Brand Challenge: Zoya

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Today I have the final five untried Zoya shades from my collection to share with you. Let's take a look at swatches. 

Zoya Intriguing Collection Swatches & Review

Press Sample

Hello readers,
Today I have Zoya's Intriguing collection for the 2020 holiday season to share with you. Let's take a look at swatches.

Brand Challenge: Essence

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Today I have couple polishes from Essence to share with you. Let's take a look at swatches.

Brand Challenge: Sephora Formula X

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Sephora may have discontinued their Formula X line, but that doesn't mean they are worth wearing. I have six untried shades from them in my collection. Let's take a look at swatches.

Zoya Jubilee Collection Swatches & Review

Press Sample

Hello readers,
Today I have the Zoya Jubilee Collection to share with you. Along with the usual cremes and shimmers, this release brings back the PixieDust formula and introduces a new Leopard Spot Topper. Let's take a look at swatches.

Zoya Enchanted Collection Swatches & Review

Press Sample

Hello readers,
Today I have this year's holiday collection from Zoya to share with you. The Enchanted collection features two shimmers and four textured PixieDust shades. I love the crystallized look of the PixieDust finish so I'm glad to see them in this collection. Let's take a look at swatches.

Sephora Formula X Marine Swatches & Review

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Sephora recently dumped a whole bunch of polishes from their in house Formula X line into the sale section for Canadians. I, being low in will power when it comes to nail polish, snagged some shades I had been eyeing for a while but hadn't been able to convince myself to buy at full price. Today I have one of the shades from the Sea Glass collection to share with you.

Zoya Seashells Collection Swatches & Review

Press Sample

Hello readers,
Today I have one of the newly released collections from Zoya to share with you.  For half of their summer 2016 shades they brought back the PixieDust textured formula in six new colours to create the Seashells collection.  Let's check it out!

Octopus Nail Stamping

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Today I have a new adventure in polish stamping... stamping over a textured polish.  My first attempt was semi succesful.  I started out with a fully dried mani of Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Work Of Tart.  The I stamped it with Julep Michelle and Bundle Monster plate BM-401.  I finished everything off with two coats of Nubar Diamont top coat.  Unfortunately, the navy stamped polish kind of sunk into the crevices of the texture polish making the stamped image less crisp.  If I were going to repeat the process I would do one coat of top coat before stamping, then stamp my image and seal everything up with a second coat of top coat.  Still a cute mani though. Photos shown were taken under daylight spectrum lighting.

Happy polishing,

Michelle

Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Work Of Tart Swatches & Review

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
I love shimmery texture polishes so when I saw that Sally Hansen came out with a shimmery version of the Sugar line I knew I had to grab some for myself. I patiently waited until they went sale and bought some.

Work Of Tart features a teal base with a strong gold sheen.  This colour mix ends up leaning more green. The formula was easy to work with though it was a little sheer. Every other texture polish I've ever tried required two coats but this one required three. The finish was slightly grittier than a Zoya Pixie Dust. Photos show three coats of Work Of Tart without a top coat in daylight spectrum lighting.

Happy polishing,

Michelle

Zoya Cosmo Swatches & Review

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Today I have one of Zoya's magicalpPixie dusts to show you.  I wasn't sure about these textured polishes initially because I thought the larger hex glitters may stick up and catch on things.  My curiosity eventaully won out though and I gave Cosmo a try.

Cosmo feature silver shimmer along with small and medium hex glitters in a clear base.  It layers nicely and achieved good coverage after two coats.  It isn't 100% opaque and if you look closely you can see the nail like peaking through.  The formula was very easy to work with.  The only issue I had with this polish was the drying time.  I found that though dry to the touch I could still dent the polish over an hour after applying.  I have found this among some other textured polishes too however.  Photos show two coats of Cosmo without top coat under daylight spectrum lighting.

In the end the larger hexes turned out to be just fine.  I had no issues with any edges poking up or the polish feeling any more textured than a normal pixie dust.  The wear time was also very good.  I got four days of wear without any chipping whatsoever.  I'll have to give more of the magical pixie dusts a try.

Happy polishing,

Michelle

Fish Scale Stamping and Finger Paint's Sailor's Lure

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Today I have Finger Paints Sailor's Lure to show you along with some stamping inspired the the 'fish scale' texture this polish is supposed to mimic.  I'd seen lots of swatches of the Finger Paints Enchanted Mermaid Collection out there and I wasn't particularly impressed.  The textured look didn't do much for me though I loved the based colours.  I was in Sally's the other day checking out their 50% off all clearance polishes sale and noticed one of these polishes in the bin.  I figured for just over $2 it was worth a shot.

I used two coats of Sailor's Lure first.  The formula was not terrible but not great.  I found if you didn't pay attention the texture glitters would kind of clump together.  Then I added a generous coat of Gelous and waited for it to dry.  Finally I stamped fish scales over top with China Glaze Liquid Leather and Bundle Monster plate BM-502.  A coat of CND Super Shiney top coat was added to seal everything up.  Photos show this mani under daylight spectrum lighting.

So, how do I feel about this textured polish?  I'm still not sure.  I definitely don't like it without top coat, however, when it's smoothed out it does look kind of interesting.  I absolutely love the base colours of this collection (Pssst.... Fingerpaints.  You should totally release these without the texture).  I think for this design the texture actually works out quite well since it adds depth to the scales.

Happy polishing,

- Michelle

Loreal Pop The Bubbles Swatches & Review

Hello readers,
Today I have a shimmery textured polish to show you , Loreal Pop The Bubbles.

Pop The Bubbles is a steely blue texture with small silver glitters sprinkled throughout.  The formula was great.  I used two coats to get full coverage.  The wear time on this was really good too.  I didn't have any chips after several day.  Unlike most glitter polishes this one removed quite easily as well.  Photos show two coats of Pop The Bubbles in natural lighting.

Happy polishing,

Michelle

Summer Of Untrieds Day 7: Texture - Zoya Carter

Hello readers,
A quick post today featuring an untried texture polish, Zoya Carter.  I actually haven't tried any of the pixie dusts before so it's kind of like a double untried.

Carter is a rich grape-y purple with loads of purple microglitter.  The formula was easy to apply and went opaque in two coats.  I did find it took quite a while to dry though and I ended up having to fix a couple of smudged nails.  Photos show two coats of Carter in natural lighting.

I really do love the final look (now that it's dry :P).  I have a couple other pixie dusts sitting on my polish rack that I will definitely have to try now.

Happy polishing,

Michelle