me. I know this sounds cliche but I wasn't expecting so many followers in such a short amount of time. I really enjoy blogging and reading all of your comments, so thank you!

Peace and Love,

Serena

Argyle Konad

2010-08-27T17:52:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone, and happy Friday! This week has been a long one for me so I'm really glad for the weekend. My boyfriend got a new apartment this week so I'll be busy this weekend helping him move. A few days ago I removed my Pikachu manicure and was unsure of what to do with my nails. Unfortunately I've been lacking inspiration lately.. Anyway, the day I wanted to redo my nails also happened to be the day of an Orchestra concert. So I grabbed a colour that I knew wouldn't be tough to apply: Misa Dying Love. (Shimmery charcoal black) I didn't have time to do much else but I did experiment layering CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle over my thumb and I liked the way it looked. When I got back I layered the CND over it and did a quick Konad design. I'm not sure about this design, it definitely isn't my best, though it is really noticeable. The design overshadows the gorgeous colour underneath, which I don't love. Not only that, I was having terrible Konad luck that night. These pictures don't even show the gorgeous purple sparkle.. You couldn't even tell I was originally wearing a black polish after I layered the CND over it.

I'll be redoing my nails tonight, hopefully I will have better luck this time. Sorry this post sounds depressing...I really didn't intend it too! Saturday will be very busy for me so expect a new post Sunday or Monday. Do any of you have any nail art ideas? Colour combos? Inspire me! =)

Here is something completely off topic, but I thought I would share it anyway.. My kitty Misty! I always get the urge to take picture of her but as soon as I get out the camera she won't stay still. I've had her for almost 3 years now, she was a Christmas present to me from my boyfriend Chase.

I guess she's camera shy...

Thanks for reading!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Pikachu inspired manicure! =]

2010-08-21T12:45:00.001-05:00

"I want to be, the very best..like no one ever was. To catch them was my real test, to train them is my cause.."

When I was in elementary school, I loved Pokèmon. I had the cards, the games, the movies, everything. And even though I'm a senior in high school now, I still have a soft spot for anything Pokèmon related. So today I have a Pikachu inspired manicure. I was having a bad/sick day when I painted my nails, so the application is a bit sloppy...not to mention the formula of the polish wasn't amazing either. I probably should have gone for something more simple considering how sick I felt. Anyway, the base yellow colour is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening. It was a fairly opaque polish but it was too streaky and uneven to work. Some nails have 2 coats, others have 3. I got this yellow because it was mentioned to me in the comments of my last post, it was easily available, and Walgreens had this particular colour wrapped with a free Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat. (I was really pleased with how quickly this topcoat dried, I'm trying to find another quick dry top coat because my bottle of Seche Vite is getting way too thick and stringy.)

For the zig zag lines I used L.A. Colors Art Deco in black. As you can see, my pointer finger looks really messy...which is due to the brush having a few stray hairs. Once I cut them down my lines became smoother. The red dots on the side were made using another Art Deco, in red glitter. The black lines and the red glitter dots smeared a bit with top coat, but that could be avoided if you're more cautious. I really love the concept of this manicure and surprisingly several people noticed my nails and made the connection with Pikachu. I'd really like to do this manicure again someday, only with a better yellow and when I'm not sick. I feel so weird wearing yellow polish though...I kept looking at my nails in disbelief. I've never worn yellow before! Here is one last "bonus" picture:

What do you think of this design? Have you used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri topcoat? I'd really love to know what other quick dry topcoats people use...I've tried many that don't live up to their claims. I think I'll be doing a 'skittle' type manicure soon, one I thought of while trying out different layering combinations on paper. =)

Thanks for reading!!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Dragon Scales

2010-08-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

School starting has been so busy..I hope to post 2-3 times a week soon though. I did a pretty interesting konad manicure a few days ago but I waited until yesterday evening to take pictures so there is some wear showing in the pictures. I have no idea how I came up with this idea but I knew what colours I wanted to use so I went for it. Looking at it today I thought it looked like dragon scales so that's where the title comes from. The base colour I used is Misa Toxic Seduction, a gorgeous dark emerald green that doesn't look black in dim lighting or indoors. It looks pretty indoors but amazing in sunlight. I used an odd scale-y geometric pattern on the tips only using China Glaze Millennium. I can't remember what plate this is but when I get home I'll update this post.

The picture with the Misa bottle is a bit washed out, it was taken in direct sunlight. I absolutely love this colour, it's one of my favourite green polishes. (and I own lots of green polish!) It applies perfectly, just like all the others Misa's I own. It took two coats to become opaque.

Months ago I ordered from Fyrinnae and as soon as I tried the products I thought I should post a review and swatches of what I got. Well, its been almost a month and I still haven't done that. So sometime within the next week expect to see that. It will be kind of weird for me to write something non nail related but I felt these products were worth talking about. Here is a teaser:

Isn't it gorgeous? I love blue green colours! =) This colour looks much better in real life, I hope I am able to capture them well in my review.

One last thing: I need recommendations for a good yellow polish. One that applies well and goes on opaque. I would prefer it to be a mostly creme finish, but its okay if it has some very subtle shimmer. Here is a link to the colour I'm looking for: http://www.kijo.no/wp-content/uploads/pikachu-1zcp1gl.jpg
(Yes I know it's Pikachu, but that was the only thing I could think of that matches what kind yellow I want.)
One catch though, it must be able to be found at Sally's, Walgreens, Wal Mart, or Claires. Those are the only places around where I live that I can get polish. I have a nail art design I want to do and I need a yellow polish for it. (I do not have a yellow nail polish, warm colours are sparse in my collection..) This design in particular has been in my head since before I even started this blog so I am anxious to get it done. It was one of my first ideas and it doesn't involve the use of Konad. =)

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Scherer Chameleon Blue Sky Duochrome

2010-08-11T19:26:00.001-05:00

Today was my first day of school and things went pretty well. I can't believe it's my senior year! I had to cut my nails shorter since I'm in the school orchestra and its impossible to play the violin well with long nails. I was a bit sad at first but I think they still look good. I know this sounds weird but I keep them a little longer on my right hand because I can grip the violin bow better that way. But my left hand has to be short so I can press down on the strings and use vibrato. Anyway, I painted my nails with a polish I bought at Rite Aid before I even started this blog. It's by a brand called Scherer and they call their polishes 'Chameleon'. They all have a pretty strong duochrome, colour changing effect, almost similar to mood rings. This one is called Scherer Chameleon Blue Sky. The name doesn't really fit because blue isn't really the dominant colour in this and it shows up more in the bottle than on the nail.

The application on this polish was horrible...it dried so quickly that it was difficult to apply cleanly and it streaked. I got it to look decent once I figured out how to work the formula. I also encountered bubbling and major brush strokes. The brush didn't fan out very well either, which also contributed to the brush strokes. Despite all the issues I still think its pretty and an interesting polish. It is also fairly cheap so if you really like colours like this and can deal with the formula this is a fun polish to wear. From far away you don't notice the imperfections so much. The colour changing effect is just as noticeable indoors as it is outdoors. I found these at Rite Aid and I believe they were 2 or 3 dollars. I have a few more of these I might try out...I hope the formula on the others is a bit easier to work with but I'm not expecting much.

The last two pictures I'm holding my crab apple tree that is in my front yard. I heard from one of my neighbors (who has lived in my neighborhood for a long time) that this tree has been there as long as she could remember. I've never eaten one of the crab apples but one of my friends did a while ago and told me they were sour. This tree blooms bright pink during spring, the petals almost resemble cherry blossoms.

What do you think of this Chameleon polish? Have you seen or tried these?

Peace and Love,

Serena

Quick Tag/First Day of Senior Year

2010-08-11T15:12:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I've been so busy lately, and probably will be for a week longer. I started my senior year of high school today and I'm currently on break at my Graphic Arts class. I'll have an actual nail post up later today but I wanted to do this tag that I was tagged in awhile ago. Feel free to use this tag on your own blog if you want to.

4 things in my bag/purse:

- Cell phone

- iPod

- keys

- Stride Gum (Spearmint)

4 favorite things in my room

- Bookshelf

- Bed

- Nail Polish

- My kitty! (At least she was when I left this morning...)

4 things I’ve always wanted to do

- Go to Japan

- Learn multiple languages

- Try a water marble manicure

- learn to make sushi

4 things I’m currently into

- Nail polish!

- Vintage clothing

- Japanese music

- Drawing

4 things I bet you didn't know about me
- My hair is dyed black with a purple "sheen"
- I have a boyfriend named Chase who hates to hear me ramble about nail polish.
- I'm 17 years old
- I play the violin

4 songs I can't get out of my head

- Hohemi no Bakuden (japanese song)

- I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher

- Paparazzi by Lady GaGa (even though I don't care for her music, her songs get stuck in my head!)

- THE MOON by 12012 (12012 is a great Japanese rock band!)

Rules:

once tagged you must link the person who tagged you

tag 4 others

let the bloggers know they have been tagged

give 4 answers to each question asked

I tag...everyone! If you're reading this right now and want to post this feel free to do so and mention you got it from me if you want to. (I know I broke the rules by not tagging specific people..)

I'll post my back to school manicure later today!

Peace and Love,
Serena

It's a Mermaid? It's a Butterfly?? It's a Comet???

2010-08-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

Hello! The base colour for today's manicure is OPI Catch Me In Your Net. As most of you probably know there are two known dupes for this colour: Zoya Charla and Orly Halley's Comet. When I first saw Zoya Charla I thought it was a really beautiful, unique polish so it surprises me that two dupes have shown up for it. All You Desire has a great comparison of all three of these polishes so check that out here. Before I show the manicure I want to explain the title. Zoya Charla instantly reminded me of a mermaid when I first saw swatches of it. Then when the OPI Summer Flutter collection came out, OPI compared it to a butterfly. Now with the Orly Comic FX Collection it's a comet! Since these colours are really close dupes the Orly seems to be the cheapest option if you purchase it on Transdesign. Catch Me In Your Net took 3 coats to become opaque and it is really beautiful, in shade and in sunlight. Of course I can't leave any polish untouched, so I applied a konad design to it. I was afraid the konad might overshadow the pretty base but I really like this design.

I used Konad plate S06 and Konad White Special Polish. I'm getting better at centering the designs but I need to get better at stamping my pinkie nail. I'm going to Kansas City this weekend so I won't be back until Monday. Also, school is starting for me soon (I'll be a senior in high school) so bare with me because for the next week or so I will be busier than usual. Soon I will get adjusted in to my school schedule and I hope to start posting more often. I really enjoy blogging and hearing all of your comments. Thanks to all of you who are following me, I appreciate it!

What do you all think of all the Zoya Charla dupes out there? Which one do you have/want?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Fun with CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle

2010-08-02T14:32:00.001-05:00

Konnichiwa! (That's Japanese for Good Afternoon.) I wanted to play around with layering combinations so I decided to try out CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle. I chose to layer it over Misa That's My Little Secret. I've only worn this colour once and it sort of bored me. It is a medium raspberry creme, applied perfectly in almost one coat. Applying Amethyst Sparkle over this made it much more interesting for me. It transforms it from a plain berry creme to a sparkling red toned purple. It looks very 'fall' to me, which is fitting since its getting closer and closer to that time of year. I don't really coordinate my polish with the seasons all that much. Last winter I was wearing neons! Taking these pictures was painful, it is 105 degrees here with 14 mph winds. The wind isn't cooling either, its hot!

I really love the way this looks, I'm anxious to try Amethyst Sparkle over other colours...I wonder how it would look over yellow? Here is an extra picture I took when I realized the base Misa colour almost matches my car:

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Polish that changes in the sun?

2010-07-30T15:07:00.000-05:00

I decided to try out the Del Sol nail polish I purchased a while back. (I got this one at the Del Sol store in Virginia Beach.) I'm not new to Del Sol's nail polishes, a few years ago my mom brought some back for me from San Diego. The one I purchased is a warm hot pink with a bit of gold shimmer in it. In the sun, it turns to a warm purple with gold shimmer. The name of this particular one is Girl's Night Out. I have been thinking of various layering combinations lately and I decided I wanted to try OPI Stars in My Eyes over this one. I didn't even think about if it would change the way the colour looked in the sun, but for the most part it didn't. Here is what the polish looks like indoors: (Excuse the bad indoor picture, I'm not so good at taking pictures indoors..)

And outdoors, it looks like this:

You can get Del Sol nail polishes on there website here: http://www.delsol.com/store/Accessories___Nail_Polish?Args=&page_number=1 If you live close to a Del Sol store I recommend buying it there so you can see the colours in person. (And its cheaper to buy them in store.) They are 8 dollars in store and 10 dollars plus shipping online. These polishes are really fun but the formula is thick and they take longer to dry than most polishes. I have two more of these so if you're interested in seeing more let me know.
Layering the OPI over the konad was probably a bad idea because it smeared the design, but I still like it. I really want to do more layering so I will have another layering experiment up soon.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Awesome European Giveaway!

2010-07-28T00:29:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I don't have nails to show you today but I do have an awesome giveaway to tell you about. (I will have something nail related to show you either tomorrow or the day after.) Anyways, Mon coin a moua is having a giveaway featuring European beauty products! Here is a look at some of the things you could win:

This giveaway is open to everyone, all you have to do is become a follower and post a comment with your name and email address. More info here: http://moncoinamoua.blogspot.com/2010/07/euro-mazing-giveaway.html

Peace and Love,
Serena

Polka Dot Nail Art using Nubar Nail Art Pen

2010-07-26T16:41:00.000-05:00

Hello! I meant to post this Saturday but I actually had a somewhat busy weekend. I wanted to do something simple so I used the Nubar Nail Art pen to do a polka dot manicure. I really like these nail art pens, they have a pen tip for dotting and fine details, and a thin brush for lines. I have two of these nail art pens, one is navy blue and the other is blue-green. Here are pictures of one of my nail art pens: (I took a picture of the blue green one because it's easier to see the label on it.)

You can get these on Nubar's website here: http://www.bynubar.com/store/index.php?p=home . They are $7 each. On the bottom under the label there is a small needle you can use if your pen tip gets clogged up. I have seen similar nail art pens at Claire's for five dollars but I don't have any to compare.

Anyway, now onto the manicure! The base colour I used is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue. It was very opaque and almost perfect in one coat, I did two. Then I used my Nubar Nail Art pen to paint the dots. The pen tip is perfect for dotting but make sure your base colour is completely dry. Also, wait a good 20 or so minutes before putting on topcoat because you could smear your design.

I have been wearing this for 3 days when I took this so excuse the bit of wear. Have you tried Nubar's Nail Art Pens, or Claire's?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Konad with China Glaze Millenium

2010-07-22T16:01:00.002-05:00

The concept was cute, but the execution needs work.

That's how I feel about the Konad design I did today. I still have on the Claire's mood nail polish, even though I don't really care for it all that much. Today I got a good idea for a Konad design. Since I already had the base colour on it took less than ten minutes to stamp all my nails. I stamped my nails with China Glaze Millenium using plate m60. The design looks smeared on my nails even though I still haven't applied any topcoat. The design also didn't stick as well as normal.

I really like the idea of the design and the colours I used. I've heard that these mood polishes chip easily but I've kept my left hand without topcoat and I've only experienced minimal tip wear. I'll probably be removing this design tomorrow so have something new soon!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Claire's Mood Nail Polish: Peaceful/Confident

2010-07-20T16:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to the mall with my sister and I decided to check out Claire's to see if I could find their mood polishes. They were 5 dollars each but they were having a buy one get on half off deal. The two I got both dry matte. I don't know about the other one I got but this one applied horribly. It was really thick and streaky. If you went over the same spot twice it would remove all the polish on that side. In the end it all dried smoothly but due to the uneven application I needed 3 coats. I wasn't sure if top coat would interfere with the colour changing so I didn't apply topcoat to my left hand, only my right. The topcoat didn't effect it at all so if you're not a fan of neon mattes it will still change with top coat. The weather here is so hot I ended up having to take a cup full of ice water outside with me to get pictures of the colour change. I tried taking pictures indoors but they all turned out bad and didn't show much colour change. I took these pictures with Orly Ridgefiller because I found the Claires bottle awkward to hold and get good pictures. The first picture is what it looks like hot (confident), the second is with cold tips and the third is what it looks like cold (peaceful).

The change isn't as drastic as I thought it would be, but its still noticeable. For some reason the change shows up more on my right hand, the one I don't take a picture of! I think I might do some Konad/Nail Art to this one tomorrow....

Have you tried any of these Claire's Mood Polishes?
Peace and Love,
Serena

OPI What's With The Cattitude? + Konad M73

2010-07-15T18:52:00.000-05:00

Konad take two! This is my second attempt at doing some Konad designs on my nails and I am really pleased with how I did. This is only my second attempt at Konad and I decided to try a full nail design. First I painted my nails with OPI What's With The Cattitude?, a pastel-ish sky blue. In my photos it appears much brighter for some reason. I find that odd because these pictures were taken outdoors in stormy weather. The indoor picture is more colour accurate but still slightly off. Anyway, then I used Konad White Special nail polish and stamped a flowery design with plate M73.

Like I said earlier I am really happy with how this turned out. I didn't expect my second attempt to turn out this well. Its not perfect by any means but I still like it! The Konad design effectively masked the horrible application of this polish. I don't think its OPI's formula that is at fault, I think it is the brushes on the OPI minis. I've never had good luck applying with them. When my nails dry they do look slightly better though.

Do any of you have any nail polish storage tips? I have about 70 or so nail polishes and my current storage is not working. A few bottles of nail polish are just lying around because I don't have a place for them. Right now the majority of my polishes are in an old Sephora box that was lying around the house. Back when I had about 20 or so polishes I thought it would work great. Currently I think it is holding 65 nail polishes, which is way more than I thought I could squeeze in there! If you have any storage suggestions I would really appreciate them.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Konad Stamping Nail Art: First Use

2010-07-12T16:29:00.002-05:00

Hello! Today I received my Konad order in the mail. Here is what I purchased:

1 Double Sided Stamper and Scraper
2 Konad Special nail polishes (black and white)
3 Image plates (m60, m73 and s6)

M60 has four full nail designs (dots, argyle, plaid, and paisley) and one flower design.
M73 has four full nail designs (flowers with vines, wavy lines, music notes and squares) and a heart french tip design.
S06 has 7 asian style designs. 2 of them are full nail designs.

When I first opened the package I started testing it out a little bit on my bare nails. I had trouble with the full nail designs more than the small ones. After I had done a few practice stamps I painted my nails with Sinful Colors Courtney Orange. Courtney Orange is the only Sinful polish I own and it takes 3 coats for opacity. Next, I used S06 and stamped a circular asian design on my nails. Here is how I did:

I think I did alright with this one. The only problem I have is centering the design. Also, when I was practicing I had a lot of trouble getting the full nail designs all over my nails. Before I bought Konad I did quite a bit of research on it and the big debate is this: Do you really need the Konad special nail polishes? My answer to that is yes if you want a decent, hassle free, vibrant design. While I was messing around I found it much easier to use the special nail polish. China Glaze Millennium and China Glaze Thunderbird were two out of the four I tried that worked. (I also tried Misa Shop til U Drop and Finger Paints Sketch n Etch) It makes sense those two would work because I have heard metallic/chrome colours work best.

If you have any Konad tips for me please share them!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Quick Giveaway Post: Susie's KISS giveaway!

2010-07-09T11:10:00.002-05:00

Hello everybody! I will have an actual post up probably sometime this weekend but I wanted to mention a giveaway that is going on. Susie's Home and Hobbies is having a giveaway! Her son's band Tyrade has the chance to open for KISS. He needs to be in fifth place to get an interview from KISS. After the interview, KISS will choose a band to open for them. All you need to do to be entered is vote for her son's band and post about this giveaway on your blog. She is giving away some great prizes so I encourage you to check it out!

Here is the link to check it out: http://susies1955.blogspot.com/2010/06/enter-my-kiss-giveaway.html
I will have a new manicure to show sometime this weekend and I am expecting an exciting package in the mail hopefully Monday or Tuesday! :)

Peace and Love,

Serena

Petites Color Fever Black Diamond

2010-07-07T14:56:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! I'm excited to finally be writing my first official blog post. Unfortunately the weather somewhat ruined my plan. I just got back from Yorktown, Virginia a few days ago and while I was there I got Petites Color Fever Black Diamond at Rite Aid. It is my first holographic nail polish. I painted my nails with it 2 nights ago and then the heavy rain started. I thought I wasn't going to get a good sunlight picture of it so I tried my best to get good indoor shots. As I started writing this post the sun came out for a few minutes so I took that opportunity to take some pictures. The pictures I got outside still aren't amazing though..the sun wasn't shining too brightly. Anyway, on to the pictures!! The first one is indoors, the second one is outdoors and the bottle pictures are outdoors. Click the pictures to make them bigger...the holo is easier to see. (It is pretty faint though.)

The formula on this one was slightly thick and seemed to get thicker the longer I worked with it. Despite its thickness it still required 3 coats to completely even out. This polish is obviously not a bright, in your face holo. I haven't got to see it in really good sunlight except in the bottle as I was leaving the store with it. Indoors the holo is barely noticeable unless you are in a brightly lit room or you look up close. For the most part indoors it is a charcoal colour with fine silver particles. Outdoors in 'partly cloudy' weather it had a slight holo shine and the silver particles turned rainbow. I'm a little disappointed at how subdued this is..but at the same time I haven't really seen it in the bright sunlight on my nails so I can't be sure yet. If the rain stops and I still have my nails painted with this colour I will update this post with more pictures. You can find this one and other Petites Color Fever polishes at Rite Aid for $2. I don't have a Rite Aid anywhere close to me and I haven't seen these Petites Color Fever polishes anywhere else. If you know of any other place to buy these please let me know in the comments.

Peace and Love,

Serena

My Nail Polish Collection

2010-07-04T22:33:00.007-05:00

Hello!

I thought the perfect way to start this blog off was to list my entire nail polish collection. These aren't in any specific order. If you have any questions about a particular colour post a comment here, on a recent post, or email me (lacquerlove@gmail.com) If the colour has been used in a post, I link to that post here.

Last updated: September 30th, 2010.

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise
China Glaze Sexy in the City
Del Sol Electrick
OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui
China Glaze Frostbite
China Glaze Up All Night
Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost
Wet n Wild Blue Moon
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue
Misa Cherry Topping
Sally Hansen Honeymoon Red
China Glaze Ruby Pumps
OPI You Rock-apulco Red!
Sephora by OPI And a Cherry On Top
China Glaze Thunderbird
China Glaze Strawberry Fields
Del Sol Calypso
China Glaze Limbo Bimbo
Misa That's My Little Secret
China Glaze Grape Pop
Misa Shop Til U Drop
China Glaze Coconut Kiss
Wet n Wild Wild Card
China Glaze Tempest
OPI Jade is the New Black
Misa Toxic Seduction
China Glaze In the Limelight
China Glaze Fortune Teller
China Glaze Millenium
Misa Dying Love
Sally Hansen Gunmetal
Pure Ice Spitfire
Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure
Pure Ice No Means No
Pure Ice Calypso
Sparitual Flight of Fancy
OPI Stars in my Eyes
CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle
OPI Rosy Future (mini)
OPI Ink (mini)
OPI What's With the Cattitude? (mini)
OPI Fiercely Fiona (mini)
OPI Rumples Wiggin' (mini)
OPI Who the Shrek Are You? (mini)
Nubar Nail Art Pen Navy Blue
Nubar Nail Art Pen Blue Frost
LA Colors Art Deco Black
LA Colors Art Deco White
LA Colors Art Deco Magenta
LA Colors Art Deco Baby Pink
LA Colors Art Deco Silver Glitter
LA Colors Art Deco Bright Orange
LA Colors Art Deco Yellow
LA Colors Art Deco Red Glitter
LA Colors Art Deco Blue Glitter
LA Colors Art Deco Bright Green
M.A.C. $$$$$ Yes
Petites Color Fever Black Diamond
Petites Color Fever Peach Blush
Scherer Chameleon Blue Sky
Del Sol Girls Night Out
Scherer Chameleon Ballerina
Scherer Chameleon "No Name"
Scherer Chameleon Blue Frost
Wet n Wild Craze Jade
China Glaze Four Leaf Clover
Sinful Colors Courtney Orange
Fingerpaints Sketch n Etch
Pure Ice Superstar
Claires Mood Polish Peaceful/Confident
Claires Mood Polish Flirty/Shy
OPI Catch Me In Your Net
Sinful Colors Nail Junkie
Sally Hansen InstaDri Lightening
E.l.f. Metallic Blue
E.l.f. Metallic Magenta
E.l.f. Metallic Orange
Wet n Wild Shine Sunny Side Up
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Cosmic Blue
Wet n Wild Tickled Pink
Wet n Wild Shine Eggplant Frost
Essence Colour and Go No More Drama
Essenese Colour and Go Check Me Out
Essense Colour and Go Plum Perfect

Lacquer Love

2010-07-04T14:00:00.001-05:00

Hello, my name is Serena and welcome to my blog! I started this blog so I could have a place to share my love of nail polish and nail art. I first got into nail polish a year or so ago when I got the polish called China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise. Before, I only occasionally painted my nails and usually it was with a neutral colour like black, white or a sheer. That summer I also discovered nail polish blogs and my interest grew. (As well as my collection!) In just the last few months I started to try some nail art. That is when I first considered starting my own blog. The main focus of this blog will be mostly nail polish, though occasionally I may post photography or other off topic things. (Possibly even other beauty related things.)

I'm a soon to be senior in high school and a student at a technical school. (Taking Graphic Arts) I have 2 cats, Misty and Tikal (Tie-cal) and a poodle/chihuahua mix named Gizmo. My other interests include vintage clothing, music, violin, photography, drawing, writing, reading, video games and Pokemon. (I am a nerd and proud, lol.)

I hope you enjoy my blog, comments are always appreciated! =)