For a while now, I've been wanting to do a sunset gradient. But unlike most of the sunsets out there that I've seen, I wasn't interested in doing palm trees in silhouette against the sunset. I'm not a beachy person, and sunsets with palm trees don't say 'summer' to me! So what does? ELECTRIC GUITARS of course, haha!
Not that I've been able to do it for the last couple of summers, but there is NO better way to spend a summer evening in my opinion than at an E-Street Band show. Those of you who know what I mean will understand!
Anyway, on to the gradient! I did this using OPI Play Til Midnight, Barry M Pink Punch, and Barry M Full Throttle. I then stamped using MoYou London Rockstar 01 and Laqa & Co Black Gloss.
I love how these came out! The clean up was a bit of a nightmare, but I think it was worth it!
This is the last of the Laqa & Co. polishes I have to review (for the others, see here). This is Tuxedo, a matte/glossy black duo.
I left this one til last in the Laqa & Co. polishes I was reviewing, because I thought it would be a bit dull. I have lots of black polishes, including matte ones and glossy ones, so I wasn't expecting much from this duo set.
I was so wrong! The glossy black is a superb formula, really really good! This is ONE coat of the glossy black on alternate fingers, with two coats of the matte on the other fingers. The glossy black is a really good quality - it's smooth, even, opaque and highly glossy (look how it's reflecting the writing on the bottle!), it's self-levelling and needed no clean up whatsoever. The matte is not quite as good, although it is still good. It's a little less smooth, and I had to be careful as the first coat was a bit uneven. The second coat was smoother though.
I then added a contrasting stripe of glossy over matte, and matte over glossy, and added a black rhinestone to the matte stripe and a white rhinestone to the glossy stripe. I found it really hard to photograph the contrast between the matte and the glossy, but it is more visible in real life.
I like the brushes in these polishes a lot. While it is a bit tricky to hold the whole of the other bottle in the hand while you're painting, but the brush itself is really nice for me - it's quite short and firm, and I found it really easy to paint neatly.
You can buy Laqa & Co. polishes in the UK from My Retail Beauty here. This duo costs £14.95, which is a bit pricey, but the quality of the glossy half really is extremely good.
This polish was provided for my honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
Today I've got another Laqa & Co. polish to show you. This is Lacey, a double-ended duo polish with a minty green and a gold shard glitter.
The Don't Panic artwork is by Erich McVey, although this is in tiny TINY writing on the box, and I only just managed to spot it. There's also nothing about him on the Laqa & Co. website, unlike most of their other artists they feature on their wrapping. I do like the general idea of the company showcasing up and coming artists on their packaging, but I think they could make a lot more of it! You have to be a pretty committed googler to actually find out about the artists!
Anyway, on to the polish! The green is a lovely shade, and excellent quality formula. It applied really well and dried evenly with two smooth coats. I like this colour a lot. It's very similar to China Glaze For Audrey, but I think it's a much better application.
The other end of the double ended bottle is a clear base containing bright gold glitter, cut in random shard shapes. The gold is super sparkly, and lies flat and smooth. I added one coat of topcoat over this, which was all that was needed.
It's so pretty!
My gripe with this polish duo is the packaging - it looks really distinctive, but I don't particularly like the way that you have to paint your nails with the other bottle in your hand. It makes it top-heavy, and I kept almost knocking over the bottle I was using, as it's less than half the size of the section in your hand when you paint. I would definitely buy this green as a separate bottle on its own though, as it's a really lovely polish.
The purple accent nail is the Laqa & Co. nail polish pen in Blurple, which I reviewed here. I was keen to see how the brush worked a couple of weeks after the last application - unlike normal brushes which sit in the polish and so stay wet, this ones stays out of the polish (although still inside the bottle cap) and so dries out. I'm pleased to report that the brush is fine second time round - a couple of clicks to the base of the bottle, a new bead of fresh polish on the brush, and it works perfectly.
You can buy Lacey at My Retail Beauty in the UK, for £14.95, which I do think is quite pricey for the amount of polish you get (6ml per bottle). However, it is really pretty! It's the kind of thing that would make a good gift for a polish lover, I think, as it looks special and a bit different to the normal high street polishes.
This polish was provided by the company/PR for my unbiased review. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
Here is the second of my posts about my new Laqa & Co. polishes. For the first, click here. Today's review is of one of their nail polish pens, something I was very excited about! The idea of a nail polish pen is so clever and practical. The idea is that they're small and portable, much easier to stick in your handbag for a quick touch up on the go than taking a whole bottle with you, which could break or spill. I have a lovely purple one, Blurple, to show you.
As with yesterday's polish, the box features artwork from a young artist, who gets a share in the profits from the polish. This one was designed by Nazario Graziano - you can see more of his work here.
The pen takes a little getting used to, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it! A few clicks on the bottom of the bottle brings a bead of polish through to the brush - it can be a little tricky at first to work out how much polish is needed to get the application smooth (too little, and the polish drags on the nail, too much and the polish can flood the cuticles) but I found that having a tissue handy to dab any excess on was all that was needed. This is two coats of Blurple.
The formula is really nice - smooth and even, and dries to a super high shine. I added topcoat for added protection, but I don't think it was necessary. The brush is good - it's soft and smooth, and the bristles are short enough that it's easily controlled and keeps the polish neat.
The only downside for me with this pen is that there is only 5ml in it, which won't last all that long if you're using it for an entire manicure. I think the best way to use these would be if you had the bottle and the pen of the same colour, used the bottle to do your main polish, and then carried the pen for touch ups during the day. That would get a bit pricey though!
Laqa & Co. polishes can be bought in the UK from My Retail Beauty, where the pens cost £10.20 (although they currently have a sale on, so they're £8.15). I think that's a little pricey for the amount of polish, but the pen is a really neat idea, and they'd make a great gift as they look so pretty and are definitely out of the ordinary.
This polish was provided by the company/PR for my unbiased review. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
I was contacted recently and asked whether I'd like to try some Laqa & Co. products. I'd seen them online on other blogs and they looked so pretty, so I jumped at the chance! Here is the first of them, Bobby Dazzler.
Laqa & Co. is a New York based company which makes polishes that are 3-free, and come in beautifully decorated boxes, designed by up-and-coming artists. A nice twist with Laqa & Co. is that they give a percentage of the income from the products to the artists. They also feature these artists on their website, with a new one featured every month. Click here for more information!
As you can see, Bobby Dazzler is a bright orange, almost neon bright polish, which is right up my street! This is two coats. It applies really nicely, and dries well to a satin finish. The brush is really good, and the polish is smooth and even. I'm not a huge fan of the slender bottle though, as it's so easily knocked over! It is really pretty, but it's not the most practical, especially as I'm pretty clumsy!
It's a really good colour!
The artwork on the box for Bobby Dazzler was designed by Georgiana Paraschiv. I wish this information was on the box though - I think if you're going to feature artists and have their artwork on the box, it would be nice to put some details either on the box or inside, because I think people would be interested. You can see more of her work here. I was inspired by the pretty, abstract, blotchy pattern to do nails to match the box!
I did this by sponging colours over the base of Bobby Dazzler. I used Models Own Bubblegum, China Glaze Pink-ie Promise, and OPI Tickle My France-y, and a small makeup sponge.
I then added a matte topcoat (Rimmel Pro) to match the box.
I'm really pleased with how these came out! What do you think?
You can buy Laqa & Co. polishes in the UK from My Retail Beauty, where they cost £8.95 for these bottles (9ml). There are loads of colours to choose from! They also sell the famous Laqa & Co. nail polish PENS - I have one of those to try too, so look out for that post coming very soon! I'm excited to try that.
This polish was provided by the company/PR for my unbiased review. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
