Zoya Savita

Hello again! I wasn't planning on having time to blog today, but I had one of those pleasant days where you think you're going to be super busy and it's actually not that bad, so here I am. I absolutely love the Zoya Matte Velvet winter collection from 2009 - it's one of my favorite Zoya collections despite the fact that there are only three of them, simply because they're all so fantastic. I love the rich colors, I love the satin effect that you get with a matte shimmer, I love how they glow with or without top coat, I love that they're opaque in two coats...the only thing I don't love is the fact that they chip like crazy if you don't wear top coat, but I suppose the upside to this is that since they're matte and dry quickly, touch-ups are easy to do.

Man. Just look at that gorgeousness. If you have Savita (or Harlow or Veruschka), cherish it, because Zoya doesn't sell it any more. If you don't, find a friend who does and borrow it immediately, even if you don't like mattes - it looks great with top coat on, which I'll be showing you next time along with a little bedazzling (a.k.a. glitter). In the meantime, have a great day!

Zoya PixieDust: Chyna

Happy Saturday! My mom's coming up to visit today, and while I should have spent this morning working on my literature review and EMTALA presentation for Monday, I painted my nails and watched YouTube instead. Story of my life. Anyway, I have to admit something - I went about a week this week without painting my nails...and it wasn't horrible. I think I'm getting to the point where I don't feel like I *need* to have my nails painted all the time, though I still feel more polished when I have a nice mani on. Anyway, it was still definitely time to paint my nails, and since my samples of Zoya PixieDust arrived yesterday, I thought I'd try one out. I picked Chyna just because it looked so freaking gorgeous in the bottle - I just can't resist a glittery red. I used two coats, and two coats of top coat (Cult Nails Wicked Fast) in the second two pictures. All of these were taken in my lightbox.

While I was really feeling iffy about the PixieDust polishes from looking at the press release and promo stuff, I actually really liked Chyna. The textured effect was not as obvious (or as weird or gross) as I thought it might be, and turned out to be quite the cool effect. I'm now very much looking forward to trying the rest of the collection.

And now, I have a little questionnaire posted by the lovely Elizabeth of Life and Polish! I haven't done anything like this in quite a while, so I thought it would be fun.

1. How many foundations do you own?
None, actually! I do, however, love Pixi Illuminating Tint & Conceal, which is a wonderful tinted moisturizer I use sometimes.

2. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
Well, it depends on whether or not you count the amount of time I spend convincing myself to actually get out of bed...but usually 30 to 45 minutes including shower and breakfast.

3. Do you have a go-to makeup look?
If mascara is a go-to look, yes. I also go with mascara and lip stain quite a lot.

4. What about nails, a go-to nail polish look?
Not really, actually. Just whatever happens to catch my fancy.

5. How often do you try new skin care products?
Not very often. When I find something I really like, I tend to stick with it for as long as I can. I do like to experiment, though.

6. Steak, chicken or fish?
Since it's Lent right now and I gave up red and white meat and popcorn, I have to say fish. :)

7. What is your favorite lip balm?
Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm with Peppermint! I literally never use anything else. It's my number one "beauty" staple (I'm going to argue it's a beauty staple because, you know, chapped lips ≠ pretty).

8. When did you start wearing makeup consistently?
Actually only in the past year or so. I've really made an effort recently to always wear at least mascara, because I feel like mascara alone makes so much difference in both my appearance and how put-together and confident I feel.

9. Do you find you look older or younger with makeup on?
Definitely a bit older.

10. How many lipsticks do you own?
Only one that I actually use, which is Maybelline Red Revival, a classic bold red. I also have two lip stains, Pixi Lip Blush in Love (which they no longer make! sad) and Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain. While I absolutely love the products I have, I also want to expand my collection of lipsticks and lip stains. I don't really have any paler pink shades, so I'd like to work on that.

11. What beauty product do you wish was still made?
Ohmygoodness Pixi Lip Blush. It is my absolute favorite thing ever (okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement), and Love is one of those shades that looks good on everyone. I really wish I'd had the chance to get the other shades before the discontinued it. Pixi still makes lip stains, but they're not the same product or the same colors. I haz a sad.

Feel free to do this survey if you like, and have a great weekend!

This product was provided to me for review.

China Glaze Capitol Colours: Stone Cold

Helllooo! Today I'm reviewing Stone Cold, one of the colors I received from the China Glaze Capitol Colours collection. Stone Cold is a matte, metallic gunmetal-colored polish, and I have to say, I'm a huge fan. I wish my nails were less nubbiny so they could show off the polish more, but c'est la vie, so here are the nubbiny pictures I have:

 sunlight

indoors, natural light

Isn't she gorgeous? I'm really keen to do some kind of sponge like this...I feel like it would be a really good color to sponge. Then again, I've been on a sponging kick lately, so maybe it's just me. Anyway, to get off my tangent, let me tell you some more about Stone Cold. Not only it is an awesome color with an awesome finish, it's really easy to apply and is perfectly opaque in one coat. ONE coat, people! What can I say, I'm impressed.

The next color I have from Capitol Colours is Dress Me Up, so you'll be seeing that soon (though I hope to get a few more when they come out for sale - *cough* Riveting *cough*), though I may have a post or two in between. Also, midterms are next week, so I may have to slack off a bit on the blogging. I'm determined to get good scores on my midterms, so I'll be hitting the books hard (at least, that's what I think now). Until next time, have a good day!

Stone Cold was received by me from China Glaze for review. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Mardi Gras Nails

Happy Mardi Gras! It's a day of indulgence, and while I haven't been indulging myself too much today, I did give my nails a special Mardi Gras manicure this past weekend. I wasn't even really planning on doing Mardi Gras nails until I thought of this and decided it was too good to resist. Who could resist having their nails dripping with gold?

indoors, artificial light

For this manicure, I used Zoya Veruschka on most of my nails, Zoya Savita on the ring fingers, and Orly Luxe for the dripping gold. Though my left pinkie nail was a bit of a mess-up, as you can see, I was really happy with the way the rest of them turned out. In fact, I actually got a "that's really cool" from a straight male, so perhaps that's one way to define manicure success. I meant to add top coat and see how it looked after some wear, but after a couple of days one whole nail peeled off before I had time to do so. I have to say, though, I was impressed with how long it stayed on! I'm really going to have to try to use drip nail art more often.

Again, have a great Mardi Gras - and let me know if you're doing a Mardi Gras manicure!

Matte Top Coat Comparison

After looking for the Hard Candy matte top coat since last fall, I finally found it at my local Walmart. I love Essie Matte to Go, but as the Hard Candy top coat was $4 rather than $10, I was eager to try it out. I bought both bottles they had (hey, both of them together were still less than one bottle of the Essie!) and hurried home to test it out. I wanted to compare the top coats over both a matte polish and a shimmer polish, so I used NYX Silver Plum, which I was already wearing, and Orly Enchanted Forest.

 outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

Can you guess which is which? Left to right, I used Essie, Hard Candy, Essie, Hard Candy. As you can tell, especially in the first picture, Essie makes both polishes a bit more matte than the Hard Candy. In real life, though, the difference was negligible. I couldn't even tell which was more matte with my hand at arm's length from my face, and once you put on lotion a couple times, there probably wouldn't be any difference at all. And for less than half the price of Essie Matte About You? I'll go with the Hard Candy from now on if I can find it. Two bottles ought to last me a while. :)

Ooh, Goodies!

I was literally just about to post my NOTD when I heard a knock at the door. When I went and looked, I found a mysterious package...actually, it wasn't that mysterious - I knew my Reviva products from the Painted Lady Fingers giveaway had arrived! But first, nails. I added a matte top coat to yesterday's The Girl Who Played with Fire manicure, and while I don't think I like it quite as well as the glossy version, I do like it.

indoors, artificial light

And here's the package I got from Reviva Labs. It included Rosewater Facial Spray; Organic Cleansing Milk; Organic Skin Tonic; Sun Protective Moisturizer; Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin C Ester, & DMAE Cream; a Vitamin E Stick; Firming Eye Serum; Hyaluronic Acid Serum; and DMAE Firming Fluid.

I can't wait to try all of these! Would you be interested in reviews of these products, or not?

Nina Ultra Pro Brassi Bronze - Plus Awesome Stuff!

I can never seem to think of good post titles, haha. Anyway, I mattified Nina Ultra Pro Brassi Bronze, and this is it after one day:. Unfortunately, I already have a couple chips - I don't know if that's Nina Ultra Pro's formula or my matte top coat, Essie Matte About You. Also, please forgive my terribly fingers/cuticles.

 outdoors, sunlight

 outdoors, shade

indoors, artificial light

I really like this color! I'm actually not a huge fan of it on its own when it's glossy for some reason (though I like it in a design with blue or some other color), but I LOVE it matte. The color doesn't change or anything, so I'm not quite sure why that is...but it doesn't matter. And then I had to add a coat of Hidden Treasure:

So I realize this looks a bit odd in the picture, but it's gorgeous in real life. The colors in Hidden Treasure complement the bronze very nicely, really making the polish glow. 

And with that, I've got homework to do. Have a great weekend!

EDIT: Just to let you all know, I am trying to get another archive post written, but I'm having trouble finding websites that render properly on archive.org. Urgh, frustration. Hopefully soon!

Midnight Mission Matte

Very quick post today...I've got to get back to my precalculus homework. Math homework on the first day of school; this year is off to a great start! Or not. Really, though, my day was actually quite nice and went by very fast. I was in a hurry this morning, but wanted to change it up, so I added Essie Matte About You to China Glaze Midnight Mission. Sorry about the chips.

Oh, you want to know what that green furry thing is? Well, it's my new Hong Kong-ese keychain-slash-ball of cuteness, and it came to me with from someone special with something very very special...and you'll just have to wait and see what that something was! :)

Sephora by OPI Domestic Goddess Matte

I have another very quick, one-picture post for you today...no proper excuse though - I just didn't take pictures until the sun went down. Oops.

This was three coats and, as you can see, I didn't do any cleanup today. I'm lazy, what can I say? Like most matte polishes, Domestic Goddess Matte shows application mistakes very, very well. However, it's a very pretty color, and one that I occasionally like to apply top coat over. Additionally, it photographs very accurately, especially for a purple - the photograph above is spot-on. 

Orly Luxe

Luxe is another polish from the Orly Foil FX 2010 collection consisting of Rage, Luxe, and Shine (I won't be showing Shine, because my local Sally Beauty Supply didn't have it for some reason). Luxe is an incredibly shiny, cool-toned gold with bits of silver shimmer running through it. While the silver isn't as evident as in Rage, it is still obviously there.

Instead of wearing Luxe on its own and then with a matte top coat, I did matte French tips using Essie Matte About You.

indoors, artificial light

outdoors, shade

outdoors, sunlight

I love Luxe! It's glitzy and shiny and gorgeous, and while it doesn't complement my skin tone as well as most of my other golds, I still love wearing it, and I can't stop staring at my nails. My pictures are actually fairly color accurate for once, and the picture taken in sunlight is spot-on. The matte tips are slightly more evident in real life, but they are subtle.

The next couple weeks are going to be pretty exciting - I've got several nail polish and nail-related packages coming in the mail fairly soon, so be prepared! :)

Orly Rage

Sorry my post was so late today - while I had my camera, I was away from my computer all day. On to the polish!

Orly Rage is one of the three colors from Orly's Foil FX Spring 2010 collection (the other two are Shine and Luxe). The collection was pitched as giving nails a Minx-like finish without the high price, and in my opinion they certainly deliver! Rage was very, very, VERY shiny - I can't quite see myself in my nails, but it's definitely more reflective than most polishes. Rage is a rose gold with bits of silver in it, and while I absolutely love the color, I think it would look better on darker skin - darn pinky-pale skin tone! Here's Rage without top coat:

indoors, artificial light - way too gold; it's rosier in real life

 outdoors, sunlight - look at that shine!

 outside in half sun, half shade

 outside in shade

I took a ton of pictures, and in none of them did I manage to capture the beauty that is Rage (though I did capture my somewhat messy cleanup and horrible cuticles - sorry about that). Think indoor pic color, but rosy instead of straight gold. There are silver, rosy, and gold particles in the polish, so that may be what contributed to this polish being impossible (for me) to photograph properly. At any rate, Vampy Varnish has a way better, more-accurate photograph that you can check out if you like.

I loved Rage, but I wanted to try it with a matte top coat to see what would happen. I used Essie Matte About You, and here are the results:

indoors, artificial light

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

Beautiful! For some reason, I actually prefer Rage with a matte finish. I think taking away the shine makes the polish look less silvery (though it still does in my photos). The matte top coat also allows you to see the disparate rose, gold, and silver particles, which I love - it gives the polish a new depth. I wish I could stop it from looking either silver or gold in my photos, but alas...I suppose I'll just blame it on a combination of my dinosaur camera and bad lighting.

On a somewhat related note...who else can't wait for the Orly Foil FX Fall 2010 collection coming out in September? They are going to be actual color-colors (i.e. not just silver and gold), and at the moment it's looking like I'll be buying them all!