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Stamping Saturdays #19

Posted on 17 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Yep, I’m totally late for Stamping Saturdays mainly because I decided to try the decal method and it was a total bust. I figured that it would be a great idea because I have one Konad image that is barely wide enough to cover my nails so it is super important to line it up perfectly. Well, it did not work out at all because I applied too much top coat on the image and the decal was way too thick. Once I tried to apply it, it was not pliable at all so it just made a big old mess. Have you tried the decal method before? I know there are a few ways to do it, but Thea from Madness Nails has a great tutorial which is the one I followed. Maybe I will give it a try again some other time, but to be honest, it’s too much of a hassle if you’re going to stamp all 10 nails.

Today I felt like wearing Kiko 337 Periwinkle Violet which is freaking awesome. It’s super pigmented and only needed two coats. Even though the polish is super bright, it did not stain my nails at all.

I then used an image from Konad M63 to stamp over my base color. I like how this turned out, but I think I need to invest in new stamping polish because it’s getting harder and harder to get a clean and crisp image. I know there are a lot of choices out there, so please let me know if you have any recommendations.

I am happy to report that it’s nice and cool again in SoCal. I was dying all week so this is a welcome relief. This morning I woke up early because I want to go watch Godzilla early and avoid the crowds. Well, the movie kind of rocked. It was awesome even though it took forever for us to get to see Godzilla. If you like monster/action movies, you will probably enjoy it. I’ve been listening to Smooth McGroove’s YouTube Channel non-stop because he has the most amazing acapella renditions of classic video game themes. If you are an old-school video game nerd like me, you’ll probably piss your pants after hearing this:

How awesome is that? It brought me back to crying because I couldn’t beat Mike Tyson at the end of the game. He also has 2 videos on Chrono Trigger tunes–hello! Chrono Trigger is just about my favorite game EVER. Anyway, check him out!

I hope you’re enjoying your weekend so far. Thanks so much for visiting today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #18

Posted on 10 May, 201410 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Welcome to another edition of Stamping Saturdays! Let me ask you: have you done your stamping mani? We would love to see what you come up with so join us by linking your mani at the end of this post. Stamping is probably the very first nail art-y thing that I ever did when nail polish became my #1 obsession so it’s something that will always be fun for me. I hope that it’s fun for you too–fun enough to join us, that is. Ha! Anyway, today I am feeling kinda blah (not mentally, but physically) so I’m being a bum. I think I just ate some questionable things like the “Le Burger de Madame” at Mimi’s Cafe. My first mistake was even going to Mimi’s cause that place is pretty barftastic. I’m sure that it shaved off at least a day of my life considering the amount of fat and calories that this buttery bovine behemoth contains. (Buttery bovine behemoth–alliteration at its finest or at its worst?) I also watched the newest Captain America movie and I did enjoy it despite the shitty reviews. To be honest, I will pretty much enjoy any action movie and can’t even think of one that I have hated off the top of my head. I really liked watching Alien vs. Predator which was universally despised, so I should stop talking about movies since I clearly have no taste. By the way, why didn’t I know that Robert Redford was in this movie??? He’s one of the pillars of my childhood crush trifecta: Robert Redford, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.

I was definitely a weird kid…you don’t have to say it! But come on! Sean Connery was always at the top–it must have been the accent. Harrison Ford was a hot archeologist/professor (and we all know how I feel about professors). Enough said. And Hubbell, I mean Robert was just…Robert Redford. Wait, wasn’t this post supposed to be about nail polish and stamping? Oh yeah, duh…

The polish I decided to use as my base is China Glaze Social Animal. This is one of those ancient polishes that I love hunting for at dusties. Social Animal is from the Fashion Lounge Collection that came out sometime in 2004. It’s a sheer red with lots of shimmer, and I quite liked it despite needing three coats.

I then used an image from Bundle Monster plate BM 322 and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. I’m feeling a little meh about the design because it was so hard to line it up correctly. You can see that the design on my pinky nail isn’t centered, but whatever–it can’t always be perfect.

Before I forget to mention it, I got a chance to meet Robert Redford like 10 years ago when I was working at the airport as a ticket agent. I may have lost my ability to speak momentarily or maybe I burst into a heartfelt rendition of “The Way We Were.” Who can remember that far back anyway? So, what do you think about this mani? Yay or nay? Please weigh in below and don’t forget to check out all the other Stamping Saturdays manis. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

P.S. I’m really not crazy. I’m just passionate. At least that is what I tell myself…

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Stamping Saturdays #17

Posted on 3 May, 20143 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Holy shitballs you guys…I had a bad day yesterday. My day was a perfect comedy of errors so it’s not like something horrendous happened to me, it was just that EVERYTHING was going wrong. I ended up going to dinner with a friend and then we ended up drinking (a lot of beer–ha!) and watching the show My Strange Addiction. Do you know how much stranger that show is when you’re wasted? I am miraculously not hung over this morning which is great considering that I needed to put this post together. Thankfully I had completed my manicure yesterday when it was 5,000 degrees–even my fingers were sweating! Anyway, let’s get the polish show on the road!

For my base color, I used OPI In The Cable Car-pool Lane (press sample) which is simply goygeous. It is so shiny and squishy. I’m still loving the whole San Francisco Collection despite popular opinion.

For my stamped design, I use my MoYou London Pro Collection 18 plate (press sample) and Essie Good As Gold.

I really like how this turned out! I know this isn’t a very Spring/Summer manicure, but I don’t care. I will always wear whatever I’m in the mood for and this is what I wanted to wear yesterday.

It’s supposed to be a lot cooler this weekend (not in the 90’s) so I’m looking forward to not sweating while I sit on the couch and just watch TV. I’m also hoping to get some swatching done but there was a Zoya tragedy at the hands of Peanut yesterday. I’ll leave the story for the actual post. Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope that you’ll link up your posts if you are participating in Stamping Saturdays. Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #16

Posted on 26 April, 2014 by Cynthia

Since purple is one of my favorite colors, I remember being obsessed with getting every purple and lilac polish known to mankind when I first started ~~hoarding~~ collecting nail polish. One of the very first polishes that made me swoon is OPI Do You Lilac It? and it is still a favorite. I decided to use it as the base color for my mani today so let’s take a look…

This is two buttery coats of OPI Do You Lilac It?, and it is still as gorgeous as I remember it.

I then used KBShimmer Pansy-monioum (press sample) to sponge on my gradient.

And lastly, I used an image from Konad plate M73 for this girlie and flowery design.

While I’m not in love with this final design, I think it is pretty. It’s a little more “girlie” than I tend to do, but sometimes change is good, right? Don’t forget t check out the other Stamping Saturdays looks below. Also, if you’re interested in joining us in Stamping Saturdays, feel free to link your stamped manis below as well. We’d love to see what you come up with. As always, thanks for stopping by!

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Stamping Saturdays #15

Posted on 19 April, 2014 by Cynthia

Welcome to another installment of Stamping Saturdays! I can’t believe that I have managed to do this without missing a single Saturday since we started this up. Is it funny that I find this a huge accomplishment? I’m feeling like a lazy bum today which is par for the course so all I’m going to do it laundry and watch TV all day. For today’s Stamping Saturdays post, I decided to do something kind of obnoxious so I started with a crazy bright yellow: nails inc. Carnaby Street.

This polish is so damn electric. In real life, it leans a tiny, tiny bit orange but it’s still a super bright orange. The formula is a bit streaky so it did need three coats for full opacity. Now that we’ve seen so many awesome yellows come out, it’s disappointing to have such a streaky yellow. I am pretty sure that I have mentioned that I love yellow everything and I can trace it back to my mom always dressing me in yellow when I was a little girl.

For my stamping design, I used a design from MoYou Plate Pro Collection – 02 (press sample).

I can’t tell you enough how awesome these MoYou London plates are! I’ve used them so much lately and the quality is just superb.

This triangle design is kind of busy, but I just love the combination of yellow and black. It makes me think of cabs and of crash test dummies.

I don’t know about you, but these videos used to scare me when I was a kid. hahaha

So what do you think about this design? Do you have any plans for Easter Sunday? I haven’t finalized any plans yet so I’m assuming I won’t be doing much for now. Thanks so much for stopping by today and enjoy your weekend.

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Stamping Saturdays #14

Posted on 12 April, 201413 April, 2014 by Cynthia

You know that I’m always excited when Saturday rolls around and not just because I don’t have to work…it’s STAMPING SATURDAYS, of course! I woke up a couple of hours ago and now I’m just lounging around being a total bum. Later today we’re taking my mom out to dinner since tomorrow is her birthday so I’m anticipating something yummy. For today’s Stamping Saturdays I tried another gradient. I don’t want to be a one trick pony here, but I’m so excited about being able to do decent gradients now that I want to do them ALL THE TIME. For my design today, I started out with 2 creamy coats of Illamasqua Nomad.

If you don’t have Illamasqua Nomad, you cannot imagine what a creamy minty masterpiece this is. I am generally a lover of anything Illamasqua and this is no exception.

I then used Illamasqua Noble and sponged it on top of Nomad for this gradient. Gradients can get really messy as you can see above. I normally find that taping up the skin around my fingers is more annoying to me than actually cleaning the mess up so I never do that. When I posted this picture on Facebook, a lot of people suggested that I use Elmer’s glue on my skin. WHY HADN’T I THOUGHT OF THAT???? That’s genius! I am going to give that a try next time I do a gradient and I’ll let you know how I liked it.

I don’t know about you, but I think the mess is totally worth it. Look at that gradient! It could be a little smoother, but I’m not going to be too picky about it.

Lastly, I used this design from plate MASH-48. I have no idea what this design is…at first I thought it looked like flames. I think it goes well with this gradient because it lets plenty of the base colors show through.

So what do you think of today’s design? I’m really happy with it and still mourn the fact that I had to take it off. I’m doing a bunch of swatching this weekend so I couldn’t keep it on. Sadness! Well, I hope that you’re having a nice weekend so far. Thanks so much for the visit, and I’ll talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #13

Posted on 5 April, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey good morning! I just rolled out of bed, and I remembered that I passed out in the middle of putting this post together last night so here I am blogging before breakfast. I don’t know what time you have to be at work in the morning, but I start at 5 am which means that I am up before 4 am during the week. When I get the chance to sleep in a little, it feels like I am cradled by clouds while angels gently sing me awake. I really wish I could be a morning person, but I will never be happy to wake up before 10 am so I’ll just have to deal with it like everyone else. After work yesterday I went polish shopping which is always a disaster waiting to happen because I want one of everything. Since I liked my first ibd polishes, I decided to pick up a few more to see if the quality is consistent. I ended up purchasing two searing neons that I then decided to use for my Stamping Saturdays mani.

This is ibd Peony Bouquet and ibd Starburst. They are even brighter in person if you can imagine that!

I decided to try another gradient now that I have some confidence in doing them. It didn’t turn out as smooth as I had hoped but it looks a lot better than my other efforts. I call this a radioactive sunset!

Lastly, I used this start pattern from Konad plate M84 and black special polish to bring it all together. At first I didn’t really like how this turned out, but now I’m really liking it!

What do you think of this mani? Do you have anything fun planned for this weekend? I don’t have any plans yet except maybe to go on a shopping binge since Sephora is having a 15% off sale. Someone please take my wallet away now! Anyway, I hope you like today’s mani and thanks a bunch for stopping by. Have a great day!

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Stamping Saturdays #12

Posted on 29 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Last night we had a 5.1 earthquake in SoCal which is a little scary but exhilarating at the same time. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t like destruction or the idea of people getting hurt, but it’s a scary and exciting feeling to know just what the Earth is capable of. The earthquake wasn’t strong enough to cause any major destruction besides some shattered nerves and some broken items that fell off shelves. Ever since then, we have been having a lot of aftershocks so I know that people are on edge about the whole thing. For as long as I can remember, I have been hearing about “the big one” that supposed to happen here in SoCal so I definitely hope that doesn’t really happen any time soon. So while the whole earthquake thing happened, I was working on my Stamping Saturdays mani, and I was struggling with a few ideas. The only thing that was easy to figure out was what polish I wanted to use as my base.

Bourjois Lavande Esquisse is such a gorgeous color, and it makes me sad that I can’t get this brand here in the states. Pooh!

For my stamping design, I decided to use one of my MoYou London plates (press sample). One thing to note is that this plate is labeled 02 on the website, but the actual physical plate is labeled 03. Kinda weird!

I like this image because it has a Mod feel to it, but I’m not that happy with the color combination. Now that I look at the design, I think a white base with that black stamp would have looked perfect. I don’t hate it, but I’m also not in love with it.

Today I don’t have much going on. I totally overslept and didn’t get up until like 9:30 and now I’m watching bad reality TV. I am going to get ready in a few minutes to go polish shopping (I know!), but I think my nail place may have some new stuff. Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Stamping Saturdays manis below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #11

Posted on 22 March, 201422 March, 2014 by Cynthia

So I just want to preface this post by saying that I’m not really happy with today’s Stamping Saturdays offering. I think I did a sloppy job, and I go from thinking it isn’t too bad to actually hating it but I figure that I should post it anyway because not every manicure is going to be perfect. I’m feeling kind of blah today for a variety of reasons so I apologize for the lack of “pep” in this post. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

I started off with two coats of Nails Inc. Baker Street which is probably one of my favorite blues ever. This color is just so amazingly electric that I can never get enough of it.I always love to see the combination of a bright blue and Max Factor Fantasy Fire so I applied two thin coats over Baker Street.

Lastly, I used an image from Bundle Monster Plate BM 310 for my stamping design. I’ve used this image quite a few times because I love it, but I don’t think it quite works with this mani. I don’t know if it’s the color or something else, but I don’t like how this turned out. I think I’ve had a pretty good run of awesome stamping manis, so a dud was bound to happen, right?

While I was finishing up writing this post, I was watching Thelma & Louise and that final scene of their car flying off the cliff was so perfect! I love that movie! Last night I went to watch the movie Divergent and I was actually surprised that I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say it’s a great movie, but I think it serves its purpose which is to entertain. I felt that the characters could have been a little more developed and I wanted to see more of Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn before they were killed…womp womp. Anywho, I’m looking forward to watching Noah next week. Are there any movies out right now that you can recommend? Let me know what you think of this week’s mani–I won’t be butt hurt if you tell me it sucks–haha! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #10

Posted on 15 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey! Good Morning? I apparently no longer need sleep since I’ve been up for almost 24 hours straight so excuse me if I start acting like a lunatic…and I mean more than usual. And that’s as far as I got before I completely passed out. haha! I decided to just leave that bit in and continue this morning now that I’ve slept a few hours. Last night I ended up not having much time to think about what I wanted to do for today’s post because I was out so late. By the time I got back home, it was almost midnight, but I knew that I didn’t want to skip my beloved Stamping Saturdays. Sooo…I plopped myself down on the couch to start thinking about my mani and then I started catching up on Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Law & Order…and before I knew it, it was almost 3 am. I did manage to do my mani during that time but it felt like it took me forever! Be warned that this post is picture heavy compared to most of my other posts. Let’s take a look at what I came up with.

I don’t usually purchase too many Finger Paints polishes, but lately I’ve noticed that they are putting out some really gorgeous shades. I first saw Finger Paints Gorgeous Graffiti on Yadi’s blog, Night Swatcher, and I knew I had to have it. I totally blame her for my Finger Paints lemmings. Gorgeous Graffiti reminded me of Sephora Formula X Hyped but for less than half the price. Hyped is a little more shimmery and vibrant, but I do think it’s a good dupe if price is a concern.

Because Gorgeous Graffiti dries matte, I applied a coat of Seche Vite to liven it up. I much prefer this shiny.

Because the blue shimmer wasn’t enough for me, I decided to apply one coat of Nubar Cotton Candy Crush to brighten my mani. Overkill? I really love this glitter topper!

For my stamping design, I decided to use the houndstooth design from my MoYou London Pro Collection 18 plate (press sample) because it is a full nail design but also allows the base polish to show through.

I’m a little on the fence about my final result. I think maybe the whole mani is too busy, but I do like the color combination. You can never go wrong with houndstooth! I love how crisp the design transferred which is due to the special black Konad polish and a great plate. I’ve been using these MoYou London plates regularly, and I absolutely love them!

So what do you think of this mani? Are you on the fence about it like me? I hope that your enjoying your weekend so far, and I will talk to you soon!

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