Today, I have another comparison post for you guys. It occurred to me when I bought China Glaze Strike Up A Cosmo that it looked a lot like Zoya Faye and Orly Ingenue. So I'm going to do a comparison post between the three. And here's what I found out:
Pictures:
Indoor no flash.
Note the hue differences.
Outdoor in sunlight.
Note how they kind of look the same and sunlight.
Outdoor and shade.
And also this is just my little thing (I minored in English so it's not totally weird). But I have heard so many people mispronounce the name of Orly's Ingenue that I figured I'd do a public service and post the video below of how to pronounce it (here's what it means too). Sorry, but my inner English nerd has a seizure when people pronounce words wrong.
In these pictures I used two coats of China Glaze and three coats of Zoya and Orly with a heavy coat of topcoat for everyone. So you can see they are not dupes, not by a long-shot. While Faye and Ingenue are dupes of each other. They are not dupes for China Glaze Strike Up A Cosmo. Both Faye and Ingenue have more of a copper sheen to them Strike Up A Cosmo has an almost silver or pale gold sheen to it. It's also worth noting that the formula is better on China Glaze, then on Orly and Zoya, because it's opaque in two coats. I would like to note however that in the sunlight, there's really not all that much color difference. And to be honest, if you have one of these polishes then you probably don't need the others. And if you don't have any of them (and you only want one), I recommend China Glaze, because two coats are just more convenient than three. Plus China Glaze is way cheaper than Zoya. Well that's all I have for you today. Until next time, stay classy and stay polished.
XOXO
Today, I am going to show you guys a swatch of Storm by Zoya. I have had this polish for a while but I haven't worn it because...well it just never made the cut honestly. But I was feeling like dark polish today so it finally made the cut. Yeah so black polish isn't exactly summer...but hey I can't wear most of the neons and bright colors that other (read this as not white as a ghost) people can. So, I rock dark colors year round. Anyway, here's Zoya Storm; it's a black polish with torn holographic glitter in it.
Swatches:
Indoor with flash.
Indoor no flash.
Outdoor in sunlight.
*Best color representation
Outdoor in shade.
Closeups:
Indoor no flash.
Outdoor in sunlight.
For all the shots above I used 2 coats of Storm and a layer of top coat. The formula applied easily and dried quickly. Over all no complaints from me. It even wore for a long(ish) time (read this as 3 days) without chipping. Over all I really like this polish. It's very pretty and it makes my Valkyrie heart do little flip flops. Because as you know there is nothing more appealing to a Valkyrie than something sparkly and for me specifically to be dark and sparkly. Anyway that's all I have for you guys today. Until next time. Stay classy and stay polished.
XOXO
So for a short little post before my real post I have another haul to show you guys. And yes I am no longer an Indie Polish Virgin. I am the proud owner of four brand spanking new Indie polishes as of yesterday. Plus I got a few other goodies in the mail. Want to see what I got? You don't have to twist my arm. Here are the lovely new ladies that joined my polish stash this week.
eBay:
Dollish Polish: I'm The BoogiemanThis Is HalloweenWe're Simply Meant To Be
My number one nail polish crush (my first ever nail polish crush).
Floam - Nail-Venturous
Yeah, so not a nail product, but seriously like the best lip butter ever. It's not available in my area so I had to buy it online. Yummy, caramel flavored kisses.
Amazon:
OPI - Sprung & A Butterfly Moment
Zoya - Storm & Orly Mermaid Tale
So there you have it the newest ladies to join my polish stash. I just couldn't be more thrilled about finally having a bottle of Floam for my very own. I went all Gollum on it when I opened the package. I stroked it fondly and said "My precious." Which is how I know I'm a polish nerd. Anyway I hope you have an awesome day and I'll be back later with a swatch post. Until next time, stay classy and stay polished.
XOXO
This post is going to be short and sweet as I am sick as a dog with the flu but wanted to get something up to show you guys. Today, I am going to show you Anastasia by Zoya. Anastasia is a metallic dark purple with peach/gold shimmer. There will only be indoor pictures because standing out in the cold is really not the best thing for the flu so I will just post indoor pics until this disease is out of me.
The bottle:
Indoor with flash.
Indoor no flash.
Swatches:
Indoor with flash.
Indoor no flash.
Both pictures are with three coats of Anastasia and a coat of topcoat. It's a thin formula and has an average dry time. I like the color on the nail...but I liked it better in the bottle. It just looses something on the nail for me. Which is sad because I had such high hopes for Anastasia. What do you guys think? Is it awesome or ehhh? That's all I have for you guys today. Until next time, stay classy and stay polished.
Today, I have a pink water marble to show you guys. I didn't set out to do a water marble. I was trying to do a water spotted manicure...well long story short the spray hand sanitizer (I was lucky enough to already have) was just not useful for this purpose. It just tore giant holes in the polish (the size of three fingers). Fail. So I decided that since I already had the water ready it wouldn't be a total loss and decided water marble was a better way to go since I have gotten pretty good at it. I also wanted to say that this it the first time I have used Zoya polish in a water marble...and holy crap it's awesome. It spreads better than any polish I own. Or at least Persiphony spreads better than any polish I own. Any way enough of my blathering here's the manicure. I hope you enjoy it.
Indoor with flash.
Indoor no flash.
Outdoor in sunlight.
Outdoor in shade.
What I used:
China Glaze - White Cap
Zoya - Persiphony
Flower water marble pattern.
And a song because I can't do a pink manicure without a P!nk song. That would be silly.
P!nk - F**kin Perfect
So there you have it, the water marble that started as a water spot. Don't worry I am not giving up I will try the water spot manicure again. I just didn't have the required equipment to get it to work right (i.e. hand sanitizer that doesn't suck). That said I am happy with how the water marble turned out even if it was in lieu of water spots. It's pink and girly and springy...even if it's cold as...well you know were I'm going with this. It's decidedly still winter outside. Well that's all I have for you guys today. Until next time, stay classy and stay polished.
Just a short haul post for you guys. This is an Amazon.com, Trade Secret, and Zoya haul. I used some gift cards on Amazon and took advangage of the 3 free promo Zoya was running to knock off some lemmings. Want to see what I got? I thought that might be the case. Here it is.
Amazon.com:
Color Club - Blue Heaven
Color Club - Angel Kiss
OPI -You Only Live Twice and Zoya - Persephone
Trade Secret:
OPI - Gouda Gouda Two Shoes
From the 50% off clearance bin.
Zoya:
Zoya - Opal, Maisie, and Anastasia
So as you can see I added some serious (I define serious as more than 5) polish to my collection this week. I would have had one more polish I bought from a seller on amazon, but the polish got lost in the mail (or was never sent) and the seller is being pretty shady so it may never happen/arrive. But that aside I still added a bunch of pretty ladies to my collection and I will swatch them as soon as I can. Until next time, stay classy and stay polished.
XOXO
I realized that I haven't done any nail art and more specifically any tutorials for quite some time so I thought I would do one today. Also I just wanted to mention that there is actually a really good reason I don't do a ton of nail art or tutorials, and it's because I have both carpel tunnel and a bulged disk in my neck (at C5). And for whatever reason they are both more troublesome in the winter. So I do a lot of swatches (between tutorials and nail art) because those posts can usually be done even if either (or both) are giving me trouble. I just wanted you guys to know so you don't feel cheated when I post a lot of swatches and not a lot of nail art. IMO all nail posts have value but a recent event brought to my attention that others don't seem to think so. If you only want to see nail art I will post that, but not as often during the winter as I do during the warmer months.
Okay, now that's out of the way...Today, I am going to show you guys my version/interpretation of the mermaid manicure. And added bonus I am going to show you how to get the look yourself.
Finished product:
What You Will Need:
Top coat (Seche Vite) and a makeup sponge.
Color Club - Worth The Risque
Finger Paints - Artistic Azure
Zoya - Charla
China Glaze - Fairy Dust
Konad nail stamper and scraper. Shany plate number SH222.
And cotton buds for clean up.
Step one:
Start with fully polished nails. 2 coats of Zoya - Charla.
Step two:
Apply Finger Paints - Artistic Azure on edge of makeup sponge.
Step three:
Sponge Finger Paints - Artistic Azure liberally on the nail tip only. You may have to do a couple coats.
Then allow to dry.
Step four:
Clean up any polish you got on your skin.
Remember Finger Paints are slow dry polishes, so you will need lots of dry time.
Step five:
Apply a layer of Fairy Dust.
Let dry.
Step six:
Prepare stamping plate. Apply Color Club - Worth The Risque, scrape off excess, use stamper, then check the stamp to make sure it copied properly.
Step seven:
Stamp design on all nails.
Step eight:
Clean up cuticles again.
Step nine:
Apply top coat and allow to dry.
Finished product. Outdoor picture.
Mermaid by Train...cuz I thought it was relevant. Plus it was the only song I could think of that was mermaid related. Even though I'm not a big Train fan. I'm a nerd like that.
Well there you have it, my interpretation of the mermaid manicure. I hope you guys enjoyed this manicure and this tutorial. I also hope that you feel like you can now try it yourself because let's face it that's what this is all about right. I also want to thank my followers for understanding that I will do nail art as often as I can, and I really appreciate your support. Until next time Stay classy and stay polished.
Okay, so after wearing Zoya Faye (swatch here) I realized it was very close to another polish I already have, ORLY Ingenue (swatch here). So after some encouraging(insisting) by my friend Marcie I did a comparison side by side swatch. So let's get to it shall we.
The bottles:
Swatches:
Indoor with flash.
Indoor no flash.
Outdoor. No sun today. :(
Closeups:
Outdoor.
Outdoor.
And another Hinder song... because I am loving their new CD.
Hinder - Anyone But You.
All pictures are with two coats of polish and a top coat. As you can see there is no real difference in color between these two polishes. They both wear the same so that's not an issue either. The only real difference is in formula. Ingenue is a thicker formula than Faye, but on the nail they look exactly the same. This should be the part where I smack my forehead for buying two polishes that look the same...but I won't because I love this polish so much I'll just think of it as my backup bottle. One can never have to much of such a lovely polish. Well that's all I have for you today. Until next time, stay classy and stay polished.
XOXO
