Bestie Twin Nails - Blasian Color Nation!

Okay ladies long time no post again!

Today I have a special post!  Did you know that I'm very good friends with the lovely Vicky A of Boombastic Nails?  In fact I named her blog back in the days when she was just thinking about blogging.  I may have goaded her into it because she had some of the best swatches and pictures I've ever seen how could she NOT blog!!! Lol I sound insane but she's talented and she also happens to be my nail polish/nail art bestie for today's post. 

As you know I love my Instagram and there are always tons of tags running around over there one of which is the theme - bestie twin nails.  In short you and your nail art buddy pic an idea and colors and without showing the other create some nail art.  Vicky chose the theme - using tape in nail art and then I semi chose the colors - rainbow (but then we decided on full color spectrum).  So where does the "blasian" part come from? Lol - I'm African American/Black and Vicki is Chinese.  So there we are anyway without futher ado some bestie nail art...

Mani-louge (by finger):

Reds and Oranges: Orly Cherry Bomb, OPI A Good Mandarin Is Hard To Find, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Cardinal, Essie She's Pampered, Claire's Little Dipper, Essie Tart Deco, and Sinful Colors Orange Creme

Greens: Color Club Artsy Craft, Essie Mojito Madness, Milani Neon Fresh Teal, China Glaze Starboard, Spoiled by Wet N Wild I'm so Jaded, and Orly Green With Envy

Blues: Orly Snow Cone, Orly Sweet Peacock, L'Oreal Royally Yours, Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Avenue Maintain, OPI Orge The Top Blue, and Essie Bikini So Teeny

Purples: Color Club Puccilicious, Essie Play Date, Essie Boxer Shorts, L'Oreal Lacey Lilac, Orly Velvet Rope, L'Oreal Royalty Re-Invented, and Essie Go Ginza

Black and White Marble: L'Oreal I Will! and Orly Liquid Vinyl

Pretty cool right?  Even though neither of us knew which exact colors we were using it turned out so similarly!  Lol I guess we are besties after all.  Vicky's came out so perfectly I feel a little embarrassed to even put my art up next to hers *waaahhh* She is so talented!  You can see more details of her art on Boombastic Nails.

Now I know you are thinking where did YOU use tape in your mani??  Well I did.  I put down one water marble (the black and white) and then taped off sections of it and water marbled on top of the taped off sections creating a double water marble!  Crazy cool right.  I used over 30 polishes to create this manicure, and at least 4-5 different colors and 3-4 brands for each "color" of the the spectrum.! My my how overly ambitious!  Anyway I hope you enjoyed this happy un-Easter edition of Lacquer Lockdown.  May candy bunnies rain from your skies and happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! 

Tamira :)

50:50 Color Club Age of Aquarius & Orly Glitz & Glamour

Hello dollies!

I hope your weekend went well.  It feels like the summer is winding down really quickly. I'm one part ready for the transition and another part nervous about it.  It's just as well as I've learned whether you are prepared or not life changes and you just have to go with it.  As one of my favorite teachers would put it - "Don't fight it!"  I also missed my AIS posting since I've been feeling a bit run down and haggard lately :(  Oh well there's only so much I can do at any one time given my health limitations.  Okay so I know you're like enough rambles what about the nails girl? It's super simple today.  I did this one quickly this morning to keep my right hand from being naked.

Age of Aquarius by Color Club is seriously one of my favorite turquoise polishes!  The formula is smooth and effortless and the color is dead on to the bottle.  What's not to love? Because I'm still falling all over myself in lust with the color gold I've got another Orly gold colored polish today.  This one is called Glitz and Glamour.  It has an almost texturized effect that gives this polish such a rich feel.  Whenever I wear this one I always keep looking down at the gold shimmer.

I finished this off with a simple lines using a Kiss Nail Art Striper.  This is so easy I feel like a cheated, but I love the overall feel of the manicure when it came together.  I mean I'm all for elaborate nail art but sometimes it really is clean execution and simple tricks that win me over.  So I hope you liked this one! Anyone have any exciting plans for the week? I'm going to try and get a new tutorial up on my Youtube which has been a bit neglected of late (hangs head in shame).  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post! Toodles...

Colorblocked: Essie's Boxer Shorts

Hey polished prisoners,

Today I've got another polish from Essie's Yogaga Collection. I don't have this entire collection, but when I see an Essie color I like I pick it up while I'm out and about.  If you follow my Instagram you'd have seen the swatch I posted earlier this week.  Boxer Shorts is a periwinkle creme finish polish described as a "winning blue" according to Essie's website, but to me it seems more like a blurple with very purple leanings.  Colors like these are universally flattering on my skin tone which is one of many reason why purple is one of my favorite colors. The formula on this one is excellent and opaque in two coats, but you could probably get away with one if it were applied in a careful thick coat.  Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone after all I prefer my boxer shorts to have a little character ;)

Orly's Gold Rush went perfectly with this color combo.

Mani-louge

Base color: Essie Boxer Shorts

Colorblocks: Orly's Gold Rush & Liquid Vinyl

Looking very purply here to me with a blue underpinning.  I love this color!

It's been a while since I've done a colorblock mani and even longer since the color black has graced my nails in any significan't proportion.  One of the things that struck me immediately which I'd forgotten was how dark black can be when it's taking up a lot of real estate on your nails. Lol! It makes me feel like fall and winter are definitely coming when I put on such dark colors.  Are you ready for fall yet? It's my favorite season and I could really use a break from the unrelenting heat!

So what do you ladies think? While this is a fairly straightforward manicure I am really pleased by how well these came out! I also love how the trio of colors play together so nicely.  Oddly right now I'm really on a gold kick so expect to see more gold on my blog in the future.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you next post! Toodles...

Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly Meets A Lunar Eclipse

Hello polished prisoners,

Today I've got some pretty to share - some Pretty & Polished that is!  I've had this swatch in my head forever - the deliciousness of Orly's Lunar Eclipse combined with all the luscious glitter in P&P's Hello Dolly.  Eventually, I couldn't resist the sweet allure any longer and had to make it happen, but of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't add a little spice to the mix (smiles). By now I think it's clear that I am not really a "swatching" kinda girl. I do enjoy them, but like M Night Shyamalan I love a good twist!

Hello dollies! Single coat pictured over first three digits and then sparingly dabbed over the water marbles.

Mani-louge

Thumb & Index Finger: Orly's Lunar Eclipse and Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly

Middle Finger: Essie's Jamaican Me Crazy and Orly Lunar Eclipse + Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly

Ring and Pinkie: Water marble using Essie's Jamaican Me Crazy, Color Club Puccilicious & Almost Famous with Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly lightly dabbed on.

As you can see I have a lot of techniques going on in this manicure.  This often happens when I'm randomly "creating" a mani with no idea or no focal point in my mind.  Even though I knew I wanted the P&P/Orly swatch the rest was just whatever I thought might be fun. 

I love that even in the shade/indirect light you can still see the inner fire of Hello Dolly.

 Shall I also tell you another secret? This was my first attempt at a water marble! I'd been dying to do one for ages, but never got around to it until just now.  The execution definitely was imperfect, but I think it came out okay for a first time attempt.  Clearly, I'm no Colette of My Simple Little Pleasures - she is amazeballs!  The hardest part was finding polishes that would spread out in the water and then creating a clear pattern.  Do you have any recommendations brand/polish-wise to make things easier?

I still need a lot more practice until my water marbles are "clean" but I still love the overall effect.

So what do you ladies think of the results? There are so many things I haven't tried yet on my nails I'm so excited and I can't wait to share.  I wonder what other techniques you ladies are interested in seeing or trying yourselves?  Please do let me know and thanks for reading! Toodles...

My Take On Old Glory - 4th of July Mani #1

Hey lacquer ladies,

I will admit I'm not a super patriotic girl (insert cringing face here).  I grew up in the nation's capital so for me the 4th of July signifies crowds of irritating tourists, drunken acts of debauchery, and loud noises confused as fireworks for a full week before and after the holidays.  Did I mention the irritating tourists? Okay so I'm no super fan, but I love a good excuse to play with polish!  So I decided to do a couple of holiday mani's complete with tutorials dedicated to the cause, and I hope you ladies will enjoy them. First up as a holiday with lots fireworks I'm did something with lots o' bling!

Bling, bling, gleam ;)

Mani-logue:
Base: Nicole by OPI's Make You Smile (Need a substitute? Try OPI's Pirouette My Whistle)
Layer 2: Orly's Star Spangled (yes how appropo)
Layer 3: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue It
Detailing: 2mm star rhinestones, gold microbeads, and holographic gold stars

I really love the effect of Orly Star Spangled layered over NOPI's Make You Smile. I somehow got an added dimension that I didn't expect.

Check out the tutorial here on my YouTube channel:

It's bright and cheerful right? I hope this sort of makes up for my general sassy satire in the beginning lol! Thanks for reading and please keep checking back for more 4th of July themed mani's!

The Relevation of Elevation....Polish, That Is

Hey polished prisoners,

Get ready for some serious polish smackdown!  I have been sitting on my Elevation Polish order for a few weeks now.  Mainly because I wasn't sure which to start with first and secondly because I have so many untrieds these days that I need to to try and get through some of them so I seem less insane for acquiring so many polishes at once.  If you haven't heard of Elevation these polishes are amazing! Check them out on I Dig Brown Polish.  The creator Lulu has some of the most coveted polishes in the indie polish sphere.  So of course I couldn't pick one when I set down do do my manicure.  I got the idea for a braided fishtail manicure from Nails Like Lace and then added my own geometric accents. The result was a braided fishtail manicure featuring Owen, Ubsunar, Pata on the Back, and Aurora with Essie's Mojito Madness and Sonoma Nail Art's Russian River Glitter accents.

Bling Bling...gleam!

Now let's talk formula!  Pata On The Back and Ubsunar were 5 star wonders both in density and intensity of formula and ease of application.  This was also true for Essie's Mojito Madness, a lime green cream that was opaque in gasp one freaking coat! Essie has been killing me with their spring and summer collections this year and I am super impressed!  I wanted Owen and Aurora to have the same formula as Pata On the Back and Ubsunar, however maybe it was because of the density of the shimmer, but they were much thicker and a bit more difficult to apply since the polish dried rapidly.  They reminded me a bit of working with crackle polish i.e. the need to be quick and concise, but the simmer in these two made it well worth the effort so 4 out of 5 stars.  As an accent I used Sonoma Nail Art's Russian River, which went beautifully with Mojito Madness, it also gets 5 stars for formula and ease of application.  Finally, I used my LA Colors Nail Art stripper in gold glitter to add a geometric twist. What do you ladies think?

This fishtail took me 3 hours.  I used Color Club Dry Ice to speed the drying process and my beloved Poshe Fast Drying Top Coat.

It was exceedingly difficult to capture the hue of Owen but I finally got it!

All this sparkle makes me happy!

Just seeing what I could do with the Elevations makes me eager to try other combos of the fish tail!

This is probably one of my favorite nail art manicure's to date! It looks so intricate and yet simple simultaneously and trust me that is tough to pull off.  Plus look at all that shimmer from the Elevation Polishes, and the yumminess of Mojito Madness combined with Russian River!  There wasn't one polish I didn't love here!  I cannot wait till the next Elevation restock, but let me give you some good news.  Fingers Polish Mania is doing a giveaway of Elevation's 180 degrees collection - here! Ugh of course I entered since getting my hands on Lulu's amazing polishes is no mean feat, but you should likewise enter too as the colors of this collection are amazing - see them here.  Will you be entering? Do you have any favorites in the collection or must have Elevations? I do - everything lol!  Thanks for reading and toodles!