Nail Nation 3000 Lemon Drop & Lumina Lacquer Black Magic Woman

Good morning...happy Saturday!  I'm so happy it's the weekend.  I'm eating waffles, drinking coffee and getting ready for the 4 hour ordeal that is my kids baseball games.  I wanted to swing in here real quick like and share this awesome mani I put together!  I love me some yellow and I love me some holo.  Adding an perfect blend of black and white glitters on top totally made me feel like I had Queen Bee nails!  I love how it turned out.  Let's take a peek!

Lumina Lacquer: Shop, Mei Mei's Signatures, Facebook, Instagram

Nail Nation 3000: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

I started this mani with Nail Nation 3000 Lemon Drop.  Actually my hubby got it for me as a birthday present, and he didn't want to save it so I got to wear it early!  Lemon Drop is a borderline neon, yellow holo.  In real life the holo is so much more awesome, but pictures didn't want to capture it.  It was a bit sheer so I used 3 coats for close-to-full coverage.  Lemon Drop dries pretty dull so this baby needs top coat to really shine.  I then topped 2 accent nails with Lumina Lacquer Black Magic Woman.  Black Magic Woman is an amazing blend of black and white glitters in a variety of circles, triangles, stars, moons, hexs and micro glitters.  Now you see why I say I felt like a Queen Bee!  Formula and application were both fabulous.  The glitter pay off of Black Magic Woman was great.  I used 2 coats and 2 coats of topcoat.   

*sunshine pictures*

Smitten Polish Showers and Flowers Spring 2014

I'm a busy bee today!  But I really wanted to share this post with you because these amazing Spring colors will be available for pre-order tomorrow at 2:00 pm Central Time!  There will be other colors restocked and a few on their last leg....so be sure to check out the posts on Facebook to see all the information about tomorrows shop opening.  In the meantime, can I just say GAH!  The Showers and Flowers Spring 2014 collection is absolutely amazing!  I feel that Noelie totally nailed all of these colors.  Let's take a look at her promo pic and then jump into the reviews!

*PRESS SAMPLE*

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This is the inspiration board behind the 4 polishes in the Showers and Flowers Spring 2014 collection.  I mean seriously, they perfectly captured their namesakes and inspirations.  

Up first I have Frangipani.  This is the most gorgeous color to represent the gorgeous flower that is native to tropical regions.  I put this on and wanted to go on a Hawaiian vacation so badly!  Frangipani is a medium shade of pink with some purple undertones.  The linear effect is softly linear and very sparkly in the direct sunlight.  The formula was opaque, creamy perfection.  I had full coverage in 2 coats and no topcoat. 

Up next is Radiant Orchid.  I'll admit I wasn't too happy when Pantone announced this was the color of 2014.  Smitten Polish Radiant Orchid totally changed my mind!  And how perfectly did she capture this color?  It's dead on!  I am just so much in lust with this color, it's simply amazing!  Radiant Orchid, just like Frangipani, had an amazing formula.  It was very creamy and opaque.  I only needed 2 coats for complete coverage.  Radiant Orchid applied like butter.  The linear holo is pretty strong and this baby sparkles like blingy gemstones in the sunlight.  I did not use topcoat.  

Now we'll switch gears to blue...Himalayan Blue Poppy to be exact.  This is another amazing color that completely captured it's inspiration.  Himalayan Blue Poppy is a fabulous aqua with a soft linear holo effect.  I am once again reminded of tropical beaches and vacation...is it summer time yet?  Himalayan Blue Poppy had a fabulous formula.  Very creamy and opaque.  The application was smooth and buttery.  I used 2 coats for full coverage and no topcoat.  

Tornado Skies is the only non-holo in the group, but it totally stands on it's own with it's gorgeous moody gray base and sparkling green shimmer.  Tornado Skies is really beautiful.  The gray and green work together very well to create an overall look that is stunning.  Once again, formula and application were both perfection.  So creamy and opaque.  I used 2 coats of Tornado Skies and no topcoat.  

 *inside picture with flash*

I knew there would be some questions for comparisons so I went ahead and did a couple.  This is Himalayan Blue Poppy and Audrey's Rainbow.  Himalayan Blue Poppy is on my index and ring fingers.  Audrey's Rainbow is on my middle and pinky fingers.  You can see that Himalayan Blue Poppy is much more blue while Audrey's Rainbow is a minty-aqua.  I used 2 coats of each polish and no topcoat.  

This is Frangipani compared to Be Mine.  Frangipani is on my index and ring fingers.  Be Mine is on my middle and pinky fingers.  Be Mine is much more hot pink and a straight pink color.  Frangipani has a more purple undertone and had a more creamy formula.  I used 2 coats of each color and no topcoat.  

Red Dog Desings Limited Edition La Vie en rose for My Nail Polish Obsession

I've been slightly obsessed with all things rose lately.  I love the colors and the smell.  I'll buy anything rose: body products, perfume, makeup, jewlery, anything named after a rose...everything.  When Gina from Red Dog Designs and I worked on my 2-year blogiversary polish of course I knew I wanted holo, and I wanted a rosy color.  Well Gina nailed it!  This beautiful custom is a perfectly blend of pink and red, holo pigment and holo pink sparkles.  I named it La Vie en rose....after the Louis Armstrong song.  If you like this custom there is great news for you....La Vie en rose was created in limited supply and there are less than 30 bottles available for sale on Monday 4/21/14 at 5:00 pm EST.  I say less than 30 because as you will see, I have 1/30 to show you today!
Red Dog Designs: Shop, Facebook, Instagram
La Vie en rose is absolutely perfect.  I love it...so much.  The formula and application of La Vie en rose were both fabulous.  I used 2 coats for full coverage and 1 layer of topcoat.  

I also wanted to show you how well it paired with the Red Dog Designs custom celebrating my 1 year blogiversary last year!  Summershine is a gorgeous blend of pink, gold, iridescent and holo glitters.  It's mostly circles and butterflies....perfect to pair butterflies with roses, right?  

Dior Skittles & Lumina Lacquer The Childlike Empress

Hi, I'm Jen and I'm a Dior addict.  <-- First step, admitting the problem.  Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but it's definitely an addiction I need to reign in sometimes.  I find that I buy Dior with abandon and hardly ever wear them.  Well I decided that needs to change.  This mani used 3 colors I hadn't tried yet form my Dior stash and they made the perfect Spring skittles.  I promise to try to work harder on getting more Dior posts up.  

Dior: Shop, Nordstrom, Sephora, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Facebook, Twitter

I wanted to do something pastel since it's so close to Easter so I pulled out Lilac Colorvision, Tutu and Porcelaine.  These 3 colors worked so week together and created a perfectly creamy Spring mani.  But I will admit, they were not as easy to use as some of Dior's brighter/darker colors.  I have Tutu on my index finger.  Tutu is a soft pink creme.  It was a little patchy during application so I needed 3 coats for coverage and leveling.  I then used Lilac Colorvision on my middle finger.  Lilac Colorvision was my favorite of the 3 colors I used for this mani, not only for the soft lilac color but also for the great formula and application.  I used 3 coats for full coverage.  I then used Porcelaine on my thumb, ring and pinky fingers.  I wish I liked Porcelaine more, but it was a real pest to use.  Porcelaine was very streaky and patchy.  I made sure to let each layer completely before applying the next but I still had problems.  I used 4 coats of Porcelaine.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

I decided to give my mani a little bling so I sponged the tips and did my accent nail with Lumina Lacquer The Childlike Empress.  The Childlike Empress is a glitter bomb full of stars, moons, triangles, circles, and hexs in a blend of white, blue, silver, gold and silver.  Lots of holo glitters in here too so it has a pretty awesome bling factor.  I sponged 2 coats on the tips of my nails and used 2 coats on my accent nail  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

Lumina Lacquer: Shop, Mei Mei's Signatures, Facebook, Instagram