Trade in you unloved polish for a half off discount on Zoya!

The Zoya trade-in is back again this year! A first for Zoya to run the promo twice in one year. I for one just placed my order and cannot wait to receive the lemmings I have been wanting or a while now. Full information below: Trade in your old nail polish (any brand, used or unused) for ZOYA, the smart choice! Zoya the pioneer of the BIG3FREE and the BIG5FREE movement, is officially 10-Free and breathable since our formulas have never included ethyl tosylamide, TPHP, xylene parabens, or lead. As the trusted brand among professionals and women who want cutting edge color with the safest formula available, we want to give you the opportunity to trade in your unwanted brands for a healthier alternative. Let's make it the standard that #HealthierIsHappier! How The Exchange Works... 1. Add a minimum of 6 bottles of polish (no more than 24 bottles, treatments excluded) to your cart - Consumer accounts ONLY. In the event that you are a salon professional, please contact your market coordinator and they will help you with the exchange.  2. Apply Code: GOZOYA and a 50% credit will be deducted from your exchange order - FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED! 3. Complete checkout and you're all set! Offer valid 9/15/16 - 10/3/16 (11:59pm EST) The exchange runs on the honor system, which means you are not obligated to send in your unwanted polish - we assume you're going to do the right thing! If you choose to send back your polishes, please check with your carrier of choice for shipping guidelines and restrictions for nail polish.

Leslie Love

LOOOOVEE! I love this polish! I purchased Zoya Leslie, apart of 2015's spring Delight collection last year likely during one of Zoya's promos and waited until now to finally try it.

As you can see, Leslie is a pastel lavender creme with an electric blue superfine shimmer running throughout. The formula is actually quite great. I figured that the formula would likely be thin for shimmer visibility on the nail, however, I was able to build up the polish to full opacity in two easy coats.

This is such a perfect shade for spring, and it actually got me excited to try other other polishes I purchased that are apart of the Delight collection. This shade is so unique and the blue shimmer against the pastel lavender base is so delicate and pretty!

Glitter Tips

Today I have a quick and easy mani refresh with Zoya's Miley.

I am still loving my French refreshes lately and wanted to try out another Zoya from my untrieds that I thought would be a good companion, Tomoko. Tomoko is a light gold pixie dust glitter that tries to a gritty finish on it's own.

Using my striping tape I marked off each nail and applied a generous coat of Tomoko. I Thought of leaving Tomoko as-is with a textured finish, but decided on adding a glossy topcoat to make the glitter shine.

Feeling Springy!

Spring is so close and I found myself really craving a lavender pastel. I finally had the chance to try out Zoya Miley.

Miley is a soft, slightly blue leaning lavender polish. It is not quite a creme, not quite a jelly, totally crelly territory! The formula was smooth and easy to work with. I applied two thinner coats and one thicker coat for full coverage, the thinner coats sandwiched the thicker ones. I did't have any issues with running and it self-leveled well.

I got a comment on my nails the other day with the suggestion that I was wearing a gel! It's that shiny and squishy looking. I'm sure the top coat of Seche Vite I applied over top helped.

Hay Loft!

In case you haven't already noticed...As in previous years on my blog, this month will be dedicated to 31st of October, Halloween! This means exclusive content, polish and nail art inspired by Halloween.

Today to kick things off I have a hardcore lemming if mine from last year, China Glaze Rest In Pieces layered over Zoya Charlotte. I could not locate the Apocalypse of Color collection last year, I had to call around to get some of my favorites. And by the time that happened October was over. That is just one of the reasons it was too on my list to wear this year.

You want another reason? Take a look at that glitter! Rest in Pieces is a mix of matte black, copper and holo hex and bar glitter. It reminds me a of glittery hay!

Application was awesome, one blobbed coat was required and is shown in my swatches. It dries to a high gloss shine unlike other glitters. I love glitters on a neutral base, and this was no exception.

I will definitely be pulling this one out again before the end of the month!

Mini Charlotte

I received Zoya Charlotte in the New Year, New Hue promo Zoya had early this January. When I received the free minis was was not particularly impressed, however, Charlotte has become my favorite of the three. I was actually reaching for OPI, My Vampire is Buff when I decided maybe I should try a new neutral creme.

When compared to the OPI I noticed subtle differences in the colour tone. Charlotte is not only yellow based, but lighter. I find yellow based neutrals tend to look good with my skin tone so I tried it out.

What you see is two coats, one regular and one thinner, no top coat. It was a tad streaky on the first coat, but the second evened everything out.

The formula was good, but I find I prefer to thin most polishes to assist with application if they are a bit thicker and Charlotte was no exception. I'm loving this shade right now, its a great neutral and pallet cleanser from late summer to early fall.

I know, it sounds late to be talking about summer but the weather around here just started shifting to fall like temps this week!

Incoco Pride Nails - Update: Removal

Happy Friday!

A short post before the weekend to follow up on my Incoco real nail polish strips. I applied these on on Monday June 22nd in the evening and the photos below show what they look like on the evening of Monday June 29th before removal.

These wore fantastically! I was really truly impressed with the wear, especially considering that these are white and are likely to show every little imperfection. I started to get more wear on the strips over the weekend, but overall I have no complaints. Not only did they apply and wore well but they look look great!

Here again is a before picture, fresh after application:

And here are a few after shots, a full eight days later:

If I really wanted to I could have gotten away with another full week of wear, but I wanted a change for my birthday nails.

Removal was pretty straightforward. I assumed since they really push the whole "real polish strips" thing that it would remove the same as a regular polish. I'd say yes and no to this. Although the polish was easy to remove with my standard non acetone remover, once I the colour was removed from my nails there was this sticky, gluey layer that was slightly more difficult to remove. I ultimately just shoved each finger in to my Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover for Glitter bottle and removal was a breeze. Maybe I needed acetone to more easily remove the sticky layer, but it was just unexpected.

On a side note before the weekend if you haven't already heard, Zoya has an awesome promo this week for Independence Day in the States, buy three polishes, get three free. This also includes FREE shipping! Just use code 3FREE at checkout.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is not only my birthday, but Canada's as well :) Always nice to have a nationwide holiday and celebrations on your birthday. I usually pull out a flashy or expensive polish with fun nail art, but this year I am keeping it simple with a new polish I picked up recently from Zoya.

Harper is fun and girly. It has a pink jelly base and is doused with golden shimmer and iridescent glitter like the others I own from the Tickled and Bubbly collection. I found this had a more opaque base when compared to the others (Alma, Stasi and Muse), kind of crelly.

Application was nice and smooth and I couldn't have gotten away with two thicker coats, but I opted for three thinner ones. Since it is jelly-like it is not 100% opaque, however with this type of polish it doesn't bother me.

I think its the girliness of the pink and the iridescent glitter that just scream celebration to me! I may jazz this up with some studs or something, just don't want to overdo it.

As a bonus today for all you other July babies I am sharing Sally Beauty's Birthday coupon for July! I love when people post the other coupons during the rest of the year, so I hope you can make use of it! Just be sure you use it before the end of of the month and be warmed, I find when I try to use these coupons in the States they ask for ID to confirm your birthday is in the month of the coupon, it may just depend on the employee as well. Otherwise, enjoy!

Stevie

I have another Zoya polish today from the last purchase I made from their Earth Day promo. They just recently had another promo over the weekend for three free with $15 shipping. I DEFINITELY took part in that promo as well, but was disappointment it wouldn't let me add Daisy to my cart :(

Back to the polish at hand, today I have Stevie.

Stevie is a gorgeous light lavender Pixie Dust with a silver glitter. I have always shared my love of the Pixie Dust formula and this is no exception. The first coat was a bit sheer, however I only needed two easy coats for full opacity.

It also wore awesomely! I'm still wearing it now and it's been a week and three days! I have some tip wear now and I think it's at the point where I'd like to remove it and wear a new shade.

Stassi's Muse

Happy Friday! Today I have a fun mani refresh of Zoya Stassi with another Zoya from the same collection, Muse. I purchased Muse last summer and I don't know why I didn't pull it out sooner! It has the same iridescent glitter and gold shimmer as Stassi with with a deep, blue base which really helps to reflect all that beautiful glitter!

I was inspired by the photo below from annagorelova.com which I found through Pinterest. To see my other nail related pins, click here.

Originally I was thinking of sponging on the gradient as I had done in the past but realized quickly with a sheer base and thirsty sponge I was getting little to none of the base on the nail. I kind of figured this would happen but wanted to try first. 

In my next attempt I applied a thin layer of Muse about the half point of my nail and upwards toward the tip, trying to blend as much with Stassi as possible. I continued this with three more layers starting closer to the top of the nail with each layer.

In the end I wish it came out slightly more feathered or graduated but I am super happy with this look! Very bright and dramatic for a gradient!

Stassi

Today I have a bright and sparky mani! I have so many summery bright glitters and shimmers but I just had not been up to wearing them yet. I have been sticking to my cremes and have been happy with that. I think it may be the subtle shimmers in the spring China Glaze polishes I have been wearing the last month that have warmed me up to the summer shimmers and glitters.

I decided on wearing a new polish to my collection, Zoya Stassi, purchased apart of their Earth day promo and apart of the summer Bubbly collection from 2013. The polish consists of a bright green jelly base, gold shimmer and iridescent hex glitter. The iridescent glitter is what makes this polish (and the others in this collection). 

The first coat was light and sheer, but it built up nicely on the second, thicker coat. I could have added a lighter third coat but plan on doing something with this polish as the base in a few days and didn't want too many layers of polish on the nail. I topped it off with a generous layer of Seche Vite to smooth everything out and accelerate dry time.

The best lighting to view this polish is definitely in low or overcast light. The iridescent glitter grabs what little light there is, it is just so pretty! 

Haulin' - Zoya Edition

As I mentioned in an earlier post I participated Zoya's annual Earth Day promotion this spring. I tried to go lighter and brighter this year with my polish picks...

First up from left to right, Harper and Stassi.

Harper is a pink jelly with golden shimmer and iridescent glitter.  I found Harper to be slightly different than the others in the Tickled and Bubbly collection from which this is apart of, having more of an opaque base. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Also apart of the same collection is Stassi, a medium green glitter with a golden shimmer and iridescent glitter. I already own Muse and Alma from the 2014 Tickled and Bubbly (summer 2014) collection which are the same idea in blue and orange. I regret now now getting Binx as well... next time. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Next up is Leslie and Rayne. Both of these are apart of the recently released spring Delight collection.

Leslie is a lavender creme with a teal shimmer running throughout. Perfect formula! Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Rayne is light blue with a teal shimmer similar to Leslie. Great formula, however more sheer than Leslie. I kind of wish this one had a creme base, but I can always layer it over a light blue base. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

And the last two are Sunshine (Fall 2013) and Stevie (Summer 2013), both Pixie Dusts.

Sunshine is a deep blue textured polish with silver glitter. Very pigmented with a thicker formula. One coat are shown in the swatch below.

Stevie is a light lavender textured polish with the same silver glitter as Sunshine. Perfect formula! One coat are shown in the swatch below.

I didn't realize until putting this post together that I had gotten two polishes from each collection, kind of funny! Other polishes I was considering included Miley, Rebel, Thea, Yuna, Lulu, Remy and Binx. I have left these in my wishlist for next time, I'll see if I still want them then!

Under The Sea

Happy Friday! I was totally inspired by a polish name for this mani. When I found a cool glitter polish at Five Below while I was cross boarder shopping last month, it looked interesting. I turned it over to see the name, Sea Glass, that's totally what it was! The different shapes and colours were the perfect representation of sea glass and I knew I needed to add this polish to my collection. I could already envision the polish combos I could create with this glitter topper

I decided to layer Sea Glass within Zoya, Freda, the lone polish I had not used yet which is apart of the 2012 Gloss collection. I found it was the sheerest of the bunch, but it is buildable and easy to work with. I applied one coat of Freda and followed it with a coat of Sea Glass. The glitter applied easily with a good ratio of glitter to base polish. I let that dry a bit before applying another two coats over top the glitter.

 

I could have added another coat to help build up Freda further, however I liked the overall look and didn't want to add too many layers of polish. Including topcoat (I applied another base of Bio Seaweed UV gel previously) I used a total of 5 layers of polish! The photos show visibility of my nail line more so than in real life.

The photo below most accurately depicts how the polish looks on my nails in reality. Freda is a great jelly polish, it applies smoothly, is self leveling and did not bubble with multiple layers.

Overall I love the glossy, squishy look of this glitter sandwich. My only regret is not getting more of the purple and green glitters on the nail. I love how they reflect throughout the murky teal jelly like bubbles of water floating up to the oceans surface.