Zoya Fire and Ice Holiday 2010 Nail Polish Collection

One of the better ways to deal with the shine and sparkle of holiday collection is to wear them on one's nails. Of course, some of the available options are so far out of my personal comfort zone I'd need a passport to go there (OPI Burlesque Collection comes to mind. I saw the swatches on Cafe Makeup and wanted to play with the bottles and do crafts, but not necessarily wear them). Fire & Ice Collection from Zoya is far more appealing to me, though it is glittery and as far as I'm concerned these are special occasion polishes.

The first one I've worn was Gloria, a sparkling metallic rose. I loved looking at my nails and see the light reflected, but even the husband noticed the level of shine and commented it was not really a safe choice. He's right, of course, but it's still fun. I also love Valerie, the deep purple/wine with warm/gold micro glitter particles. It's the one I'd wear with a sexy black dress for a holiday party.

Crystal, the complex ice blue, is a winner. I'm not a blue polish person but can't help admiring it and definitely see myself wearing it occasionally just for a night. It's way too much for me to pull of during the day, but this is just me showing my age. I can't help it.

As with all glitter nail polish, cleanup takes too much time and work, especially if you use a drugstore remover. Professional products do a much better work here and shorten the time you have to spend smelling them, so that's a serious plus in this case.

Bottom Line: Pretty and shiny. What more could we ask for?

Zoya Fire & Ice Winter 2010 Collection ($36 for  the sampler set, individual bottles are $7 each) is available from zoya.com. A press sample was sent for consideration by the company.

All photos are mine.

Zoya Summer 2010 Nail Polish Collections: Flash and Sparkle

You can't blame my cats for deciding the bottles of Zoya's Summer 2010 collections are toys. Just look how bright and happy everything looks. Sparkle and Flash are a great pick-me-up. You just can't feel down when playing with these colors, and play I did. I ended up with something like this:

But, seriously. Nobody does metallics like Zoya, and Sparkle takes it up a notch, with dense shimmer that calls for hot summer nights out on the town. The shine is disco-worthy, and you can go from classic reds and fuchsia to the stunning green (Ivanka) and blue (Charla). Would I dare wearing them out in public? Maybe. Mimi, the dark purple is more my thing and I know it will serve me well into the fall.

Flash is the cream range. Two coats of each color brings you almost to perfection. Three is better, but I tend to mess things up waiting for the polish to dry, so I'll stick with two. Robyn is the amazing dark turquoise/ocean blue. I can't pull it off on my hands, but I see many a pedi in my future. Flash is extra summery and I'm having a hard time picking a favorite. Maybe the soft orange of Jancyn.

Zoya Summer 2010 Nail Polish Collections, Flash and Sparkle ($7 per bottle), are available from artofbeauty.com. I recieved them as a PR freebie.

All photos of Zoya bottles by me. Models: Lizzy, Buffy and Giselle.
Vintage Natural Wonders ad: paperpursuits.blogspot.com

Zoya Nail Polish Reverie Collection Spring 2010

Enough with the drama. Let's look at something pretty, like Reverie nail polish collection for spring 2010 from Zoya. All the colors have a metallic finish, some of them are bolder than others and all required 2-3 coats to achieve full coverage and color.

The star of Reverie is Adina, a gorgeous duochrome lavender. I love staring at the bottle in different lights (beauty bloggers are dorks, among other things), and apparently so does my cat, Thomas. Today I'm wearing Adina on my left hand (and other things on my right one. Beauty bloggers are also weird and it's too cold to leave the house, anyway) and while I love the color, I suspect it's not the best choice for my skin tone. It makes me look ashy and also dead. Adina would be stunning on those of you without a green undertone.

My biggest and most surprising favorite out of Reverie is Reece, a true rose bordering on fuchsia in a certain light. It's very feminine without looking over the top and is very flattering on me.I'm going to come back to Reece quite a bit in the coming months.

The entire collection is happy and light in feel. Laney is a pearly silver, which would make a  fabulous summer pedi, Happi is a delicate pink for a girls' slumber party, Lana and Gwin are all about sundresses and flower in one's hair. They don't look right on my hands, but I suspect would be perfect on lighter skin.

Zoya Reverie collection ($7 per bottle, $36 for the sampler set) is available from the company's website, artofbeauty.com and select nail salons. I received the set as a PR freebie.

All photos by me.

Nail Polish For Fall 2009: Zoya Truth And Dare

The seasonal nail polish collections from Zoya are always a lot of fun, bringing trendy colors alongside updated versions of beautiful classics. Truth & Dare for fall 2009 are no exception, and the colors are, indeed, playful and very pretty. Truth is a group of six bright metallic colors that make for a good transition from summer to early fall. Lately, I've been wearing Drew, a metallic mauve-raspberry/rose shade which is my favorite out of this group (for now).



Dare might be the most beautiful nail polish collection I've seen lately. Some of the colors are opaque cream, others have subtle shimmer. Ibiza is the very trendy indigo/navy shimmer. It looks stunning and I'm glad to have it even if I can't see myself actually leaving the house wearing this color. I just stare at this color again and again and admire it. Envy, a creamy dark forest green with a very light shimmer is beautiful and elegant. It doesn't scream "green" and it simply looks great. Pinta is a very interesting blue violet. The photo taken with the flash show more of the purple, while in the ones in natural light, the polish looks almost navy. The truth is somewhere in the middle. My current favorite is Demi, a rich mauve-purple. It's very opaque, two coats are perfect, but one looks decent enough when in a hurry.


As always, Zoya nail polish is of the highest quality (flawless application, impressive durability), while free of the most harmful chemicals.

Zoya Truth & Dare collections ($6 per bottle) are available from select salons and from the company's website, artofbeauty.com. I received them as a PR freebie.

All photos by me.

Matte Nail Polish- Zoya MatteVelvet Fall 2009

It looked like a good idea at the time.

With formerly extreme nail polish colors like black, green and indigo becoming acceptable in polite company, came the demand for something cool and new. Enter matte nail polish. The new trend is a departure from the ultra shiny nails we're used to see. No more piling on layers of glossy top coats to maintain luster. In fact, the new matte nails require that you use neither base coat nor top coat. It goes on over clean and dry nails (it's best to use a polish remover before application, to make sure there's no trace of lotions or other greasy substances).

I got to play with Zoya MatteVelvet, a collection of three colors in the new finish. Posh is a shimmery deep red, Loredana is a shimmery gunmetal gray and Dovima is a velvety black shimmer. The new colors come in a frosted glass bottle that actually hides the shimmer. The polish is actually has a muted metallic glint and a fabric-like appearance, which is where the problem starts for me.

The polish goes on easily, dries down in seconds (amazing. I wish all nail polish worked like this) and is essentially fool proof. But while the color is pretty and it's interesting, my nails end up looking fuzzy, like something went wrong. It's just not something I enjoy. The matte polish looks best in dim lighting, which brings out the best in this finish. It actually looks lit from within. But in broad daylight, said fuzziness occurs. Add to that the longevity issue (the Zoya website is very honest and warns you about it. It's a special formula and is not supposed to last) that causes flaking and chipping within 24 hours, and this is just not for me. I simply don't like this trend.

I removed the polish after two days, but that's probably because I couldn't wait to start playing with Zoya Truth and Dare, the two special collections for fall 2009. Both have gorgeous, deep colors with a sturdy, glossy finish. Photos coming soon.

Zoya MatteVelvet collection for fall 2009 ($6 per bottle) is available from select salons and the company's website, artofbeauty.com. I received it as a PR freebie.

photos: mine. models: Peter (gray) and Buffy (white)

Zoya Nail Polish Summer 2009- Cruel Summer

Zoya is bringing the 80s back with the Ooh-La-La collection for summer 2009. Four of the colors, the ultra-bright ones, have a distinct neon finish that calls to mind the matching socks, rubber bracelets and scrunchies of yore. The polish colors are as summery and fun as can get, but I'm getting the feeling those among us who've been there the first time around, might not be the target audience for Ooh-La-La. The other two colors, Dita and America, aren't exactly shy violets, either, but they are easier to wear. America, a deep watermelon shade is my favorite and the one I'm more likely to reach for. It's pretty and I can almost pull it off, but it's so strong and bright I ended up feeling a bit too self conscious wearing it in polite company.

La-Di-Da is the metallic option. Nobody does blue and green nail polish as well as Zoya. If that's your thing, you're going to enjoy Tallulah and Midori with their Mediterranean summer vibe. I pick the more conservative Emme and Ginessa for a pretty pedicure to go with fun sandals.

As always, Zoya nail polish is made without the big bad three: toluene, formaldehyde, and DBP (phthalates) , the worst of chemicals. The quality is wonderful: two coats give the exact color you see in the bottle, and even the cream formula dried up quickly and didn't budge for five days. I actually took it off before there were any signs of wear and tear.

And here are a couple of reasons to be wary of the 80s:




Zoya summer 2009 collection ($6 per bottle) is available online, from the company's web site. I received it as a PR freebie.

Yellow

Yes, I know bright yellow is one of the hottest colors for the comming summer, but even Natalie Portman doesn't convince me that having yellow nails is a good thing.

But for those who are interested in getting the look, here are a few options for yellow nail polish(click to enlarge):



Would you wear it?

Photo of Natalie Portman: A socialite's Life

She's Just That Into Purple

Still talking about the movies, even though not exactly Oscar material: I watched He's Just Not That Into You (and enjoyed it quite a bit. Then again, my street cred must already be gone considering how much I liked Mamma Mia!, and that I've found Pierce Brosnan's attempts at singing to be quite endearing). They put fashion and makeup to a very good use where it came to defining the different characters, but the real star was purple nail polish.

While almost all the women had either a French manicure or a simple clear polish, Ginnifer Goodwin's character, Gigi, had metallic purple nails. If I'm not mistaken, there were two different shades: one lighter and more on the lilac side, the other dark and very purple, maybe with a bit magenta in it.

Purple polish is not the easiest to pull off, especially on skin with yellow or olive undertones. Personally, I'm more into mauve, but you just can't deny how pretty it is- in theory and on Ginnifer's hands. Here are some options for this look:

Essie It's genius (left) and China Doll (right):


Zoya has a great selection of purples with different levels of shimmer. Several of their colors could have easily been the one(s) from He's Just Not That Into You, but I have a soft spot for Juno, though I probably shouldn't wear it:

Different than the purples in the movie (and not entirely wearable for the olive skinned), but interesting and worth mentioning is Purple Rain from the Lippman Collection, originally created for Zac Posen's Spring 2009 collection:

Do you have a favorite very purple polish?

Nail Candy, Take 2

I had a little deja vu moment when I opened the newsletter from Sephora announcing their spring 2009 nail color collection from OPI. The title was "Nail Candy" and the bright colors are happy, bright and sweet. And very much like a cream version of the ChitChat collection Zoya introduced last summer, which was shimmery with gold undertones .

The link above goes to my post from May 2008, titled Nail Candy, and here are the color samples from both Zoya and OPI/Seophora press releases. Fun colors, for sure. I'd still stay away from painting your nails yellow. I tried it last year and wouldn't repeat it.

Zoya ChitChat Summer 2008

Sephora by OPI Spring 2009

What do you think? which ones looks better?

original image is mine