Review: Zoya PixieDust for Summer 2013

Good afternoon Ninjas!

I hope you're having a lovely Friday. I'll be working today and tomorrow, as I usually do over the weekends but hubby and I do have Sunday off together so that will be fun :)

Today's post is the swatches for Zoya's summer PixieDust polishes. These polishes were sent to me for unbiased review. I really like the color combinations Zoya did for this collection! In fact, they're pretty much perfect for doing color block manicures. Since I thought the colors paired up so well, I swatched them side by side with the color I thought would make a fitting color block manicure. Not only did this save me time swatching but it gives you a neat idea for how to use these summer colors in pairs!

Descriptions of the colors below are from Zoya's site. Links lead to external affiliate website.

Solange:  Zoya Nail Polish in Solange can be best described as a gold metal foil sparkle featuring a Zoya EXCLUSIVE GOLD PIGMENT in the best-selling Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Foil Twinkle formula.

Beatrix:  Zoya Nail Polish in Beatrix can be best described as a tangerine metal sparkle in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Foil Twinkle formula

Left: Beatrix, Right: Solange

Destiny:  Zoya Nail Polish in Destiny can be best described as a coral metal sparkle in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Foil Twinkle formula.

Miranda: Zoya Nail Polish in Miranda can be best described as a rose sparkle in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Sparkle formula.

Left: Destiny, Right: Miranda

Stevie:  Zoya Nail Polish in Stevie can be best described as a violet sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Sparkle formula.

Liberty:  Zoya Nail Polish in Liberty can be best described as a blue sugary sparkle in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Sparkle formula.

Left: Liberty, Right: Stevie

Polishes provided by Zoya PR for honest review.

Duochrome Purple Layering

Good evening Ninjas!

The weather here in NC is just toying with my emotions this week. There have been days nice enough to wear summer dresses and others where I needed gloves and a hat when I went outside. Ah well, Spring will be here soon enough!

Tonight's manicure is one coat of Cult Nails Charlatan over two coats of Illmasqua Vice. I really liked the way that Vice looked with the rubberized finish and sort of wished I hadn't layered anything on top of it. I can always wear it again though! Vice is a really pretty magenta that Illamasqua calls a "deep cerise" where Charlatan is a sheer pink jelly with pink/blue duochrome particles suspended in it.

Sweetheart Manicure

Hello lovely Ninjas!

Happy Wednesday and pre-Valentines day! I'm getting more and more nervous as my test to move up from blue-black to red-white approaches so I've been doing more classes than usual this week. Next week is test week, ahhhhh!

Tonight's manicure doubles for both Pink Wednesday and Valentine's day! This is two coats of OPI Care to Danse as a nice soft lilac base and one coat of Savina Hearts over top. I had originally intended to do a jelly sandwich with CtD but the microglitter looked so pretty in the light that I didn't want to over it up with another coat of polish. This is a very girly manicure and it kind of drives me crazy because it's not really in my personality to wear something to soft!

Zoya Lovely Day 2

Hello Ninjas!

It's day two of Zoya Lovely week! I figured I'd go through the shimmers first so here's Gei Gei. I have to admit to being a little confused by the name since my bottle said Gie Gie instead of Gei Gei. Also, how is that name even pronounced? Is it like what you'd name a poodle, Gigi (Jee Jee) or is it meant to sound more Asian in origin Gei Gei would be pronounced Gey-Gey in Japan.

Zoya described GeiGei/ Gie Gie as, " a full-coverage, blushing cherry blossom pink metallic. A shimmery light shade for an always-appropriate natural pink nail look. Originally created as a custom runway shade for fashion designer Zang Toi." I also had to use three coats for this color. It's a very pretty soft pink with silvery shimmer and very wearable.

Product sent for consideration by Zoya PR for honest review.

OPI Liquid Sand Stay the Night

Hello Ninjas!

This weekend is the 15th Anniversary Seminar at the Dojo where I work and everyone is pretty excited. We did a huge group photo today that I hope turns out well, it's hard to smile when it's that cold out and you're wearing a uniform instead of a winter coat!

Today's manicure is one I thought fit the Fireside Glow theme very well. This is one of OPI's new Liquid Sand polishes called Stay the Night. StN is a black base with lots of hot pink glitter throughout the polish. The sandy texture on this is really interesting and actually pretty fun to wear. I did three coats of polish here to cover up my VNL and make sure that the texture really stood out. I chose this manicure for Fireside glow because it looked a lot like burning embers to me :) Sorry for the different quality, I had to use my MiL's camera to take these pictures at her house so I didn't have my new light box with me.

Zoya Blaze

Good evening Ninjas!

As this weekend comes to a close, I have to say I'm pretty thankful for the time I've had off and been able to spend with my husband. Right now we're watching Aliens and just relaxing before the start of another work week.

Tonight's manicure is two coats of Blaze from Zoya's Ornate collection. Zoya describes Blaze as, "a full coverage, cool-toned medium mulberry red with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter." I'd say that's a pretty accurate description except for the red. This is definitely more of a pinkish berry color, though it does lean towards the redder end of the spectrum. The formula is great, only two coats for opacity. However, this polish did not dry with the same high shine we saw on Storm from this same collection. In the sunlight, you can't tell but Blaze might have benefited from a second coat of topcoat to give a smooth shine.

Sorry there's no label shot this time, my computer corrupted the file and I couldn't recover it :(

OPI Meep Meep Meep

Hello Ninjas!

I hope you're all enjoying the newly begun holiday season and are having fun shopping for your loved ones. My favorite part of chrismahanukwanzakah is seeing the looks on peoples' faces when they open the gifts I got them, how about you?

Tonight's manicure is Meep Meep Meep frpm last year's Muppets Collection by OPI. I picked this and Pepe's Purple Passion up at a 2 for $12 sale Ulta was running on older seasonal colors a while page. MMM is a pretty magenta jelly base with pink glass flecks throughout. This can be a little on the sheerer side so people with longer free nail edge may need three coats but with my nails pretty short here, I only used two.

Essie Your Hut or Mine

Good evening Ninjas,

Still a little crazy adjusting to my new schedule and figuring out how to fill my time with my dogsitting job gone. I keep getting off count with my days so I'll miss a day I was intending to post because I don't remember until I'm falling asleep. So I just wanted to say sorry for the wonky posting schedule!

This manicure is two super smooth coats of Essie Your Hut or Mine from the Resort 2011 collection. YHoM is a nice medium to dark pink with a vivid magenta shimmer that compliments the base color very well. These pictures aren't the greatest but there are enough swatches out there by now that you all know how lovely this polish really is.

Layering and Stamping!

Hello Lovely Ninjas!

Today is a glorious day :) I got to sleep in and it's the first day in two weeks that I've been off from work. Not that I don't love my job but I need a little recuperative me time at least once a week. Right now I'm listening to some fantastic music, surfing the web and sharing this neat manicure with you!

This is a continuation of the last manicure I posted. On top of the two coats of Chic Reloaded by Essence, I added a super pretty iridescent polish by Pure Ice called Oh Baby! This polish is a really awesome purple/pink/blue glass fleck multichrome. THEN on top of that, I stamped a full coverage flower design from MASH plate m61 with Sally Hansen Delphinium. This was not the easiest manicure to photograph and I actually had better stamping on my right hand but here are the pictures!

Scherer Chameleon Corona

Good evening Ninjas!

Tonight Hubby and I will be finishing up Spartacus Vengeance so we thought it would be a great idea to go to a local restaurant also called Spartacus. It was a great dinner with flaming cheese and fantastic Gyros.

This manicure is two coats of Scherer Chameleon Corona over two coats of Zoya Farah. Knowing that Corona would be a sheer polish, I wanted to make a great blank slate to highlight it. Crorona is a pink glass fleck polish with light teal and hot pink shifts in the right light.

Farah provided by Zoya PR for honest review.

Essence Glamorous Life

Hello Ninjas!

School season has started up around here in NC so we've seen lots of new customers at work. Between being swamped at the desk and a few unpleasant people, I wasn't sure I would get to test for my stripe in class! However, Hubby and I did go to class yesterday and we worked up a sweat earning our red stripe! Only 12 days until we're sporting solid blue!

This afternoon's manicure is a pretty fuchsia glass fleck from Essence, Glamorous  Life. This went on in two very easy coats and had a great color payout for just a .99 polish! That reminds me, Essence recently overhauled their polish line to create a new bottle shape that holds more product and add new colors. I picked up 5 of the new colors so hopefully I'll get to show them to you soon!

  Don't forget to enter my Blue Belt Giveaway! There are three prizes to be won!

Zoya Gloss Collection

Hi Ninjas!

Stormy weather out here in NC, hopefully we'll get through the worst of it without any serious downed lines. Next week is weapons week at the dojo and simultaneously graduation week so I'll be super busy until Wednesday night. Ah well, it's all fun anyways!

This is the Gloss NYFW Collection from Zoya to supplement their Fall line. The set consists of three glossy jelly polishes that were inspired by Peter Som's request for a glaze which lead to the creation of Katherine and subsequently Paloma and Frida!

For each of these, I did an increasing number of coats on each finger starting with the index and ending with the pinky. First off, Katherine "A sheer, dark, red-toned aubergine with a buildable jelly gloss finish."

 Next up, Paloma! Now, Paloma is a name that means dove so I was a little surprised when this wasn't a great. Here's what Zoya says about Paloma, "A sheer deep fuchsia-berry with a buildable jelly gloss finish."

And finally, Frida. Now, the name Frida always evokes imagery of Frida Kahlo for me. She's a really interesting Mexican painter that did iconic portraits. They're not the prettiest portraits and I generally amuse myself picking on the massive unibrow the women sport.

Source: http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/frida_kahlo/Frida-Kahlo---Me-and-My-Parrots--1941.htm

 I've got a fairly ugly little necklace holder that I call Frida because it's not the prettiest thing. When I saw that Frida was a gorgeous teal jelly, I couldn't help but be amused! Zoya calls Frida, "A sheer, dark, warm-toned teal blue with a buildable jelly gloss finish."

 

Gloss Collection provided for honest review by the Zoya PR team.