Never Unpolished

Nail Pattern Boldness: Slow Invasion

2013-05-21T21:59:00.001-05:00

Hello again! I've finally resurfaced from the haze of finals and moving back home for the summer...I still haven't finished unpacking, but let's not talk about that. Instead, let's talk about the fabulous polish I have for you today! I ordered some of the polishes from Nail Pattern Boldness's Time Traveler collection, which is based on Doctor Who, my favorite currently running TV show. Between that and my Harry Potter polishes from Lac Attack, my Melmer is getting nerdier and nerdier, and I love it!

I decided to try Slow Invasion first. If you watch Doctor Who, you'll know that the Slow Invasion was a gradual invasion of Earth by the Shakri cubes, through which the Shakri intended to kill all humans on Earth. Fortunately, the Doctor saved the day, but I mention this because all the glitter in the nail polish Slow Invasion is - yep, you guessed it - square shaped like the cubes. Pretty clever, huh? Not only that, it's an awesome polish in its own right. I did a gradient over Revlon Royal, but you can get an idea of the dusty, teal color of Slow Invasion's base from the bottle shot above and to the left.

I absolutely love this polish! It has greenish yellow, blue, teal, orange, green, and purple square glitter, which all comes together to form a fantastic glitterfest. I realized after I took these pictures that some of the orange glitter looked more red than it actually was, which is because I was wearing a bright red shirt that day. Oops, sorry. Anyway, I love Slow Invasion and I can't wait to try it again!

P.S. If you watch Doctor Who and haven't seen the latest episode, go now! It's definitely in my top five favorite episodes, maybe top three. I kid you not. Go.

Zoya Beatrix

2013-05-08T16:03:00.002-05:00

Hello again! Here I am taking another study break...my first final is tomorrow, so I've been ~~napping~~ studying a lot. Today I'm showing you Zoya Beatrix, a tangerine that's perfect for the 80º weather we're having in St. Louis right now. I don't like the color of Beatrix quite as well as Destiny just because it's not as vibrant, but it's a very pretty orange and I will definitely be wearing it again this summer. This was two coats.

I'm really loving these summer PixieDust polishes! They've really been a pleasant surprise for me, since I didn't think I'd like the whole "textured" trend that much.

Red Gradient

2013-05-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Today's my first post as a 20-year-old, and I decided that my birthday present to myself was going to be no homework or studying (except for the final edit of my paper this morning), so I've been watching Whose Line is it Anyway and painting my nails all day. :) The manicure I took off today was the one I'm showing you now - I made a red sponged gradient using Borghese Sonata Berry, Rimmel Rapid Red, and OPI Red My Fortune Cookie. I wasn't sure how well it would turn out, but I really liked the results.

I always forget how much I like dark red polish until I put it on...it somehow has the effect of immediately making me feel classier. Borghese Sonata Berry is the perfect dark red because it's dark, but not so dark that it looks black. With the other two reds added, I think it makes the perfect gradient!

Zoya Destiny

2013-05-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Can we spend a moment admiring how gorgeous Zoya Destiny is?

Yeahhhh...look at that beauty. Unfortunately it was cloudy the day I wore this AND the lamp I use with my lightbox broke, so cloudy pics it was - but Destiny looks just as pretty nonetheless! I used two coats here, and application was super easy. I haven't tried all the other summer PixieDust polishes, but this one is shaping up to be my favorite. So pretty!

Yep. There it is. And these pictures don't do Destiny justice at all (and neither does the name Destiny...cheesy, Zoya, cheesy).

P.S. This will likely be my very last blog post as a teenager, since my 20th birthday is on Monday! Hm, I might have to do a birthday giveaway...if I can find time to think of something in the midst of finals and paper-writing, that is.

Zoya Godiva

2013-04-29T17:54:00.001-05:00

So, it's been almost a month since I last posted - and guess what I've been doing since then? As I'm sure will shock you all, schoolwork. You may notice a pattern in my posts that come after a month-long absence, which is that I'm not any less busy, I've just reached the point where I have to blog because I can't stand not doing it any more. That is once again the case today, partly because I have an 8-10 page paper due tomorrow that I don't want to write. Instead, I'm writing this post about Zoya Godiva, a polish I tried out about a month ago (bottle shot to the left). It wasn't one I thought I'd like, but as it turns out, Godiva is classy and has an understated beauty that I very much like.

indoors, artificial light

sunlight

This was two or three coats without top coat - I can't quite remember because it was a month ago, but I think it was three because that's what I've use on all the other PixieDust polishes I've tried since then. Application was actually quite easy, to my surprise, and my only problem was getting the glitter to be smoother at the edge of the nail so I wouldn't scratch myself. Overall, I really enjoyed this polish and I don't think the pictures do it justice at all, so I'd encourage you to try it out if you're curious. Have a great day!

Butter London Henley Regatta

2013-03-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Hello! I don't know how many of you live in the Midwest, but we're getting quite the spring blizzard right now in St. Louis. It's been snowing furiously all day, and we're supposed to get 8-10 inches. (I wrote that yesterday. We did get 8-10 inches. Or more.) I have to say, I'm beginning to get a little confused about what month it is! Anyway, today I tried my first Butter London polish, Henley Regatta. I decided to do an accent manicure, so I chose Zoya Kelly, one of my favorite grays. I used two coats of Kelly and four coats of Henley Regatta (it really only needed three, but I added an extra just because). The first picture is in my light box with artificial light, and the second is in my light box with natural light.

The thing I really love about this polish is that it's not *just* teal glitter - it's teal glitter and blue glitter and green glitter, all thrown into one bottle. This gives it a lovely dimension that makes it stand out to me, and I'd definitely encourage you to click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can see all the gorgeousness up close and personal. I'm certainly glad to have picked this one up as one of my two first Butter London polishes, and I can't wait to try it with other polishes - layered, perhaps? Until next time!

Sequined Savita

2013-03-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's finally the weekend! Between getting my midterm grades back and the massive amount of homework I had this week, I'm definitely glad it's Saturday...mostly so I can catch up on my schoolwork. Exciting, right? More exciting is the addition I made to Zoya Savita after wearing it by itself. Born Pretty Store was kind enough to send me some items to review recently, and I decided to try the loose glitter sequins with Savita. I used a dotting tool to place them on my thumb and ring finger after adding Wet 'n' Wild Clear to make the nails tacky, and added Cult Nails Wicked Dry on top.

I absolutely love Savita with top coat! I don't think you can go wrong with a good, rich, glowing purple, and I like that it doesn't look weird on my nubbins like some shimmers do. The sequins took a while to place, but I definitely think it was worth it. They laid down nice and flat, so I didn't have to use tons of top coat, which is always nice. I've seen lots of sequin manicures that I really like, so I can't wait to try some more now that I have sequins of my own! You can purchase these here, and if you use my coupon code, ZR5X31, you can get 10% off (I don't get anything if you use the code). Enjoy!

The glitter sequins were provided to me by Born Pretty Store for unbiased review. I was not compensated for the post.

How to Keep Up with Never Unpolished

2013-03-22T19:35:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! I thought I'd do a quick post on ways you can keep up with Never Unpolished after the demise of Google Reader and Google Friend Connect (GFC), both of which will happen this summer. I have to confess I'm not too terribly sorry to see GFC go, as I never thought it was a particularly convenient way for me to read blogs. However, I was initially quite upset to hear that Google Reader would be discontinued - but don't worry, there are lots of other options for following your favorite blogs!

Facebook

Bloglovin

Google+

Twitter: This is my blog Twitter and my personal Twitter, and while I tweet all my blog posts, I also tweet lots of other stuff. So if you don't want to see that...I warned you. ;)

Pinterest: I have a board on Pinterest for just my blog (which is what I linked to), and I also have a couple boards for others' manicures and nail art.

RSS

If you'd like a recommendation for a service to import your Google Reader feeds into, I've switched over to Feedly after trying out a few different services, and I love it.

Zoya Savita

2013-03-19T22:57:00.000-05:00

Hello again! I wasn't planning on having time to blog today, but I had one of those pleasant days where you think you're going to be super busy and it's actually not that bad, so here I am. I absolutely love the Zoya Matte Velvet winter collection from 2009 - it's one of my favorite Zoya collections despite the fact that there are only three of them, simply because they're all so fantastic. I love the rich colors, I love the satin effect that you get with a matte shimmer, I love how they glow with or without top coat, I love that they're opaque in two coats...the only thing I don't love is the fact that they chip like crazy if you don't wear top coat, but I suppose the upside to this is that since they're matte and dry quickly, touch-ups are easy to do.

Man. Just look at that gorgeousness. If you have Savita (or Harlow or Veruschka), cherish it, because Zoya doesn't sell it any more. If you don't, find a friend who does and borrow it immediately, even if you don't like mattes - it looks great with top coat on, which I'll be showing you next time along with a little bedazzling (a.k.a. glitter). In the meantime, have a great day!

Not a St. Paddy's Day Manicure

2013-03-17T12:30:00.001-05:00

I actually had a St. Patrick's Day mani all planned out. I planned it last night, in fact. And then I went ahead and painted my nails pink and glittery, because I forgot that today was St. Patrick's Day. Whoops. I'm just going to blame it on spring break, because when I'm not at university, I have no idea what day of the week or date it is. Anyway, I really like this manicure and didn't want to take it off after less than 12 hours of wear, so here we are! Maybe this is for St. Patty's Day instead of St. Paddy's Day? (Hint: If you didn't know, Patty is a girl's name in Ireland.)

I got both of these lovelies Friday at Ulta - the base is three coats of OPI Don't Burst My Bubble from the Oz collection, a sheer pale pink I got to replace Catch My Garter, which was my go-to pale pink until I ran out of it about a month ago (I used it for frankening as well as painting my nails). The glitter, as I'm sure you recognize if you read other nail blogs, is OPI Lights of Emerald City, also from the Oz collection.

I'm a bit puzzled as why OPI chose to use Oz for their SoftShades collection instead of doing it as a standalone thing, because I would imagine an Oz nail polish collection to have a lot of bright colors and colorful glitters. However, I do love these polishes, particularly Lights of Emerald City. I definitely agree with Chalkboard Nails that it has quite the indie vibe to it, particularly with the square glitter. I'm hoping that as indie polishes become more popular, mainstream polish companies will take the hint that we want more exciting polishes! Of course, indie companies will always be a little more daring, which I love, but it'd be nice to see more fresh ideas in the mainstream polish scene.

P.S. 450 posts! Woo! If you're still here, thanks for sticking around despite my now-permanent super-nubbins (I have endocrine problems that caused my nails to get very weak and my hair to get a lot thinner over the past couple years).

Zoya PixieDust: Chyna

2013-02-23T12:13:00.000-06:00

Happy Saturday! My mom's coming up to visit today, and while I should have spent this morning working on my literature review and EMTALA presentation for Monday, I painted my nails and watched YouTube instead. Story of my life. Anyway, I have to admit something - I went about a week this week without painting my nails...and it wasn't horrible. I think I'm getting to the point where I don't feel like I *need* to have my nails painted all the time, though I still feel more polished when I have a nice mani on. Anyway, it was still definitely time to paint my nails, and since my samples of Zoya PixieDust arrived yesterday, I thought I'd try one out. I picked Chyna just because it looked so freaking gorgeous in the bottle - I just can't resist a glittery red. I used two coats, and two coats of top coat (Cult Nails Wicked Fast) in the second two pictures. All of these were taken in my lightbox.

While I was really feeling iffy about the PixieDust polishes from looking at the press release and promo stuff, I actually really liked Chyna. The textured effect was not as obvious (or as weird or gross) as I thought it might be, and turned out to be quite the cool effect. I'm now very much looking forward to trying the rest of the collection.

And now, I have a little questionnaire posted by the lovely Elizabeth of Life and Polish! I haven't done anything like this in quite a while, so I thought it would be fun.

1. How many foundations do you own?
None, actually! I do, however, love Pixi Illuminating Tint & Conceal, which is a wonderful tinted moisturizer I use sometimes.

2. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
Well, it depends on whether or not you count the amount of time I spend convincing myself to actually get out of bed...but usually 30 to 45 minutes including shower and breakfast.

3. Do you have a go-to makeup look?
If mascara is a go-to look, yes. I also go with mascara and lip stain quite a lot.

4. What about nails, a go-to nail polish look?
Not really, actually. Just whatever happens to catch my fancy.

5. How often do you try new skin care products?
Not very often. When I find something I really like, I tend to stick with it for as long as I can. I do like to experiment, though.

6. Steak, chicken or fish?
Since it's Lent right now and I gave up red and white meat and popcorn, I have to say fish. :)

7. What is your favorite lip balm?
Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm with Peppermint! I literally never use anything else. It's my number one "beauty" staple (I'm going to argue it's a beauty staple because, you know, chapped lips ≠ pretty).

8. When did you start wearing makeup consistently?
Actually only in the past year or so. I've really made an effort recently to always wear at least mascara, because I feel like mascara alone makes so much difference in both my appearance and how put-together and confident I feel.

9. Do you find you look older or younger with makeup on?
Definitely a bit older.

10. How many lipsticks do you own?
Only one that I actually use, which is Maybelline Red Revival, a classic bold red. I also have two lip stains, Pixi Lip Blush in Love (which they no longer make! sad) and Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain. While I absolutely love the products I have, I also want to expand my collection of lipsticks and lip stains. I don't really have any paler pink shades, so I'd like to work on that.

11. What beauty product do you wish was still made?
Ohmygoodness Pixi Lip Blush. It is my absolute favorite thing ever (okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement), and Love is one of those shades that looks good on everyone. I really wish I'd had the chance to get the other shades before the discontinued it. Pixi still makes lip stains, but they're not the same product or the same colors. I haz a sad.

Feel free to do this survey if you like, and have a great weekend!

This product was provided to me for review.

Bad Moon Rising Jelly Sandwich

2013-02-20T10:29:00.001-06:00

Hello there! I hope you're all having a lovely Wednesday. I've been having a hectic couple of weeks, with a 6-page paper, two presentations, and a literary review (part of a 20-page paper; the whole thing will be due on my birthday in May) in the past week and a half, so needless to say I haven't had time for much recreational activity, except sleeping. Yes, that is considered a recreational activity now. But I'm taking a brief break today to write a blog post! And by brief break, I mean I just woke up and am not awake to go back to outlining journal articles yet. Either way, I have a jelly sandwich to show today, which is one of my favorite kinds of manicures, even though it's hell to remove. I used Zoya Frida and Lac Attack Bad Moon Rising.

Aren't they gorgeous together! I love Bad Moon Rising, and I think it went perfectly with Frida. This is actually the first time I've used one of the Zoya jellies and not taken it off immediately, because I really don't like them on their own. Now that I've tried (and loved) this combination, though, I might have to try jelly sandwiches with the other two!

P.S. I forgot to mention the fact that the lit review and the 6-page paper are still not done...and due Friday...what am I doing blogging?!

Grey-on-Grey Nail Art

2013-02-07T15:03:00.000-06:00

Hello hello! I have good news, bad news, and more good news. Good news: it's almost Friday. Bad news: it's not Friday. Good news: I have some awesome nail art for you today! I started out wanting to do something like a henna pattern on my nails, but it ended up being some weird-but-cool combination of flowers, dots, and whatever random patterns I could come up with Monday night/Tuesday morning at 12:30 AM...yeah, that happened. Fortunately, all went well and I was very happy with the way this turned out! Of course, it doesn't look as good in macro because you can see all the little mistakes and imperfections, but hopefully you get the idea.

left hand

right hand

You even get to see my right hand! I'm not sure "get to" is the right phrase, though, as my right hand is a bit gross compared to my left hand since I'm (case in point: writing callus on my middle finger). For the dark grey, I used Pure Ice Kiss Me Here, and the light grey is acrylic paint. I think it's probably a good thing I did grey-on-grey, because I think if I had used multiple colors it just would've looked nuts! As it is, though, I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Layla Flash Black

2013-02-05T19:41:00.001-06:00

Hello again! I've made it through the first few weeks of the semester, and I think I *might* be figuring out how to both do my homework and have free time (where I'm not procrastinating)...maybe. We'll see. At any rate, at least I have time to write a couple blog posts now and then! I really miss being more active on Never Unpolished, but of course school has to come first. A few weeks ago I finally tried my bottle of Layla Hologram Effects in Flash Black - what took me so long, I have no idea. I also tried out my brand-spanking-new light box, which I got for myself with Christmas money. I really love it, but I accidentally dropped one of the lights on the floor tonight when I was taking pictures of my current manicure, so now I only have one light. Oops. Anyway, here's Flash Black:

Gorgeous, no? I'm so glad I got this while I had the chance - now I just have to get a purple holo...and a red holo...and all of the holos... ;) You can never have enough holos, right? That's what I thought. Have a great day!

Zoya PixieDust PR

2013-01-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

Zoya PixieDust
Infused with Magic and Wonder!
Featuring the latest “must-have” nail polish finish – Textured, Matte & Sparkling.

This newly developed formula is sure to captivate with a magical sparkle and sugary finish like no other. The color experts at Zoya have created six, long-wearing stunners for the introduction of this look...

ZOYA PIXIE DUST - SPECIAL EDITION

Dahlia (ZP656) - Black Beauty sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

Chyna (ZP657) - Red Dazzle sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

Godiva (ZP658) - Soft Nude sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

Vespa (ZP659) - Mint Kiss sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

Nyx (ZP660) - Perfect Periwinkle sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

London (ZP661) - Fog Gray sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

Shipping January 15, 2013

Ultra long-wearing, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Zoya PixieDust $9 (US)

Follow the Zoya Nail Polish and Treatments Blog and stay tuned on Twitter (@Zoyanailpolish) and Facebook for release date updates.

Hashtags: #ZoyaPixieDust and #nailpolish.

Zoya PixieDust: COMING SOON VIDEO… http://youtu.be/mUOVE4Iswrk

ZOYA IS THE NEW COLOR OF FASHION!
Find it at zoya.com

_ _ _

Instructions for Zoya PixieDust application:

·         Clean and prep nail using Zoya Remove +
·         Magic Time! Apply 1 thin coat of Zoya PixieDust to each nail - allow to dry completely (will appear matte with sparkle).
·         Apply an 1-2 coats of polish (allowing each to dry) as desired. We suggest 2-3 thin coats of Zoya PixieDust for a full coverage manicure.
·         That’s it - Done! You now have the latest textured nail look in the famous long-wearing, Big5Free Zoya PixieDust Nail Polishformula!

NOTE: Zoya PixieDust Nail Polish dry times are a little slower than with traditional polish but once dry, the Zoya PixieDust formulation will provide extended wear.
Best results are achieved by using the product alone. No basecoat or topcoat required. Layering of the Zoya PixieDust formulation with other polishes may produce less than desirable results.

Remove Zoya PixieDust by saturating a cotton pad in Zoya Remove + and pressing to nail for a few seconds. Repeat on each nail for best results.

Eyeko Military Polish

2013-01-14T18:51:00.000-06:00

Hello, and I hope your Mondays are going well! I started class today and had Research Methods from 1:10 to 2:00 and then Contemporary Challenges in the U.S. Health Care System from 2:30 to 5:00. Research Methods sounds like it's going to be kind of scary - it's never a good sign when the professor starts class by saying, "this is the worst class you will have as an undergraduate." Eek! Good thing I only have 15 hours this semester, and no honors classes. Tomorrow I'll have Intro to African-American Studies (which I'm taking as a core "U.S. Diversity" requirement), Issues in Political Philosophy, and my English class, which is on Muslim women in literature.

But more importantly (on here, anyway), I'm wearing Eyeko Military Polish for the first time today! I don't even remember where I got my bottle at this point, but I've had it for at least a year and hadn't worn it, so I figured it was about time. I used two coats, and I took this picture before I applied top coat.

Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of Military Polish. From the way it looked in the bottle, I thought it might be a little more green, but in most lights, it just looks brown with a green tinge. It's nice, but not quite what I expected. I've been collecting a few polishes that I don't think I want, and I think this will go in that pile. I think I might have a blog sale once I have enough to get rid of, but I feel like it would be a huge hassle. Anyway, we'll see!

Lac Attack Beauxbatons Academy

2013-01-11T11:30:00.000-06:00

GUYS. I am so super excited about this polish. It's the first indie nail polish on Never Unpolished (I know, I'm behind the times), and it couldn't be more deserving of the title. I was so thrilled about this beauty that I went out and stood around in the damp and chill taking pictures of my nails, probably confirming my neighbors' opinion that I am strange - and I guess they wouldn't be wrong. In any case, Beauxbatons Academy is absolutely gorgeous. I used four coats, but it was definitely worth it, and it hasn't shown any signs of wear so far (I've worn it for two days as I type this). As always, you can click the pictures to enlarge them, and I strongly encourage it with this one. So pretty!

Beauxbatons Academy is a jelly/glitter polish, and has a blue-gray base with small blue hexagonal glitter, small white square-shaped glitter, small round yellow-gold glitter, and blue microglitter. Basically, this polish follows the Nail Polish Rule #56, which I just made up: glitter + glitter + glitter + glitter + jelly = extremely awesome. You can get Beauxbatons Academy, as well as the rest of the Magical Musings collection, at Lac Attack's website. It's sold out right now, but I believe she'll be restocking again. I can't wait to show you the other Magical Musings polishes I got: Dementor's Kiss, The Horcrux of It, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Holiday's in Hogsmeade. I also bought Bad Moon Rising and Crazy Girl, though those are from other collections (but still awesome). Judging by how well I'm enjoying these, I ~~may~~ need to start buying more indie polishes!

P.S. I move back to school tomorrow! Yay! Hopefully I won't drop off the face of the earth as I was forced to last semester...but I'm taking 15 credit hours and no honors classes this semester, as opposed to last semester's 18 hours and 3 honors classes, which I do not recommend. That was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea.

China Glaze Whirled Away

2013-01-09T11:55:00.000-06:00

Good morning! It is still morning for a few minutes, right? Today I'm writing about a polish that everyone knows by now - but it's still amazing. China Glaze Whirled Away came out as part of the Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away collection (which my local Sally's still doesn't have - get on the ball!), and it's a black and white glitter topper that positively makes my socks roll up and down. Here, I wore it with Sally Hansen Blue Away.

Unfortunately, my top coat bubbled on several of my finges - oh, the vicissitudes of top coat! However the bubbles weren't as visible in real life as they are in the picture, so I quite enjoyed wearing this manicure yesterday.

In related news, I seem to be on another blue kick. Before this mani, I was wearing Zoya Blu from the Lovely collection, and as I type this, I'm in the process of applying another (mostly) blue polish, which I'll show you next. Hint: it's nerdy. :)

Have a great day!

Zoya Lovely Swatches & Review

2013-01-07T21:53:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year! It sure seems like 2012 went by quickly...and here I am reviewing Zoya's spring collection for 2013, Lovely. I have to say, I wasn't too excited about most of the colors in Lovely, but I ended up liking a few of them.

sunlight

shade

Piaf is a medium yellow with silver shimmer. I used three thin coats, though two thick ones would probably do just as well. I wasn't really a fan of this one...I tend not to like warm colors with silver shimmer, so the first three polishes in this collection were at a disadvantage from the start.

sunlight

shade

Gie Gie is the next in the collection, and is basically a pink cousin to Piaf. It had about the same coverage as Piaf as well, as I used three thin coats. I liked Gie Gie a bit more than Piaf despite its name, but it's still not something I'd wear all the time. It might look better on someone with lighter skin than myself - my skin is a bit pink to begin with, so some light pinks don't really work on me.

sunlight

shade

Julie is the third and last shimmery polish in Lovely, and it's a lavender purple that only took two coats. I didn't think I'd like this one more than the first two, but as it turns out, it was actually quite nice on my skin tone. It's still probably not something I'd have bought for myself, but I'm glad to have Julie in my collection.

sunlight

shade

Blu is the first creme in Zoya Lovely - a lovely *cough* sky blue that I will definitely be using again, particularly as it barely needed two coats. I feel like Blu is Zoya Robyn's younger, shyer sister, and I can't wait to use it in at least one of my spring manicures this year.

sunlight

shade

Neely is a pale sage green that goes perfectly with Blu. It's another two-coater, and I'll definitely be using it again, possibly as part of an Easter manicure - but I'm getting ahead of myself. Between now and then, I'd definitely recommend getting Neely if you're a green fan.

sunlight

shade

Jacqueline was another surprise for me - while I didn't think I'd like the yellowish, creamy neutral, I did! I prefer Neely and Blu, but I'll be keeping Jacqueline as well. I used two coats.

Well, that's all of them! What do you think of Zoya Lovely? Personally, I don't think it's really a hit or a miss, but somewhere in between. I think I'd like the shimmers better on paler hands than my own, but Blue and Neely are definitely keepers, and Jacqueline is one I'll keep as well.

White Christmas

2012-12-24T11:58:00.000-06:00

Hello again! Thanks bunches to those of you who have stuck around during my semester-long hiatus - I really appreciate it. Today I have some Christmas nails that, while I like them, aren't quite up to par in my opinion, at least on one of the nails. In my defense, I packed in a huge hurry because I had to pack and move out pretty much right after finishing my last two finals, and therefore forgot important nail art implements like...well...all of my nail art implements. Except toothpicks - I have toothpicks. So, this is a toothpick friendly manicure. What do you think?

I'm kind of disappointed with the snowman...I'd forgotten how hard it is to do nail art with only toothpicks. I used Zoya Rekha for the background and Wet 'n' Wild White Creme and Black Creme for the nail art. Anyway, I hope you all have a good Christmas (or a good Tuesday if you don't celebrate Christmas) - personally, I'm crossing my fingers for snow. Maybe my snowy manicure will help lure the snow from the clouds!

Aaaaand I'm Back! Zoya Lovely PR

2012-12-21T08:02:00.000-06:00

Hello again! It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry I've been gone for so long - I've really missed blogging, but just didn't have time with everything I had going on this semester. In retrospect, I don't have the faintest idea why I thought taking 18 credit hours was a good idea, considering that half of them were honors and that I'm also in an a cappella group and that I volunteered for the Obama campaign this semester...yeah, don't know what I was thinking. At any rate, I got my grades back yesterday, and while they were still quite good, I'm definitely not trying anything like that again.

I'll be back with a proper post soon, but for now I wanted to show you the press release for the Zoya Lovely collection coming out this spring. I'm not a huge pastel person, but I think these look really pretty and I can't wait for my samples to come in the mail!

Zoya Lovely
Beauty is a lovely state of mind

Lovely, just LOVELY!

Spring is awash in six soft and lovely new Zoya shades including three dewy metallics and three fresh blooms of cream. Poetic in nature, this collection is sure to capture the beauty of the season like no other....

ZOYA LOVELY – SPRING 2013

Piaf (ZP652) - Fresh Forsythia Yellow Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Fashion Designer Zang Toi)

GeiGei (ZP651) - Blushing Cherry Blossom Pink Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).

Julie (ZP650) - Soft Wisteria Purple Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).

Blu (ZP653) - Lucky Hyacinth Blue Cream - Full Coverage

Neely (ZP655) - Earliest Spring Green Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13).

Jacqueline (ZP654) - Perfect Magnolia Nude Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13)

Shipping January 01, 2013

Zoya Lovely $8 (US)

Follow the Zoya Nail Polish and Treatments Blog and stay tuned on Twitter (@Zoyanailpolish) and Facebook for release date updates.

Hashtags: #ZoyaLovely and #nailpolish.

Zoya Rekha

2012-08-24T10:30:00.000-05:00

I'm here again! Zoya Rekha is the second polish I've worn from Zoya's fall collections this year. Normally I'm not a huge red person, but I really, really, really like Rekha. It's one of those that blurs the line between jellies and cremes, giving this wonderfully glossy sheen while still being entirely opaque. I had an unusually hard time getting my camera to shoot accurately when it came to Rekha's color. In my pictures, it appears brighter and more candy-like than it is in real life. It's hard to describe, but Rekha's closer to what I think of as a true cherry red (you know, like actual cherries).

natural light

Isn't it gorgeous? I'm practically drooling over these pictures, and they're not even as pretty as the actual polish. I think the second, blurry picture shows the jellyish quality of Rekha especially well, and the last two pictures are perhaps the closest in actual color. I only hope the rest of the collection is as wonderful as Rekha and Evvie, because if so, I'm going to be in nail polish heaven for the entire fall!

This polish was provided to me by Zoya for a fair review. Please see my disclosure policy for details.

Interrobang?!

2012-08-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

Hello there! My most recent manicure was inspired by this nail wheel featured on the one of the many nail art tumblrs out there, which are probably my biggest sources for inspiration when I'm not sure what I want to do with my nails. I liked the neon yellow nail with the black arrow on it, and I started thinking about doing a manicure with arrows and symbols. Then I saw an interrobang tattoo on Contrariwise, and I knew I had to incorporate that somehow, so it turned into a punctuation/symbol mani. The interrobang (‽) is a non-standard punctuation mark that combines an exclamation point and a question mark, and, language nerd that I am, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for quirky punctuation marks. Here's the finished result (I used Icing Grande Margarita over Wet 'n' Wild White Creme, and the black is acrylic paint):

outdoors, sunlight

I was really happy with the way all of the nails turned out, and though the interrobang is definitely my favorite, that comma is pretty dang cute, too. I have to say, this has definitely rekindled my desire to do a newspaper mani...I'm curious to see what it would look like if you did it multiple times between layers of a really clear jelly or a top coat. Perhaps that will happen soon?

P.S. I'm moving back to university Friday, so wish me luck! I have yet to start packing (whoops), so I'll need it. I'm super excited because my roommate from last year and I have an on-campus apartment, which means I can cook, which means yummy food. Yay. :)

Zoya Evvie Goes to Work

2012-07-26T07:45:00.003-05:00

Hello there! I hope you're having a good Thursday, also known as almost-Friday. Today I have Zoya Evvie, one of the beauties from the Zoya Designer NYFW collection for this fall. While it's still entirely too hot and dry out to pretend that it's fall - if you've seen news about drought in the Midwest, well, that's where I am - I still wanted to take Evvie out for a spin. I probably won't post all of the polishes from this collection individually, but while at work yesterday I started worrying that Evvie would chip before I got home to take a picture with my proper camera. As I'm sure many of you know from experience, office work can be surprisingly hard on nail polish. So, I snapped a picture with my phone while sitting at my desk.

artificial light

As you can see, Evvie is a gorgeous deep grey, and I used two, easy coats here. It's definitely a fall color, but I can also see myself wearing any time of the year - say, in the middle of the summer. But of course, between work, more work, and going home, there's that hour of the day called lunch. Yesterday I went out to a local restaurant for lunch with my mom, and naturally Evvie came with.

Mm, bahn mi! I love Vietnamese food, so I was thrilled when the owners of this cafe decided to put bahn mi on their menu full-time instead of just as a special (now I just need a local source for some good bun!). But back to the polish, I think Evvie stands out even more in this photos, probably because the light was natural and not quite so harsh as in my cubicle. I just love this polish, and I can't wait to wear it when it's actually fall outside and not a very large oven. For now, at least, I can only enjoy fall color through nail polish.

This polish was provided to me by Zoya for honest review. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Blue on Blue Ruffles

2012-07-22T20:24:00.002-05:00

Apparently I haven't posted for nearly a month. Well . . . that went quickly. In the meantime, I started my first full-time job, continued my online history class, and watched this blog enter the Terrible Twos. To me, it seems like the two-year mark is a particularly significant one for nail bloggers. Maybe it signifies that since you've had enough stick-to-it-iveness (yes, I just made that word up) to last two years, you know what you're doing (ha! As if. I always feel like I still have something to learn). Anyway, for my first post as a two-year-old - or, well, you know what I mean - I have some ruffly tips to show you all. I did this Friday night, and they came from the fact that I wanted to do some nail art, but I didn't have a lot of time to do it. Hence, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue By got topped with lighter blue acrylic paint.

outdoors, sunlight

I was really happy with the results. While they don't all look exactly the same, I actually kind of like the differences. If I'd had the time, I would've probably done alternating ruffles with these two colors, but perhaps that's for another time. And with that, I go back to my history book. What have you been doing with your summer?