Birthday Manicure!

Pin It SOOO As most of you don't know haha, today is my 23rd birthday! I figured I'd decorate my nails accordingly since there's only so much longer until this is tacky for my age haha!

The idea was for it to look like I dunked my nails in sprinkles :P I started making a tutorial but then the fumes started to get to my head haha and I just wanted to finish it without being bothered haha :[

I used China Glaze Lemon Fizz (aka my favoritest yellow ever, if you've ever had issues with yellow cremes and drying time - try this polish!!!) as the base. Then I jaggedly did a messy french manicure with a mixture of Nicole OPI Rainbow in the S-kylie and Lacquistry It's a Friggin' Circus (Because what is a birthday mani without that polish?!?!).

For the Cupcake I used Zoya Rory and Sinful Colors Be Happy. I used Sinful Colors Snow Me as the frosting and the glitter from It's a Friggin' Circus as the sprinkles :] Added a cherry on top with Zoya Sooki and Sinful Colors Last Chance. YAYYYYY!

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Until next time,
Lacey

ZOYA Summer 2012 Beach & Surf Collection Swatches/Review

Pin It So, today I'm super excited to give you guys a preview of Zoya's 2012 Summer Collection, Beach & Surf!

 Top: Surf, Bottom: Beach

Swatches after the jump!

TONY MOLY (Korean Polishes): Milky Way, Pinky Star & Shooting Star

Pin It I saw the Polish Well release swatches of these Tony Moly, Korean, polishes. I tried my DARNEDEST to decipher the site she linked to, yeah no luck there haha.

 Milky Way (GS08), Pinky Star (GS10) and Shooting Star (GS09)

Swatches after the jump!

SALLY HANSEN Diamond Strength Limited Edition Color & Jewel Overcoat Polishes

Pin It Told you guys you would be hearing from me today! However today's post isn't what I planned. I saw this display at Walgreen's yesterday. I didn't take a picture (dumb, Lacey, dumb) but today I HAD to go back and get one of the polishes. I LOVE IT!

Here's the display Walgreen's has up:

And here are a few close ups of the said polishes

REVLON: Royal and ESSIE: Shine of the Times

Pin It I've been swatching my haul for the past 2 hours and I couldn't decide which nail mail polish to use haha. So I went with the one I bought today.

Revlon Top Speed in Royal. Probably the most gorgeous jelly I own. And I was worried about it being fast drying because I usually stay away from those due to never having good luck with them. Nope! Dried fast, application was amazing. Opaque in 2 costs. I just love this!!

I was going through all my glitters and other top coat and layering options. Decided to give Essie Shine of the Times a go around. I felt like I had forgotten about it :( I feel like this is one of the BEST life decisions I've ever made, look at this amazingness!

2 coats Revlon Royal, 1 Coat Essie Shine of the Times

Likeeee?!?

Until next time (probably tomorrow haha),
Lacey

Nail Polish Mail Haul and Blog Sale Alert

Pin It Just to let you guys know, I do have some items up on my "Blog Sale" tab on the menu. There's some new and used polishes. Not much, I just want to get rid of a few for now to lighten my hoarding habit haha. I'm open to trades too :] (I'm a big fan of Zoya if you guys don't know haha, I'm not a big fan of dark polishes. BUT I'm open to anything!)

So, today was totally the best day every for nail mail. I screamed EVERY time I opened a package haha, it just kept getting better! I just HAD to share with you guys, because I know you all appreciate good polishes!

 TOP: Tony Moly Korean Polishes (Pinky Star, Shooting Star and Milky Way [Another DL Light as Air dupe], MIDDLE: OPI Paz-itivley Hot (A gift from a sweet IG friend!), and BOTTOM: Pretty & Polished (Elvis' Pink Catillac, Jawbreaker and Party on my Yacht). YAY!!!!! Can you tell I'm a fan of milky bases and glitter? haha

 Chanel Dupes I got from Sandy at Dandy Nails' blog sale (Iridescent Eye and Smoky Feather)

ANDDDD lastly! MY FIRST BIRCHBOX EVER! Essie's A Cut Above. I was SO happy I subscribed to Birchbox finally after seeing this!

OH Man! I also finally went and bought Revlon Top Speed in Royal, a GORGEOUS blue jelly. If you haven't seen this polish - look up swatches because it's amazing! Jenna from the Lacquistry posted it with It's a Friggin Circus and I knew that I needed to get my butt to a store and buy it for sure. What an awesome day for nail mail! Anything you guys want to see, just ask :D 

Hope you're having a great day too!

Until next time,

Lacey

DIY Nail Art: Marbling WITHOUT Water

Pin It I don't know if anyone else has experienced the frustration of water marbling... but I, myself, straight up, 110% suck at it. I've tried maybe 4 or 5 times and I just feel like I'm wasting polish.  So I've given up on marbling totally

UNTIL TODAY!

Orly posted on their Facebook a few months ago a "marbling technique". Got bored today and decided to try! I'd say it came out pretty well, and it's A HUNDRED THOUUUUSAND|DDDDD times easier than water marbling! And MUCHHHH less of a mess! What do you think?? I'm a fan!

DIY Marbling (MAC Immortal Gold, Zoya Charla and Zoya Apple)

How-to after the jump :]

HARD CANDY: Beetle & Cheeky Plates

Pin It Hope ya'll had fun with the giveaway. What kind of things are you looking for in the next giveaway? :] Let me know! I know thing's I'd like to win, but I'm different from other people ;]

I drove 20 minutes away to grab Hard Candy Beetle because the closer Walmart's suck at stocking polish :[ Hands down? Totally worth the drive!

LOOK at this beauty!

 Hard Candy: Beetle, 3 coats

I was actually able to get the duochrome flashes when taking the pictures. It flashes purple, green and gold. Even then, the pictures don't do any justice to how gorgeous this is! For $4?! I'll take it! Maybe even 2 haha. I went to Walmart's website and searched for "Hard Candy nail polish" and then looked for stores in my area, pretty handy so you don't have to drive everywhere for a polish!

I've heard around the interwebs that this is a pretty good dupe for Orly's Space Cadet. I usually am not a fan of darker colors on me so I didn't want to dish out money for a polish I was iffy about. Nope, need Orly's version, totally in love! I stamped a design on as an accent nail, review of the stamping plate below also :]

Hard Candy: Beetle with Cheeky Plate C Stamping

I also picked up and decided to try a Cheeky Plate, this is Cheeky Plate C. If you're unfamiliar with Cheeky's nail stamping plates, they're pretty large plates with 42 images. You can find them on amazon :]

 Cheeky Stamping Plate C

I like these plates because the designs are pretty unique, the stamps seem larger to me than Konad or bundle monster's stamps (which is good for me because I have pretty large nail beds haha). The quality was OUTSTANDING. I can't even tell you how much I LOVE the plate I chose! There wasn't a stamp that didn't pick up, or didn't come out super clear. The detail in these stamps is awesome!

Here is another manicure I did (forgive the cotton ball string that ruined one of my stamps boooo!) using a full nail design. LOVEEEE!

Revlon Colorstay: Rainforest with Cheeky Plate C Stamping

Hope you guys will give Cheeky a shot if you're into stamping! It seems these plates don't disappoint!!

Until next time,
Lacey

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

Pin It The Spring Break Giveaway has officially ended as of 24 minutes ago!

Thank you EVERYONE for entering and following my blog! I have lots planned, more manis, more DIYs, more swatches and of COURSE more GIVEAWAYS! Thank you, each and every one of you, it means a lot - seriously!

Well, Rafflecopter & Random.org have officially spoken!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

Congrats, Brittney S.! You have 48 hours to email me with your details, I have sent you an email! I will have your package shipped out by the end of the week!

Until next time - Stay tuned!
-Lacey

Giveaway Ends Tonight!

Pin It Sorry I didn't give heads up sooner! The Spring Break Giveaway ends at midnight est!

-Lacey

New Zoya Promo! (And Polishes I can't wait to get!)

Pin It I'm a little late posting the new Zoya promo, sorry! I've been doing some spring cleaning around the house.

So, if you haven't heard, you have until MIDNIGHT (eastern), March 14th (tomorrow) to buy 3 Zoyas and get THREE for FREE! No, it doesn't include shipping, but how could you pass up a Zoya promo?!

(Image via Zoya's Blog)

So, head on over to their blog for more details :] What colors did you get?!

I had to get my 6 Zoya's OF course haha, I also picked up some polishes from some Etsy sellers: NerdLacquer, Dollish Polish and PrettyandPolished! I can't wait!!! I'm a big fan of hand mixed colors and just like small businesses, I'm all for supporting these shops! Here's the new babies I grabbed between Etsy and Zoya:

Any Etsy polishes you're lemming after? I can't wait to swatch these babies! My poor wallet! I'm polish grounded until April!!

Until next time,

Lacey 

PS: Has anyone seen the 2012 New Bohemian Collection?! I NEED THEM ALL NOW!!!

[CLOSED] Spring Break GIVEAWAY! [March 12-19]

Pin It I told you guys I'd have a giveaway soon! So here it is - the SPRING BREAK GIVEAWAY!

Complete the entries in Rafflecopter below and you will be entered to win all brand new: (1) Bottle of Zoya Trixie, (1) ELF Matte Top Coat, (1) Shiny Top Coat and a (1) 5 Piece Double Ended Dotting Tool Set!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


[All items are provided by me - this is not a sponsored giveaway. Trixie was won in a Zoya giveaway. Please be aware that upon selecting a winner, all entries will be verified. Open to US residents 18+ only.]

Super Easy Lace French Tip Mani (with Konad)

Pin It Okay, so I'm not a big nail art person. But I'm figuring once I get a "big girl job" my opportunity for awesome nail art will drop greatly. Sooooo I'm trying to take advantage. After swatching a few colors I honestly had ZERO idea what I wanted to do with my nails. Then I remembered Plasmaspeedo's mani she posted a few days ago and decided to give it a go.

Straight up, I suck at stamping. I just do lol. I'm thinking it's because I have the mini stamper over the larger duo end stamper (on the to buy list). Bit I was able to execute this easily without having to redo 5+ fingers haha.

Here is the video Andrea posted:


I used Zoya Avril as my sheer base. Then I used the same Konad plate from the video (m57) and chose the lace design. I used Sinful Colors Black on Black to stamp with (always do!). I stamped just below the nail tip line and then filled from the top of the design up with the black.

Way easy. Way cute!

I could have done some detailing with glitter or rhinestones, but I just wasn't feeling it haha.

I love the look of this! LOVE! It's girl but still edgy at the same time. It's just do perfect! I want to try it in white sometime to see how that looks. :)

I hope you find this as easy and stunning as I did if you do give it a shot!

Until next time,
Lacey

CHINA GLAZE: Hunger Games Capitol Colors Collection

Pin It I'm keeping this short and sweet! ONLY because there's a bunch of people reviewing these. But I couldn't buy these and NOT blog about them because I love the colors so much! I don't even know the first thing about Hunger Games haha, I haven't read the books yet and I'm not sure if I will BUT I couldn't pass these babies up!

(Image from Chinaglaze.com)

I didn't buy all the colors, I am still going to buy one more (my Sally's was out), I only bought them because I had a $10 off $20 coupon which made them cheaper than online with my Sally's card :] (That coupon is expired but here is a $5 off $25 coupon that is valid until the end of this year)

ANYHOW! I picked up 5 colors:

Thumb to pinky: Electrify, Luxe and Lush (over a black), Harvest Moon, Riveting, and Fast Track

These colors don't look like anything I have in my 250+ collection, that's why I bought them. They all have 2 coats except for Electrify has 3.

Electrify: I love this glitter, perfect balance of gold and glitter not too much or too little of either. I thought of Christmas! haha

Luxe and Lush: This is so unique. I consider it a flakie polish, but when it's on the nail it looks like shards of glass! SO cool!

Harvest Moon: Very, very, very pretty copper color! It honestly reminds me of a penny :P

Riveting: This reminded me a lot of polishes from Zoya's Sunshine Collection, I really like that collection and this color. It's red jelly, but not too red it has a lot more orange in it.

Fast Track: Probably my favorite. I just love this taupe color with the gold glitter flecks through out! It's just SO pretty!

I'm loving all these colors I picked up :] I am going to buy Argo, the green shimmer but that was the one color missing from the store, how rude! (just kidding). You can purchase these from Transdesign.com or Head2ToeBeauty.com, and of course SallyBeauty.com (there may be more, these are just where I've personally seen them).

Hope this helps some of you who are interested in the colors! :]

Until next time,

Lacey

(PS: Was this even short? lmao)

LACQUISTRY: It's a Friggin' Circus and REVLON: Carbonite

Pin It Ahhh! I finally got my Lacquistry beauty, It's a Friggin' Circus, in the mail on Tuesday! I was so stoked I ran from my mailbox and up 2 long flights of stairs to my 3rd story apartment haha

It's a Friggin' Circus is one of the Jenna's polishes I've lusted after for a bit. She describes it as "12 different colors of mini hex glitters swirl around in a sheer blue jelly base". TWELVE COLORS. OF GLITTER! I about died when I saw it in person! By the way: 12 DIFFERENT COLORS OF GLITTER!! Haha

Now, it says a blue jelly base, however mine is in a pink jelly base. Not a big deal to me, really!

But the glitter colors equals a wonderful rainbow circus on your nails! A Friggin Circus if you will ;) I actually prefer THIS over Happy Birthday (Deborah Lippmann), Rainbow Connection (OPI) and all the dupes in between.

2 Coats of Lacquistry It's a Friggin' Circus

I layered IAFC over Revlon Carbonite, which was kindly sent to me as a "random act of polish" by Love for Lacquer. I saw Carbonite for like $1.99 at Big Lots in August, never saw it again and kicked myself for not getting it, so I was way happy when my surprise came in the mail!

I love how Carbonite looks! It's got this gritty, dementional looking, silverish-goldish-black color. Yup, that's how I'm describing it haha. I honestly could have gotten away with 1 coat but I always do 2 for good measure and out of habit. I expected Carbonite to be streaky but it wasn't one bit, and I was happy about that for sure!

Once I layered IAFC over Carbonite the color changed into a almost rosey gold/silver color thanks to the pink jelly base of IAFC. I didn't mind it a bit, I actually welcomed the color change haha.

I hope you guys get a chance to get your hands on a Lacquistry polish. They are truly amazing glitters!

Until next time,
Lacey

PS: Did this mani remind anyone of the rainbow fish book character thingie? ...Or is that just me? Haha