Light as a Feather

Hi everyone!
Yesterday I decided to paint my nails with a fun, elegant design (I went to a party). I decided to try out the trending peacock feather design. However, I don't have any gold polish, so I decided to use my silver polish instead. At first I messed up, so I took that off (sorry, no pictures) and recreated the design that I really wanted. I think it came out great this time!

I used Wet and Wild's Ebony Hates Chris as a base for all of the fingers except for the ring finger. For the ring finger base, I used Sinful Colors in Snow Me White. For the feather, I used Layla Magneffect in Mojito Green, Deborah Lippmann's It Girl, Essie's Aruba Blue, and Wet and Wild's Metallica.
The detailing took lots of practice and was a bit of a pain, but was totally worth the hard work. It turned out great, and it worked well with the dress I wore last night (By the way, sorry about the chipping and the cuticles--I took this picture after I had already messed them up a bit. The feather is the main part of the mani anyway)!
Anyway, I hope you like it! I might be posting more tonight or tomorrow.
'Til next time,
Caroline S.
<3

I'll Have a Latte, Please

Hi everyone!
The other day my friend came over. She asked me if I would paint her nails, and I decided to paint an adorable character from Tokidoki called Latte. Latte is, essentially, a little milk carton with a face. I didn't have much time, so I painted the design onto just one of her bare nails. I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Wet and Wild Ebony Hates Chris, Nerds blueberry scented polish, Nerds strawberry scented polish, and Simple Pleasures peach polish. I think it's cute!

Thanks for letting me paint your nail, H!
Anyway, I am looking forward to posting another fun nail design very soon. Keep reading!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3

Is That Domo On Your Nails?

Hi everyone!
Tonight I was very bored, so I decided to paint my nails (of course). Because I have been waiting to do this for sooooo long, I decided to do Domo nails! For those of you who do not know who Domo is, he is the mascot of a Japanese TV station. Domo is a little brown creature with a very big mouth. My friends and I are obsessed (just look at my background!), so I decided to try this guy out on one of my fingers.
I started with two base coats of my gorgeous Illamasqua polish in Taint. This creamy beauty went on in just two swift coats, and it dried almost immediately (perfect for fast nail art)! After, I used OPI's In Style Red for his mouth, Sinful Colors' Snow Me White for his teeth and the shine in his eyes, and Wet and Wild's Ebony Hates Chris for the base of the eyes. Unfortunately, the top coat I used (Wet and Wild) may have smudged it a bit, since I got impatient and used it too soon. Otherwise, it turned out beautifully!

I hope you like it!*
*Note: If you haven't noticed, I have begun to make my pictures slightly larger. This is just to make the designs easier to see, and I apologize is they seem a bit blurry or pixellated onscreen. I hope this helps!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3

Dipped in Glitter

Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been pretty busy! First of all, I'm starting to recover from an awful cold. Also, I just started taking standardized tests at school. However, I found time for a mani a few days ago, and fortunately I am able to post about it today!
My friend's bat mitzvah was on Saturday, so I naturally found it necessary to paint my nails with her favorite color of all my nail polishes: Turquoise and Caicos. To make it even cooler, I decided to do ombre nails. Since this did not work at all, I went with glitter tips. This is the finished product:

It's a bit hard to see the rainbow glitter (I used Wet and Wild's Kaleidoscope), but I used it to do an ombre design. I painted one layer halfway down the nail. Then I painted halfway down that, and then halfway down that. The finished product was nails that looked as if they were... well... dipped in glitter!

It's blurry, but it's easier to see the glitter ;)
This one also shows the glitter, but the color stays closer to the actual polish.

And that's it!
One more thing: this mani was done Friday afternoon. It has not chipped at all, even though I was baking, juggling, and testing! This picture was taken 3 days after I painted it. That's a long time (at least for me it is).
Hope you enjoyed this post, and sorry for the wait!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3

Out Of This World

Hi everyone!
Today was my school's science fair! In honor of science, I decided to do galaxy nails (at least it has something to do with science). For the base, I used Wet and Wild's Blue Moon. This polish is a beautiful iridescent blue color. In the bottle, it has green notes, but you can't see it once it's on the nail. However, being such a dark, gloppy polish, it's really cover the whole nail without getting all over your finger. So, I had a lot of cleanup to do (which is hard, since I always mess up when I try to do cleanup). Otherwise, it worked well! First, I sponged on a bit of Wet and Wild's Buffy the Violet Slayer. Then I used some Layla Magneffect in Mojito Green (for the color, not the magnet) and OPI's I Vant To Be a Lone Star. After that, I sponged on my versatile Sinful Colors Snow Me White (a very pure, white-out white color), and finally, I ended with a bit of Wet and Wild's Kaleidoscope and a Wet and Wild topcoat. Here is a picture:

It's a bit hard to see, since the colors didn't show up as much as I wanted them to. However, I got a picture where you can see the glitter a bit better:

The glitter shows up better with the flash!
I really liked this, but I think it could be improved if I used colors that would show up better. Also, I think that following a pattern instead of randomly sponging could have made it better, especially if I had a makeup sponge instead of a kitchen sponge. However, I definitely recommend this manicure for those who want something abstract and interesting!
I hope you like it, and keep reading!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3

Tribal Print Mani= Awesome!!!

Hi everyone!
Sorry for posting so late, but I had to finish my science fair project. Oh well... Anyway, I decided to do a tribal print mani today. I had been waiting for a while to do this, so when I finally had time to try it I figured there was no reason not to!
Here it is:

Awesome, right? I was really excited about how this turned out! It was slightly messy since I didn't really have anything to work from, but I think it still came out really well. (If you can't see it, you can click it to enlarge it, as with all the other pictures on this site.) As a base, I used Simple Pleasures in Peach. For the designs, I used: Sinful Colors in Snow Me White, Wet and Wild in Ebony Hates Chris, Essie in Turquoise and Caicos, and OPI in Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?
I'm really glad I decided to try this, and I hope you like it!
I'm going back to school tomorrow, so I might not be able to post quite as frequently.
Keep reading for more nail fun!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3

Layla Polish Swatches!

Hi everyone!
I am exhausted from all of yesterday's activities, but I decided to post anyway. I swatched the two Layla polishes that I found yesterday!
The first polish is called Hologram Effect in Flash Back. I was so excited to try this, as it is my first holo polish! It is a beautiful dark grey, and it has a very interesting rainbow sheen to it that reminds me of those shiny star-shaped stickers. Here it is:

This picture doesn't do it justice, but it is very smooth. The polish had an average formula, not great but better than some polishes I have tried. It went on in 3 coats.

The second polish is called Magneffect in Mojito Green. It is a dark, forest green color that is supposed to be magnetic.

It was a gorgeous color that I would definitely wear again, but unfortunately the magnetic effect did not work at all. I was a bit disappointed, but the formula was encouraging. The magnet did seem to set the polish immediately, which was a plus. It actually went on in just one coat (except for the ring finger), which is extremely good for such a polish. 

Altogether, I recommend these polishes. If you are looking for a great holo, then buy this one. If you are looking for an interesting magnetic polish, don't buy this one. However, if you liked the color, you should buy it. 

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

'Til next time,

Caroline

<3

HUGE HAUL!!!

*WARNING: THIS IS A VERY LONG, PICTURE HEAVY POST*
Hi everyone!
As you probably understand from the title of this post, today I got a massive load of polish and makeup--all for free, thanks to my Dad's cousin's wife, Ellen, who works for a magazine. Thanks, Ellen! :D Anyway, I got loads of stuff, and I decided to show you(Hint: most of it's nail polish)!
I'll start by showing a picture of all the nail polish I got. I actually managed to find 17 bottles-- that's nearly half of what I originally had!

From top left to bottom right: Essie's Orange, it's Obvious!, Avon Nailwear Pro's Orange Creamsicle, Deborah Lippmann's It Girl, China Glaze's I'm With the Lifeguard, LCN's Fanappleistic, Layla Magneffect's Mojito Green, Essie's Aruba Blue, Essence Colour and Go's A Lovely Secret, Deborah Lippmann's Sarah Smile, OPI's I Vant to Be a Lone Star, Essie's Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?, Illamasqua's Taint, Sephora by OPI's Sparkle Me Silver, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics' Copperhead, Avon Nailwear Pro's Starry Sky, Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish's Flash Back, NYC's Matte Me Crazy!

Yes, I know. It's a lot of polish. But wait, there's more!

I also got nail polish strips from Sally Hanson and Design FX! I will review these soon.

I also got these eyeshadows:

They are Rimmel London Glam' Eyes and Laura Geller eyeshadow.

I got Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes:

They are so fun to poke!!!

I got these lipsticks:

They are Sonia Kashuk in Sunkissed and Colour Riche Balm in Nourishing Nude.

I got these eyeliners:

I chose the NYX Glitzy Gold liner, Essence Metallic in Heavy Metal, and NYC Showtime Glitter Eyeliner in Paparazzi Purple.

Also, fudge.

My family went out to dinner, and we stopped for fudge and taffy at Chelsea Market. Yum! This one is chocolate and raspberry flavored.

After  I showed my mom all the stuff I got, she asked me if I would do her nails. Naturally, I said yes. First, I swatched the Deborah Lippman Sarah Smile on her nails:

It goes on as a very translucent, sheer jelly. It is a nice color, but the formula is really awful. It looked very streaky. This may just be because I am not used to sheer polishes, but after two coats you could still see all the brush marks. Oh, well. 

After I swatched the polish, I did some nail art with Essie's Aruba Blue and Wet and Wild's Ebony Hates Chris:

In case you can't tell, the pinky and middle fingers have bows, the ring and index fingers have leopard print, and the thumb has a little stripe which my brother thought was a cat's eye.

Altogether, I think this was a great haul. I really loved some of the colors that I found. Some of them brought back great memories, such as I Vant To Be a Lone Star (which I wore to my own Bat Mitzvah), and some of them were shades I had been searching for for ages (the matte topcoat and the magnetic polish). I really can't wait to swatch these! Soon I will be posting another nail art mani.

'Til next time,

Caroline

<3

My Profile Picture!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for posting so late today. I was waiting to finish drawing this:

It's my self portrait! I created it to use as a profile picture. It's not very good, but oh well... I guess it'll have to do for now. Sorry for the absence yesterday--I was very busy, and I'm trying not to paint my nails every day, but I'm going to post a new design very soon. 

'Til next time,

Caroline

<3

My Collection + Skittles!

Hi everyone!

Today my friend Sarah came over and we did her nails. We also photographed my collection of polishes. I have 41 bottles--way more than most people, but nothing compared to some beauty bloggers! Most of my nail polish is made up of Wet and Wild polishes, but I also have a lot of Nerds scented polish. Here are my OPI polishes:

These are my Wet and Wild polishes:

Here I've pictured my Nerds polishes:

Next I've got my Simple Pleasures polishes:

Here are my Indulge in Beauty polishes:

My (very small) collection of Essie Polishes:

An assortment of miscellaneous polishes:

Here are my assorted tools:

And finally, my whole collection:

Also, we painted Sarah's nails using what we call a "complete skittle". We did ten different colors: one hand with pink shades and one hand with blue shades. 

For the right (blue) hand: 

Thumb: Wet and Wild's Blue Moon

Pointer Finger: Blue cream from Simple Pleasures

Middle Finger: Wet and Wild's Caribbean Frost

Ring Finger: Essie's Turquoise and Caicos

Pinky: Wet and Wild's Metallica

For the left (pink) hand:

Thumb: Red polish from Chanel Le Vernis

Pointer Finger: Magenta polish from Simple Pleasures

Middle Finger: Red polish from Simple Pleasures

Ring Finger: Peach polish from Simple Pleasures

Pinky: Orange Nerds scented polish

Wow! Sorry for such a long blog post. It was really fun to write, though :P. All in all, I really like the colors Sarah picked out.

'Til next time,

Caroline

<3 

Cherry Blossoms!!!

Hi everyone!

Today I bought a new polish. It is from Essie and it is called "Little Brown Dress".

I was hoping to grab a chocolate brown color as it is so versatile. I also received my package from Amazon today. I bought nail art brushes and dotting tools!!! It also came with polymer clay fruit slices and rhinestones, but I will be saving those for a special occasion. Anyway, I felt in a springy mood, so I decided to test out the tools and the polish by creating a cherry blossom design. I love cherry trees, so I figured that this would be a very pretty design. It was also very easy! First I used Wet And Wild's Metallica as a base. I used Essie's Little Brown Dress as the branches, my pink Simple pleasures polish as the petals, and Sinful Colors' Snow Me White as the centers. I then topped it off with my Wet and Wild topcoat. Voila! Instant cherry blossom nails.

I am very proud of this design as it is the first time I have ever successfully done freehand nail art. I hope you like it!

Don't forget to subscribe!

'Til next time, 

Caroline

<3

Acid Wash Pedi

Hi everybody!
Today I got some new polishes from a friend (thanks L!). They are from Simple Pleasures and they come in 7 colors- red, pink, orange, lime green, blue, magenta, and purple.

 I decided to paint my toenails, since they were looking quite plain. First, I painted them with the pink polish. The pink creme went on beautifully in 2 coats and dried almost immediately.

I decided that an acid wash would make the big toes look much more interesting, so I picked up the blue polish and tried it out. Here are the results:

I have never done acid wash nails before, but I love the results. I can't wait to try this again on all my nails!
Don't forget to subscribe to Happy Lacquer Girl!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3

Welcome + Zigzag Tape Manicure!

Hi everyone!
A few days ago I painted a very simple yet pretty manicure. I used one of my favorite nail polishes, Essie's Turquoise and Caicos. It is such a pretty sea foam/turquoise color. I then added an abstract zigzag design on my ring finger with Wet and Wild's Ebony Hates Chris and Metallica. First, I tried it on all of my nails, but the polish didn't dry and it came off with the tape I used. I had to retry the design, but I think it came out perfectly this time!

Sorry for the awful picture... the sky suddenly got cloudy, so there's not much light in here. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my first blog post, and don't forget to subscribe to Happy Lacquer Girl!!!
'Til next time,
Caroline
<3