I've posted a new page - http://lacquerman.blogspot.com/p/travelling-polish.html
If anyone would be interested in signing up for a nail polish relay, as a way to interact with other NP addicts, check out my page at http://lacquerman.blogspot.com/p/travelling-polish.html
Or, just go to this Google map, click "Edit", add a placemark for yourself and put your name, city, state, zip and email in your placemark's description.
View Nail Polish Relay in a larger map
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
NOTD - THE Green I've Searched For! *UPDATED*
One of my favorite colors in the whole world is the iridescent green-black of a mallard duck's head. I've looked for a nail polish like that - and I think I've found it in Finger Paints "Avant Garde Green".
This is an incredible color, a shimmery emerald green, that looks almost black at oblique angles in direct light. Unfortunately, I had trouble with application... the Finger Paints brush is a standard narrow round, and the formula is on the thick side, so the brush doesn't fan out well, and the polish doesn't flow well on the nail. I ended up putting it on too thick to compensate, which led to bubbling. I had to redo several fingers, and one needed redone again... On the bright side, it does seem to dry faster than other Finger Paints I have used. Still, the result is worth the effort - I love the color, and I'll wear this often!
*UPDATE*
Just for fun, I tried another approach to achieve the same "Mallard Green" effect.
This time, I applied an opaque, true black. Then, I floated two drops (per 2 nails) of China Glaze "Watermelon Rind" on water, and dipped my nails as per water marbling. This gave me a very thin, even coat of WR over the black. WR is more sparkly than shimmery, and at this thickness it flashes brilliant green and then abruptly goes black. The color is darker than WR on its own (shown on the pinky), and is very similar to the color of the AGG above... but the color is more "active" in motion (makes it harder to photograph though), and much more dazzling in sunlight. Plus, even with the water dip, application was easier because the black goes on super smooth and glossy, the green lays right on, it all dries faster, and I had no bubbling issues and no need to redo anything.
Of the two versions here, I like the second one better!
(Disclosure: I bought this all myself, I have not been compensated in any way for this review.)
This is an incredible color, a shimmery emerald green, that looks almost black at oblique angles in direct light. Unfortunately, I had trouble with application... the Finger Paints brush is a standard narrow round, and the formula is on the thick side, so the brush doesn't fan out well, and the polish doesn't flow well on the nail. I ended up putting it on too thick to compensate, which led to bubbling. I had to redo several fingers, and one needed redone again... On the bright side, it does seem to dry faster than other Finger Paints I have used. Still, the result is worth the effort - I love the color, and I'll wear this often!
*UPDATE*
Just for fun, I tried another approach to achieve the same "Mallard Green" effect.
This time, I applied an opaque, true black. Then, I floated two drops (per 2 nails) of China Glaze "Watermelon Rind" on water, and dipped my nails as per water marbling. This gave me a very thin, even coat of WR over the black. WR is more sparkly than shimmery, and at this thickness it flashes brilliant green and then abruptly goes black. The color is darker than WR on its own (shown on the pinky), and is very similar to the color of the AGG above... but the color is more "active" in motion (makes it harder to photograph though), and much more dazzling in sunlight. Plus, even with the water dip, application was easier because the black goes on super smooth and glossy, the green lays right on, it all dries faster, and I had no bubbling issues and no need to redo anything.
Of the two versions here, I like the second one better!
(Disclosure: I bought this all myself, I have not been compensated in any way for this review.)
Friday, February 17, 2012
Say Hello To My Little Friends!
The awesome ladies in the FB group "Polish-aholics Anonymous" have been all excited about a Walgreens sale on Sinful Colors polishes... so I thought I would grab some.
Aren't they great? Front & center is Cinderella, flanked by Savage and Exotic Green. Behind them is Courtney Orange, 24/7 (pink) and Out Of This World.
Also, say hello to my new camera! It's a Nikon Coolpix S4100, with 14MP, 3" touchscreen, 5x optical zoom and an awesome macro setting! It also shoots 720P video... Look at the second photo in full size. Zoom in on the ingredients label on Cinderella - except for where the bottle curves, you can see every word! This camera cost $99 at Best Buy - I remember paying more than that for a single camera lens, back when photos were shot on film and $100 was a lot of money! Now that I have a respectable camera, I can get to work on a full tutorial for the turquoise mineral nail art.... look for that this weekend.
Here's another photo from the Nikon..
That's right - this week I have Skittle Toes! The colors (right to left) are NOPI Prized Possession Purple, OPI Fly, Sinful Colors Exotic Green, Jordana Mellow Yellow, Jordana Orangesicle, OPI Bogota Blackberry, Orangesicle, Mellow Yellow, Exotic Green, and Fly. Yes, they're in ROYGBIV rainbow order - I'm a little OCD that way...
Anyway, thank you to my newest followers, and a giant bearhug to Megan at Painting Rainbows for mentioning me on her blog. This week's pedi is for her!
Aren't they great? Front & center is Cinderella, flanked by Savage and Exotic Green. Behind them is Courtney Orange, 24/7 (pink) and Out Of This World.
Also, say hello to my new camera! It's a Nikon Coolpix S4100, with 14MP, 3" touchscreen, 5x optical zoom and an awesome macro setting! It also shoots 720P video... Look at the second photo in full size. Zoom in on the ingredients label on Cinderella - except for where the bottle curves, you can see every word! This camera cost $99 at Best Buy - I remember paying more than that for a single camera lens, back when photos were shot on film and $100 was a lot of money! Now that I have a respectable camera, I can get to work on a full tutorial for the turquoise mineral nail art.... look for that this weekend.
Here's another photo from the Nikon..
That's right - this week I have Skittle Toes! The colors (right to left) are NOPI Prized Possession Purple, OPI Fly, Sinful Colors Exotic Green, Jordana Mellow Yellow, Jordana Orangesicle, OPI Bogota Blackberry, Orangesicle, Mellow Yellow, Exotic Green, and Fly. Yes, they're in ROYGBIV rainbow order - I'm a little OCD that way...
Anyway, thank you to my newest followers, and a giant bearhug to Megan at Painting Rainbows for mentioning me on her blog. This week's pedi is for her!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
NOTD - Turquoise!!
I've always loved turquoise gemstones like these:
So, OPI "Fly" struck a chord with me, and I've had it on for the last 3 days.When I got home today, I decided to try to create a turquoise gem effect on a nail. Over the "Fly", I dabbed on some Ulta "Lucky Penny", some Finger Paints "Meet Me At The Met", just a little "OPI Ink" and more "Fly" - I dipped the brushes into MEK solvent to thin them a bit, and between each color I dipped the nail to promote bleeding. (The dipping produced some bubbling - next time I'll use a very fine art brush to dab solvent where I want to bleed colors together..) Then I let it all dry, and topcoated. Here's the result:
As always, I'm sorry for the blurry photo...
So, OPI "Fly" struck a chord with me, and I've had it on for the last 3 days.When I got home today, I decided to try to create a turquoise gem effect on a nail. Over the "Fly", I dabbed on some Ulta "Lucky Penny", some Finger Paints "Meet Me At The Met", just a little "OPI Ink" and more "Fly" - I dipped the brushes into MEK solvent to thin them a bit, and between each color I dipped the nail to promote bleeding. (The dipping produced some bubbling - next time I'll use a very fine art brush to dab solvent where I want to bleed colors together..) Then I let it all dry, and topcoated. Here's the result:
As always, I'm sorry for the blurry photo...
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Valentines COUPLES Nails Photo Contest Entries!
Here are the entries so far in my Valentines Day COUPLES Nails Photo Contest - you may vote for as many as you like!
============
Yvonne - "My hubby and I are total video game geeks. When I told him about this contest, he was game and immediately suggested Pacman and Ms. Pacman!"
Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/wel9jo
============
Carly
- "My amazing boyfriend AJ and I in matching China Glaze
and Essie water marbles! Polishes used are China Glaze Fanatic Fuchsia,
Sweet Hook, Agent Lavender and Essie Play Date!"
Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/xHuKb8
============
Alison - "Our Love is Eternal" Conversation Hearts Manicure with my husband! <3 - Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/ydWgf3
============
Lyndsey - "I let my fiancé choose the colors and design. He chose a Lizard green for my namesake, NailsbyMsLizard.blogspot.com" - Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/xRD81h
Ashley - "He is the rainbow toes after we both got a mani and pedi" - Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/zszF5r
==========
Melissa - " Tuxedo Man & Busty Broad- Valentines Date Night Nails." - Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/Azk1DM
=========
Erica - "Jackson Pollock inspired nail art" - Link for this entry: http://bit.ly/xS5nHe
==========
Steve (Me, LacquerMan...) - "Ineligible - The man in the photo is the contest promoter... I
can't be an entrant in my own contest. I'm just putting this up for fun.
Vote for this if you like it, they won't count toward the prize." - Link for this photo: http://bit.ly/yVNnnb
There they are... be sure to vote for the ones you like! If you would like to enter the contest, visit my "LacquerMan" Facebook page
and look for the Photo Contest link on the left side. Entries will be
accepted until 11PM Eastern time on Valentines Day, voting ends at 10 PM
Eastern time on 2/18/2012.
=======================
Also... I have to say that CONTESTS SUCK!! I have to be fair - which means that I can't say anything about these entries - which is really frustrating! I could heap praise and love on any of these, but if I said something about one that I didn't say about another, I might seem to be trying to influence the vote. Arrrggghhhh!
I want to thank everyone who has entered so far, and everyone that will enter... and YOU, for reading this and maybe voting for some (or all) of these!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Valentines Day Photo Contest!
HEY People! To celebrate reaching 70 awesome followers, I'm having a Photo Contest! There's even a prize - I'll send the winner a $25 gift card to their favorite retail store, subject to availability.
But, there's a catch... with Valentines Day coming up, this isn't just a "who has the prettiest nails" contest, it's a "Which COUPLE has the best polished nails" contest! That's right - to enter, and maybe win $25 bucks, you've gotta talk a man into wearing polish with you in your photo (or... BE a man whose nails match your partner's in your photo). ((Also, I'm not judging relationship status here - if you don't have a male SO, any male will do... ))
I'm running this contest through Offerpop via Facebook - it was easier than trying to build a contest in Blogger - so for contest details, to see entries or to enter, visit my page on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/LacquerMan/243781025701106?sk=app_255558194495800
I'll repost the entries here, but voting is done on the Facebook page - so once you submit an entry photo, be sure to tell your friends to go vote!
(A couple of rules... naked nails, and clear and black polishes are ineligible... photos must include two people, one of whom must be male, displaying nail color on at least ten nails each... photos of your SLEEPING (non-consenting) partner are ineligible... see the official rules for more details...)
I hope to see you soon!
But, there's a catch... with Valentines Day coming up, this isn't just a "who has the prettiest nails" contest, it's a "Which COUPLE has the best polished nails" contest! That's right - to enter, and maybe win $25 bucks, you've gotta talk a man into wearing polish with you in your photo (or... BE a man whose nails match your partner's in your photo). ((Also, I'm not judging relationship status here - if you don't have a male SO, any male will do... ))
I'm running this contest through Offerpop via Facebook - it was easier than trying to build a contest in Blogger - so for contest details, to see entries or to enter, visit my page on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/LacquerMan/243781025701106?sk=app_255558194495800
I'll repost the entries here, but voting is done on the Facebook page - so once you submit an entry photo, be sure to tell your friends to go vote!
(A couple of rules... naked nails, and clear and black polishes are ineligible... photos must include two people, one of whom must be male, displaying nail color on at least ten nails each... photos of your SLEEPING (non-consenting) partner are ineligible... see the official rules for more details...)
I hope to see you soon!
NOTD... OPI Ink
Hello everyone!
I mentioned earlier that I just got an OPI Ink, and it bumped Bogota Blackberry to #4 on my all-time faves list. So, I thought I should show it off!
(as usual, the camera isn't terribly good, so there are much better photos of this color out there. The lighting is a GE "Reveal" flood, because the sun is hiding today...)
(The toes are still in "Fly", but I think I'm going to try something fun this week - try to paint some candy hearts (you know, with the little phrases on 'em..) for Valentines Day. I'll let you know how it goes!)
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