Saturday 23 August 2014

China Glaze All Aboard Collection for Fall 2014 - My Picks

Hi everyone!

For the majority of this year (and part of last year) I haven't been too impressed by the collections being put out by the mainstream brands. I hardly bought any new polishes from these brands (OPI, China Glaze, etc), and I was starting to wonder if my love of nail polish was diminishing. I'm also not really a Fall person - I really like bright colors, so Summer brights are usually what I gravitate towards.

With that little bit of background, I walked into my nail supply store to see if they had any of the new Fall collections. While most of the promo pictures I've seen online haven't really interested me, I decided to check them out in person before deciding against them. Lucky that I did! I ended up buying 6 shades from the China Glaze All Aboard collection, and 4 from OPI's Nordic collection (These will be up on the blog soon!).

The shades I purchased from the All Aboard collection are as follows (in the same order as shown in the photo below left to right): Lug Your Designer Baggage, Mind the Gap, Conduct Yourself, Nice Caboose!, Choo-Choo Choose You, and All Aboard.



Saturday 9 August 2014

Mini Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

No nail polish today, but I do have something equally exciting for you all! Lively Lacquer has recently gotten to over 100 likes on Facebook (I never thought that would actually happen!), so I put together a small giveaway for everyone interested! If you haven't heard of it yet, Nail Polish Canada's GIANT nail polish giveaway is still running - you can enter both on Nail Polish Canada's website here and on the Widget at the bottom of my post about the giveaway.

The prize is a $25 CAD gift certificate to Nail Polish Canada (purchased by me). There are two ways of entering the giveaway - you can "Like" Lively Lacquer on Facebook and/or follow me (@livelylacquer) on Twitter - it's all on the Rafflecopter widget below!

The giveaway runs from August 9th at 12:00AM to August 16th at 12:00AM, and is open to residents of Canada and the United States only.

Thank you for all of your support during my few years of blogging (however sporadically ;-) ).

Good luck! :)

Marisa


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday 1 August 2014

Nail Polish Canada's Great Polish Giveaway of 2014!

Hello everyone!

This is HUGE! I know many of you would love to win nail polish, and here is a great opportunity to win some! Nail Polish Canada is my one of my hands down favourite places to shop for nail polish, and not only do I find their shipping fast and the people are amazingly nice - I always look forward to my order arriving because I always find a lollipop in my order, and it feels just like Christmas!

Anyway, keeping the rambling to a minimum... ;)

Here is the official blurb from NPC on the giveaway!

We’ve partnered with Cirque Colors, NCLA & Picture Polish to host the biggest giveaway ever.
One winner will take home up to 200 nail polish from over 10 different brands! The prize starts at zero, then bloggers can each pick a favourite shade to be added to the prize.

You can enter on their giveaway page and see all of the polish shades up for grabs here, and you can also additionally enter on all of the participating blogs (including here! on the Rafflecopter widget below!).



I chose to add Zoya Dillon to the giveaway prize!

I thought I had swatches of this polish, but it turns out on all of the occasions that I have worn it I neglected to take pictures. I was trying to dig out the bottle to swatch it for this post but I've also managed to misplace it! My polish collecting hasn't been as organized lately (my melmer is overflowing and I'm in desperate need of another one) and all of my newer polishes have been spread out throughout my house. So while I feel like I haven't made many purchases lately, I have a feeling I probably have enough polish lying around to fill another entire melmer (yikes!).

Of course, I ended up (just now actually) ordering a replacement bottle of Dillion from NPC. Of course I did. It's easier to order another bottle (I really like the color too!) than to tear my house apart looking for the old one, no? ;)

So, when the new bottle arrives, I'll be updating this post with swatches of this gorgeous polish!

Edit: My new bottle of Dillon has arrived and I've posted some quick swatches below! I didn't realize it before, but this polish matches my favourite pair of Toms!




Here is the Rafflecopter widget for the giveaway! Feel free to enter if you would like to, and good luck! I can already tell you that I'll be supremely envious of the person who wins all of that polish!

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only, and ends on August 15th, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Review: Duri Rejuvacote Nail Treatment

***Disclaimer: The product featured in this post was sent to me for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but for the last two weeks I've been taking Duri's Rejuvacote for a spin on my nails, and while nail polish can be worn at the same time as the treatment, I opted to use only the Rejuvacote so I could watch the progression on my whole nail.

From the back of the box:
Rejuvacote the nail doctor will heal and cure your split, cracked and acrylic eaten nails. In a matter of weeks you will enjoy the look and feel of strong, vital, natural nails.

Directions: Begin with clean dry nails. Apply one coat of Rejuvacote as base coat. Apply nail color is desired. Apply Rejuvacote as top coat, daily. After 7 days, remove with polish remover. As your nails improve, apply every other day or as needed. 

I was keen to try this treatment when I first received it in the post. I had recently returned from a short trip to Paris (my first trip overseas! It was beautiful!) during which I forgot to bring my handcare supplies with me (they're in a separate little bag from my other self-care products). Of course, the trip only being 4 days long and pretty short, I thought I could get away without moisturizing. A little note to myself in the future - don't ever do that again. When I got back, my nails were in TERRIBLE shape. I've never had this kind of damage over such a short period, but I think it was probably due to a bunch of factors like not moisturizing, the weather there (it was hot-ish and dry, and really windy), and not being hydrated enough.

Ready to see some horrible nails? This is when I started the Rejuvacote treatment (and got back into my usual handcare routine - hence the dry, sad, cuticles. If you're wondering what my handcare routine is, I use shea butter, lotions, and a mix of oils (argan, jojoba) on my cuticles daily and before I sleep).  I'd like to mention as well that my nails felt really dry and brittle. Brittle to a point where tapping my nails on a desk or hard surface made this weird vibrating feeling in my fingers that kind of hurt.

Note: I've summarized my thoughts at the bottom in a nice little list - I realized that my ramblings can be a bit confusing (at least to me), so a summary would be useful. Also, It helps me remember some things I wanted to comment about that I don't remember while I'm rambling.

(Day 1) Eek! Thank goodness for the strategically placed watermark! ;)
 I started the treatment by applying one coat of Rejuvacote. I have a picture of this too, although it doesn't look much different from the one above.


The splits are still there - the base layer of Rejuvacote reflects more light than my bare nail and so the splits don't jump out at you as much as before.

I continued applying Rejuvacote daily for the next week. After a week I removed the Rejuvacote from my nails and started again, only applying every other day, as directed on the bottle. I didn't feel like there had been any major changes after a week, so I neglected to take any photos (shame on me, I know). Today is the 2 week mark though, and I have pictures! I gotta admit, I'm really surprised with the growth and general difference there is visible on my nails.

Day 14
Day 14
Day 14
Day 14
Day 14
Just a few updates: The splits on my nails are still there (although the one on my middle finger isn't as noticeable anymore), but haven't spread at all. My nails don't feel as brittle anymore (on their own, after the Rejuvacote is removed). They still don't feel as strong as I would like them to, but I notice that they are a bit stronger. Also, the growth! I didn't notice how much my nail had grown, but comparing the photos I must say I am surprised. I usually can't grow my nails out very long because they feel like they'll snap after a little bit, but the Rejuvacote treatment makes my nails feel strong, like I could actually maybe growth them out into stilettos without tearing a nail first.

Summary:

Product: Duri Rejuvacote
Ingredients: ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, nytrocellulose, formaldehyde resin, isopropyl alcohol, camphor, calcium pantothenate, gelatin, hydrolyzed keratin protein, formaldehyde , vitamin a, vitamin e.

Pros:
- The layers of Rejuvacote on the nail make it feel strong and less likely to break.
- After the Rejuvacote is removed, my nails feel stronger (on their own).
- May help with nail growth. At the very least, I feel like I can achieve lengths that I didn't think I reach before.
- Stopped existing splits from spreading.
- Glossy, and can be used as a top coat and a base coat. Since I like the strengthening feeling on my nails, I would definitely use it as a base coat and top coat.

Cons:
- Not quick drying.
- Has a tendency to chip rather easily (like the next day). It doesn't matter as much since you reapply it, but I'm not sure if it'll still chip as easily as a top coat (that can be more problematic).
- The smell is strong. I've gotten used to the smell of nail polish over the years, but this one is something else. Make sure to apply in a well ventilated area!
- Not "3 free" or "5 free" for that matter. Contains formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin as strengtheners.


I'm curious to test Rejuvacote further. I've heard on the grapevine that not everyone has had great results (I've very happy with how my nails have progressed), so I may pass Rejuvacote on to my sister (who has really weak nails that split, chip, tear, you name it - all the time regardless of how well she cares for her nails). I feel like she'd be the ultimate test. I'll make sure she documents how it goes for her!

What do y'all think? Have any of you tried out Rejuvacote? What kind of results did you get? I'm curious to see how it has worked across many different people, since nail conditions vary from person to person.

Thank you for reading! I'm hoping to have a huge holo-tastic post up for you sometime in the future (I need to swatch my most recent Colors by Llarowe haul!).

Have a great week everyone!

Duri Rejuvacote can be purchased from several online retailers, including Nail Polish Canada.

Marisa


*** Products in this post were sent for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Friday 13 June 2014

Colors by Llarowe - Dirty Diana

Hi everyone! Long time no post!

Truth is, I've been in a nail polish rut over the last little bit. My last few swatching sessions haven't been going so great - I keep seeing little things I dislike in my photos and as a consequence I never want to post them and just say I'll reswatch them at a later date. Also, none of the big brands' summer collections have really been tugging at me. I've still been buying polish, just not splurging all at once on collections like I used to. I'm kind of excited about the Orly summer collection though (except that one with bar glitter).

Anyhow, on a different note... Today's post is from my last swatching session, and I deem it to be the most "postable" quality out of them all. Someday, I will get around to reswatching everything else. One of the things I didn't like was that my ring finger nail had this habit of flattening at the free edge and looking kinda like a duck lips on my finger. No bueno. I've changed my nail shape to a more rounded and natural shape, which (so far) I haven't been having duck issues with.

I probably wouldn't be posting this at all if I had the time to redo the photos, but I'm leaving on a short trip (few days) to Paris tomorrow, and I wanted an excuse to share the news. I'm hoping to have time to look out for nail polish while I'm there!

Anyway, without further rambling, here is Colors by Llarowe Dirty Diana!

Dirty Diana - Outdoors, Full Sun

Dirty Diana - Outdoors, Full Sun

Dirty Diana - Indoors, Artificial Lighting

I love this polish! I really need to remind myself to get more CbL holos. That might just bring my mojo back! Great formula, beautiful rainbows in the sun and strong lighting.

What do you think? Do you own any CbLs? Any recommendations for new ones I should add to my shopping list? So far I have Smooth Criminal, Mojito, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Dirty Diana.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Marisa

Friday 18 April 2014

Colors By Llarowe - Mojito

Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a great Easter weekend!

Sorry for not posting more recently... I bought all of the Picture Polish Limited Edition polishes and had them swatched, but none of the pictures really turned out well and I wasn't really in the mood to swatch them again. I'll redo them, but it might take me a while.

The great thing is that all of my exams are done! Huzzah! I couldn't resist ordering Borealis (another LE Picture Polish shade) from Harlow & Co when I just happened to be browsing during a restock, so I ended up purchasing my first Colors By Llarowe polishes at the same time. I know that CbL is a pretty wanted brand at the moment, but I'd never had the desire to enter the crazy restock madness that always seems to accompany it. Luckily, there were a few shades that were still on the Harlow & Co website that appealed to me. We've had rain for most of the week, and I was away and unable to open my package, but today when the sun came out I finally decided to do some swatching.

I am SO GLAD I bought there polishes (I ended up getting Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal and Mojito). Of course I reached for Mojito first!

Almost done raving now, just a short description of the polish and I'll let you have a look!

Mojito is a beautiful light spearmint-y green with a slightly subtle linear holo. But slightly subtle I mean not as holo as the Color Club Halo Hues and maybe as holo as the China Glaze Hologlam ones (or maybe more, I haven't really compared). I actually really like subtle holos, so I love this one to bits. Actually, I think this is one of my favourite green holos ever.

Okay, done raving. Here are a bunch of photos I hope will make up for all of the jabbering! :)

Artificial Light

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Artificial Light

What do y'all think? Gosh, I am such a sucker for greens.

As always, thank you so much for reading! I hope I'll be able to get my game on and reswatch those Picture Polish shades soon!

Marisa


Monday 27 January 2014

NOTD: Sparitual Imagination over Peace, Love, and OPI

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all having a great January so far! Today I have a recent NOTD to share with y'all. When I first saw Sparitual Imagination I thought it was duochrome goodness in a bottle. I was hoping it would be opaque, but it was more like duochrome glitter suspended in a clear base. I decided to laĆ·er it over OPI's Peace, Love, and OPI for a sparkly, duochromey manicure.




My pictures definitely don't do this one justice! It's much more sparkly and duochromey in person.
That's all for today!Thank y'all for reading, and I hope you have a great week!


- Marisa