April Showers

The base colors for this manicure are Zoya Breezi  and Zoya Harley.  I used Rimmel Posh Pink and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme for the umbrella.  I used Essie Pure Pearlfection for the raindrops (they show up better in real life).  I used dotting tools for all the nail art. 

Penguins

Penguins are pretty easy.  On my left hand I liked the penguin on the pinkie and thumb.  On my right hand I liked the ring finger penguin.  I thought the polar bear and the peeking penguin were also sort of cute.  I used the nail polish brushes themselves to do almost all of the black penguins and white belly parts.  I used this Youtube tutorial to do the dancing penguin.  Surprise, it is cuter dancing on youtube. 

Zoya Blu

Zoya Blu weirdly makes my very pale skin look tan.  (Yes, I consider that tan.  All of you who actually have some melanin in your skin quit laughing.)  Blu seems to be a bright white pigmented polish with some blue color mixed in.  It has surprisingly good coverage in one coat, but I used two.  I like it on its own, but I can envision lots of nail art with Blu.  I can see mixing this with navy or mixing it with white and silver.  We'll have to see what I come up with. 

Zoya Zuza

This is Zoya Zuza.  It is a Tiffany blue polish with a foil finish.  It is just gorgeous and pretty unique.  I like it on my nails when I'm pale in the winter and it makes a gorgeous pedicure in the summer.  Be sure to use a base coat with this one because it will stain your nails blue without one.  I have Bison football players written on my hand since I was doing a NDSU Bison manicure next. 

Zoya Holly

I put one coat of Zoya Holly over another manicure.  That is why it looks so funky in places, it isn't the polish's fault.  Holly is a gorgeous metalic green that is perfect for Christmas or St. Patrick's Day. 

Christmas Sweater Nails

The base of this is Zoya Ginessa.  I used Zoya Holly, Zoya Jade, and the Nailz Craze 03 stamping plate.  I painted the colors in stripes and then scraped the polish off in the same direction. 

Zoya Ginessa

This is Zoya Ginessa. It is my fault (not Ginessa's fault) the polish on my middle finger is messed up.  Ginessa is a white glass fleck foil finish.  It is great for snow in manicure art.  Unlike other Zoya foil finishes, this one is a little grainy and you have to be careful when applying it to make sure it goes on even.  I'll have to try again sometime to get a picture in daylight.  It was sub zero temps so I took this pic inside. 

Snowmen nails

The base color for this manicure is Wet 'n Wild Megalast I Need a Refresh Mint.  I used Zoya Ginessa for the snow.  I like the hand where I did "waves of snow" better then the one where I was hoping for something similar to icicles or snow sliding off a roof.  I also used Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Wet 'n Wild I Red a Good Book, Essie Brazilliant, and dotting tools. 

Halloween Manicure

I did most of this manicure with dotting tools. I did the spider web with nail art brushes.  I just don't have any luck with nail art brushes.  I used Revlon Cherry Berry, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Wet 'n Wild French White Creme, and an old silver polish. 

Zoya Jules

Zoya Jules was such a disappointment. I don't know if I got a dud bottle or what happened.  I've seen Jules other places online and it glows with gold glass fleck shimmer in the same way other Zoyas with foil finishes do.  My bottle just has some gold shimmer, but it does not have the lovely Zoya foil finish.  Jules is a cool toned taupe with gold shimmer.  This is two coats, but you would need another coat to cover the visible nail line.  The taupe color isn't great for my skin tone.  I haven't figured out any way to use this polish yet.  Booooo!
I tried a gradient with Rimmel Pro Rags to Riches (green) and Zoya Daul (purple).  Oops.  I did unintentional Mardi Gras nails.  Then I tried with Rags to Riches (green) and Zoya Hazel (blue).  Meh.  Hopefully I'll find a way that I like Jules.

Zoya Noot

Zoya Noot is a charcoal gray leaning green. When I was painting my bathroom gray, I had a hard time finding a paint that would look true gray.  They looked taupe or blue, but not gray.  I have the same issue with gray nail polish.  After I did some research on the internet, I found out that grays that lean green appear true gray.  This is sort of true for Noot.  It does look true gray in most lights.  Sometimes it looks green/gray.  It is a bit stark for me to wear Noot on it's own.  I'll probably pair it with a light gray and do nail art most of the time I use it.  Below it is with a Wet 'n Wild Kaleidoscope glitter gradient.  Meh.  That was O.K. 

Zoya Shay

Zoya Shay is a good nude cream for me.  I'll probably use it mostly for nail art.  I'm not much of a nude polish person, but it is a good idea to own a good nude in case you want one.  Below I tried doing a French tip with my nail art brushes.   Not so much.  My unsteady hand made a wonky French tip.  Next time I'll just use the brush that comes in the polish.  I have better luck with that. 

Zoya Breezi

Zoya Breezi manages to somehow be bright and dusty at the same time.  It was from a summer collection but I think it is a great fall blue cream polish. I really like this one.

Zoya muse

I was thrilled with Zoya Hazel, two coats.  Hazel is a blued gunmetal gray with a foil finish.  Like almost all of Zoya's foil finishes, this one almost glows with glass fleck shimmer in the sunlight.  Below I added a navy french tip with Rimmel Pro Midnight Blue

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Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie is a crelly.  It is between a cream finish and jelly finish.  A jelly polish is a sheer polish that looks squishy like jelly on your nails.  Jelly polish has a translucent quality.  This is 4 coats, but 3 will do.  I used 4 to try to hide some blue stains on my nails from a different polish.  You can see the stains and the visible nail line in this picture, but they didn't show up in real life.  Elodie is a red/pink coral.  The color is just O.K. with my skin tone.  I like it, but won't buy it again.  Zoya polish wears really well on me (6 days) and is my favorite brand of nail polish. 

 

I used the brush from Orly Luxe to add a quick, cute accent.  

Pure Ice It's Complicated and Zoya Venus Sandwich

This is Pure Ice It's Complicated sandwiched between layers of Zoya Venus. I started by wearing Zoya Venus, 3 coats.  Then a few days later I added a coat of Pure Ice It's Complicated and another coat of Zoya Venus. 
Pure Ice It's Complicated is a mix of several jewel toned colors of hexagon shaped glitter with some silver glitter mixed in.  It applies very nicely.  It isn't too thick, you don't have to fish for glitter, the glitter applies evenly.  I bought this glitter mostly to do jelly sandwiches, but it is nice when not topped with another polish too.  Without another polish over it, it has a birthday party feel to it.  Fun.

Zoya Stevie

The newest trend in nail polish is texture polish.  Zoya Stevie is my first textured polish.  Zoya calls their texture polishes Pixie Dusts.  They have a spring and summer collection, and I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't another Pixie Dust collection this fall.  The Zoya version of texture polish is sparkly.  Some other companies make texture polish without glitter.  I think Zoya nailed the texture look with polishes that resemble gum drops.  The polish itself dries matte with sugar like sparkles peaking out underneath. 

When you apply Pixie Dusts, Zoya suggests you don't use a top or base coat.  A top coat ruins the texture finish and make it look like a regular glitter polish.  Stevie took two coats.  I followed Zoya's instructions and let each coat dry 10 minutes in between coats.  Stevie wore well for me, I wore it 6 days with very minor chipping (the above pic was day 5 or 6).  Stevie sparkles even in low light.  I was surprised that I preferred the Pixie Dust texture in indoor light, because I expected the opposite.  The first day I applied Stevie, I liked it, but also thought it looked too thick in direct sunlight, like thick old nail polish in need of thinner.  It wasn't as thick as it looks in the picture below, but on that order.  I don't know if it dried more over time or if I just got used to it, but I didn't think it looked thick the following days.  Stevie looked like the above pic after the first day.  The feel of the texture is on the order of an orange peel. It isn't overly rough and doesn't get caught on things and isn't annoying.   I really like the Pixie Dust  texture, but probably don't need to buy tons of them. You can buy Zoya online at zoya.com, and at Ulta, Whole Foods, and some salons. 

More St. Patrick's Day Manicures

Above is the 2nd of my green St. Patrick's day Manicures.  I used Finger Paints Go Van Gogh stamped with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White.  I was hoping the addition of white would make Go Van Gogh very spring-y.  Meh, it is O.K.  I abused my nails and this chipped in one day.

This is Zoya Poppy with Finger Paints Go Van Gogh, stamped with the Salon Express kit.  I attempted this manicure with several pastels as the base and using Rimmel Rags to Riches.  Rags to Riches didn't stamp.  So I tried stamping with Go Van Go and liked it best over Zoya Poppy.  I was wrong, those colors are terrible together.  I was trying to find a way to use the very small "full nail" stamps with the Salon Express kit, but this wasn't it.  Fail all around.

This is a repeat from last year.  Revlon Emerald City with a Sinful Colors Green Ocean funky french tip.  I like this, but I'm ready to move on to pastel and bright manicures for spring. 

Zoya Poppy

This one is Zoya Poppy.  I love Zoya polish, but not this one.  Poppy takes three coats, it is frosty and streaky, it stains my nails orange, and I don't love the color on me (it looks great on my niece though).  I'd say skip this color.

Zoya Kristen

This is the last polish in my most recent Zoya order, Zoya Kristen.  I so wanted to like this pretty color.  I do like it, but not on me.  It is a bit too cool on me.  The actual color is the color of the polish on the thumb in the pic above.  I can still pull it off-ish, so I'll still wear it.  For regular humans, this would be a great blue nude color that should be work appropriate.  It is also a great blue polish for winter.  Unfortunately it just isn't great for me.  Why?  Ask Susan below.  It is because "Kristen is mean, mean, mean!"