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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 #48

Posted on 20 December, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Saturday everyone. It’s kind of a gloomy day here which feels weird for California. I thought that we were going to have more rain, but apparently we’re going to have a pretty sunny and mild holiday week. I still haven’t done any Christmas shopping, and I think I’m pretty much dead on that at this point. Yesterday I went to Target and it was mayhem–what was I expecting? I’m going to try to go tonight to get everything done but first I’m going to stop by and visit my Peanut Brat. Last night I had such a hard time deciding what to to for today’s Stamping Saturdays until I started digging in my untrieds. Let me show you how my mani came together.

First I started with 2 coats of OPI Get Cherried Away (press sample) from the OPI Coca Cola Collection. It’s such a beautiful berry color that is super opaque. I wanted to use this berry shade as my base for the next polish because it has a jelly finish that needs to be built up.

This is the first time that I use anything from Pipe Dream Polish, and I love it. A big thanks to Frosso for this gorgeous polish. I love being exposed to new brands and sometimes I just don’t even have time to check out what’s out there. Pipe Dream Polish Interference is a glitter polish in a dark jelly base. I love the glitter in this polish, but it does dry super lumpy/gritty which is why you need a good thick top coat to smooth it out. I only applied one coat of Interference over Get Cherried Away and one coat of Seche to give it a smooth and shiny finish.

For my stamp, I used my trusty Pure Ice Silver Mercedes and the paisley image from Bundle Monster plate BM-315. I love how cleanly this stamped.

So what do you think of this mani? I really like it, and I loved trying out a new polish brand. It’s always a love/hate moment because now I’m going to be drooling over yet another brand when I’m trying to to be good about my spending. Well, I hope you’re doing well today and don’t forget to join us every Saturday for Stamping Saturdays. You can use the hashtag #stampingsaturdays on instagram so that I can find you! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #43

Posted on 1 November, 2014 by Cynthia

I’ve been super frustrated with my pictures lately which has made me not even want to swatch. I just hate how they are turning out lately and even though I take like 30 shots of each mani, I feel lucky if I even get one shot that I am mildly satisfied with. I don’t know if I’m being extra picky or if I’m just having a really bad run with my new camera. Anyway, today I am posting SUPER LATE for Stamping Saturdays even though I got this mani done late last night. Let me show you what I came up with.

Zoya Willa (press sample) is a full coverage black creme. Nothing fancy about this polish, but it is one of those nice staple polishes to keep in your arsenal.

For this design, I used plate Bundle Monster 308 and Color Club Halo-graphic. It stamps pretty well over black, and it looks really pretty in the sun.

So what do you think about this mani? Did you do anything fun for Halloween? I spent my evening with Peanut and taking him trick-or-treating. He was a cute little dragon as you can see below.

I can’t believe that he will be 1 year old next week! He is such a freaking cutie pie. Well, I hope you’re having a nice weekend, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #42

Posted on 25 October, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Saturday and welcome to today’s Stamping Saturdays post. I’ve had a rather productive morning packing up blog sale orders and running some errands. I have been looking forward to the weekend since like Monday so I’m just enjoying my day so much. I also just noticed that season 6 of Sons of Anarchy is now on Netflix so I will be binge watching some Netflix tonight! So for today’s post I used one of the lovely holo polishes that I acquired recently: Color Club Halo-graphic.I shot Color Club Halo-graphic in two different types of lighting so you can see what it would look like in the shade and out in direct light. This is such a spectacular holo! I absolutely love it. The formula is perfect like all of the Halo Hues.

I then used an image from Bundle Monster plate BM-306 for this flowery design. I really like how it turned out even if it does cover up a lot of the holo.

What do you have planned for this weekend? I have a bunch of swatching to do so that’s going to keep me busy while I catch up on all my shows. I hope you’re doing well, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #39

Posted on 4 October, 2014 by Cynthia

Hello. I’m melting today. I’m super upset about this shitty weather because it makes me miserable. The dry heat and the winds make my allergies go nuts so I’ve been a total mess the last few days. Today I woke up early for my Saturday morning movie ritual and I watched Gone Girl. Man, that movie was a mindfuck. I had not read the book but I knew the plot and all because I had googled it when everyone started talking about the movie. That is one of my most annoying habits even to myself–I like to google everything such as movie plots, TV show summaries…you name it, I google it. I know it seems ridiculous since part of the enjoyment of watching a movie is to be surprised. I don’t know when I started doing this, but it’s a habit now. Anywho, I highly recommend the movie if you’re looking to watch something this weekend. I know I’m posting super late today, but I just had a crapton of stuff to do today and then it was so hot I just couldn’t function. I don’t have AC in my apartment so it gets super hot. Enough complaining about the weather–let me show you what I did today for Stamping Saturdays.

For my base color, I used Super Nails Cookie Dough (press sample). I have never seen a polish more aptly named!

This is two easy coats of Cookie Dough. The formula on this polish seemed a bit thick at first, but it applies easily and is very opaque. I like the base color of this polish, but I don’t think that it looks too good on me. Maybe it would look better on someone with a different skin tone.

I’m totally meh on this combination. I don’t thin that I made the right choice here because everything looks muddled. From far away it looks cool, but up close it doesn’t quite mesh. In case you’re wondering the jigsaw puzzle design comes from Bundle Monster plate BM 319.

So how has your Saturday been? Anything exciting going on in your life? I’m going to jump in the shower and meet up with a girlfriend for a cup of coffee since we haven’t had time to catch up lately. Hopefully I can get some watching done tomorrow otherwise I’m not going to have too much to post next week. I am so crossing my fingers that I start making it to the gym after work because I’m at a crossroads here. Let me know what you think of Super Nails Cookie Dough. It’s my first experience with the brand, and I quite liked the formula and application. Make sure that you check out KC’s etsy shop for all of her fun creations. You can also find Super Nails on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Collection

Posted on 29 July, 201428 July, 2014 by Cynthia

Is it hot in your neck of the woods? I know it’s supposed to be really hot here in Southern California, but to tell you the truth, I think it is unseasonably cool. Maybe I’m just on crack or something because it was in the low 90’s here today, but it did not feel that gross. Since it’s really starting to warm up, the collection I have for you today is perfect. The Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Collection is made up of 12 bright colors to sear your retinas. I have 9 of the 12 polishes to share with you today so let’s take a look at the colors first.

Salon Perfect Flamingo Flair

Salon Perfect Fired Up Fuchsia

Salon Perfect Haute Pink (don’t ask me why this looks so orange…my camera took a dump on me)

Salon Perfect Plum Sorbet

Salon Perfect Tickled Pink

This is Loopy Lime, Bermuda Baby, Yowza Yellow and Traffic Cone sponged over a white base of sugar cube. I wasn’t being very careful about my sponging as you can tell by the extreme sloppiness and the muddled outcome. I wasn’t too concerned about it since I was planning to stamp over it anyway.

This is what my mani ended up looking like after stamping it up with an image from Bundle Monster BM 319. I kind of like the grungy end result!

Now, let’s talk formula. These were typical neons but some had better formulas than others. All of the polishes I swatched on their own were rather opaque, and I did not need to use white undies. They dried to a satin finish so I applied a clear top coat to give them some shine. They dried really quickly so you can’t overwork the polish because you will have a major mess on your hands. Loopy Lime, Bermuda Baby, Yowza Yellow and Traffic Cone were a lot thinner so I recommend using a white base to get the most out of them because otherwise you might be applying 5 million coats and still see VNL. If you don’t have similar color, I can recommend these. My absolute favorites are: Plum Sorbet an Fired Up Fuchsia. If you’re interested in purchasing these, you can find them at Wal-Mart where they retail for $3.98 each. My Wal-Mart still had a great selection of these, but they are limited edition so get them while you can.

How do you feel about neons? Strictly for summer or do you rock them year-round? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Stamping Saturdays #27

Posted on 12 July, 2014 by Cynthia

One of the things that I like to do on Saturday mornings is to wake up a little early and go watch a movie by myself. Is that weird? There is a theater by my house where tickets are $5 for a matinee show and they have new movies! The cheapskate in me can’t resist this so I usually go once a week depending on what movies they have. Well, this morning I watched Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and it was freaking awesome! I highly recommend it if you’re going to catch a movie this weekend. After the movie, I went to Sephora because I wanted to look at all the pretty nail polish and because I needed to buy some moisturizer. I’ve been using the same Clinique moisturizer since I was 14 years old if you can believe it. I have tried tons of different moisturizers over the years and I keep coming back to the original yellow lotion even after trying some that are much more luxurious and expensive. I really had to fight with myself because I wanted to buy one polish: Dolce &Gabbana Stromboli. At $25 for a .37oz bottle, I had to put it back because the price was too much for me to spend on one bottle of polish. I hate how reasonable I have become! I did use 500 of my VIB points to get 5 deluxe samples of Philosophy’s Hope In A Jar–the overnight version. I have super dry skin so I hope this is a good moisturizer to use at night. I rarely find any interesting samples at Sephora so I’m glad I got these. I almost got the Marc Jacobs 1,000 point perk, but I decided to pass because I don’t need ANOTHER lipstick or lipgloss even if they are MJ. Anyway, I’ve written a novel here and haven’t even mentioned my Stamping Saturdays mani so let’s take a look at the polish that I used as my base.I don’ know if you’re very familiar with Mentality nail polish, but you should be because they are some amazing products. Not only are the products top notch, but they are super reasonably priced and they offer free shipping! One of the things I hate about online shopping is having to pay for shipping, so I really appreciate their free and fast shipping. The other day, I saw that they were having a sale on their matte polishes (which are 4-free) because they will be switching to a 5-free base. Despite the fact that I’m drowning in polish, I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of bottles. Mentality Protect is a luxurious green matte polish that applied like a dream. I only needed two coats for full opacity and it dries incredibly fast. Gorgeous!

For my stamping, I used Essie Good As Gold and and image from Bundle Monster BM 313. I’ve been having Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on my mind recently because I can’t wait for the new movie to come out. The very first movie I ever saw at the movie theater was TMNT and of course I became obsessed with everything Ninja Turtles and spent countless hours playing the video games and watching the cartoons. Ahh, those were the good old days.

I know this clip is from the second movie, but who can resist Vanilla Ice? haha! Well, I hope you’re enjoying your Saturday so far and thank you for stopping by today. I’ll 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 #11

Posted on 22 March, 201422 March, 2014 by Cynthia

So I just want to preface this post by saying that I’m not really happy with today’s Stamping Saturdays offering. I think I did a sloppy job, and I go from thinking it isn’t too bad to actually hating it but I figure that I should post it anyway because not every manicure is going to be perfect. I’m feeling kind of blah today for a variety of reasons so I apologize for the lack of “pep” in this post. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

I started off with two coats of Nails Inc. Baker Street which is probably one of my favorite blues ever. This color is just so amazingly electric that I can never get enough of it.I always love to see the combination of a bright blue and Max Factor Fantasy Fire so I applied two thin coats over Baker Street.

Lastly, I used an image from Bundle Monster Plate BM 310 for my stamping design. I’ve used this image quite a few times because I love it, but I don’t think it quite works with this mani. I don’t know if it’s the color or something else, but I don’t like how this turned out. I think I’ve had a pretty good run of awesome stamping manis, so a dud was bound to happen, right?

While I was finishing up writing this post, I was watching Thelma & Louise and that final scene of their car flying off the cliff was so perfect! I love that movie! Last night I went to watch the movie Divergent and I was actually surprised that I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say it’s a great movie, but I think it serves its purpose which is to entertain. I felt that the characters could have been a little more developed and I wanted to see more of Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn before they were killed…womp womp. Anywho, I’m looking forward to watching Noah next week. Are there any movies out right now that you can recommend? Let me know what you think of this week’s mani–I won’t be butt hurt if you tell me it sucks–haha! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #8

Posted on 1 March, 20143 May, 2014 by Cynthia

I was feeling so shitastic last night that I passed out fairly early. Then this morning I woke up feeling as if I had consumed a bottle of Tequila the night before, but I had to soldier on and get ready for work. By the time I got to work at 6 am, I was feeling a little better but then my foot started to bother me. It’s been throbbing a lot and it feels swollen so now I’m thinking I should definitely go to the doctor just so they can check it out. My co-worker felt it would be funny to show this to me:

You know what? It is pretty fucking hilarious and so accurate so props to him. The one saving grace of my crappy morning is that work was fairly slow as we were actually adequately staffed…yay! I am glad that I got my mani for Stamping Saturdays done a week in advance because I am feeling super lazy today and probably would have missed posting this week….I am super late as it is but I guess it’s better late than never!

I started out with two creamy coats of OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? I love this color and love the collection it came from!

I then stamped this designs from Bundle Monster plate BM 314 with Essie Good As Gold. I know that I use the Essie Mirror Metallics quite often for my stamping, but they are just fantastic stamping polishes.

So what do you think of today’s stamping mani? I’m liking it but it’s definitely not one of my favorites. I hope to come up with something really cool for next week because I just received my MoYou plates. You have no idea how excited I am to have gotten them!!! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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