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 - OPI I'm Indi-a Mood For Love

Happy June to all!! I just ordered Devious Nature from Cult Nails during their fantastic Memorial Day sale. While I wait for my perfect hot-pink-with-a-touch-of-berry polish to arrive, I decided to wear another bright, cool leaning pink - I'm Indi-a Mood for Love from the OPI Spring 2008 India collection.

One of my favorite pinks of all time is OPI Strawberry Margarita from their Spring 2006 Mexico collection. It's a great bright warm pink, so I didn't pay attention to any of the cool pinks in the later spring/summer collections. Warm pinks made me feel tan and summery golden - until I moved to New York and looked for a cooler color that seemed more appropriate for their milder seasons.

I'm Indi-a Mood for Love is a bright, cool pink creme that goes on smoothly and dries shiny. I prefer three thin coats for full opacity. This polish is opaque enough to be worn with only two, but that does leave some nail line visible in brighter lighting.

 

There's enough blue in I'm Indi-a Mood for Love for this shade to look more purple-magenta on me. That tames this bright pink down enough to make it sophisticated enough to be work appropriate for me in the summer months.

I wonder how Devious Nature will measure up against this shade? Given the extremely fast shipping from Cult Nails, I'll probably have it my hands in time to share for next week's On Wednesdays We Wear Pink post.

OPI San Tan-tonio

As I mentioned last month, I haven't been able to get any of the OPI Spring 2011 Texas polishes because OPI isn't in the "unemployed" budget. However, I now have three shades from the collection due to the generosity and awesomeness of my wonderful friends. Surprisingly, the first one I tried wasn't a "sorbet."

According to OPI, San Tan-tonio is "a “honey” of a ten-gallon tan!" This is definitely a light tan creme, but the exact shade will vary depending on your skin tone. This shade looks like a grayed-out caramel on me. The first coat showed a rosy brown base that continued to deepen in color with each subsequent coat. Here it is at three coats - very shiny and level before I even got the top coat on.

Everyone's monitor shows colors differently, but I had to show a more accurate shot of the bottle itself. For some reason, it kept coming out really light in all the color accurate nail shots. It's not the color of coffee with too much cream - it's more tan than that.

The shade looks different once it's on the hand, but here's how San Tan-Tonio actually looks by itself in the bottle.

I really liked San Tan-tonio - something about the shade made me think of the 70s. If I did "How I Wore It" posts like Varnish Vixen, I'd wear this color with a flowy peasant blouse and flares outfit.

Feelings...

My Current Range of Feelings:
~Angry~
BAD Blogger!  BAD! It's bad enough the PlayStation Network has been down forever and has been screwing with my ability to stream Netflix on our PS3 (I need my random old TV shows fix). As soon as the PSN comes back, Blogger has to go down? "Page Not Found. Error. Blogger Not Found." Networks need to stop breaking!

~Frustrated~
Where did my posts go, Blogger? Everything looked fine and then suddenly they were gone?! I found two of them hiding on random days and times but I'm still missing one. Does "Save" mean nothing? Does "Save" really mean "Lost forever in the internet ether"?

~Sad~
Where did some of the comments go? Why did you take them away, Blogger? I liked those comments.

I'm not going to linger on the negative - I'm going to push forward and focus on the positive! I also feel very...

~Happy, Grateful, Lucky to Know Some Awesome People!!~
Polish presents have been coming in like crazy. With this kind of generosity, I'm going to be able to get through this no-to-low buy period easily until I'm employed again.

My mom is keeping me stocked with new Revlons. Her most recent gifts - Not So Blueberry and Black Lingerie. My friends and family have been layering fiends since I've been back!

My husband is an excellent Easter basket maker - the best jelly beans, bunny peeps, and polish. This year, he treated me to some OPI.

Cuckoo For This Color, Houston, We Have A Purple, Meet Me On The Star Ferry

AND I just got an early birthday present from Katticus (she's a friend and a follower) this weekend. She worked some sales magic like crazy at her Ulta and sent me a ridiculous amount of polish from my Lemming List!

Lighthouse, Below Deck, Marley, Dannii, San Tan-Tonio, Too Hot Pink To Hold Em

I have to take it easy on my right hand due to a finger irritation/issue (meaning no daily polish changes), so I'll be playing with these for awhile. Everything is all soooo pretty!

I'll be making her some really nifty, crafty gift to send to Kat. I've been brainstorming and each idea gets more wild and creative, so who knows what will end up on her doorstep - be ready, Kat!

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.

StreetWear Angelic

Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome moms out there!

Today we're going to visit one of my grandmothers who always notices what polish I'm wearing. It all started with a teal shimmer mani I decided to wear on a summer vacation trip to Orlando. Since visits were far and few between when we lived on the East Coast, I made an extra effort to wear shades that are extremely pretty but still unique when we went to see her.

I picked the very girly, spring-y, fairy princess polish that is Revlon StreetWear Angelic. This is a frosty light pink filled with silver microglitter. It's sheer and needs three coats for decent opacity. It went on with relatively thin coats, but this polish still took awhile to really set even with Seche Vite.

 

This polish didn't wow her from a distance like some other blingtastic shades I've worn before, but up close, she really enjoyed the delicate glitter. I achieved the subtle surprise effect I was going for - yay!!

Then my family went a step further and completely surprised me when they asked what I thought about putting a crackle over it. I can't believe I didn't think of that first - wouldn't it look a bit like the new OPI Glam Slam! duos?