Zoya Ivanka

Howdy friends.  A lot of terrible things happened yesterday, and I was glad I at least had Zoya Mimi on my nails to cheer me up. (Who knew anyone would want to steal a '97 Honda Civic?  Guess I'm going car shopping this weekend.)  I'm sticking with the Sparkle collection again today, so now I have Zoya Ivanka to share with you.


Zoya Ivanka is a kelly green glitter with yellow gold flecks.  I say glitter, but when you look at the polish you don't see any pieces of glitter.  It's more just an intense all-over sparkle.  This collection is definitely aptly named.  I used two coats of Ivanka over base coat.

Zoya Ivanka, two coats in shade with flash 

See the great yellow flecks!

Zoya Ivanka, two coats in shade with flash

The formula for Ivanka is exactly the same as Mimi.  A little thin, so you'll want to apply two coats for complete opacity and go slow to avoid cuticle drag.  I got this bottle in a St. Patti's day promotion last March: $5 each for 3 Zoya greens.  Fabulous!  The other two it came with were Shawn and Suvi, which I will have to show you soon.

Stats:

• Very unique gold-tinged green
• Finish: sparkle flecks, very glittery
• Price: ordinarily $8, moderate
• Application: Pretty good.  Polish a little thin, go slowly to about cuticle drag.
• Coats needed: 2
• Dry Time: Dry to the touch in normal time.  Takes a long time to fully dry without top coat, remains in danger of smudging for up to a day.  Yikes.
• Impressions: St. Patty's Day, Shamrocks and Leprechauns, Ivanka Trump, $$.

Overall: This is a fun, unique polish, and even better for being $5!

Zoya Mimi

Howdy friends!  Today I have a polish to share with you that has a special meaning for me, Zoya Mimi.  This is the polish that I was wearing when I won my job with the San Antonio Symphony.  In addition to that special memory and the fabulous royal purple glass-flecked color, I love the name of this polsih- Mimi!  It always makes me think of the end of La Boheme, when Rodolfo is screaming the name of his girlfriend, who has just died.  Click here for that clip, sung by Pavorotti.





This polish doesn't look anything like dying sopranos though, it definitely looks like a fun purple party on your nails.  Let's check it out.  This is two coats of Zoya Mimi.

Zoya Mimi, two coats with flash

Zoya Mimi, two coats in sunlight

Stats:

• Color: Incredibly unique
• Finish: Sparkle flecks
• Price: Moderate, $8
• Application: Pretty good.  Polish is a little thin, go slowly to avoid cuticle drag
• Dry Time: Average
• Impressions: Royal purple, funky, fun.  

Overall:  Mimi has an aria in La Boheme about how whenever she goes anywhere, she is so fabulous that people can't help but stare at her.  I'd say that's a pretty accurate description of this polish.

Stay tuned for another polish from the sparkle collection, this time a fabulous green.

French Horn Nail Polish

Howdy.  When Rescue Beauty Lounge had their "Would you like to see your dream color come true?" contest last spring, I was of course eager to enter.  My color inspiration came from none other than my French horn.

• As a French horn player, my hands hold an extraordinary instrument for many, many hours each day.  The horn produces a tremendous range of tone colors; heroic fanfares, aching melodies, serene nocturnes.  And the bell of the instrument, the deep cavern of sound where my hand rests, is a matching rainbow of colors; brassy yellow, rose gold, oxidized green, dark rust.  It is my dream to have a polish that matches this mélange of metal, so that my fingertips can shine next to the exquisite beauty of the instrument.  Please, if you could create this color, a yellow gold with darker hints, copper accents and a green shimmer, it would be a life-long dream- a shade to lend the beauty of the horn to the hands so essential to it, and a complex, unique metallic unlike anything every seen.

I didn't win the contest, but thanks to Chanel I got my wish!  Peridot is an exact match to the greenish tinted yellow brass of my French horn.

L'OREAL Waters Edge

Howdy.  Here is a lovely polish for you,  L'OREAL Waters Edge.  It's from the 2010 Passport to Paradise Summer collection and is a gorgeous aqua creme.  You'll notice my nails are suddenly longer.  No, I did not get tips, these are just older pictures.  Peridot is so beautiful I couldn't bear to take it off!

L'OREAL Waters Edge, two coats, direct sunlight

I love how satiny smooth the finish is.  And the shade is just so creamy and vibrant!

L'OREAL Waters Edge, two coats, shade

The orchid was at a friend's house.  I think it's gorgeous, especially the fucsia against the teal.  Makes a very nice backdrop too.

Stats:

• Color: Beautiful, moderately unique
• Finish: Perfect Creme
• Price: Reasonable, $4
• Application: Tricky.  Polish gets thick and sticky.
• Dry Time: Very long.
• Impressions: Summer, beachy, cool, modern

Overall: Beautiful color, finish, and low cost is enough to make up for difficulty in application.  Just use a nice quick dry top coat.

Chanel Peridot

Hello.  I have something special to share with you this lazy rainy Sunday.  Peridot, part of Chanel's Fall 2011 precious metals collection, is a complex sophisticated antique gold/olive green duochrome.  Duochromes, polishes that have two distinct colors depending on how the light hits them, can sometimes be very juvenile, but Chanel has created a very sophisticated take on this with Peridot.  And for the hefty price of $25, they darn well should!

In the light this polish is a beautiful antique gold with lots of sparkle flecks.  In the shade it takes on an olive green sheen.  The less direct light it receives, the darker the olive green effect.  I used two coats of Peridot with no top coat.

Chanel Peridot, two coats

Chanel Peridot, two coats

Peridot is fairly easy to apply and dries very quickly.  So quickly in fact that I had to keep extra polish on the brush so that it would stay wet while I painted.  20 minutes after manicure time and Peridot is ready to take on the world.

Image of Peridot gem, photo courtesy of JTPeters.net

I like the way Chanel has played on the way light hits an actual peridot gem, picking up the range of colors between dark olive green to gold.  Peridot is the birthstone for August, so those of you late summer babies might want to pick up this polish for that alone.  What do you think?  Does this color have you pining?

Zoya Minka

Howdy Y'all!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Summer (and Fall).  It's great to finally be back to you, now live and permanently from the state of Texas.  That's right, I am officially a Texan now.  But more importantly, I am moved into my apartment and have been reunited with my entire stash of nail polish.  I think they were lonely without me.

Today I have for you Minka, from Zoya's Touch collection.  This collection was released over the summer and contained three full-coverage neutrals designed to work with your skin tone.  Minka is the lightest of the three shades and I thought it would work well with my sightly olive complexion which I attribute to the Greek side of my family.  This is two coats of Zoya Minka, no top coat.  I've been on a no-top coat kick recently.  The specific finish of each polish intrigues me, I guess you could say I'm taking a test run at being a nail polish purist.  Since I'm not using top coat to even out flaws and prevent bubbling, I had to wait extra long in-between coats just to be safe.

Zoya Minka, two coats with flash 

Zoya Minka, two coats with flash

As I suspected, this color is much more flattering now that my hands are a little paler.  Usually I dont have that problem, but being in Texas keeps me a bit darker I guess.  I love that it has just a bit of sheen.  You can really see it in the bottle and then just a little bit when it's on.  It's definitely complete coverage as advertised.  Some nails were almost ok after one coat, but I did two just to make sure everything was completely even.  If you go too thick you might have a problem with streaking, but overall the polish is pretty self-leveling.

 One quick word about not using top coat- Be sure to wrap your tips!  After you've finished your last coat of color, take a quick swipe of the brush over the tip of your nail to lock in the color.  This way your manicure lasts longer.

So what do you think?  Does such a pale color appeal to you for winter?  Have you picked up anything similar?

Zoya Manon

Today I have a beautiful color to share with you.  You may remember a while ago Zoya had a facebook promotion where they were giving away your choice of any three polishes.  I chose Mimi, Pipa, and Manon and am finally getting around to swatching them!

Manon is a romantic seductive Summertime alternative to red.  It's a raspberry maroon with a strong shimmer that has a cornflower blue tint to it.  In the sunlight with top coat, this polish shimmers fantastically.  Now that I am used to Zoya polishes, I had no trouble applying it.  It dried very quickly and I'm sure I will be able to get at least 5 days without it chipping.  Here is Zoya Manon, two coats.

Zoya Manon, two coats with top coat, flash

Just as I was finishing my manicure, I received a surprise flower delivery!  As I signed for the beautiful arrangement, the delivery boy asked if it was my birthday.  I said no, I just have the world's best boyfriend :-)

Surprise flowers from the wonderful boy!