zoya polish review

i adore polish.  it's rare that my nails are bare.  such lovely colors mean my collection of polishes is starting to get a bit out of control...and yet there is always a new color or colors calling my name.

this winter zoya has really been on my radar.  i saw a few reviews of their winter 2012/2013 collection a few months ago and then started stalking my local ulta.  it felt like it took forever for them to update their zoya selection and bring out the new collection.  finally they had a sale on zoya buy 2 get 1 free and i finally scored a few.  i picked up blaze and storm along with rekha (which i've not worn yet) from their nyfw 2012 collection.  then as part of one of my glossybox i received electra.

i applied blaze on my nails first as i thought it would be lovely for the holiday season.  the polish applied beautifully and i only needed 2 coats.  the base color is more of a raspberry red.  and oh the shimmer this polish possesses with micro glitter is amazing!  the pics just do not do it justice.

this polish quickly stole a place in my heart as one of my top favorite polishes of all time.  the wear on the zoya formula for me was the standard i get with most polishes.  and even though it has micro glitter, it was a breeze to take off the nails.

this week i wanted some glittery nails for new years so i applied a base of storm polish.  the coverage on this color i found to be a bit more sheer than blaze.  it took two liberal coats for me to get an opaque base.  i was actually more excited for this color than i was for blaze, but to me the micro glitter just shimmers better in blaze.

i decided to apply electra to just the tips.  it is a holographic bar glitter in a clear base.  it is stunning.  however i do have issues with bar glitters in that my tips always seem very sharp once the polish has dried and sometimes the 'bars' of glitter can really poke through the top coat and cause friction when your hands rub against anything.  i did have to take a nail file to the tips of my nails as it was so rough i was afraid it would catch on a sweater or even scratch the delicate skin around my eye when applying makeup.

the storm and electra polishes have been on my nails for two days now and so far no chipping.

- jess

review - forever21 mint & urban outfitters chilly

when i was on vacation in florida i happened to pick up quite a few nail polishes, including these two from forever21 and urban outfitters.  i don't have either store close to me, so i was pretty happy to get to get to shop at both stores.

first i started out applying the forever21 mint polish.  what attracted me to this polish, besides the fast it's only $2.80 is that it's a mint base w/ a lovely blue shimmer.  the shimmer is faint, but you can still see it even after the polish has dried on the nails.  this was the first time i'd used a forever21 polish and i'm not overly crazy w/ the brush, it's just a bit too thin for my liking.  the formula for this color was also a little thin and it took 3 coats to get it completely opaque.  it does wear really well as i had it on my nails for 4 days w/ minimal wear on the tips only.  i picked up 3 more polishes from forever21 and i'm excited to see if they wear just as phenomenal since they are such a great price point.

the urban outfitters i went to didn't have very many polish colors to choose from and i only saw one that caught my eye.  this polish retailed for $5.  chilly is a beautiful glitter polish.  it's a mix of blue micro glitter, small pink glitter and holographic glitter in a clear base.  this glitter polish is stunning.  i did apply 3 coats of it to my ring fingers.

both of these polishes are beautiful and i would definitely recommend you check them out next time you are in forever21 and urban outfitters.

~ jess

polish review - revlon buttercup and calla lily

revlon has really been coming thru lately with me  on their polishes.  they are a great price point, come in some great shades, including some amazing dupes for high end, fantastic color range and good formulation.  i've been looking for a lovely yellow for a while now and youtube has really been buzzing about the buttercup shade. so the day i went into ulta revlon products were on sale for bogo 1/2 off.  i decided to pick up the buttercup shade and also the calla lily.

buttercup is a lovely light pastel yellow.  nice and creamy, everything you'd want in a spring yellow.  calla lily is a creamy off-white with lovely micro shimmer glitter (i wasn't really able to capture it in the pics).  here's where the praise for these polishes starts to diminish in my opinion.

i think i must have just got a bad bottle of the revlon buttercup.  for starters the brush seemed shorter on it than the calla lily shade and also some of the bristles were rough and a bit longer.  it just made application a pain.  also, the color was very streaky and thick.  if i tried to put on a thin layer i only had streaks.  so i ended up having to use three layers of the buttercup to try to get it to look decent.  thankfully seche vite top coat can cover a multitude of "sins". ha!

now onto the calla lily shade.  i could tell from the bottle that it would be a sheer color, but i was hoping i could get it opaque in three layers.  wrong!  it took five.  i will say though that it applied much easier than the buttercup shade.  this is a lovely shade though and would be beautiful with an opaque white applied under it first.

even though the application was a bit of a headache, i have to say that both shades were really lovely.  so if you don't mind working with them a bit, they are a great purchase.  like i said though, i do think the brush on the buttercup shade i purchased was just a lemon.  oh, and the wear on these polishes was very good for me.

~ jess

polish review - sally hansen diamond strength jewel overcoat

while roaming around ulta last weekend trying to get as much as i could w/ my 20% off coupon i wandered over to the nail polish area.  i keep telling myself that i'm not going to buy any more.  but then i'll see a color that i don't have in my collection and of course it ends up in my shopping bag.

they had a display for the new sally hansen jewel overcoats.  so much beautiful glitter!  i'm not sure how long they have been out, but i know i hadn't seen them before.  i immediately gravitated to the 501 - ring-a-ding which is a mixture of rose and yellow gold chunky faceted glitter.  the 507 - white veil also caught my eye as its a mixture of chunky gold faceted glitter and smaller white glitter.

after i got home with them i was a bit disappointed that they are set in a clear base and sometimes when you swatch them on the nail it only leaves behind a few pieces of glitter.

first i applied 2 coats of opi got a date tonight as my base color.  it's a very soft creamy pink.  i then applied 2 coats of the 507 white veil to all my nails except for my ring fingers.  and for those i used the 501 ring-a-ding.  since it is only the large chunky glitter i had to work with it more and use 3 coats.  finally i topped it off with seche vite.

507 - white veil

it was a bit of work to get the glitter on there just as i liked, but i'm very happy with the end result.  by using the soft pink as a base color this is the perfect pairing for spring.  i'm sure i'll be getting a lot of use out of these two bottles.

501 ring-a-ding

~ jess

essie play date polish review

i love spring.  it's my favorite season, for sure!  spring and summer are actually also my favorite seasons for nail polish.  usually i'm a pink nails kind of girl, but i definitely like a lot of other colors too.  i kept seeing pics of essie's 'to buy or not to buy' lavender polish and i was falling in love.  so i ran to walgreens friday to pick up that polish, but got sidetracked when i saw essie's 'play date' from their 'go overboard' collection.  what i love about it is that it is a much richer purple.

saturday i put it on my nails and was in love!  not only is it such a beautiful color, but its so creamy and a dream to apply to the nails.  it was opaque in two coats.  i used china glaze 'strong adhesion base coat' and seche vite for a top coat.  i did have chipping after two days, but that was just due to my nails splitting. 

essie 'play date' swatch

i can definitely see this polish getting a lot of use on my nails not only this year, but for years to come.  check it out next time you are in your local drugstore or beauty store.

~ jess

ps... i'll try to get better pics next time i do a polish review!