Zoya Delight Spring 2015 Swatches & Review

Press Sample

When I was younger, my favorite part of Easter (aside from dyeing eggs) was eating the royal icing eyeball off my chocolate bunny, then following with the ears, naturally. As I've grown older, my taste buds yearn for the deliciousness off Cadbury Mini Eggs. They're SO. DAMN. GOOD! I'm not a jellybean girl, though. I mean, I love sugar, but there is something about the sickeningly sweet jelly consistency that I just can't get behind. Bleck! The latest collection from Zoya evokes memories of spring and Easters past. They make me think of dyed eggs in bright green cellophane grass and, for some reason... daffodils. Those are like the universal flower of spring, right? Hit the jump for the photos and review! :)

Zoya Lillian

Robin's egg blue

One of the TRUE colors of spring to me. Living in Michigan, the first sign of spring is when you see the first Robin! This reminds me of the lovely blue shade of a robin's egg!  

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Eden

Bright medium pink

A pretty medium pink that makes me think of the beautiful tulips that seem synonymous with spring where I lived in west Michigan, gotta love Tulip Time in Holland, MI!

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Tiana

Creamy mint green

This color makes me think of my all-time favorite ice cream flavor- Mint Chocolate Chip! This redhead can never get enough mint ice cream. It's the best!

  

Opacity scale (1-5):3.5

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Rayne

Aqua with turquoise shimmer

Of the three shimmers in this collection, this one really sings! The shimmer is very evident in this polish and makes me think of the anti-spring...ICICLES! It's SO pretty, and is one of may favorites of the collection.

  

Opacity scale (1-5): 2.5

Finish: Shimmer, 3 coats to be opaque

Zoya Leslie

Lilac with turquoise shimmer

I'm loving this combination! The shimmer adds a little oomph to an already pretty spring purple. This one is more opaque than the other two shimmers in this collection, too.   

Opacity scale (1-5): 3

Finish: Shimmer, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Daisy

Sunshiny yellow with turquoise shimmer

LOVE this one! Yellow is one of my favorite colors, and I love the addition of the turquoise shimmer, it's super unexpected! 

Opacity scale (1-5): 2.5

Finish: Shimmer, 3 coats to be opaque


What is your favorite memory of spring or Easter? Tell me in the comments below! 

Zoya nail polishes, as always, are free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, and camphor and can be purchased at zoya.com and Ulta and Ulta.com for $9. 

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. See the legal page disclosure for more information

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Heart to Heart - Valentine's Day Nail Art

Nothing to DisclosePress Sample

It's here again. The day that is highly anticipated by some but extremely dreaded by most... The day that roses double in price... the day of hearts 'n shit. You guessed it, it's V-day. This will be my first year without the chalky deliciousness of conversation hearts increasing my dentist bills, and I must admit, I'm a little sad about it! But, I have two of the best Valentine's Day dates a gal could hope for...one has 4 legs and wears a nice fur coat, and the other just has two furry legs. No big plans for the day, mostly working, and relaxing a bit afterward.

I decided to try the Cut It Out Lovely Magic nail vinyls from Serum No 5 for this design. First, I used a rainbow of colors to create the brushed gradient up the center of the nail. Once that dried, I used the  stacked hearts vinyl over the gradient, then brushed on a coat of white polish. Before the white polish dried, I removed the nail vinyl, which left a clean heart outline! I totally love how these turned out, I'm such a sucker for a rainbow gradient!

I used:

Red: American Apparel Downtown L.A.
Orange: Zoya Paz
Yellow: American Apparel Sunshine State
Green: CND Green Scene
Blue: American Apparel Mount Royal
Purple: China Glaze Everglaze Don't Grape About It
White: Zoya Purity

Serum No 5 Cut It Out Lovely Magic nail vinyls

Topcoat: KB Shimmer Clearly on Top quick dry topcoat

Disclosure: Some products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. (Serum No 5 & KB Shimmer) See the legal page disclosure for more information.

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Luck of the Not So Irish?

Nothing to DisclosePress Sample

Happy belated St Patrick's Day! I posted this manicure on my Instagram (Are you following me yet?! :-P) yesterday and, as promised, I'm posting them here on the blog! I know that I've been horrid about posting lately, but I'm working very hard to get stuff posted and collections swatched for you!! :-D

So about the nails, I usually hate stuff affixed to my nails, but I knew that the gold studs from the Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art stud set would be perfect for gold coins left by a mischievous little leprechaun on my nail! I actually like the ring finger nail a lot, and since the studs are so close together, I won't pick them off like I usually do. I used a bunch of polishes for this manicure, so see below for the details!

You can sort of see the beautiful shift of Ninja Polish Shillelagh best in the second photo; from one angle it is a beautiful emerald, and from another it's a golden green, and sometimes I feel like I can even see a rusty orange. I love it!

Side note: These pictures were unfortunately taken after a shift at work, so there is some slight tip wear...oops!

I used:

Thumb: 

Green: Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas

Green/Gold Shimmer: Ninja Polish Shillelagh

Index:

White: Milani White on the Spot

Red: Zoya Tamsen

Orange: Butter LONDON Silly Billy

Yellow: Wet 'n' Wild Get Lucky

Green: Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas

Blue: Essie Butler Please

Purple: Seche Nails Clever & Confident 

Middle: 

China Glaze Mingle With Kringle

Ring Finger:

Green: Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas

Studs: Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art Studs set

Pinky: 

Green/Gold Shimmer: Ninja Polish Shillelagh

Basecoat: Sephora Formula X base coat

Topcoat: Seche Vite top coat


What did you do for your St Patrick's Day Manicure? Tell me in the comments below! 

Disclosure: Some products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. However, many of them were purchased by me. See the legal page disclosure for more information. 

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shamROCK OUT!

Get your pinching fingers ready, it's that time of year again–St. Patrick's Day! Time to put your drinkin' shoes on, and don your best green attire, because it's time to do it up right! I'm not Irish, but with the pale skin, red hair, and freckles, I definitely look the part. Here's hoping that this St. Paddy's Day, my 'Irish' looks bring me a few extra tips at work tonight! :D

I totally HAD to use my Zoya Gilty for this manicure, I mean, how much more appropriate can you get than St. Patrick's Day? :D  Michigan winters and being a server have not been kind to my nails/cuticles, my nails break every 2 minutes it seems like (hence the super nubs), and I'm pretty sure I could wear gloves made of Lemony Flutter and my cuticles would still be unhappy.

Anyway, Happy St. Paddy's Day! :)

I used:

White: Cult Nails Tempest
Red: American Apparel Downtown L.A.
Orange: CND Electric Orange
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Green: CND Green Scene
Turquoise: Zoya Robyn
Blue: Pure Ice French Kiss
Purple: Funky Fingers Riot
Gold Flake: Zoya Gilty
Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat: Cult Nails Wicked Fast

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Gimme a Kiss!

One more Valentine's Day nail design! This was today's nail art, and I am excited to show it to you because my super kickass boyfriend surprised me with a package from Amazon today- something to help with the blog. What was it, you ask? A tabletop lighting set for my lightbox! You can say that not only am I head over heels for Chris, but he lights up my life --->Literally! lol  The reason I'm excited to show you this design is because I got to try out the new lights when I took the pictures. I definitely have a lot of learning/experimenting to do before I get everything how I want it, but the colors are far better with these new lights. I'm already super pleased!

This Valentine's nail design is another twist on a half-moon inspired design- Hershey's kisses! :) I'm totally in love with China Glaze Adventure Red-y, despite the fact that I usually loathe red polishes. Dunno, something about this one. the coverage, color, and application are fantastic.

Anyway, to the nails, I hope you like them!

I used:

Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y
Silver: Zoya Trixie
Silver Shading: Zoya Trixie mixed with American Apparel Hassid
White: American Apparel T-Shirt
Blue: Zoya Yummy mixed with American Apparel T-Shirt

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On

Topcoat:  Seche Vite

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Pucker Up!

Happy Valentine's Day! :D

I hope that everyone is enjoying the day with friends, their crush, their significant other, or their dog (like I am). To some, today is merely Thursday, but to some, Valentine's Day is kind of a big deal… :-P I meant to post these earlier, but work and whatnot got the best of me, so I'm posting them now. The thumb and ring finger are conversation hearts, and the other three fingers are lips, all of them are a different twist on a half-moon! :-D I hope you like them!

Please excuse the state of my cuticles, Michigan winter is not proving to be kind to them! :-/  They look sad and angry and very very dry (and this picture was taken AFTER applying Lemony Flutter, so just IMAGINE the state of them before!!)  

I also apologize for the picture quality. Ever since moving back I'm still trying to figure out lighting because it's so damn gloomy here.

I used:

Turquoise: Layla Softtouch 09

Pink: Zoya Areej (mixed with American Apparel T-Shirt for the heart on the thumb)

Red: American Apparel Downtown LA

Dark Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y

White (used for highlighting): American Apparel T-Shirt

Black (used for shading): American Apparel Hassid

Yellow: American Apparel Manila mixed with American Apparel T-Shirt

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On

Topcoat:  Seche Vite

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My Ball Has Dropped.

Yep. I went there.

As I write this, the majority of you lovely people are out celebrating the end of 2012, the beginning of 2013, perhaps even plotting who your midnight kiss will be. I'm cozied up on the couch with my electric blanket and a small white dog listening to the sounds of a snoring sister on the other couch (she's going to kill me if she reads this!!). I'll be lucky if I make it until midnight, I'm falling asleep already and it's only 10:15 p.m. Lame, eh? Well, before I pass the you-know-what out, I'd better post my last nail art of 2012, right? I know it's been a while, and my absence will be explained soon, so just be patient, and know that I plan to start posting more regularly again. :)

Anyway- Farewell 2012... and Hello 2013! Here's hoping everyone's 2013 is abundant with blessings, love, and happiness!

For the final nail art of 2012, I used silver hex glitter to do a NYE version of a moonicure! I tried to convey that the 'moon' is the ball dropping in Times Square. :)  I hope you like it!  I used Zoya Storm from the Ornate collection to simulate all the confetti falling in the night sky. I absolutely love this polish!!

I used:

Black: American Apparel Hassid
Black Holo: Zoya Storm
Gold: China Glaze 2030

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite


See you next year, kids! :)

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Indian Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

You may know that I've been living in India for the past 9 months, and today is India's Independence Day! I could hardly do this Flags of the World tour and not include my current home, right? I figured that today of all days would be the perfect day to post it, too.

There's more to India than curry, saris, and Hinduism. I'll be the first to admit that this country is sometimes maddening, but to balance out the madness are some of the most kind, generous, and generally selfless people I've ever met.

In addition to my Indian flag, nail art tutorial, I wore a saree/sari to work yesterday! (We didn't have work today) I felt awkward and exposed all day, and have a whole new respect for the Indian women that choose to wear saris on a regular basis. I rewarded myself with wearing jeans today. :D My friend Sheba was an absolute godsend, since there was no way I could wrap this thing alone- every time I tried, it looked like a giant slate blue diaper.

At the beginning of the day- Jasmine flowers in my hair, bindi on, all put together. :D

My friend Diana fussing over my pleats to make sure they looked right :D

My friend Sheba fussing over my pleats at the end of the day before having pic taken again. Stupid things kept coming untucked.

The back view. I love the pallu (the hanging piece) of this sari- all gold and copper metallic threads. so pretty!

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Go FOURTH and be Happy.

It's the fourth. Yeah, of July. Can you believe it? Seriously, I'm in shock. This trip around the sun has flown by like none other and here we are again, celebrating our day of independence! Well...you are. People might look at me funny if I was out on my lawn (we don't have a lawn) grilling burgers, don't ya think? Plus I had to work, because it's not Independence Day here! :) (I have to wait for August 15th for theirs!) Chris said he was going to 'get drunk and blow shit up', but apparently his version of that is a cool glass of water and an episode of Masterchef Australia while he surfs the interwebs on his iPad. :-D What can I say, we're an exciting pair, right?

I've been sick lately...it all started with a dirty little germ disseminator (otherwise known as a child) sitting next to me coughing without covering his gaping yaw for the entire flight from Brussels to Chennai. That was 2 weeks, 3 sick days, several days of sleeping, about 5,000,000 movies, a doctor's visit, 3 prescriptions, and one stern instruction that I wasn't allowed to eat ANY fruits (apples are allowed), or have any fruit juice. Odd for a doctor to say, right?  I'm pretty sure this is the perfect way to get me to eat my fruits and veggies though, because it's all I can think about now. I guess that ole 'want what you can't have' saying might hold some truth. Anyway...

As my way to 'celebrate' being American, I did what any other sane nail-art loving blogger would do...my nails. Now, every year it gets harder and harder to do my nails, because there is only so many ways you can configure red, white and blue, right? Well, In the past, I've actually steered clear of the good ole RW&B (I'm such a rebel), and I've done the Declaration of Independence, the Statue of Liberty (not one of my finest), and the culinary treat that is a tube of meat that we all know and love called a Hot Dog...  Well, this year I was inspired by a picture that my friend Roxie posted on her Instagram of her getting her Fourth of July buntings ready to hang. My goal was to try to capture the shadows of the draped/gathered/folded fabric, and still maintain that vibrant trio of colors that are synonymous with liberty. 

I used: 

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On!

Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor

Blue: China Glaze First Mate

Red Shading: American Apparel Lipstick and American Apparel Lipstick and American Apparel Passport Blue mixed

Blue Shading: American Apparel Passport Blue 

White Shading: American Apparel American Denim and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On mixed.

How are you celebrating your Fourth of July?

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Skull Appreciation Day!

Did you know that June 4 is Skull Appreciation Day?! In 2011, to commemorate the beginning of the 5th year of the Skull-A-Day website, which was created by Noah Scalin in 2007, the editors decided to proclaim June 4 as international Skull Appreciation Day! As a lover of skulls (hey, I adore mine, it protects my brain), I decided to celebrate Skull Appreciation Day by painting my nails! (Is there any other way?)

I painted the Skull Appreciation Day LOVE logo on my thumb, and then broke it down so each letter was on a separate nail (thank God it was only 4 letters long, or I'd need to be polydactyl!).

I used

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On - base
Nicole by OPI Redy to Runaway Love
Seche Vite topcoat

How are YOU celebrating?!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Hey guys!!!! Whew, I've been so busy today getting ready for our neighborhood St. Patrick's Day party. I did manage to make time to get pics of my mani and post, whoo hoo! This will be short though sorry, because I have to wake Jack up and go run more errands.

Hope you guys have a great day and night!!!

I started with Nubar Reclaim for the base of my St. Patty Day mani

I then used Claire's 14 Karats gold polish and my Bundle Monster plate BM19 for the polka dots.

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Could I BE any later? - Yes, it's a reference to Friends, lol.

Well while I have a minute, I know this is like beyond old, but it was a mani I did for the Fourth of July, yeah last year, lol. I saw it sitting in my drafts, and was about to delete it, but said, 'What the hell, I might as well'.

For this I used the following -
Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Co-Bolt Blue & China Glaze White on White and of course tape :)

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