Zoya Magical PixieDust Vega Swatch and Review

Happy Hump Day! I'm still a sick factory but I feel a bit better. Also my package came in the mail so I am excited over my black mermaid skirt and I got some custom Studio Ghibli leggings, ZOMG. Really, life is grand right now asides being a bit stressed but... It will be good. Yes. Anyway I have a backlog post today - I have Zoya Vega, from the MAGICAL PixieDust collection. (Haha, MAGICAL! I don't know why that's so funny.)

This is Zoya Vega, a dusty baby blue toned textured and glitter mix. It's one of Zoya's PixieDusts... that is MAGICAL! By "Magical", Zoya just means that there are holographic glitters. Zoya Vega is actually a one coater, but for whatever reason, I thought it would be a good idea to do two. (It's not, really.) Application was nice here. Laid out a fairly solid foundation, and the second coat adhered to the first coat very smoothly. Here's my swatch in two coats without top coat:











I really liked this polish but I did have a couple of gripes with it. For one, it didn't suit my skin tone very nicely. I have a bit of lobster skin tone going on and I apologize. And another, the two coats were REALLY REALLY textured. I had read that these polishes were super textured but these actually pulled on my high quality nylon leggings, what the! So next time I may consider one coat only. Also I had to use my Julep Party's Over glitter removal kit to get it off.

What do you think of the MAGICAL PixieDusts? Are you done with textures or would you opt for some holographic glitters in the mix?

Zoya Storm Swatch and Review

I am trying to figure out what this year's "Gangdam Style" is at weddings. Man I heard that song so much last year and I think this year I've heard a lot of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" but let's face it - it's just not the same, haha! Anyway today I've got Zoya Storm, which is from Zoya's Winter 2012 Ornate collection. I kept seeing it and wanting it and I decided to pick it up from Nail Polish Canada a couple of months ago.

Zoya Storm is a black based polish, jam packed with holographic micro flakes. Application and formula were flawless. I don't often use that word, but it had such even and smooth coverage, I can't find any other words for it. It covered beautifully in two coats and seriously, my swatch is without top coat. It dries to a high gloss finish and it looks freaking great. Here's my swatch in two coats:













Yeah, I am pretty much in love. It's also super holographic in the sun. I definitely recommend to pick this one up if you've been eye-ing it for a while like I had! I am certainly not disappointed.

Do any of you guys own Storm? Did you get it before everyone else got it and called it cool? (Haha!) What polishes did you lust after a while before getting it? Were you happy with it?

Zoya Piaf Swatch and Review (Bonus: Rainbow Honey A Little Kindness)

I am feeling a little blue, so obviously the cure is some yellow. (Wait, what?) Yeah, it makes sense. For serious. So today I've got a Zoya polish, which I scooped up from the impulse buy section by the cashiers at Winners. Usually at Winners, they sell Zoya polishes for $5.99 - I think it's a fair price since I really like their polishes and they're a rare sighting.

Zoya Piaf is a frosty pastel lemon with a bit of shimmer in the mix. It's from the Lovely Collection, released earlier this year in the spring. Formula and application wise, this one went on smoothly after two coats. It's really crucial for a yellow to be even because if it's patchy, it's really noticeable. I would say that if you want to do complete coverage, you can go for a third coat, but I wasn't too picky and I was impressed with the even couple of layers. Here's my swatch in two coats, without a top coat:









Zoya Piaf's lemon meringue hue reminded me of some pony by the name of Fluttershy, so I just had to pull out Rainbow Honey A Little Kindness from the Equestria collection. Here's one coat of A Little Kindness over Zoya Piaf.





And here's my keys - I tend to keep Fluttershy with me wherever I go, hehe:



Do you have a go-to polish when you're feeling bad about things? Are there any other closet bronies/pegasisters out there? Just me? OK.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Grass Deterioration Wear Inspired Nail Art

So I said I would do that thing where I was going to schedule my posts but alas, I am actually sick from work and at home today so here I am, doing it live. As some of you know, I recently became obsessed with Animal Crossing: New Leaf for Nintendo 3DS. I didn't update that I've actually fallen OUT OF LOVE with it. I know, I know - it's sad. I hadn't played any other titles since the original Animal Crossing for Game Cube and I wasn't aware they added a "feature" in City Folk called grass deterioration and wear, where running in your town actually wears down the grass and you are left with muddy patches. It's ugly.

Well, grass wear is back in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and it wasn't until I posted a #whatimdoingnow post on Instagram and Amanda from Sweetheart Nail Art told me that her brother runs in her town, ruining her grass. Ruining her grass? But I run all the time... Yeah, I found out too late. There is mud all over my town and it seems like there's no fixing it. I've stopped running, I've planted flowers over the trouble patches but it still seems to spread.

So here's my Shitty Nail Art Monday ode to grass deterioration in Animal Crossing, which I give a clear "fuck you" to:



I used OPI Jade is the New Black as a foundation, and I sponged on Color Club Earthy Angel on the tips, and as a highlight healthy grass nail, I used a dotting tool and used a mixed palette of OPI Jade is the New Black, OPI Alpine Snow, Zoya Dree, and Zoya Noot. I topped it off with a layer of Seche Vite.





There we have it - grass deterioration nails because I am a sad panda. And I am going back to bed because I still feel like a huge poop.

Did you know about grass wear and deterioration in Animal Crossing? What did you do to resolve it? What are your thoughts of it? Is it necessary?

Zoya Noot Swatch and Review (Bonus: Essie Set in Stones Glitter Gradient)

I'm back to the grind today and I hope all of you are enjoying your week so far! I guess my American neighbours will be celebrating Independence Day tomorrow! HOLIDAYS FOR ALL! I'm into it. Anyway today I've got a polish that I recently picked up at Winners on a retail therapy binge. It was $5.99 which is cheaper than most places I've seen. It was an impulse decision but I'm pretty happy with the turn out.

So this is Zoya Noot, which to my knowledge is actually from the Designer Fall 2012 collection inspired by New York Fashion Week. It's a very pigmented charcoal creme, with a heavy green leaning undertone to it. It's gorgeous. I don't own a shade quite like this! Formula is great - self-leveling two coater and dries to a nice gloss finish on its own. My swatch is two coats, with no top coat:











I wonder where the name comes from. I kind of wish that it was MOOT because it's such a funny word to throw around.

Ah well. Anyway Zoya Noot makes a great base colour for glitters, stamping, anything really. I think it's a great basic and it's very stand out and bold at the same time as compromising for anything that you might want to partner it up with. Here's a glitter gradient with Essie Set in Stones. I think it's a completely different look but it Noot is still maintained in the spotlight:







I'm really digging this colour and it matches my Star Wars summer top (that's right - I just linked to something on Hot Topic, apparently I'm still 15 years old!) and space/galaxy motif trend that I am being suckered into so when I am too lazy to do galaxy nails (which is all the time), this is a nice basic alternative.

So has summer hit you guys where you live? Vancouver just got its first heat wave (still nothing compared to what my California friends are facing). Is anyone else wearing their fall shades in the summer? Or am I just the crazy weird one?

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Nintendo 3DS XL Limited Edition Bundle Inspired Nail Art

Oh hey guys, welcome to Shitty Nail Art Monday! It's been a while since I've done one of these, but as some of you might already know, I was coveting the Nintendo 3DS XL Animal Crossing: New Leaf bundle pretty damn hard! I looked everywhere but it was sold out - I ultimately ended up paying a "premium", or "finder's fee" for one on Craigslist, but I am going to go ahead and tell myself that it was worth it, ha! I love my 3DS XL!

So what else did I have to do with the Nintendo 3DS XL Animal Crossing Edition? (Other than the obviously hours of fishing, picking up shells, and shaking trees for monies) - I had to make some nail art! Haha, OH YES I DID!



I wish I had spaced out my pattern a little better but let's face it - I am not that good at nail art; else if I was, it wouldn't be a Shitty Nail Art Monday! For this nail art, I used Zoya Snow White for the white base, and for the pattern, I used Color Club Almost Famous, Joe Fresh Cherry, OPI Jade is the New Black and Quo by Orly Runway Ready. I used exclusively a dotting tool to draw the patterns.



Man, I had no idea how BIG the Nintendo 3DS XL was until I got my own! Wow, it's HUGE! I used to have to play by taking off my glasses and looking at the screen really close, but this screen is so big, I can play it like normal peoples. Check out how GIANT this thing is!





I also neglected that my 3DS XL Animal Crossing Edition has a nice matte finish, so... I had to add one as well. Oops!



And here's a close-up (but I am willing to admit it looks really bad without seeing the reference, haha):



Oy. Have any of you guys picked up Animal Crossing: New Leaf? I am finding it to be SO fun, and kind of see it as being something that the Game Cube version wanted to be, but didn't have the networking capabilities at the time. It's really fun stuff, I am having a blast. If you aren't playing Animal Crossing, what are you playing these days? Or is the weather too nice for video games?

Unicorns and Cloud Nail Art with Nailz Craze NC02

Normally I do a little something called Shitty Nail Art Monday but today, I won't call it that. It's a mixture between because I actually like my nails for once, and because I am loving my plates from Natalie from Nailz Craze. They're great. So really, today is just going to be Nail Art Monday and I know all of you have been waiting to hear that!

So I've had this gradient in mind for a while now, after being inspired from a music video by Ke$ha (haha I wish I was joking but I'm not!) and then to overlay that pastel gradient with solid black geometric designs. Welp, instead of hand painting designs, I wanted to use my Nailz Craze stamp plates that I received over a month ago and haven't touched!



To create the gradient, I used Zoya Snow White as a base colour and used a make-up sponge for the gradient. I (or rather my boyfriend's sister) painted polish directly onto the sponge and then sponged on the colours onto my nails. I used OPI Pink Friday and Essie Where's My Chauffeur as both cremes are fairly solid. It came out fairly light with one coat of sponging but I had decided to leave it as it without a second coat because I am lazy and I figured the stamping is going to cover it anyway.





My stamping skills are not the best. (Thought I'd get that out of the way.) For this nail art, I used Nailz Craze NC02 plate featuring funky clouds, unicorn, pegasus, stars, and light beams. You really can't go wrong with that.

I am used to using Konad and faux-nad plates which require a very thick polish and accurate scraping off the excess but with the Nailz Craze plate, I found them a little more fragile and I had to lightly take off the excess, barely touching the plate with little force. Very different from what I've been used to! I used Konad black stamping polish for my stamps.



And lo and behold - a rare right hand sighting!





I definitely recommend the Nailz Craze plates if you like really unique fresh designs. The fragility of the excess scraping may take a bit to get used to but it's doable and it's worth it. One thing that I do notice is that the prints are fairly large. This excites me to no end because usually stamp plates have teeny tiny designs but this also means that smaller-nailed folks may not be able to enjoy the full experience of having an entire unicorn on their nail. You can check out Natalie's Nailz Craze shop on Etsy here.

Zoya Zuza Swatch

This morning I ate so many tacos and spent too much money on photography gear. I am officially on a "Low Buy April (and May)" starting now. I have a ton of unswatched polishes and need to catch up on some nail art ideas so doing a "Low Buy" should be doable. I say "Low Buy" because the "No Buy" killed me and I ended up going on a serious unnecessary binge at the end of "No Buy February". Also Rainbow Honey is coming out with a new collection and I am a completionist with RH.

So here's another from the back log. I don't know why I held off on it for so long because Zoya Zuza is one of my favourite polishes ever. It was release in 2012 in the Zoya Surf collection. Zuza sits in the aqua turquoise teal family that I incredibly love so, so, so much. The formula was OK but it does that thing where it is quick drying and you might want to give it time to set or you will be patching it (as I did here). I would suggest three thin coats, leaving a little bit to dry between each layer. The results is a perfect teal metallic, almost foil finish with slight green biased shimmer a plenty.



I caught up on editing some of my latest swatches so I'll be posting a newer one tomorrow! I am excited. I am totally done with my back log of white background photos, yuck, haha.

Zoya Vespa Swatch

It's the end of PixieDust week! (Yes, I actually only picked up 3 from Zoya's current PixieDust collection and glad I did it when I did as prices have gone up for this kind of polish.) I'm ending it with the one that had me sold and it did not disappoint. Here's Zoya Vespa!

It was hard for me to figure out what kind of polish this was because of the use of Instagram filters by others. I can best describe Zoya Vespa as a dusty desaturated mint green, sort of in the same realms of a vintage feel - which makes the name "Vespa" perfect! Again, just like the other two PixieDusts I own - the finish is refined and sugared. A friend of mine mentioned that they looked like gumdrops! One difference between Vespa and Dahlia, as well as Chyna, is the sheerness. Vespa is more sheer - it took three coats for full opacity rather than the usual two.



Again, because this is a textured polish, Vespa takes extra time to dry. My swatches are photographed after a full day of drying and wear. I also use a base coat because I don't like wearing polish without it. (If anyone knows why Zoya doesn't want use to wear base coat, please let me know! I have a theory that it's related to the drying issues but I'm not sure!)





Obligatory copy and paste: And for funsies, I'll show you what Vespa looks like with a top coat. As a disclaimer (I'm saying this because I've had not-so-nice comments on my Instagram feed), I would like to say that I do not believe in using top coats on textured polish. If a textured polish looks better or becomes more enhanced with the use of top coat, it is a bad textured polish. Top coat is not a fix for textured polish! (I'll be saying this with each of my reviews from now on.)

I used Essence's new "Gel-Look Top Coat" to gloss up Vespa. As with most textured polish, Zoya Vespa was thirsty for top coat. I believe I used 3 coats of top coat to make it look this way.







This has got to be my favourite textured polish so far. The texture is sugared, just like I had envisioned texture polishes to look like and to boot, vintage mint green is one of my favourite colours!

With the trend currently on the uprise, Zoya will be releasing new summer colours for their PixieDust line. While summer will be great to show off the micro glitter highlights amongst the matte grit, I am going to try to stay away from the texture trend and instead embrace the holographics. Sunny days are a rarity around this neck of the woods so my summer trend will lean onto something more than just texture.

... (But we'll see about that. Y'all know how much I love my polish...)

Next week is another 5 day post week! (Hope that's OK by you!) I'll be featuring Hoof Polish from Caitlin of Addicted to Lacquer along with the usual Shitty Nail Art Monday and Cheap Polish Tuesday. Until then.

Zoya Chyna Swatch

PixieDust week continues! But first - some funny thing happened yesterday. I went from no hits on this website to- well, a few. More than what I am used to. A few people found this little nail blog by searching for "taco glitter". As it turns out, OPI has given a reply to the Nail Network: "We have to admit, we were a bit confused as to what you meant by "taco" glitter, so thank you for clarifying. The slight scallop in the large gold glitter grains in "When Monkeys Fly" is intentional, as it adds a bit more depth to the sparkle. You'll want to apply two generous coats of Top Coat to smooth everything out. Hope this helps! Let us know if you are still having difficulties. #nomoretacos ;)" Funny stuff. For the record I bought the polish with my own money. I don't have hard feelings - but it wasn't the best polish I've used (as you may already know)!

On y va! I've got Zoya Chyna today to continue PixieDust week! This one was tough to photograph in a light box. Unfortunately Vancouver is the land of rain so I don't get the luxury to shoot my swatches outdoors. I'm also a night person so having a light box was the only way photographing swatches was going to happen.



Just like Dahlia, Chyna was perfect in two coats. One coat for a tacky foundation and the second coat just slathers itself onto the first coat for full coverage and opacity. Again, (I forgot mention this right away yesterday), textured polishes take a lot longer than normal polishes to dry. My swatches are photographed after one day of drying and wear. Zoya also recommends to not use base or top coat. I found the top coat an obvious one but why no base coat? I don't not like wearing base coat so I usually go with it anyway. Maybe it's related to the drying issues? Anyway, I've been using base coat under all of these.

Back to Zoya Chyna - I feel like my photos don't represent it as how it looks. I have a photo from it in natural light and it's a lot more ruby with the sparkle very prominent. My swatches show the overall colour but I feel like there are shadows that are seen when in the dark. Not in natural day light. In either case, Chyna was a last minute purchase because I loved Manicure Addict's swatch on Instagram so much. It did not fail me. I love this one - definitely one of my picks from Zoya's PixieDust collection.





Obligatory copy and paste: And for funsies, I'll show you what Chyna looks like with a top coat. As a disclaimer (I'm saying this because I've had not-so-nice comments on my Instagram feed), I would like to say that I do not believe in using top coats on textured polish. If a textured polish looks better or becomes more enhanced with the use of top coat, it is a bad textured polish. Top coat is not a fix for textured polish! (I'll be saying this with each of my reviews from now on.)

I used Essence's new "Gel-Look Top Coat" to gloss up Chyna. As with most textured polish, Zoya Chyna was thirsty for top coat. I believe I used 3 coats of top coat to make it look this way.







Anyway, that's Chyna for you. Definitely in the top shades in my books; I don't regret this impulse purchase at all! Tomorrow is the last day of PixieDust week (yeah I know - I only ended up buying three of them!) but I saved my favourite for last. Stay tuned and find out what it might be!