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The Lacquer Ring – Splatter

Posted on 22 January, 201521 January, 2015 by Cynthia

I need to tone it down a little today because I’m almost roid raging over a freaking nail. So here I am all happy with being able to use my swatching hand again, and I was all showing off my new nail shape and all…and BAM! My pink nail split lengthwise. How does that even happen? I’ve never had that happen before so I was like…WTF nail? I managed to file it down enough to where the split ended, but now I’m just waiting for the next nail catastrophe. Oh, and I also have a nail starting to peel/break on my non-swatching hand. Of course this happens when I have about 30 polishes to swatch because the universe hates me. Let me get off this rant for now so I can actually show you what I’m supposed to be talking about today: The Lacquer Ring! Yep, we are at it again with a new prompt which was chosen by Amanda. She chose splatter nails, and of course I had to take the easiest way out because, at Sweet Brown says, Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!

I started off with a simple black base using Jessica Velvets & Pearls (press sample) which is a pretty standard black creme. It has a great formula so no complaints here.

I then used Jessica Standing Ovation (press sample) to stamp this splatter image from Konad Plate M70. I thought the contrast would be better, but I kind of like how this looks. I should have left well enough alone but nooooooooooooo…

I then used my Nicole by OPI Matte Top Coat (press sample) to mattify the whole mani and basically ruined it. I do not like how this looks matte. I should have used a different stamping color to make it stand out more when I mattified it.

Welp, I’m sorry I brought you this craptacular mani today. I just gave up. I had a long day and just didn’t have it in me to do anything different after this fail. Hopefully I’ll do better next month. Womp womp. Check out the links below to see what the other ladies from The Lacquer Ring came up with–it sure can’t get worse than this. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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The Beauty Buffs – Black and White

Posted on 13 August, 201412 August, 2014 by Cynthia

It’s Wednesday which means that we are halfway through the workweek! I don’t know about you, but I practically live for my weekends, and I start getting excited as soon as Thursday rolls around. Is that pathetic? Why can’t I just be independently wealthy and not have to work at all? At the same time, would I enjoy my weekends as much if I didn’t have to trudge through a workweek? Hmmm…Anyway, today I am back with The Beauty Buffs for a black and white mani. I love using black and white on my nails, so it took me for-eva to decide what I wanted to do. Well, let me show you what I ended up doing.

I started out with a gradient using Jessica Sharktooth (press sample), Jessica Velvet & Pearls (press sample) and Cuccio Colour Soaked In Seattle. I fidgeted with this forever because I could not get a smooth enough gradient for the life of me.

I was going to try a reverse gradient stamp over this gradient, but I had already spent so much time on the base that I was just DONE! So I took out my bottle of Nubar Black Polka Dot and applied one coat. I was actually super happy about the way this turned out.

What do you think about this mani? Is it too loud and flashy or is this something that you would wear? Well, I hope that you are having a nice week, and don’t forget to check out the other black and white manis from my fellow Beauty Buffs. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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Dollish Polish 1-UP

Posted on 16 June, 201415 June, 2014 by Cynthia

I know it’s just the middle of June, but is anyone else already excited about having a long weekend for the 4th of July? I find that I basically live for long weekends, and I am already planning to do absolutely nothing but lounge around in my apartment. I will not let anyone rope me into doing holiday stuff and will just be lazy for 3 days straight. I’m so looking forward to it! So today being a Monday and my least favorite day of the week, I decided to wear a polish that just makes me insanely happy when I wear it: Dollish Polish 1-UP. Why would a polish make me insanely happy? Well, dear reader, because it brings me back to the late 80’s when my parents bought us a Nintendo console. This was huge for us because we were fairly broke and we had to pick between getting a VCR or a Nintendo. Well, of course there was no contest. I played Super Mario Bros for hours and hours and hours until I managed to pass the whole game which was the crown achievement of my childhood. Anyway…now you know why this polish makes me happy!

To start with, I applied two coats of Jessica Velvets & Pearls as my base color. I love this greyed black polish!

And this is two coats of Dollish Polish 1-UP. Oh my gah, I love this polish so much. It’s so unique and of course I love it even harder because it’s Super Mario Bros themed. This was a super fantastic present from Amanda so a million thanks for the awesome polish. I was playing the new SMB on my Wii this weekend, but I’m pretty rusty and part of me misses the original in all its 8-Bit glory. I remember the first time I figured out that you could get unlimited 1-UP’s when you jumped on the duck shell as it was coming down the stairs. Remember that trick?

What a fun game! None of the crazy shooting, Grand Theft Auto, Halo bullshit of nowadays. I sound like some old lady right now, don’t I? haha You’ll still like me, right? Well, thank you so much for stopping by today and for joining me in my hatred for Mondays. Talk to you soon!

Jessica A Night At The Opera Collection – Fall 2013

Posted on 12 August, 201314 August, 2013 by Cynthia

When I was a kid, I used to live for Saturday morning cartoons. The ABC lineup used to be my favorite, and I would be so upset on those Saturdays when I had to go to Catholic school and miss out on my favorite ritual. Another reason why I loved Saturday mornings was because it was really the only day when I was able to spend time with my dad. Since he worked so much, I never really saw him during the week but on Saturday mornings, he would watch cartoons with my brother and I. I loved that time with my dad even though I was such a little turd when I was a kid and would never tell him how much I missed him. One of our favorite shows was Looney Toons because they were so old school and were actually FUNNY and not bloody and violent like the cartoons nowadays. Well…I guess they were violent but it was more for comedic effect and not to actually show gore and blood. I loved the musical numbers, and I remember that’s where I first encountered Opera.

Do you remember this? I thought it was hilarious but was also intrigued by this strange music. It wasn’t until years later that I started listening to opera as a teenager that I fully understood what it was about. One of the very first operas I listened to was a recording of Maria Callas’ La Traviata, and I just became enamored. From there, I devoured opera. One of the things on my bucket list is to see a performance at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. While I was in Milan, I did stop by but didn’t have the time to actually see if it would even be possible to see a performance.

Now that I have bored you with my childhood memories of opera, let me tell you about the Jessica A Night At The Opera Collection for Fall 2013. Isn’t it funny how something like a nail polish collection can evoke such fond memories in your mind? It’s almost like when you hear a song and you are transported back in time and you experience those fond (or not so fond) memories from your past. This Fall collection is full of bold colors, and I was very excited to give them a whirl. Let’s take a look at the polishes…

While I wasn’t too excited when I saw Jessica Velvet & Pearls because how exciting can a black crème be? Well, let me tell you that it’s pretty fantastic. Not only is the formula outstanding, but the color is not really a true black…it has this smoky gray quality to it that really makes it unique in my stash. I know that black nails were all the rage a couple of years ago, but I still sport them because they just look edgy on short nails.

When I first saw Jessica Standing Ovation, I kind of heard angels sing. Yes, the way this polish looks in the bottle is rather majestic. From experience, I know that bottle shots can be super deceiving and I hate that bitter disappointment especially when it comes to duo or multi-chrome polishes. Well, this polish did live up to the hype I had created for it in my head. I loved it!! Not only is this shimmery green gorgeous, but you can definitely see the different colors flash depending on the angle of your nails. Just to show you how gorgeous it is, here is a bottle shot:

Jessica Standing Ovation 3

Seriously…how can you resist this polish. Just looking at those colors in the bottle…ghaaa!

For the purple lovers out there, I can see you going totally gaga over Jessica Prima Donna. This purple is just so shimmery and glowy that it pained me to remove it while I was swatching this collection. It’s such a rich and luxurious purple with a highly pigmented and easy to control formula.

Jessica Overture reminds me of some of the amazeballs polishes from last year’s Spicy Dream Collection. This is as close as I ever want to get to having my nails look like they are on fire. I am a big fan of orange so this fiery copper won me over.

The only color that left me feeling kind of meh is Jessica Opening Night. It’s not that the color isn’t pretty or that the formula is subpar—because it isn’t—it’s just that it wasn’t that exciting to me. The formula on this is great: smooth, rich, great consistency and very pigmented. It’s a nice fuchsia shimmer, but it didn’t make me get weak in the knees a la SWV:

Woot! Let’s hear it for the 90’s kids!

Are we tired of seeing these dark and smoky blues? Not me! Jessica Blue Aria is kind of “the brainchild of my brainchild.” Jessica calls this a dark cobalt…cobalt?? This is a darkened blue with a rich formula that could almost be a one-coater if you’re careful with your application. My nails definitely approve of this polish.

Jessica is one of my favorite brands and this collection continues to cement that opinion. Not only are the colors absolutely gorgeous, but the formula on all of them is superb. I applied two coats of each color for all my swatches and a couple of them could get away with one coat if you’re careful with your application. My biggest peeve about Jessica Cosmetics is that they are not as widely available as other brands so I always get questions about where to find these polishes locally after I review their collections. Please make these available everywhere!! For now, you can purchase Jessica polishes on ninjapolish.com or through their website at jessicacosmetics.com A few people have told me that they can be found at other sites, but these are the only two reliable and trustworthy sites that I know of short of getting them at independent beauty supply stores. I don’t have an exact date of when this collection will be available but it should be available sometime soon. Make sure that you follow Jessica on Facebook and Twitter for all their latest news.

So now that you have seen this collection, let me know what you think. Any favorites? Are you a Jessica fan? Let me know! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

About Jessica:

A global powerhouse, the Jessica brand of nail care from Jessica Cosmetics International is available in more than 35 countries at the finest salons, spas and retailers and at www.jessicacosmetics.com. Jessica Vartoughian–founder and creator of Jessica Cosmetics–”The First Lady of Nails” by the New York Times and “Manicurist to the Stars” by Vogue. Her complete colour and treatment line has been designed to promote healthy, beautiful nails.