Dotticure

I have had some uninspired manicures lately. This one I really liked. I was in a mood for something different. I have the "too many colors nothing to wear" syndrome.

I decided to do a dotticure. Something neat and easy with my dotting tools and it quenches my desire for more than one color.

The base is OPI's Tickle my Francey. Then I used Zoya Goldie and Collette, Ulta Army of One for the dots.My impatience shows on some of the smudges. I think it turned out nice, though!

OPI Tickle My France-y

100 follower giveaway

Hello lovelies!

I've been sitting at over 100 followers on Facebook for awhile, but my blog took awhile to catch up. Last night I hit that milestone! Yay! *confetti*.  So this one is for you all of you! Thank you so much. I never thought I'd have this many followers. I appreciate each and every one of you.

I loove purple. It's second on my list of colors behind pink. So this is a very purple-rific giveaway.  Up for grab are THREE brand NEW polishes: Zoya Mira, OPI Purple with a Purpose and Julep Melissa.

Mira is a Blue toned medium purple with dusty lavender tones and an opaque cream finish.  For a muted yet colorful purple that isn't too dark. 

Zoya Mira

Purple with a Purpose is a vibrant shimmery amethyst.

OPI Purple with a Purpose

Melissa is a Sheer opalescent shimmer adds a soft glow when used alone and a high-fashion holographic effect when used over another color.

Julep Melissa

Giveaway ends May 29th, 2012 and there are daily entry options!

Goodluck!




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zoya Earthday 2012 Haulage

Remember on Facebook when I said I couldn't wait for this haul to come in?

Well IT's HEEERRREEEE (Said in eerie Poltergeist chick voice)

I think I went overboard....

....Nah no such thing!

So I deliberately chose no pinks or purples. I have a metric TON of those colors. Except for what was found in the Beach and Surf collection. Honestly, I could have shopped like 3x as much as what I bought. But I was good! Mostly! I was on a nail polish diet through most of April (if you hadn't noticed!)

 I had opened it and rummaged through it before realizing I needed to take a photo of it in the box. So I put everything back in.

 4 boxes. Yes they're all filled.

 Beach and Surf. God I'm so excited about this collection.

 A nice little bonus I guess. A huge sample!

Zoya Beach and Surf collection.

The only one missing from the collection is Lara and she is on back order. Hopefully I'll get her soon.

 The full haul. Norah decided to make a cameo.

 Then I split them into colors. Rina is the name of a character in my book so I had to get this. It helps that she is a gorgeous bar green and holographic glitter. Something I do not have in my collection.

Zoya Rina and Midori

 The browns and bronzes.

Zoya Collette, Penny, Amber, Goldie

 The blues. I guess I was in a blue mood, but none of them are the same.

Zoya Indigo, Kotori, Tallulah, Tart, Crystal, Ginessa

Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day swatching. *Happy sigh*

So what did you guys get for the promotion if you hauled?

Breezi watermarble

Breezi is described on the Zoya.com website as:

Soft, dusty, dirty medium cerulean blue with an opaque cream finish.  A super chic  high-fashion denim look for nails.

While I'm not sure I agree with the denim, as it is very bright, it is in fact a gorgeous cerulean color. I've been coveting it since I first saw the shade in a nail art tutorial. When I saw it, a long with some of the other colors I'd wanted, were part of Zoya's Summertime collection--which I picked up in that AMAZING deal they had two weeks ago--I couldn't say no.

I had Easter nail art on all last week. I decided that the very first chance I got I'd wear it.

Initially I wanted to do a water marble with the Sunshine collection--which consists of gorgeous sparkly shades like Apple and Reva. But I couldn't resist Breezi.

I wanted to do a spiral watermarble.Being that this is only my second watermarble attempt I didn't quite manage to get a spiral. A few nails have the circular pattern, but the others don't.

Still I really like how it turned out even if it wasn't what I originally planned. It reminds me of Chinese Pottery or a tidal pool.

Color Club Take me to your Chateau, OPI Alpine Snow, Zoya Breezi

Color Club Take me to your Chateau, OPI Alpine Snow, Zoya Breezi

Zoya Breezi

Zoya haul

Last week's Zoyal deal just about killed me. I couldn't pass it up. By the time I got there most of the trio-packs were already sold out. But the Sunshine and Summertime packs were calling my name.

I can't wait to play with them. Breezi and Sooki are two of the colors on my wishlist and they are in the pack!

Reverse Purple Glitter Gradient

 I had planned on wearing my Nfu Oh 66 for a few days, but it chipped quickly much to my dismay. So I used it as an opportunity to do a manicure I'd been wanting to for awhile. The ombre aka gradient. Since I was swatching Zoya Megan I decided to go all purple. While I like the normal gradient that has light->dark. I decided to go dark->light.

To do this manicure you will need:

1. a sponge of some sort. I used Maybelline makeup sponges.
2. at least 3 complimentary colors: one base color, and two sponging colors.  
3. scotch tape to make clean up easier. Just tape around the cuticle and sides of your nail.

The actual process of sponging I found really easy. Just daub some nail polish on the edge of the sponge and lightly tap it on. 

Zoya Megan

OPI: Grape Set Match, Lincoln Park at Midnight, Serving up Sparkle

I daubed this one on first covering about 3/4 of the nail.

I sponging this one on second covering 1/2 of the previous color.

This was last to add some sparkle to the darkest area of the gradient. I'm still on the fence if I like the glittery addition.

 

 Lastly finish with top coat. I used Seche Vite.

My results!

My orphaned thumb. She never gets in the photos anymore.

Zoya Color Lock System review

Zoya. Zoya. What can I say? You move me.

I finally got around to using the Zoya Color Lock System.

From the Zoya.com website.

Put perfect nail color on lock down. The Zoya Color Lock System surrounds polish with a protective barrier against moisture, bubbling, chipping and UV damage. This kit, which comes in a super-cute, zip-lock handle bag, has everything you need to perfect your polish and make it look better longer.

Zoya Color Lock System Kit Contains:

1 - 1oz Zoya Remove Plus
1 - 0.25oz Zoya Anchor Base Coat
1 - 0.25oz Zoya Zoya Armor Top Coat
1 - 0.25oz Zoya Fast Drops Polish Drying Drops

The idea of the system is one I'm sure everyone is familiar with if you've ever used any type of skin care/make up system. Use it in order for the best results, etc, etc. But in my opinion all the products in the system weren't created equal.

The Remove Plus smelled quite pleasant, though I didn't use it to remove my polish, just to prepare my nail. I didn't notice this step improving the application of the polish.

Next came the Anchor Base Coat. I'm of two-minds with this. One part of me really liked it. It really "anchored" the polish. I could tell while painting my nails that it seemed to "grip" the polish better. The thing I didn't like about it is that it didn't dry "smooth". When I ran my finger pad over my nail it created a different tactile sensation then what I was used to with my base coat. It wasn't unpleasent, just different.

Color was next. I was going to use a different brand, but I decided to follow the rules exactly and use a Zoya brand color. I used Megan which I got for free with the Color Lock System.

Finally Armor TC and the Fast Drops Polish Drying Drops.

I am used to Seche Vite which drys fast. What I found with the Armor top coat and Drying Drops was this: the Armor TC does not dry quickly. At all. The Drops have an oily feeling to it. Now if you can cover your entire nail with one drop of the oil, good for you! I was unable to and it ran down and missed my tips. Which later came back to bite me in the ass. My tips took FOREVER to dry and I wound up smudging the hell out of them and getting bubbles where the drops hadn't covered.

But despite all of the issues I had, the proof is in the swatches. They're unbelievable. Can you see how shiny that turned out? It's almost perfect.

My verdict is this: If you have the time to add a few more steps to your manicure, use the system. It really seemed to make a difference.

Now let's see how well it wears.