Flakie Friday! Layla Ceramic Effect: Killing Red

Hello lovelies! Happy Friday! I dunno about you guys, but I live for friday.  Not only is it the start of the weekend, but it's also Flakie Friday! If you aren't familiar with Flakie Friday, every Friday Susan of The Subtle Shimmer and I post a flakie polish. It's really renewed my love for flakies, and forced me to brush the dust off some untrieds.

Today I have another Layla Ceramic Effect Flakie to share with you. This one is called Killing Red and it's a red jelly packed full of flakies that shift from red to orange and gold. It's a really beautiful polish, however I had one hek of a time photographing it. The orange and gold in the flakies tends to overwhelm the red base in photos. IRL the red is deeper...more of a true cherry red.

I also feel the need to beg forgiveness for posting photos with the lovely gash on my index finger. I was attempting to fix the stupid automatic seat belt in my car and managed to slip and slice myself with a screwdriver. Oops! Everyone point and laugh now! ;)But let's get to the polish!

This is 2 coats of Killing Red topped with HK Girl Top Coat:

I was so happy when I found this at Ulta the other day. I had been dying for a Red Flakie and this was the lone bottle of Killing Red. However, although I do like this polish, It's hasn't entirely killed my need for a good red flakie. I was hoping for a more evident color shift IRL, and more vibrance from the flakies.

Formula:
Killing Red's formula was lovely, albeit a little on the thin side. Very easy to work with, not thickening during use and no clumps of flakies.

Application:
The polish itself applied nicely, gliding onto the nail with no issues. The brush on my bottle was ultra wonky, so I had to really work at getting this where I wanted it as opposed to all over my fingers. It was like trying to apply a flakie polish with a large, fluffy, janitorial grade mop! Thankfully it really is just a wonky brush - none of my other CE's have brush issues.

Layla Ceramic Effect Polishes are formulated to be used without top or base coat. I still use base coat, but always try these without top coat just to see if they really are as shiny and durable as they're supposed to be. I ended up adding topcoat over Killing Red since the surface was a touch textured and it just didn't have the depth I was looking for sans top coat.

This is such a gorgeous polish, however I don't think my search for the perfect red flakie is over. Actually, my search for flakies of all kinds and colors is nowhere near finished!

What's your take on Killing Red? Do you have a fave Flakie polish?

Be sure to check out Susan's awesome Up Colors Flakie! ( and don't forget to check out her shop, Star Trinkets, while you're there!) Man, I swear Susan has the best flakie polishes ever. She has me lemming every single one she has posted so far!


Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

Flakie Friday! Layla Ceramic Effect in The Butterfly Effect

Good morning lovelies! Happy Friday! At least I hope it is. Mom is meeting with the surgeon this afternoon to go over the results of the PET Scan. I'm really hoping they tell us it really is stage 2, and that she an totally beat this. My mom is so very brave. I can tell she's a bit stressed, but otherwise she is facing this with such strength and bravery that it's incredible. That's my mom....she's always been a strong woman. If anyone can beat this, it's her.

Today marks the first post in a new series that I'm participating in with one of my blog crushes, Susan of The Subtle Shimmer. Susan came up with the idea to post a flakie polish every Friday until we run out (which could take awhile since I just see this as a good excuse to get more Flakies!). I adore Flakies, and kept meaning to wear mine, but just never got around to it. This gives me a reason to pull them out of my stash and give them some love!

For my first Flakie Friday I chose Layla Ceramic Effect in CE 52 - Butterfly Effect (does anyone else  think of Ashton Kutcher when they see that name?). Butterfly Effect boasts a purple jelly base with gold/green/teal color shifting flakies. It's also a rumored dupe of my very favorite Flakie of all time - the glorious Nfu-Oh 51. Now that I own both of them, I can tell you that Butterfly Effect is much more opaque than 51, and the base color is darker. The flakies are also more abundant, which is always a good thing! Butterfly Effect is from the Ceramic Effect line, which is supposed to have superior shine without top coat and never need a base coat. Nfu-Oh makes no such claims.They are, however, so very similar that if you don't have 51, this will certainly slay that lemming.

All photos are 2 coats of Butterfly Effect, no top coat.

*Le Sigh*. Gorgeous, isn't she? I knew I would love this polish since I love Nfu-Oh 51 so very much, but I thought I would find it somehow inferior. Not so much.

Formula:
Butterly Effect's formula was positively dreamy. I had expected this to be a tough on the thick and difficult side like 51 is, but was pleaseantly surprised. BE's formula is fairly thin, yet not runny. No thickening during use as well.

Application:
Unlike 51, Butterfly Effect applied as smooth as silk with no dragging or balding. I had expected it to be a bit more difficult, especially since the flakies are more abundant than in 51, but I had no issues at all. Even without top coat, BE was level and dried quickly. It also lives up to the claim that its super shiny without needing topcoat. In fact, had to photograph this in lower light, otherwise the shine created some washed out spots on the pics.

I am definitely impressed with this polish and will definitely be picking up the green version. I found my bottle at Ulta for around $8.

Be sure to check out Susan's awesome Koh Flakie at The Subtle Shimmer (also check out her store, Star Trinkets! She has some awesome polish and some utterly fantastic jewelry!)!

What do you think of Butterfly Effect? Do you prefer BE or Nfu-Oh 51?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

31 Day Challenge (v.2!) Day 31 : Recreate Your Favorite Challenge

Morning lovelies!! Did you notice the change here at KLK? That's right! KLK is now located at Kimberslacquerkorner.com! Yay! I don't know if it's blogger, but since I went to the .com addy my follower widget has been acting up. It seems to be ok if you refresh the page, so if you're trying to follow KLK, just refresh! :) Also, remember to like KLK on Facebook! Once I reach 100 likes I will be having an A England Giveaway!

Today is our final challenge, and I am both relieved and sad. I have met so many amazing bloggers through this challenge, and learned so much. Had I not done this challenge, I never would have attempted anything by Robin Moses, new color combinations, new nail art techniques. I would not have met all of the lovely ladies that worked their butts off on this every 3 days. I've made some very close friends through this challenge - thank you to each and every one of you for sticking with me and letting me get to know you - It's been amazing and I'm honored to call you all friends.

Having said that, if any of you are up for a different challenge, Let me know! We can decide together what kind of challenge and what time frame we can commit to. I'll be honest, I'm going to miss posting with you all and am loathe to let that go!

Today's challenge was tough. There have been so many utterly amazing mancures in this challenge that it was hard to choose. But one really stuck in my head. I knew that I had to try it ASAP, and so I decided to try it out for this challenge. I will warn all of you - I will be re-creating more manis from your challenges since there are so many that I am in love with and want to try.

This Manicure is my tribute to Kat from Hooked On Polish. I've known Kat since before she really started blogging and let me tell you guys, she is the sweetest person. Her nail art is incredible. She uses the most awesome color combinations and techniques. I love her blog, I adore her, and I fell in love with this manicure the second I saw it. Yup! You guessed it! It's Kat's Day 8 Metallic Nails Mani!

I didn't have the exact polishes that Kat used, so I grabbed my Layla Magnetics in Purple Galaxy and Blue Grey Flow. I used 2 coats of Blue Grey Flow as my base color, then used BGF and Purple Galaxy for the sponging. I used a coat of Gelous before applying the magnet, and woah! I wish I had taken pictures of this right after I finished. I forgot that the pattern would spread out a bit overnight! But when I pulled the magnet away initially I had the strongest magnetic pattern ever! I'm going to try the coat of gelous technique on some of my other magnetics to see if that's the key here!

But enough babbling! Kat, this one's for you! (Sorry about the bubbling and spread out pattern. SV is evil lately!)

I really wish I had taken my photos last night instead of waiting. The pattern was so crisp and strong! I think that's the only thing I don't really like about magnetic polish - how the pattern spreads out.  Still, I really love this technique and am happy with the results. I still dig magnetic polish so I'll certainly be trying this with different color combos.

Varnished Vixens, it has been my pleasure to host this challenge. I hope that we all keep in touch, and tackle many challenges together. You ladies are my little polish family, and just because this challenge is over, well....you're not getting rid of me that easily!

Be sure to check out the Varnished Vixens final challenge manicures!
-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles  

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

Layla Hologram Effect Flash Black - Yummy Holo Goodness! (Pic Heavy!)

Hi guys! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! Sundays always sneak up on me. :)

Today I have Flash Black from Layla's Hologram Effect Collection to share with you. I was very close to not having any sunlight pics, because the second I apply a holo the weather goes all wonky - never fails! But alas, I prevailed and managed to grab the sliver of sunlight that we had on Friday. I also grabbed some pics of her inside in artificial light, so I apologize for the ton of pics!

Flash Black is a black linear holographic polish that has some of the most striking holographic effect I have seen in a polish. This collection is just amazingly holo, and oh so gorgeous. However, out of the 3 I currently own, Flash Black is my least favorite. It really has to do with the color. In most light it looks more taupe than black and that just messes with me. I really wanted this to be darker! It's still stunning though, so I can't complain too much.

Details:
No base coat
2 coats Layla Hologram Effect Flash Black
1 coat SV
2 coats Flash Black
No Top Coat

In Sunlight:

And inside under the daylight lamp (still lovely and holo! wow!):

I have to tell you guys, I am so in love with these! Even though the color fell a little flat for me, I still couldn't stop staring at my nails! I still have one more color from this collection to wear, and it's the one I love the most in the bottle, but I may have to pick up a few more since I am loving them so much!

Formula:
As far as holos go, the formula on Flash Black was prety darn good. I expect a certain amount of streaking and balding from a holo, but it's fairly minimal with these as long as you allow it to dry 2-3 minutes between coats. It is streaky on the first coat, and requires 3-4 coats for complete opacity.

Application:
This girl was fairly smooth to apply, but it does dry quickly so if you are one that likes to wipe your brush on the neck of the bottle, watch for tiny clumps. Since it is a holo and prone to slight balding, I used a very light touch to apply, and applied a decent coat of polish (no very thin coats here!) on the final 2 coats.

I did not use a base coat since Layla recommends you use their buffing system prior to application. It's really just a 2 sided buffer - 1 side to buff and one to shine, so you don't really need to purchase their buffer if you choose this method. However, wear time is significantly decreased without a base coat (even if you "sandwich" it), this started to peel off the very next morning! I think that since the nail is so smooth and shiny it really can't adhere well. I recommend either a good Aqua Base type base coat or something similar with these.  I also skipped the top coat since I don't like decreasing the holo effect. I like a lot of shiny rainbow goodness!

Layla Hologram Effects are currently available at Ulta for $15.50.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

30 Days of Blue: Layla Hologram Effect in Ocean Rush

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be sharing this polish today. I have been wanting a linear holo for a long time, and to find an amazing line of linear holos here in NM?? I almost had a massive coronary right there!

Layla Hologram Effects are the new holographic line from Layla, and are the strongest Linear holos I have ever seen. Pictures simply do not do them justice. Ocean Rush is a gorgeous deep Ocean blue Linear holo that throws double and triple rainbow V's all over the nail. I picked up 3 colors from this line and despite being seriously and amazingly holo, Ocean Rush is the LEAST holo of all 3. The Silver and Black holos are just breathtaking. Not that Ocean Rush isn't incredible. I compared them to China Glaze Sexagon when I got home, and there is just no comparison. The Layla Hologram Effect Collection just blows Sexagon out of the water. 

These pics show maybe about 1/3 of how strong this is IRL. I had some late evening sunlight, but that wasn't strong enough to really show how awesome this polish is.

First, here are some shots indoors with the Daylight Lamp:

And now in some waning sunlight:

I tried to capture this in a macro shot, but it blurred out the holo. You guys get the point, right?

I am so in love with these holos! I can't wait to show you the other 2! I may have to squeeze in some swatches this week just to share them!

Formula on these ladies was right about what you would expect from a holo, a little goopy and some drag, so you definitely want to make sure you let it dry between coats. I didn't use a basecoat with this, since you're supposed to use this special buffing file that Layla makes in order to get the best effect. It's really just a very fine grit 2-way buffer, and I found that since it makes your nails smooth and shiny as silk, that after a day or so the polish will just slide off in sheets. I would recommend either Orly Bonder of Nfu-Oh Aqua Base for these. Wear wasn't as bad as I had expected, lasting an entire 2 days with zero chips or wear, but like I mentioned, using the buffer caused it to just come off in full sheets when it did finally wear. All of those little annoyances are so very worth it for such an awesome linear holo effect though!

I picked these up at Ulta for $15.50 each. The buffer retails seperately for $2.95.

Hope you're all having a fantastic day! I'm off to do some nail art!

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber