May 22, 2013

Stamping Crazy I Say!

I usually don’t sleep too much at night. Nature of my condition. So no sleep, boredom, credit card and the internet breed a dangerous storm for me - late night shopping on the interwebz.

I just found out a couple weeks ago that NailPolishCanada.com has Cult Nails in stock now so I hopped on over there for look-see. I had no intention of buying anything but....
  • Since I had been admiring some really beautiful stamping nail art recently I ended up buying the Konad Set T stamping kit.
  • a full nail Bundle Monster plate BM322;
  • a China Glaze Texture polish in Undefined.
  • and then I stocked up on my favorite all time polish; For Audrey.

NailPolishCanada.com order
 
When I got my NPC order, I watched a few tutorials on how to nail stamp on YouTube. I just searched ‘how to nail stamp’ and BAM a ton of videos come up. I chose to do a full nail stamp LOL! Why I didn’t just start with a simple little nail design I do not know. No guts = no glory I say! Go for the gold! Or in this case the houndstooth HAHA!

I used my new Konad stamping kit; the stamper, scraper and the special white and black polish included in the kit. (The Set T also comes with a starter plate, M36 that has some flower designs on it and a full size Konad top coat). I had already used the kit when I took the pictures. That is why the scraper is stained. I just couldn't stop to take any stinking pictures! I had to play!

I started off with a base coat of hot pink (Cocolily) on most of my nails and on my ring finger I used OPI Alpine Snow. Then I decided to use the houndstooth pattern on the BM322 plate. O_o

laying down the base coat

I used the white special stamping polish on the pink nails and the black on the white nails. I found it pretty easy to roll the design on my nails. Although I messed up lining up the houndstooth pattern so it would be ‘straight’ and did one nail upside down HAHA but I think overall for my first attempt it came out pretty well. I did notice that the white stamping polish wasn’t very vibrant and it seemed to dry really fast on the stamper. I was pretty darn quick working with it so I am not sure if it was the polish or me?? The black polish worked perfectly. So I am thinking it is the polish. That has to be it, right? HA! Perhaps someone can suggest another white polish that works better?

houndstooth nail stamp
 
houndstooth nail stamp
 
I did notice that the ‘full nail’ design on the Bundle Monster plate BM322 did not quite fit my thumb nail. I do not have inordinately large thumbs nails so I imagine a lot of people have this same problem. There was no way I was going to try to line up another stamp to cover the bit that was missing. I just thought ‘whatevs it looks good’ and top coated that sucker.

I am now a fan of stamping. Even though I kinda suck right now. But practice makes perfect right? I got a lot of compliments on this mani by complete strangers. It was a little weird to have a stranger grab my hands at SDM to see my mani LOL but nice too.

So I am hooked right now on stamping and in another late night shopping frenzy ordered a Cheeky plate. It is especially designed with larger images on it. I can’t wait for it to get here...from Hong Kong so it might be a few weeks.

The Set T by Konad stamping kit is currently on sale at NailPolishCanada.com for $18.00 CDN.

So what do you think of my first attempt at stamping?
 

~~99Raina99
 
*products were purchased by me 

May 17, 2013

Topbox May 2013

Wow this week has been full of mail goodies for me. My Topbox came on Tuesday and I finally got around to playing with some of the products in it. I opted for the regular box this month and I think it is pretty good.


May 2013 Topbox
May 2013 Topbox

The contents:


May 2013 Topbox
cuccio colour
Cuccio Colour    Full Size
Full Size: 14ml/ $10
I have never heard of Cuccio before so I am curious to see how this polish applies. The colour I received was So So Sophia which is a very light beige-y cream. I needed a really light off white so I like it. J Cuccio is a natural nail, hand and foot treatment line. No animal testing.
 

May 2013 Topbox
lise watier - stylista
Lise Watier Haute Coloreur High Coverage Lip Lacquer in Stylista     deluxe sample
Full Size: 6ml/$23.00
Lovely berry colour. I haven’t really had the chance to wear for very long. Maybe tonight on my trip to the grocery store. Yeah I am having a wild Friday night HAHA. But back to the lip lacquer – it is on the thicker side, a teeny bit sticky so I am thinking this will last a long time on the lips. I love the colour. It is so me.

 

May 2013 Topbox
yaby - dragonling
Yaby Eyeshadow Refill in Dragonling   full size
Full Size refill: $3.15 to $3.85
Have I ever mentioned I love purple? So when I saw this I was like Right On! Dragonling is a vibrant matte purple. The pan is pretty tiny (about the size of a dime) but it is designed to fit in yaby’s magnetic well systems. You can get the freestyle well for $21.75 or the 40 eyeshadow well for $23.75. A complete 40 shadow palette will run you $136   O_o I received a yaby concealer in my Ipsy Glam bag this month as well. So it will be a nice intro into yaby products. Luckily I have some freedom palettes I can put these in.
 

May 2013 Topbox
roberto cavalli perfumed shower gel

Roberto Cavalli Perfumed Shower Gel    deluxe sample
Full Size: 50ml/$80 75ml/$105
Holy crap! That is some expensive shower gel! I really don’t think I would be spending my money on an expensive shower gel. The scent is alright, a tad on the masculine side. I like it better than the actual perfume I received a few months back. It isn’t as overpowering.
 

May 2013 Topbox
(L) lise watier - stylista (R) yaby - dragonling

I really liked this month’s Topbox. The purple shadow sold me though it is tiny. I was surprised I liked the colour of nail polish I received. It is not something I would have bought myself. I will use everything in the box! How did you like your Topbox?
Now I am off to walk the dog in the rain (yay?) and then go do my grocery shopping. Good times :P
 
~~99Raina99

May 16, 2013

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013

This is my second Ipsy bag. While I still really like it is not as fabulous as last month but it is still pretty good!

May’s bag is all about Spring Fling. The makeup bag is a pretty turquoise and orange geometric print.
 
Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013


The Goodies:


Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
zoya - piaf
 
Zoya Nail Lacquer in Piaf ($8.00 USD @zoya.com)
The Zoya polishes in this month’s bag are all from the 2013 Spring Lovely line. I was not really impressed with the colour choice I received. Piaf is a yellow slightly golden toned shimmer. I don’t wear yellow polishes. They don’t look good on me at all. While I can appreciate the fact that Zoya was included this month, I would have preferred another shade. But I choose to look at glass half full and will try using this polish for stamping.  I have images of this stamped over black maybe?


Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
pacifica bronzing body butter

Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl Bronzing Body Butter ($7.00 USD @pacificaperfume.com)
This smells so good. I love the smell of coconuts. Mmm It isn’t really a body bronzer. It just adds some shimmer as you moisturize. I put this on my legs today. My shins looked glowy but not overly so and I smelled amazing!

 

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
pacifica roll on perfume
 

Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia Perfume Roll On  ($12.00 USD @pacificaperfume.com)
Generous amount of product, great roll on applicator but I am not totally digging the scent yet. It is alright but it didn’t make me too excited. It a just little too sweet for me.
 

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
yaby cream concealer - honey

yaby Cream Concealer  ($5.15 USD @camerareadtcosmetics.com)
A Canadian brand! I haven’t really played around with this concealer yet but at first glance it seems it could work for me. The colour I received is Honey. I swatched it on the back of my hand and it blended seamlessly. But the back of my hand is WAY darker than my face. This is my first time trying yaby and so far so good. The product felt pretty smooth and creamy without being greasy-ish. Yaby can also be found at yabycosmetics.com here in Canada.
 

Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
mirabella daydream

Mirabella Color Sheer Lipstick  ($22.00 USD @mirabellabeauty.com)
I sported this today too and I really liked it. It is now a purse staple J. The colour I received is Daydream. On me it comes off as a beautiful sheer nude rose. Love it. The only thing bad I can say about it is that it wasn’t as moisturizing as some of the lipsticks I have been wearing lately but that ain’t no biggy.

 
Ipsy Glam Bag May 2013
mirabella daydream swatch


I will definitely be sticking around for more Ipsy. Even though there were a couple of things that may not work for me I have been loving what I am getting so far! I just wish the 20% off offers were good for Canadians as well. Wah.
 

~~99Raina99