Aly Loves Lacquer

Hello, everyone! I hope the holidays were good to you and I wish everyone a very happy 2014.

Today, I have two beautiful glitter topcoats from SinfulColors. One of their holiday offerings, the Holiday Tinsel Collection, is made up of many different bar glitter topcoats. Bar glitter seems to be a polarizing type of polish, but I personally love the effect it gives.

The first one I have to show you guys is called Cold As Ice. SinfulColors Cold As Ice is a clear base with stark white bar glitters. To me, it really looks snowy! I can see Cold As Ice looking great in winter nail art. Here I am wearing 1 coat of Cold As Ice over SinfulColors Rain Storm, a dusty blue creme with a beautiful application.

Hi!

After wearing OPI Isn't That Precious?, a classic sheer pink, I wanted to spice up my mani with some glitter. Enter Pahlish Glittoris, a gorgeous clear-based glitter with pink and red glitter in all shapes and sizes. Glittoris is one of my favorite indie polishes to date. I love the scattered disco glitter and the beautiful girly look it creates. To make the gradient smoother, I dabbed a bit of Essie Splash of Grenadine under Pahlish Glittoris.

As you can see, OPI Isn't That Precious? pulls very neutral on me. I still think it is a beautiful classic polish though. The jelly finish and the light pink look very professional. But of course, I am not one to wear "classic" shades for very long! I really love the finished look of Isn't That Precious? and Pahlish Glittoris combined. Plus, I am a sucker for the name; it's just so ridiculous.

How do you like to spruce up a days-old mani?

- Aly

Hello! I have a simple swatch from Essie Resort 2013 for you all today.

Hello!

I am currently smack dab in the middle of Midterms Week here at SLU. Though exams are rough, I decided to take a little study break to get back up to date with the ABC Challenge. I actually did these nails on time, but couldn't get around to posting them till now. But I am really loving these, so I hope you like them!

All I could think of for "H" was hearts. I tried to make the simple idea a little more interesting by stamping hearts in neon polish over white for a very bright, eye-catching manicure. My white base is a plain white crème from Kiss. I borrowed it from my roommate since I couldn't find my favorite white crème, and this polish was a disaster! It was streaky and smelled terribly! I do not recommend it at all.
For the stamping, I used BM03 from the Bundle Monster set released in 2010. The bright coral hearts are China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, one of my favorite neons. The hot pink is Rei Momo by Mattése Elite, another gorgeous neon! Finally, I added more traditional red hearts with Essie Aperitif.

Last Tuesday, I celebrated my 20th birthday! Of course, I had to do a special birthday manicure :) Last year, I did freehand ice cream cones. This year, I decided to go with birthday cupcakes!

Here's a huge picture of them!

I worked hard on these and used lots and lots of different polishes. To see exactly what I used, keep reading!

Happy Monday! I stopped by Target the other day and they already had the Summer 2012 Essie collection out, even though my press info says it isn't due out until June! Of course, seeing the new shades totally made my day. I exercised my willpower though and did not purchase any myself, but DBF was nice enough to buy one for me. :) I let him pick the color and he chose Bikini So Teeny.

Bikini So Teeny is a really pretty polish with a really annoying name. Despite the silly moniker, I do like the polish itself. It is a bright cornflower blue, with some white in the base but not enough to make it a pastel. There is also some subtle shimmer, but I had trouble getting it to come out to play. Here I am wearing 3 thin coats, but I think you could get away with 2!

So... even though this color has a stupid name and shimmer that just doesn't show up, I *still* really like it. It's a unique shade of blue and it makes my hands look very tan. Plus it was a gift, which makes me like it a little extra.

- Aly

Hey, guys and gals! Sorry for the delay in posts -- I am nearing final exams at college so it has been pretty busy!

When I first went to apply Essie Beach Bum Blu, I had some buyer's remorse looking at it in the bottle. I was a bit worried that it would be a frosty mess. However, Beach Bum Blu ended up being a great surprise! The aqua blue color is gorgeous and the finish is metallic, NOT frosty. Thank the nail polish gods!

Here's a polish I grabbed from my untrieds. For a long time I'd always pick this polish up at the store, but I never actually bought until this Winter. I was always worried that it would be too frosty for my tastes, because I just hate brushstrokes. Luckily for me, it was not!

Essie Trophy Wife is a gorgeous deep teal with a pearl finish. Very shiny and a bit deeper toned on the edges than in the center of the nail. The first coat was not looking too pretty, but Trophy Wife looks perfect at 2 coats.

Today I have a really pretty polish to start off the week. As you probably know, Finger Paints released a much-coveted flakie line called Special Effects recently. I rushed to the store the day they came out, and bought a set for myself and a set for my current giveaway.

This is Motley, a gorgeous flakie top coat made of of lots of blue and green particles. Sound familiar?  Flecked, which I wore the other day, is also green and blue. However, Flecked is much greener and Motley is bluer. Here I am wearing 2 coats of Finger Paints Motley over Essie Power Clutch.

Some people seem to hate on Valentine's Day, but not me! I love all things pink and sparkly, plus I think it is a nice excuse to go on a date. And chocolate is always good!

For this Valentine's Day, I chose to do a very girly skittle manicure. Take a look first, and I'll list the polishes used after the jump.

Wow, I have been a lazy blogger! Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been busy with all my real life responsibilities, but now I am back. And with a vengeance!

This past October, Essie released a breast cancer awareness color called Raise Awareness. As a member of Zeta Tau Alpha, my sisters and I have done a lot to raise awareness for breast cancer awareness. I think it is great to see big companies like Essie promoting breast cancer awareness. Though I do wish that other cancers received the same amount of attention!