Zoya Lovely Collection for Spring 2013 (Swatches and Review)

Good Morning and happy Friday! Today I have something super exciting to share with you, swatches from Zoya's Lovely collection for Spring 2013. The Lovely collection features six season appropriate pastels consisting of three beautiful cremes and three gorgeous metallic shimmers. I've been meaning to post this review for over a week but I've been sick with strep and the flu. The one good thing about delaying this post is that I can comment on the wear for about half of this collection.

Zoya Blu

Zoya Blu is a lovely baby blue creme with a strong white undertone. The formula on Blu is a bit thick but easy to work with. Blu was fully opaque in two coats and I wore this polish for three days with minimal tip wear. I actually got quite a few comments on this polish. This seems to be pretty popular even with those who aren't polish obsessed like the rest of us  ;)

Zoya Jacqueline

 

Zoya Jacqueline is a creamy nude polish with a slight tint of yellow. It was opaque in two coats but I found the formula to much thicker and stringier than the other cremes. It took more work than the other cremes to get it even and opaque. You can even see some areas on my ring finger that started to bubble. (For reference on this nude shade, I'm NW15)

Zoya Neely

 

Zoya Neely is a gorgeous pistachio green creme. This was my favorite of the cremes. It was opaque in two coats and had the same formula as Blu. I can report that the wear on Neely is phenomenal. I wore Neely for a total of SIX days with minimal tip wear and no chips.

Zoya Piaf

Zoya Piaf is described by the Zoya website as "fresh forsythia yellow metallic" which is spot on. I wasn't sure how I would feel about Piaf once on my nails but I found it to be flattering for a yellow. I looked through my large stash of polish and the color of Piaf is very unique. I used three coats of Piaf to get it fully opaque.

Zoya GieGie

Zoya GieGie is an icy light pink shimmer. This is what Barbie would wear if she traded in her bright pink for a shimmery pastel for Easter. This one wasn't one of my favorites, but I think it would be nice if you needed a color similar to this for a special occasion. I used three coats to get GieGie fully opaque.

Zoya Julie

Zoya Julie is my standout favorite from the Lovely collection. This gorgeous pastel purple shimmer is so gorgeous and flattering. I didn't expect to love this one as much as I did. I used three coats of Julie to get it fully opaque. I wore it for three days with minimal tip wear.

The Zoya Lovely collection is available now on Zoya's website here. They retail for $8.00 each, or you can buy the set for $48.00. Has anyone purchased any of the Lovely collection? Do you plan to? My favorites are Blue, Neely and Julie.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

*The products featured in this post were sent for my honest review.

Zoya Ornate Collection Swatches For Winter 2012

Good Morning all! Happy Monday...boo! haha. It's my birthday today (27) and I'm headed off to work. I should have planned ahead and requested the day off but oh well. Today I have something super special to share with you - Zoya's Ornate collection for winter 2012. Since I first saw the promo photos of the Ornate collection, I knew it was something super special. I'm usually a sucker for all holiday collections but Zoya's Ornate collection really packs a punch!

Up first is Blaze. Blaze is a berry red with holographic microglitter. As you can see in the below photos the microglitter in Blaze pulls red, pink and purple. The fact that this doesn't show the silvery shades we are used to with holographic glitter gives is a 'lit from within' feel. The formula was easy to work with and opaque in two coats.

 

Aurora is a red toned purple with holographic microglitter. The holographic effect in this is much more obvious than my camera could capture. It's a real stunner. The formula on Aurora was easy to work with and fully opaque in two coats. Magenta and red-toned purples are my favorite, so this is a definite win for me.

 



Next up is Electra. Electra is made up of holographic bar glitter in a clear base. To be completely honest, I'm not the biggest fan of bar glitter but I really fell for Electra. Electra reminds me of the tinsel that my grandmother used to put on the tree at Christmastime when I was a child. This gives off a real holiday feel. The glitter is dense and this I was able to get it opaque in three coats. (The photos below do not have top coat)  The formula was easy to work with and there was no fishing for glitter or having to move it around the nail to get it even. Electra is also more holographic than my camera could capture.

Ziv is a gold foil with tiny gold glitter pieces and a touch of silver. I was a little unsure how this would work on my skin tone (NW15 with some redness in my hands) but it's beautiful. After seeing this in person and getting to wear it I really do think that this would be flattering on all skin tones. The first coat went on a bit sheer but it was fully opaque with the second coat. The formula on Ziv was also very easy to work with.

 

Oh, Logan. Where do I begin? Logan is a b-e-a-utiful emerald green foil with a touch of gold fleck and teal. It's gorgeous in the bottle but it completely blew me away once on my nails. I have a few greens in my stash that I thought might have been comparable but once I took a closer look I don't have anything in my stash of 800-900 bottles quite like Logan. The formula was super easy to work with and it was fully opaque in two coats. If I was more careful, I feel that I would have been able to get away with one coat of Logan.

 

 

Last but not least, Storm. I was not expecting to fall in love with Storm the way I did. I thought this would be another black with holographic glitter, but something about Storm really won me over. Storm has a black jelly base with dense holographic glitter (the same holographic glitter as Aurora). It's extremely shiny even without a top coat, and a second layer does not make all of the holographic glitter in the first coat completely disappear. The formula was easy to work with and it was fully opaque in two coats. Storm is much more holographic in real life, my camera wasn't able to capture just how holographic this really was.

 

 

Overall, I'm super impressed with the Ornate collection. I wore Blaze and Logan for two days each without any chips (I topped them with Zoya-friendly Out The Door, skip Seche Vite with Zoya polishes as it seems to pull and cause shrinkage). The formula on each polish was easy to work with and the dry time was fast.

 

I recommend the entire collection, but if you are on a budget I would say that Blaze, Aurora, Logan and Storm are must haves. If you are a holo lover, the holos would be a fantastic addition to your collection. If you are a green girl (as I am) don't think twice about picking up Logan as you won't be disappointed.

 

The Ornate collection can be purchased as a set for $48 or individually for $8 USD from Zoya's website. 

 

Has anyone already purchased any of the Ornate collection polishes? Does anyone plan to? Since swatching these I'm in the mood for the holidays. I'm ready to skip over Halloween and maybe Thanksgiving (we'll stop at Black Friday!) and get ready for Christmas lol  ;)

 

The products featured in this post were sent for my honest review.



Tony Moly Galaxy Collection final review

Hey ladies! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Today, I'm headed up to Mohegan Sun casino in CT to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday which was Tuesday. Hopefully I have luck and win some cash so I can buy more polish! LOL.

I'm pretty sad that I'm out of Tony Moly glitters to review. This hands down is my favorite glitter collection eveeeeerrrrr! The bottles are sturdy and quite possibly my favorite. I love the mirrored silver cap. The brush is incredibly easy to work with, and it is my favorite out of all the brands I own. It's short, thick and fans out nicely. I was able to get incredibly close to my cuticle without any flooding.

If you have the extra cash, I would suggest the entire collection. (Remember, only $41.60 from 2b-gentler on Ebay if you are interested) If you can only afford one bottle, I would suggest GT05 (aka Jupiter) or GT03 (aka Mars) from the collection, as I think they are the most unique.

What do you ladies think of this collection? I'm interested to see what everyone thinks. Does anyone plan on picking these up? I did a quick Ebay search of Tony Moly, and they do have some other polishes (although not as fantastic as these). I may check them out after the holidays.

Just for a quick recap.....

GT01

GT02

GT03

GT04

GT05

<3 <3 Bottle shot <3 <3

As always, thanks for reading! I appreciate all of you.

And remember to sign up for my holiday giveaway if you haven't yet!

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe swatches

Good evening! Is anyone else watching the Real Housewives of NJ reunion? OMG. It's insane and I think it's the best episode of the season! LOL. Tonight I have 5 of the 6 Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe collection, which may just be the best winter collection to come out this year. I picked these up at 8ty8 Beauty on Saturday and couldn't wait to swatch them. I actually sat in the parking lot staring at these babies for a few minutes, they are that amazing. I'm missing Gingerbread, it wasn't on the racks but I'm going back in 2 weeks anyway so I plan on picking it up then.

All of the photos shown here are 2 coats without base/top coats. They are all pretty opaque. The formulas were easy to work with as far as glitters go and dry time was good. I took photos in different lighting to show the holographic effects as best as possible. As mentioned before in other posts, my camera hates holos :(

Sugarplum Fairy

Sugarplum Fairy has lilac and holographic glitter in a clear base. This is one of the most holographic in the collection. It's truly gorgeous.

Candy Cane

Candy Cane has red, pink and silver glitter in a clear base. This one holographic but it really is pretty. It definitely reminds me of Candy Canes and it's so girly.

Holiday Splendor

Holiday Splendor is holographic glitter in a teal base. This is the only polish from the collection that's not in clear base. This really surprised me, it's so beautiful. It's similar to Untamed Luxury and reminds me of China Glaze Atlantis (which happens to be my all time favorite polish).

Jingle Jangle

Jingle Jangle is blue, lilac/pink, and light green (possibly blue?) in a clear base. Another stunner. Like Candy Cane, this polish is not holographic.

Beyond The Mistletoe

Beyond The Mistletoe is light blue and holographic glitter in a clear base. This is the most holographic of the bunch (with Sugarplum Fairy coming in a close second).

If you have a chance to pick up a this collection, don't pass it up. Seriously. I know from blogs and MUA that a lot of people get the sets at Ross for $7.99 but I would definitely pay full price for these again. I know these are a holiday collection, but I would wear them 365 days a year. They are G-R-E-A-T!

What do you guys think of these? Will you be picking them up?