Subtle Stamping with Born Pretty Store m64

Hi everyone!  I have a subtle stamping manicure for you today!  This is one coat of Essie Who Is  The Boss from the 2012 Wedding Collection.  If I was wearing this on its own I would have done two coats, but since I was stamping on top of it, I was fine with one!  I did the stamping with Wet N Wild Wild Shine Metallica and Born Pretty Store plate m64.  A top coat of NYC finished it off.

I enjoyed wearing this, thought I'd usually go bolder.  Do you like subtle stamping, or do you prefer a bolder look?  <3

A Love Letter...

My dearest NYC In A New York Minute top coat,

Where do I begin?  You have stolen my heart!  Ever since The Nailasaurus set us up, we have been inseparable, and I have fallen hard!  You are pure perfection!  I can't wait for us to spend years and years together! =) Let me count the reasons I love theeeeee:

1) You literally dry to the touch nearly immediately.  I've never had smudging issues with you!  You make me forget that I just painted my nails!

2) You are crystal clear!  You are great over nail art!

3) No drama with you...no shrinking or bubbles!

4) You're a cheap date (less than $2).

5) You are mysterious; not labeled as a top coat (formal name: "Grand Central Station"), but definitely work as one!

With love,
Emily
The Lacquerologist <3

Black & White Challenge Day 10

Welcome to the FINAL DAY of the BLACK AND WHITE CHALLENGE!!  I can't believe April is nearly over and the challenge is complete!  This has been a great experience.  Not only did I get to know a few wonderful bloggers a little better, but I pushed myself in my nail art techniques.  My goal was to try some new things, and I am pleased with how things progressed.  Also, I was so INSPIRED by Steph, Rie, Cris, Esther, and Sammy.  They each have their own style and I loved discovering what they came up with every three days!  =)  Thanks for making this such a great experience for me, Sexy6!

For Day 10, the Challenge calls for a manicure of your choice with black and white.  Collectively, we decided to recreate our favorite manicure of another one of our challenge-mates!  After a lot of thought, I chose Sincerely Stephanie's Day 2 manicure to recreate!  It was not an easy choice, because sooo many amazing manicures came out of this challenge!  To see Stephanie's original Day 2 mani, click [here]!

For my rendition of this manicure, I used Wet N Wild Wild Shine French White and Black Creme.  I started with a black base, painted on my white v-gaps, and then added my dots.  NYC top coat.  So so eye catching!!  I WILL be doing this with some funky color combos soon =)

What do you think about this?!  What was your favorite manicure from the Black and White Challenge? =)  If you want to revisit the other posts, you can click [here] or click the tab at the top of the page for "Nail Art Challenges" <3

I can't wait to see which manicures everyone chose to recreate!  Like I said, so many inspiring, wonderful manis to choose from!  Make sure to check out the other participants, and add them to your blog readers so you can keep up with their amazing manicures and techniques! 

Sammy from The Nailasaurus

Rie from Nails and Noms

Steph from Sincerely Stephanie 

Esther from Fab Fingertips

Blue and Red Stamping Mani!

Hello hello!  Today I have a stamping mani for you!  I have a feeling there will be a lot of stamping manicures coming up...I'm really enjoying them and the more I do them, the better my stamping becomes! =)

Today's color combo was something I wouldn't have usually tried, but I loved it once I had it on!  This is a base of Julep Jessica (one coat).  I did my stamping with Zoya Myrta and Red Angel plate RA-104.  I used a top coat of NYC.

What do you think?  Do you like this color combo?  I love how bold it is, and I loooove stamping with my Zoya Surf Collection polishes!! <3

Pink and Black Mani with Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate!

Hello everyone!  I'm excited about this mani, because I've been obsessed with this stamp for so long and finally got my hands on it!!  I purchased this stamping plate from Born Pretty Store.  I believe it is a duplication of a Konad plate, but was much more affordable.  It is even labeled the same as the Konad plate, so I will always make sure to indicate that this is "BPS" (for Born Pretty Store) m70 and not Konad m70.  Same goes for the other Born Pretty Store plates I purchased!  I hope this clears up any confusion =)

This is two coats of NYC City Sweets Pink for my base.  NYC In A New York Minute polishes are perfect for stamping base coats because they dry so fast!  I did my stamping with Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme and Born Pretty Store plate m70!  I finished with NYC top coat, which smeared the design a bit.  It smeared in nearly the same spot every time, which makes me think that that spot on the design must hold more polish, so next time I'll let it dry longer before top coat (and believe me, there will be a next time with this stamp!  I'm obsessed!).

Loved this combo! =) I was inspired by a manicure I saw on pinterest from tassas.blogspot.com!  I really liked the Born Pretty Store plate.  The full nail images are a great size.  Overall, I am really impressed.  A variety of plates are available from Born Pretty, and the Konad dupes go for less than $3 a piece with free shipping!  And if you do some searching around I'm sure you can find a discount code for Born Pretty (hint: follow them on twitter @bornprettystore!).

Thanks for reading today!  Which other images on the plate are you excited about? =)

WnW Be Jeweled vs. CG Prismatics

Hi everyone!  Today's post is a comparison post between the Wet N Wild ColorIcon Be Jeweled Collection and the two polishes I own from the China Glaze Prismatic Chroma Glitters Collection. Since I only have access to two of the China Glaze polishes, may I refer you [here] and [here] for some awesome swatches from some of my blogging idols.

First of all, in the China Glaze (CG) collection there are six polishes, while there are only five in the Wet N Wild (WnW).  I sat down with my WnW swatches and looked at swatches of the CG polishes on other blogs with intention of telling you all exactly which WnW polishes correspond to which CG polishes, but I was unable to do so really.  Some are obvious, but some I just don't have a clue without seeing the CG polish in person.  Or, the other possibility is that while these polishes definitely stem from the same inspiration, the collections are not direct dupes of each other.


First, let's look at some comparisons to China Glaze Full Spectrum.  I decided to compare both Wet N Wild The Crown is Mine and Wet N Wild Jewels For Your Highness because they are very similar.  In the bottles, depending on the lighting and the angle, I couldn't decide which polish was the supposed dupe, if either were at all!

The first set of pictures will be three coats of each polish with NYC top coat.

Pointer finger: WnW The Crown is Mine

Middle finger: CG Full Spectrum

Ring finger: WnW Jewels For Your Highness

Crown, Full Spectrum, Jewels
Under artificial light, blurred to show glitter

Crown, Full Spectrum, Jewels
Natural light

On their own (not over black), there are a few observations that can be made.  Full Spectrum and The Crown Is Mine are pretty close on the nail.  They share the same duochrome base characteristics.  However, Jewels For Your Highness has the same intense pink flash that Full Spectrum has.  At this point, I would probably say that The Crown Is Mine is the closest to the CG.

The next set of swatches will be one coat of each polish over black, with NYC top coat.  Same order of polishes.

Crown, Full Spectrum, Jewels
Natural light

Crown, Full Spectrum, Jewels
Artificial light

Over black, the base colors of the polishes are quite evident.  The base color of Jewels For Your Highness is a similar color to Full Spectrum, but the WnW is far more dense with color.  The Crown Is Mine seems much more purple/blue than Full Spectrum.  Over black, I would say that each one is different, if you are really looking close.  I don't necesarily think you'd need all of them in your collection, but if we are getting technical, I wouldn't call them duplicates.  And I must say, I don't think WnW needed to include both The Crown Is Mine and Jewels For Your Highness in the collection...they are so similar that I don't feel the need to have both.

Next, let's compare China Glaze Optical Illusion and Wet N Wild Bow In My Presence.  Both of these polish have an aqua or teal dominant coloration.  In the bottle, the color in the CG is much more deep and vibrant than in the WnW.

For these swatches, I used the follow order:
Pointer finger: WnW Bow In My Presence (2 coats, NYC)
Middle finger: CG Optical Illusion (2 coats, NYC)
Ring finger: WnW Bow In My Presence (1 coat over black, NYC)
Pinky: CG Optical Illusion (1 coat over black, NYC)

WnW, CG, WnW over black, CG over black
Artificial light

WnW, CG, WnW over black, CG over black
Natural light

Similar to in the bottle, you can see that the WnW has a much less pigmented base than the CG, but over black, the polishes appear to be nearly identical.  If you plan to wear these polishes alone (not over black), there is a noticable difference, but I definitely think that Bow In My Presence is the dupe for Optical Illusion.

I hope this post was semi-helpful to you all!  Do you own both collections?  Any insight? =)

Black & White Challenge Day 9

Hi everyone and welcome to DAY 9 of the BLACK AND WHITE CHALLENGE!  Today is water marble day!  I love water marbling and had great visions for this manicure in my head, but it turns out my black and white polishes stink for this!  I experimented with all of the black and white polishes I have and lots of water, polish and acetone later, I came up with this!

I used China Glaze White On White and Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme for my marble with a base of white underneath.  The black polish definitely turned grey (no matter which black polish I used).  I added some dots to try to fix some of the messiness, and in real life it looked so awesome!  I added an accent nail to spice it up a bit =)  I used NYC In A New York Minute Sidewalkers for the accent nail with dots and NYC top coat.

Do you have a favorite black and white polish to water marble with?  I was frustrated with how it turned out grey, but it ended up looking nice, I think!  Only one day left in the challenge, and it should be a fun one!!

Go check out my Challenge Buddies and their Day 9 manis!  These ladies are amazing nail artists and continue to inspire me!  =)

Sammy from The Nailasaurus

Rie from Nails and Noms

Steph from Sincerely Stephanie 

Esther from Fab Fingertips

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Be Jeweled Limited Edition Collection

Hi everyone!  I am really excited about this post!  I stalked my local drug stores for probably the past month looking for this collection and finally got a hold of it at Rite Aid!  This is the Limited Edition Wet n Wild ColorIcon Be Jeweled Collection.  These polishes are multicolored glitter in duochromatic glitter bases and are supposed to be dupes of the China Glaze Prismatics Collection.

I am first going to do a five finger swatch of each color on its own, two coats with one coat of NYC top coat.

pinky:  Bow In My Presence
ring: Born Into Privilege
middle: Speak When Spoken To
pointer: The Crown Is Mine
thumb: Jewels For Your Highness

These polishes are super easy to apply and super dense with glitter!  Speak When Spoken To (middle finger) is defintely the most duochromatic of all.  Despite not showing much duochrome on the nail, I really like Born Into Privilege (ring finger).  I really liked all of them, even though most of them were not as duochromatic on the nail as they were in the bottle.  Honestly, I like them better than the China Glaze Prismatics I tried (see my swatches of two of them HERE!).

Next up, let's see each polish over black.  Putting these polishes over black really makes their color and duochrome come out, so this is how I did the full swatches.  Each of the following swatches is one coat of the Be Jeweled polish over one coat of Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme with a top coat of NYC.


First up is Bow In My Presence, a teal/purple duochrome with multicolored glitter.  Over black, the duochrome is very visible!  Even over black, the density of the glitter is great and results in a gorgeous finish.  The second photo on this one is different than the rest of my swatches, but that pose showed the duochrome better!

Next is Born Into Privilege.  In the bottle, this is a green/pink duochrome with multicolored glitter, but on the nail it looks like more of a yellow-green glitter.  I didn't see much duochrome on the nail, even over black.  I liked this one much more on its own than over black.

This is Speak When Spoken To, a strong blue/purple duochrome with multicolored glitter.  This is the only polish that was really duochromatic on the nail on its own, and it is also very evident over black!  This is very pretty!  If you are into duochromatic polishes and are only going to pick up one from this collection, I would suggest Speak When Spoken To!

The last two I'm going to show are probably the ones I am least excited about.  This is The Crown Is Mine, a purple/pink duochome with mutlicolored glitter in the bottle that shows up mostly as purple on the nail.

Finally, Jewels For Your Highness shows up as a pink/gold duochrome with multicolored glitter in the bottle, but on the nail over black it shows up more as a magenta pink.  Not much duochrome visible.

So there you have it!  The Be Jeweled Collection is limited edition, and is definitely starting to pop up!  The polishes retail for $2.99 each and are 0.30 fl oz.  Overall, I like this collection a lot, and I am glad that I bought the whole thing! =)  I did the swatches over black because that was how I like the China Glaze Prismatics best, but for these, I think I liked them best on their own!  I only have two of the Prismatics, Full Spectrum and Optical Illusion, but at least in the bottles, I wouldn't consider these EXACT dupes.  Would you like to see a comparison post?  Let me know!  If you read all of this, I love you!!  Have a great day <3

Wet N Wild Chrome Limited Edition Collection!

Hello lacquered lovelies!  Today I have a few polishes from the new Wet N Wild Chrome Collection!  There are eight polishes in this collection, and I chose four.  These polishes are all super shimmery foil finishes that apply super easily.  All swatches are two coats with a top coat of NYC.  The formula on all of them was super easy to work with.  No streaking or issues.

Wet N Wild I Got A New Com-Pewter is a yellow-green foil polish.  I loved wearing this!  It perfectly matches my new car =)

Wet N Wild Penny For Your Thoughts is a copper foil with a rose tint.  This was classic and pretty without being "old."  Perfect for someone wanting to try out a new finish without jumping into crazy color.

Wet N Wild Hog-Quartz School is the purple of the collection.  I felt this one was a little frostier than the others I tried, but still pretty.  I do think this name is fun, because I am a Harry Potter addict!

Stay Outta My Bismuth is one of two blues in the collection, and this one is really special.  It's a pretty blue foil with orange-gold specks throughout!  So pretty =)  I'd definitely suggest picking this one up!

The Wet N Wild Chrome collection is limited edition!  I found these at Rite Aid.  They retail for $3.99 for each 0.29 fl oz polish (so they are small little bottles).  My only complaint is that the names are kind of stupid...haha.  Here's a cell phone picture I took of the display!!

Which one of these polishes is your favorite?  Thanks for reading today! <3

Black & White Challenge Day 8

Hello lacquered lovelies!  Welcome to DAY 8 of the BLACK AND WHITE CHALLENGE!  Today's prompt is "sponging" which is a technique that I enjoy using!  For this manicure, I used my go to black and white polishes for the challenge, Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme and French White (would you believe I've almost emptied out a bottle of French White since the Challenge began? hah).  This manicure was inspired by one I saw quite some time ago on Chalkboard Nails.  This wasn't my favorite manicure I've ever done, but I think it is cute and interesting, and with more color, I think it could be great!

Sponging black tips on white is sort of predictable, but I think the dots help spice things up, and I love how they fade into the white.  Only two days left in the challenge: water marble and "recreate your fav" day! =)

Go check out my Challenge Buddies!  I can't wait to see what their sponging manis are like.  These ladies are amazing nail artists and continue to inspire me!  =) The Sexy6! <3  

Sammy from The Nailasaurus

Rie from Nails and Noms

Cristina from Let Them Have Polish 

Steph from Sincerely Stephanie 

Esther from Fab Fingertips

Julep Taylor

Good afternoon, everyone!  Quick and easy swatch for you this afternoon: Julep Taylor.  I got this beauty in a swap with Gina! =) <3

This is two coats with NYC for top coat.  A nice bright blue!  I like this a lot for spring, and I think it has a lot of potential for layerings!

What's your favorite blue polish?  Thanks for stopping by today! <3