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Valentine’s Day Nail Art

Some Polishes Provided for Review

Hello All my Lovely Readers!  Today I’m using my stash to create a fun Valentine’s Day inspired mani.  But, because I didn’t go all heart crazy it will work for just about any time!  I used a fun and easy nail art technique that can be used with any combination of polishes.

I used three polishes for this nail art look.  MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo, Northern Star – Protego Totalum, and Crows Toes – Edgy Ocean Blue.  I’ve reviewed all of these before so I won’t go into that in this post.

Valentine's Nail Art - Polishes

Crows Toes – Edgy Ocean Blue, Northern Star – Protego Totalum, MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo (Left to Right)

The first step was the base color.  For the base of my mani I used MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo.  I used two coats to give it a nice base for my upcoming nail art:

MOD Lacquer - Baby Flamingo

MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo

MOD Lacquer - Baby Flamingo

MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo

Next I used a latex barrier around my cuticles because I knew things were going to get messy.  I used Digital Nails – Questionable Browser History, though I do not think that it’s available any longer.  Latex barriers are pretty easy to find these days though and there are a lot of good ones on the market!

Nail Art Preparation

Nail Art Preparation

Then using a fan brush I started adding the detail.  I got this brush for a set off Amazon, you can find them pretty easily and they don’t cost a lot of money:

Fan Brush

Fan Brush

To create my art I started by putting a several drops of Northern Star – Protego Totalum on my silicone mat and I dipped the tip of the fan brush in it.  I then swiped it across my nails to create stripes.  After I did all of my nails with Protego Totalum I went back and cleaned the brush in acetone and then put several drops of Crows Toes – Edgy Ocean Blue on my silicone mat and followed the same process right over the stripes I made earlier:

Valentine's Nail Art Progress

Valentine’s Nail Art Progress

I was glad I did use the latex barrier, reds and blues are particularly hard to clean up off of skin.  This way all I had to do was peel most of it away and then touch up just a tiny bit around the edges!

I topped everything off with Ciate Gelology Top Coat that I got in my Ipsy Bag last month.  I thought I would try it out because it’s supposed to be super shiny, squishy, and hard wearing.  It doesn’t dry as fast as a quick dry top coat but it does dry super shiny!  I don’t know about the wear yet but if it doesn’t provide at least several days wear I will update this post!

Valentine's Day Nail Art

Valentine’s Day Nail Art

Valentine's Day Nail Art

Valentine’s Day Nail Art

 

There you have it a quick, fun, and EASY nail art look that is perfect for Valentine’s day or any time!

Valentine's Day Nail Art

Valentine’s Day Nail Art

Alchemy Lacquers April Lab Report – Swatches and Review!

Product provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovely readers!  I hope that you enjoyed The Switching Post.  Plans for this month’s Switch are already underway…and you won’t believe who I’m switching with this month!  Trust me it’s going to be awesome!  Today though I have some fantastic polishes from Alchemy Lacquers to show you, including the April Potion LE!  You’re not going to want to miss this so settle on in while I share some pretty polishes with you!

First up is Sea of Snapdragons:

Alchemy Lacquers - Sea of Snapdragons

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons

Sea of Snapdragons is a perfect spring color.  Really it doesn’t get springier (not a word, as usual I totally don’t care) than this!  This beauty is a soft mauve pink creme polish filled with iridescent micro-flakies, gold micro-flakies, and the teensiest tiniest holographic glitter/sparks.  It’s shimmery and lovely.

Alchemy Lacquers - Sea of Snapdragons

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons

Let’s talk about formula!  The formula on this is really good.  Like any good creme polish it went on and was opaque in two coats.  Has good self-leveling.  I didn’t have any problems with streaks or drags.  There appears to be a slight wrinkle on my forefinger but that’s because of me, I touched it and left a fingerprint and didn’t realize it until just now!  Ha!  This one is definitely a winner.  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is probably my favorite of the trio I’m going to show you today.  I submit Sea Holly for your consideration:

Alchemy Lacquers - Sea Holly

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly

Alchemy Lacquers - Sea Holly (Matte)

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly (Matte)

Oh to the Em to the Gee.  This one is beyond amazing.  Seriously, I nearly lost what little chill I had over this one.  Gorgeous dark cornflower (Thanks Christina for that description *wink*) or dark periwinkle blue crelly…check!  Seductive purple shimmer…check!  Stunning color-shifting flakies…check!  Check! Check!  This polish checks all my boxes that’s for sure.  You all know I have a passion for blue, flakies, and complex polishes and this one fits that bill to a tee!  I utterly fail at capturing the shimmer in my pictures but let me tell you in person on the nail it’s absolutely amazing.  You can see it a bit more in the matte pics because matte topcoat makes all the goodies a little more prominent!

Alchemy Lacquers - Sea Holly

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly

Alchemy Lacquers - Sea Holly (Matte)

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly (Matte)

Formula on this one was nothing short of perfection.  This is slightly more on the crelly side than creme side of things but it was still opaque in two easy coats.  I didn’t have any problems with all those gorgeous flakies clumping up or any other application issues.  No streaks, drags, or balding here!  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat in the shiny pics and two coats plus matte topcoat in the matte pics.

Last but certainly not least I have the April Potion LE – Restoration Tonic:

Alchemy Lacquers - Restoration Tonic

Alchemy Lacquers – Restoration Tonic

Ok I really had a hard time not making this one my favorite.  It’s definitely my favorite baby blue polish to date and I have a LOT of blue and baby blue nail polish.  I seriously have a blue nail polish problem.  Wait…that’s not right, it’s not really a problem.  I NEED all the blue nail polish!  Restoration Tonic is a perfect baby blue crelly polish packed with stunning shimmer.  I see red/pink shimmer and blue shimmer.  The shimmer gives it a pearly kind of quality without being frosty, which, for me is fantastic since I’m not a fan of frosty polishes!

Alchemy Lacquers - Restoration Tonic

Alchemy Lacquers – Restoration Tonic

Restoration Tonic is a gorgeous crelly formula that is opaque in two coats.  I had zero issues with application or performance.  In fact I’ve been wearing Restoration Tonic for a week now and I have just very minimal tip wear.  Even though it’s shimmery and pearly (probably not a word) it does not get brushstrokey (again not a word but you know what I mean).  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Oh and did I mention?  This polish comes with a set of adorable pink glittery vinyl decals with flowers, butterflies, birds, and rain clouds!  I’ll have a nail art look I did with those and Restoration Tonic on my Instagram later!  Also, typically these Potions are only available through the month that they are released however Alchemy Lacquers will be on vacation from the end of this month until the end of May so this will actually be around again when she reopens but hey, why wait…you know you need it now!

So you want to know when YOU can get these gorgeous, happy, spring colors?  Well I’m going to tell you…TOMORROW, April 15th.  I’ll include all the pertinent links below.  Which one of these are you the most excited for?  Let me know in the comments!

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Alchemy Lacquers Lab Report – St. Patrick’s Day!

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovely readers!  I have the Alchemy Lacquers’ St. Patrick’s Day-themed polishes for you today!  These are just awesome.  There is a new Moonshard which will become part of the Moonshard collection and a Potion which will not be available after March.  The potion comes with a stinking adorable set of vinyl nail decals…wait until you see!  I don’t want to keep you in suspense too long so here we go!

If you haven’t ordered from Alchemy Lacquers before, let me show you something that I find adorable!  Whenever these polishes go out they are wrapped up in tissue that matches the polish with a little name sticker on the outside.  It’s like a hint of the magnificence that you’ll see once you rip into that tissue paper!  Although, I don’t rip mine I can’t stand to, I always peel the label carefully to reveal the polish inside.  This month the name sticker on the outside for the Potion is shamrock shaped…how stinking cute!

Alchemy Lacquers - Adorable Packaging

Alchemy Lacquers – Adorable Packaging

First I’m going to show you the new Moonshard, Tethys:

Alchemy Lacquers - Tethys

Alchemy Lacquers – Tethys

Now I used one of the nail vinyls on this swatch but I’ll talk more about them later, they actually come with the Potion.  But this polish…it’s no secret I’m a fan of the Moonshard collection, beautiful shifty bases with shifty multichrome flakies…sign me up!  Tethys is a shifty gold based polish packed with green to gold shifting multichrome flakies.  Oh and did I mention it’s holo too?  SO much happening here, it’s complex and beautiful!

Alchemy Lacquers - Tethys

Alchemy Lacquers – Tethys

All the flakies give the gold a greenish cast but it is most assuredly gold.  I feel like I might have found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with this one.  The formula on this is what I have come to expect.  Honestly, sometimes I feel like I repeat myself over and over but Rebecca is such a perfectionist when it comes to her polishes that I’ve really come to expect that.  This is a relatively sheer polish, you could layer it or build it to opacity (as I did) but it’s still not excessive, I have really long nails right now so I had to do an extra half coat at the tips to cover nail line, but folks with shorter nails or less prominent nail lines won’t need more than two.

Alchemy Lacquers - Tethys - Sunlight

Alchemy Lacquers – Tethys – Sunlight

Bonus sun shot!  I was still wearing this when I ran out to check the mail so I snagged a picture for ya’ll.  All pictures show two and a half coats plus topcoat.

Next up is the March Limited Edition Potion – Liquid Luck:

Now, Liquid Luck comes with an adorable little sheet of glitter vinyl nail decals.  And they are stinking cute.

Alchemy Lacquers - St. Patrick's Day Glitter Vinyl Decals

Alchemy Lacquers – St. Patrick’s Day Glitter Vinyl Decals

Just look at how adorable.  These are also perfectly sized for nail decals, despite the length of my nails I actually have fairly small nail beds so I love to find little vinyls that work perfectly for me.

You said polish?  Ok here we go for real this time!

Alchemy Lacquers - Liquid Luck

Alchemy Lacquers – Liquid Luck

Alchemy Lacquers - Liquid Luck - Matte

Alchemy Lacquers – Liquid Luck – Matte

Liquid Luck is a bright delightly Spring grass green crelly.  There is a pinch of linear holo, and a whole bunch of gold iridescent flakies.  The crelly is closer to jelly than creme so it’s a bit squishy looking as well.  I could not resist matting it which just made the flakies pop even more though I lost that tiny bit of holo because of the matte topcoat.

Alchemy Lacquers - Liquid Luck

Alchemy Lacquers – Liquid Luck

Alchemy Lacquers - Liquid Luck - Matte

Alchemy Lacquers – Liquid Luck – Matte

Formula was excellent on this.  The flakies spread nicely and don’t clump up.  It is a tiny bit sheer (moreso than I thought it would be because of the way it looks in the bottle) but I didn’t find this to be an issue as it built up nicely to opacity in about 2.5 coats (for my long nails).  Application was smooth and easy.  Pictures show 2.5 coats with a shiny and a matte topcoat.

Now don’t forget Liquid Luck is only available for the month of March.  You’ll want to snag that beauty before it’s gone!   These are going to release on Friday March 4.  I’ll post the store and social media for Alchemy Lacquers below, per usual!    I have some exciting new series planned for all of you soon so keep watching out here!

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Alchemy Lacquers Lab Report: Valentine’s Day

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovelies!  I’m so sorry for my absence  yet again!  I have been extremely busy settling into my new place (all my nail polish isn’t even organized yet!!!) and getting used to my new schedule and things of that nature.   That said, I have missed you all so terribly and I’m delighted to be back to sharing some gorgeous polishes with you.  I’m super excited about these so without further ado, let’s get to it!

Today I have three Valentine-themed polishes from Alchemy Lacquers to show you!  A Gilded, a Moon Shard, and  a Potion polish!  These all refer to various collections of similar type of finishes.  I’m a HUGE fan of the Gilded and Moon Shard collections especially, though if we’re being honest I love them all.

Let’s start with the Potion!  Alchemy Lacquers’ Potion collection is a series of quasi-limited run polishes and are very special!  It’s usually best to grab these as soon as you see them, this particular one is only available for February!!  First up today is Love Potion No. 9:

Alchemy Lacquers - Love Potion No. 9

Alchemy Lacquers – Love Potion No. 9

Do ya’ll remember the Infinity Collection?  This is basically a special dark pink version of those!  This is a dark magenta base with Magenta to Red to Gold multichrome shifting flakies.  I love these flakies and the gorgeous things that happens to them in Alchemy Lacquers polishes.

Alchemy Lacquers - Love Potion No. 9

Alchemy Lacquers – Love Potion No. 9

Hello, gorgeous!  The formula on this one is what I have come to expect from Alchemy Lacquers.  It’s workable, the flakies don’t clump up or leave a grit to the finish.  Even though there are a ton of flakies I didn’t find it difficult to work with.  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is a new Moonshard Collection polish, Cupid:

Alchemy Lacquers - Cupid

Alchemy Lacquers – Cupid

Hubba hubba.  This one makes me so happy.  In fact when I got done swatching these I did a whole manicure with this polish and stamped it with a fun Valentine-themed design.  I’ll be sure to share that on Instagram and I am planning a round-up of any Valentine nail art I do before the day!  This is a white/gray color-shifting holographic base filled with Purple to Magenta to Pink to Gold multichrome shifting flakies.  Not only that, this is a versatile polish, while I love it on its own it could also be layered over another color to add some amazing to your manicure!

Alchemy Lacquers - Cupid

Alchemy Lacquers – Cupid

The color shift in the base of the polish goes from a pink to gold and is just stunning!  Now, because this polish could be used as a topcoat it is a little bit sheer, however, it builds to opacity easily in three coats.  The application was very good and the flakies spread out evenly.  As you can see there are a LOT of flakies!  Pictures show three thin coats with topcoat.

Alchemy Lacquers - Cupid

Alchemy Lacquers – Cupid

I did mention the pink to gold shift right?  Oh yeah, my lovely readers.  Shift happens!

Last but certainly not least is a new Gilded for us all to crave.  Gilded Orchid:

Alchemy Lacquers - Gilded Orchid

Alchemy Lacquers – Gilded Orchid

Yes!  I feel like this one was needed in the Gilded collection for awhile now.  I love this one!  This Gilded has a magenta-leaning purple base with red and purple holographic glitter and that oh so special gold to silver shiftiness that the Gilded collection is known for.  I cannot get enough Gilded polishes.  I feel like every single one that has been released has been fantastic!

Alchemy Lacquers - Gilded Orchid

Alchemy Lacquers – Gilded Orchid

This super sparkly masterpiece is a joy to apply.  Also, because there are smaller gauge glitters in this polish it’s very easy to remove.  Takes just two coats to reach opacity.  The sparkle is almost blinding…prepare for distractions when driving on a sunny day!  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Because I couldn’t resist a close up shot:

Alchemy Lacquers - Gilded Orchid

Alchemy Lacquers – Gilded Orchid

I was very definitely doing a happy dance when these arrived in the mail!  To answer your question my dearest readers, yes, it was probably very awkward and disturbing, and no, I won’t video my Alchemy Lacquers happy dance now or in the future!  I’ll leave that to your vivid imaginations!

These lovelies will be available on Tuesday February 2, 2016.  You definitely should come and join us at the Alchemy Lacquers Facebook Fan Group for sneaky peeks and announcements of upcoming releases!  I’ll leave all the pertinent links below.  Until next time dear readers may your days be filled with Glitter and Flakies!

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