Where have I been?

Hello everyone!!

You may have noticed I have been missing for a while now. I have actually still been doing nails and taking photos but I abandoned the blog for a bit. I found writing up posts to be such a pain and really time consuming so I switched to just using Instagram.

Here is just some of what you might have missed if you dont follow me on Instagram....

I do hope to be posting here again soon, watch this space! 

Please join me over on instagram to all my latest work just search @lifeinlacquer 

or by following this LINK

see you all soon!

OPI Quickie Stamping Nail Art

Just a quick one for you all today, its my birthday in a couple of days and my family are keeping me busy with lots of good times so I have barely had time to sit still!

Today I am wearing OPI My Address is Hollywood with stamping from plate MZR11. I used Konad white special polish for the stamping.

I used three coats of My Address is Hollywood and one coat of top coat. Formula is a bit thin but built well with the third coat. It has this beautiful shimmer to it which gives it a nice classy finish. Whenever I see this polish in the bottle I always bypass it to choose something else as this reminds me of quite an old fashioned colour but to be honest I love the way it looks on me. I think it complements my skin tone so well and makes me feel so grown up and classy! 

I thought the scripture went well with my perception of this polish.

Hope you like this quick mani. Speak to you all soon and enjoy your weekend! 

Laquerdaisical Christmas Collection Swatches and Review- Candy Caned

*PRESS SAMPLE- PLEASE SEE DISCLOSURE FOR DETAILS*

Last week I was sent two polishes from the Laquerdaisical Christmas collection and decided to split the post into two as this one is a very picture heavy post!

Candy Caned is a clear to red thermal with red and white large glitter and micro red glitters.

Transistion

For loads more pictures and to see my full review please click "Read More" 

MoYou London Nail Stamping Plate Review and Tutorial

PRODUCT SAMPLE


Hello my loves, I am so sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things are really hectic here in the run up to Christmas.

I have another review of a MoYou London plate for you today. I did another review and video tutorial a few weeks ago which you can view here.

I used two polishes from my recent China Glaze haul to do this although you can barely see the colour difference but I can assure you in real life it was very noticeable.

To see how I did this look and to hear my full opinions on this plate please join me after the jump.

Star Water Decals from Sparkly Nails

PRESS SAMPLE

Hello!
Today I have some water decals from Sparkly Nails to show you, Water decals are so easy to use and I would recommend them to people who are not comfortable in hand painting or looking for something that is quick and easy to do but yields great results.

I chose to use some Essie polishes and gradient them, I then added some glitter to the middle to fingers!
To read all the details and see more pictures then join me after the jump!

Life in Lacquer Challenge:INSPIRED BY ANOTHER NAIL ARTIST OR BLOGGER

Ill start of by apologising. I am really late on this prompt but I do have a good excuse I swear!!

As you can see we have had a big change here at Life in Lacquer.... We are now a dot com! This is a big step for me and its really made me feel quite accomplished!
I also have a fantastic new layout courtesy of Shiny Magic. They are so reasonably priced and was really easy to install.

Okay so back to the last prompt of the Life in Lacquer July Challenge. I chose one of my fave bloggers Let Them Have Polish.
She did a fantastic look called Rainbow Ombre and she also made a tutorial. All of which can be found on her original post.

Here's my take...

I used the exact method she did my following her YouTube tutorial. 

The colours I chose are bright so to me it looks a bit like a galaxy nail art! 

The shades I used were

Moyra Bubblegum Limoncello 622

Moyra 102

China Glaze Electric Beat 

OPI Pink Friday 

Manhattan 67N

Essie Mojito Madness

CND Vinylux Cream Puff (base) 

I used Sick Lacquers Pastel Fusion over the top to give it some glitz. This bottle is not pictured in the bottle shot (I forgot, sorry!)

I then matted it all using Mentality Matte Top Coat. I love this topcoat and the effect it gives. 

The clean up wasn't great as I got it everywhere, but I am still happy with the look. I also found Let Them Have Polishes video really easy to follow. 

So what do you think of this nail art? 

Also what are your thoughts on the new look? There's more to come with the look so its a work in progress.

Life in Lacquer Nail Art Challenge:MONOCHROME

We have nearly reached the end of this month long challenge and I would love to hear your thoughts about how its gone, your favourite design and any improvements in running the challenge, just incase I decide to do one again one day!

This prompt is another fave of mine. Monochrome is very trendy and I love the contrast in the black and white

This was not my original design as I messed up the one i did previously. I am far happier with this design though as it really is something different for me.


As you may also be able to see is that I have gone back to the more pointy nail shape. I really do prefer this shape. What is your fave nail shape?


I used Art Club Stripers by Color Club . They are okay but they get thick everytime I use them.


I hope you like them! Please take a look at the other nail arts from this challenge by many other talented nail artists!

An InLinkz Link-up

Life in Lacquer Nail Art Challenge July: FLORAL

After a little faux pas on monday, some of you may have already seen these! I was sat in my car looking at lions in Longleat when my twitter went a bit mental as I had published the wrong post DUH!

Today's prompt is Floral... I decided to give one stroke another go.I wanted to do something very feminine so decided to use pink and of course some glitter!

A couple days ago I bought the Cupcakes and Champagne collection by Ruby Wing from a nail friend only and I couldn't resist using one!
If you didn't know the collection of polishes are all scented and they change in the sunlight!
The scent is strong even with a topcoat on, its divine!

For this look I used Essie Neo Whimsical and Color Club Strawberry Shortcake. The roses are painted using some acrylic paint.

My one stroke still needs loads of work and my middle finger is the worst but I do still like the look of this nail art and I am pretty proud of the results.

You can see the other challenge entries below and please go and give them a view. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Life in Lacquer Nail Art Challenge: BLUE featuring Video Tutorial

Another #lifeinlacquerjuly mani. How are you all liking the challenge so far? I hope your enjoying seeing others work on my Instagram!

Ive been totally overwhelmed by all the people taking part! I thought no one would so I am sooo happy you are all joining me on this!

Today is another very broad prompt...Blue. 

I chose to get my Nail Stickrs out for this one. Maybe it would have been more suited to the Geometric prompt but oh well :)

AND theres a couple videos to accompy this too! Im getting there with the whole video thing. I still find them quite hard and awkward to film but I am getting there. 

Again these are fast so I can put them on Instagram. Do you think I should make longer versions for Youtube? 

Here is how I did the gradient.....

 

And here is how I used the Nail Stickrs to create a sponge chevron.


I hope the videos go a little way in showing you how I did this look.
I am really interested to know what you think about them so please do let me know.

For this look I used Essie Butler Please, Avenue Maintain and Sweet Talker. I also used Moyra 304 on the chevron nail. 

All of this was one ontop of a white base

And then of course it needed some bling! These beautiful metal star charms are from Effect Beauty. I love them! They are slightly curved so fit to the nail really well unlike other flat charms, plus you get a decent amount for your money.

Soooo what do you think? Please check out the other blog entries from Life in Lacquer July below!

An InLinkz Link-up

**some of the products featured were sent to me as press samples. All opinions are my own**

Life in Lacquer Nail Art Challenge:DOTS featuring Video Tutorial!

How are you enjoying the challenge so far? Please do share the challenge around so others can take part!

Today is dots. I liked this prompt as its very open and also lends itself to beginners.


I chose to do something simple AND I made a video to go with it! YAY!


Here is what I came up with.

I used Manhattan Laque Lotus and Sugar Fix by Sally Hansen (textured) 

The bow was from Poundland! 

I love the textured polish over the smooth. I think its a great way to jazz up a simple mani.

Want to see how I did it??!! NOW YOU CAN! 

It is a fast video as I planned to put them on instagram.

What do you think? Do you like to see how it was done?

Tune in soon to see the next installment in Life in Lacquer July!

An InLinkz Link-up

Life in Lacquer Nail Art Challenge:FOOD

Its here! The first day of my nail art challenge! Ive never done one before so excited to see everyones work :)

The first prompt is food. I was going to do some stamping but thought I would do hand painting insted!

These are my first ever strawberry nails and I am pretty happy at how they turned out :)

For the main body of the strawberry I actualy used two reds. I used 04M and 06M both by Manhattan. You cant really see the two tones. 

I then handpainted the leaves and seeds using acrylic paint and a very thin brush by Moyra.

Topped it all off with one coat of topcoat. 

My clean up looks a bit rubbish but the red was a nightmare! Sorry!

What do you think? To see more please search for the #lifeinlacquerjuly and remember to upload your pics to our FACEBOOK

An InLinkz Link-up

Moyou Nails Stamping Plate and Polish Review.

A couple day ago I was sent a lovely package from Moyou Nails. I had been waiting for a while and turned out my first one must have gone walkies. 

It contained 2 stamping plates, a gold stamping polish, a stamper and scraper. 

I haven't tried Moyou Nails before (not to be confused with Moyou London) but I liked the look of the designs I was sent.

Here's my first play....

The gold stamping polish is really good. It has like a glitter effect to it, its not just plain gold. It picked up really well and showed up great against the dark background. 

The base is Vant To Bite My Neck by OPI. 

The stamper and scraper work fine and pick up well but they are not what I would usually use as I prefer the Magno XL Stamper as it is squishy.

The only gripe I have about these plates is that the designs are not wide enough for me. I don't have wide nails particularly and usually the XL images are FAR too big so I am a tad confused as to why these design are so skinny.

That is why the middle finger design is different.... But that could have been intentional lol!

All in all I love the polish and it didn't smudge when top coated so I would recommend that but the stamps seem to small. They would be great for me personally for feature nails or something as they would never be wide enough for my thumb (and I suck at lining up two stamps lol) 

You can buy these stamps, polishes and other bits and bobs from HERE

Press sample. Some of these products have been sent to me for my honest opinions.

Tropical Flower Nail Art

Can I just say a massive thanks to all the lovely comments (espically on Facebook and IG) in regards to my recent one stroke nail art! I didn't think it was that good actually but its my most liked picture on Instagram! YAY! 

Inspired by that I tried one stroke again... and kind of failed.

This nail art was inspired by the lovely Gemma Lambert. She does a flower similar (but better) to the one on my middle finger in a youtube video for Naio Nails. You can see the video HERE

The middle finger isn't sooo bad but the ring finger isn't that good. Oh well, we all have to start somewhere!
I wanted to do Hibiscus flowers as this China Glaze shade is such a summer colour! Its Aztec Orange and is an orange leaning red, pretty much identical to Red Light Ahead, Where? by OPI. 
I love coral shades right now but this is pretty much red. The coverage isn't great and the picture shows 3 coats and topcoat. Its more of a jelly so even with three coats you can still see my nail line. BUT I love this shade, bring on the summer I say!
I again used the Moyra (vamp) one stroke brush and cheap acrylic paints from The Works.

What do you think of this attempt?

Aboriginal Stamping Nail Art

I havent done stamping decals in a long time but today I fancied doing it. I also wanted to use a colour I dont use a lot, brown.

I actually like brown and I think this particular brown suits me :) This is You Don't Know Jacques by +OPI Products. Its what I would called an iced brown as it doesn't have a strong red undertone.

The stamping plate I used was from +MoYou London and has some funky australian themed designs. I used acrylic to fill it in and as you can see it didn't go quite to plan and ever some as the stamping cracked (on the lizards body) but I still like it. It also doesn't look so bad in real life! Damn you macro!

Of course I matted it all afterwards and I think that adds the the effect! I use Mentality matte top coat and that works so much better than others I have tried. 

What do you think? 

NAILS ON TOUR!! Holiday Round Up

I'm back my loves!
I really hope you enjoyed all the lovely guest posts and thanks again to all the contributors!

For our summer holidays this year we went to Holywell, about ten minutes away from Newquay in Cornwall, UK.
We always holiday within the UK and its always Newquay lol, we love it there. Its like a second home.

It rained like the whole time we were there but we managed to get to Holywell Beach. Holywell beach is stunning. Easily my fave beach I've ever been too.

CUE ARTSY FARTSY PICS....

My brother and son at Holywell beach.

 

The polish I chose for the holiday was a thermal called Nostalgia by Polished by KPT. A duochrome thermal polish. In some lights it has a pink tint and in others it has a green tint!
I wanted a polish that would go with most outfits and not be to garish. This polish was actually my third choice and to be honest I don't know why I didn't pick it first. I am in love with this thermal.
It covers great and in it warm state is a perfect duo chrome nude. Its quite sheer but I really didn't mind that this time. I am learning to embrace my VNL
It also reacts really well too so even on my relatively shortish nails I had the gradient effect a lot!

My nail polish lasted about 4 days before It started to badly chip but for me that's a record! I could not be more chuffed with this polish.


We also enjoyed going to Newquay Zoo, Crealy and Cornwall Gold. My husband bought me this gorgeous freshwater Pearl ring for an early anniversary gift (pictured above)

Carmine Mani by Marcus

I'm technically on holiday at the mo... Can you believe Ive been so organised Ive scheduled posts!!
I cant have you all going without nail art can I?!


Marcus, as regular readers will know, is my father in law. Marcus seems to have really gotten into nail art and its great to sit down and bounce ideas around!


This mani features three reds

MaxFactors Glossfinity in 110 Red Passion, Zoya PixieDust in Chyna and China Glaze City Siren.

These colours all covered really well so no white base was needed. Marcus just used a thin brush to do the red design and then outlined in black. 

For this design we decided to topcoat over the PixieDust and man was that a glittery red!

You would need more than just the one coat of topcoat. 

We only used one though.

What do you think of this nail art? I think this is so fab! 

Its easy to do and can be done in any colour combo! You could even add studs or dots? 

Don't fret guys I will be back soon and we can chat all about my holiday... 

Bet ya cant wait ?!!

We're All Going On A Summer Holiday...

That time of year is finally upon us.... HOLIDAY!

We are off just a couple hours down the road to Newquay in sunny Cornwall for a 7 night break away. This year we are also taking my dad and my brother with us.... This could be interesting LOL!

We always holiday within the UK and we go to Newquay every year. Its like a home away from home for us. Seeing as I will be gone for a week in a caravan,I will not be able to blog post. Oh My Gawd! How are you all going to cope with that :P

I'm going to be using that time to catch up on crochet orders and hopefully make some stuff for my upcoming shops opening!

I am feeling in a particularly happy holiday mood so here are some lovely holiday nails.

I used China Glaze Four Leaf Clover and KBShimmers Dancing Green. I did the simple glitter gradient then stamped over the top with Konad white, which then turned greeny yellow lol. To stop this happening to stamped whites remember to topcoat before stamping. I did not remember...

I haven't used a green in, like, well forever.... I really love this though!

I hope you all don't miss me too much ?! And ill see you in around a week ish!

Purple Cracked Nail Art

I had a request from Alexia, Creator of Laquerdaisical to do a purple nail art so here it is.
If you would like to request a nail art or have any ideas please contact me

I used one of my new Cadillacquer polishes Easy As Pie. I wanted this polish for so long. In fact I want all Cadillacquer polishes....BUY ALL THE POLISH!

I had no idea what I was doing when I started this nail art lol. I used Nails Supreme pen in white to do the design and then a gradient using OPI Planks Alot and Steady As She Rose with a bit of Easy As Pie on the nail tip.

Easy As Pie applied really well and I got great coverage with 3 thin coats. I prefer to use thinner coats of polish to build up the depth of the glitter.

I still have no idea what this nail art is... Trees? Cracking? Lightning? You decide!