Dahlia

Although the texture trend seems to be so passe, I feel myself gravitating towards them for a quick and easy mani. I also just purchased a few, as you can see here, from Zoya. Surprisingly I am actually wearing them! I don;t know about you, but I usually tend to forget about some of my newly purchased polishes, especially when they take over a month to be delivered... Today I pulled out Dahlia to wear.

 Zoya Dahlia is a dark charcoal textured "Pixie Dust" polish that reminds me of the most awesome coal ever. As always I love the Zoya Pixie Dust texture, rough, shiny and sparkly. I applied two thin coats for full opacity. I like that it was not a stark black polish, it is on the softer side of black which really compliments the sparkle and finish.

The Pixies always wear well and Dahlia was no exception. I love textured polish for an easy and quick option when I may not have a lot of time to spend on my nails but NEED to change a chippy mani.

Which is your favorite textured polish brand? OPI definitely comes in second for me!

Zoya Mystery Minis + 3 Free Promo - My Picks

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, I FINALLY received my Zoya mystery box promo (along with the three polishes I picked out). Was everyone else as disappointed as I was with the minis?

I was originally excited to find out that Zoya now ships internationally and I could finally participate in their promos without shipping to relatives in the States. Accompanying this news, they announced a "Mystery Mini Trio" promo which included three polishes of your choice, plus three "free" mystery polishes all for $15. Great deal right? For Canadians it turned out that International shipping includes an additional fee, so that sucks. On top of that I waited over a month to receive my polishes! I am usually very happy with Zoya, I love their formula, polish selection and formulation (3+free) but this was a disappointment... Here are the "mystery" minis:

From left to right, Severine, Anais and Charlott.

Severine is a mid-gold frost/shimmer which appears to be on the sheer side, although I have not swatched these yet.

Anais appears to be an off black with some murky undertones (green and brown) with a slight shimmer running throughout. However, I think this one will appear black or close to black once one the nail.

Charlott is the one I think I like the most, it is a light neutral khaki creme with yellow undertones. It reminds me of a yellow based version of OPI My Vampire is Buff..

Now to the ones I picked out, left to right is Dahlia, NYX and Vespa. All three are textures Pixies Dusts.

I guess this was the best deal since the Pixie's are a tad more expensive than the regular shades. I have also been hearing rumors that they will be discontinuing the Pixie Dusts soon, so I figured I should purchase the ones I like now before I don't get the chance again. From Left to right I picked up Dahlia, NYX and Vespa.

Dahlia is a dark black textured polish with silver shimmer running throughout.

NYX is a cornflower blue textured polish with silver/gold shimmer running throughout.

Vespa is a pastel green textured polish with silver shimmer running throughout.

So far Zoya has produced my favorite "texture" polishes. It looks like sand and is just so pretty! I hope they have their usual eco/earth day promo coming soon. I want to check out some of the newer spring shades.

Zoya Hits and Misses

Happy Friday!

I FINALLY received my Zoya mystery box promo (along with the three polishes I picked out). All I have to say is what a disappointment! I was so excited to find out that Zoya now ships internationally and I could finally participate in their promos without shipping to relatives in the States. Accompanying this news, they announced a "Mystery Mini Trio" promo which included three polishes of your choice, plus three "free" mystery polishes all for $15. Great deal right? Well, they didn't mention that there is an additional fee for shipping internationally, that kind of sucks. On top of that I waited over a month to receive my polishes! And the "mystery minis"... Lets just say they were not worth the wait. I am usually very happy with Zoya, I love their formula, polish selection and formulation (3+free) but this was a disappointment...

End rant..

...probably more to come in a separate post about the polishes I received.

 

Now on to one of the polishes I picked up, NYX. I had been considering picking up some pixi dusts for a while now, but with the increased price (and the low Canadian dollar) I couldn't see my self sending that much. Lucky for me I picked up three pixi dusts for practically half off retail with this promo, definitely a win.

NYX is a cornflower/periwinkle blue textured polish with silver/gold shimmer that changes depening on the lighting source. I love the matte sand finish, it really makes the shimmer sparkle. The formula was a bit on the thinner side, but I usually apply thinner coats of textures polishes anyways, I find the finish it a lot more matte and textured. I used between 2-3 coats for full opacity.

Overall wear was great, it only started chipping on some of my weaker nails (which I find has been the case for all polishes I have been wearing recently). I love that it is an option for a quick and easy mani, not topcoat is needed and it dries pretty quickly compared to regular polishes. It is also easy to touch up should any small chips arise, it blends in well.

I'm excited to try the rest of the polishes I purchased, which I will mention in an upcoming post along with the mystery minis (which were most of the disappointment!).

Luxy

What a glamorous polish I have been wearing this week and NOT getting bored of! Lots of Lux was released least year in Essie's Encrusted Treasures collection, a very interesting collection. I own half of it which was comprised of sparkling glitters and 3D textures, Lots of Lux falls in to the textured category.

This deep indigo polish is super saturated with colour. It applied fantastically and was a one coater! Since I was trying my best to apply thin coats, I went back to a few nails and filled in any spots that needed it. I find that textured polishes are most beautiful when less coats are used. The formula for these types of polishes can be a little thicker than regular ones, however,  I didn't want to mess around with thinner and the finish so I left it be and applied coats as thin as I could while still being opaque.

At first glance the polish appeared gritty and not too sparkly but as it dries, super quick BTW, it had this matte, sparkly almost velvet look to it. The texture is like sparkling blue sand and I see a slight reflection of green in there too.

My main concern with not adding topcoat to a mani is wear, due to the fact that I love to eat and thereby have to use my hands to cook a lot! I got some slight chips hear and there after the first few days, but the best part about this polish is that you can fill it in with a stippling motion of the brush and it looks brand new again! The texture blends in seamlessly!

I have already filled in some tiny chips here and there  but am hoping to wear this for at least a few extra days before changing it. Such a great polish for the holidays!

Happy Halloween ^_^

Happy Halloween!

I just love the whole month of October because to me it is basically a whole month centred around Halloween. I mean, who didn't love halloween as a child? Dress-up and free candy? I would be down for that every day of the year! 

It's funny though, ever since going vegan I have rethought a lot of my food choices and aside from the obvious (meat, dairy and eggs) I don't include white sugar or high fructose corn syrup in my life and if it's presented, I try to avoid it as much as possible. That being said I have still found so many fun ways to create delicious and healthy Halloween treats that I enjoy even more that my old favourites! So many things to love about Halloween, horror movies, PUMPKINS and of course, fun nails.

For Halloween I decided I wanted something classic, meaning black and orange. I used an unexpected favourite of mine from last year, China Glaze Bump in the Night. This is an opaque black textured polish. I love how it looks like dirt or asphalt. I applied this to my pinky and middle fingers. I did the reverse of this on my right hand.

To the rest of my fingers I applied 2-3 thin to medium coats of Maybelline Color Show in Dotty. Another unexpected favorite! My boyfriend talked me in to trying this one out. I told him I was going to leave it and he said, and I quote; " you can't leave it, it's so cool i'm going to get it for you". What a guy :)

In the bottle, Dotty looks like a rusty orange, but on the nail it is the perfect pumpkin orange. The orange jelly base is thin and the black and white matte glitter is dense. I had no issues with application, but I must warn you to be patient with application. I was getting impatient and decided to add thicker coats to a few nails, and although not very visible, it did cause some small bubbling to occur.

All and all I am super happy with this mani and my October. Lots of fun was had this month at haunted houses, watching scary movies, making awesome treats, hay rides and a pumpkin patch!

Wish on a Starfish

Today I have a China Glaze texture polish from one of the many collections they have put out in the last few months, this is Wish On A Starfish.

As you can see it is a light pink texture with golden shimmer throughout. It was a bit sheer on the first coat but built up nicely with three thin coats. I find with these polishes if you add thicker coats the effect looks more like a clumpy mistake than a texture.

I had no issues with application. The polish dried neither quickly or slowly but since it was textured I think it dried pretty well. I love the name! This is totally a starfish pink and the gold shimmer makes it shine like a sparking star!

Godiva

I have been lacking in posts lately, mostly due to the fact that I have been super busy, that and leading to less polish changes and purchases. In a mad dash on the weekend I found just enough time for a polish change before a family event. So much was on my mind I didn't even know what shade I wanted to wear. Sometimes just choosing a shade takes up enough time on its own! I was hoping to wear something nude but knew it wouldn't dry in time for me to finish getting ready.

Lucky for me I had a few untried options on my desk, one of them being a pixie dust, Zoya to the rescue! Godiva was the perfect colour and easy to apply! Godiva is a nude glitter/shimmer textured polish. The formula was fantastic, not too thick or clumpy, very smooth and opaque. I only required two coats for full opacity, and although it took a tad longer to dry than the standard textured polish it hid any prefect ions perfectly!

The sparkle on this one is awesome and totally work appropriate. It remindes me of wet sand sparkling in the sunlight, I love this shade a lot more than I thought. The wear is also awesome, when I did get some chipping I easily filled them in and it blended in seemlessly.

Sea Horsin' Around

I have a lovely textured polish to share with you today! It is apart of China Glaze's Sea Goddess collection that was out very early this spring.

Sea Horsin' Around is a blue leaning teal with golden shimmer and a textured finish. This is so pretty in it's textured state, I wonder how it looks with a topcoat! The gold shimmer reflects strongly in the light and really makes this polish something special.

The formula was thick but easy to apply, only two coats were needed. Unfortunately wear time was not great. I don't know what is going on but my China Glaze's are not wearing well on me at all lately! Usually textured polishes tend to latest a bit longer because they really adhere to the nail bed, this was the case for my OPI and Finger Paints textured polishes anyways.

The worst part? The staining! Yup, my nails are yellow/green and yucky. Other then chipping and staining it really is such a pretty polish, what a shame :(

What a Treasure!

My last green polish for March! Can you believe that March is a few days away from being over? Kind of hard to believe since it literally just snowed only two days ago... Nothing really accumulated but it is still depressing! Moving on the topic of things that make me happy, today I have a bright spring coloured polish, Sinful Colors Treasure Chest.

Treasure Chest is a bright green based teal textured polish with a gold textured shimmer! This is apart of the Crushed Gems collection (Which also included this purple beauty). So much more lovely on the nail and in person than in the bottle. This colour screams spring! It's bright, and shimmery and pretty!

The formula was fantastic! This could have easily been a one coater if I used a thick coat, but I opted for two thinner coats. The texture is perfect, not too over the top gritty, and the sparkle really makes it look sand-like. An awesome textured polish for a great price! I wish these more were readily available in Canada.

Simply Gleaming

This week I feel like I have been slacking, not sure why, it's not like I have been too busy to blog, I've actually have more time that usual on my hands. Maybe that's it,m just being lazy. I better not make a habit of it.

Irregardless of my MIA status this week, I don't have to much to share polish wise, so you haven't missed much. I made a half-assed attempt at St. Patrick's day nails that I don't have a photo of. Just a simple shamrock on my ring fingers in white over my previous mani. Didn't celebrate St. Patrick's day either, I guess I never really do though! I did make the most awesome all natural mint shamrock shake ever though for breakfast. Yup, breakfast, it's that natural and nutritional. It was awesome. you may not know this about me but I am quite the foodie, even more so lately since I have become a vegetarian. I  love to cook so exploring new vegetables, food combinations and flavours is so much fun for me. Plus I have always loved to eat!

So wow, that got off topic fast, huh? Back to polish, today I have a lovely textured polish, keeping with my March theme of green and purple, Sinful Colors Purple Gleam. This lovely medium lavender is sprinkled with gold and pink shimmer, in the bottle this reminds me of Pure Ice, Busted. However on the nail, this "Crystal Crush" formula sparkles a mostly matte gold, however the pink does shine through and give some depth. The gold comes off more silver in my photos, and although the texture may appear gritty, in person it is more powdery and soft.

I swatched this when I first got it and thought it was pretty, but actually on the nail, wow!First of all it goes great with my skin tone (currently winter pale). I just love how matte and shimmery it is, very pixie dusty! Most other matte polishes I have tried end up with more of a satin finish after a day of wear due to natural oils on the skin. Purple Gleam has not absorbed any oil what so ever.

I only needed two coats for full opacity. The formula was pretty good, however the longer it took me to apply the polish the thicker it got. I think after the first coat I closed the bottle and gave it a gentle roll to mix the contents to a more uniform consistency. It didn't take too long to dry, but probably a bit longer than usual since I didn't apply the standard quick dry top coat to finish it off.

I am very happy with this textured, glittered beauty, especially for the price. These cost about a dollar more than your standard Sinful Color, but I believe I got these on sale or something so they may have come out to regular price. I regret not picking up a few more of these when I last saw them. Orange Crush and Blue Persuasion are on my "to find" list! Next time I am in the State's I will totally snatch them up if Rite Aid still carries them.

Let It Snow!

I was sure I was going to bust out China Glaze There's Snow One Like You around Christmas but I just never got around to it. I thought for sure it was just collect dust in a drawer until this years Christmas. But you know what, the snow is still coming down like crazy over here, so today I have a weather inspired polish choice, and this week there was a lot of snow!

There's Snow One Like You got very mixed reviews, this is a polish you either love or hate. For those of you who may not know, it is a white textured polish which is meant to resemble the texture/look and feel of snow. Originally I was NOT interested, the swatches I was seeing and the reviews I was reading were not the best, cottage cheese comes to mind lol. I decided I should try it out for myself after I saw a few nice swatches of the polish. From what I read it seemed the main issue was thickness of the polish and in some cases sheerness.

I first applied a thin coat of Sally Hanesn New Lengths Ceramics in White Ghost to my nails. I didn't layer to opacity, just enough to cover the nails. I needed a base of white so I didn't make a mess of the polish trying to get it opaque. Once the white was dry I added a thin to medium coat of There's Snow One Like You to each nail trying to spread it as evenly as possible. After the first layer was dry, I made touch ups where I wanted some more texture and was done! I found that in the swatches where multiple layers of the polish was added it lost some of its texture and looked more like melty snow.

I was weary as first about wearing the infamous textured polish but am happy with the outcome, I really do like it! What do you think, do you own a bottle?

Post-Holiday Purchases

Since the holidays have ended I have made some last minute, "get 'em while you can" holiday polish purchases. Since it is getting frigid again outside I am literally blogging from my laptop to yours today, photos and all! Let's start off with Essie!

The first swatches I saw for Essie's Encrusted Treasures collection did not win me over, especially the namesake of the collection. I was not even the slightest bit interested. I already posted a mani with Essie's Silver Plater, so you must know I caved lol. Along with On a Silver Platter I picked up Hors D'orves, and Lots of Lux.

Hors D'orves has the same gold shimmer as the previous polish and jam packed with silver hex glitter. Super shiny and blingy. Dries to a glossy shine.

On a Silver Plater is a sheer but buildable gold shimmer combined with various sizes of a deep blue holo hex glitter. I really love the glitter in this polish!  Dries to a glossy shine.

Lots of Lux was a super last minute purchase and I almost didn't pick this one up.

 It was a swatch I saw online that helped me decide I needed it! It appeared to have a duochrome effect. On the nail not so much, but it still is a pretty textured blue. Dries matte, gritty to the touch.

Moving on to some Lux Effect polishes from Essie, Stoke of Brilliance and Jazzy Jubilant.

Stoke of Brilliance is a glitter I had been lusting over but have never pikecked it up. It is a medium blue hex glitter of various sizes in a clear base. Great topper.

Another great topper is Jazzy Jubilant, it is a multicolour hex glitter. I own similar polishes but thought this would be good for layering and jelly sandwiches.

Left to right, Jazzy Jubilant and Stroke of Brilliance.

Marshall's has been growing their brand and selection of polishes. In both Canada and the U.S. I have spotted brand such as Zoya, Orly, Sephora by OPI, Color Club and OPI to name a few! I picked up a dual set of Orly polishes which both happened to be FX glitters, Mermaid Tale and Embrace. I was disappointed this collection was not around for longer, but was super excited to score this double pack for $8.99!

Mermaid Tale is a densely packed green and holo glitter of various sizes in a clear base. 

Embrace is a densely packed pink glitter of various sizes in a light pink jelly base.

I also found an interesting OPI at Marshall's, Serious Sparkle.

I tried looking up swatches but didn't find anything. The closest polish I could find was Save Me from the 2012 OPI Spring Nicki Minaj collection. It is a silvery foil shimmer polish packed with holo string glitter, it reminds me of fireworks! If you have any more information on this polish please let me know!

Another OPI I picked up on sale at CosmoProf, My Favorite Ornament, apart of their Holiday Mariah Carey collaboration.

Is is a textured champagne gold, very neutral and sparkly. It seemed comparable to Zoya's Tomoko which I have been eying. Zoya's aren't that easy (or cheap) to come by for me, so I settled for this beauty instead.

I picked up this next polish for a buck! Platinum Gala is a silver hex glitter of multiple sizes suspended in a clear base. I picked this up at Stitches and it smells horrible lol.

Lastly I have some Christmas gifts that are polish related, a colour changing polish I almost did not notice in my stocking is the first! Claire's "sun changing" nail polish (no name) is a blue glitter polish made up of various sizes of blue hex glitter in a sheer blue base. When in the sun it changes from blue to green! I don't think I have seen these before, interesting bottle shape, that's for sure. You only get 7ml of polish in this bottle (half a standard bottle when compared to China Glaze at 14ml).

And finally, some specialty selected Bundle Monster plates from the holiday collection my brother ordered for me. I love that they give you the option to purchase single plates now, I have a large collection of plates, some that don't even have the protective sticker removed! I picked up BM-H06, BM-H07, BM-H08, BM-H11, BM-H25

I have kind of been all over the place with my posts lately, I feel like I am still trying to get back in to the natural order of things since the holidays! I hope to post more regularly by the end of the week.