New Years NOTD, featuring Enchanted Polish Dime Piece

Happy New Year everyone!

I created some simple but blingy and beautiful nails for tonight.  They put me in a really happy mood. :)

I used the totally amazing Enchanted Polish Dime Piece (two coats) on my middle and ring nails.  I think it must be the most holographic polish in my collection now, but I am still wondering how it compares to one of my most wanted polishes, Chanel Holographic (does anyone have a comparison??).

My index nail has one coat of a-England Camelot, topped with one coat of Enchanted Polish To Die For, which is seriously to die for.  And lastly, my pinky is two coats of Elevation Polish Mont Blanc, with one coat of Orly Prisma Gloss Silver.  I also added a little black stud to tie it all together.

a-England Camelot, Orly Prisma Gloss Silver, Enchanted Polish Dime Piece, Enchanted Polish To Dir For, Elevation Polish Mont Blanc 

I think they are perfect for the New Years, and I just can’t stop staring at the holographicness of them!

Hope you all have a lovely New Year, and thank you for reading! :)


Kristin

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JINsoon Nail Art - Featuring Epidote Swatches & Review

Hello everyone!

JINsoon Epidote, is actually what I had on my nails for Christmas and the past few days now.  It’s such a “me” color.  I know it might sound strange, but I like to save my JINsoon and other "prized (polish) possessions” for special occasions, or when I know I can keep them on for several days at a time.  I want to be able to enjoy wearing them, rather than swatching and removing right after.  Do any of you do that?  Or am I the only weird one? :P

Epidote is described as a metallic green with a multidimensional, chameleon-like effect.  I agree with that description, but basically it looks like a blackened (super glowly), metallic green, with a vibrant green shimmer, and a rusty bronze duochrome most of the time.  This polish is just so beautifully strange and mysterious, and very hard to pinpoint an exact color because of the amazing duochrome it has.

The formula is really lovely like all of the other JINsoon polishes I’ve tried; while the first coat is quite sheer, two coats is perfect.  Plus, it's totally brushstroke free, which is sometimes difficult when it comes to a metallic shade like this one.  I don’t think greens are usually the most elegant looking on the nail, but this one definitely is.

I had a tiny bit of tip wear after a few days, so I decided to refresh Epidote since I did not want to remove it yet.  I ended up going for a full on JINsoon design, adding Mica (a gorgeous charcoal grey holographic creme), as well as Azurite (a navy blue jelly with a subtle holographic shimmer), both from the Fall 2013 Tibi Collection, along with Epidote.

JINsoon Mica, Epidote, and Azurite

I was inspired by all of the cool combinations that I had seen on Jin Soon’s Instagram when this collection first came out, so I added some asymmetrical tips and a chevron accent nail.  I really love how they turned out; simple and edgy.

JINsoon nail polish retails for $18 - $20, and this collection is available at www.jinsoon.com and Sephora.  I have a small collection so far, but I think I’ll be adding some more JINsoon to it very soon!


Thank you all for reading! :)


Kristin

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OPI Pure 18K Top Coat with Snowflake Nail Art + Tutorial!

Hello everyone!  And, Merry Christmas!

I've been obsessed with OPI Pure lately, the 18K White Gold & Silver top coat (I posted a little glimpse of it here).  I think I even like it more than the gold leaf top coats that were so popular this past year, and I absolutely loved those ones.  I think with this version, the white gold looks amazing over every single color, whereas with the gold, I feel like some colors suit it much better than others.

I don't have the OPI gold version (The Man With the Golden Gun), but compared to several of the other gold leaf top coats that I have, the formula of Pure is just perfection.  It has the perfect amount of clear base to white gold & silver, and it's just a dream to apply.  There are also lots of varying sizes of flakes, so you get really great coverage on the nail in just one coat.

I was looking forward to trying it over black, and the look is so chic and pretty, just as I imagined.

As you can see (or may have already seen on Instagram the other day), I added a snowflake on my ring finger, and I am very happy with how it turned out!  While I was googling photos of actual snowflakes, I came across one I thought was really cool, so I decided to try something similar with white polish, but of course I had to amp it up a little by adding some holo!

CND Blackjack (the best!), Nars Ecume, Square Hue Times Square, OPI Pure, and a size10/0 brush (from Michael’s)

Here’s a closeup that I posted on Instagram the other day:

I also filmed a tutorial of my snowflake, so I hope you all enjoy it.  Please let me know if you have any other questions or requests, and feel free to tag me @kgrdnr in your photos on Instagram if you try it! :)

I hope you all have an amazing holiday, and thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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NOTD: Christmas Dots

Hello Everyone!

Let me just start by saying, thank you so much to everyone who voted for my Rudolph nails in the Nail Polish Canada Challenge; I received the most votes for week 3, which I still can't believe, so seriously, thank you!!  I truly appreciate it, and I'm going to have an amazing birthday this year because of all of you lovely people!

Now for some nail art.  I needed something quick on my nails the other day, so I created some simple dotted nails using a bunch of shimmery, holiday colors.  I think they turned out pretty cute and festive. :)

I started with a pale gold metallic base (two coats of Topshop Heart of Gold).  Then, with a few dotting tools, I added alternating circles of dots using red, white, and green.  That's it!  Probably the easiest holiday nails ever.

Zoya Logan, Topshop Heart of Gold, China Glaze White On White, Color Club Berry and Bright

Are you sick of all the holiday nails yet?  I'm already thinking about ideas for New Years and for my birthday, the week after.  There will probably be lots of glitter involved!  What are your plans?

Oh, and if you're interested in giveaways, Nail Polish Canada wanted to let all of my US & Canadian readers know that they are giving away three Babyliss Miracurl's (a $600 value).  All you have to do is tell them why you or a loved one should win one over on their site!  Have fun and good luck!  You can enter here: http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/products/miracurl-by-babyliss.html

Thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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Glamorous Mix & Match Nails + Tutorial

Hello!

I posted these nails two weeks ago on Instagram, and I was surprised at the amazing response they received!  Originally, I wasn’t even going to post them anywhere, but I’ve had a few requests, so I decided to finally share them on my blog.  You can view the tutorial down below! :)

Color Club Gingerbread, OPI Diva of Geneva, Julep Felicity


View the tutorial:

Enjoy!

Please let me know if you have any other questions or requests, I would love to answer them!

Thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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Reindeer Love - Rudolph & Clarice

Hello everyone!

The theme for the final week of the Nail Polish Canada Holiday Challenege is “holiday memories”.  I don’t really have the greatest holiday memories, as sad as that may sound, but I do remember always watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on TV for years when I was younger, so that was my inspiration!

The base of these nails (CND Rouge Red) was kind of a happy accident;  I was originally going to do some sort of pale blue snowy background with snowflakes or something, but I already had this red on my nails from the day before and wanted to practice painting Rudolph.  It ended up being pretty cute over red, and Rudolph turned out great on my first try so I just decided to keep it!

Rudolph and Clarice were painted with a size 5/0 brush from Michael’s using a bunch of browns and tans from Essie, which I’m so glad I had in my collection!  I outlined both of them in white so that they really stand out on the bright red base.   What I really think makes the whole design though, is OPI Pure, the 18K White Gold & Silver top coat.  It looks really beautiful over red and makes it really festive for the holidays.

Orly Liquid Vinyl, Nars Ecume, OPI Pure, CND Rouge Red, OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons, Essie Chocolate Cakes, Very Structured, and Little Brown Dress

I’m extremely happy with how these turned out;  I think I’ll probably make them matte before removing them though, so I might update this with some more photos.

If you have a few seconds, please head over to NPC and vote for me!  Just select lacquerstyle.com from the drop down menu, I would really appreciate it! :)


I hope you all enjoyed these nails, and thank you for reading!


Kristin

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Holographic Gradient Nails - Guest Blog Post for Nail That Accent!

Hi everyone!

Recently, I was asked by the lovely and talented Lindsay from Nail That Accent to write a guest post for her blog.  I was so excited when she asked me because not only is she a fellow Canadian, this is also my first guest blog post anywhere!

I am the first nail artist featured for her International Nail Artist Tuesday series, and I created a super fun holographic gradient with some of my favorite polishes and techniques!

If you would like to see the full post with additional photos and a bit about how I created this look, you can check it out here: International Nail Artist Tuesday featuring Canada

I hope you all enjoy it, and thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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Festive Poinsettia Nails

Hi everyone!

I created these nails for the second week of the Nail Polish Canada Holiday 2013 Nail Art Challenge. The theme was "decorations".  I figured everyone else participating would go for Christmas trees or lights, so I decided to go a different route and I chose to paint some poinsettias.

My Nana (grandmother), always likes to have poinsettias around her house during the holidays, so that's where my inspiration came from.  I googled photos of poinsettias for reference, but in the end I just painted them on randomly around my nails since I didn't want them to be too symmetrical.

I used a bunch of different polishes for these nails, as usual.  My base is Elevation Polish Mont Blanc, a really pretty white with silver glass flecks and multicolored shimmer, and I added Cirque Trousseau to the tips for a bit of a glitter gradient.  The poinsettias are a combination of metallics and cremes, and I added a goldish-green glitter in the center of each flower.  The names of all the polishes used to create the flowers will be listed below.

Butter London British Racing Green, Butter London Knees Up, Orly Liquid Vinyl, Orly Green Apple, Color Club Mamba, Essie Blanc, Elevation Polish Mont Blanc, Cirque Trousseau, and China Glaze Prey Tell

Thank you for reading!

Kristin

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Red & Black Lumberjack Plaid Tutorial

Hello everyone!

I created some red & black plaid nails last week and got quite a few requests for a tutorial on Instagram.  I did actually film the original ones, but I decided to scrap the video because the lighting was off.  Instead, I created a photo tutorial (or pictorial) for you all.

If you missed my original post for these nails then you can view it here!

So, onto the tutorial!

 

1. This tutorial is very simple; it only requires a black polish and your color of choice.  You must use a jelly or sheer polish for your color for the best effect though!  I chose red, and for this tutorial I used Essie Garnet.  The black is Orly Liquid Vinyl.

2. Apply one coat of your base.  It doesn't matter if it's a bit uneven or streaky because we will be adding a few layers.  Tip: At this point, you could also tape off your cuticles if you are using a red or color you know will stain your cuticles.  You don't want to spend ages cleaning up after, I made that mistake the first time! :P

3. Paint vertical lines in black.  I painted two, but depending on the size of plaid you want, you may want more.  I just used the polish brush from the bottles, but if you are more comfortable you could use a striper or even tape to create perfect lines.

4. Create a grid by painting horizontal lines in black.  You may need more or less depending on the length of your nails or size of plaid like the previous step.

5. Now, using your red (or other) jelly, paint vertical lines overlapping some of the black.  I painted one down the center, and one on either side of the black vertical lines.

6. Then, paint horizontal lines the same way as the previous step.  I did four red horizontal lines, so I ended up leaving the little 6 black opaque squares you can see in the photo.

7. Clean up around your cuticles with some remover and a cotton swab or brush dipped in acetone (I used both.)

8. Add top coat and your plaid nails are complete! 

I hope you all enjoyed this quick tutorial, and let me know if you have any other questions.

You can always share your recreations with me by tagging me (@kgrdnr) in your photo on Instagram, or showing me on Twitter or Facebook (yes, I am now on Facebook!).

Thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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