White Christmas

Hello again! Thanks bunches to those of you who have stuck around during my semester-long hiatus - I really appreciate it. Today I have some Christmas nails that, while I like them, aren't quite up to par in my opinion, at least on one of the nails. In my defense, I packed in a huge hurry because I had to pack and move out pretty much right after finishing my last two finals, and therefore forgot important nail art implements like...well...all of my nail art implements. Except toothpicks - I have toothpicks. So, this is a toothpick friendly manicure. What do you think?

 

Aaaaand I'm Back! Zoya Lovely PR

Hello again! It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry I've been gone for so long - I've really missed blogging, but just didn't have time with everything I had going on this semester. In retrospect, I don't have the faintest idea why I thought taking 18 credit hours was a good idea, considering that half of them were honors and that I'm also in an a cappella group and that I volunteered for the Obama campaign this semester...yeah, don't know what I was thinking. At any rate, I got my grades back yesterday, and while they were still quite good, I'm definitely not trying anything like that again.

I'll be back with a proper post soon, but for now I wanted to show you the press release for the Zoya Lovely collection coming out this spring. I'm not a huge pastel person, but I think these look really pretty and I can't wait for my samples to come in the mail!

Zoya Rekha

I'm here again! Zoya Rekha is the second polish I've worn from Zoya's fall collections this year. Normally I'm not a huge red person, but I really, really, really like Rekha. It's one of those that blurs the line between jellies and cremes, giving this wonderfully glossy sheen while still being entirely opaque. I had an unusually hard time getting my camera to shoot accurately when it came to Rekha's color. In my pictures, it appears brighter and more candy-like than it is in real life. It's hard to describe, but Rekha's closer to what I think of as a true cherry red (you know, like actual cherries).

 natural light

Interrobang?!

Hello there! My most recent manicure was inspired by this nail wheel featured on the one of the many nail art tumblrs out there, which are probably my biggest sources for inspiration when I'm not sure what I want to do with my nails. I liked the neon yellow nail with the black arrow on it, and I started thinking about doing a manicure with arrows and symbols. Then I saw an interrobang tattoo on Contrariwise, and I knew I had to incorporate that somehow, so it turned into a punctuation/symbol mani. The interrobang (‽) is a non-standard punctuation mark that combines an exclamation point and a question mark, and, language nerd that I am, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for quirky punctuation marks. Here's the finished result (I used Icing Grande Margarita over Wet 'n' Wild White Creme, and the black is acrylic paint):

outdoors, sunlight

I was really happy with the way all of the nails turned out, and though the interrobang is definitely my favorite, that comma is pretty dang cute, too. I have to say, this has definitely rekindled my desire to do a newspaper mani...I'm curious to see what it would look like if you did it multiple times between layers of a really clear jelly or a top coat. Perhaps that will happen soon? 

P.S. I'm moving back to university Friday, so wish me luck! I have yet to start packing (whoops), so I'll need it. I'm super excited because my roommate from last year and I have an on-campus apartment, which means I can cook, which means yummy food. Yay. :)

Zoya Evvie Goes to Work

Hello there! I hope you're having a good Thursday, also known as almost-Friday. Today I have Zoya Evvie, one of the beauties from the Zoya Designer NYFW collection for this fall. While it's still entirely too hot and dry out to pretend that it's fall - if you've seen news about drought in the Midwest, well, that's where I am - I still wanted to take Evvie out for a spin. I probably won't post all of the polishes from this collection individually, but while at work yesterday I started worrying that Evvie would chip before I got home to take a picture with my proper camera. As I'm sure many of you know from experience, office work can be surprisingly hard on nail polish. So, I snapped a picture with my phone while sitting at my desk.

artificial light

As you can see, Evvie is a gorgeous deep grey, and I used two, easy coats here. It's definitely a fall color, but I can also see myself wearing any time of the year - say, in the middle of the summer. But of course, between work, more work, and going home, there's that hour of the day called lunch. Yesterday I went out to a local restaurant for lunch with my mom, and naturally Evvie came with.

Mm, bahn mi! I love Vietnamese food, so I was thrilled when the owners of this cafe decided to put bahn mi on their menu full-time instead of just as a special (now I just need a local source for some good bun!). But back to the polish, I think Evvie stands out even more in this photos, probably because the light was natural and not quite so harsh as in my cubicle. I just love this polish, and I can't wait to wear it when it's actually fall outside and not a very large oven. For now, at least, I can only enjoy fall color through nail polish.

This polish was provided to me by Zoya for honest review. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Blue on Blue Ruffles

Apparently I haven't posted for nearly a month. Well . . . that went quickly. In the meantime, I started my first full-time job, continued my online history class, and watched this blog enter the Terrible Twos. To me, it seems like the two-year mark is a particularly significant one for nail bloggers. Maybe it signifies that since you've had enough stick-to-it-iveness (yes, I just made that word up) to last two years, you know what you're doing (ha! As if. I always feel like I still have something to learn). Anyway, for my first post as a two-year-old - or, well, you know what I mean - I have some ruffly tips to show you all. I did this Friday night, and they came from the fact that I wanted to do some nail art, but I didn't have a lot of time to do it. Hence, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue By got topped with lighter blue acrylic paint.

 outdoors, sunlight

I was really happy with the results. While they don't all look exactly the same, I actually kind of like the differences. If I'd had the time, I would've probably done alternating ruffles with these two colors, but perhaps that's for another time. And with that, I go back to my history book. What have you been doing with your summer?

Mint & Pink Accent Mani

Hello! I'm posting this as a short break from taking history notes, because I've been taking notes for about an hour and a half now and figured it was time for a break. Last night I did my nails, and I almost immediately knew exactly what I wanted to do: an accent nail manicure with Essie Mint Candy Apple and Exotic Liras. I really think these two colors complement each other well, and I used three coats of each with Cult Nails Get It On and Wicked Fast. The picture's of lesser quality than usual because I took it on my phone, but I know I wouldn't be able to take proper pictures until tomorrow, and I just didn't want to wait. Anyway, I hope you're all doing well, and that it's a bit cooler and wetter where you are than it is here!

China Glaze On Safari PR

Hello! Sorry I've been absent for a while - though, honestly, I should probably quit saying that, because  of course I have a non-nail polish life, and that life is very busy, as are most people's lives (honestly, I don't know how any of us do it!). Right now I have seven hours of class every single day, and then I have to come home and do homework for two of those classes, sooo...yeah. Unfortunately that doesn't leave much time for fun stuff like nail blogging. Anyway, I'm super excited to share the China Glaze On Safari press release with you, in case you haven't seen it already! (And if you have, I'm sorry, because this is probably at least the tenth post you've seen.) I'm particularly psyched about Manhunt, because I absolutely love cobalt blue, and it's rarely attempted in polish form.

P.S. All these photos will enlarge if you click on them.

P.P.S. Personally, I think it would be really cool - and a good PR move - if China Glaze donated a portion of the profits from this collection to the World Wildlife Fund, Safari Club International, or a similar organization.

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Los Angeles, CA – (June 2012):  China Glaze® nail lacquer invites you to take an exotic expedition with its Fall 2012 collection, On Safari.  Be captivated by the earthy tones, rich plums and celestial sparkles that make up this adventurous assortment of polishes.

The China Glaze® On Safari features 10 rich crèmes and two glitters including:

 Kalahari Kiss: Light sand brown

I’m Not Lion: Glistening gold and multi-color glitter

Call of the Wild: Beautiful chocolate brown-dark cherry blend

Adventure Red-y: Vivid red

Desert Sun: Delicious caramel

I Herd That: Brilliant copper glitter

Man Hunt: Bold cobalt blue

Exotic Encounters: Lush green crème with blue undertones

Elephant Walk: Cool graphite grey

Jungle Queen: Smoky violet

Purr-fect Plum: Bold burgundy

Prey Tell: Daringly dark red

On Safari is also available in:

• 6-piece “Native” Collection: Man Hunt, Exotic Encounters, Elephant Walk, Jungle Queen, Purr-fect Plum and Prey Tell
• 6-piece “Tourist” Collection: Kalahari Kiss, I’m Not Lion, Call of the Wild, Adventure Red-y, Desert Sun and I Herd That
• 12-piece counter display

The China Glaze® On Safari collection will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in July 2012.  Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP; the 6-piece sets retail for $42 MSRP.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde. China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Facebook and Twitter:http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze

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This press release and enclosed pictures were provided by DNA Public Relations.

Ruffles Mani

Hello there! Today I have a ruffles mani to show you, a technique I learned from Chalkboard Nails. Of course I had to try it right away, so I went through my Melmer drawers and ended up pulling out American Apparel Peacock, OPI Dim Sum Plum, OPI A Good Man-darin Is Hard to Find, Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, Ulta Sun-sational, Zoya Robyn, Essie Exotic Liras, and Sally Hansen Green With Envy. I used the largest dotting tool I own.

 indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

As you can see, I was starting to get some tipwear by the point I took these pictures, and as you can also see, the tips of my nails were getting a bit thick from all the polish. I think I should be able to get it a little thinner with more practice and control, though, and I'll definitely be trying this again - in fact, I'm wearing Icing Grande Margarita right now, and I think I might try a ruffles mani on top of that. One note I should make is that because I took these under artificial light (I suspected they wouldn't last until the sun came out again, and I was right), the colors don't appear as bright as they did in real life. If only I had a tiny personal sun that I could summon whenever I needed to take polish pics...

Royal Flakies

Yep, it's another cheesy layering title, stemming from my combination of Orly Royal Navy and an accent nail topped with FingerPaints Twisted. Not really much to say about this one except that it's awesome and my pictures are kind of crappy and I'm sorry about that, so I'll just let you look:

 natural light

sunlight

Isn't it preeeetty? My nail line wasn't quite as visible in real life as in the second picture, but I included it anyway because I couldn't manage to get a picture in just natural light that wasn't a little blurry. Oh, the mutability of my camera's moods...

Note: As this posts (I'm writing this on Thursday the 7th), I'm going to be starting my first of a month of 8:00, four-hour, daily geography classes. So, um, have sympathy. Or something.

Giraffe Nail Art

Hello again! Today I have some giraffe print nail art that I did recently. I've done variations of zebra and leopard patterns before, but I'd never tried giraffes. Since the giraffe is one of my favorite animals, I thought it was high time I tried, so I pulled out Ulta Sun-sational, some brown acrylic paint, and a dotting tool. Here's the result:

 natural light

I see now that the acrylic paint wasn't quite opaque in a couple of spots, but I actually didn't notice that when I was wearing the mani. While this definitely wasn't perfect, I was pretty happy with it for a first result. I didn't follow any particular tutorial; rather, I just googled "giraffe print" to get a more solid idea of what I was looking to do. You'd think I'd know what a giraffe looks like - and I do, of course - but I've always found that even when I'm trying to recreate something I have seen many times, it helps to have it in front of me when doing nail art. If you do nail art, are you the same way? I'm curious to see if it's just me.

Layla Ocean Rush

I went to Ulta a little while back, and I tortured myself for at least a good half hour over whether or not to get any of the Layla holos - and then, which ones to get! I would have just gotten them all at once if they weren't so expensive, but I didn't want to spend that much and then be disappointed, so I ended up just getting Ocean Rush and Flash Black. The first one I tried was Ocean Rush, and I was thrilled! I used two coats over GOSH Fix Base Coat, and I barely had to do any cleanup. But honestly, I wouldn't really care if the application was bad on this one. I mean, just look at that:

 indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

Isn't that just gorgeous? Of course the sun was gone by the time I took pictures (and, naturally, then came straight back out again when I took Ocean Rush off), so I had to take pictures inside, which always makes my hands look a little orange. However, the polish color is pretty accurate - it's a gorgeous medium blue with a brilliant holographic shine that comes in second only to my bottle of GOSH Holographic. I was afraid that these would be pale and wimpy like the newer China Glaze holos (while there's nothing wrong with those, I prefer bolder colors in holos, and I'd love to see a collection of deep, jewel-toned holos), but my fears were allayed as soon as I put on the second coat. The blue isn't a *dark* blue by any means, but it's deep enough that it's very, very blue, while still having the holographic rainbow effect. I haven't tried Flash Black yet, but if I'm as thrilled with it as with Ocean Rush, I'll consider my money very well spent...and perhaps even go back for more!

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to . . .

Maxine Koyanagi

for winning my giveaway! Please respond to my email within 72 hours to claim your prize.

Verve 360 Nail Polish Giveaway

Hello there! Sorry for the almost month-long break in posts - I was very busy with finals and moving out and all that jazz, and I haven't quite felt like doing much in my first week home. I figure I get a week or so of doing nothing before I start having four hours of class a day, an online class, and a job (hopefully...I'll hear back sometime today) to busy myself with. Don't worry, though, my next post will be up within a week! For now, I want to surprise you lovely readers with a giveaway. Verve 360 hair salons in Pittsburgh kindly contacted me to do a giveaway, and of course I agreed. I'd actually been wanting to do a giveaway for a while, but I haven't had the resources to purchase a really good prize myself. Here are the giveaway details and rules:

• Verve 360 is giving one lucky reader two polishes from Zoya Beach & Surf, Tracie and Myrta (pictured above, though in the opposite order - you can read more about them here and here).
• EDIT: The giveaway is for those living in the continental US only. Sorry I forgot to post this earlier!
• To enter, you must comment on this post answering the first three questions. For each one of the additional questions you answer in your comment, you will gain one additional entry. 
1. What's your name?
2. What's your email address?
3. Why do you like Zoya polishes, or why do you want to try them?
4. Do you like my Facebook page? If so, please leave your Facebook name.
5. Did you tweet about this giveaway? If so, please leave a link to your tweet.*
6. What's your favorite Zoya polish?
• The giveaway will end June 1, 2012 at 3:00 PM CST (GMT -6).

Good luck!

*You can find the permalink to a tweet by clicking "expand" or "details" if you are on twitter.com, or by clicking the time and date of the tweet if you are in a Twitter app, such as TweetDeck. It is this link that I will be checking - a link to your personal feed will not count.

Preppy Stripes & Tutorial

Hello there! Today I bring you some nail art I did Thursday night. I ordered some striping tape off of Amazon a couple weeks ago, and I hadn't gotten around to using it yet, so I decided it was time to break it out. I wanted bold colors, and ended up picking China Glaze First Mate, China Glaze Grape Pop, and OPI Red My Fortune Cookie. The overall effect reminds me a bit of a prep school uniform, hence the title.

natural light

Click "read more" to see the tutorial:

Milani Rad Purple + Kleancolor Chunky Holo Purple

Happy Friday! The end of the week is here at last...at that just means finals are even closer. But for now, I'm glad it's Friday. Today I'm going to show you my most recent layering manicure. Every time I get a new layering polish, I'm always tempted to try it over Milani Rad Purple - it's one of the best jellies I own, and it's purple to boot. Naturally, when I got Kleancolor Chunky Holo Purple in the mail after buying it from Colour Coated's blog sale, I had to slap it on over Rad Purple as soon as possible.

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sunlight

Look at that squishiness! I used three or four coats of Rad Purple Cult Nails Get it On, added a layer of Chunky Holo Purple, and finished it off with Cult Nails Wicked Fast. I'm hoping to find the time to review both of the Cult Nails treatments soon, though top and base coat posts always take me longer for some reason, but in the meantime I will tell you readily that I'm loving them both - so much, in fact, that I may yet say goodbye to my tried-and-true Barielle Clearly Noticeable Nail Thickener, Orly Nailtrition, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. Anyway, that discussion's for another post. Enjoy your Friday!

Zoya Beach Comparisons

Aaaand, here I am again! I have to say, I'm thrilled to have posted three days in a row now when I haven't been able to post consistently for the past while. While I didn't do a comparison post for Surf, simply because I don't own any near dupes that I can think of, there were several out of Beach that I wanted to compare, either because I thought they'd be dupes or simply thought they might be close enough to count.

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First, I compared Zoya Lara to Color Club Overboard. Overboard is on my index and ring fingers, and Lara is on my middle and pinkie fingers. While the two colors are a bit similar, they're not dupes by any means, and since both have good application and opacity, I wouldn't ditch one for the other by any means.

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Next, we have Zoya Shelby and Color Club Yachty, Yachty, Yadda. I apologize for forgetting to turn my macro setting on for this picture, but you can still see how the colors compare. Shelby is on my middle and pinkie fingers, and Yachty, Yachty, Yadda is on my index and ring fingers. Shelby is clearly a bit redder, while Yachty, Yachty, Yadda has more white.

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Zoya Arizona is the only polish out of Beach that I thought would have a true dupe, and I was right - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed is a very nearly exact duplicate of Arizona. While there are very, very negligible differences when you hold your fingernails right smack dab in front of your eyeballs in excellent lighting (Sun Kissed is maybe very slightly redder and Arizona more yellow), you really can't tell the difference once you get your hand about a foot away from your face. Bottom line: if you have one, you really don't need the other.

natural light

Finally, I compared Zoya Wednesday with China Glaze For Audrey. I didn't think they'd be dupes, and they aren't, but I was curious to see exactly how similar they are, especially after using For Audrey in my Wednesday gradient. They're different, but similar enough that I wouldn't be surprised if I do nail art combining them again at some point.

On one last note, I want to remind you all of what I said in my original Beach post - I think Reagan might be similar to OPI Dim Sum Plum, but as I didn't bring Dim Sum Plum with me to college, I can't be sure. I hope this post is helpful regardless!

P.S. Don't forget to go like my new Facebook page!

Zoya Wednesday Gradient

Hello there - I just posted yesterday, but here I am again! I'm enjoying the brief respite between last week, when I had a bunch of tests, and finals week, which is in two weeks (starting the day after my birthday! woohoo! </sarcasm>). In the meantime, I'm hoping to be able to do some nail art and other fun stuff when I'm not doing homework...and probably some when I should be doing homework, too, because that's how I do things. Today, I have the sponging gradient I wore on top of Zoya Wednesday. In addition to Wednesday, I used China Glaze For Audrey, Essie Mint Candy Apple, and a tiiiiny bit of Essie As Gold as it Gets.

 natural light

natural light

natural light

Sorry the coloring is a bit weird on the second image - I decided to keep it in the post anyway because it shows the flaky glitter a little better than any of the other pictures. I briefly considered adding a bit of white at the tips before topping it all of with As Gold as it Gets, but I like it perfectly well as it is. The overall effect reminds me of the sky on a bright, but partly cloudy spring or summer afternoon. This can tend to have the effect of making me want to go lie outside and take a nap instead of working, but then again, it doesn't take much to do that. :) Have a great day!

Zoya Beach Swatches & Review

Greetings! Before I start the polish talk, I have to do a little self-promotion and remind you to go like my Facebook page. (And thanks for doing so!) I hope Monday is going well - or at least tolerably - for everyone. Like I promised, I have swatches of the Zoya Beach collection to show you today, starting with Reagan.

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Zoya describes Reagan as a "deep cerise pink cream," which I think is actually a pretty good description of this gorgeous color. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to show up very accurately in any of the many photos I took of Reagan. It's a bit more purpley than in the picture, but I think I managed to capture the vividity (which, yes, is a word - Google it) well. It's also very opaque at one coat. I'm going to be posting a comparison post for Beach later, but I'll say now that I think Reagan might be a dupe or close cousin to OPI Dim Sum Plum. Unfortunately, I didn't bring it to college, so it won't be in my comparison post.

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The second polish in Beach, Lara, is what Zoya calls a "vivid cerise pink cream." To me, it's a bit more of a cross between bubblegum pink and cerise, but that's very subjective anyway. Like Reagan, Lara is opaque in one coat. Also like Reagan, I couldn't get it to photograph well, and it's a bit more purple in real life. If you're in need of girly pink to add to your polish stash, Lara would be a great choice, though I honestly don't like it quite as well as Reagan.

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Speaking of girly pinks, Shelby seems to me like the epitome of Barbie pink, or as Zoya says, a "soft pinky pink creme." While it's not an uncommon color in the least, that doesn't mean it's not pretty, and I can definitely see myself doing some sort of tape mani with Shelby and, say, China Glaze For Audrey or Zoya Wednesday. Shelby is opaque in two coats.

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Moving away from the pinks, Zoya Arizona is a "soft coral orange creme" that goes on easily in two coats. I'm not sure I'd describe it as coral - or soft, for that matter - but it's certainly a great color, especially for summer. Again, it's not terribly unique, but I'll talk more about that in my comparison post. Oh, and as a side note: could someone explain the logic behind naming a child Arizona?

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Tracie is sort of the standout polish in Beach, as it's the only one that's not a creme. Zoya calls it a "sea grass metallic," and while I see the sea grass part of it, I really consider Tracie to have more of a pearlized finish. Normally I don't like that finish much, but while Tracie isn't my favorite, I did actually end up liking it once I put it on. The base color is very pretty, and I think it helps that the pearlescence isn't too awfully streaky. Tracie was opaque in two coats.

flash

Finally, we have Wednesday, a "soft aqua creme" that I ended up wearing as a full manicure. I love dusty cremes like Wednesday, and while I tend to think of them as more spring-y as far as seasonality goes, I will wear just about any color during any time of year. Wednesday (again, I'm not quite sure why someone would actually name their child Wednesday, but whatever) was opaque in two easy coats.

Overall, while I don't feel that any of these polishes, save Tracie, are that unique, they're all very pretty colors that would be well worth adding to a polish stash that doesn't already contain dupes. As the application and opacity was also very good for all of the polishes, I would definitely recommend Zoya Beach.

These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for honest review. However, that has and will never change what I write in a post. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

I'm on Facebook!

Hey there! This is just a quick little post to let you know that Never Unpolished now has an official Facebook page. I figured it'd be a good way to help people who don't use GFC or Google Reader keep up with the blog, and you never know - I might even have a giveaway on there once in a while. :) Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/NeverUnpolished

Zoya Surf Swatches and Review

Helllooo there! I'm so glad I finally got these swatched so I can show them off to you all, though I must apologize for the fact that the lighting will be changing throughout the post due to the wildly variant weather we always have in St. Louis during the spring. I should be getting Beach swatched and posted relatively soon, too ... but first, Surf's up! (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

indoors, with flash

First, we have Carly, a "thalia purple foil metallic." While I don't have the faintest idea what the heck a "thalia purple" is (feel free to inform me in the comments), Carly is certainly a stunner. I wasn't the biggest fan of Carly just looking at the bottle, but I like it a lot better on my nails. I'd almost say it's an amethyst purple, but I think it's a bit too pinkish for that - it does have that lit-from-within glow of a jewel, though. I used two coats in the picture, but the only reason I added a second was because I wanted it to be a bit more vibrant.

indoors, with flash

Second, we have Kimber, what Zoya calls a "magenta pink foil metallic." Zoya, I love your polishes, but I beg to differ. Kimber is not what I think of when I think magenta. If anything, I'd call it a hot pink foil with gold highlights ... or I could just call it gorgeous. Which it is. I used two coats of Kimber, and it was actually the only polish out of Surf that I really needed a second coat on.

indoors, with flash

Rory, a "lotus pink foil metallic," is honestly not my favorite of the collection. I think it's because I tend not to like frosts, and while Rory isn't quiiiite a frost, its lighter shade combined with the foil finish isn't doing it any favors in my opinion. However, that's just my personal taste, and it's quite the pretty pink - ignore the bumpy look it has on my index finger; that's just because I have peeling there that I haven't quite been able to entirely buff out without making my nail as thin as tissue paper. I used one coat of Rory. 

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While Myrta is described as a "coral orange foil metallic" by Zoya, and while it does look like a coral orange in the color drop, I really didn't see much, if any, coral in the polish when I wore it. Regardless, Myrta is a lovely bright orange with a golden flash, and it was opaque in two easy coats. In fact, I can just picture myself wearing it once warm weather comes around again.

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I actually completely agree with Zoya's description of Meg, which they call a "mermaid green foil metallic." I wouldn't have gotten to "mermaid" all by myself, but when I saw Meg and read Zoya's description, a mental image of Ariel's tail popped right into my head. *hums Disney songs* I can't quite remember if I used one or two coats of Meg, but I think it was one. Maybe. I should make a note of these things.

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I have to admit, even though I went in the order of how the polishes were in the box, the best (in my opinion) ended up being saved for last. Zuza, an "aquamarine foil metallic," is my absolute favorite of Surf by far. It's not that the others aren't pretty; it's just that Zuza is so, well, Zuza. I even love the name. It's a brilliant turquoise foil that makes me think of going to the pool - or even better, the Greek sea in the summertime. For example:

See where the color starts shifting from green to blue - in the middle, where it's that perfect teal? That's Zuza. I guess the true mark of a good summer color must be that it reminds you of last summer's vacation...at any rate, I'll definitely be wearing Zuza at least a couple more times in the next few months!

Overall, while I'm not always a fan of foils that aren't gold, silver, bronze, or copper (i.e., a metallic color that's actually the color of a metal), I thought Zoya did a good job on Surf, and my three favorites are Zuza (of course), Kimber, and Carly. Which would you pick?

These products were provided to me by the manufacturer for review; however, this will never affect my honest review of a product. For more information, see my disclosure policy.