Zoya Exchange!

My sister is probably anxious to see this post...

I REALLY wanted to participate in the Zoya Polish Exchange but how does a polish hoarder like myself find bottles to just give up!? Well, she asks her sister of course!

I asked my little (yet taller, ugh lucky!) sister if she had any bottles of old polish that she wouldn't mind giving me. She gladly said "yes" and went to find me some polish! Not much longer, she returned with 6 bottles. Yes! Just enough to join the exchange! I got home and managed to find a couple that I was willing to part with... totalling 8 polishes to trade!

Here are the colors I chose:

Miece, I got you: Ali, Pippa, and Trixie!

I got myself: Kiki, Pippa, Midori, Charla, and Trixie.

Thank you so much Mee!

The polish exchange is a pretty good deal. You can get rid of old polishes and own some new Zoyas for a less than retail value. I paid $28 for the 8 polishes and spent $12 shipping the old bottles to Zoya. I would definitely do the exchange again :)

Friday, June 04, 2010

Fiercely Fiona

OPI 9 comments

OPI Fiercely Fiona

I really enjoy this color. It is unique... Yellow with a touch of green. This is OPI's "Fiercely Fiona"

"Fiercely Fiona" tends to change its color in different lighting. Sometimes it looks like banana yellow and sometimes it is almost a pastel version of highlighter yellow. I suppose the color of the polish depends a lot on your skintone, as well. Mine is olive-toned... or at least that's what I've been told.

A lot of people have had problems with the application of this polish. I admit, it was a tad streaky... but the solution to that is to have very light brush strokes (in other words, don't push the brush too hard along your nail). I was still able to get complete coverage in 3 coats.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Zoya - Charla

Zoya 16 comments

*EDIT: Color description is based on viewing photos from a Mac. After seeing the photos on a Dell, my color corrections are pretty dang close to accurate. It all just depends on your computer monitor :)

Zoya "Charla"

I almost don't want to post these photos because I couldn't get either of my cameras to accurately capture the color of this polish :( I tried color correcting in PS but it still is not perfect... And I'm a perfectionist so this is driving me nuts!

Use these photos for reference on how much the polish sparkles. I don't think there is any nail polish more glittery or fantastic than the Zoya's from the Sparkle collection (not even Nfu Oh flakes!). This is "Charla".

"Charla" is a blue based polish with LOTS of turquoise (?) glitter! It has so much of this glitter that the color of "Charla" is hardly blue at all! I would call this polish aqua.

Compared to my photos, "Charla" is actually much more saturated in color and has a hint more green... You should have seen the color that my camera(S!) thought it was! Light blue... This is definitely NOT a light blue.

Here is an indoor shot. I used Photoshops basic layers adjustments to color correct this photo. Wasn't completely successful...

Here is an outdoor shot. For this photo, I opened it with Camera Raw to make the color changes. Meh... still not right. Oh well... But look how it shines! :)

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Polish Shopping

Essie 11 comments

Holy cow! 75% Off??!

Yep, that's right. I got these Essie polishes from Trade Secret for $1.75 each! I was almost done looking through the store until I found a corner I hadn't wandered around in yet. When I got there, I found 3 baskets of discounted nail polish. Here are the ones I picked:

How exciting! I've been wanting "Blueberry Crumb" for a while now...

The funny thing about my shopping trip is that the whole time I was shifting through the sale bottles, I kept telling myself "Don't forget to check the brushes". I hate when I get home with a brand new bottle and the bristles are all mashed-up because someone carelessly opened and shut the polish. You know what is worse than having messed up bristles?...

Having NO BRISTLES AT ALL! LOL!

This is just too funny to me. I knew better than to walk out of that store before double checking my polishes but I did anyways! So I guess that's what I deserve :) I think I'll just use the brush and lid from an old Seche bottle.

I also got this color from the new Essie Resort Collection. "Turquoise & Caicos". I paid full price for this one. (*I think this may be the best match for a Tiffany Blue that I've seen! I'll get around to swatching it and let you know...)

I didn't buy one OPI polish this time around! Here is China Glaze's "Sun Worshiper". It's an ultra bright orange. Neon orange. It is going to be a perfect color for pedicures this summer!

Lastly, I got another bottle of Seche Vite. No, now it's just called Vite.

Why do they have to change things around on us? Here is a photo of the new and an old (but new, unused) bottle of Seche top coat:

If you are wondering why I bought another bottle even though I had one at home: I thought it was on sale at the store. I guess I didn't read the tag right because it wasn't. Also, it's always a good idea to have a backup!