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Stamping Saturdays #22

Posted on 7 June, 20147 June, 2014 by Cynthia

I feel like such a slacker. I’ve been pretty much neglecting my blog and responding to comments which is so unlike me. Sadly I feel like it’s a trend lately only because I have other stuff going on that is sapping the creativity and motivation out of me. I think I just need a swift kick in the ass to get back on track–or a really awesome Stamping Saturdays mani! I hope you’re not tired of me using my MoYou London plates so much because I’m not going to stop any time soon–they’re awesome.

Today’s plate du jour (see what I did there? I’m sho shmart) is MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample.) You can click on the image to be taken to this plate on MoYou London’s website. Buy it. You know you want it.

So I started with 2 delicious coats of OPI Incognito In Sausalito (press sample.) This polish is so amazing and buttery that it can be a one coater, but I’m a creature of habit so two coats is my preference. The polish may look a little off here because my bottle of Seche Vite was acting up. I don’t know what the dealio was, but it made my polish wrinkle a little bit. I added a shit ton of Restore to it and then it was acting normal again so maybe it was just too thick…that’s what she said.

I don’t know why I forget that Essie Shine Of The Times is so freaking awesome. Seriously. Look at it.

And here is the final mani. I am a little on the fence about it because part of me loves it but then it looks a little off. I’m just going to go with it. I’m a little annoyed that I stamped the image all crooked on my ring finger but at least I got it straight on my other fingers.

Do you have a Stamping Saturdays mani to share with us? You can link up your mani below or you can grab the code for your blog. I get super excited when I see more people joining in so I hope you will too. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon. Enjoy your Saturday!

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Stamping Saturdays #20

Posted on 24 May, 201424 May, 2014 by Cynthia

I am super proud of myself for not missing a single Saturday since we started Stamping Saturdays and today I am on my 20^th stamped mani for this series. Yay! This is definitely huge for me because I feel like such a quitter sometimes. I stayed up way too late to do this mani because I got wrapped up in watching a PBS documentary where actors discuss some Shakespearean plays. I nearly pissed myself when I watched the episode where David Tennant talks about Hamlet. My favorite Doctor and my favorite play? Ecstasy! Anyway, let me show you what I came up with because I could keep talking forever about the documentary.

For today’s mani, I used the MoYou London Back To The 70’s – 02 plate which I have used a few times before. It has some really groovy designs. Sadly, I think it has been discontinued because I can’t find it on their website.

I started out with 2 delicious coats of OPI A Grape Affair. This lovely polish is part of the new OPI Coca-Cola collection which will be on the blog next week. This polish is absolute crème perfection and it’s very opaque so it only needed two coats. It dried super shiny and gorgeous.

And here is the image I chose from plate MoYou London Back To The 70’s – 03. What kind of design is this? It made me think of computers or something. When I was finishing up my clean up, I posted a picture on Instagram and Rei suggested that I apply a sheer tint on top of this. Hmmm…? I was a little hesitant to try it but look what happened!

I applied 1 coat of OPI Don’t Violet Me Down over my whole mani and it just looks awesome. Rei is a genius for suggesting this.

So what do you think about this stamped mani? Since I like it, I’m sure people are going to think it’s blah. Haha My cherry blossom mani got so much attention, and I seriously thought it was kind of blah. Well, I hope that you like this jelly stamped mani. I know that I am going to try this with other polishes because it creates such a cool effect. Do you have any plans this weekend? I’m dying to go see the new X-Men movie so hopefully I’ll go watch it later today. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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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 #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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OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection

Posted on 24 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi guys! After a pretty uneventful day at work today, I am just chilling at home playing with Peanut and catching up on last night’s episode of Resurrection. I am trying to catch up on posting some collections, so I’m finally getting up my review of the OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection. I really love The Muppets so I was very excited to see this collection in person. I swatched this collection when I had just reshaped my nails so they look fairly short. I am really missing my square nails right now, but I’m going to work with them for another month before I decide to go back to my old shape. Let me show you my swatches of the collection and then I’ll let you know what I think overall.

OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number

OPI Muppets World Tour over OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number

OPI I Love Applause

OPI Let’s Do Anything We Want! over OPI I Love Applause

OPI Chillin’ Like A Villain

OPI Gaining Mole-mentum over OPI Chillin’ Like A Villain

OPI Kermit Me To Speak

OPI Int’l Crime Caper

Overall, I find this collection a little bland. When I think of The Muppets, I think of flamboyant and vibrant colors so I don’t really understand why the colors are so incredibly restrained in this Muppet-themed collection. My two favorites from this collection are Muppets World Tour and Miss Piggy’s Big Number. Miss Piggy’s Big Number is so vibrant and gorgeous even if it does apply a little thin. However, it does build up nicely so 2 coats are enough for full opacity. The most interesting glitter in this collection is Muppets World Tour. I don’t think I have anything quite like it, and I love how it has an icy/frosty feel to it. The rest of the polishes in this collection are nice, but I’m just not that interested in them and definitely don’t see the Muppets connection. The two other soft shades in this collection: I Love Applause and Chillin’ Like A Villain apply nicely and have a creamy consistency that I quite liked. Sadly, I’m not completely on board with this collection. I think they are nice on their own, but they fall flat as a Muppets collection. So what do you think? Are these interesting to you or do you feel like me? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Muppets Most Wanted by OPI nail lacquer shades each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Muppets Most Wanted is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!