Zoya Liberty

Let me just say that these photos do NOT do Zoya Liberty much justice. This is a polish that needs to be seen and experienced in person! Liberty is one of the Pixie Dust shades. The sparkle in it is incredible; sadly, I don’t think that is reflected very well in my photos.

Liberty looks lighter on the nail than it does in the bottle, and definitely evokes the image of sparkling blue water. 🙂 Those who are maritime junkies like myself definitely need this shade! Like the other Pixie Dusts I’ve tried, this does dry slowly, but it wears for days without chipping.

I bought this on a whim and am so glad that I did! 🙂

Zoya Dillon

Dillon is part of Zoya’s latest spring collection, Awaken. It is a warm, metallic aqua green color. I really like Zoya’s metallic shades; I find they are the best performing compared to their cream polishes.

The formula on this is okay; it is not as fluid as Zuza (which is fantastic). The shimmer in this color tends to drag and get stuck. It isn’t completely impossible to deal with, but it is something to make note of if you’re considering this shade. It is almost opaque in one coat, and I only ran into the dragging issue with the second application, so it is best to work in thin coats.

This color is a unique take on mint for spring, and I really like it despite the minor formula issue.

Dupe Alert! Zoya Maria Luisa and Revlon Gold Goddess

Happy Friday out there! I have a polish dupe to share today: Revlon Gold Goddess is definitely a dupe for Zoya’s Maria Luisa. This is a favorite layering shade for me. The dupe is from a new Revlon summer display from Gucci Westman, so keep an eye out for it at your drugstores!

Revlon Gold Goddess, Zoya Maria Luisa

Revlon, Zoya

The only difference I see in this polish is that the Revlon has more coverage, while Maria Luisa is more sparse.

The colors, at least from my field of vision, are exactly the same. Zoya isn’t always the easiest brand to find, so if you have that problem, take a look to see if you can find this Revlon collection.

Both shades are easy to apply and are gorgeous. I think Revlon has great nail polish for the price point, usually $5 or less, while Zoya is $9 (BUT they are 5-free as well). Either way, I love this topper and think it is GORGEOUS! If you missed my post about Maria Luisa previously, check it out here.

2014 Color of the Year: Radiant Orchid Polish Picks!

Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid. I thought it would be fun to share some of my polish picks in that shade range. As you can see, some are dark, some are bright, and some are in the nude shade range.

Essie Play Date– This is described as “soft purple.” It’s coming across a little dark here; it’s a little brighter in person.

OPI You’re Such a Budapest– This is a purple toned periwinkle shade. This is a really great color for winter and spring because it truly pops on the nail!

Maybelline Lust for Lilac– I think that this is Maybelline’s answer to Radiant Orchid, because this is a new shade for 2014.

Butter London Molly Coddled– This is the perfect choice, as it is described as “lavender orchid cream.”

China Glaze Sweet Hook– I seriously love this color. It’s a pale lavender shade that is white-based.

Essie Bangle Jangle– This is one of the first polishes I bought when I stopped biting my nails. Described as “lavender amethyst”, this looks a lot darker here than in person.

Zoya Rue– I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this color. This is a pink toned nude from Zoya’s spring collection that appears to be Radiant Orchid inspired.

Zoya Kennedy– This is a cool beige cream shade that has a slight lavender tint. This is a great nude!

Revlon Gray Suede– This is another nude in the same color family as Kennedy and Rue. It has some slight shimmer to it. Very office appropriate!

Essie Go Ginza– This is a milky, white-based lavender. It’s like the purple version of Fiji.

In the sunlight!

There are a lot of great picks out there if you want to get into the Radiant Orchid craze! My favorites from this bunch are China Glaze Sweet Hook (my favorite of them all!), Essie Go Ginza, and OPI You’re Such a Budapest.

Are you enjoying this year’s color of the year?

Sparkling Spring Manicure

I have cabin fever, big time, so I’ve been gravitating toward colors that are reminiscent of spring flowers, like this manicure! I wish the lighting had been better for this, but the sun is rarely out, and this is the best natural light I had at the time.

The taupe/purple base is NARS Night Rider. It has a ton of silver shimmer and flakies in it; so much that it’s difficult to remove! On top of that, I added Butter London Stardust. This is an amazing silver holographic topper. Finally, the accent nail is Zoya’s Pixie Dust polish in Vespa. The result was a very spring oriented manicure that was SO sparkly!

My favorite polish of the three is probably Stardust. I definitely recommend checking it out in person!

What combinations have you been reaching for lately?

Sparkly Gold and Mint Manicure

Hello! I hope you’re having a good week. I’ve been totally hooked on this gold polish I have: Sephora by OPI The Golden Age. It’s just gold glitter with a touch of some silver, but I’ve layering it with everything lately!

In this manicure, I used Zoya Tomoko as accent colors, and Pop Beauty’s Mint Magic as the base layer. This color is SO pretty! My pic is a little dark due to it being winter (natural lighting is poor), but I really got a dose of spring with this manicure. Also, I really like Tomoko! The sparkle is so pretty and the Fairy Dust formula really wears like iron!

What colors have you been enjoying lately?

Zoya Maria Luisa

My obsession with gold polish continues! Maria Luisa is an amber gold flakie style polish. This is actually named after designer Rafael Cennamo’s mother and was created by him for New York Fashion Week earlier this year. Visit this post from Gotham Polish to read more about this shade, and see one of the dresses that inspired the color!

I layered one coat of Maria Luisa over MAC’s Sea Green polish, and I really liked the result! It also went on smoothly and didn’t catch on the nail. This is going to be a gorgeous shade for fall that will transition nicely into the winter season.

Zoya Color Lock System Review

Over the holidays, my local Younkers had the Zoya color lock system mini set available for $15. I passed up on it several times, but months later it was still there, so I decided to get it. Since the store doesn’t carry any other Zoya products, I figured this would be an affordable way to try the entire system.

The mini set came with the Remove+ polish remover (used up), Anchor base coat, Fast Drops drying drops, and Armor top coat.

I have to give these little bottles credit in that they are ideal to travel with and so far have lasted a long time, and I’ve barely made a dent in them.

Now for the review. Did this make my nail polish stay on longer? Yes and no. It certainly made my Zoya polishes stay on longer, especially when reapplying the Armor top coat every other day or so. That said, I would only recommend this for use with Zoya’s nail polish, not other lines.

If you use this with other brands, your nail polish will chip like crazy. I am not going to call this a “con” necessarily, just something to be aware of.

I do like that this entire set dries quickly. As for the drying drops, they didn’t really wow me at all to the point where my polish was noticeably drier faster.

I will not be purchasing these in the full size, but do like them for my Zoya shades. Also, I will definitely keep buying the polish remover, as I love it!

What do you think of the Zoya color lock system? Have you tried it?

Zoya Remove Plus: Possible Dupe?

Hey everyone! I was excited about a recent discovery and just had to share it right away! I was running some errands and of course popped into the nail polish aisle, where I spotted a new bottle of Onyx Professional nail polish remover in the moisturizing formula. Hoping it might be similar to Zoya Remove Plus, I purchased it! You might be familiar with Onyx because it is so cost effective: $2.50 for sixteen fluid ounces of remover.

When I used the Onyx Professional Moisturizing Formula, it felt very similar to the Zoya formula. It did not dry out my nails at all like straight acetone does, and it removed my polish quickly. It has a slightly stronger scent than Zoya Remove Plus.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients:

The Zoya remover has very little ingredients; 2-Propanone is just another name for acetone. The second ingredient is water, followed by glycerine, fragrance, and some coloring.

The ingredients in Onyx Professional are a little different, but the first two ingredients are the same. Denatonium benzoate is a bittering agent that is actually used to repel animals and children from drinking substances like antifreeze. Tocopheryl acetate is Vitamin E with acetic acid, used to make the product last longer; however, this ingredient could be an irritant to some due to the acetic acid. Aloe leaf juice is followed by some fragrance, which is finally followed up with two different coloring agents: CI45410 (Ranks 1 on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database as a low risk ingredient), and CI60730 (EWG rating: 3).

The Zoya remover is the healthier choice overall, as it has less ingredients; however, I did not experience any irritation with the Onyx Professional remover and was happy with how it removed my polish. Zoya Remove Plus is an amazing nail polish remover; however, it is $10 for 8 ounces and I have to either order it online or drive fifteen miles to get it.

Zoya Remove is worth every single penny, but the Onyx Professional Moisturizing Formula is very similar and a great alternative. I am going to switch up the two just to make my Zoya remover last a little longer.

Zoya Rocky

Yes, it is another shade from Zoya’s summer collection! This one is a cheery blue called Rocky. I can’t quite pinpoint what it is, but there’s something unique about this blue, at least to me. It is calming and subdued, yet still glows on the nails.

The formula on this one was a little thick compared to the other creams in this collection. I used two thin coats, but the polish still seemed on the heavy side while applying. Still, it’s nothing that can’t be worked with by any means! I have certainly used worse formulas with Zoya’s creams (Pippa, I’m talking about you).

Rocky is gorgeous, and if you love blue shades, this might be a must have for you!