Untried Greens - Zoya Gemma & Yara

I pulled out some of my untried Zoya greens for the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day.  These are from collections last year, but they were both so pretty that I had to share.

First, we have Gemma from their Spring 2011 Intimate collection
- a soft sage green shimmer.

 

I wanted this shade for its flash of blue-violet shimmer, but I didn't get around to buying it until I found it in an Ulta clearance bin.  The formula was pretty thin and watery, but I think that might have been my fault.  The poor thing had been sitting around for awhile - it probably needed a lot more rolling to get it mixed back up to normal consistency.  I needed three coats to get it opaque, but it might work with two if I mix it better next time.

For those of you in parts of the country where it's still feels more like the end of winter than the beginning of spring...

here's Yara, an olive green with gold flecks,
from the Mirrors half of the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection.

Yara's formula was thicker (maybe because it's also newer and needed less shaking?) and went on easily in two coats.  I really enjoyed the soft, spring-like effect of Gemma, but I LOVED Yara.  This is such a beautiful color.  Why didn't I wear this all fall?? It's smoky, it's subtly sparkly, it's so pretty!

Catching Up - My Birthday!

I celebrated my birthday in July and my friend made me one of the coolest birthday cakes ever - it was a nail polish bottle!!

She took all of my favorite flavors and colors and integrated them into this cake.  The cap is chocolate, the bottle is funfetti and strawberry layers, and it's all topped in a layer of fondant.

The design was modeled after an OPI bottle, down to
the dots between the "HPI" (happy!) and the cute label name on the bottom. 

It's a shout out to our poodle - that's how we spell our lil Suzie's name

To show the size perspective, here I am with my birthday cake.  

Even with half of the cake served, it's still ginormous!!

Since I had a home-based birthday celebration (movies, pizza, hanging out with amigos), I spent most of the morning straightening up our place.  When I was done, I needed a really quick mani change - perfect time to use a matte.

I went with Harlow from the Zoya Matte Velvet Winter 2009 collection.  It's a red-based purple matte shimmer.  I was good to go in two coats and a few minutes.  The Zoya brush, as always, means there was no extra clean up needed.

Matte shimmers are one of my favorite finishes, especially Zoya's.  A matte finish is cool on its own, but the shimmer adds an extra pop of interesting complexity.  Harlow goes to show that a shade can still be special, even if it was a last minute mani choice.

Zoya Paz

I had my nails done at a salon for my friend's wedding this past weekend. It was a Girls Day Out and I wanted to join in the fun even if that meant giving my nails to someone else to polish... well, I loved the awesome cuticle pushing but I'm still in the process of reshaping my nails back to a more matching length and shape. What's up with salons filing my nails diagonally? This is the third time this has happened to me - are my finger tips crooked or something??

After a few days of wearing a sheer shade for the wedding, I couldn't wait to wear one of my favorite neons.  Zoya Paz is from the Summer 2009 La-Di-Da collection - this was the bright cremes counterpart to the Ooh-La-La metallics. La-Di-Da has been spotted at Ulta recently, so keep an eye out for it if you want the polish but don't want to pay the online S&H.

Paz is an ultra bright fluorescent safety neon orange - aka new traffic cone bright! I used three coats of Paz because the formula felt thin for a creme, but that thinness helped make application completely foolproof. No chance of dragging, uneven patches, or pooling with this polish.

Paz dries quickly to a semi-matte finish, which reminded me of a glowing ember. I prefer Paz with a shiny top coat because it really amps up the shade to full traffic cone brightness. Of course, the neon intensity is hard to capture in a picture - I think the bottle in the bottom pic would be closest to color accurate if the orange was just a bit brighter.

This polish glows in all lighting - it is truly intense and not for the timid polish wearer. Paz is one polish that definitely makes me happy - its brightness, unique color, super easy application, even its name! I wholeheartedly recommend it for a daring pedicure if the glowing highlighter brightness is too much for your hands.

OWWWP - Zoya Lindsay

I prefer Zoya's shimmers and glitters. Something about the pieces and particles they use make these finishes look extra unique. Most of their shimmers glide on relatively easy and opaque in two coats. That has not always been the case, though.

In the summer of 2006, they released their Glitterati collection - 6 shades that were translucent and packed with shimmer. Most of the Glitterati colors were pink and today's Wednesday, so I'm wearing one of those pink shades today.

Zoya describes Lindsay as a "translucent medium pink with sparkling silvery shimmer." On some people, this medium pink is bright enough to be a hot pink. Since I have some summer color and this is a cool pink, Lindsay looks more like a vibrant fuchsia on me. The Glitteratis are on the sheer side, so it took three full coats and some spot touch-ups to get Lindsay close to opaque.

Zoya and Seche Vite don't always get along, but I decided to use SV anyway to get all these coats of polish to dry. Lindsay was still dentable almost an hour later and I dinged my index finger. I slapped on a second coat of SV and it seemed to harden it up really quickly, so maybe I should've put two coats of topcoat on in the first place. Although Lindsay was dentable for awhile, once this polish actually dried, it wore like iron for days - we're talking no tipwear.

I like the brightness and femininity of Lindsay, but I'm not sure how I feel about it in comparison to some of my other sheer, shimmer-packed pinks - like BB Couture's Hermosa Surfer Girl.  I think next Wednesday will be a comparison week to show Devious Nature and Hermosa Surfer Girl against these other OWWWP shades.

Zoya Ivanka & Charla

If you haven't heard, Zoya is offering a free bottle of Ivanka AND Charla with any online purchase (US Only) while supplies last or until Thursday, June 16 at 11:59 EST.

Both of these polishes are from the Zoya Summer 2010 Sparkle collection. I've worn both these colors so far this summer because the warm weather has put me in the mood for bright shades. I want sparkle and iridescence until the hotter triple digit days of July when it looks like everything is radiating heatwaves - that's when I'll wear my neons. These polishes are definitely bright and sparkly!

According to Zoya, Ivanka is a "mermaid green sparkling metallic." The gold-with-hints-of-blue duochrome are very visible in the bottle. On the nail, this translates to a green that is bright and cool with tons of gold shimmer.

Charla is a "tropical blue sparkling metallic." I love turquoise polishes and this is one of my favorites. It's not a neon but it's still so bright and sparkly that my camera thought it was radioactive in the sunlight. Charla is packed with gold and green glitter that doesn't disappoint in any lighting.

Both of these polishes ran on the sheer side, probably due to the thin formula that lets the glitter swim through and set at different levels in the base. With three coats, you get sparkly depth and almost-full opacity. Zoya is not known for being a fast drying polish, but these polishes dry extremely quickly - even with three coats. They also dry smooth and grit-free.

If you don't have these two polishes or any of Charla's known dupes, don't wait to take advantage of Zoya's deal. They almost sold out today, but kept the deal going because their VP had them fill more bottles. Rush, rush, rush and go get some awesome free polishes!

OWWWP - Zoya Lo

I love the elongated and feminine shape of tapered oval nails, but my nails felt so delicate and breakable. And I was scared to put in my contacts. My nails grow fast and I put my dailies in before coffee - I was freaked out about the possibility of scratching a cornea!! I've gone back to a shorter squoval and my eyes feel safe again.

On to Pink Wednesdays! Lo is from the Zoya Summer 2008 Gossip collection - the creme companion to the metallic shimmer Chit Chat collection. This polish looks a little bit lighter in the bottle. Even the bottle shot on the Zoya website makes it looks like a gentler pink, but trust the swatch shots you find online or order a spoon to get a more realistic idea of what this shade looks like on the hand.

Looks kinda neon, but absolutely isn't! Dries very bright & shiny

Shade

Lo flows on so easily - Zoya's creme formula has never let me down. The shade is fully opaque in two coats, but I get the best wear from Lo with three. Like most Zoya polishes, this shade fights with my quick-dry top coats. To avoid shrinkage, denting and scratches, it's important to seal the tips and give Lo just a few extra minutes to set.

This pink looks a lot like the warm bright medium pink creme shade that OPI tends to release with their summer collections. OPI Strawberry Margarita happens to be very near and dear to my heart, but my black label bottle has gotten older, emptier, and more sheer (is that possible??) so I'm happy to have Lo on hand as a close substitute.

Zoya Luna

What a Tough Tuesday!  Really!!

It started in the morning and didn’t stop all day - snow flurries came down during the morning commute for the first time this winter, I get yelled at by a crazy lady when I’m trying to get my takeout, I finally catch a bus after work & get told the stop right by my house is being removed soon, our upstairs neighbors overrun their sink and flood our kitchen with disgusting yellow water, I spill my chili dinner on our living room carpet – BUT I changed my polish to something very happy successfully so the day ended on a very positive note.

This is Luna from the Zoya Winter 2009 UltraGlitter collection.  I love Zoya's descriptions, so here's an excerpt - light, shimmering sheer silvery dove gray base loaded with silver glitter.  Just a quick side note - one reviewer on Zoya's website commented they expected a clear base so they must have gotten a bad bottle. Maybe they should read the description before buying and definitely before posting a review?  Sorry for the snark - I said I had a rough day!

Since the day was overcast and snowy, I have some indoor shots.

Looking a little matte, but still glitteriffic...

A glossier angle!

-Flash-

I put Luna on in two thick coats - if you use thin coats, you'll need 3 to get full coverage. This was the sparkly version of today's flurries - the little glitter is the falling snow flakes against the milky gray base that looks like that cloudy sky. This is a lot more sparkly and twinkly than the real stuff we had today, and it definitely brightened my day. Ultra Glitter!

A GingerKittyDesign!

I'm a sucker for a sale - I picked up some RBLs, some Zoyas, and I got my very first piece from GingerKittyDesigns.  My bracelet just arrived yesterday and I've only taken it off while I slept and cleaned around the house.  It's gorgeous and I love it that much!

GingerKitty sells her designs through Etsy and the big thing is she handcreates each piece using nail polish of your choice.  She has a wide variety of beloved shades from OPI Absolutely Alice to Essie Starry Starry Night.  I ordered one of her new bracelets in purple.  She was beyond wonderful to work with - asking what colors I'd like, what kind of effect I'd prefer - I even got to pick my favorite out of multiple samples before she placed it in the setting.  Of course, I recommend checking her site out for yourself.

It's like looking at a galaxy on my wrist. It's so sparkly, so delicate, it's so pretty!!!  I'm not sure exactly polishes went into this final design, but GingerKitty did mention looking forward to trying Zoya Goldie when I asked for swirls of gold and silver through the purple.

In honor of my purple bracelet with a hint of Zoya, I'm wearing Valerie this weekend, which I, of course, picked up during their latest sale.  

Valerie is from the Zoya Winter 2010 Flame collection.  They describe this shade as a "royal purple with dark violet, red, deep pink and gold iridescence amplified by a glittering sparkle finish."  It's like Yasmeen got a makeover from this summer's Sparkle collection.  I think the shade shot really shows that glittery iridescence running through the bottle.  It was opaque in one coat, perfect and deep in two.  Yay for Zoya!

Zoya Edyta

There was a one day sale for Zoya Remove+ about a week ago. I picked up Edyta from the Fall 2010 Wicked Collection and I put it on as soon as I brought the box in from my doorstep. 

In their promotional preview, Zoya described Edyta as a "fern green sparkling metallic."  Since then, Zoya has expanded their description to "A complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish. A dark shade balanced with sparkle for a dramatic look." 

I've tried out some shades hoping to find a nice dark olive-like green shimmer and they've never worked out because they look too black or too gold.  Edyta isn't a true olive green polish, but it is the shade I've been looking for!  This is one of the first polishes in awhile to make me just stop and say "....whoa..."  It flowed on to my nails and I felt like they were... gilded.  Gilded in green opulence...  Andi Translation:  This polish was like velvet on the nails - luxurious, textured, rich.

This is two coats, but it probably could have gotten away with just one with touchups because it's that nicely pigmented.  These are both shots in direct sunlight, but with different angles that show off the color differently.

See the blue-based green base

and the sparkly charcoal & gold effect visible on top and throughout the shade.

There's so much shimmer and sparkle to this polish in the sunlight - green, gold, blue.  I had the feeling of opulence when I wore Edyta and I'm looking forward to wearing this rich polish through the fall and winter.

Zoya Gwin

Gwin is from the Zoya Spring 2010 Reverie Collection.  Zoya describes Gwin as a "sunny melon metallic." I describe Gwin as pink-toned orange with a strong gold shimmer.

This polish really has a lot of iridescent shimmer. There are flashes of gold, yellow, and even green shimmer running through it. This is a lot more apparent in sunlight. Here's a blurred picture to show off some of sheen. It's like you think you're looking at a bright juicy orange shade and... it's glowing! from inside!! the shimmer!!!

My husband bought me the Reverie set a few months ago and today he picked up Maybelline Sunset Prisms for me. Yay for bright colors with a shimmer flash! (By the way - Lacquer Laine has a full swatch of Maybelline Sunset Prisms and it looks like this is one of those polishes that has a different color batch out there. One is orange with a green flash. One is pink with a gold flash.)

Side by side in their bottles, I thought Sunset Prisms might be a possible dupe for Gwin. On the actual nail, Sunset Prisms is a lighter melon orange shade. It's the early spring cousin to Gwin.

Gwin's on my index and ring finger.
Sunset Prisms is on my middle and pinkie finger.

Gwin is a darker orange with a gold flash and pretty much opaque in two coats. Sunset Prisms took four coats to get opaque but the gold shimmer and green flash is more obvious in most lighting. They both had decent formulas. Even though, Sunset Prisms took twice as many coats to get rid of VNL, it actually dried faster than Gwin. Not bad! Sunset Prisms even had a good brush - and it's a Maybelline Express Finish!

Soooo... since both of these polishes were nice to work with and they are related but different colors, both are staying put in the stash. No dupes this time!

Zoya Indigo

I was intrigued to see if my stash had a navy blue creme because I know that I have navy blues but they tend to have shimmer finishes. Zoya Indigo isn't supposed to be one of navy blue shimmers, but on the nail, it looks like it is!

Zoya describes Indigo as "navy blue with subtle multi-color micro glitter." In the bottle, I can totally see that. It's sparkly and full of rainbow glitter sparkles in a rich navy base. On the nail, it looks a navy blue shimmer. The glitter really gets swallowed up. Where does it go?! From some angles, a glitter piece will sparkle here and there, but in other lighting, they just look like bumps or bubbles.

Also, it looks almost black in some lighting. That gets under my skin so much because you shouldn't have to be in full sunlight to enjoy a polish. You might be able to appreciate it more in better lighting, but you should still be able to get the basic idea when you're inside or outside on a cloudy day.

So, instead of a navy blue with fantastic rainbow glitter, Indigo ends up looking like a standard almost-black navy shimmer that has odd bumps in it.

Good ponts - It is opaque in two coats. I didn't do any clean up above because I put it on, took the picture, and took it off, but you can still see that there's not any visible formula application issues. Indigo is from the Zoya Fall 2007 Downtown collection and still available for purchase if the look on the nail speaks to you - just don't go by how it looks in the bottle!

Zoya Yasmeen

Zoya Yasmeen.  Do you love purples?  Do you have this polish?  If you love purple, then you should have this polish.

I didn't think I *needed* this polish, but I read other people's stories about how it was one of their favorite purples. During one of the really nice Zoya sales, I decided I loved purple enough to give Yasmeen a try.

This is one of the prettiest purple shimmers ever. Ev-er.

There's some magenta-red shimmer, some gold shimmer (very visible in the bottle), and it all translates so nicely on the nail. I kind of expected Yasmeen to be warmer and darker than I wanted. Totally wrong! This shade didn't look too cool or too warm on me. It was just right! The purple is dark and deep, but it's far from black. It's clearly purple in all light settings.

The application is great. This is two coats with base and top. The brush and the formula were so nice that no clean up was needed - which is good because I slapped it on after some unpacking and right before calling it a night.  I had to ease back in to wearing a more "New York" polish after the vacation.  This polish was so smooth and shiny, it did the trick nicely.

Yasmeen lived up to and exceeded all of its hype for me.  I kept pushing this polish aside because I thought it was just another purple-whatever.  Now I wish I hadn't left it sitting in my drawer untried all winter!!!  If you love purple shimmers and you don't have this polish, definitely bring it home the next time you're enjoying a Zoya sale.