Zoya Breezi

         Okay, so in case you were under a rock for all of last week, Zoya had a BOGO to promote the launch of their new summer collections. I joined in on the buying fun, and on Monday, I received my polishes. Yay! One of the ladies that made her way into my home was Breezi, from the Summertime Collection.

Breezi is fairly complicated. Zoya describes it as a soft, dusty, dirty, medium cerulean blue creme, which is actually very accurate.

What is not accurate are these pictures...in real life, Breezi is a bit darker and much dustier.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Breezi is the only color from this collection that I saw and immediately knew that I had to have. I feel like Zoya almost never does blue, but when they do, they do it so so right, and Breezi is no exception. It's a really compelling and pretty shade of blue, with just enough green in there to make a statement. The smokiness also adds a certain je ne sais quoi and gives Breezi this...faded, favorite pair of jeans look that Zoya mentioned in the color description. To be fair, I own very few blue cremes, but Breezi is my new favorite one. 

    Application was super easy too. I only needed two coats of color to get full opacity and they went on  super smoothly. No dragging, no bubbling, no streaking....just creme-y goodness. Zoya did a great job with this one, and if you only get one polish from the Summertime Collection, please make it Breezi. 

And with that, I'm all done for today. Thanks for reading!!

ETA: So a couple of people have asked in the comments how OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui and Breezi compare, but since I skipped SSFS, I couldn't give a definite answer. Happily though, the wonderful BMR from Doing My Nails busted out a great side by side comparison of the two. Take a look: Zoya Breezi vs. OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui

OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It + China Glaze Crushed Candy

       Firstly, sorry about the last post. Some of you may have noticed that it went poof, and the reason for that was the pictures were really inaccurate, and it felt like a lie to leave them up. But anyway, for today, I have OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It, from their Texas Collection. 

 

Fort Worth It is a slightly frosty lavender toned silver base with teeny, light pink microglitter running throughout.

The stupid glitter refused to show its sparkly little face in any of the pictures, but it does show in real life.

 

Sunlight, no flash.

 

Sunlight, no flash.

 

Sunlight, no flash. 

       I think I'm kind of ambivalent about this polish. The silvery-lavender color is very pretty, as is the hazy, nebulous quality of it. Also, the pink microglitter is fun and sparkles so nicely in the sun. But for me, it doesn't feature prominently enough, and I don't like the finish of Fort Worth It. I think they needed to use this guazy-type of finish to make the pink glitter work, but it's still not very nice. It's kind of brushstroke-y and unless you look at your hands from far away, it looks kind of messy. So yeah...meh on this one. 

       Fort Worth It's formula was okay for me. It was sheer, so what you see is four coats, and I had to give it a few minutes between coats or drag and bubbles abounded, but besides those, there were no issues.

      So then, I got bored right, and decided to do some crack.

 I used a thin layer of China Glaze Crushed Candy. 

 

Sunlight, no flash.

   And that is all I've got for today! Thanks for reading, and have a nice Monday! ^_^

Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid

    For today, I have my other Cult Nails polish, My Kind of Cool Aid.

My Kind of Cool Aid is a greyish lavender creme with a subtle silver shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       My Kind of Cool Aid is a nice color. I like Living Water much better, but this isn't bad. The base color is fairly complex, and will take on a more lavender, grey, or blue cast depending on the lighting, although I found that it pulled more grey on me overall. My favorite part of it would probably have the be the really subtle shimmer that runs through it...it's so pretty and is what sets My Kind of Cool Aid apart from the many similar colors that were released this past Fall and Winter. I love how it looks when it catches the light...like really finely crushed glass. However, it's a minor detail, and I don't get to see it nearly enough to make me really love this shade. So my recommendation would be to only get this one if you really like this type of color. If not, then feel free to skip it. 

      Although I'm not so crazy about the color, My Kind of Cool Aid had a fantastic formula. It was opaque in two super smooth coats, leveled itself really nicely, and dried fairly quick. I was kind of surprised too, because it's a lighter color and I feel like they generally don't apply very well, but My Kind of Cool Aid was perfect. 

And that's all I've got for today!! Thanks for reading, and have a great day! ^_^

Zoya Gilda

             Lol, after all those greens, I thought it would be nice to roll on over to the other side of the color wheel, so for today, I've got Gilda, from Zoya's Sparkle Collection.

Gilda is made up of  small, light pink, flat, and metallic particles in a sheer hot pink base. 

The particles come together to form a sparkly-foilish finish, like the others in this collection.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    As of late, I've been craving hot pink polish. I don't know why, but I really like them now.  So even though I passed on Gilda initially, I went back for it later, and I'm glad that I did. The color is fun and summery and the sparkling flecks of shimmer makes it look so luxe. I feel like I should instruct people to call me Miss Kitty when I have this on my nails....I don't know why, but it makes me think of a a blonde, big-haired lady named Miss Kitty. I fully recognize that I have issues. 

   Formula-wise, Gilda went on smoothly, although I was annoyed at how thin it was. I needed four coats to get the opacity that I like, which is generally more than I like to do. So next time, I will use a milky base coat underneath and that should make it easier. 

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading and have a lovely Saturday!! 

It's a Celebration!!

        Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Since today is a celebration, it called not just for greens, but for the most festive greens I could find. So of course, I had to whip out that good sparkly stuff.   


First is Ivanka, from Zoya's Sparkle Collection. 

Ivanka is a bunch of multi-sized, emerald green, flaky, metallic particles in a sheer emerald base. The little particles come together to form that sparkly-foil finish that was freaking everywhere last year. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

      By the time I bought Ivanka, I was so sick of this type of finish that I just kind of chucked it into my polish drawer and never looked at it again. But after taking a break from it, I really like it again, lol! In sunlight, the little particles catch and reflect light so beautifully, and it's so sparkly and festive. And in lower light, you get this really pretty glow, which combined with the visual texture of the polish, makes me think of a snake. My only complaint is that in the bottle, you get this great blue duochrome that doesn't show up all on the nail. So boo. 

   Formula-wise, Ivanka was much like the other polishes in this collection. It was a little bit thin, so I ended up using three coats for full opacity and depth, and a layer of topcoat to punch up the shine. But it applied really smoothly, and as long as I gave it a few minutes between layers, I didn't have to deal with dragging. 

More glittery fun after the jump! ^_^

Moah Greens! (For Less Green)

   Yep, more greens. Because they are wonderful and warm my heart. ^_^


First is Sally Hansen Jumpin' Jade.

 Jumpin' Jade is a deep jade green base with lighter green shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I purchased Jumpin Jade to avoid buying MAC Jade Dragon, and although I'm fairly sure that they aren't exact dupes, I am well satisfied, yea verily. The color is so pretty and the polish has this beautiful opulence and glow to it that I really like. My only real complaint about it would be the terrible name....they couldn't do better than Jumpin' Jade? Forreal though? :/

   Since this guy is part of the Insta-Dri line, the formula is fairly thick and really well-pigmented. I only needed two coats for full coverage, and really, someone could probably get away with one coat. It also dried really fast, although it needed topcoat for shine. 

Next is Wet n Wild Morbid. 

Morbid is a really dark, kind of mossy, blue-based green with lighter green and blue shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Morbid is amazing. It's so...cancerous and wicked looking, and although cancer and wickedness are normally awful things, when they meet polish, they become beautiful. As well as the base color, I love the shimmer...it catches the light so nicely when it's sunny and glows from the base when it's not. It's just a shame that Morbid is part of the Craze line, because it means that you only get a little bit of this awesome color at a time and it's in that terrible bottle with that horrible cap. I wish they could make it part of the core line and put it in a normal bottle.

     Despite the awkward application from trying to maneuver that stupid, stubby brush and round cap, Morbid's formula was surprisingly easy to work with. It went on easily and smoothly, and the pigmentation was great. I used two coats of color and one layer of topcoat in the pictures, and the coverage is perfect. Add in the ultra-cheap price and the availability of Morbid, and I really think that you can't go wrong with this deliciously macabre shade. 

Finally, we have New York Summer Amaranth. 

Amaranth is a bright grass green jelly. It was hard to capture the brightness in the pictures though, so it's really brighter than what you see. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Amaranth puts such a smile on my face. It's just such an adorable and cheery shade of green, I think it looks awesome on me (yeahhh conceited moment) and of course, I love the fun squishy finish.
     Also fun was the formula on Amaranth...despite it being a jelly, I only needed three coats to get the coverage in the pictures, and the polish applied smoothly with no streaks, dragging or other such tomfoolery. The only issue I faced with Amaranth was that it dried matte, but that easily rectified with a layer of topcoat. 


   This particular grouping of polishes may seem random, but I chose to put them all together because they're all nice and cheap! None of these polishes are over $5, yet all of them are beautiful colors with great formulas, proving that you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a cute nail color on any budget. n_n


And that's all I've got for tonight! Thanks for reading!! 

Nubar Going Green Collection

          So, as many of you know, a few days from now is St. Patrick's Day. I love St. Patrick's Day, not because I'm Irish or know any really cool Irish people, but because it is the one day where I can wear all green everything and not be looked at as a complete freak. And I sure do love green. So I thought it would be fun to bombard you guys with lots of green polishes in the following days. To start the party off, I battled clouds and other such weather-related tomfoolery to re-swatch the polishes that I own from Nubar's Going Green Collection. I think it's the only all green collection in nail polishdom, and it celebrates our lovely planet to boot, which makes it so very near and dear to my heart.


So we'll start off with my least favorite, Conserve. 

Conserve is a slightly light emerald green polish, with green shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

      Even though Conserve is my least favorite in the collection, it's still pretty. I think it's just a little bit plain...the color itself isn't very arresting, and although the shimmer is nice to look at and adds depth, since the color of it is not dramatically different from the base, it's not particularly interesting. 

Next up is Earth.

Earth is a blue-leaning green base with green and turquoise shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I like Earth much much more than I like Conserve. It has a more interesting and unique base color, and I love how the shimmer is more contrasting, even though it doesn't really come across in the photos. For me, Earth evokes images of the ocean and frolicking sea mammals, and it's so glowy! Nubar did a nice job with this one. 

Third is Greener.

Greener is a deep foresty green with lighter green shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I can't resist a good dark and dangerous green, and Greener is a great one. It's just so sexy, and the shimmer with the base gives some really lovely depth and plenty of glow. Ahh it's so hot. 

Next is Forest.

Forest is a slightly dark blue-based green creme. Those gold thingies are not part of the polish....they're reflections of something. Sorry. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

        Forest is a great green. I really can't explain why I like it so much, but I do. I just like to look at it on my hands. ^_^

And finally, I have my favorite, Wildlife.

Wildlife is a duochrome with a khaki green base and that flashes different shades of copper and green. There's also a rose pink/gold shimmer in there. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Wildlife is such a beautifully unique polish. The duochrome is really strong, and although it looks best in lower light, you can see the color shift all the time. I also really love the color combination...watching the greens and browns dance across my nails, lions and cheetahs running across a yellow Kenyan plain comes to mind. I love this one so much....definitely one of my favorite greens ever. 

   So pretty much, the whole collection is awesome. Every color is lovely to behold, and I appreciate that it covered a range of shades and finishes. The real must haves for me would be Greener and Wildlife, although buying the whole shebang is perfectly justifiable, and if you are an ardent green-lover, advisable. I myself wish that I had just bought the whole set, because I got them separately across several hauls, and it ended up costing more. Plus, I still don't have Reclaim. And I didn't get no Diamont.  -___-

   The formula on all of these were quite good...I used three coats or color and one layer of topcoat for all the polishes, although three was only necessary in Wildlife's case. For the others, two sufficed. They all went on smoothly and easily, and dried quickly as well. 

And that's all for today!! Thanks for reading and have a good night! ^_^