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Stamping Saturdays #60

Posted on 27 June, 2015 by Cynthia

Look at me participating in Stamping Saturdays again! I find it a little funny that I am in such a good mood today because I had such a rotten June. In fact, despite the really crappy start to my month, I’m going out on a positive note because so many positive things are waiting for me right around the corner. I really hope July is a much better month! Anyway, today I wanted to use the mani I’ve been wearing for a couple of days because I couldn’t bare to remove it. I know some of you may hate seeing polishes that you can’t get, but can you begrudge me for wanting to showcase this pretty?Since Ninja Polish is back, I figured I might as well use one of my favorite polishes from their line: Mystic Glacier. Isn’t just breathtaking?

It’s very difficult to capture the amazing color shift in this polish, but I think these pictures give you a good sense of how majestic this polish is. I got some new lighting, and I’m still struggling with figuring out the best settings on my camera so excuse these sort of weird pictures. I freaking love houndstooth, so I decided to use the houndstooth image from Bundle Monster plate BM-322 and used Mentality Black Opaque for the stamping polish. Pretty, eh?

Currently I’m engrossed in watching Sense8 on Netflix. Have you checked out this new show? It’s freaking amazing! I’m just sorry that it’s only 12 episodes long. Well, I hope that you’re having a great weekend so far. I’m looking forward to a short week for the 4th of July long weekend. Thanks for stopping by 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 #3

Posted on 25 January, 201425 January, 2014 by Cynthia

Hello there and welcome to Stamping Saturdays! I was planning to get this written and posted earlier in the day, but I just didn’t have time to do anything while I was at work this morning. After that, I went to a couple of nail places but didn’t really find anything….except a few bottles of Channelesque! Yayyy for backups!!!! For today’s stampicure, I started out with my base color of Channelesque which I reviewed here.

Yep, you know I love this color! Because I wanted to make Channelesque a little blingy, I added one thin coat of Max Factor Fantasy Fire on top of it.

I know that this looks uneven, but I didn’t really care because I was going to stamp over it anyway. Doesn’t it look pretty with that purple and sparkly tinge?

I am a huge fan of houndstooth print in everything (nails, clothes, shoes) so I decided to use Pure Ice Silver Mercedes to stamp on the houndstooth design from plate BM-322. I absolutely love how this turned out. I wish that that the beautiful base stood out more, but when I went outside with this design, it was like my nails were glowing.

What do you think of this design? I’m already starting to plan my design for next week because I have so many ideas! I hope you’re having a nice weekend so far and thanks so much for stopping by today. Also don’t forget to check out my other girls’ designs. Talk to you soon.

Amanda from Mae’s Beauty

Siobhan from For The Love Of Nail Art

Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquer In Reflecting Pond

Posted on 5 November, 20125 November, 2012 by Cynthia

Ok, so my pictures turned out like crap today. Well, crappier than usual, that is. I was rushing and I didn’t review my pictures of the base polish before stamping over it so I got stuck with ugly pics. Then I did the same after I stamped and didn’t check out my pictures. So there you have it: lack of planning = craptastic pictures. Boo. I don’t know what possessed me to pull out this polish today since it is 90 degrees outside, and I’ve been letting the temperature guide my polish choices. I got this polish along with Parachute purple a couple of months ago but hadn’t gotten a chance to try it. Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquer In Reflecting Pond is a very pretty jewel toned green. This reminds me of Pixi Evening Emerald, Essie Dive Bar, etc… Just like Essie Dive Bar, Reflecting Pond has a very promising pink/purple flash in the bottle that completely disappears on the nail. So disappointing!

I am only posting one picture because all the other ones were beyond bad. This one is pretty bad too but it’s the best of the ugly bunch.

Same goes for this picture. I used Bundle Monster plate 322 and Essie Good As Gold for this houndstooth design. Normally I loooove anything houndstooth but I am just not feeling this manicure today. Ugh…maybe it’s just my crappy mood today.

Last night I went to dinner with one of my best friends and we seriously piled out. We went to a seafood restaurant where you basically order shrimp, crab, clams and various other delectable crustaceans by the pound. You choose a seasoning (lemon pepper, Cajun, etc) and a level of spiciness and they then bring out a plastic bag full of your seafood selections boiled in your seasoning of choice. Your only utensils are your fingers, paper towels and your plastic bib. hahaha Behold the shrimp massacre!

Did you get a load of my fingers after our meal? Whoa. Let me tell you, I am still feeling the aftermath of this feast. I feel like garlic is seeping through my pores. Ugh…I don’t know if I’ll be back soon despite how yummy the meal was.

So how was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? I can’t wait for election day! I take voting very seriously so I’ll be up super early to cast my ballot!

Kiko #336 Blu Elettrico

Posted on 29 August, 2012 by Cynthia

Last week I was checking out my favorite blogs and Jess from Once Upon A Polish had posted her review of Nails Inc. Baker Street. Being the Nails Inc. fan that I am, I was drooling over her swatches. I had seen this polish so many times and I kept putting off purchasing it. Why? I don’t know!!! I guess I’m crazy. I actually wanted to purchase Illamasqua Force but I have read on multiple blogs how it changes color and becomes a weird dusty murky medium blue!!! What?! I love Illamasqua, but I don’t want a polish that changes color as it ages. Look at what happened to it here on Scrangie’s blue comparison. So when I received this Kiko beauty, I knew I could pass on Baker Street (for now…ha!)

Kiko is a brand that is 100% new to me, and I was fortunate enough to receive this polish from my polish dealer, Sabrina, from Polish in Paris. Let me tell you first that I am in freaking love with this brand. I like the formula, I like the brush…I like everything!

How beautiful is this blue? Seriously?

I used Bundle Monster plate 322 for this houndstooth design and I much prefer this larger design than the one on my Konad plate. I don’t know what’s wrong with all the white special polishes I have purchased lately: they are not as vibrant and opaque as the first Konad special polish I bought and I’ve purchased them from the same seller so I know it’s not like I’m getting a fake product–at least I hope not! They also haven’t been as thick as my other special polishes so I am thinking of maybe leaving them open to see if they will thicken up a bit.

It has been crazy hot here in the last couple of weeks and I’ve been sweating like a whore in church. I’ve been trying to clean out my closet AND start making room for my 4th melmer since I have outgrown my polish storage once again. I have managed to clear out a lot of stuff that I just don’t need and got some new bedding. I think the pattern is kind of too busy for me since I like pristine white bedding, but I kind of fell in love with the colors and kept thinking of some stamping plates that are similar to the patterns on my comforter.

All in all, I am super happy with this truly electric blue polish, and I adore the blue/white stamping combination. I have already tried out the other Kiko beauty I received so I will be sharing that with you shortly. It’s a gorgeous duochrome! I hope you are staying cool in this crazy hot weather. Also, keep those in the path of hurricane Issac in your thoughts. Please stay safe if you are in the affected areas.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time!

Stamping Sunday: Red & Black

Posted on 29 July, 2012 by Cynthia

A few weeks ago, Jessica from Once Upon A Polish blogged about a facebook group called Adventures In Stamping where everyone votes for a particular look or color scheme and then all the ladies post their manis every Sunday. Well, I thought it sounded really fun so I joined! I really didn’t know what to do so I started looking through my melmers and realized I hadn’t used Layla Flash Black.

Call me crazy, but I actually don’t really like Flash Black on me. It just looks so weird on me, and I’m really disappointed…not to mention that Layla holos chip in 5 seconds on me.

I then stamped over Flash Black with Konad special polish in red and plate BM 322. I then used a dotting tool to add the black dots with China Glaze Liquid Leather. One word: barf. I hate how this turned out but not all manis are going to be winners, and you have to embrace the good with the bad. I have no idea why I thought that stamping over Flash Black would be a good idea. It just looks dingy and grey…not interesting at all. I’m annoyed that I spent so much time on this mani and ended up not even liking it; hey, at least now I know Flash Black isn’t what I thought it would be.

So I think my first Stamping Sunday Challenge is a big fat fail. Hopefully I will do better next week. Voting has already started and our three choices are:

Fun In The Sun
Olympics
Using silver, gold or bronze as a base, accent or stamping color

I voted for using silver, gold or bronze as a base, accent or stamping color. So far this choice is in the lead, and I hope it stays that way! Check out the look Jessica created here. I am in love with it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Under The Sea?

Posted on 20 July, 2012 by Cynthia

Who doesn’t love the little Mermaid? I was so in love with this movie when I was a kid and I still love the music from it. Disney animated movies seriously have the best songs. Anyway, the reason why I was reminded of this song is because the following nail color and stamp combination kind of reminded me of bubbles under the ocean. Maybe you won’t see it, but I totally feel a bubbly aquatic vibe from them.

I started with Sation Miss McTeal as my base color.

What a beautiful color, right? Then I stamped over it, albeit sloppily.

I like how this looks but I wish the stamping was crisper. What’s the point in having the special Konad polishes if my stamping is still going to look blurry? Ugh! I did this mani about a week ago so I feel like I’m past my stamping low, and I finally got my mojo back.

Earlier in the week I cut my nails down to the nub. In fact, I over cut them in the sense that they actually hurt. There is no white part showing on my nails and they are freaking painful. I don’t know why I did that…it was a moment of short nails frenzy. That means that I haven’t done my nails for most of this week now and I’m ok with that since I’m still trying to nurse my shorties back to health. I do NOT recommend doing this; I doubt anyone is dumb enough except me. Oh, here is a funny story: One time my mom and dad got into an argument (my parents only have two volume settings: loud and LOUDER) so my dad was angry and he had one too many beers that evening. Later that night my mom cut his toe nails as short as she possibly could. I don’t know how she came up with this idea, but it was brilliant! The next day my dad couldn’t figure out why his toes hurt so much when he walked since he couldn’t remember anything happening the night before. My parents are crazy…and then they wonder why I am the way I am. I think my parents have such a unique relationship. They’ve been married 34 years and they fight/bicker every single second of the day yet they can’t live without each other. My dad has the most explosive temper on the planet (thanks Dad for passing that along to me!) and my mom is the queen of the naggers. Can you imagine what that’s like? When they come to visit, it is like they are a 24/7 live comedy show. It no longer bothers me because all I can do is laugh at their antics. Despite their “unique” relationship, they are the most loving parents anyone could ask for. 🙂

Before I forget, I wanted to show you how I finally organized my stamping plates. This was such a pain in the rear to get done. I had to put up little squares of contact liner to place inside each pocket so the plates don’t slide out. I’ve seen quite a few people do this and I thought it was a great idea!

How do you store your plates? Speaking about plates, I only have a bunch of Konad plates and the newest Bundle Monster plates so I was wondering if anyone has any other plate recommendations. Let me know! I’d love to hear about your favorite plates.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a second chance to win the WnW Saved By The Bell nail polish collection.