Unrelated note

7 years ago today (not quite) Mr. Literati and I started dating.  I've loved every second of these 7 years and I'm looking forward to more! Happy Anniversary, babe!


The little polish that could.

I just love polish brands that fly under the radar.  I love wearing brands that aren't sold regularly in brick and mortar stores.  I feel like I'm in some exclusive polish club :)

2 coats

Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm is a member of the holo club and the "really cute name" club.  This polish is a great find and if you like dark holos you won't be disappointed by the oil slick quality this one has.  It isn't a black holo, but more of a charcoal grey with a hint of brown.  It dries super glossy and is still holo in low lighting.  There are a few similar colors to this out there, but for the price you would definitely do best to get this one!

China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires

Another Monday *groan* Well, I'll take the Mondays as long as we're getting closer to summer.  The weather in my area this weekend really made me excited for days to come.  I even managed to get to the beach :)
Speaking of things that don't have anything to do with the weather or the beach...

Eyes Like Sapphires is a royal blue with a slight frost to it.  It also has thicker grains of silver shimmer peeking out, which did result in me getting a few bumps of grit here and there.  A good topcoat should be able to even all that out, though. 

Diamond Cosmetics Sweet as Sugar

Sweet baby Jeebus! Lookit at all my new followers! I'm glad you guys are here.  Hopefully, you'll all be able to stand my incoherent ramblings and general nonsense :)


This confection for your fingertips is Diamond Cosmetics Sweet as Sugar.  It is indeed very sweet! I don't do sheers very often, but this one is quite nice.  It looks like I dipped my nails in very fine baking sugar.  This was three very thin coats and as you can see I've still got some visible nail line.  I'm thinking I would use a more opaque base coat prior to this polish. I don't think you'd have to layer it over a nude polish. 

Hooray for the week almost being over.  I'm so looking forward to the weekend.  Are you guys up to anything fun come Friday?

50 Followers Giveaway!

Well ladies and gents, I now have 50 wonderful followers on my little blog!  I am so excited to have each and every one of you following me, so I decided to have a giveaway to show my appreciation! Many thanks to all of you!!

Summer is on it's way so I tried to pick out some fun colors that will look great in the sun :)

The winner will receive:
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Pizazz
- Sinful Colors Cream Pink
- Nicole by OPI Honey-Dew You Love Me (cute blue hearts!)
- OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui
- Poshe Super Fast Drying Topcoat
- China Glaze LOL
- China Glaze DV8
- China Glaze Luna
- China Glaze Blue Hawaiian 
- China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

This giveaway is open to followers and subscribers and will run until 11:59 PST on May 3rd, 2010. 


To enter:

1) You must be a follower of some kind. Any and all new followers are welcome! Leave me a comment letting me know your email address in case that you win.  1 entry


2) Blog about this contest for another entry! Leave a comment with a link to the post. 1 entry


3) Tweet about the contest! Either @ me on twitter or leave a link to your twitter in the comments! 1 entry


4) Add Lacquered Literati to your blogroll. Send me a link and I'll make sure to add you back.  If anyone has a blog that you would like on my blogroll, please email me! 1 entry

5) This one is a freebie! Tell me what colors you like to wear during summer or anything you want about the summer season! It's up to you :) 1 entry

To save yourself some sanity feel free to put all your entries into one comment. No matter what, please include your email so I'll be able to contact you.  You have until May 3rd, 2010. Have fun!

OPI Russian Navy Suede

I really jumped aboard the matte train this last fall and I was really happy to see different companies embracing the trend.  I will say that in the case of OPI the Suede collection is FAR superior to their matte collection. Their mattes were just so chalky looking, blegh.  Here is one of my faves from the Suedes.

2 coats
OPI Russian Navy Suede is probably my favorite blue matte/suede finish polish. It isn't flat at all and the fine matted shimmer gives this polish a great depth.  Whenever I'm feeling lazy or don't have time to wait for a mani to dry, I throw this one.  It dries super quickly, so you can do two coats and be out the door.  If you do have some time, see my next photo :)


With topcoat
I love throwing on topcoat a day or two later, because it's like a brand new mani without all the hassle! There is so much shine in this polish and a quick swipe of a clear polish does this baby wonders.  I almost prefer it to the matted finish!


Diamond Cosmetics Fiery Coral


This is two coats of Diamond Cosmetics Fiery Coral.  It does live up to it's name with its bright coral pop and fine eye catching shimmer. This is a great spring and summer polish!
I love the formula on Diamond Cosmetics polish.  They have a good solid application and the dry time is relatively fast.  It's nice to see that for around two dollars you get a great quality polish! 

Zoya Sparkle: The Love Affair Continues...

So after the lovely pre-marriage bliss that was my first Sparkle post, this could be considered the honeymoon post. I think? Yeah, I've probably lost my marbles, but it's all out of love.  Imagine cool blue tropical waters and these colors on your hands....

3 coats
Oh, Charla.  This is one polish that would represent a honeymoon.  It's such a beautiful turquoise-y blue with fine iridescent shimmer that looks like the sun hitting tropical waters. I actually ran into a wall while swimming laps one day because I could not stop gaping at this polish. 

3 coats
Mimi is a purple that wants to be seen.  It is far brighter than my photo depicts.  The fine pink and silver shimmer add so much depth to this polish.  I wish my photo did it justice!!

3 coats

I imagine Ivanka being a shimmering piece of green seaweed on a hot white sand beach.  Boy, this post really tells a good deal about me, huh? This is such a vibrant happy green and the fine flecks of shimmer only make it that much better.


There you have it folks.  How could I resist wanting to be with Zoya Sparkle forever? I promise I'll be loyal and true! Ok...well...maybe until the next Zoya collection comes out ;)

Zoya, will you marry me? Part I

I've never really wanted to marry a nail polish, but Zoya has made me want to marry an entire collection (possibly a bottle of remover as well).  I can picture it now....Zoya Sparkle and I will play in the sunshine and watch our little sparkle babies scamper in the grass.
Ok, I'm being creepy. On with ze photos!

2 Coat
I'm still choosing to pretend that Alegra has two L's in it and was named after me.  I shouldn't be such a jerk because this polish deserves nothing but praise.  This polish is a much more vivid, bright magenta that what my picture depicts. It's a jelly base with a mix of superfine pink and clear sparkles. 


3 coats
Gilda, you saucy minx you.  I shun pink, but how can I resist your bright pink hue and fish scale type glitter? You're right, I can't

2 coats
Nihdi stops me dead in my tracks.  For all the smack talking I do about reds, this was smacked me back HARD.  This polish has quite a dense base color that I was not expecting.  Also, instead of matching red glitter it had flecks of gold and fine silver shimmer throughout it. 

I cannot help but love all these colors and they are not my usual cup of tea.  Stay tuned for Part II and the rest of the Sparkle lovelies!

Post Easter food coma...

Ok.  I really need to get back into the swing of posting frequently.  Sad thing is that it still isn't consistently sunny in my area! I did get some swatching done today, so I'll have to awesome Zoya posts this week, whoop whoop!

Here was my Spring mani I wore for Easter.  Although I've loved these spring colors and pastels, I think I'm ready for some summer colors!

I chose to do two coats of China Glaze Flyin' High with an accent nail of Lemon Fizz polka dots.  I only do simple nail art, otherwise I'd end up with some ugly swamp creature nails!  I thought this was festive and it went well with the two minutes of sun we had yesterday, haha.