Zoya Pixie Dust ... Taking Textured Polish by Storm

My initial reaction to all the talk about texture/sand paper like polish was "really? textured polish?". None of them sounded very appealing to me. My first dive in the texture pool was with the OPI Liquid Sands from the Mariah Carey Collection. I liked them fine but I wasn't totally sold yet on the concept.

I started hearing talk about Zoya coming out with their own textured polish and I was excited to try them since I have been loving and definitely enjoying the colors/formula of recent Zoya releases. When the sneak peeks of the Pixie Dust Collection appeared I was really happy with the colors. They looked very pretty and wearable. Not quite the in your face boldness of the Liquid Sands. Now that I think about it, maybe that is why I wasn't totally in love with the trend at first. It seemed to be a little too much, the bright colors on top of the texture. Zoya's color choices were much more subtle and ultra wearable. There were no swatches available at first, so it was hard to really tell if they were going to be all I had hoped for. The anticipation was crazy as I awaited their arrival.

More after the jump --> click the link to read the rest!

Zoya Ornate Collection 2012 Swatches & Review *pic heavy*

As soon as I saw Zoya's Ornate collection I knew that I HAD to have it.  This line is right in my ballpark and I immediately called E and laid claim to this review!  I received my collection on Friday and got busy swatching as soon as the sun came up on Saturday!  Thank God that Ohio had a sunny day because these colors in the sun are ridiculous!

Zoya has really been impressing me with their 2012 releases and this time is no different. Ornate is a group of six really deep rich colors. Zoya describes the collection as, "perfect to decorate your nails with stunning jewel tone colors and special effect pigments this season." I would have to say that I agree!  

All of my swatches, with the exception of Electra, were done using Beauty Secrets Base Coat, two coats of polish and Orly Glosser for the top coat.

Aurora is described by Zoya as "plum with a multicolored crystal shimmer". I would say that Aurora is more of a raspberry plum with a bit of holo. Aurora painted like a dream and with two coats of polish, was at full opacity.

Storm, described by Zoya as "black with multicolor crystal shimmer", is one of my favorites. Again, this polish painted flawlessly. The "multicolor crystal shimmer" or as I would call it, holo, is amazing and creates such depth. It looks almost juicy with the Glosser top coat!  

I am not usually a lover of the red hues but Blaze has really surprised me! I love it!  Zoya describes Blaze as "cranberry glitter glam crystal" and that is just what it is! With two coats of polish and the Glosser top coat, this color almost looked like a jelly sandwich all on its own!  

Gold is another one of my not so favorite hues. I just hadn't found one that really looked good with my skin tone. As an unspoken rule, any golds that I came across I would automatically put in a box for my next shipment to E! Thank you Zoya for giving me a gold that I actually like and think looks good on my skin. This polish was a bit more tricky to paint with. Ziv is a "gold foil glitter crystal" according to Zoya and just that description alone should give you a hint on how carefully you need to paint this one. With two coats I had full opacity but the clean up was a bit trying. The little crystals and glitter seemed to get everywhere but the final outcome looked great so it was worth the extra elbow grease!!! 

I am a green girl and when I saw Logan in the bottle my jaw dropped!  Zoya describes Logan as a "green foil glitter crystal" and it is just beautiful. Same rules apply to Logan as did Ziv. With a nice steady stoke and some tricky clean up, two coats of this polish amazed me!  

Last but not least is what some would consider the show stopper of this collection. Electra is a "holo tinsel special effect" and Zoya suggests that you "wear it alone or layer it for extra drama". For this polish I used Gelous as a base and top coat. This was also a bit of a challenge to paint with.  I didn't really need to manage glitter placement too much however, because of the tinsel being what it is, there was some natural overhang that I fixed with a quick swipe of the brush across the tips of my nails.  

And for the extra drama that Zoya describes I did quick swatch of Electra over some basic colors.  I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Rimmel London Black Satin, Finger Paints Inkblot Blue and Wet'n'Wild Red Red. 

Overall, I have to say that I LOVE THIS COLLECTION!  The colors are amazing and the formula is great!  I would recommend this line to anyone looking for something special for this fall and winter season!  All of these products can be found at Zoya.com for $8 a piece or $48 for the entire collection.  

Let me know what you think!  Do you have a favorite color from this collection or any other 2012 Zoya collection?  

This is a free sample given to me by a company. Either directly from the manufacturer or from a PR company. Receiving this sample in no way impacts my review of the product. My views are my own and are expressed as accurately and fairly to the best of my ability.

NAIL MAIL!! May's Julep Maven & Target Beauty Bag!

Hello hello hello! Sorry this post is so out dated and past due but I felt like maybe someone might still enjoy seeing it so on with the show!

May the FOURTH be with you!!! 

Yes I am a geek and proud of it! Love today, it's so corny but who cares!! Life is too short NOT to be silly in my opinion! (obviously NOT May 4th anymore but still cute :D )

I received my May "It Girl" Julep Maven subscription box came a couple days ago. Sorry I didn't post it sooner but I've been busy with Deployment stuff for my husband.

This box I wasn't that excited about initially so I actually meant to skip, but like quite a few things lately it was forgotten until I received the notification that it would be arriving soon! Imagine my face- yup... totally gobsmacked. Then of course there was the requisite look of argh from my husband.

May Julep Maven "It Girl" box L to R: Make up bag, Ashley, Nessa, and the magnetic polish, Kylie (with magnet in back by card)

At any rate... this box held a cute little black make up bag with the Julep Maven insignia sort of pressed or quilted into the fabric and three polishes. The Julep Maven subscription box is $19.99/mo, according to the website you'll receive at least $40 worth of product in your box. Each bottle of nail polish is $14ea, except for Kylie and she is $18, so the total for my polish alone is $46 plus the make up bag which retails $18 but is marked down on the site to $14.40 currently. So for the month of May my product retail cost is $60.40 if I would've bought it all without a subscription. Not too shabby!! I really like the colors this month, they're very shimmery and fun for a day out and about in the lovely spring weather.

L to R: Ashley, Nessa & Kylie with magnetic key

Index to Pinky: Ashley, Ashley, Nessa, Nessa

The magnetic Kylie is cute and a very nice shimmery and dusky lavender. The magnetic effect that I got was a sort of squiggle.

Kylie magnetic polish

I wanted to show you guys how pretty it can be as just a regular ol' polish, so my index and middle finger are not "magnetized" but my ring and pinky are. I can see this color being a nice "business" color for those that have dress code constraints.

Overall I still love the formula of the Julep polishes but for some reason this month's polishes had weird, bushy and slightly flared brushes. I checked my other Julep colors and none of them had this style of brush... so I don't know whether I should exchange them or keep them and deal with the weirdness. Unfortunately this wider brush is NOT helpful for a clean application lol I had a lot of clean up to do.

You too can try Julep Maven subscription service and if you use the code SHAREONMAY you'll receive your first box for $0.01! Yup ONE CENT! Follow the link, click join and go through the style quiz. Whether you like the results or not you can choose the box that you'd like. I honestly got a different style than the "It Girl" I receive every month but I liked the colors that are coming from that box so I chose that and started my service. However, you can change to a different box if you see something previewed in the boxes that you'd like better than the style you're signed up for... just go through the account options and click around... Any questions feel free to ask!!

Target Spring Beauty Bag!

So for those of you that weren't able to get in on the free sample beauty bag, here's a peek at what was inside! Hopefully next time they offer the beauty bag you'll be able to jump on it!

Target Beauty Bag 2012

peeky peeky inside!

L to R: Pantene Conditioner, Neutrogena Visibly Bright facial cleanser, Simple cleansing facial wipes,
L'Oreal Magin Lumi Light Infusing Primer, Nivea lotion

And the most important part of the beauty bag in my opinion.... THE COUPON BOOK!!!

$2 off with purchase of two CoverGirl items

$1 off Jergens skin care item

$1 off L'Oreal face cosmetic item (foundation or primer)

$1 off Maybelline NY Volum' Express Falsies mascara

$1 off Neutrogena facial skin care item

$3 off Nexxus Frizz Defy hair care item

$1 off Nivea body skin care item

$2 off Olay facial skin care item (moisturizer, treatment or cleanser)

$1 off with purchase of two hair care items (Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Aussie)

$2 off Pixi designer cosmetics item

$2 off Revlon cosmetics item

$1 off Sally Hansen magnetic nail polish

$1 off Simple facial skin care item

There you have it! The bag was definitely fun to get and the coupon book makes my lil heart go beep beep beep lol. All coupons are good until 5/31/2012 fyi. So if you know anyone that doesn't want there beauty bag- snap that mofo up!

Happy hunting!

SpaRituals Gold Collection Part 2

It has been a while since my first post about the SpaRituals Gold Collection and I figured what better day to complete my review than on their official launch date!  The complete Gold Collection is available today, May 1, 2012!  They will be available in most salons and spas nationwide with a price tag of about $12 a bottle.  You can find them online at skinstore.com, beauty.com, zappos.com and skincarerx.com amongst other beauty supply sites.

My previous review of the first three polishes in this collection was not the best.  I couldn't really tell if I was going to be a fan of this line or not.  However, I can say with confidence, after swatching the remaining three colors, that I am a fan of sorts.  I defiantly have my favorites and a few application issues but overall I have grown to really like the Gold Collection.

Last time I swatched Electrum, Rusted Lux and Aurum.  This time I got a chance to play with Conduit, Gilded Age and Alchemy.  All the pictures were taken indoors (I live in Ohio and the weather was not cooperating with me).  I put on three coats of each color and this time I didn't use a base coat.  I think this could have been the trick for me.  When I tried to paint over a base coat, I found it really hard and the grain of the polish just pulled the previous layer up.  I didn't have that problem this go round!  So, no undies for SpaRitual Gold Collection, naked is the way to go!


Gilded Age is a really pretty rose gold color and in the bottle it really glows.  It also painted really well and is a super quick drying polish.  I got three coats done and dry in no time.

w/ Flash, 3 coats

w/out Flash

I love the color difference between the flash photos and the ones without flash, it really shows how magnificent this color can be in different lighting.

Conduit is the most copper of the whole collection.  I think the gold in combination with the copper color makes for a really interesting and bold final look.  

w/ Flash, 3 coats 

w/out Flash

Finally, my favorite of the entire collection!  Alchemy is the "white" of the bunch.  It is a really pretty pearl white with the obvious gold undertone.  After three coats, I would wear this by itself.  I think it has some awesome possibilities for other things, especially with layering.

w/ Flash, 3 coats

w/out Flash

Overall, I am going to give the SpaRituals Gold Collection a B.  I love the concept and the colors, but the formula is not my favorite.  However, you know there's something fun and spectacular when you can say, "I have 24K nails today!" and really mean it!!

SpaRituals Gold Collection Gets a Silver From Me!

About a week ago when I received my nail mail from Kim, I was the most excited by the SpaRituals Gold Collection that was included.  Not due out until May, these polishes were by far the coolest thing that I received.  Immediately I looked them up on the web to find out more information. I was only able to find them on one site and even their information was limited. However, the description of the polish was really cool...

According to TheIndustrySource.com's article on this new collection, you can "Radiate your inner light with our special edition lacquer...  infused with real gold particles. Gold is a symbol of a better moment in time, a period of mental growth and general well-being."  (2012)

Can we agree that a description like that causes a bit of a frenzy for the avid polish lover?  I think so!  I couldn't wait to try them out!  Of the six in the collection, (Aurum, Rusted Lux, Electrum, Gilded Age, Alchemy and Conduit) the three I chose to swatch first were the olive base color, the red base color and the straight gold.  

Electrum is a golden olive based shimmer with flecks of gold that you can actually see in the bottle.  I used my usual base coat and began painting and right away noticed that this polish might be a one and done.  The application was a bit tricky since it dries so fast and is rather grainy due to the gold flecks.  Of the ones I've tried so far, this is my favorite.  

Electrum with Flash

Electrum no Flash

I only painted one coat with this polish and used no top coat in these images.  I really wanted you to see the true color with nothing added.  I love this color and would wear it alone.  Electrum is super sophisticated and refined all the while being a bit edgy with the olive tones.  This was the easiest to polish and set really quickly.  

Rusted Lux is a golden red shimmer with even more gold particles than Electrum. Not my favorite! The color, although beautiful in the bottle, did not translate well to my nail.  The excess of gold particles really made this one hard to paint.  

Rusted Lux with Flash

Rusted Lux no Flash

These photos were taken after three coats were applied and if you look closely enough there are still some spots that were not getting full coverage.  I like the color enough but while it looks reddish in the bottle it painted a bit more orange.  I suppose that could be due to the mixture of the gold and red.  The first coat went on ok but because it didn't give me the coverage I wanted I needed a second and third coat. The polish seemed to pull on itself, the second coat picked up the particles on the first coat and so on.  

Aurum is the cornerstone of this collection.  The gold based shimmer seems to be in the mixture of all the sister colors.  I like this one a lot. I can really see it's potential to be used in other mani's down the road.  You get the quick dry, super grainy application but it was bit easier than the Rusted Lux.  

Aurum with Flash

Aurum no Flash

Again, I used three coats for this mani and you can still see a bit of my free edge. My distal edge is generally pretty white so I have this issue more often than not!  Aurum is pretty true to color and even takes on a bit of a metallic look with all three coats.

Needless to say, my expectations were so high for this polish that I was left feeling a bit let down.  The formula being hard to work with coupled with my ever shortening patience level made for a tricky situation.  I still have three more lacquers in the collection to swatch so I will reserve my grade for this collection until then.  

Lastly, I will leave you with a couple of treatment swatches using the SpaRituals Gold Collection.  The trick might just be using these polishes for nail art, stamping, dotting and sponging.  Let me know what you think!

Electrum Gradient using Conduit with Flash

Aurum w/ Wet 'n' Wild Black Dotting & BM-206