Zoya Jules

A while ago I jumped on a sale that Zoya had for the Intimate collection. I think the entire collection was $25, and included free shipping, which was a steal. Here's a polish from that collection, Jules.

Jules is a nude base with gold and silver shimmer mixed in, which combine to create a gorgeous champagne. I love nudes with some shimmer or glitter mixed in. I unfortunately can't remember how many coats I used, but I don't recall it being too finicky, so I'm going to guess two. This is definitely a pretty color, and the shimmer gives the nude base some extra oomph.

Vintage Floral Nails

I'm on day 14 of The Challenge, which is floral print. I've always thought the vintage flower print that has become popular is so cute, and that is what I tried today! I based my nails on this YouTube tutorial.

For the base color, I used OPI's Fiercely Fiona. As we all know, this is from the Shrek collection. This is a yellow that leans more to the green side. Maybe it would be more apparent compared to a true yellow, but on me, this just looks like a normal yellow. Which is sorta disappointing, because it looks so unique when the green is more visible. As you can imagine, application was a pain in the ass. There was no way I was gonna get away with anything less than three coats for this pastel yellow.

These are the three polishes I used for the flowers: Zoya Shawn, Revlon Peachy, and Omega Labs Nail Art Striper Brush #175 (sent to my by Nail de Royale).

It took me a couple nails to get the hang of the striper brush, but I think they turned out pretty decent for my first try. It's hard to not dissect the different parts of creating this look so up close - ah, the drawbacks of having a nail blog - so squint and back away from your monitors, people! Don't they look like cute little roses now? They reminded me of this dress I own:

Nothin' quite like a dorky PhotoBooth image to really get the point across.

I do want to mention that I used my Point & Shoot for this, not my usual DSLR (I forgot to charge the batteries after I used it last). I like the macro setting on the P&S, but the quality is clearly inferior. Plus, it kinda distorts the shape of my fingers and makes them look... well, like someone else's fingers. And it made Peachy look more orange than it is. I'll be back to the DSLR next post, promise.

While painting these vintage-y nails last night, I watched The Notebook for the first time. How embarrassing. I have been avoiding it all these years. My sister really loves it, and if she loves it, there's a 98% chance I'm gonna hate it. I mean, I love my sister, but we have very different tastes. She reads Nicholas Sparks (hence her love for the movie) and Jodi Picoult, and I read Kurt Vonnegut and Sylvia Plath. I remember talking to her once about Kurt Cobain, and she was all, WHO?! And I'm like, you know, dude from Nirvana, married Courtney, killed himself? She stares at my blankly. I mean, this girl doesn't even know who Nirvana is! How has she gone this long and never heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit"!?!?!? I'm digressing. The point is, throughout the movie I was doing two things. One, I frequently shouted, "THIS IS SO UNREALISTIC!" And the second thing I did was cry. A lot. Like, not just some tears rolling down the face, like full on ugly cry sobbing. I gave myself a headache. I can't believe it sucked me in like that! I mean, I still think it was pretty stupid, but I cried throughout like half of the movie. Ugh! In my defense, I only watched it because I will watch Ryan Gosling do anything. A five hour movie of him making macaroni and cheese in slow motion? Count me in! Have you guys seen The Notebook? What's your take? Did you cry as much as I did?

Zoya Mitzi

Day four of The Challenge is green. And I chose Mitzi by Zoya, a polish sent to my by Nail de Royale.

Mitzi is from this summer's Mod Mattes collection. It was the color I was least excited about from the collection, and the one I wouldn't have purchased myself. And I must admit, when it arrived from Nail de Royale, I thought to myself that I was disappointed to get the worst color of the collection. (I would never say such ungrateful things out loud! I would only think them to myself!) Well, I am eating all of those words I... thought. I love this color! Love!

The juxtaposition of such a bright lime color and a matte finish is so interesting and unique. I think it looks great with my skin tone, and I can't stop looking down at my nails. It's true, it does look like crap up close, but you just have to get past that. That's what turned me off initially when people starting posting swatches. It's uneven. After three coats it still looks terrible. It looks like green colored clay that you've just smeared on your nails. Not pretty. Just appreciate the color, and ignore all that stuff!

Also, this stuff lasts a long time, especially for a matte! I put this on Thursday evening. It's now Sunday morning, and I have hardly any chipping. There is a fair amount of cracking on some of the nails, but the cracking hasn't lead to chipping yet. And it's not really visible unless you're looking at my nails up close. I did wear a base coat, and I wonder if that helped. No matte polish has ever lasted this long on me! It does tend to get less matte, and more satin-y the longer it's on, though. It also darkens a fair amount, and becomes less neon and more olive toned.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Zoya Marley

After a wearing a couple darker shades, I was ready for something lighter - Marley by Zoya.

 

Marley is a soft lavender with subtle shimmer. It's very pretty, and I love the shimmer in it. The shimmer adds another level of dimension, and gives it a bit more visual interest than a creme has. Marley applied very easily, and dried quickly. I used two coats.

I wish I had more to say about Marley, but it applied so smoothly and looks so great, there's not much to say beyond that!

Zoya Suvi

Happy Friday! Hope your weekend is starting off well.

Since my last post, I have seen Bridesmaids again (it was even funnier the second time!), I have listened to the "leak" of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album practically non-stop, and when I'm not listening to it, I've been watching "Roseanne" on Netflix. What have you been up to?

I took off Forever Yummy, and boy was that a pain. Red everywhere! Now I've got on Suvi by Zoya, which I got in their St. Patty's Day promo.

Suvi is gorgeous! She's a shimmery emerald, with some black added in for a vampy touch. This color reminds me of velvet. The application was a breeze. I used two coats, and it slid on really easily. Love it! I used my Poshe top coat, and so far I don't have any shrinkage. It's been about a half hour or so, and by this time, Seche is already ruining Zoya. I'm crossing my fingers that I've found a better topcoat  - so far so good.

My nails are still quite short, as you can see. But I've found it nice and refreshing to chop them down to little shorties, and start over, so to speak. And on that note, I freaking hate the word nubbins. Seriously. What a gross word!

Goodnight!

Zoya Dove

It's been so icky out the past couple of days, I decided to go with a polish that matched the sky: Dove by Zoya, from the Intimate collection.

Dove is the perfect concrete grey. It's not the most unique color, but in my collection, I can actually only think of one other grey I own (Metro Chic by Sephora by OPI).

The consistency was more toward the thin side than the thick side, but it wasn't too thin, and it was easy to work with. It needed two coats for opacity.

It's such a pretty color! I just hope the skies brighten up a bit more.

Zoya Gemma

Sorry for the delay in posts! I have had a busy, busy week. Things have calmed down now, thankfully.

I was able to participate in the Zoya Intimate collection promo that went on a few weeks ago. When I got my package, I decided to try out Gemma first.

This was my first time trying out Zoya, and I was not disappointed. Gemma, as I'm sure we all know by now, is a olive/army green with a subtle duochrome shimmer. The application of this was great. I used two coats, and they flowed like butter, as they say. I do wish the shimmer showed better on the nail, but I did get a ton of compliments on this color. I can't wait to try out the rest of the collection. I'm also waiting on the St. Patty's Day promo, which has been on backorder since the day I ordered it.

Sorry for the terrible photos. I'll have to rephotograph this color the next time I wear it. I'm also sorry for subjecting you to the terrible condition my cuticles are in, and all that tip shrinkage! My hands and nails have not been happy with me lately!

What have you guys picked up with all these Zoya promos lately?