Aly Loves Lacquer

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.

I was recently sent some of the Mattése Elite Carnaval Collection, and I am in love! The collection is built on the theme of Brazil's Carnaval. Now, if you know anything about Carnaval, you know it is one big, bright, crazy party! Mattése Elite captured that mood perfectly with the polishes. I have 3 to show you today: Desfiles de Samba, Rainha, and Rei Momo.

Desfiles de Samba is a super bright green jelly crème. Mattése Elite describes it as "parade-worthy" and it definitely lives up to the name. Application was easy, though it did take 3 coats to reach opacity.

Sally Hansen recently released some beautiful glitters under the name Gem Crush. Some were very similar to the Wet N Wild Ice Baby glitters, but some were unique and lovely. Now, I love glitter and I love drugstore polishes. Gem Crush was made for me! :)

Lady Luck is a really interesting glitter. It has tons of burgundy micro glitters and some slightly larger holographic glitters. The burgundy is really great for my skin tone, and the holographic pieces really kick it up a notch.

I was really impressed with the opacity of Lady Luck. It only took me 2 coats to reach a fully opaque look! In these pictures, I am wearing a thick coat of Seche Vite to smooth everything out.

Mm...I just love glitter! I think it is so fun and sparkly.

Did you pick up any of the Sally Hansen Gem Crush polishes?

- Aly

Recently, I realized that even though purple is my favorite color, I don't have much purple nail polish. So lately I have trying to rectify that! This polish is one I picked up recently, after having heard all about it on MUA.

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.

A week or so ago St. Louis had some amazing spring-like weather. People were wearing shorts in January and February! To celebrate the lovely weather, I opted for a cheery polka dot look. The perfect shades? Three Illamasquas.

I wore Illamasqua Lament as a base, and used a dotting tool for polka dots. The green dots are Illamasqua Milf and the purple ones are Illamasqua Jo'Mina. All three colors were just lovely to use. They each dried very quickly, so I had no problems with drag when I applied top coat.

One of my absolute favorite looks is matte glitter. I just think it is so pretty and so unique. I was feeling a bit uninspired looking at my stash, so I decided to go with a nice matte glitter look.

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!