A Zoya A Day - Connor

Hi Friends

Today on the blog I'm sharing my swatch and review of the gorgeous Connor.

Available on the website - No
Brush used - Z Wide
Name - Connor
Year - 2023
Number - ZP1206

Does it stamp - No

Coats - 2
Finish - Glitter
Collection - Polish of the Month

Colour - Grey
Topcoat - No

Connor is a discontinued polish from Zoya and can be described as a mid-toned grey with holographic flakes and micro-glitter.

I did debate sharing this polish or not but I figured I should as it could always show up in a destash or ebay listing.

Connor had a great formula, no running or pooling and I did two coats for my swatch, you may be wondering at those long nails, yeah they are fake, I am not the biggest fan of glitter, its annoying to remove, even with a peel off basecoat and when I use Unt Ready for Take Off it usually lasts 4 or 5 days.

Last but one photo is Connor compared to London a pixie dust Zoya did in 2013, you can see that London has a brown undertone to the grey but theyre a similar texture. The last photo is some 3D printed stands my hubby did for me, he is still to print me a stand for them so that I dont knock them over while the polish dries.

Weekend Manicure

Hi Friends

Today I'm sharing my weekend manicure, I started with a base of Fancy Gloss Azalea, a bright pink when cold to creamy white when hot thermal.  I then stamped using Zoya Brynlee, Kay and Gigi, using Moyra 136 Gothanical, 135 Macabre & 107 Botanical plus the fantastic Supersizer stamper to shrink some images down for my tiny nails.  The stamper also allows you to increase the size of images as well as shrink them down.

Azalea has a great formula, no running or pooling and I did two coats, excuse the messy swatch, I knew I was going to stamp so left clean up until after the stamping.

I've also taken advantage of the Zoya 10 polishes for $25 deal they had going over the weekend, the polishes I picked up are as followes:-

Amaris (not included in the deal)

Jett

Sari

Whitney

Dita

Ginessa

Nidhi

Reva

Toni

Nyssa

Mae

I'm hoping Zoya do a Black Friday deal of some kind, I plan on picking up the Magical set.

The kids have gone into hibernation mode, although not when they have the zoomies for 20 minutes after we turn the lights off, Obi uses this time to meow the place down and wrestle with Ellie, then Ellie gives up and hops up on the bed and settles on my feet for the night. The two pics are from Saturday morning and yesterday morning, they both love to use me as a cushion to nap on.

A Zoya A Day - Brynlee

Hi Friends

Today on the blog I'm sharing my swatch and review of Brynlee.

I had a couple of bad breaks on my left hand so the index and middle fingers are super short.

Available on the website - Yes
Brush used - Z Wide
Name - Brynlee
Year - 2023
Number - ZP1203

Does it stamp - Yes

Coats - 1
Finish - Cream
Collection - Enamoured

Colour - Red
Topcoat - No/Yes

Brynlee is described as an intense mulberry cream with a hint of magenta.

This is a gorgeous deep magenta pink, very much on the purple side of magenta, Brynlee has a great formula, no running or pooling and opaque in one coat. Brynlee stamps well too.

I've got myself some full coverage fake nails so I'm going to use those for a while until my own nails grow out a bit more.

A Zoya A Day - Venus 2

Hi Friends

Today on the blog I'm sharing my swatch and review of the sparkling Venus (2).

Available on the website - Yes

Brush used - Z Wide

Does it stamp - No
Name - Venue (2)
Year - 2023
Number - ZP1202

Coats - 3
Finish - Holo Glitter
Collection - Enamoured

Colour - Red
Topcoat - No/Yes

Venus can be described as A vibrant and sparkling rose red with a shimmering holographic finish.

You'll notice the (2) beside the name, the original Venus was ZP0294 from the 2005 Sirens collection, originally a pale lavender purple with a silver shimmer.

My blog post on the original Venus. Original Venus Blog Post

Venus (2) is gorgeous, a pink leaning sparkle bomb, good formula, no running or pooling and I did three coats for my manicure, I'm wearing this over a peel off base coat. The first swatch pics are without topcoat, the others have one coat of Barry M Plumpy.

A Zoya A Day - Pamela

Hi Friends

Today I'm sharing my swatch and review of the gorgeous Pamela.

Available on the website - Yes

Brush used - Z Wide

Does it stamp - Yes
Name - Pamela
Year - 2023
Number - ZP1201

Coats - 1
Finish - Cream Matte
Collection - Enamoured

Colour - Purple Neon
Topcoat - No/Yes

Pamela can described as a darkened imperial purple cream.

Oh boy, Pamela is so gorgeous, in the bottle shot you can see that neon pigment but once its on your nails its the darkest vampiest almost black in some lights purple, this reminds me in many ways of Lincoln Park After Dark by OPI which has a more red/brown undertone, Pamela has a more orchid/pink undertone to her.  Great formula, no running or pooling and I did one coat, Pamela also stamps well.

Pamela dries matte and interestingly when you topcoat it, it brightens up? I am crazy?

Last pic shows Lincoln on the right and Pamela on the left.

A Zoya A Day - Brianna

Hi Friends

Today on the blog I'm sharing my swatch and review of the gorgeous Brianna.

Available on the website - Yes

Brush used - Z Wide

Does it stamp - Yes
Name - Brianna
Year - 2023
Number - ZP1194

Coats - 1
Finish - Cream
Collection - Enamoured

Colour - Pink
Topcoat - No

Brianna can be described as a sophisticated toasted pink cream.

Brianna is so lovely, if you need a chic colour for an office setting or interview Brianna is your girl, she has a great formula, no running or pooling and I am wearing one sweet coat, Brianna also stamps well.

The last pics are a mani I did over the weekend, I used Fancy Gloss Gothic Summer, which is a deep teal cold to a pumpkin orange hot, I then stamped webs in orange and mushrooms in black.

Health Update.

Hi Friends

I figured I better give you a health update, its now been just over 3 months since I started the Ajovy self-injections, I noticed a difference about 2 weeks after doing the first one.

The injections I have, have to be kept in a fridge until the day you are to do the injection, its recommended that you take it out of the fridge approximately 30 minutes prior to injecting, however, some people take it out before then, I myself find taking it out at lunch time and then doing the injection at around 4pm to be good.

Below are the screen shots of my migraine buddy diary beginning 1 January 2023 until today the 14 October 2023 and as you can see, the Ajovy is definitely helping.

If you dont know what Ajovy is, here's a little technical information.

Ajovy is a anti-CGRP medication, CGRP is calcitonin gene-related peptide, when you have a migraine your brain produces CGRPs and these make the blood vessels in your brain widen, which in turn then causes the pain associated with an attack, the Ajovy binds to the CGRPs so that they cannot bind with the receptors in our brains. Ajovy is also known as fremanezumab. As you can see from the diagram, if Ajovy had not worked I could still try the other CGRP medications as they all work in slightly different ways.

Last pic is a diagram of how the anti-CGRPs work.

In March 2023 I did have my regular botox for migraine but as you can see I didnt respond as well as previous sessions.

Zoya Enamoured Set B - Bottle and Swatch Stick Comparisons including Connor

Hi Friends 

Today on the blog I'm sharing my bottle and swatch stick comparisons for set b of the Enamoured collection, unfortunately there was a casualty in shipping and Vera was damaged, see pic below, I contacted Zoya and their customer service were fantastic, I had a refund within a couple of hours of contacting them.

I did pick up Connor the September colour of the month so we'll add her to this comparison post.

As with all my comparison posts, the new polish is always first left, I take my photos in natural daylight and all I do is crop and add my watermark, I do not colour correct.

The polishes we're going to look at today are Connor, Venus, Pamela, Twinklette, Brynlee and Brianna.

I knew something was a bit strange as when I opened the box to lift out the little sachet of silica it was stuck to the bottle, I then noticed polish around the lid, I was hoping it was just a little spill but when I managed to get the cap off, part of the neck came away as below.

First up we have, left to right, Twinklette, described as a glamorous rose gold holographic infused with micro pink shimmer. No dupes, I'd say the closest in tone is Ginni but she is sadly discontinued, the others are more pink toned and different finishes.

Left to right Brianna, a sophisticated toasted pink cream, Kit, Mia and Patrice, no dupes, Kit is the closest was has more beige/brown in the undertone, Mia is lighter and Patrice has those golden flakies.

Left to right, Venus (2) A vibrant and sparkling rose red with a shimmering holographic finish, Blaze, Chyna and Tink, no dupes, Blaze is the closest in tone but she's a smooth flakie holographic, Chyna is slightly deeper in tone and a pixie dust finish and Tink is a deep red leaning pink.

The original Venus on the right and the new Venue on the left, the original Venus is a stunning colour, one of my favs.

Left to right Brynlee, an intense mulberry cream with a hint of magenta undertone, Tara, Iris and Banks, no dupes, Brynlee is a hare lighter than Tara and dries matte, Iris has more a more red undertone and is sadly discontinued, Banks has more pink undertone.

Left to right Pamela, a darkened imperial purple cream, Iris, Tara and Banks. no dupes, Pamela is deeper in tone than Banks and Tara and Iris are a different tone, with Iris being discontinued.

Left to right Connor, a mid-toned grey with holographic flakes and micro-glitter, Tilly, London and Dahlia, no dupes, the closest in tone is London but thats a different finish without the holographic glitters, Tilly is lighter and Dahlia is a deeper tone of grey.

Stamping test for Brianne, Brynlee and Pamela, all stamp nicely.

So thats the comparisons, what do you think? Did I miss one? Let me know in the comments and if I have the Zoya I can do a comparison.