"Watermelon" eyes

Hello Ninjas.

Sorry for the late post, I spent the morning and part of the afternoon in the ER with a gallbladder attack. I'm home and fine now so don't worry!

I did this look super simply, I covered the entire eyelid area with Tease from Brazen Cosmetics then used a metallic green eyeliner from Essence on my bottom lashline before adding a shimmery green shadow to set the liner. I liked how this turned out but the effect of watermelon wasn't intentional; it was one of my male co-workers who told me that my eyes looked like watermelon slices. Tah-dah!

China Glaze Dress Me Up

Hello Ninjas!

It's a beautiful day here in North Carolina and I've got a pretty neutral that goes well with warmer weather. When the Hunger Games movie came out, I thought I'd wear the polish from the district my Panem ID randomly assigned me. The district I got was 8, textiles. I've actually been wanting to wear this color for a while now but just had so many other colors to wear I kept forgetting!

Dress Me Up is appropriately named considering the nature of Dist 8 but I liked it better when the original name was Primrose after Kat's sister. Regardless, this is a very pretty dusty mauve/rose color that was actually much more flattering than I thought it would be for my skin tone. In the right lighting, this actually looked almost like mannequin hands on me which is wear because I have a very fair complexion. I guess I've got to look for neutrals with mauve undertones! Two coats for this very calming manicure.

Zoya Skylar and Maisie

Hello Ninjas!

Tonight I've got a pretty combination of two different finishes from Zoya's Spring collections. I started off with Zoya Skylar which is described as "a medium steel blue with a softened, dusty look and speckled by visible gold and silver shimmer flecks" I loved this! And I'm glad to know I wasn't going crazy when I thought it had silver shimmer in one lighting then gold shimmer in another lighting! This was a great color to wear when the sky was all cloudy because it reminded me of sunny days.

The formula on Skylar was as wonderful as I have come to expect from Zoya's level 5 polishes (1 sheer -> 5 opaque) Two coats that self leveled and were easy to manage with a great color pay off made this a very easy application process.

After wearing Skylar plain for two days, I added a the very pretty Fleck Effect shade, Maisie. I figured the blue jelly base was meant to compliment Skylar and I was right! Maisie is described as "a sheer turquoise blue base with reflective Mylar flakes that shift from green to blue" And the blue shift was awesome on this. Seriously, it didn't just flash blue, it flashed indigo. LOVED this combination.

Products in this post were provided by the Zoya PR team for.honest review.

Surprising smokey eye

Hello Ninjas!

I've got a pretty eye look that I got from a smokey eye trio in a huge set from Sephora. I was skeptical about the combination of orange and purple in one smokey eye initially but I thought it turned out really pretty! Have you ever had a color combination turn out well against your intuition?

China Glaze Fast Track

Hello Ninjas!

Depending on your time zone, I could be a little early on this post or just on time but it's easier to remember to do it tonight instead of forgetting until late tomorrow night! So, tonight I've got China Glaze's Fast Track from their Hunger Games collection. Fast Track is named for District 6 which is Transportation. Not sure what the finish and color on this polish have to do with Transportation but it sure is pretty.

Many people have said that this is a very plain polish but I really loved it. Perhaps it was because I was in the mood for a little more neutral look or maybe I just love anything with a gold shimmer in it but this was something I thoroughly enjoyed wearing. Though this is a light colored polish, two easy coats was all it took to make a nice and opaque manicure. This isn't quite a mannequin color on me but in a few more months, this would look great with a slight tan! The shimmer really makes this pop and I love how it leans slightly green at the right angle.

After wearing this for two days, I found myself short on time to change my manicure so I just added a pretty shimmery blue-green crackle topcoat from Pure Ice. This is one coat of *Strike a Pose over Fast Track. I love how this neat color actually matched one of my Hello Kitty watchbands.

* Where noted, product was provided for unbiased review by Pure Ice PR.

St. Patrick's Ombre Manicure

Hi Ninjas!

Today I've got pictures of the pretty ombre manicure I did for St. Patrick's day. I used five Zoya polishes and made this pretty all green manicure which happened to bemy very first ombre! The colors I used were:

L-R: Bevin, Gemma, Yara, Shawn, Envy

I hadn't worn Gemma or Envy before and I discovered I absolutely ADORE both colors. The shimmer in Gemma is amazing, when my friend came over on Friday night, she chose Gemma as her St. Patrick's manicure and I was sort of jealous she got to wear it as a full manicure before me! Envy is really awesome, I think it's akin to the famous Nars Zulu but I don't know for sure. I'm positive someone has done a comparison though. This is a great polish for when you want a super dark look but don't want to wear black. What's neat about Envy is that it has a sort of hidden shimmer that is super subtle and comes out in direct light. The only down side to Envy is that is stains! If you have this color and don't know, double up on basecoat when you wear it.

I did three coats of each because Gemma and Shawn needed it and I didn't want any of the other colors to feel left out. This was a super pretty manicure and got many compliments at work.

China Glaze Stone Cold and Luxe & Lush

Hello Ninjas!

Since yesterday's post wasn't really a post, I've got a picture heavy manicure for you today! This is the beautiful Stone Cold from the China Glaze Hunger Games Collection. While the technical name of the collection is Capitol Colors, everyone knows what you're talking about when you call it the Hunger Games Collection. I've seen the collection at Ulta and Hot Topic, I was slightly surprised to see it at HT but given the amount of HG merchandise they have, it isn't too out of character.

Stone Cold is District 2's color and is a matte that resembles asphalt. Since Dist. 2 is masonry, the color and finish are very fitting. Application was super easy on this despite the thick formula. As long as you know how to work with matte polish and can work quickly, this color requires little to no clean up. This is a nice dark grey with plenty of silver micro-glitter in it.  When you add a glossy topcoat,Stone Cold looks much darker, almost black at the base but the shimmer really pops. For the first couple of days. I wore this matte with a glossy accent nail.

After that, I added a coat of the mylar shards (They really don't look like flakes to me) topcoat from the same collection, Luxe & Lush. L&L is District 1's color/effect which is fitting since Dist.1 is luxuries. The combination of these two polishes was really pretty because of the combined shards and shimmer looks, not to mention the way the shards iridescence flashed in sunlight.

Zoya Summer 2012!

Hey Ninjas!

I've got a press release I'm super excited about for Zoya's summer colors for your viewing pleasure.

New nail color - coming soon to a salon near you and Zoya.com!

Summer 2012 is going to be a super stylish season for nails with the latest offering of nail polish collections, Beach and Surf, from the new color of fashion, Zoya! This new splash of color, designed by the Zoya color experts, is kissed by sea and sand translating beautifully onto the nail in the famous, full-coverage Zoya formula.

Dive into the creamy shades of the Zoya Beach Collection or the shimmering sea foils of the Zoya Surf Collection. The choice is yours – this color palette is sure to be a splash!

Zoya BEACH Collection

• Reagan (ZP614) - deep cerise pink cream
• Lara (ZP615) - vivid cerise pink cream
• Shelby (ZP616) - soft pinky pink cream
• Arizona (ZP617) - soft coral orange cream
• Tracie (ZP618) - sea grass metallic
• Wednesday (ZP619) - soft aqua cream

Zoya SURF Collection

• Rory (ZP620) - lotus pink foil metallic
• Carly (ZP621) - thalia purple foil metallic
• Kimber (ZP622) - magenta pink foil metallic
• Myrta (ZP623) - coral orange foil metallic
• Meg (ZP624) - mermaid green foil metallic
• Zuza (ZP625) - aquamarine foil metallic

Zoya is the new color of fashion... 
The Zoya BEACH and SURF collection was designed and inspired by resort runways and tropical get-a-ways.

Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are free of harmful industrial chemicals like toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects. 

Find Zoya BEACH and SURF as well as over 300 other ultra high-fashion Zoya shades at www.zoya.com. As always, each and every Zoya color is made for women so we name them after women. 

BEACH and SURF by Zoya Nail Polish - 12 new colors:
Available April 1, 2012 (USA)
www.zoya.com

Sug. Retail $8.00 per 0.5 fl.oz. bottle (US).
___________________________________________________________________________

I'm most excited about the Surf collection, I love metallic finishes. And I adore the names they're using for this set, there are some really pretty and unique ones I hadn't heard before.

What do you think?

Zoya Bevin and Opal

Hello Ninjas!

In preparation for St. Patrick's day, I decided I'd show you a manicure I did that reminded me of a field of clover. I ended up wearing Bevin from Zoya's awesome Spring 2012 collection, Tru. Zoya describes it as "... a dusty, medium sage green with teal tones and a creamy opaque finish." I basically agree though I use less words, I just call this a sage green. I love sage! I love cooking with it, eating it, and just looking at it so I was thrilled to have this color on my nails. Bevin worked wonderfully with my skin tone and was opaque in two easy coats.

The color of Bevin also reminds me of the really pretty pale green succulent plants they have in a garden nearby:

Can you tell I have as thing for plants?

Anyways, After two days of wearing the wonderful Bevin by itself, I added the beautiful Mylar fleck topcoat, Opal, from Zoya's Fleck Effect collection. Zoya describes Opal as "...a sheer green base with reflective Mylar flakes that shift from bright green to blue." Which is pretty spot on. I loved this combination! I also couldn't take my eyes off my nails when they were in the sunlight, the shift from green to blue is stunning!

 

These combined colors are what reminded me of a field of clover:

Products in this post were provided by the Zoya PR team for honest review.

Zoya Pippa and Graduation!

Hello Ninjas!

Sorry, I mis-counted my days and didn't post yesterday like I was supposed to! Today I've got the promised Yellow-Black post that goes along with my graduation to Yellow-Black belt in To-Shin Do Ninjutsu :) I chose these colors obviously to match the belt I was graduating to but I was pleasantly surprised how well Pippa actually matched the belt I received! I did three coats of Pippa as a base because I wanted absolute opacity for this look. If I didn't mind a little VNL I would have been just dandy with two coats. In fact, Pippa was really pleasant and not streaky at all like I was expecting from a pastel/neon yellow color; Way to go Zoya!

After Pippa, I added the black half with a nail art brush. I had expected to do a black stripe down the middle like the belt I was getting but the uneven stripes led me to just paint half the nail black. Voila! Ninja nails :) Many people commented on them and it looks like I'll have to do this for every graduation from now on so in three months I'll be doing a Blue-White look!

Simple Smokey Eye

Hello Ninjas!

I know I had planned to do my yellow-black post tonight but I've been cleaning and don't know where my camera card went. I'm sure it's somewhere upstairs but I won't be looking for it tonight. So, I have a look I did last week that resulted in an super easy smokey eye (it wasn't planned that way). I did dark purple liner on my water line and upper lashline then added a pretty dark purple-taupe on my top lid. It blended out to look a little smokey and I love it! I also have SDRP on my lips which is a super gorgeous watermelon clear gloss full of lovely bluer shifting shimmer <3

In the last picture you can see the random mole on my upper left water-line!

China Glaze Electrify

Hello Ninjas!

Last night I graduated to my Yellow-Black belt in Ninjutstu! I did my nails to match my new belt and hope to have that post up on Saturday. Today I've got the much sought glitter from China Glaze's Hunger Games collection, Electrify. I ended up purchasing the entire HG collection because I read the trilogy of books in less than 48 hours. Loved the books, had to have the polish! Electrify ended up being the first polish I wore because I had my hubby pick a number between 1-12 and he picked 5 which is the district that produces Power. The matching polish for District 5 is Electrify, a gold glitter interspersed with lovely small red hex glitters. I applied this over my existing manicure of Dita but you couldn't see the base color at all after 2 coats of Electrify.

And a bonus picture of my whole set! It came with a display box too, I LOVE Effie's lashes.