Wednesday 30 December 2020

More Winter Manis

Hey friends

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday if you celebrate, my hubs and I had a really lovely one, it was just us and the cats. 

I have a couple more winter manis for you today.

First up is a crazy Christmas tree mani, I started with two coats of Zoya Tove which is a bluey grey, then I stamped with Zoya Meredith for the stars using Maniology plate BMXL213, then I used Mundo De Unas plates ZZ Forest 1 and 2 for the trees, I used Zoya Charli and Mel for those, then I went a little ham with the tree lights lol, I used Models Own Chrome Gold and Zoya Soko for the red and gold ornaments. I then used Barry M Plumpy topcoat to protect the mani then used Barry M Matte topcoat to mattify it to show off the stamping. I then also used White On by Sally Hansen for some snow, yeah this was the mistake, I did enjoy them though.



These next ones are similar but without the crazy snow! Same stars but I used Tasha for the deer and the base is Zoya Emerson in two coats, I used Danica and Mel for the trees, I'm really enjoying getting the chance to faff with nail art.




Tuesday 22 December 2020

Intriguing Swatch Stick and Bottle Comparisons

Hey Friends

Today I finally share my swatches and comparisons, the pics are taken in day light on a dull winter day. If you want to see something else compared let me know and if I have the polish I can compare. Sorry these took so long to do, been struggling with my eyes lately as its been almost two years since my last eye test and my lenses are very outta date.

As usual the new polish is on the left.

Left to right
Lottie and Sue
Lottie can best be described as a soft champagne pearl with a hint of glistening shimmer blended in. 
Sue can be best described as a soft champagne gold with a multi-hued oyster shell pearl fleck in the traditional Matte Velvet finish
No dupes, Lottie is much more sparkly than Sue and a lighter colour.


Left to Right, 
Nico and Gal
Nico is described  as a celadon-toned pearl with a touch of silver shimmer blended in.
Gal can be best described a smokey, iridescent, peridot gold metallic, no dupes you can see Nico is much brighter and more green based than Gal.


Left to right
Eunice, Scout and Arbor
No dupes, Eunice is much brighter than and has more green than Scout and Arbor is a cream.
Eunice can best be described as a chartreuse metallic green
Scout can be best described as a shimmering moss green
Arbor can be best described as a rich olive green cream


Left to Right
Soko and Greta
Soko can best be described as a wintery Poinsettia red cream
Greta can best be described as a ripe tomato red cream
Reds are way to hard to compare via a monitor, I could have pulled half my reds and theyd likely all look the same.


Left to right
Koley and Rosa
Koley can best be described as a ruby pink metallic
Rosa  can best be described as a bright and cheerful fuchsia with a pearl effect.
No dupes, Koley is a much deeper pink.


Left to right
Beverly and Quinn
Beverly can best be described as a dark purple-toned red cream.
Quinn described as a very rich red-berry with slight purple undertones in a glossy creme finish.
No dupes, Beverly has a really brown undertone.


Left to Right
Avi and Violet
Avi can best be described as a smoky greige cream with a hint of red-brown.
Violet was a limited edition and can be best described as a dusty purple cream.
No dupes, oddly I dont have anything close to Avi is greyer and dustier than everything I tried. In the pic you can see that brown undertone.


Left to right
Nisha, Jen and Neve
Nisha can best be described as a deep royal blue-violet metallic.
Jen can best be described as a royal sapphire blue with a hint of purple.
Neve can be best described as a sapphire blue with a smooth metallic finish.
No dupes, that purple undertone in Nisha really shines through in person.


Left to right
Isti, Nyx and Bay
Isti can best be described as a wintery steel blue, textured PixieDust with a pop of brilliant royal blue for added vibrancy.
Nyx can be best described as a perfect periwinkle with a sugared sparkle
Bay  can be best described as a sky blue, textured PixieDust - Textured with fine silver and gold glitter creating a dreamy effect.
No dupes, Isti has that silver and blue sparkle.


Left to right
Meredith or Merredith as my bottle happens to says and Dream
Meredith can best be described as a twinkling midnight sapphire blue with an icy light blue shimmer.
Dream can best be described as a full-coverage, deep space blue with holographic glitter.
No dupes, Meredith is slightly brighter than Dream because of that silver glitter.


Left to right
Brett and Sailor
Brett can best be described as a deep charcoal indigo cream
Sailor can be best described as a classic dark navy cream.
No dupes Brett is slightly lighter than Sailor


Left to right
Regina and Holly
Regina can best be described as an alluring dark emerald green metallic.
Holly is a discontinued polish from Zoya and can be described as a slightly warm-toned, dark green with a frost finish.
No dupes, Regina is darker than Holly.
  
 


There you have all the closest polishes I could find, the following also stamp Beverly, Avi, Brett, Koley, Soko, Nisha, Meredith and Eunice.




Christmas Nail Art

 Hey friends

Today I share my Christmas nail fail and a win. These are all Zoya polishes except for two chrome ones at the end.

The fail wasnt really a fail, I just used too dark a base colour.

So this is two coats of the gorgeous Nisha, which had a great formula, no running or pooling, then I stamped with Avi and Beverly in an ombre, I then added matte topcoat, you can see that the stamping doesnt stand out very well, I might do this again with either a pale purple or a lighter blue as the base.

I do love how Nisha looks matte and shiny, in the matte she looks much more blue and the shiny looks purple, very cool.

The plate I used for this was a random unnamed one I got in a destash.

Second mani was way more successful, after the pics




So after taking that one off I wanted to try a winter scene mani, so I started with two coats of Zoya Sage, I then used Mel, Charli and Tasha for my trees, for the baubles I used Soko, then two Models Own polishes Chrome Bronze and Chrome Silver, finally I stamped stars with Zoya Meredith. 

I think I should have started with Meredith stars first then done the trees but I still love how it turned out and how cute does Meredith look matte. I'm going to put matte topcoat on my other nails today as well.

Plates used where Mundo De Unas ZZ Forest 1 and ZZ Forest 2, the stars where from plate Maniology BMXL213.

I think these will be my Christmas nails, I just love how they came out, those trees on my middle nails are lush, I am loving how Tasha made the trunks look.










Friday 18 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Zahara

Hey Friends

Its almost Christmas! 

Today on the blog we meet Zahara

Available on USA website - Yes
Available on the UK website - No
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - No
Name - Zahara
Year - 2016
Number - ZP0838
Coats - 3
Finish - Metallic
Collection - Petals
Colour - Coral/Orange
Topcoat - No

Zahara by Zoya can be best described as a brilliant shimmering coral made modern with an opalescent effect.

This is super pretty, its a good formula, no running or pooling, I had to do three coats as its quite sheer to show the sparkles. This is going to be the last swatch post until the new year, I want to do some Christmas mani's which I'll post here, then in the new year I think I'm going to do two polishes at a time, otherwise its going to take quite a while to get through all the polishes!







Wednesday 16 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Poppy

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Poppy

Available on USA website - No
Available on the UK website - No
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - No
Name - Poppy
Year - 2004
Number - ZP0270
Coats - 3
Finish - Shimmer
Collection - Bouquet
Colour - Orange/Peach
Topcoat - No

Poppy is a discontinued polish and can be best described as a soft, light coral-orange with subtle peach and red undertones and fine, frosty gold and silver shimmer.

This has an ok formula, its sheer and it shows brush strokes it took three coats to be opaque and I just noticed I dinged my ring finger on my right hand, yay :) I do like the colour though, its soft but bright, I'm off to fix that ring finger, I have an eye appointment tomoro so there wont be a blog post as they're putting those dilating drops in which ruin my vision for the day.









Tuesday 15 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Sawyer

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Sawyer

Available on USA website - Yes
Available on the UK website - Yes
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - Yes
Name - Sawyer
Year - 2006
Number - ZP0897
Coats - 2
Finish - Cream
Collection - Wanderlust
Colour - Orange
Topcoat - No

Sawyer by Zoya can be best described as a soft taffy orange cream.

This has a good formula, no running or pooling and opaque in two coats, please ignore the disaster of my middle left nail, the patch isnt pretty but needed as the break is half way across my nail.  This colour is so pretty.





Monday 14 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Emma

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Emma

Available on USA website - Yes
Available on the UK website - No
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - Yes
Name - Emma
Year - 2020
Number - ZP1033
Coats - 2
Finish - Cream
Collection - Splash
Colour - Peach/Coral
Topcoat - No

Emma can best be described as a starfish coral cream with a touch of pink undertone.

This has a good formula, I did a slightly wonky first coat on my right index finger but it didnt run or pool, it just sat there. I did two coats for full opacity. This also stamps and dries super shiny.





Friday 11 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Clara

Hey Friends

Its Friday again already!

Today on the blog we meet Clara

Available on USA website - No
Available on the UK website - No
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - No
Name - Clara
Year - 2000
Number - ZP0098
Coats - 2
Finish - Shimmer
Collection - Classic
Colour - Peach
Topcoat - No

Clara is a discontinued polish from Zoya but can be described as a medium warm peach with brown and terracotta undertones and delicate golden frost shimmer.

The colour description is spot on, its got that brown undertone and the shimmer shows up on the nail.

This has a good formula, no running or pooling and opaque in two coats. Its from Zoya's original launch collection of polishes, still available to buy from Nail Polish Direct in the UK.




Thursday 10 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Willow

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Willow

Available on USA website - No
Available on the UK website - No
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - No
Name - Willow
Year - 2006
Number - ZP0322
Coats - 2/3
Finish - Shimmer
Collection - Re-cher-che
Colour - Coral/Orange
Topcoat - No

Willow is a discontinued polish from Zoya, I'd describe her as a soft pale coral orange with a subtle hint of tan and delicate silver frost. The frost doesnt show on the nail.

This has an ok formula, it doesnt run or pool but its a bit streaky on the first coat, its then good in two coats. I really wish the shimmer showed up.







Wednesday 9 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Cassi

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Cassi

Available on USA website - Yes
Available on the UK website - Yes
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - No
Name - Cassi
Year - 2009
Number - ZP0472
Coats - 2/3
Finish - Metallic
Collection - Twist
Colour - Peach/Orange
Topcoat - No

Cassi by Zoya can be best described as a light warm peachy-pink with coral tones and sparkling white gold shimmer.

I dont see pink on the nail, maybe a hint in the bottle shot?

This has an ok formula, it doesnt run or pool but it is streaky and I probably should have done three coats to get it fully opaque. I do like that the shimmer shows up though.







Tuesday 8 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Cole

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Cole

Available on USA website - Yes
Available on the UK website - Yes
Brush used - Original
Does it stamp - No
Name - Cole
Year - 2014
Number - ZP0721
Coats - 2
Finish - Cream
Collection - Awaken
Colour - Peach/Orange
Topcoat - No

Cole by Zoya can be best described as a full-coverage peach whisper cream (originally released during NYFW as Stella for Peter Som SS14 Collection).

This is a gorgeous colour, slightly tricky formula, you need to do thin coats otherwise it wants to pool at the sides of your nail, I did two coats.

I went for my migraine botox appointment this morning, hence this is late, was very quick, everyone spaced out and all wearing masks.









Monday 7 December 2020

A Zoya A Day - Tessa

Hey Friends

Today on the blog we meet Tessa

Available on USA website - Yes
Available on the UK website - No
Brush used - Z Wide
Does it stamp - No
Name - Tessa
Year - 2019
Number - ZP0985
Coats - 2
Finish - Shimmer
Collection - Barefoot
Colour - Peach/Orange
Topcoat - No

Zoya in Tessa can best be described as a soft peach-toned salmon with a warm gold and coral micro-shimmer running throughout.

This is one I popped the Z wide brush into and it helps a lot, good formula, no running or pooling and opaque in two coats, you might need three using the original brush. Quite pleased you can see the shimmer in this one.