Nail of the Day: Zoya Seraphina and Zoya Vega

Hey everybody!  How has your Saturday been?  I've been quite busy with housework and the like, and I've finally broken down and started wrapping presents.  As a side note, Marshalls/Home Goods/TJ Maxx have the best wrapping paper, period.  Their Christmas paper always appeals to my fancy side...which is really both sides. :D

I've got a very pretty duo on today, Zoya Seraphina with Zoya Vega accents.  I purchased these two bottles about six weeks ago at Ulta, where they were $2.50 each.  Yep.

Seraphina is a silvery-white shade with silver shimmer from the 2013 Zenith Collection.  I liked Seraphina from the very beginning, even though shades like this don't really look all that swell on me.  Seraphina was a naughty girl on me...very, very sheer.  What you're looking at is FOUR coats, and opacity may as well be a fairy tale.  The good thing is the coats dried very quickly.

Vega is a light blue/aqua textured holo Magical Pixie Dust that was released in their first collection of Magical Pixie Dusts, which according to many people, seem to be constantly morphing in terms of formula and finish. :)  I confess, I was kinda on the fence about Magical Pixie Dusts.  I thought a couple of them were a total crusty-looking mess.  But I picked Vega and Cosmo up (at $2.50 I pretty much HAD to try them, right?), and whoa!  Changed my mind!  Vega is like OPI Tiffany Case-does-Vegas.  

Oh, and I'm currently in the process of decorating the house.  Did I give myself away?

I really love this duo.  It's an icy-snowy-frosty-just plain cold look to which I'm always attracted.  Living in the tropics during perimenopause will do that to you.

Don't forget to enter my Pretty Jelly giveaway!  The prize is the entire A Novel Christmas collection, which I personally guarantee you will love. :)

So, my question for you is...where do you like to buy your Christmas gift wrap??  :P  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!

Coming Around...

Hey everybody!!  Wow, I've missed you all! 

I am slowly getting back into the swing of things after my 3 month long hiatus.  So much has changed for me personally since my last blog post...I'm still trying to get over it. :/  I thought I would show you some of the things I've been wearing since June.

butter LONDON Shag - metallic and shimmery and gorgeous and chipped all over the place...

Orly Star Trooper - coffee-colored jelly and white glitter!  Yikes, it's pretty!! Oh, and this...

Zoya Payton - imagine blackberry jam where the seeds are holo.  Yep.

China Glaze Optical Illusion - my absolute favorite microglitter!

Zoya Aurora (complete with tip wear!)

I hope you all have enjoyed your summer and are ready to listen to me whine about the slow-poke arrival of our Southern autumn. :)

And a special thank you to my co-bloggers and friends Liesl, Yadi, Christine, and Emily for checking on me over the past weeks.  It means more than you know. <3

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day. 

Emerald Greens: OPI, Ulta, and Zoya

Hey everybody!  Sorry for my absence during the past week...I've had a lot going on and not very much time to devote to the blog. :/  BUT I am back tonight with another green family post.  This time, it's those luxurious emeralds.  Emeralds were always my favorite gemstone...I got my very first gemstone ring, an emerald, the Christmas right before I turned 14.  It was pretty microscopic, but I still have it. :)

First up is a polish by OPI that I believe was created for Ulta as a freebie with purchase during the Christmas 2012 season.  It's called Skip the Gift Wrap, and it's a shimmery metallic emerald that's very nice even without a bow on top, thank you. :)

Skip the Gift Wrap is, in my opinion, a true emerald green.  It's not kelly, or hunter, or pine.  It's got an easy formula but is rather on the sheer side...I used 3 coats.  It's a touch frosty, but it's the good kind of frosty...no, not the one from Wendy's, but you know what I mean. :P

Next up is an Ulta polish that I am *cough* just getting around to trying out. :/  It's called Envy.  Ooooh.

Envy is a little more hunter green than Skip the Gift Wrap.  It's also a metallic shimmer, but it doesn't have as much shimmer as Skip the Gift Wrap.  It also doesn't have that frosty look.  I liked the application on this a lot.  It may have to do with the tiny Ulta brush that is more suited to my toddler-sized nails.  Sometimes, those wide OPI brushes make me feel like I'm using a spatula. :P

Last on our emerald tour is last year's Zoya Giovanna...loved my some, disliked heartily by others.

I was one of the ones who loved Giovanna.  It's got all that lovely blue in it!  It's not what I would call a true emerald green.  Maybe a created emerald.  No.  Make that a blue indicolite tourmaline.  Trust me on this one.  But YIKES...I look at my pics, and I should have used 3 coats instead of 2!  That is some bald-looking mess going on there.  Okay, if you're going to be out meeting people in macro, use 3 coats. :D  Giovanna has that pleasant frostiness about it too.

Are you an emerald green fan?  How about emeralds in general? :)  What was your first gemstone jewelry?

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day. <3

Grass Green Comparisons: Zoya, China Glaze, Nicole by OPI

Hey everybody!  Well, much to my dismay, it's spring.  And with it come pollen and lots of growing things that have no mercy on my allergies.  So I decided to do a nice springtime comparison today, minus the hay fever.  I've got three different grassy greens for your viewing pleasure. :)

First up is Zoya Meg, a foil polish that you could, quite honestly, apply in the dark.  Okay.  Maybe that wasn't *entirely* honest.  But my point is that Zoya's foils are so wonderfully forgiving...in fact, I tend to reach for them when I'm tired and my eyes aren't focusing quite right.

Meg is a medium grass green from the 2012 Surf collection that ensnared me completely.  She is very shimmery and has a yellow undertone, but I won't hold that against her.  I used 2 coats of Meg for full coverage.

Next I have China Glaze Paper Chasing, a more subtle shimmer that's a kelly green.  It's the color of the legendary Crayola crayon called "Green", back when crayons were named actual color names, as opposed to "Dragon Guts"  or "Fat Caterpillar" or something of that ilk.

Paper Chasing is a bit on the sheer side, so I used three coats and still had Mr. Troublemaker Who Shall Remain Nameless peeking through.  For some reason, though, the VNL doesn't bother me with this polish.  It's just so pretty and I can't stay perturbed at it.  It's also got a great formula.

Well, if Paper Chasing was a bit sheer, Nicole by OPI Make Mine Lime is cheesecloth.  Another grassy-hued hard shimmer with just a *hint* of chartreuse, Make Mine Lime is so sheer that I had to use FOUR coats to achieve the amazing lack of opacity you see before you. :)

Yet, it IS lime.  It's quite summery, and the shimmer is really pretty in this.  I just don't know how many people would have the patience to put it multiple coats just to assure themselves that they hadn't mistakenly reached for a topper. :/

So there you have it...three grass greens that are as different as rye, centipede, and St. Augustine. :)  Are you all glad to see spring here?  You are??!!  UGH!  WHY?!! :P

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day. <3

Zoyas I Love: Crystal, Perrie, and Edyta

Hey everybody!  Have you heard about the serious epidemic going around this week?  It's called Zoya Fever! :)  Zoya is running their buy 3 for $12 promo, and I'm telling you...it's really hard to decide what you want...isn't it??  I love Zoya to bits, and when I look at their colors, it's a bit overwhelming when you know you get 3 and they have about 867 that you love. :P

So...here am I...donning my public servant cap to *maybe* help you arrive at a decision!  Isn't that nice of me? :)  First up is, without a doubt, one of Zoya's loveliest polishes, Crystal.

I LOVE Crystal.  It's a beautiful ice blue metallic foil with a very heavy gold shimmer.  The gold is so highly visible in Crystal that on the nail, this polish looks mottled...almost like a Saran wrap mani.  Just gorgeous!!

I think I am one of the 6 people on the planet who doesn't own Zoya Charla. :)  For me, Crystal has that magical feel that everybody ascribes to Charla...it's ethereal and flawless.  And of course, just the fact that it's a Zoya foil should tell you how fantastic it is!  The application is wonderful and the formula perfect.

Another of my Zoya faves is a polish that I don't think has gotten much airtime...Perrie.  Perrie is sort of like the creme version of the my shimmery love Dannii. 

Perrie is a cool-toned medium orchid purple....YES there's that very popular word again!  Zoya describes this color as lavender, but it just doesn't look very lavender on me.  Don't get me wrong, it looks FABULOUS...just a bit deeper than lavender. :D

Perrie's formula is a little thin, but it's easy to work with and levels out pretty well.  I didn't have any flooding with it.  I like this color better and better each time I wear it...and I predict a lot of gals will pick this one up this week. :)

Last up, I have a Zoya that's textbook me:  strange!!  Meet the complex and incomparable Edyta.

Oh myyyyy.  My own photos are renewing my amour for Edyta.  This is the perfect non-shade to confuse and delight all your friends!  Is it brown?  Maybe.  Is it green?  Possibly.  Is it AWESOME??  Oh yes.  It's a delicious metallic shimmer multiple personality in a bottle! :)

Look at that sparkle!  And what color IS said sparkle?  Who knows??  Yes, Edyta is that confusing.  And how I LOVE it!!  Let's see what Zoya has to say about this color:  "A complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish."  Clear as mud!  Hey!  It kinda does look like mud!  An oh-so-glamorous mud. :)

You love this one, don't you? :)  If you love crazy shimmery, and if you love weird, Edyta is your girl.  You will be in love with the bizarre elegance and cock your head to the side more than once as you try to figure her out...

Have I assisted you with any choices?  I doubt it, but I flatter myself to think I could *possibly* sway somebody to choose my recommendations... :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! 

Comparison Post: Attack of the Murky Greens!!

Hey everybody!  I hope your Saturday has been a fantastic one!  

Earlier in the week, I did a post on Sinful Colors Classified.  It's one of those greens with a pretty serious identity crisis...it doesn't know if it wants to be green, or blue, or grey, or all of the above.  Some of my friends observed that Classified bore a resemblance to a couple of other colors out there, so I decided to do a comparison post for your enjoyment (and possibly helpful info...or maybe just curiosity?). :D

L to R:  butter LONDON Victoriana, Zoya Evvie, Sinful Colors Classified, China Glaze Elephant Walk

Who knew there were so many polishes in desperate need of therapy?  One has to wonder if these gals could even describe themselves if asked!  Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this mystery... 

 

butter LONDON Victoriana

I finally snagged this one from my wishlist! :)  Victoriana is a dusty, more-blue-than-green color with a lovely foil-like shimmer and superb application.  Greasy bottle thumbprint not included in most versions. 

Zoya Evvie

Evvie is definitely a green-grey color with only a very slight hint of blue.  As you can see, just my holding the bottle gives the whole photo a murky quality.  Evvie is a creme with a lovely application.

Sinful Colors Classified

You can read my entire (not so) Classified review here. :D  It's more blue-leaning than Evvie but not as much as Victoriana.  It's got a great creme formula with a remarkable price tag!

China Glaze Elephant Walk

I would say Elephant Walk is 50% green, 45% grey, and 5% blue.  This is one of those colors that looks different on the nail than in the bottle, and in a very good way.  I was surprised by this polish...it's a fantastic neutral with a gentle shimmer.  And that adds up to 100% gorgeous! :)





Now for some group shots!  And yes, Midget Pinky is fully aware that she looks ridiculous.  She'll be needing therapy too...

L to R:  butter LONDON Victoriana, Zoya Evvie, China Glaze Elephant Walk, Sinful Colors Classified

L to R:  butter LONDON Victoriana, Zoya Evvie, China Glaze Elephant Walk, Sinful Colors Classified

 

L to R:  Sinful Colors Classified, China Glaze Elephant Walk, Zoya Evvie, butter LONDON Victoriana

My final thoughts:  these are all four clearly not replicas (no, I will NOT use that annoying word) of each other, even though they have that same murky quality about them.  All four formulas are very good...it's just a matter of whether you like a foil, a creme, or a shimmer application best. :)  I really love all the colors and find that swamptastic shades like these look pretty good on me.  I think? :)

What do you think?  Which of these is your favorite?  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

Sparkle Into Fall: Zoya Alegra

Hey everybody!  I've been seeing posts about the new beautiful Zoya collections everywhere, and UGH are they pretty.  But until I can bulk up ye olde cash coffers, I have to dip into my Zoya reserves for some awesomeness.  Not that that's a BAD thing.  Today I am showing you a polish that, in my opinion, looks like an autumn pink...the ofttimes (and inexplicably)  ignored Zoya Alegra.

Alegra is from the 2010 Sparkle Collection.  How very appropriate.  Oh, and a fellow polish from that collection was Ivanka, if that tells you anything.  Criminally sparklicious.

Alegra (I just love that name) is one glittery metallic babe.  This fuchsia is extremely attention-grabbing.  Why, all day long, I was staring at my own hands... :)  I think this color looks like an autumn pink because something about it makes me think of leaves changing.

Hmmmm...it appears that I shouldn't have brushed my puppies right before taking photos... :D  But hey, LOOK at that sparkle!  And 3 coats for me and still some visible nail line...how DOES she do it??

And my favorite characteristic of Alegra?  It has the amazing ability to make me appear even whiter! :)  I look like a snowstorm with fingers whilst wearing this lovely polish. :)

What do you think of the elegant Miss Alegra?  I'll NOT use the word stunning. ;)  I'll let you apply the appropriate adjective! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely evening! :)

Summer 2012 - a Zoya Odyssey: Zuza and Kimber

Hey everybody!  Well, it's the last week of wearing my summer dresses to the office.  Labor Day is Monday, and I'm a purist. :)  We've seen a lot of great polish this summer, but lately I've been thinking about last year when the Zoya Surf collection came out, and everybody fell in love with a girl named Zuza...and to a lesser extent, her little sister Kimber.

Who couldn't help but drool over Zuza?  A perfect light turquoise with gold AND silver shimmer?  Enough said.  Just gaze upon her glory...

I should add that Zuza has the lucky distinction of being the polish I've worn for the longest time, at 7 days straight.  Two coats provide shimmery, mistake-proof coverage.

Zoya Kimber is another beauty from the Surf collection.  Kimber is described as medium magenta pink, but on me, it looks pinkish-red with a tiny hint of coral.  I've never been able to really give it an accurate color description.  Isn't it weird how that happens?  You read a color description, and it's just nothing like you see on your fingers?  Kimber's still lovely, even though I have no idea what color it REALLY is. :D

Kimber is a very spotlight-grabbing polish, so if you wake up one day and your face is broken out or your hair just won't fix right, don't wear Kimber because you just might get unwanted attention.  I warned you.

Kimber has a beautiful gold shimmer and a fantastic application.  I used two coats for photos.  Uncommonly pretty.

The Zoya Surf collection was the first ever polish collection that I bought in its entirety.  I loved every one in that bunch!  Ahhhh...2012 was an excellent year for foils. :)

Did you get any of the Surf collection from summer 2012?  I wish all trips down memory lane were this colorfully awesome!

Have a lovely evening, and thanks for stopping by! :)

A Pinch of Pixie Dust: Zoya Miranda

Hey everybody!  I thought I knew myself.  I really did.  But lately, I'm not so sure.  I have never been drawn to pink polishes in the way that I have been in recent weeks.  Just when I announce I don't have a lot of pinks, now every single thing I'm buying is pink!  Although I don't insanely love the texture trend, I did want at least one Zoya Pixie Dust, mostly because of my love affair with Zoya.  So when I approached the display, the one that jumped out at me was...yes...
 

Zoya Miranda

 ...THE PINK ONE.

Ahhhhh...Pixie Dust:  the klutz's best friend!

But I'm going to cut myself some slack.  Miranda isn't really PINK pink.  Zoya describes it as rose, but on me, it's a lighter berry shade.  Hmmm...how about that?  Just happens to be one of my best colors.  Why, berry is practically wine, and you all know how I love my wine.  Polishes, that is...I don't drink. :)

Zoya Miranda.  Wow.  This is beautiful.

I debated on whether or not to insult your collective intelligence by saying how well Pixie Dust applies.  I'll tell you anyway.  Pixie Dust application is criminally simple.  Just imagine you're 5 years old again and coloring in your favorite Barbie coloring book.  Just stay reasonably within the lines and your result is flawless.  There is just no clean up required on this stuff.  Amazing.  So what's the problem, you ask?  Why am I not just mad over texture polishes?  The only reason is that I mess with it all day.  The rougher nail surface worries me to death.  That's all.  But I'm not blind...I can see it's stunning.  The diamond-like sparkle is incomparable.  You'll still see me wearing it...and then you'll see me rubbing my fingers together in a distressing OCD-like manner. :)

Zoya Miranda - a sandy, sparkling oasis of color

What do you think of Miranda?  Isn't she beautiful?  I seriously can't stop looking at my own photos!!  It's not me...it's the polish!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a lovely evening!