Pegasus and Butterflies Nail Art

I love a good bit of stamping. I cant stand it when people say stamping isn't real nail art. It is real nail art folks and its fantastic! So many options with colour and decals you can pretty much achieve anything! Plus it can be a quick way of adding nail art to your dominant hand!

Today I chose Hare Polish Pegasus and plate MZR-O7. I used Konad Black Special Polish and my Magno XL stamper.

I waited before top coating (using Out The Door by INM) and even floated it over but it still smudged the beautiful butteries. 

I used 2 coats of Pegasus and it built up a lovely glitter density. Its a jelly finish so you get to see all the glitter floating around in the lush pastel purple base.

What do you think of this nail art? Do you own any Hare Polishes?

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:INSPIRED BY TV OR FILM

Today's prompt is Inspired by TV or Film

This one took a lot of thinking!
I had so many ideas but I thought I would go with a TV program I have watched for years and years...

Eastenders, if you aren't aware, is a British soap that runs four days a week on the BBC. I chose to try and recreate the title image.....

Taken from Wikipedia. 

I obviously simplified it down alot. 

I used a base of Manhattan 106K and OPI Nein Nein Nein Okay Fine. I used my usual sponge splodging. I then added Dont Mess With OPI by OPI for bits of greenery.
I used acrylic paint to paint and highlight the Thames and create London Dome. Yes that white circle is supposed to be The Dome.... I told you I simplified it LOL


What do you think? Do you watch Eastenders? You can find out more about Eastenders HERE

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.

Cloud Nail Art

recently in my part of the UK it has been very very warm.
I dont like the heat. I'm a breeze and cloud kinda girl. Luckily today it clouded over and again lucky for me it inspired another cloud themed mani!

I am also really into negative space nail arts at the mo. I used a nail vinyl from Nail Stickrs to create the V shape at the base of my nail.
I was going to add some bling but then changed my mind as I didn't want to over do it.

I matted this too using Mentality's Matte topcoat. Not only do I love this topcoat but I find it so much easier to get better pictures as there is no reflection.

I used China Glaze Electric Beat and Essies Butler Please. I first used Electric beat as a base and then when that dried I used a sponge to randomly splodge on Butler Please.
Then I used my ole faithful St Petersburg Brush from Moyra and some acrylic paint for the clouds.

What do you think of this nail art? Would you have added some bling?


Press sample. Some of these items were provided for my review. All opinions are honest and my own.

Lightening Nail Art using Nail Stickrs

A quick, simple and easy nail art today!

This look is so easy to do all you need is two polishes and some nail vinyl stencils. These ones are from Nail Stickrs.
Nail Stickrs are an American based brand but they ship to the UK for about £1.50 ish so very reasonable! I also happen to know that they have some very exciting new styles coming soon!



I used Moyra 602 and Jasmines Wish (853). Jasmines Wish is a stunning textured polish. A teal with a golden glitter effect.

I have really tried to get this colour as accurate as possible, it was a pain to photograph! 

Doesn't it look like a Drusy?!

Its formula is great. Cover fantastically in 2 coats and of course you don't need top coat! 

I love pairing textured polishes with ordinary ones!

What do you think of this? 

Nail Stickrs are available from Here. Moyra has a brand new website Yay!! You can find it Here.

Press sample. Some of these products were sent for my honest review. 

Feather Nail Decals

I am trying so very hard to keep the blog up to date but as some of you may know I also crochet things for people and at the mo I have loads to do so my little blog has suffered slightly. Normal service will resume soon!

Anyway.....
I have a very simple nail art to show you today. AND I used the mysterious fan brush.... The fan brush usually comes in most nail art brush kits and I have seen a few people ask what to do with it, so here is just one thing you can do!

I used +Barry M  Gelly polish called Key Lime and China Glazes  Flying High. I then added some feather water decals from Sparkly Nails.
I then topped it all off with Mentality Matte top coat! I love Matte top coat and I just want to matte all the things!
Ive said it once and I'll say it again... If you don't like hand painting nail art then water decals are the option for you. They are easy to use and don't stick up like stickers. plus they can be cut and edited to fit any design you might want to do.


The fan brush is part of a set of brushes from Effect Beauty. For 10% off  use code LACQUER.

What do you think of this look?


Some products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own and they are all honest.

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 ?!!

GUEST POST Dotty Mani by BGPolish

Hey there you lot! I'm new around here.. My name is Catriona from BGPolish and I am doing a guest post for the lovely Jade! I thought about a lot of different things I could do for you today, but I finally came up with something! Gold and Silver Bubbles!

In this look I began with painting my nails in Barry M Silver Foil and then I painted two large lines on either side of the nail coming downwards and two shorter lines in the middle with Barry M Gold Foil. After this I took Silver with a large dotting tool and dotted over the gold, and a small to dot gold on the silver.

I topped this with Seche Vite, and I really hope you like it, I also hope you can understand my ramblings. If you liked this design please pop over to my blog and have a look around, and thank you so much to Jade for putting up with me and letting me guest post! - Always.


Thanks so much for posting for me Catriona and I love your metallic mani!! 

GUEST POST Butterflies by Nailallure

As the lovely Jade is on holiday I am honoured to do a guest post for her. Have a good holiday, Jade!

Since we've enjoyed some sunny days recently, I thought it would be nice to do a fun, bright and girly manicure. Pink butterflies seemed a good choice for a cheerful manicure like that!

For this manicure, I painted the pointer and little finger with Models Own Hypergel Cerise Shine. The middle finger and thumb are painted with Models Own Hypergel White Light. The ring finger has on Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Razzle-Berry, a blue textured polish.

I stamped the image with the butterflies from the Cheeky Jumbo Plate 2 - Tropical Holiday with Mundo de Uñas 2 - Black stamping polish. I used the lead light technique to colour the butterflies pink. This is basically using a dotting tool to colour in the stamped image with a translucent polish. I used a jelly polish Nails Inc Henley Regatta for this.

I added blue rhinestones to two nails and finished with topcoat. Hope you enjoyed the manicure as much as I did!

Oh my! these are so sumemry! Thanks Nootan and please pop over to see her blog and Facebook! 

Sally Magpies Haul!

I was supposed to be saving for holiday.....

Then Sally announced a 50% off EVERYTHING sale last week. I was very good and only got 4.

Pretty and Polished April Showers, Picture Polish Aurora, Pretty and Polished Pretty Chameleon, Manglaze Mayonnaise. 


I have wanted to own a Manglaze for a really long time and I needed a new white so win win! I love the art on the bottle and the less than savory names.... :P

As you all know I love thermals! So I picked April Showers and Pretty Chameleon by Pretty and Polished. I really wanted May Flowers but it was sold out. Ill have you one day May Flowers!

I cannot wait to get Aurora on my nails. I actually said WOW when I opened it. It nothing like the mutlichromes I own now, its nothing like anything I own now!
If I wasn't going away in a couple days I would have bought all the limited edition Picture Polishes. I also really wanted the Rocky Horror ones but a held myself back!

Unfortunately the sale is over BUT Sally stocks a wide range of indies polishes and shes in the UK!
You can find her HERE 

We Have a New Look!

Hello my dears!!

As you may be able to tell we have had a whole new look!

I made this layout and the previous ones myself and let me tell you I am no designer! In fact it took me a round a day just to do the title banner!

I wanted it to look clean and professional but at the same time a bit fun!
You may also be able to see, if your on a desktop, there are new follow buttons and you can even subscribe via email so you know when Ive published something new... Why don't you sign up :)

Even the About Me and Contact pages have been updated! Super efficient I know!

What do you think of the new look?
 Yay or Nay?

Foil Squiggle Nail Art

I have wanted to try foils for so long so when Effect Beauty offered to send me some I jumped at the chance!
 I wanted to have a play and not, for now, go for the full nail foil coverage.

The foil comes rolled up in a plastic pot so its great for storage in ye olde Helmer. The actual sheet of foil is really long, I could do this nail art about 20 times I think! Obviously you would use more foil if you were doing a full nail.

This was really really hard to capture! 

I used a dotting tool to add the foil glue onto the nail in a random squiggly pattern. Then waited until the glue went from white to see through. I then placed and pressed the foil onto the nail and pulled it off. And this was what I was left with!!

In love with this, it catches the light and reminds me of a very exotic fish tail or something ha ha.

I used Mentality Polish Scoundrel. A black with a minute shimmer.

This foil and others are available from Effect Beauty and you can get 10% off with the code LACQUER :)

some of these products were sent to me for my honest review

Technicolor Yawn by Laquerdaisical

Today I have a funky indie polish on my nails, we are talking SUPER funky.

This is like someone from the 80s puked on my nails.... in a good way :)

Laquerdasical is a UK based indie brand which I have had the pleasure of working with Alexia a few times and she even listens to me rambling on about polish dreams whilst she strives to make them come true and I'm sure Alexia won't mind me dropping a little hint that there is something very lovely coming up soon!

Anyway back to the polish! Technicolour yawn is a micro glitter polish.

3 coats in the pictures with one coat of topcoat.

 Bottle shot ^^

This polish does cover without undies but as you can see it can be hard to get the glitter in all the right places. The nail line is not as visible as this in real life.

This polish is just so fun! I think it would also look great layered over a range of different colours. 

So what do you think of this? Are you a fan of glitter polishes? 

Technicolour Yawn is available from Laquerdaisical facebook page and their new website!

This polish was sent to me for my honest review. Please see my disclosure page for more details.

B is for Butterflies Nail art

New BarryM Gellys are MINE! 

I havent bought any mainstream polishes in soooo long as I have really only been excited by indies. BUT when BarryM brought out the new Gellys it rekindled my love for the ones I already own and then I decided I needed more! 

The new gellys I have bought seem in no way as thick as the others I have which I am a bit disappointed about as I love using them for art and stamping but as we all know they will thicken up in time. 

This is another one of those faffing nail arts where I have no idea or plan I just go with it..... 

So this is what I went with. 

I went for a waterfall (Nailasaurus inspired) then added some Happy Hands B Is For Butterflies to the ring finger. 

Macro bottle shot  *i didn't get any flowers or butterflies on my nails :( *

The middle finger is a sponging technique using the the Gelly polishes, I think it looks washed out like watercolours, I just call it mottling LOL 

I used, from the Gelly Range, Huckleberry as the base and then Prickly Pear and Greenberry for the add ons. Oh and I used a Color Club glitter striper too (squint and ya may see it LOL) 

Like I said they are a lot thinner so that was a tad annoying but I still like the overall look.

I am in LOVE with pastels and I think we will be seeing a lot of them again this summer.

What do you think? Do you love pastels? 

MDJ Creations If You Like Glitter...

Today we have a beautiful glitter topper by MDJ Creations.

I dont use much pink but this just screamed to be put over something nice and bright!

The topper features gold, silver and holographic glitter pieces. 

This screams summer to me so I just had to add a bit of stamping. This flowers just look so cute dont ya think? 

It really catches the light and is very flashy! I love a bit of glitz. 

I am not girly at all but I really like this! 

I used two coats in the pic over Zoya Areej. Another good thing about this is that you only need one coat of topcoat to smooth it out. 

You can buy MDJ creations handmade polishes from her ETSY store and please go over and show some love on her FACEBOOK page. 

This was sent to me for my honest review, please see disclaimer for details.

Life in Lacquer is One!!

Can you believe it? 

Life in Lacquer is one years old!!! 

I cant believe its actually been a year, in fact I forgot! 

The "blogiversary" was actually yesterday..... DOH! 

It has been an eventful year and I have made some lovely friends in the "nail world" 

If I didn't start this blog I would have never have met you lovely people so for that I am thankful <3

It crept up on me so quickly, I wanted to run a giveaway and such but that will have to wait.....

To mark my one year anniversary I have done some lovely cake nail art! You may remember I did do some cupcake nail art right back in the beginning (post HERE) so I thought I would give it another go. I hope I have improved! 

For this mani I used a Sick Lacquers nail polish. This one is called Cotton Candied and its such a beautiful polish. Sick Lacquers were my first international indie brand and to this day they are still my fave. 

White crellys are where its at for me! 

The pictures show two coats with Seche Vite. 

Its such a happy polish and I think it works so well in this design. 

I also used Robyn by Zoya, another of my fave polishes. Such a pretty colour! 

I used Color Club stripers to do the cupcake and two OPI's for the case.

 Color Club stripers are the bees knees! 

So what do you think? Do you see an improvement compared to my old cupcake mani?