OPI Eurso Euro

I figured since I just used this as a base, it might be a good idea to actually show it to you! This is OPI Eurso Euro, which is a luscious looking cobalt blue creme from OPI's Spring 2013 Euro Centrale collection. I know this isn't a "new" polish because it's been blogged about a lot, and even though I liked a lot of polishes from this collection, I hadn't really made an effort to search them out. But then I made a random stop in a drug store and saw the collection and decided I needed Eurso Euro because I'm a sucker for these blues.

The formula of Eurso Euro is absolute perfection, but with OPI that's basically what I expect (though of course, it's not always the case). But here it is. I used two coats here, and the polish went on smoothly and easily, no problems at all. This color has such depth to it, I love it. It dries down to a nice shiny finish as well.

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Ahhhh, I just love this. What a gorgeous blue! It's deep, but never too dark. Even though this was released in the spring, I think Eurso Euro would look great year-round.

American Apparel Pacific Beach

Another polish that I swatched ages ago but am only getting around to posting now. This is American Apparel Pacific Beach, another polish from their sheer line. This definitely fell on the more "jelly" side of polishes, as you'll be able to see from my pictures. Pacific Beach is a bright jelly teal green and despite being a darker color is actually fairly sheer when applied. This definitely has a more syrupy formula and goes on smoothly. I used three coats here and while my camera picked up a lot of visible nail line, my notes tell me that it wasn't so bad in real life. Those pesky cameras! Pacific Beach has gorgeous, juicy, squishy appearance once applied that I love. It's pretty and perfect for sumer!

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It looks like I had some bubbling issues with this polish, but I'm guessing that I probably didn't wait long enough between coats as I tend to be a little impatient when applying polish. It's frustrating-- I am hating looking at my photos right now, which is probably why it took me so long to get around to posting this.

If you're not a fan of sheerer jelly polishes and don't like any visible nail line, I would still recommend checking out Pacific Beach as a layering polish for jelly/glitter sandwich manicures.

Star Wars Special Part 2: Amy's Nail Boutique Galaxy Far, Far Away

Alright, since we're on a Star Wars theme (sorta) I have one more themed polish to share with you-- Galaxy Far, Far Away by Amy's Nail Boutique. Named for first words that come across the screen in any of the six Star Wars movies, this is described as a " blue jelly polish with silver and holographic glitter."

I decided to layer Galaxy Far, Far Away over OPI Eurso Euro because I wasn't sure how if I would be able to build up GFFA alone. The formula on GFFA was a little thick, but it's packed with glitter and spreads easily over the nail. It dries down quickly but to a more matte-like finish so a top coat is definitely needed to make this one shiny and sparkly (I used Cult Nails Wicked Fast here).

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I love how this looks! Over the dark blue base it looks like sparkling stars in the night sky, but I'm curious to see how it looks on its own or over a lighter blue base. This is so, so pretty though. I think I would be constantly distracted if I wore it as a full manicure.

This was my first time buying anything from Amy's Nail Boutique and I have to say I'm very pleased with the whole experience. She sold out of this polish before I got around to buying it, but when I contacted her via her facebook page to see if it would be available again, she offered to make me a bottle and set up a private listing at her Etsy store. Her polish retails for $8-10 and the shipping was reasonable and quick. Being pleased with both the polish and the customer service, I would happily buy from Amy again. She's got some gorgeous holos available at her Etsy store right now.

Star Wars Special: Harlow & Co Luke's Lightsaber

One thing you may not know about me is that I am a huge Star Wars nerd. I was introduced to the films slightly later than some (I was around 13) but I remember going to see the re-released "Special Editions"  with my dad and being instantly hooked. Today, May 25th, marks the 30th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi, the third film from the original trilogy. Originally I planned a whole week of Star Wars polishes, but I haven't had the time or the energy.

In honor of the films, today I have a Harlow & Co exclusive polish, Luke's Lightsaber. I can't remember exactly when this was released, but I snagged one of the last bottles and have had it since January-- waiting for now! Luke's Lightsaber is a shimmery cool light blue-- it has a fairly wintery feel to it, but I feel it doesn't matter what the season is, this will look good and seems very versatile! I didn't have any difficulty applying this polish and it was actually completely opaque in two coats, though I decided to layer on a three just to deepen the color. This dries down and seems to have an almost metallic finish to it, so you do need to be a bit careful with brushstrokes-- however, this wasn't a huge problem during my application. And this blue definitely captures the color of Luke's lightsaber in the movies.

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While technically Luke carries a green lightsaber in Return of the Jedi, I think the blue color is appropriate here because there are so many iconic scenes for the series featuring the blue lightsaber-- in fact, it's the first lightsaber we see in the trilogy. Personally, one of my all time favorite moments comes in Return of the Jedi, when Luke has been captured by the Emperor and is forced to fight Darth Vader. Realizing that he can't kill his father (spoiler alert!), Luke throws away his lightsaber and declares he won't fight because he is Jedi, like his father before him. It's soooooo good! Sorry, nerd alert. But I seriously love these movies.

Sadly, Luke's Lightsaber isn't currently available on Harlow & Co, and I'm not sure if there are plans to bring it back any time soon, if ever.

May the Force be with you!

Essie Tangerine

I'm ashamed to admit to this post has been sitting in my drafts list for over a month now. Yikes. But at least I'm posting it now!!

Today I have Essie Tangerine to show you! Given the name, you probably don't really need to guess what the color of this polish is. Essie describes this as a "juicy orange-red creme" and I can't really add anything to that. Because it's an orange-red, it's incredibly hard to capture and the color shifts depending on the light. Sometimes it's more red-orange and in other lights it takes on a pinky coral-like color. Sneaky sneaky! It looks like Tangerine was realized as part of Essie's Summer 2010 collection (at least, that's about the earliest I can find reviews for it).

The formula on Tangerine was pretty good-- it goes on very smoothly and three coats gave great coverage. There is a tiny bit of visible nail line, but it's not bad at all. That's probably why I used three coats in the end.

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Unfortunately, Tangerine isn't currently available from Essie, though I'm sure there are similar polishes out there. And it looks like if you really like, you can find Tangerine through other internet sources. However, Tangerine is one of those colors that is just perfect for summer and even though there are probably about a thousand similar polishes out there and I can't get enough of these colors. There's something about the bright, summery color that just instantly appeals to me, not matter how many I already have.

Guest post over at Imperfectly Painted!

Hey all! Today I have a guest post over at Imperfectly Painted and you should go check it out! I decided to do an easy tape manicure using one of my favorite combinations: nudes and neons!

I would post a picture, but Blogger is being funky and I can't upload anything right this moment. All the more reason to head over to Imperfectly Painted and check out my post! 

Some big BIG changes on the horizon for Lacquer Land!

I know I've mentioned on here a few times that I have lost my blogging mojo and how tired I am. Well, there's been a very good reason for that-- my husband and I are expecting our first child... and our second! Yes indeed-- we're having twins! It was certainly a shock to learn that there were two of them, but we're very excited and happy! It will mean a lot of changes, but it's going to be wonderful. Eventually, hah! But seriously, we're over the moon and even though there's a lot to in the meantime, we're looking forward to starting this next chapter in our lives.

 Obviously, this will mean some changes for the blog and probably some down time for the blog when the babies come home. We're due in late October, but with twins it could really be anytime before that. I haven't quite decided how I will tackle the early days/months yet, but hopefully I can get some marathon swatching sessions in before the babies are born and get some posts lined up for moments when I can keep my eyes open long enough to actually post. I suspect there will be some time that this blog will be "on hiatus", though I may try to set up some of guest post schedule (maybe 1-2 per week to keep things from going completely dead). As we get closer, I'll figure out what I want to do.

I promise that this won't turn into a pregnancy/mommy blog (though I can't promise I won't ever talk about it, sorry). I will be back to posting regularly soon-- I hope! I'm still having some bad days, but I think it's starting to get better. Additionally, even though the experts say that the being exhausted part of the first trimester is supposed to let up, I still feel pretty tired after working a full day and it's hard to work up the energy to post. Honestly, this post has been sitting as a draft for almost two weeks! But I am trying (hoping) to get back into some sort of rhythm. I am floating ideas for a couple different types of posts, but haven't made any headway with actually doing it.

Stay tuned for new posts later this week-- I will make it mission to get something new up on the blog!