Essie Blue Rhapsody (plus glitter gradient!)

Today I have Essie Blue Rhapsody from the new Essie Mirror Metallics Collection to share with you. 

Blue Rhapsody is reflective light blue metallic polish. In the sunlight, some very minor brush strokes are apparent, but mostly this applied very smoothly. This kind of polish does tend to highlight any imperfections on your nail, so it's worth it to buff out any problem spots before painting (or, consider using a ridge-filling base coat to help with creating a smoother surface).

Overall I'm fairly happy with how this looks- I'm crazy about chrome/metallic polishes, so it's a keeper for me.

I couldn't resist adding a glitter gradient to this manicure! Maybe it's KawaiiKagura from Nailpocalypse  and all her recent posts featuring awesome gradient manis, but I pulled out two different glitters to experiment with:

China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara, and Claire's Night Sky.

The two nails on the left have Claire's Night Sky, and the two on the right have China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara:

I think both of these glitters are a perfect complement to the shiny metallic blue of Essie Blue Rhapsody, but overall I really love how Lorelei's Tiara looks as a gradient over this! I'll have to remember to pull this combination out during the winter- it reminds me of ice and snow.

One last picture to show of the amazing holographic glitter in Night Sky:

What do you think of Essie Blue Rhapsody? Do you think it works well with a glitter gradient?

Claire's Magnetix - the best magnetic polish I've ever tried!

I'm really loving the magnetic polish trend; I think the pattern created usually looks interesting, and frankly, the whole concept is just cool. They can be a bit hit and miss, though: the Nails Inc design is great, and very user-friendly, while on the other hand, China Glaze kind of missed the mark with their magnetic polishes (awkward to use, hard to get a clear design).

Unfortunately, magnetic polishes are often a good deal more expensive than regular lacquer. That's why I'm thrilled that my new favourite magnetic lacquer is also the cheapest I've ever come across! Claire's Magnetix line costs about half the price of a Nails Inc or Layla magnetic polish, and applies as well or even better.

Have a look at the green polish from Claire's Magnetix line:

Sadly, this colour doesn't have a specific colour name assigned to it; I guess I'll just have to call it "awesome". Because it is, isn't it? Great application, easy to use design, vivid colour, crisp magnetic pattern. All in an affordable polish! I'm a happy, happy lacquer tracker.

If you like magnetic polish, or want to try it for the first time, this is the one to pick up. Now all you have to do is muster up the courage to actually go INTO Claire's... I know I always feel utterly conspicuous going in there to peruse cosmetics along with all the pre-teens. Luckily, this is well within the boundaries of "things I will do for pretty nail lacquer".

What do you think of Claire's Magnetix green?

Jelly Sandwich with Claire's Candy Shop and Essie Marshmallow

Today I decided to finally attempt the "jelly sandwich" manicure, which I've been admiring on other blogs (check out A Plethora of Nails for an awesome jelly sandwich manicure). I thought Claire's Candy Shop might make a nice base, with its abundance of multicoloured glitter in a pink jelly base. To top it off, I layered Essie Marshmallow, a milky sheer white, overtop. This is the result!

What do you think of my first "jelly sandwich" manicure? I'm rather fond of it; I like how Essie Marshmallow somehow makes the glitter pop more, despite obscuring it at the same time. It's kind of like how a matte topcoat added to a glitter lacquer will make the glitter particles stand out more distinctly.

Just a reminder- if you haven't heard about my Claire's Candy Shop giveaway, please see my previous post for details on how to enter.

Claire's Candy Shop - Photos and Giveaway!

I was thrilled to track down Claire's Candy Shop last week. I've been lusting after Deborah Lippmann's Candy Shop lacquer for months, but didn't want to shell out the approximately $20 to buy it. I was extremely excited to discover that Claire's recently came out with a near-dupe of the Lippmann polish, with the same name, no less (not very subtle, but I won't complain). The Claire's polish is about $7, and they have an ongoing "Buy One Get One Half Off" sale, making it a much better deal than the Lippmann version.

Candy Shop (both versions) consists of an explosion of multi-coloured glitter in various sizes in a sheer, but buildable, pink base. The differences are fairly minor from comparisons I've seen online, but the Lippmann appears to have a slightly lighter and milkier pink base. For an excellent comparison, I suggest you check out Colour Is Magic's blog post, which features a fantastic analysis of both lacquers.

This is four coats of Claire's Candy Shop; most people could probably get away with three, but I have badly stained nails, so I decided to do an extra one. Next time I'll likely layer this over a pastel pink.

What do you think of Candy Shop? I'm pretty over the moon about it- it's exactly what I've been imagining. In my opinion it's a perfect candy pink packed with even more multicoloured glittery eye candy. Very sweet indeed.

I also have something exciting to announce- when I mentioned my plans to hold a giveaway last week, I was referring to Candy Shop. I was so thrilled to have tracked it down, I picked up an extra bottle for my readers!

This particular giveaway will only be for current GFC followers, at the time of my posting this; in the future I'll be doing more giveaways, so I still encourage you to follow me if you enjoy reading my blog and haven't yet become an "official" follower. If you're a current follower via GFC, and would like to enter this giveaway, please e-mail me at thelacquertracker@gmail.com and tell me you would like to enter, and be sure to include your GFC name. This giveaway will be open to international followers, and just to clarify, this giveaway is for one bottle of un-opened Claire's Candy Shop lacquer (I used my own bottle for the above nail pictures, of course). You may enter up until next Monday (April 2) at 11:59 pm.

Thank you, and good luck!