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The Lacquer Ring – Geometric

Posted on 1 August, 2014 by Cynthia

Aww man, I feel like such a loser. After postponing this post last week, I still managed to post this late. I sort of have an excuse because I had a really stressful day, and I just didn’t have it in me to write up this post. I’m sorry for being a total flake for my fellow ladies in The Lacquer Ring. I promise I won’t be a flake this month. Can you believe it’s August already? WTF? Where did time go? Where have all the cowboys gone? Anyway, the theme we were working with is geometric. I have to admit I suck big time at freehanding anything especially when it has to be precise so I knew I had to do some stamping. Let me show you what I did.

I started with my two favorite polishes from the OPI Nordic Collection: OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid (press sample) and OPI Suzi Has A Swede Tooth (press sample). These are such gorgeous colors and the apply like butta.

Since I’m newly obsessed with China Glaze Fairy Dust (press sample), I applied one coat to really get this to sparkle.

I picked out a design I’ve used before from my MoYou London Pro Collection 18 plate(press sample.)

So what do you think about this end design? I’m happy with it because it is geometric and I love the colors.

I’m cutting this short because I am soooo running late right now to meet up with one of my besties. We have a lot to catch up on! Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for Stamping Saturdays. I have tons of ideas right now and I just hope that I can execute them.

Talk to you later!

The Beauty Buffs – Nautical

Posted on 30 July, 201429 July, 2014 by Cynthia

After hiatus, I am back with a new post with my fellow Beauty Buffs! To be honest, I have been feeling kind of blah about blogging lately. It’s not that I’ve stopped loving nail polish, it’s just that it became like a chore for me. Once I took a step back and relaxed my posting schedule, I fell a lot better and I actually started looking forward to posting again. Although my posting has been sporadic at best, I think I am starting to find a happy medium and hope to have a more regular posting schedule starting in August. So are you ready to see what The Beauty Buffs have for you today? Yep, nautical inspired nails! Well, the theme was nautical and/or beachy so I went with Nautical. Let’s take a look.

I used three polishes from the Salon Perfect Paint The Town Red, White and Blue Collection: Paint The Town Red, Salon Perfect Blue Ribbon, Salon Perfect Sugar Cube. I also used some striping tape to help me create some stripes.

At first I was only going to use red and white. Salon Perfect Paint The Town Red is such an awesome red crelly. It reminds me of my favorite red of all time: OPI Vodka & Caviar. It applied flawlessly with two coats. The white, however, was very streaky. I applied 2 thin coats and one thick 3rd coat to get Sugar Cube to look decent.

I decided to apply one coat of Blue Ribbon on my pointer finger over the white because I wanted a little more blue in my manicure. I then used striping tape for the lines on my pinky and pointer finger. Since I wanted to make the whole thing even more “nautical,” I stamped the anchors (CH 36) and wheels (CH 49) using my Cheeky plates and voilà!

What do you think of my little nautical interpretation? Don’t forget to check below for all the other nautical/beachy posts from my fellow Beauty Buffs. Thanks for stopping by today!

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Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Collection

Posted on 29 July, 201428 July, 2014 by Cynthia

Is it hot in your neck of the woods? I know it’s supposed to be really hot here in Southern California, but to tell you the truth, I think it is unseasonably cool. Maybe I’m just on crack or something because it was in the low 90’s here today, but it did not feel that gross. Since it’s really starting to warm up, the collection I have for you today is perfect. The Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Collection is made up of 12 bright colors to sear your retinas. I have 9 of the 12 polishes to share with you today so let’s take a look at the colors first.

Salon Perfect Flamingo Flair

Salon Perfect Fired Up Fuchsia

Salon Perfect Haute Pink (don’t ask me why this looks so orange…my camera took a dump on me)

Salon Perfect Plum Sorbet

Salon Perfect Tickled Pink

This is Loopy Lime, Bermuda Baby, Yowza Yellow and Traffic Cone sponged over a white base of sugar cube. I wasn’t being very careful about my sponging as you can tell by the extreme sloppiness and the muddled outcome. I wasn’t too concerned about it since I was planning to stamp over it anyway.

This is what my mani ended up looking like after stamping it up with an image from Bundle Monster BM 319. I kind of like the grungy end result!

Now, let’s talk formula. These were typical neons but some had better formulas than others. All of the polishes I swatched on their own were rather opaque, and I did not need to use white undies. They dried to a satin finish so I applied a clear top coat to give them some shine. They dried really quickly so you can’t overwork the polish because you will have a major mess on your hands. Loopy Lime, Bermuda Baby, Yowza Yellow and Traffic Cone were a lot thinner so I recommend using a white base to get the most out of them because otherwise you might be applying 5 million coats and still see VNL. If you don’t have similar color, I can recommend these. My absolute favorites are: Plum Sorbet an Fired Up Fuchsia. If you’re interested in purchasing these, you can find them at Wal-Mart where they retail for $3.98 each. My Wal-Mart still had a great selection of these, but they are limited edition so get them while you can.

How do you feel about neons? Strictly for summer or do you rock them year-round? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Stamping Saturdays #29

Posted on 26 July, 2014 by Cynthia

So this morning I went to see Lucy. I was super excited about watching it because I love Scarlett Johansson and I love Luc Besson (hello The Professional!), but it was kind of a let down. It seemed like it was trying to be a little serious but only came off as being silly. I figured a movie with both Scarlett and Morgan Freeman couldn’t be too bad, but I was wrong. I should have seen Hercules instead because then I could at least stare at The Rock for an hour and a half. Anyway, after the movie I went to my nail places and they literally had NOTHING new which was a big disappointment. I headed to Sephora to buy my favorite concealer (Kat Von D), and then went to Sally’s to buy some acetone. They had a buy 2 get 1 free sale on Finger Paints, and I almost bought some but I refrained. I’m so responsible now! I was working on my Stamping Saturdays mani last night and I had 2 total disasticures. It was so frustrating because everything I did came out looking horrible so I just ended up going with this last mani.

I really loved the color of Salon Perfect Plum Sorbet (press sample), but it dried so much darker than the bottle color. Even though this is a neon from the Neon Pop! Collection, I did not need to use a white base for this polish. Two coats were enough for full opacity, and it dries to a satiny finish so you need a good top coat if you need a shiny finish. Of course I Seche’d it up.

I then used an image from Mash plate Mash 40 and Essie Good As Gold for this swirly design. I ended up applying a matte top coat to finish off the mani. This is totally…MEH. I neither like it nor hate it. I feel like I’ve been off my stamping game lately. I hope that I start feeling inspired again because I feel like a total stamping bore right now.

So what are you up to this weekend? I don’t have much planed yet so I’m sure I’m just going to bum around which is fine by me. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Stamping Saturdays #28

Posted on 19 July, 201419 July, 2014 by Cynthia

A few year ago, I was a Sephwhora. What is a Sephwhora, you ask? Well, it’s someone who basically lives a Sephora. I loved going every week and blowing at least $100 each trip–ahhh the joys of having disposable income. Oh how times have changed! However, I find myself much happier today even if my income isn’t where it once was. I also find that I am not as interested in buying tons of cosmetics anymore since I basically just wear concealer, blush and lip gloss…and let’s not forget the eyebrow products! I finally took the plunge and decided to try out the Anastasia Dipbrow pomade so I’m super excited to see if it’s as good as everyone says it is. While I was at Sephora, I also picked up a new polish: Formula X Pedal To The Metal.

Sephora Formula X Pedal To The Metal is such gorgeous red leaning purple that is shimmery and metallic in finish. The formula was nice, but I did find that it dried very quickly so it was easy to overwork the polish. It is fairly opaque so you only need two coats.

And then I used one of my MASH plates, Mash 46, for this busy design. I wasn’t too convinced that I liked this but it has grown on me.

So what do you think? I’m liking the mani overall even if the design does cover up most of the polish. I’m going to cut it a little short today because I need to hurry up and get ready because I’m going to the fair today with my bro, sil and little peanut. I bet he’s going to really enjoy it and hopefully I’ll have a funny picture of him to share. Thanks for stopping by, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #27

Posted on 12 July, 2014 by Cynthia

One of the things that I like to do on Saturday mornings is to wake up a little early and go watch a movie by myself. Is that weird? There is a theater by my house where tickets are $5 for a matinee show and they have new movies! The cheapskate in me can’t resist this so I usually go once a week depending on what movies they have. Well, this morning I watched Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and it was freaking awesome! I highly recommend it if you’re going to catch a movie this weekend. After the movie, I went to Sephora because I wanted to look at all the pretty nail polish and because I needed to buy some moisturizer. I’ve been using the same Clinique moisturizer since I was 14 years old if you can believe it. I have tried tons of different moisturizers over the years and I keep coming back to the original yellow lotion even after trying some that are much more luxurious and expensive. I really had to fight with myself because I wanted to buy one polish: Dolce &Gabbana Stromboli. At $25 for a .37oz bottle, I had to put it back because the price was too much for me to spend on one bottle of polish. I hate how reasonable I have become! I did use 500 of my VIB points to get 5 deluxe samples of Philosophy’s Hope In A Jar–the overnight version. I have super dry skin so I hope this is a good moisturizer to use at night. I rarely find any interesting samples at Sephora so I’m glad I got these. I almost got the Marc Jacobs 1,000 point perk, but I decided to pass because I don’t need ANOTHER lipstick or lipgloss even if they are MJ. Anyway, I’ve written a novel here and haven’t even mentioned my Stamping Saturdays mani so let’s take a look at the polish that I used as my base.I don’ know if you’re very familiar with Mentality nail polish, but you should be because they are some amazing products. Not only are the products top notch, but they are super reasonably priced and they offer free shipping! One of the things I hate about online shopping is having to pay for shipping, so I really appreciate their free and fast shipping. The other day, I saw that they were having a sale on their matte polishes (which are 4-free) because they will be switching to a 5-free base. Despite the fact that I’m drowning in polish, I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of bottles. Mentality Protect is a luxurious green matte polish that applied like a dream. I only needed two coats for full opacity and it dries incredibly fast. Gorgeous!

For my stamping, I used Essie Good As Gold and and image from Bundle Monster BM 313. I’ve been having Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on my mind recently because I can’t wait for the new movie to come out. The very first movie I ever saw at the movie theater was TMNT and of course I became obsessed with everything Ninja Turtles and spent countless hours playing the video games and watching the cartoons. Ahh, those were the good old days.

I know this clip is from the second movie, but who can resist Vanilla Ice? haha! Well, I hope you’re enjoying your Saturday so far and thank you for stopping by today. I’ll talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #26

Posted on 5 July, 2014 by Cynthia

Let me tell you how much I am enjoying my long weekend: I have been a total bum this morning after yesterday’s 4th of July bbq with my parents. I am actually still in my pj’s and don’t care what anyone thinks. I’ve also been watching stuff on Netflix since I woke up. Isn’t this the good life? Did you do anything fun for the holiday? I hate the fact that fireworks are legal in my city because I had to listen to kids set off fireworks all night. Since I was bumming around, I decided to work on a manicure for Stamping Saturdays because I didn’t want to miss out again. Let me show you what I came up with.

I absolutely love Sation Let’s Mingle & Jingle. The base of this polish is kind of a jelly but it slightly more opaque than a traditional jelly. I think the holo glitter just makes this polish look extra special and festive.

I’m kind of in love with honeycomb designs, so I took out my Winstonia W113 plate and stamped over the gorgeous blue base with my Konad white special polish. The image came out really crisp so I was happy with how it turned out.

So what do you have going on this weekend? I’m probably going to continue being a bum for the rest of the day and will probably scramble on Sunday to do my laundry and everything else I should be doing today. I hope you’re having a great weekend, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #25

Posted on 28 June, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey! I’m back! This morning I woke up early to go watch the new Transformers movie; it was alright. It was so damn long, but the action was good so I’ll be a little forgiving. You may notice that I have squared my nails again which I feel is my preferred nail shape. They’re super nubs at the moment, but I didn’t want to miss out on another Stamping Saturdays. Since I love pink so much, I decided to start with a super gorgeous pink polish.

Sephora by OPI What Aura Gonna Wear? is a beautiful bubble gum pink crelly. The formula is pretty nice and was opaque at two coats. I am still sad that this whole line is gone, but you can still find some of these polishes online. I actually found this one at Ross for $4 which is awesome.

I am not too satisfied with my stamping here because it isn’t super crisp. This design from from Winstonia plate W112. Is this supposed to be a maze? I have no idea.

Anywho, I’m looking forward to a short week next week and will be thoroughly enjoying myself this weekend with pure laziness. How about you? Do you have anything fun planned this weekend? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #23

Posted on 14 June, 2014 by Cynthia

I stayed up super late last night trying to come up with a mani for today’s Stamping Saturdays so of course I woke up late. As soon as I woke up, I had to go to the store to buy a birthday gift for my little cousin because I’m going to his birthday party so excuse me if this post seems a little rushed. Today I decided to try a polish that I found at one of my nail places last week. I have no idea what this polish is because I haven’t found any information about it online. Let me show you what it looks like before I explain…

This polish is so interesting and I can guarantee that it’s a lot more gorgeous in person. It has this beautiful pink microglitter that makes it look like it’s glowing. The formula is a little thin but it builds up very nicely. The name of this polish is December To Remember but it’s labeled like a sample. It totally threw me off, but I had to have it regardless. I wonder if this polish is from an upcoming collection and maybe my nail place put it out by accident? If anyone knows anything about this polish, please let me know!!!

For my stamping image, I used MoYou London plate Back To The 70’s.

Voila! This is my end result. It’s not the most creative, but I think it looks pretty neat.

Well, I hope you’re all doing well. Don’t forget to link up your stamped manis today because I’d love to see them. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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The Lacquer Ring – Pink Holo

Posted on 12 June, 201411 June, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey, look! The Lacquer Ring is back! It feels like it’s been forever since we posted, and I’m still confused about the success of my Cherry Blossom nails. I ended up liking them but I wasn’t thinking they were anything special…and then they ended up on StumbleUpon and they got over 25,000 views on imgur. What the heck?! For real, yo. Anyway, today Amanda has chosen her color: Pink (holo or neon). Uhm, thanks Amanda for choosing my color of the moment! Of course I had to go holo so I ended up using Jade Déjà Vu.

Gorgeous, right? I’ve used this polish a couple of time already in recent times so you know it’s a favorite considering the amount of polish I have. Then I decided to stamp over it for shits and giggles.

This is plate MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample). I think I’ve used half of the images on this plate so far. Love them all!

I went with this image because it doesn’t completely hide the beautiful polish. I’m not going to lie: I like this a lot. What do you think?

Forgive my sporadic posting lately. I’ve still been trying to get use to my new job so sometimes I am just mentally exhausted by the time I get home. Even though I haven’t been posting every day, I have been doing my nails and wearing my favorite polishes. I wore OPI DS Pewter for 2 days!!! Omg…one polish for 2 days. That’s unheard of for me and my swatching ways. It’s nice to take a break once in a while. I hope you liked my pink holo creation and don’t forget to check out the other posts below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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