Fifty Shades Of Crap

Posted on by Cynthia

I just finished Fifty Shades of Grey, and all I can say is holy horrible writing, Batman! If I ever meet a woman who actually uses the phrase “inner goddess”, I will surely punch her right in the ovary. A straight shot. Right to the babymaker. (Yes, Anchorman is one of my favorite movies ever!) I can’t think of any fictional character that has annoyed me more than Anastasia, and considering that I am a voracious reader, that’s really saying a lot. So, how do I explain that I read this book in one day? I mean, it’s not that I found the kind of retarded sex scenes that interesting. I can pretty much guarantee that because one of the main unfortunate side effects of being on an SSRI is that you pretty much have the libido of a corpse. So whatever. I am just really interested in finding out what happened to Christian that made him that way. I wonder if they’re really planning to adapt this trilogy into some mainstream non-porn films. I guess I should start on part 2 soon…

In other random news, I’ve been feeling kinda crappy. I have someone in my life who completely stresses me out and I’m finding it difficult to deal with the whole situation. For the last two nights, I’ve been having strange nightmares which in turn have me in a state of anxiety all day. I’m trying to not let it affect me so much but my resolve is crumbling. I know maybe I’m just hitting a low tonight, so I hope that I will feel better tomorrow.

Have you read the Fifty Shades of Grey books? What do you think of them?

 

Blue Balls or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Da Bomb

Posted on by Cynthia

I doubt that the title of my post will make much sense to anyone, but I guess that will just keep my blog in the same vein of nonsensical ramblings. A while back, I purchased some mood changing polishes but I hadn’t gotten around to trying them out. Since I have a pretty blue that is supposed to change from blue to neon blue, I decided to try out it today for my Blue Balls Manicure. (:P Ciaté.) I wasn’t expecting much from this polish since it is supposed to change from one blue to another blue? LAME. However, I really liked it despite the kind of atrocious formula. It’s super sheer so I had to apply 4 coats. Yes, 4 coats! It dries matte and I didn’t attempt to apply a top coat because I was afraid I might ruin the color changing effect…and after applying that many coats, I was not about to take a chance. I just burst into song after typing the last sentence: If you change your mind//I’m the next in line//Honey I’m still free//Take a chance on me.

It was hard to take pictures of this polish because as soon as I exposed my nails to hot or cold water, by the time I dried them and went outside to take some pictures, they were already fading back to another color, so that explains the water on my hands.

 

These are pictures of my nails at room temperature or outside temperature, rather. You can see some of the darker color on the tips of my nails before the heat of the sun started to change them to the neon shade.

 

This was the result after running my hands under hot water: a more neon blue.

 

And this is the effect of cold water. It’s supposed to be a darker blue, but it starts to change almost immediately to the neon blue because it’s kind of hot outside.

 

And finally, la pièce de résistance, the thing you have been waiting for: My Blue Balls Manicure or MBBM.

 

I hope you’re having a nice Friday. Do you have any plans for the weekend? What do you think about my Blue Balls Manicure? I hope it was all you had hoped for. 😉

 

Sation Jock Juggler

Posted on by Cynthia

When I first purchased this bottle of polish, I thought the name was Jockstrap Juggler. Besides it being one of those blues that I drool over no  matter how many similar shades I may have, I also got it because I thought the name was hilarious. As someone with a wickedly overactive imagination, I won’t even mention what images danced around in my head. I would also like to warn you not to google images for jockstrap juggler because you will be scarred if you see a few of the image results. I’m not saying that you won’t see a lot of nice, uhm, packages, but you will also see things that will sear your eyeballs to a crisp. So don’t do it. Please. Just don’t.

The actual name if this polish is obviously Jock Juggler. Is that any better? When I photographed this polish, it looked sooooo much like China Glaze Bahamian Blues but Jock Juggler has green in it that makes it look a little aqua. I’ll need to compare it side-by-side to For Audrey, Gumdrop, I Need A Re-fresh Mint…ad nauseam…to see if it is truly a dupe of any of those colors. Although it looks like a full on creme, in the bottle it has the slightest flash of blue shimmer, and I really mean slight because it doesn’t show up on my nails at all. I applied 3 coats in order to level out the polish. This one was slightly thick so it was a little difficult to get this to apply smoothly right away.

 

I then sponged Wet N Wild Cost Is No Issue on my tips. This glitter is so freaking pretty.  Do you think it’s a good combination with Jock Juggler?

 

What are you wearing on your nails today? Oh, and did you google jockstrap juggler? I knew it!

China Glaze On Safari Part 2

Posted on by Cynthia

After swatching all these colors, I can’t, for the life of me, explain why I at first thought these polishes weren’t that interesting. I love all of them, and I’m so happy I got them so early. I love my nail polish place!

 

Kalahari Kiss is not a color that I thought I would like so much. I just love how creamy looking it is without being harsh. Is this considered a camel-type color? I just love it and it was not difficult to work with at all. I did find that I had to allow a couple of minutes in between coats or else I created some bald spots and streakiness.

 

This is another unexpected like. Desert Sun was probably the only really sheer kind of formula…or maybe just a little too watery. It wasn’t so watery that it flooded my cuticles or that it was unmanageable, but I could definitely see a lot of my nail after one coat. I did three thin coats of this one, and it looked perfect. I know it’s not a good description, but this makes me think of pumpkin cream cheese. Weird? Or maybe more orange graham crackers. Ok, I think I’m just hungry.

 

Adventure Red-y is not really…adventurous. Hardy-har-har! I don’t find anything that exciting or unique about this color except that the formula is dreamy. This could be a one coater, but I applied two out of habit.  If you already have plenty of reds and aren’t a hoarder collector like me, this is one you could definitely skip. Is there anything better than a shiny red creme?

 

Well, hello there Mrs. Vamp! I love fall nail polish collections precisely because we get so many beautiful, dark and vampy colors. Prey Tell is one of those really dark colors that almost looks black…almost. However, there is a very beautiful red/burgundy base that can be seen right away. I had a bit of a problems with this one only because I didn’t allow enough time between coats and you can clearly see where I created some bald spots. Otherwise, it’s just perfect and I love how this one looks on me.

 

And lastly, this is Call Of The Wild. Am I the only one who thought of Jack London’s book. Probably. This is a deep reddish chocolate brown. I love chocolate. I love this color too. I wish I had a Toblerone right now. Anyway, this one is a possible one coater as well. I don’t think it’s that interesting, but I don’t have too many brown polishes because they always remind me of poop so I usually pass them by.

Well, what do you think of the second half of this collection? Keep in mind that I am missing the two glitters and don’t plan on getting them. I have seen swatches of them layered over Kalahari Kiss and Desert Sun, and I have to admit that they do look pretty amazing. I just know that I don’t get much use out glitters so I won’t get them just to never use them more than once. I’ve heard that this collection is going to start showing up at Sally Beauty Supply in July so keep your eyes open. Snag some of these babies up because this collection is a big hit in my book.

Thanks for reading!

Orly Preamp

Posted on by Cynthia

Have you heard about the Orly Electronica Collection for Fall 2012? Yeah, me neither.

Today I found a display for this collection and couldn’t decided if I wanted them or not so I bought only one of the colors: Preamp which is the pink shade.

The polish was little sheer but it was buildable even though it got a little goopy.  It’s a blue-toned pink/purple with iridescent shimmer. Ahhhh….so pretty. I am really liking all of the iridescent polishes that are coming out lately so I was all over this particular shade. I think I might get Shockwave (blue) and Decoded (gray)  because they are matte. The other color, Synchro, is  a duochrome redish-pink but it just looks frosty to me. BARF!

Yes, you can laugh at me about my failed attempt to not buy more nail polish. Since I bought one, I might as well buy more, right? A lot more.

I have no hope when it comes to stopping the nail polish addiction.  Have you spotted this new Orly collection? Have you picked up any of the On Safari polishes yet? I have all of them now except for the two glitters.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gradient Attemp # 2

Posted on by Cynthia

The fact that my last gradient attempt turned out so crappy made me fixate on trying it again so here I am with another post. I feel like I’ve been on a roll lately when it comes to posting so I’m going to try to keep the wind in my sails. I used two China Glaze polishes: Bahamian Escape and Man Hunt. I’ve swatched Bahamian Escape before but I added some swatches to this post again because this polish is so darn pretty.

I used a different type of sponge this time so I do think it created a slightly different effect. I am still not happy with it, but this one looks slightly better than my first attempt so I will keep practicing until I’m a gradation fool.

And just for shits and giggles, here is my favorite psychotic Kelly moment from The Office:

I am looking forward to my salad from Cafe Rio–yum!–and catching up on my favorite blogs. I have tons of reading tonight! 🙂

New Cult Nails Babies

Posted on by Cynthia

Since I’m trying to go through all my untrieds before I allow myself to buy more bottles of nail polish, I pulled out the the last three Cult Nails polishes that I purchased during their last $5 sale. Yeah, I can hear you laughing at the idea of me not buying anything until I go through my untrieds….I’m looking at you Nicole and Lesley. To be honest, I doubt I’m going to stick to it but I resisted the urge to go to my nail places today. I’m going to wait until my crack dealer tells me that he has the new Essie collection in before I drag my butt out there. I think I’m getting better at using my new camera so I hope these pictures at least seem of better quality. You be the judge.

 

Let Me Fly is the color that I was most looking forward to trying out, and it did not disappoint. This color has more green in it so I don’t know why it photographed so blue. The color is amazing and the formula flowed like butter. It only needed two coats which I love.

 

I hadn’t heard anyone complain about the new Iconic so I didn’t go in with any preconceived notions. I love this polish. What is not to like about a smouldering magenta/red/brown/copper/gold polish with awesome flakes? This is another one of those polishes that look like they are on fire–yes, it’s that dramatic.

 

And lastly, I also purchased Hypnotize Me. I am pretty sure this is a polish that is meant for layering because it looks kind of weird on its own. I had to apply 3 coats for these swatches and the formula was so incredibly goopy and hard to control. Despite it being a glitter, it was not difficult to remove and did not dry super gritty. Once I applied a coat of Seche, it was perfectly smooth.

Once again, Cult Nails impresses me with beautiful colors. I’m eyeing their new collection now…ooohhh….so many pretties. Are you also a fan of Cult Nails? Do you have a favorite color to recommend for my next purchase?

Illamasqua Phallic

Posted on by Cynthia

Wouldn’t you like to meet the person who picks the names for Illamasqua nail polishes? I would! This is my latest Illamasqua purchase, and I just got around to trying it today. I’ve got to tell you that I bought a new camera because my old one is about a million years old and it was getting harder and harder to get decent pictures. Some days it cooperated and other days I could take a million pictures and none of them would turn out to my satisfaction. I have to admit that I am a camera dunce so I have not been able to figure out how to take decent pictures with my new camera. The following pictures are the best I could get and I am not that happy with them. I fiddled with my camera and my light box for HOURS while L. and I watched The Bachelorette (puke). There is something about that show that is getting on my last nerve so I’m going to stay away from it from now on. Anyway, back to the nail polish!

I decided to try this one out because there had been talk of lovely blue polishes early today on my blog so naturally I pulled this untried beauty out. As usual, Illamasqua did not disappoint. The formula was heavenly and I only needed two coats. I could not believe how easily it applied and I had almost no clean up. What an awesome polish and even more awesome formula.

I also did L.’s nails using Zoya Mia since she has an interview tomorrow. I’m wishing her luck!

I’m going to jump in the shower and then read and respond to all my pending comments. Oy vey it’s a lot. I love you all for stopping by and commenting on all my rants and ramblings.

Full Of Awesomeness

Posted on by Cynthia

This is a super quick post because I forgot to mention something I saw on youtube earlier today. OMFG this is so full of awesomeness on so many levels…especially because Chrono Trigger is my favorite game ever. EVER. It even beats Super Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 3

Anyway, revel in my absolute nerdiness.

 

 

Hope you have a good week…yeah, Mondays suck.

Father’s Day & My First Gradient Attempt

Posted on by Cynthia

Today being Father’s Day, we took it upon ourselves to use that as an excuse to get together, watch movies and eat as if it were our last meal. My brother and sister-in-law came over and we just hung out all day with my parents. My other brother had to work so he missed out on the fun. Why does celebrating always have to involve being gluttons for my family? I don’t know why, but we ended up watching Rocky movies on Netflix…omg…how cheesy yet entertaining. Who doesn’t like an underdog movie anyway?

Since I was wearing a purple top today, I decided to finally try a gradient nail look. I had seen the Nailasaurus’ tutorial linked on Nicole’s page so I went to check it out again before starting. Well, I am a gradient loser and I have never been able to do it properly so I was excited at the prospect of finally being able to do a decent gradient. It didn’t quite turn out the way I hoped. I used a foundation sponge and it seemed to soak up tons of the polish and not leave any on my nails. I even tried wetting the sponge in hopes that it wouldn’t absorb so much nail polish but that didn’t work either. I wondered if it would work better if I used a different kind of sponge so I tried it with a foamy sponge and that seemed to work slightly better. I am still not really happy with the way this looks because Sammy from The Nailasaurus makes it looks gorgeous and effortless and mine just looks…botched? Anyway, here are some pics. I used OPI Do You Lilac It? for the lighter color and China Glaze Grape Pop for the darker tip color.

And this is what I HOPED it would look like:

(Photo Source)

So what do you think? Maybe I just need a little more practice before it looks the way I want it to. Thank you Sammy for the awesome tutorial and thanks to Nicole for blogging about it!

Oh, I have a question for all of you nail polish addicts out there: Are you at all worried about the health risks of the chemicals in nail polish and acetone? I try not to use pure acetone too much, but non-acetone removers just don’t work. Are you concerned at all? I know for most people it’s not a big deal, but for those of us who blog and change our polish like we change shoes, I feel this is an important question. I sometimes wonder if the concerns are completely overblown and you’d have to basically drink acetone in order to get sick from it. Anyway, I’d like to hear what you think so share away!