Category: Konadicure

Of Life and Lacquer > Konadicure

TOMS & Essie

Posted on by Cynthia

A few weeks ago, I heard about a promotion on TOMS’ Facebook page. I don’t really recall entering it, but apparently I was entered to win a free Essie polish. Lo and behold, I received it yesterday!!! Wow! And I had just complained that I never with anything. If you don’t know anything about TOMS, here is the “About” info on their Facebook page:

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One.

Five years later, TOMS realized this movement could serve other basic needs and launched TOMS Eyewear. With every pair purchased, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need. One for One. As more everyday choices have the power to impact the lives of those around the world, the TOMS movement will continue to grow and evolve.

The polish I received is a limited edition color named Barefoot in Blue. It is a sheer color but very buildable. I love it!

And here it is with a design from plate M73.

So thank you TOMS and Essie for the beautiful nail polish. Don’t forget to check out the details for the One Day Without Shoes Event on April 10, 2012.

Starry Night

Posted on by Cynthia

I’ve worn this color at least 4 times recently so I can definitely say that it’s one of my favorites. It’s just such a beautiful blue/green/teal with gold microshimmer. I am loving it.

 

This is the only picture that sorta came out of the star Konad pattern that I stamped over Custom Kicks. After I took pictures of the base color, the sun completely disappeared. So annoying. This is actually two different designs from plate M3 that I combined. (Get this plate Vienna!)

I’m not too wordy right now. I think I’m hungry but don’t know what I want to eat for dinner. I think I’ll make myself a tuna melt…that sounds yummy.

 

Ho-hum

Posted on by Cynthia

I’ve been feeling kinda blah lately. Nothing is really wrong, I’ve just been dealing with the vivid dreams side-effect of my meds. It’s really hard to get a good night’s sleep because I wake up so many dang times during the night freaking out about my stupid dreams.The last time I talked to my doctors about this, they suggested that I try to “take control of my dreams.” WTF. If I could do that, of course I would do it. Anyway…I hope this goes away soon because my dreams are centered around all my insecurities which really sucks.

Today I went to my nail supply place and picked up a couple of China Glaze glitters which I am loving because one is super bright orange and the other is super bright green. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! I also bought some fake eyelashes because I want to try wearing them. My lashes are so yucky and I hate wearing mascara. Let’s see how long this fake lash thing lasts. I also found out that my nail place carries Konad stuff. Great…more crap to waste money on. I ended up getting two new plates for $5.00 each. I usually buy my plates on amazon.com, but I noticed that the prices have gone up about $1-$1.50 per plate!!!! I used to be able to get them for $2.50-$3 (plus s&h) so now they are a better deal at $5. I’ve done my nails a couple of times since my last post but I wasn’t feeling like posting much.

Today I did my nails with OPI’s Romeo and Joliet. I like it but it’s not one of my favorites.

I used one of my new plates for this cute star pattern. Overall, I like the contrast.

She Wore Blue Velvet

Posted on by Cynthia

 

Ok, so I know that this color isn’t really blue but more of a purple with some blue in it. However, I kept thinking of the song “Blue Velvet” while I was doing my nails. I also thought of Isabella Rossellini in all her masochistic glory in the movie of the same name. Like tangents much?

First Class Ticket is a purple shimmer dream. It doesn’t look very blue in real life and is definitely one of those dark vampy colors. In the sun, it really shines. There is some pink and blue shimmer hidden in that dark purple base. Oooohhhh so pretty!

 

And with a stamp. Tada!

 

Now I have to go buy a present for the baby shower I’m going to tomorrow. I don’t think my nails are baby shower appropriate so I’ll probably change them tomorrow. 🙁

Suzi Says Whaaaaaaat?

Posted on by Cynthia

I know I’m not the only one who thinks the whole Suzi thing in OPI polish names is kinda lame. Maybe if I was Artistic Director of a nail polish company, I’d name polishes after myself too! But in all honesty, how awesome does her job sound?

Today I was messing around with a bunch of colors. I have all of my polishes on an excel spreadsheet and wanted to start marking those that I have already swatched. I should have done this from the beginning, but I didn’t think I was going to really keep blogging about nails for long. I am the queen of starting stuff and then just giving up. That is one of the things I really hate about myself so I am glad that I’m still totally excited about doing it. I’d have to say that I am really loving the interactions with other bloggers so thanks to all the wonderful ladies who constantly visit my blog and most importantly, comment! Sometimes I look at my stats and see that a couple hundred people have visited my blog but not many comment. I wonder if I’m not engaging enough or if maybe they just didn’t like my swatches. Now I am just coming to the realization that a very small minority comment and that’s fine with me. I’m not doing this because I want validation; I just think it’s fun and as long as it continues to be fun, I will keep doing it.

I ended up painting my nails with Suzi Says Feng Shui from the Spring 2010 Hong Kong Collection. Why?! Why?????!!!!!!!!!! Why are there so many gorgeous colors out there? It’s blue, smokey and a creme. What else could I ask for?

 

Here is the color with a houndstooth pattern stamp from Konad plate M63. I hate it when my stamping looks sloppy, but I was in a rush because I was cooking dinner! Who said doing your nails and cooking at the same time would be a good idea?

 

I kinda really love the way this looks. Now I’m starting to plan my manicure for Saturday. I have to go to a baby shower on Saturday, but I will also be going to see The Hunger Games afterwards with my best friend. FUDGE! I can’t go to a baby shower with crazy dark nails and I can’t go to see The Hunger Games with pastel baby shower nails. What to do…what to do!? Any ideas will be happily welcomed.

Emerald Konadicure

Posted on by Cynthia

Emerald Fitzgerald. How awesome is that name? I know I’m not the only one who thought of the cover of The Great Gatsby? What an iconic cover, right? I remember the first time I read The Great Gatsby, I was struck by how much Jay Gatsby idealized Daisy despite her being a vacuous specimen. Beautiful, yes, but so empty of real humanity. Anyway….back to nail polish.

Emerald Fitzgerald is part of the Vintage Vixen Collection from Fall 2010. I’ve seen this polish photograph kind of blue, but I don’t really see it in person; it’s actually a deep and shimmery emerald green and maybe the tiniest hint of blue. Really tiny. The formula was perfect and only needed two coats.

And here is the polka dot stamp from Konad plate M79.

If you are a green polish lover, this is a must. Let me know what you think.

Is It Time To Grow Up?

Posted on by Cynthia

People always comment on my nail polish. Some older women but mostly younger women. The younger girls seem to comment more whenever I have a glitter explosion on my nails or I am sporting an in your face Konad design. After a teenage girl made a comment on my nails today, I wondered to myself if it is time to grow up…nail polish-wise. At 32 years of age, is it time to move away from the crazy designs I sometimes wear? Should I be moving towards the taupe/beige/mauve office appropriate colors?

Hell-to-the-no. If I get to be old, I am going to be the old lady with crazy nails…and purple eyeshadow. Yeah, all the craziness minus the cats.

So here I am again using another color from the Up & Away Collection. Bubblegum pink? Oh yes, the perfect bubblegum pink.  Sugar High was a dream to apply: smooth, saturated and shiny. I love this color for spring and summer!

 

Konad plate M66 is very Japanese inspired and I tried one of the designs. I think I should have picked a more muted pink for this design…something along the lines of OPI’s Japanese Rose Garden would have looked better.

 

So what do you think about this color? Do you think there is an age where elaborate and colorful nails start to seem tacky?

Heli-Yum + Konad = Love

Posted on by Cynthia

So here is another polish from China Glaze’s Up & Away Collection. I can get over how gorgeous this shade is: bright, creamy, smooth, raspberry pink. The formula is opaque and smooth enough that you only really need one thick coat. I prefer always applying two thin coats, though. I never looked this up, but was the Up & Away Collection associated with the movie Up?

                           

 

I guess it’s just me. Anyway, I am going to look for more colors from this collection because I don’t have them all. Here are a couple swatches of Heli-Yum.

I almost didn’t stamp over this color. I mean, look how beautiful it is. I ended up using a design from plate S6.

Do you have any favorites from the Up & Away Collection?

 

Glitter Overload Konadicure

Posted on by Cynthia

I think I have said that I don’t particularly like glitter polishes. I don’t enjoy the removal process and I hate having gritty nails. Despite this, I am a big fan of Color Club’s Beyond The Mistletoe Collection. All of the glitters in that collection are seriously breathtaking. Today I decided to wear Beyond The Mistletoe:

Then I decided to stamp over it. Well, I don’t exactly like the way this turned out. This stamp would look a lot better with a solid color underneath.

So what do you think? Do you like glitter polishes?

Rainy Day Konadicure

Posted on by Cynthia

I noticed today that I haven’t been giving my Konad plates much love lately so I picked a design from one of the plates I ordered recently. Then I had to decide what colors to use. What a dilemma. Well, I ended up using OPI’s Yoga-ta Get This Blue! with Konad’s special white polish.

First of all, I’ve got to show you how gorgeous Yoga-ta Get This Blue! is. It’s dark blue and shimmery and one of those perfect formula polishes. This is definitely the star of OPI’s India Collection from Spring 2008.

 

And here it is with a designe from the M79 Konad plate:

 

I’m really diggin’ this combination and strangely it suits my mood with all this rain outside. Weird.