Aly Loves Lacquer

I am back from France and starting up on the Mish Mash Challenge! Prepare for an upcoming post of my haul from all around Europe: France, Italy, Latvia... I went a little polish crazy.

For this week's metallic challenge, I was inspired by one of my favorite current trends: chevron. I've been seeing those preppy zigzags all over the place, and I love the look! To put a special spin on it, I hand-painted the chevron strips in little lines. Believe it or not, all it took was a toothpick and about 15 minutes. Easy peasy and so cute!

The base color is SinfulShine Picante, a really pretty coral-orange with subtle shimmer. It took 2 coats to reach proper opacity. Then I striped with a toothpick and Layla Mirror Metallic Metal Chrome. I love Layla Metal Chrome because it truly is mirror-like! It's so shiny and silvery and just fits the very definition of "metallic."

Hi there! Today's polish is an extra special one. I received this as a gift from my mom last holiday season, and was wholly surprised that she picked such a unique shade for me.

So, this monster of a post has taken me quite awhile. There are 14 colors in the Salon Perfect line. Since it is a new line, I wanted to be sure to wear each one so I could report back on wear time. With apologies for the delay, please enjoy all the pictures of these lovely new polishes! Pictures first, and reviews at the end!

Wow, it's already May! After all that blue I wore in April, I was absolutely dying to get another color on my tips. Luckily, I recently received the new Salon Perfect line and had lots to choose from. Though I hope to get a full collection review up here soon, take a look at the first one I wore: Tangy Tangerine.

After winning a completely amazing Golden Box from Julep, I had trouble deciding which color to try first. The one that really called to me was Natasha, a super bright orange-red crème. And let me tell you, Natasha is a beauty!

It took me 3 thin coats to achieve full coverage with Natasha. I am sure you could get away with 2 thicker coats instead, if you're short on time. The color itself is pretty interesting. It is a very bright orange with a good amount of red in there as well. The closest I have in my collection is OPI My Chihuahua Bites, but that had a much redder overall appearance. I am always glad to find that I don't have a dupe!

It's Day 2 and that means it's time for orange. I don't have much orange at all, so I decided to pick the first one that came to mind. This is Orly Orange Sorbet, which is a nice jelly orange with golden shimmer. I decided to stamp some butterflies from Bundle Monster 78 with Wet N Wild Sunny Side Up.

Orange Sorbet needed 3 coats to be opaque. Sunny Side Up was pretty hard to see in the pictures, but in real life it was much more visible.

I originally did this springy water marbling mani for Easter, but I neglected to post until now. I used three bright colors, OPI Flit a Bit, OPI Don't Know...Beets Me!, and China Glaze For Audrey. I also used Pure Ice Skinny Dip as a base color, so that the marbling would show up brighter.

This was my most successful attempt yet at a water marbled manicure. I really liked it. Though there are some imperfections up close, it looked great throughout the days I wore it. I got many compliments.




I really like this technique, though I am not exactly an expert with it. It always looks unique and pretty, though it does use up lots of polish. I thought all the nails came out really well, but especially like the pinky nail.

How do you feel about water marbling? Do you know how to make it look cleaner than mine?

- Aly

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Here is the third lacquer from Zoya's Sunshine Collection that was released for this summer. Sunshine has 6 sparkling summery shades, each with lots of golden glitter. Zoya Tanzy is the perfect summer orange. Orange doesn't always look very good with my skin, but all the golden glitter in Tanzy made it look very nice on my skin tone. It applied well, like most Zoyas do. I needed 2 coats for opacity. The glitter in Tanzy is completely smooth to the touch, something I really like. It is a beautiful color for summer.

 This is 2 coats Zoya Tanzy and no top coat, so you can see the polish's shine.

This is my second Mean Girls-inspired post for On Wednesdays We Wear Pink. I chose to show you guys one of my new OPIs. This is OPI Don't Know...Beets Me! It's kind of a silly name, like lots of OPI polishes, but it is a very nice color. Though not unique, it's a pretty bright pink crème. The application was flawless. It took two average coats and looks so nice. I know it isn't anything groundbreaking as far as color goes, but it is really gorgeous. Everyone needs a nice pink!

This is 2 coats OPI Don't Know...Beets Me! and 1 coat Seche Vite.


And, because I have lots of trouble leaving a mani plain, I decided to do a funky French with it. I used OPI Flit a Bit, which is another summer crème. It's a bright orange. I used Scotch tape for the tips. I loved this look. It is simple but interesting.


I really like this. It's very cute and super summery.

- Aly

P.S. Just a little thank you to everyone who has followed thus far. Only 4 more followers until I do a 50 follower giveaway!

Orly is one of my favorite brands, but I don't have nearly enough of their polishes. Today in St. Louis, it's 74º and beautiful. I opted for a bright and cheery nail of the day.

Orly Orange Sorbet applied nicely, like most Orly polishes do. It's a gorgeous orange with golden shimmer that looks great in the sun.

All pictures are 3 coats for maximum opacity. Sorry about the less-than-great quality -- I took these with my phone since my camera isn't working properly today.