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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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The Lacquer Ring – Under The Sea

Posted on 23 July, 201522 July, 2015 by Cynthia

I bet you’re surprised to see that I did NOT flake out on today’s The Lacquer Ring post, right? I feel like I kind of cheated on this post because I didn’t put a lot of thought into it like I wanted to. Sometimes I get too wrapped up in complicated ideas that end up bombing out big time. Today’s prompt is “Under The Sea” and of course all I could think of was…

I’m sure that I’m not the only one that ADORES The Little Mermaid. So for my manicure, I decided to start out with a minty green polish that reminded of me seafoam.

This is two coats of KBShimmer Mint-al Vacation (press sample) which is a gorgeous minty shade with some holographic particles. This is a more faint linear holo, but you really won’t be able to see it except under certain lighting. Still, it’s gorgeous.

And here is the lazy part: I used MoYou London Sailor Collection Plate 07 (press sample) and my Konad White polish to stamp these sea-inspired images. Even though I kind of took the lazy way out, I think these turned out super cute.

So what do you think about this mani? Don’t forget to check out the other manis from my girls below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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The Lacquer Ring – Gradient

Posted on 26 February, 201525 February, 2015 by Cynthia

I’m starting to think that my fellow Lacquer Ring-ettes hate me. A few of them were bemoaning the gradient prompt but whatever…it was my turn to pick! How spoiled and self-involved did that sound? I am actually super happy with my selection because my gradient turned out really great–in my opinion anyway. I’ve always had issues with doing a good gradient so I’m happy that wetting the sponge made a huge difference for me. Are you ready to see what The Lacquer Ring has in store for you today?

This is my amazeballs gradient. Isn’t it pretty? I used two of my favorite Illamasquas: Nomad and Noble for the gradient. In fact, I have used these same polishes before in a gradient but this time I did a vertical gradient just because I felt like it. I 100% believe that this gradient looks great because the polishes are just perfection. I am still not over the fact that Illamasqua is no longer sold at Sephora, but I am happy that I could buy a bunch on Hautelook for a deep discount.

To finish off my mani, I used Mentality Black Opaque and a chain-link design from MoYou London Pro Collection Plate 02 (press sample). Don’t you think the stamping just brought it all together in an awesome way?

After all my talk of how awesome this mani is, watch everyone hate it. Sometimes when I think I do a spectacular mani, no one cares but when I do a dumpy one it gets tons of attention and likes…what’s up with that? Anyway, I hope that you like my gradient mani today and don’t forget to check out the other manis below from my gals.Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #55

Posted on 7 February, 20157 February, 2015 by Cynthia

I’m sorry that I’m showing you L’Oreal Masked Affair today because I know how hard it has been for some of you to get your hands on it. Ok, I’m not that sorry because it is a gorgeous polish, and I was excited to find it after all the swatches I had seen. I normally have a hard time finding drugstore stuff like this because the stupid displays have like 2 of each polish, so this was a major win. I don’t think that we will ever get tired of holographic polishes–this is definitely a good one. Let me show you this baby on its own before I show you how I jazzed it up for today’s Stamping Saturdays.

Ghhhaaaaa! Gorgeous. There are plenty of silver holos out there, but this isn’t really silver–it leans lavender and has a unique finish. The formula is a little thin which is normal for drugstore polishes, but it does build up nicely. I applied 3 coats for my swatches above.

Since I didn’t want to cover up a lot of this beautiful polish, I used a delicate stamp. As usual, I used my Mentality Black Opaque polish for the stamping. The image I used comes from plate MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample) which is one of my favorite plates!

So what are you up to today? I’m watching Peanut today so it’s been a busy morning. I just managed to put him down for his nap so that’s why I’m posting this kinda late. Anyway, I hope you’re having a nice weekend, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #53

Posted on 24 January, 201524 January, 2015 by Cynthia

Aren’t you guys happy that the weekend is here? Last night I found Masked Affair at my local Rite-Aid and I am still wondering why the display only has two of each polish…is that ridiculous or what? Anyway, I had a pretty big polish week because I bought a ton of new stuff that I’m already regretting but hey–that always happens to me. As usual, I had no idea what I wanted to do for today’s Stamping Saturdays so I just went with the flow. Let me show you the gorgeous polish that I used as my base.

This gorgeous polish is OPI Taylor Blue (press sample). If you don’t know the story behind this polish, make sure that you read it here. This gorgeous polish is so incredibly shiny and has a beautiful crelly consistency.

I then used Mentality White Opaque to stamp an image from plate MoYou London Sailor Collection Plate 07 (press sample). While the Mentality polish stamps beautifully, it has more of a pearl off white finish and I was really looking forward to an opaque white creme. I got so excited with my mani, that I top coated it with OPI I Can Teal You Like Me (press sample) before taking pictures of it. Womp womp. I really love how this looks but dang those bubbles kill it. I’m getting irrationally upset with the bubbles so I may have to take Emma’s suggestion and try the Dance Legend Top Aquarelles.

Minus the bubbles, I love this!!! What do you think? I’m starting to feel really gross because of the Santa Ana winds which make my allergies go bonkers…i’m not looking forward to that so I’m loading up on Benadryl. I have an eye exam later this morning which I’m not looking forward to. Lately I’ve been having tons of issues with my vision which is a huge concern since I’m diabetic. However, I’ve had all the check ups with my doctor and she said my eyes are perfectly healthy. I’ve noticed that I have a lot of trouble seeing up close now with my glasses, and by the end of the day, my eyes are so painfully dry that I can barely see. I bought some eye drops last night and when I got home I realized it said they were for dry “aging eyes.” Yep, I’m old. Well, I hope you’re having a nice Saturday so far and don’t forget to join us for Stamping Saturdays by adding your link below and tagging your posts on IG with #stampingsaturdays so I can find you. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Inspired By: Rainbow Doodles

Posted on 20 January, 201519 January, 2015 by Cynthia

I’m currently enjoying the last day of my 4 day weekend so I hear the impending womp womp music in my head for tomorrow morning. I’m really enjoying the idea of keeping up these “Inspired By” posts because I hope it will push me to do more creative things. Last time I did the rose and chevrons mani that I really liked, so I hope that you like what I have for you today. For today’s post, I picked this fun rainbow doodle from Amy’s pinterest post and we set out to create our own interpretation of it.

Does this look like snakes to you? Like rainbow snakes….or maybe rainbow spaghetti?

To start with, I used this arch design from MoYou London Pro Collection – 02 (press sample) and stamped with Mentality Opaque Black stamping polish. I think that this has replaced my love for my Konad Black stamping polish for a few reasons: 1) It’s cheap 2) It stamps very well and very opaque 3) It does not stain like the Konad!!!!! For my white base, I used my favorite white polish in the whole wide world: Jessica Sharktooth (press sample).

Ok, so I’m super irritated with all the bubbling going on in this mani. I used all 4 OPI Sheer Tints (press sample) to fill in the design, but because they are so thick and gummy, it’s really hard to manipulate them. Since I applied them a little thick, bubbling was inevitable. Despite the bubbling, I still find the overall effect really fun.

Lastly, I mattified the whole thing with my favorite Matte Top Coat from OPI (press sample). I think that the matte top coat hides the bubbles a bit so I’m all for that. I’ve had this matte top coat for a while, and it has not gotten gunky or weird at all.

So what do you think about this mani? Minus the bubbles, I really like how this turned out. Make sure that you check out the other manis below to see how the other ladies interpreted the design inspiration. Thank you for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Chevrons and Flowers

Posted on 29 December, 201428 December, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Monday, ladies! Ghhhaaaaa! It’s the last week of the year, and I decided that I wanted to try something a little different today. While I admire all of the amazing ladies who do tons of freehand nail art, I am usually a big fat failure when it comes to anything more complicated than stamping. I got together with Amy and Siobhan to do a mani based off an image or pattern just to mix things up a little. Amy found an awesome pattern, and we decided to use it for today’s mani.

Am I the only one who wants that shower curtain like immediately?

I started off with OPI Angel With A Leadfoot (press sample) as my base. I’ve been using this white a lot lately for my manicures. Can you blame me? It’s so crisp and creamy.

Since I always end up messing up something simple such as chevrons even with vinyls, I decided to use a stamp for this kind offset chevron design. This image is from plate MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample) and I used my Konad special polish in black. For the flower design, I used a water decal that was sent to me by the lovely Jacqui last year after I mentioned that I had never used them before. She has a great post explaining how to use water decals which I referred to today before I used them. Check out her post here. It was super easy to use the water decal, but I did have to do some trial an error. It’s really important to trim them down do that you don’t have any overhang. Because my nails are naturally very curved, the decal did not lay all the way flat at first so I had to fiddle with it to make sure it was as flat as possible before top coating the entire thing. I really loved this design! Even better, I loved doing this with my girls because sometimes I feel like all I do is swatch. While I love swatching, it can sometimes get tedious so doing something like this can get my creative juices flowing.

Make sure that you check out Amy’s and Siobhan’s designs by clicking their links below. What do you think of this design? It was rather easy to create, and it turned out really cute if I do say so myself. I hope you’re having a great beginning to your week. Thank you for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Stamping Saturdays #41

Posted on 18 October, 2014 by Cynthia

Well hello there and welcome to another Stamping Saturdays! I haven’t posted much in the last week, but I won’t get into it here because I have a lot to share and I’ll never get through this post. Ha! I am super happy with the weather lately because it’s finally starting to feel like fall. I’m going to do a ton of stuff around the house today so I’m kinda looking forward to everything being spic and span. For today’s mani, I used one of my new pretties: OPI Christmas Gone Plaid.

I really hate that my pictures make this polish look darker than it is. It’s actually a lot more green in real life and it’s gorgeous! The good news is that OPI Christmas Gone Plaid (press sample) is super amazing, smooth, opaque and incredibly shiny on its own.

I just wanted to jazz everything up so I applied a coat of Nubar 2010 which is one of my favorite flaky polishes.

This large houndstooth design is from plate MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample). I just love houndstooth everything!

Well, what do you think about this mani? I hope you’re doing well today and that you are enjoying your weekend. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #40

Posted on 11 October, 201411 October, 2014 by Cynthia

Sweet baby Jesus on rollerskates, I think I came down with some sort of stomach bug yesterday. My stomach was killing me all day, but I just seem to get sick for random reasons. I didn’t eat anything bad yesterday. In fact, I ate pretty well: yogurt, apple with peanut butter, string cheese and a chicken salad–this was before dinner. Anyway, I think my system has never been the same since I had my gall bladder removed a few years ago. My stomach feels pretty normal now so whatever! Suck it, stupid stomach issues! Yesterday after work I went to my nail polish places and I kind of went overboard. You see, I was feeling pretty good because my manager was giving me kudos for something and then even the director of our department stopped by to tell me what a great job I did. It’s always nice to be recognized for doing a good job, right? Sometimes it feels that the only time you hear from management is when you mess up, so it’s a nice surprise to hear positive feedback too! Look at all the stuff I got:

I tracked down the rest of the Cuccio Colour Precious Metals collection so I was beyond excited. I also found the Essie Winter Collection (which seems so wrong!) and some Color Club Halo Hues that I hadn’t picked up yet. And lastly I picked up a few dreamy Kiara Sky cremes, one of which I will be using for today’s Stamping Saturdays. Ready to check it out?

This beauty is Kiara Sky Teal The Spotlight. You’re welcome. That is all I really have to say. It’s gorgeous, has a gorgeous formula, it is shimmery, buttery and opaque. Perfection.

The color totally made me thing of the ocean so I used my MoYou London Sailor Collection Plate 07 (press sample) to stamp this wave design. I’m really digging this! After the fails from the previous weeks, I’m glad this design turned out.

What are you up to today? I don’t have anything exciting planned so I think I’m just going to swatch my little heart out. My fingers are scared in advance, but I’m also really excited to try out all my new pretties! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Stamping Saturdays #37

Posted on 20 September, 201420 September, 2014 by Cynthia

Holy shitballs. I can’t believe I am currently enjoying day 1 of my 4 day weekend. And how am I enjoying today, you ask? By watching episode after episode of Sons of Anarchy, of course! I completely blame Emma for getting me started on this show, and she was 100% right–I love it. I am just starting season 2 and I suspect that I’ll be able to get through a couple of seasons over this long weekend. Next week is a big TV week for me because 2 of my favorite shows are coming back: Scandal and The Blacklist!! My TV life will be complete when The Following comes back, but it seems that I will have to wait until next year for that. I think I might have to stop watching so much TV, but to be honest I tend to watch while I do other stuff like cleaning or doing my nails so at least I’m being somewhat productive. For today’s Stamping Saturdays, I decided to go extra glittery so let me show you what I did.

This gorgeous polish is NYC Blue Majesty (press sample) from the Crystal Couture Collection. It’s a very opaque glitter with a very pigmented blue jelly base. Unfortunately it stains something fierce so make sure that you double up on base coat. I didn’t use any base coat and ended up having to buff the staining away because it was so bad that not even pure acetone worked. You may also have noticed my super short nails. I don’t normally like having my nails this short, but since I broke my pinky nail I just decided to file them all down.

Because there is nothing more gorgeous to me than a white and blue mani, I stamped this image from plate MoYou London Pro Collection – 02 (press sample). I really like how this mani turned out despite my nubs.

So what are you up to this weekend? I’m really happy that the weather has cooled down dramatically. Earlier in the week it was around 100 degrees and now I’m enjoying upper 70’s and low 80’s which is heavenly. I just hope that it stays this way so I can enjoy my mini vacation. I hope you’re doing well, and thank you for stopping by today!

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