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I’m Baaaaaaaaack!

Posted on 30 April, 2019 by Cynthia

Hey guys! Just a quick note to let you all know that my blog situation has been fixed. I am back to normal thanks to the help of Tiffany and her husband who worked magic despite the fact that I was so disorganized and chaotic. I have missed blogging so much and I have a bunch of stuff lined up to share with you so stay tuned for that. I’ll be posting regularly starting tomorrow.

I want to also thank all the lovely people who reached out to me via email and on Instragram to give me advice or even just some kind words of encouragement. Normally I wouldn’t be so stressed out when something like this happens, but I have tons of turmoil going on in my personal life so this was just added stress.

This blog has been around for close to 8 years and I hope to continue for many more.

Thank you all for sticking with me all these years and through this hiccup.

My Blog Has Been Hacked

Posted on 12 April, 2019 by Cynthia

Just a quick note that I have moved my destash to:

https://olaldestash.blogspot.com/2019/04/destashing.html

I am working on removing the malware from my site but it may take time and funds that I am not inclined to spend at this time. I will 100% keep you updated and may occasionally provide updates on the situation over at: https://olaldestash.blogspot.com

I hope you’ll stick with me through this rough spot. Your support and understanding mean the the world to me.

-Cynthia

Polish Con Chicago 2017

Posted on 28 August, 2017 by Cynthia

I really wish I could go to Polish Con! Not only would I be like a kid in a candy store, but I would also love to see Chicago. Check out the following press release for all the information you need regarding Polish Con Chicago 2017.

Polish Con Chicago 2017

Will you be going to Polish Con in Chicago on 9/23/2017?! You can purchase your tickets here.

In case you want even more information, these are great resources:

Visit www.polishconvention.com for information on vendors and methods of payment they will be accepting at the show as well as merchandise and polish exclusives every week leading up to the event.

Announcements are made regularly in the Polish Con group on Facebook as well. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1127589983937164/

The Lacquer Ring – Neon Pink

Posted on 10 March, 2016 by Cynthia

Ok guys. I really tried to do a super cute manicure for The Lacquer Ring today, but things just didn’t work out. You know how you get pulled into watching a bunch of nail videos and you think to yourself: “That looks so easy! I could do that!” And then you try it and it ends up looking like your spastic pet chihuahua did your nails? Yeah, that was me last night. Hey, at least I still posted my neon pink base–give me at least some points for that. Let me show you the neon pink that I chose for today’s prompt:

This beauty is Sation Shock Me Twice Pink. This color is so damn neon that it looks radioactive and is truly a bitch to photograph accurately. The actual color is darker in real life but because of the way it glows, it looks lighter in my pictures. This color also has shimmer in it which just makes it look even more awesome. It does dry to a matte finish, so use a shiny top coat if you prefer a glossy finish. By the way, I am still wondering what happened to the Sation brand. They were putting out so many awesome collection and then POOF: radio silence. I wish we had gotten some sort of announcement because I was a super fan. Oh well.

Sorry that’s all you get for my neon pink mani–I swear next time I’ll post my fail no matter how bad it is. Baby watch is still going strong over here so I’ll be sure to let you know when he arrives. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Stamping Saturdays #67

Posted on 29 August, 201529 August, 2015 by Cynthia

Look here, California: I know it’s summer and all, but can you please give me a break? I don’t want to be sitting here in my living room and start sweating for no reason. I guess I will still have to put up with this heat for another 2 months so I’m just going to try to think happy thoughts of cooler weather. In my mind, I’m going to start moving into fall nail polish collections that will make me think of cool evenings and beautiful chilly mornings. For Stamping Saturdays I decided to use three polishes from an upcoming fall collection from Bellaluna Cosmetics. Let me show you what color I used for my base.

This smoky near black gray is Bellaluna Cosmetics Near Dark. This smoky gray has shimmery flecks that make it look so pretty and interesting. The formula is rather opaque and you can almost get away with one coat if you’re precise with your application.

For my stamped decal accent nail, I decided to use there three gorgeous colors together: Sparkling Cranberry, Autumn Woodlands and Near Dark.

As much as I love the look of decals, they are a huge pain in the ass. I also get irritated with Konad stamping polish smearing no matter how much top coat I use or how lightly I float the polish on my nails. This image is from Born Pretty plate BP-L003–have I told you how much I love these cheapie plates? They are very inexpensive and the quality is great. If you watch out for sales, you can get them at an even better price.

So what do you think? I am going to have swatches and a review of these Bellaluna polishes next week so make sure to check back for that. Besides trying to stay cool, I don’t have too much going on this weekend and that suits me just fine. Well, I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for the visit, and I will catch up with you soon!

Did you enter my giveaway yet? No? Click on the image below to enter.

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About Mentality Nail Polish

Posted on 25 August, 2015 by Cynthia

This might just be the day that Mentality Nail Polish officially lost touch with reality. After reading the Jezebel article that was published this morning, I have concluded that I will not be using any of my Mentality nail polishes. I own about 10 of these polishes including stamping polishes, but I cannot wear them. I regularly use the Mentality Black Opaque stamping polish and although I have never experienced any issues, I refuse to in any way promote their products on my little blog. I am not here to pass judgement on anyone so if you feel like you want to continue to support Mentality by purchasing or featuring their products, that is completely up to you. Just know that you will not see any Mentality products on my blog.

As I stated on my facebook post, there are some really amazing people out there who are creating polish and testing responsibly. So for all of you who are watching the drama unfold, I hope that you realize that this situation is not an accurate representation of the indie polish community. I am very sorry for anyone who has had adverse reactions, pain, damage and stress over this situation.

Stamping Saturdays #66

Posted on 22 August, 201522 August, 2015 by Cynthia

Hey! I am so happy its Saturday and not just because it’s Stamping Saturdays time! I really felt like this week dragged, so I am just glad to have some time to relax and maybe sleep in a little. Even better, the temperatures are nowhere near as insane as last week, so it’s all gravy baby. Yesterday I went to Ulta to buy a bunch of stuff that I needed, but I ended up not finding most of the items I needed. While I was there, I checked out the clearance section and found a gorgeous blue polish for under $2…well, you know it came home with me. Let me show you this beauty.

This is two smooth coats of Ginger + Liz Private Poole. This polish is incredibly cream and the brush was PERFECTION. If you purchase this polish at regular price, it is $12. I don’t care for it much at that price point, but if you can catch this on sale, it’s well worth it. I actually had never heard of this brand and after some googling, the first thing that came up was a bunch of drama which is unfortunate. Still, it’s a great looking polish.

For my stamping, I used Konad White Special polish to stamp an image from Born Pretty Plate BP-L016. I really love how this turned out because blue and white is probably my favorite stamping combination.

As you can tell, I am in the process of growing out my nails again. I did nub them which is why I basically did not post all week. Now I am incredibility backlogged with my swatching. Maybe you can tell me what you’d like to see next? Here is what I have in my swatch pile:

OPI Infinite Shine Soft Shades 2015
OPI Infinite Shine Summer 2015
OPI Venice Collection
Zoya Focus & Flair Fall 2015
China Glaze The Great Outdoors Fall 2015
KBShimmer Fall 2015 (Sorry, no can do until 9/1 but I couldn’t leave it off my list!)

So anyway, let me know what you think of this mani. I’m really happy with how delicate it looks. Thanks so much for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon!

Do you like stamping too? Join us on Facebook by clicking on the image below!

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Stamping Saturdays #63

Posted on 1 August, 20151 August, 2015 by Cynthia

Hey there! Welcome to another installment of Stamping Saturdays! Last week I went to Sally’s telling myself that all I needed was a bottle of Yellow Stopper, but of course I was lured in by the discount/sale section. By the way, do any of you guys use Yellow Stopper as a peel off base coat? I guess I was under the (incorrect) impression that it could be used while swatching but no peeling happened so now I ended up with a huge bottle that I have no use for. It’s so annoying. Anyway, while I was at Sally’s I saw this Orly polish off on its own and it ended up being under $2. When does that ever happen? I guess I am just lucky when it comes to polish. Why can’t I be lucky with the lottery, hmmm?

Orly Teal Unreal is a gorgeous teal polish that unfortunately photographs blue because my camera hates me real bad. The polish is incredibly pigmented and is gorgeous at two coats. The best part is that it does not stain at all so it’s a total winner in my book.

I’ve been wanting to use this design from plate MoYou London Back To The 70’s – 03 (press sample) for a while now, but it always seemed kind of a weird image. I ended up liking this quite a bit because my placement came out pretty good. It also helped that my Pure Ice Silver Mercedes stamps like a dream.

So what do you think about this mani? Is it just kinda weird or are you digging it? Do you have any fun weekend plans? We are probably going to be going out to dinner for my dad’s birthday since he turned 76 yesterday. Well, I hope you’re doing well and make sure you check out the other manis below. Thanks so much for the visit, and I will talk to you soon.

PSSSST! Hey, you! Yes, it’s me again. I wanted to invite you to join our stamping group. If you like to stamp, come join us by clicking on the image below to be taken to the group page. The group is growing, and we’d love to have you participate.

Bye for reals, now!

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Where Have You Been?

Posted on 15 March, 2015 by Cynthia

A few people asked me why I haven’t been blogging or posting on IG and Facebook lately so I figured I’d say something since I am still around. I’ve decided to take a little break. At first it was a forced break because my nails were so damaged that swatching sessions were out of the question, but now I’m feeling ok about giving myself some time to recharge. Slowly all the damage is growing out on my swatching hand so I think it will take another couple of months before I see all the buffing damage gone. Additionally, I went on a no-buy for Lent so I haven’t purchased any polish since early February and won’t until early April. My brother made fun of me since I am still technically getting some polish via press samples, but it’s nowhere near the amount I normally purchase on my own. There have been a few moments of painful uncertainty and I have almost broken my no-buy twice, but now I am 100% sure that I will stick it out.

For the next few weeks I won’t be posting regularly, but I do have a few draft posts that I’ll be publishing this coming week. Other than that, I will enjoy my break and I hope to see you guys when I’m back. I do have some items that I need to swatch, so I’ll get to it as soon as my nails begin to cooperate again. It’s been crazy hot here–like in the mid 90’s–so I’m kind of in a pissy mood altogether. It’s March for God’s sake–not freaking August! Sometimes I really hate California weather.

Anyway, thanks for still coming by even when I’m being a bad blogger. You guys are the best. See you around and I’ll be back soon with a more regular blogging schedule!

The Lacquer Ring – Green

Posted on 12 March, 201511 March, 2015 by Cynthia

I am super lucky that I’ve had this post in my drafts for a few weeks because I might have crapped out otherwise. I’ve been sucking big time at blogging lately because I’ve just had so many things going on that blogging/doing my nails was just not that important to me. I’ve just felt out of it, but slowly I am getting back on my feet and hope to get back on a more regular schedule. I really do miss posting, but you can’t force yourself when you’re not feeling up to it. So today I am back with another edition of The Lacquer Ring and today Nicole has chosen the color green. How appropriate with Saint Patrick’s Day and all! You know what I’ll be doing this weekend? Have 5 million Guinness Milkshakes. Yep. Anyway, let me show you the green I decided to use. Dermelect Renegade 1 This is Dermelect Renegade which I also picked up at Ulta a while back for like $0.40…haha! I know, right? It’s a really pretty jade green which a pretty nice formula. It’s easily opaque at two coats and it is sooooo shiny! Dermelect Renegade 3 I then used Illamasqua Scorch to add some blobs all over my nails. This ended up looking very prehistoric egg-like to me and then Amy said they looked like Yoshi nails so there you go…Yoshi nails!

Anyway, I hope your doing well and that you excuse my random posting. I really hope I can get back in the swing of things soon. I’ve just been feeling way too dumpy, sensitive and just tired. I’m sure I’ll get through this slump soon so thanks for sticking with me. Thanks for stopping by, and I will talk to you soon.

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