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31 Inspired Days of Nail Art – Day 27: Movie Inspired Nails

Posted on 29 November, 2012 by Cynthia

Ok my nail peeps, after my previous royal screw up which ended up with me not even posting any challenge nails, I had promised that I would post my manicure no matter what. I am still on the fence about my mani but let me tell you a little bit about why I chose the movie I did. Some of my fondest childhood movie/book memories revolve around Dr. Seuss. Even as an adult, my love for his work has not diminished. In fact, I credit Dr. Seuss for getting me my first Au Pair job when I was in France. My first interview was with a family with two little girls and after my interview with the parents, I was introduced to the 2 young girls. I talked to them and one of them demanded that I read a book to her so I looked at her little collection and zeroed in on The Lorax. I new I had them. Once I opened up the book, I remembered how much fun I had reading that book so I shared that with them..even singing some of the song from the movie version. Of course they loved me and I got the job. So while I racked my brain to figure out what to do for today’s movie inspired nails challenge, I knew I had to find a way to use How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Hey, it’s nearly December, and I just bought my Christmas tree today. I was telling Nicole that I got a tiny tree and that it was still $30. $30 for a sad little Charlie Brown tree!!!! I don’t care how tiny it is. What counts is that it’s mine and that I’m going to have fun decorating it.

So without further ado, here is my How The Grinch Stole Christmas manicure:

Do you want to know how I created this manicure and what products I used? Read on…

All the polishes I used are from China Glaze: White Out, Emerald Fitzgerald,Westside Warrior, Sunshine Pop, Adventure Red-y and Liquid Leather. I found that Westside Warrior was a little too dark so I lightened up the color a bit with Sunshine Pop. The only other tools I used were dotting tools and a very thin nail art brush. I can honestly tell you that doing free-hand nail art is getting a tiny bit easier and I am so glad to have participated in this challenge because it pushes me to try things I normally wouldn’t. I’m totally not happy with the clean up on this mani, but I was tired and just wanted to get them done already!

So what do you think of my Grinch nails? Do you have any fond Dr. Seuss memories?

Don’t forget to check out Nicole’s nails–they are super cute. Thanks for stopping by and catching up with me.

31 Inspired Days of Nail Art – Day 24: Nautical Inspired Nails

Posted on 23 November, 2012 by Cynthia

The closer we get to finishing this challenge, the less “inspired” I feel. After yesterday’s gluttonfest, I haven’t eaten anything besides toast today. I guess I am still kind of full. I still have a nice piece of tri tip so I will probably have some of that for dinner. I’ll just have to come up with some interesting side dishes later. So maybe I’m still feeling blah from eating so much junk and that’s why I lagged on doing my nails for today’s nautical inspired nails challenge. Let’s get to it, shall we?

I started out with China Glaze White Out as my base.

I don’t usually paint my nails all white, so it’s really nice to have a nice and opaque white polish to use. This is three very thin coats.

For the nautical part I used a combination of stripping tape and stamping.

I used cheeky plate CH 49 for the wheel design with Adventure Red-y as the stamping polish. It is not a perfect stamping polish so I had to go over the design with a dotting tool and brush when needed which accounts for some of the mess-ups. Still, I don’t think I did too poorly with it.

How is everything with you after your thanksgiving feasting? Did you end up going shopping? I’m happy to report that I have avoided the stores so far and probably will for the rest of the week. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest nail disaster. Our next challenge will be inspired by a celebrity…oh boy! Don’t for get to check out Nicole’s nautical nails over at Polish Me, Please! Talk to you soon.

Happy 4th Of July!

Posted on 4 July, 2012 by Cynthia

I was not feeling any kind of inspiration for a 4th of July nail look. None at all. I’ve been posting like a machine lately, and I’m trying to slow down. The thing is that I am working really hard to keep myself occupied. I have not been feeling very motivated lately, and I’m afraid of my anxiety getting worse. I thought Prozac was supposed to help with anxiety as well, but it’s not working very well lately. I’m having problems sleeping regularly and have started the stupid cycle of nightmares. It seems that my nightmares always center around my worst insecurities so they seem even more intense and leave me completely emotionally overwhelmed when I do wake up. I hate feeling like this but there isn’t that much to do about it right now except to keep my head above water and not let it get the best of me again.

As far as being patriotic, I don’t think I’ve ever been crazy patriotic. I am grateful for living in a country where I can say and write whatever I want without fearing persecution. We enjoy many freedoms that we take for granted so it’s worth taking a moment to be thankful for all that we do have. I always try to put things into perspective because in the grand scheme of things, we are almost living in paradise compared to other places in the world where war, extreme poverty and hunger are just something that is in their every day reality. I’m not trying to be preachy or anything; I just think it’s nice to have a day to spend with your friends and family even if you’re not all hyped up on Independence Day.

So back to nail stuff…

I used Adventure Red-y which is an amazing one coat red from the China Glaze On Safari collection as my base color and then used Man Hunt, also from the same collection, for the chevron tips. Using Konad plate M84 and their white special polish, I stamped the stars over both colors. Simple, right? This was actually the second look I tried today. The first one was a complete disaster–better as an abstract idea because it was horrid once I tried to execute it. Oh well…you live, you learn.

If you’re in the States, do you have anything fun planned for today? Stay safe whatever you end up doing!

China Glaze On Safari Part 2

Posted on 21 June, 2012 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!