Venique Archives - Of Life and Lacquer

Tag: Venique

Of Life and Lacquer > Venique

Venique Breast Cancer Awareness Set 2013

Posted on 15 October, 201314 October, 2013 by Cynthia

I hope you’re all having a nice Tuesday. As for me, I’m a little bummed about some work stuff, but there isn’t much I can do about it so I’ll just have to deal. Fortunately, I feel a little better today especially since my headache went away. I filed my nails down pretty short over the weekend since they weren’t all the same size after the break. Now I am sharing a bunch of older swatches I did when my nails were a little longer. I actually love my nails in this picture because they are the perfect length: not too long and not too short. I have a heck of a time with my pointer finger nail because that is the one that always breaks no matter what I do. Now that I am growing them again, I am going to use my bottle of Rejuvacote religiously and see if that makes a difference. I’ll be sure to let you guys know once I’ve had a chance to use it for a few weeks.

As you all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we are pretty much overloaded with PINK everything. While I like that that people are are raising awareness, this has also become extremely commercial. Wherever there is a buck to be made, you know that people are going to find a way to exploit it. I’m not going to get preachy about this and there are a lot of great articles out there about this subject. When I picked up a few BCA sets recently, I was lured by the pink polishes (cause I like pink). I have a very personal story that I will be sharing in a post later this month. It’s difficult to write, and I’m working on it with someone else so I hope to get it out soon. Let’s take a look at the three polishes from the Venique Breast Cancer Awareness Set for 2013.

Venique Galoshing In The Rain is a very delicate pink hue. It’s very creamy and glossy, but the formula can be a little difficult. As with most very light and creamy shades, this polish tends to be streaky so I recommend 3 coats to even it out completely.

My favorite polish in this set is Venique Secured With Straps because as you all probably know, I love hot pink everything. I’m kind of a weirdo about hot pink because for the longest time I hated anything pink and now all of a sudden I love it. I didn’t really notice the bald spots on this mani so I apologize for the sloppiness. I definitely recommend allowing enough dry time in between coats to minimize this issue.

I’ve gotta say that I’m not really a fan of shard type glitters. I hate saying shard because I always think of this scene:

I know. Totally gross. Anyway, this is Venique Pink Stiletto over Galoshing In The Rain. I kind of like how this looks but still, I’m not a HUGE fan of this look.

So let me know: are you a pink fan? Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Venique Goes Hollywood Collection

Posted on 12 March, 2013 by Cynthia

Happy Tuesday everyone. I am off tomorrow so I’m really looking forward to sleeping in which means that I’ll be getting out of bed at 6 am. WOOOOOT! hahaha Do you even know how horrible it is to have to get up at 3:30 am? No? You’re lucky! I have been such a turd about getting up my posts in a timely manner, and I am finally catching up. Today I have the Venique Goes Hollywood Collection to share with you. Before I even get into it, I have to admit one thing: I don’t like metallics. I just don’t know what is about metallic finish polishes, but I just can’t appreciate them. I tried to put all my metallic prejudice aside before I started swatching this collection so let’s take a look at the polishes…

The formula for all of these polishes is identical so I’ll talk about that at the end. I also want to mention that I am missing one polish from this collection which is the silver metallic called Reels Of Fun.

Venique Golden Age Of Beauty

Venique Diamond Kisses

Venique Down The Carpet

Venique Acting Is Living

Venique Oceans Of Pearls (over Acting Is Living)

I didn’t think that I would be saying this, but I actually kind of liked these polishes. I don’t find the colors too unique, but they are pretty nonetheless if you like metallic finish polishes. To tell you the truth, I was scared that these would be as difficult to work with as the Essie Mirror Metallics, but the formula was rather easy to work with. However, the brush strokes….OY VEY! I could not find any way to work with these polishes that left me with a brush stroke-free result. Overall, if you like metallics, you should look into these. I haven’t tried using these for stamping but I hope they work!

To learn more about Venique, you can visit them on their website and on their facebook page:

Website: http://veniquenails.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VeniqueNails

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Let me know what you think of this collection. Do you have a favorite polish finish?

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR firm. For more information, please see my disclosure policy tab here.

Venique Acting Is Living

Posted on 24 February, 201324 February, 2013 by Cynthia

Today as I prepared to watch the Academy Awards, I was trying to decide if I should do my nails. When I looked over at my bin of polishes to be swatched for my blog, I zeroed in on the Venique Goes Hollywood Collection. How fitting, right? Then I went with the purple which ended up being called Acting Is Living. Well punch me in the eye and spit in my Orangina fantastic! It’s no secret that I obsessed with purple, so this was a perfect choice. Are you ready to see this gorgeous and shimmery grape purple that is Venique Acting Is Living?

Venique is a new to me brand, but I had head about it through friends and other nail polish afficionados. In looking deeper into this brand, I was able to obtain some information about the formula. Venique Nail Lacquer is made with Sil-Tek, which is a silicone-based ingredient that causes the polish to be flexible and therefore isn’t as susceptible to chipping. Additionally, each coat is supposed to dry in about 4 minutes. One of the more interesting formula points is that if your manicure loses its shine, you can lightly buff your nails and you will regain the shine.

Now, I haven’t worn this polish very long so I can’t speak about its resistance to chipping, but I did think it took longer than 4 minutes for each coat to dry. I applied 2 coats and found that the polish was very, very thick and went on streaky. I decided to mix it for a few minutes hoping that the second coat would be nicer. Once I applied the second coat, the polish was pretty self-leveling and I got an even, glossy result even without top coat. For news about Venique, make sure that you check out their Facebook page here.

You may have noticed a change with the layout of my post. I have decided to stop watermarking my pictures, and I’m am uploading them individually instead of in a collage format. I am aware of all the picture stealing issues that arise if pictures aren’t watermarked, but honestly, I don’t think it’s worth it. If someone wants to steal your swatch pictures, they will do it–watermark or not. I had decided to use a watermark after my pictures for the WNW Saved By The Nail Collection were used in videos and sites all over the net without my permission and without giving me credit in most cases. Now I just want to focus on improving my photos/photography skills and getting rid of the watermarks.

This weekend was pretty busy for me especially since I had to work on Saturday. I ended up going out with a couple of friends to let off some steam. We ended up eating a yummy dinner, getting a drink, singing some corny karaoke and then just having some intense girl-talk. I want to share something with you that was like an epiphany for me…courtesy of my friend Nancy. As most women tend to do when girl talk is involved, we were discussing men. Ah, men…yes. Anyway, I was telling them about a guy I had met whom I no longer fancied for a few reasons. I told them that he was just “weird” and that I had lost interest. Then Nancy tells me: “But you’re weird. You can’t expect to date a “normal” guy. That’s just not going to happen.” I looked at her for a moment and realized that she is 100% right. One of my best friends has been calling me “freak” for the last 15 years–he never even calls me by my name anymore, so you know there is some truth to it. I guess I like to think of myself as unique and not weird. I’m just special. hahaha This made me think that maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss others as weird or strange since apparently we’re in the same boat. So there you have it.

How was your weekend? I hope it was interesting and full of fun stuff. What do you think of Venique Acting Is Living? Have you tried Venique polishes before? I’d love to hear what you think. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR firm. For more information, please see my disclosure policy tab here.