L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque in Lacqueriste

L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque in Lacqueriste

2 coats

This weekend I pulled out the three steps of the L’Oréal Paris Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque system. I had been a while since I used the system and I remember liking it a lot. 

Steps 1 and 3, the primer and glaze, are sold together and retail for about $13 in mass-market retailers like Target and Wal-mart.

The individual color bottles, like Lacqueriste shown in my swatch pic, retail for about $8. There are 21 shades available, and most are core-type colors, just nice classic colors that appear to all be a creme finish.

Here's some info from the L'Oreal website:

Introducing our exclusive 3-step nail system for spectacular nails like you’ve never seen before. New L’Oréal Paris Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque provides high-gloss, and resilient shine while protecting nail color from dings, dents and scratches. Get the high-shine of a UV-Gel and the perfect nail shape without harmful UV rays.

Extraordinary nails as easy as 1, 2, 3:

STEP 1: GEL PRIMER
Nail surface is instantly smooth and flawless

STEP 2: GEL COLOR
Color is richer, magnified to a new level of intensity nails are visibly thicker

STEP 3: GEL GLAZE
Shine is captured and reflected from every angle

I went ahead and added one coat of my normal quick dry topcoat after I was done with Step 3.

L'Oreal Orange You Jealous?

L'Oreal Orange You Jealous? (2 coats)

from the Spring/Summer 2013 Trend Setter Collection

 

While I LOVE this color, I don't quite love the formula. One coat was super-streaky, but when I added a second thicker coat, I wasn't too pleased with how "puffy" it looks. Still, it's a gorgeous shade for this time of the year, and I think I will keep it on as my Easter mani.

 

I received this bottle from House Party when I hosted a L'Oreal Miracle Blur party last year. They send along a group of nail polish to use during the party and this was definitely one of the faves.

 



L’Oreal The Statement Piece

L’Oreal The Statement Piece

2 coats, no topcoat

I was super-tired last night and didn't feel like I'd be able to stay awake to do a full mani with topcoat before I fell asleep, so I went to one of my favorite time-crunched mani answers, texture. Texture is great because it always dries fast and doesn't need a topcoat.

The Statement Piece was part of a nine-shade L'Oreal limited edition collection for the holidays called Gold Dust.  

I got pretty amazing coverage with just one coat, but added a second coat to make sure I had perfect coverage for my swatch pic.

Wear Test: L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque

Fresh swatch pic:

mani done Tuesday night before bed, 

pic taken Wednesday afternoon

L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque in Lacqueriste

2 coats
(used all three steps in the system)


Day 5, with 4 full days of wear:
pic taken Saturday afternoon

note: no chipping! (unlike CND Vinylux)

Verdict:

I am *so pleased* with the L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque system! For my nails to still look this good with a non-cured mani on Day 5..... amazing! Although there is some tip wear, the fact that there are no chips makes this a clear winner over my wear test of CND Vinylux.

Have you tried this system yet? I definitely plan on picking up another color to try.

L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque in Lacqueriste

L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque in Lacqueriste

2 coats

Last weekend I picked up all three steps of the new L’Oréal Paris Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque system. 

Steps 1 and 3, the primer and glaze, are sold together and retail for about $10 in mass-market retailers like Target and Wal-mart.

The individual color bottles, like Lacqueriste shown in my swatch pic, retail for about $5. It appears there are 21 shades available right now. Most are core-type colors, just nice classic colors that appear to all be a creme finish.

Here's some info from the L'Oreal website:

Introducing our exclusive 3-step nail system for spectacular nails like you’ve never seen before. New L’Oréal Paris Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque provides high-gloss, and resilient shine while protecting nail color from dings, dents and scratches. Get the high-shine of a UV-Gel and the perfect nail shape without harmful UV rays.

Extraordinary nails as easy as 1, 2, 3:

STEP 1: GEL PRIMER
Nail surface is instantly smooth and flawless

STEP 2: GEL COLOR
Color is richer, magnified to a new level of intensity nails are visibly thicker

STEP 3: GEL GLAZE
Shine is captured and reflected from every angle

My experience:

The primer is pretty thin, and reminded me of a rubberized basecoat like CND Stickey or Orly Bonder. The color applied nicely and was quite even in two coats. The glaze applied just like a topcoat. 

I tried the system last night and I waited about 30 minutes before I did anything with my hands after I was done and then went to bed about 2 hours later. I didn't experience any smudges or sheet marks, so I would say this dried nicely. 

I did not test this last night to see if it could be considered a quick-dry topcoat, because I wanted a perfect mani so I could do a wear test and see how it progresses over the next few days.

I'm hoping this system is what I hoped CND Vinylux would be. Watch for a post on that soon- I was not pleased at all with the wear I got from Vinylux. 

L'Oreal Paris Colour Riche Nail Collection Privee in Eva's Nude

L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Nail Collection Privee in Eva’s Nude

3 coats

I was excited to try the shade that actress Amy Adams wore to the 2014 Golden Globes. Nudes are such great "palate cleansers" and certainly very work-appropriate. I do love that there's a hidden shimmer in there- if I am going to wear a nude, I want it to have some sort of special feature to make it pop a bit.

AMY ADAMS

NAIL ARTIST: Tom Bachik

INSPIRATION: Tom and Amy wanted to create a very clean, classic nail look so as to not distract from her bright red Valentino dress and sparkly jewelry. They chose a full coverage nude that was a bit lighter than her overall skin tone but picked up the highlights and luminous tones of her complexion.

After prepping nails, Tom applied two coats of L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Nail Collection Privee in Eva’s Nude ($5.99) and finished with L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Nail Top of the Line top coat ($5.99).

L’ORÉAL PARIS*All products are available at LOrealParisUSA.com and at mass market retailers nationwide.

NOTD: L'Oreal Jolly Lolly

L'Oreal Jolly Lolly

3 coats

Jolly Lolly is from L'Oreal's Miss Candy collection of jelly polishes, released in Spring 2013. After seeing swatches of the collection online, I decided that this was the one I just had to have.

And it's so pretty! I do have a bit of VNL, but 4 coats is just almost an impossible task for me. My ADD kicks in and even 3 coats is a stretch. Ha!

NOTD: L'Oreal Walk on the Beach

L'Oreal Walk on the Beach

 

With 2013's Academy Awards approaching, I've been reading about what the stars wear on their nails for award shows. It really runs the gamut! Some stars go for bold looks, while quite a few stay with a neutral look.

 

For 2012's Emmys, L'Oreal Paris consulting nail expert Tom Bachik chose to paint Heidi Klum's nails with Walk on the Beach to get a nude nail, which L'Oreal described as a modern take on a timeless look. 

 

Although Tom used just 2 coats for Heidi, I needed 3 coats to get complete coverage on my nails. This is a really good nude for my skintone. I am actually on day 3 of this mani and I quite like it!

 

 

Disclosure: This shade was provided for review purposes.

Two shades from the L'Oreal Project Runway collection

This fall, L'Oreal launched a line of Project Runway-branded makeup, which included 8 shades of nail polish. (You can see the full collection here.) Walgreen's was having a nice sale a few weeks ago, so I picked up two shades that caught my eye.

 L'Oreal the queen's might

3 coats

The formula on this one was nice and even, although it's a bit sheet and you can still see a visible nail line even after 3 coats. There's some silver veining in the bottle that doesn't translate to the nail.

L'Oreal the mystic's fortune

2 coats

The formula on this one was somewhat lacking- after one coat it was a streaky mess but luckily a second coat evened it out just fine. In the bottle you can see some small pink and aqua shimmers, but they don't really show once applied.

NOTD: L'Oreal Eiffel For You topped with Silver Sparkle

L'Oreal Eiffel For You 

topped with Silver Sparkle

bottle shot 

L'Oreal Eiffel For You

bottle shot

L'Oreal Silver Sparkle

 I based this mani on an Emmy mani that L’Oréal Paris Consulting Nail Expert Tom Bachik created for Ashley Judd. 

First, Tom applied a deep taupe violet color, Colour Riche Nail in Eiffel For You, as the base color. Then, he gilded the tips with a chunky silver sparkle, Colour Riche Nail Diamond Collection in Sparklicious (he only gilded the tip vs. a full on French manicure for a long slender look).

I had received Eiffel For You to review, and I already have a similar sparkle shade, Silver Sparkle, in my collection, so I decided to add that on top.

It's quite rainy and gloomy here, so I wasn't able to get my typical sunlight shot, but I think the overcast lighting really lets you see the different colors of glitter in Silver Sparkle. It's really gorgeous and eye-catching. The finish is also super-smooth after just one coat of topcoat.

Details

Brand/Name: L'Oreal Eiffel For You topped with L'Oreal Silver Sparkle

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 2 coats color topped with 1 coat of glitter topped with 1 coat NYC Grand Central Station

Source: Eiffel For You was provided for review purposes, and Silver Sparkle was purchased by me for my collection from CVS in the spring

Retail price: L'Oreal polish retails for approximately $4.99 at drugstores

USA! USA! Top Coat from Sephora by OPI

L'oreal Target Red (2 coats)

topped with USA! USA! Top Coat from Sephora by OPI

macro shot

I ordered the USA! USA! Top Coat and was so excited that it arrived in time for me to do an Olympics mani. I chose a red polish for my base shade, but if I was doing it over, I think I'd do a white base so the red glitter would be more visible.

I did have some application trouble with this glitter topper..... the other glitter toppers I've tried from Sephora by OPI were great and applied easily. USA! USA! was very thick and would not stay put as I did multiple strokes to cover my nails- each stroke would remove more glitter. I ended up dabbing it on but still had trouble getting it back by my cuticles.

Since it was so bumpy, I topped it with two coats of Gelous before I did my topcoat of NYC Grand Central Station, and surprisingly, that leveled it out well.

Details

Brand/Name: Sephora by OPI/ USA! USA! Top Coat

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 2 coats L'Oreal Target Red (PR sample)

                                                    1 coat Sephora by OPI USA! USA! Top Coat

                                                    2 coats of Gelous

                                                    topped with NYC Grand Central Station

Price: $9.50

Purchased from: www.sephora.com

Collection: The USA! USA! Top Coat was released in July 2012 to coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympics

NOTD: L'Oreal Notting Hill Blues

L'Oreal Notting Hill Blues

macro shot

Isn't this pretty? After the first coat I was worried that it wasn't going to cover very well, and we all know how I feel about 3-coaters.... but after I added a second coat it looked great so I stopped there.

Details

Brand/Name: L'Oreal Notting Hill Blues

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 2 coats topped with NYC Grand Central Station

Price: approximately $5.99

Seen at: drugstores and mass market retailers such a Target and Walmart (I purchased at Walgreens)

Collection: Notting Hill Blues (115) is part of the L'Oreal Limited Edition "London Fall" collection, released in Summer 2012, along with Tea and Crumpets (111), The Perfect Trench (112), Hyde Park (113), Rainy Piccadilly (114), and Brit Invasion (116).

NOTD: L'Oreal Brit Invasion

L'Oreal Brit Invasion

macro shot

Last week I saw the new L'Oreal fall display at Walgreens and decided to pick up Brit Invasion because I am a sucker for gorgeous brown shades like this- especially with hidden shimmer. I also got Notting Hill Blue and will hopefully get a swatch for you soon- I certainly won't have a problem getting a sunny shot for you since our forecast shows over 100 every day this week!


Details
Brand/Name: L'Oreal Brit Invasion
Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 2 coats topped with NYC Grand Central Station
Price: approximately $5.99
Seen at: drugstores and mass market retailers such a Target and Walmart
Collection: Brit Invasion (116) is part of the L'Oreal Limited Edition "London Fall" collection, released in Summer 2012, along with Tea and Crumpets (111), The Perfect Trench (112), Hyde Park (113), Rainy Piccadilly (114), and Notting Hill Blues (115).

NOTD: Essie She's Picture Perfect topped with L'oreal Silver Sparkle

Last week I showed you a swatch of L'oreal Silver Sparkle, all on it's own. I wasn't wowed, but I liked it OK.

But you know what? I LOVE it as a topper! I added it to my Essie She's Picture Perfect mani and it finally wowed. me.

Essie She's Picture Perfect topped with L'oreal Silver Sparkle
(so hard to get a good pic of this! Trust me- it's gorgeous!)

Here's a macro bottle shot- there are so many pretty glitters in there!

Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to get a good shot of this glitter, but here's an angle shot that shows a bit more of the multi-colored glitter.

NOTD: L'Oreal Silver Sparkle

L'Oreal Silver Sparkle (3 coats- sun)

L'Oreal Silver Sparkle (3 coats- shade)

I picked this up last week at CVS because it was $5.99 and there were $2 coupons on the display, and I'm a sucker for a $4 polish.

Be sure and click on the pics to enlarge them so you could see the multi-colored glitters.  There are so many shades, and they are almost color-shifting. I see mint green, light blue, pink, copper, and gold.

I thought it was really pretty by itself, but I'll be trying over a vampy shade soon to see how it works as a topper.

NOTD: L'Oreal Owl's Night

L'oreal Owl's Night

from the Project Runway collection

(click to enlarge)

This is so so pretty! I always love a two-coater.

In the light, you can see gold, green, and orange specs of glitter- it's just amazing. This is such a perfect fall/Halloween polish.

Disclosure: I have nothing to disclose. I went to multiple CVS stores and two Walgreens before I finally found this beauty and paid full price of $5, and it was quite worth it!

NOTD: L'Oreal Coral Starfish

L'Oreal Coral Starfish

Oh, I am loving this! The above swatches are two coats, and you can see I have a bit of VNL. I am not bothered enough by that to do another coat- I'm lazy!

Application was great- L'Oreals really seem to work well for me, and topped with SV, this dried great and is wearing well.

Disclosure: I have nothing to disclose, I purchased this polish myself.

NOTD: L'oreal Femme Noir

L'oreal Femme Noir

This is one of the shades from the new limited edition L'Oreal Midnight Muse collection (Nouveau Cheap has pics of the full display). I recently purchased it at CVS.

This is gorgeous- hopefully you can see the deep wine shimmer- love it!

I also am trying out Nubar Diamont as my topcoat- I had a brand-new bottle that was about a year old, and I heard they recently switched their formula (and switched it back?), and I got curious since I had never tried it.

I painted my nails last night before bed, and did quite a bit of paper shuffling at work today, and I have the tiniest bit of tip wear on my middle finger- that's it!

NOTD: L'Oreal Waters Edge

L'Oreal Waters Edge



Waters Edge is from L’Oreal’s summer 2010 Passport to Paradise collection. I purchased it a few month ago at Walgreens for about $4.50.

I had some application issues, but it could be because I was also trying out Gelous basecoat for the first time.

The first coat of color looked terrible, very streaky and uneven- it would be full coverage in some places, and barely there in others. A second coat did even it out, but it applied a bit thick and I was afraid to do a third. I finished up with a coat of Seche Vite and it dried fine and I went to bed.

After showering and getting ready for work in the morning, I already had two major chips on my right hand, which NEVER happens to me. I ended up taking this off after only having it on for 20 hours or so.

NOTD: L'oreal Target Red

L'oreal Target Red

Can you believe it? My perfect color! I spend so much time and money at Target that's it very appropriate that I wear a nail polish named after it! Look at the cute Target logo on the bottle!

I was so glad that it was a dream to apply- two coats topped with Seche Vite and I got full coverage that was dry to the touch in minutes.

Disclosure: This polish was provided to me by a PR company for review purposes.