Great Lakes Lacquer The Great Ones Collection (Partial)

Hey everyone, here is my second post of the day and I’ve got three beautiful colors to share with you, plus a little bonus nail art!

*Press Samples*

I have half of the six-piece Great Lakes Lacquer The Great Ones collection, a collection inspired by the Great Lakes! If you love aquatic colors, you’re going to LOVE this collection!

This collection launches on the Great Lakes Lacquer website at 3 p.m. EST July 12. Let’s get to the swatches shall we?!









First up we have Great Lakes Lacquer Lake Superior. Mariah says this is inspired by the northern lights running across the lake at night.

This is a stunning bright teal polish, leans green, that has a slight multichrome shift to a navy indigo. I had a hard time showing off the shift, but I tried the best I could. I wore this out a few times, and the shift does catch in certain lights, but it is suuuuuuper pretty to look at in the bottle. Please don’t mind my lobster hands in some of these shots, I was trying to get the hue right spot on so you could see how teal the polish is (wanted to lean bluer than it was). This built up perfectly in two easy to apply coats.

I really liked this polish. It had a subtle but unique shift and I found it to be a delight to wear!









Next up we have Great Lakes Lacquer Lake Erie. This polish was inspired by the deep blue to purple with a red tint that Lake Erie can give off, especially after sunset.

This polish is a gorgeous blue leaning indigo polish with red to gold shifting shimmer, scattered subtle holo and navy micro flakes. This is a true stunner with a lovely glow to it, just as I imagine the waters of Lake Erie would be.  Opaque in two easy to apply coats.

Because it has a similarish hue to M-O-O-N, That Spells Purple from my previous post, Mariah asked if I could compare the two colors.





Erie is on pointer and ring finger, MOON is on thumb, middle and pinkie fingers.

As you can see, just slightly similar. I would say Lake Erie leans more blue and the holo is much much more subtle than the linear holo finish of M-O-O-N. Still both beautiful polishes!









Last, but certainly not least, is Great Lakes Lacquer Lake Michigan. This polish was inspired by the light green to aqua to deep blues of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.

This is a bright bold teal linear holographic polish with multichrome flakes that shift from deep blue to light green and a shimmer that mimics the flake shift. This polish has depth and the quality that I so adore – beautiful both indoors and outside. It is somewhat of a chameleon, sometimes leaning more green and sometimes leaning more blue, just like the waters of Lake Michigan (I imagine). Opaque in two easy to apply coats.

Because this polish screamed aquatic and mermaid-esque to me, I just had to add some stamping reflecting that!







So using my Essie silver I broke out my MoYou London Sailor 04 plate and did some alternating images on the nail. I wore this look around for a few days too because I just couldn’t bear to take this beautiful polish off my nails.

So what did you think about these polishes?! I’m in love with all things aquatic and these polishes just sing to me. Mariah has been killing it lately and these polishes are NO execption!

Once again these polishes are available at 3 p.m. EST July 12 on the Great Lakes Lacquer site.

Great Lakes Lacquer – Etsy Shop – Instagram – Facebook – Facebook Fan Group

Literary Lacquers and Great Lakes Lacquer Collaboration

Happy Friday everyone! Today is the first of two posts I’m putting up so I can share it all with you before I hit the road tonight to go on vacation!

*Press Samples*

I’m so excited to share with you this collaboration between two brands I dearly love, Literary Lacquers and Great Lakes Lacquer. Amy and Mariah got together and created a great quartet of polishes inspired by Stephen King’s “The Stand.”

The polishes will be available for preorder starting Tuesday July 12 at the Great Lakes Lacquer shop and there will be a 5-12 business day turn around for these polishes an any other polishes ordered with it (Great Lakes Lacquer has a collection releasing that day, more on that in my second post later today).

The four polishes will be listed for $40, including shipping. Which seems like a steal to me, these polishes are gorgeous!









First up we have Literary Lacquers Mayhaps You Is. This polish is inspired by Mother Abigail, the 108-year-old leader of the “good” surviors.

This polish is a stunning rose quartz linear holo polish. It was opaque in two easy to apply coats. The metallic finish on this one is stunning indoors and outside. While having a major swatch fest, I stopped to take a quick walk around the block with this one on my nails and you guys – super stunning in the sun with the holo, but it the shade the metallic comes out to play and it is just as magnificent.









Next up we have Literary Lacquers The Eye, The Key. This polish is inspired by Randall Flagg, the embodiment of evil.

This polish definitely jumped out to me as completely unique in my collection. This is a beautiful obsidian linear holo with a beautiful golden shimmer with red holo microglitter in various sizes adding to the complexity of this polish. This was easy to apply in two coats, the glitter dispersed pretty well on its own with no placement or dabbing needed.









Next up we have the gorgeous Great Lakes Lacquer M-O-O-N, That Spells Purple. This polish was inspired by Tom, the hero with a big heart.

This polish is a midnight purple, very vampy, linear holo with shifting blue to gold to red shimmer. This polish is all sorts of beautiful and interesting and isn’t just your typical purple. It was opaque in two easy to apply coats.









Last but not least is Great Lakes Lacquer My Life For You. This polish is inspired by Trash Can Man, the construct of destruction.

This is a lovely medley of silver and burgundy microglitter with charcoal flakes and shifting shimmer. This polish was easy to apply and opaque in two coats. I was struck by how much depth there was and how interesting this polish was. Not your typical microglitter, I didn’t find it to be top coat hungry!

Once again this quartet will be available at the Great Lakes Lacquer shop Tuesday July 12 for $40, shipping included. Any other Great Lakes Lacquer purchases made with the quartet will have a 5-12 day turn around time. Unfortunately no Literary Lacquers polishes can be combined with the order since it is in another shop.

So what do you all think?! I think this is a great collab between two really awesome brands. If I had to pick my favorites, it would be a tie between M-O-O-N and Mayhaps is You.

Great Lakes Lacquer – Etsy Shop – Instagram – Facebook – Facebook Fan Group

Literary Lacquers - Facebook - Shop - Instagram - Fan Group

Summer Crème à la Mode box

Hey everyone, I’ve got an action packed week on the blog as I try my darndest to get up all my incoming press samples before I head out of town for vacation.


*Press Samples*

Today I am so jazzed to share with you the Crème à la Mode box for summer filled with gorgeous neon-esque crèmes that pair perfectly together for some great fun summer looks.

This box is available for preorder July 8-July 15 for $26 plus shipping in the Crème à la Mode shop. It is an absolute steal. The colors will be available at a later date in each of these brands’ shops, but not for as inexpensive as they are in this well-coordinated box.





First we have Indigo Bananas Creme Bluelè. This is a gorgeous lightened cobalt blue that reminds me of the summer sky on a super hot tropical day. This dries to a satin/matte finish and took two easy coats for opacity. There was tiny tiny (I didn’t really notice) pigment pieces in this, but Andrea has assured us she is fixing this issue for the release. Once again, I didn’t really notice this, and it didn’t affect application AT ALL.





Next up we have Octopus Party Nail Lacquer You, Me and Daiquiri. This is a gorgeous peach leaning nude polish that is THE perfect hue to make you look more tan. I think this would be a great pedi (to make those feet look extra tan) or just a real nice elegant color for a summer party. I know I always like trying to look more tan! This was opaque in two coats and the formula was a bit thicker than the others in this box, but still easy-peasy to apply.





This beauty is Literary Lacquers Cyan-Tifically Proven. This is a gorgeous green leaning bright teal color that just calls to me. I love bright teals, they are my go-to color usually and this one is so reminiscent of the ocean to me, totally makes me think of summer. I love all things aquatic. This was another that was easy to apply in two coats. The bottles did show a bit of neon green pigment in them, didn’t effect application at all, and Amy of Literary Lacquers said that the box bottles will not have this issue, it was a mixing thing.





Finally we have the super gorgeous Digital Nails Melonade. This is my summer color for sure, I love me some neon coral. This is a searingly bright neon coral that leans a smidge more orange than pink, but actually has a perfect balance of both. One coat and it’s pinker, two coats and it’s more orange. It is the ultimate neon coral in my opinion and I currently have it on my toes! This was opaque in two easy to apply coats, no application issues at all!





Since this box was projecting images of the tropics and the names reminded me of fun drinks, I created two looks to give you an idea of how well these all play together! The first look, which has You, Me and Daiquiri as the base, shows how they dry brush and stamp over a light base! They look great together.





The second look is a gradient using Cyan-Tifically Proven, Creme Bluelè and Melonade over a white base (though I’m sure you could use You, Me and Daiquirii as a great base too. I dubbed these “I NEED A VACATION” nails as I slugged through a short deadline week last week and they brought me all the happy during my stressed out moments at work. Just one look at these nails and I was instantly calmed down.

Once again this collection is available for preorder July 8-July 15 for $26 plus shipping in the Crème à la Mode shop.

I’ve linked to each brand’s individual shop above, and I’ll link to all things Crème a la Mode right here!

Crème à la Mode – Shop – Facebook – Instagram – Facebook Fan Group

Happy 4th of July Nail Art

Happy Friday everyone! You all ready for a long holiday weekend? I know I am, this is just the precursor to a week vacation I'm taking in a week!!!

Anyway, since everyone knows I'm crazy with the nail art, I've had several requests from coworkers etc. for Fourth of July nails so I put my thinking cap on and got to work on them last night.



I knew I wanted it to be all holo, so I set out to find my whitest of white holos for the base. After consulting my buddies on Instagram (are you following me there yet, if not, why not!?!), I decided on one.

Ok so the white base is Indigo Bananas Aether Or, the stripes are Great Lakes Lacquer Holo-Maniacs Group Custom #3 (sorry this is no longer available), and Cupcake Polish Bat-chelor Pad (they're having a great sale this weekend, if you don't have some of their polishes from their fall collection, now is the time!!!).



I used a line stamp (I think it's from some cheapo plate from Born Pretty or something, QA 91 I think) for the red stripes, then I used a french nail vinyl guide and painted Bat-chelor Pad. Then using Lily Ana Plate 07, I placed the stars on my tips using KBShimmer Eyes White Open.

I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend. I'm headed to my inlaws in Grass Valley. We have plans to kayak, lake swimming, hike, play bocce ball and of course enjoy good wine!!!

I've got a slew of new stuff scheduled for next week so stay tuned!