Let’s compare: rose golds

Disclosure:  One of these polishes was provided by Zoya for review.

Yesterday when I was swatching Zoya’s Irresistible Collection of foils, I kept thinking of other polishes I wanted to compare them to.  When Irresistible was first announced, I thought Tinsley looked like a foil version of one of my first ever Zoya polishes, Happi.  Is it?  Let’s find out.

Surprisingly, at least to me, Happi and Tinsley are not similar at all.  Happi is a cool pink gold duochrome shimmer, and Tinsley is a rose gold foil.  Tinsley has a definite glittery look.

Tinsley is, however, very close to another Zoya shade called Tiffany.  I just bought this one in the Earth Day sale and am kind of bummed that they’re so close!  Tiffany is from the older Flame Collection and I really thought from its picture that it would be more peachy or coppery.

Here are all three, left to right:  Happi, Tinsley, and Tiffany.

I applied three coats of each and here’s how they look under reflected outdoor light, next to a bottle of Zoya Purity for contrast:

In direct sunshine:

The base of Tinsley is slightly more pink than the peachy base of Tiffany, but all the gold foil/flakes (beautiful!) make the two polishes almost duplicates on the nail.

One great thing about doing this comparison is that I was reminded all over again how much I love Happi.    Also, I think what I’ll do with Tiffany is pour some of it out and add some copper or brown polish (?which one?) to make a copper foil that I might like for fall.  That’s something to do if you end up with duplicates — play with them and change them to make something new!

Disclosure:  One of these polishes was provided by Zoya for review.

Simply Irresistible

Disclosure:  This set was sent by Zoya for review.

Took me a while, but I finally have Zoya’s Irresistible Collection to show you!  Through no one’s fault that I can see, the first set that Zoya sent me was lost in transit.  It was entered into FedEx’s system and then… nothing.  But as they say, better late than never.    It was much appreciated for Zoya to send me a replacement.

Irresistible is a set of six bright foils.  I’ve only mentioned about a hundred times how much I love a foil finish, because it’s shimmery and glittery without having either visible brushstrokes or chunky glitter.

The formula of all six was very consistent — not too thin, not too thick.  For each polish, two coats would have been enough for decent coverage but I used three coats because I think the third coat brought out the richness of each color.  All photos are shown in reflected outdoor light and then in direct sunshine, with no top coat.

First — Kerry, a sunny yellow-gold.  It’s not a daffodil color nor a bronzed gold.  If anything, it might have a very faint greenish tint.

Amy is an intense orange with a lot of gold shimmer.  Outdoors in the direct sun (second photo) I think it leans red.

Tinsley is the one I was looking forward to the most, and I’m not disappointed.  It’s the epitome of the term “rose gold” — a pretty rose pink with tons of gold shimmer.  It kind of has a duochrome look going on too, because at different angles (first and second photos), you see either more gold or more rose.

Bobbi is another pink, but is cooler in tone, much more fuchsia, and it has silver shimmer instead of gold.  Love this one too.

I liked Rikki, a cool fern green, a lot more than I expected.  Greens are tough for me to wear and often bring out weird tones in my skin, but I think Rikki looks great.  Must be the silver shimmer it has.  I also saw a few flecks of gold in the direct sun.

Similarly, Hazel has both silver and gold shimmer, and is a light steel blue that looks darker in the sun.  Could be wintery-looking but also great for summer — a nice change from neon blue or turquoise.

I love the Irresistible Collection and it’s perfect for summer.  My favorites are Tinsley, Bobbi, and Rikki.  Hazel’s right up there too but I wonder if I have a near-duplicate.  Kerry and Amy would probably look much better on someone with a different skin tone than mine (I’m such a self-critic).

Here are all twelve of the Irresistible and Stunning polishes together.  As you can see, each one in its set has a somewhat close shade in the other set, but Stunning is all cremes.  From top (12 o’clock position) and moving clockwise:  Kerry, Darcy, Amy, Thandie, Tinsley, Micky, Bobbi, Yana, Rikki, Josie, Hazel, and Rocky.

Disclosure:  These polishes were sent by Zoya for review.

Lets compare: PixieDusts plus others, Part II

Disclosure:  Some products in this post were sent by Zoya for review.

So glad that many of you found my comparisons yesterday helpful!  More today.  LOTS more.

First of all, here are three polishes that I’ve swatched in the past but will not be comparison swatching today because they aren’t even remotely similar like I thought at first:

(l to r) Solange, Ziv, and Piaf, all from Zoya.  Solange is a yellow-gold matte textured PixieDust, Ziv is a metallic true gold foil, and Piaf is a very light yellow shimmer.

Let’s look at dark oranges:

(l to r) Zoya Milla, Zoya Myrta, JulieG/Jesse’s Girl Sugar Rush, and Zoya Destiny.

Milla is a coral-pink-orange jelly with some gold flakes, Myrta is a medium-dark orange foil from last year’s fabulous Surf Collection, and Sugar Rush and Destiny are matte textured polishes.

All photos are under indirect outdoor light, and again, I’m holding a bottle of Zoya’s Raven for contrast.

I’d consider Sugar Rush and Destiny duplicates.  Their formula (excellent), color, and finish are all so close I don’t think I could tell them apart.  Myrta is a great foil and Milla is a pretty polish that doesn’t get near the love I think it deserves.  You could do a jelly sandwich manicure with it.

Now, silvery lavenders:

(l to r) Zoya Julie, Milani Hi-Res, JulieG Crushed Candy, and Zoya Stevie.  OPI Can’t Let Go is hovering in the upper right corner only because it’s another purple matte textured polish, but as you can see, it’s much darker and more blue-toned than the others and I won’t be swatching it today.  You can see my swatches of it here, and I like it a lot, but it is quite dark.

Julie is a light shimmer, Hi-Res is a very glossy holographic glitter (unfortunately discontinued but I see it for sale online occasionally), and Crushed Candy and Stevie are matte textures.

No dupes.  Crushed Candy is more pink and has larger glitter than Stevie.  Julie and Hi-Res have completely different finishes.

Since we’re looking at these, let’s bring back Miranda from yesterday.  I turned these bottles — Miranda, Crushed Candy, and Stevie — sideways so you could see more of the polish.

Crushed Candy seems to be a color in between the pink of Miranda and the lavender of Stevie.  I LOVE all three.

Let’s move from pink to red:

(l to r) Zoya Miranda, JulieG Hot Cinnamon, and Zoya Chyna.

No duplicates.  All are pretty; Chyna has more of a ruby tone.

Even though I showed blue ones yesterday, I want to revisit Zoya Liberty and compare it to JulieG Blueberry Fizz and Zoya Nyx:

Gee, why did I even show Liberty again?  Not even close.  Blueberry Fizz and Nyx are similar but not dupes — Blueberry Fizz is more of a sky blue and has larger silver glitter, and Nyx is thinner and more steel blue.

Finally, just because I can, here are JulieG Rock Candy and Zoya Vespa compared to each other:

Not close.  Rock Candy is thicker, more of a teal green, and has larger silver glitter, while Vespa is thinner and a light gray-green.

Whew!  Hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with samples and comparisons.  Of all the polishes today the only true duplicates in my opinion are JulieG’s Sugar Rush and Zoya’s Destiny.  Both are excellent polishes from great companies.  The JulieG polish is less expensive but the bottles are smaller as well.

Disclosure:  Some products in this post were sent by Zoya for review.

Lets compare: PixieDusts plus others, Part I

Disclosure:  Some products in this post were sent by Zoya for review.

Yesterday when I was swatching all six of Zoya’s new Summer PixieDusts, I was reminded over and over of other polishes in my stash.  So today I broke out a bunch of them for comparisons that I hope you will find useful.  (And fun — don’t forget the fun!)

For gold-toned light oranges, I have:

(l to r) Zoya Rica, Zoya Tanzy, JulieG/Jesse’s Girl Tangerine Dream, and Zoya Beatrix.

Rica and Tanzy are regular glitter/flake polishes, and Tangerine Dream and Beatrix are matte textured ones.  You can see my full review of the three gold-toned JulieG/Jesse’s Girl textured polishes here.

For all my swatches today, I used three coats of each polish, even if two was enough coverage, and took the photos under indirect outdoor light.  I’m holding a bottle of Zoya’s Raven for contrast.

Tangerine Dream and Beatrix are, to my eye, duplicates.  If you like the color of those two but don’t want a matte textured finish, then Tanzy is very close.  Rica is slightly more pinkish/reddish than the other three.

Considering price?  SRP (not counting any sales or promotions that may occur) is $8 each for 0.5 oz/15 ml for Tanzy and Rica.  Beatrix is $9 for the same amount of polish, and Tangerine Dream is $3.99 for 0.35 oz/10 ml.

Next, I compared several pinks:

(l to r) Zoya Nova, Zoya Astra, Zoya Miranda, and OPI The Impossible.

Nova and Astra are fine glitters, and Miranda and The Impossible are matte textures.

No dupes here.  The Impossible is more of a coral pink, has sparse hex glitter, and the full-sized bottles of it contain large star glitter which does not appear in the mini bottles.  Astra is a clear base (or maybe a very light pink) with pink and red glitter, and Nova is a sheer purple-pink base with pink glitter.  Astra and Miranda are close in color but the finish is totally different.

Astra and Nova are no longer available as minis, but can be bought as full-sized 0.5 oz. bottles.  The Impossible mini is available as part of a four-bottle set, which I reviewed here.  OPI’s Liquid Sand polishes can all be purchased as full-sized bottles as well, and I believe the SRP is $9.

Finally for today, let’s get the blues:

(l to r) Zoya Noel, Zoya FeiFei, Zoya Liberty, and OPI Get Your Number.

Noel is a medium blue foil, FeiFei is a sheer-but-buildable steel blue shimmer with micro gold flakes, and Liberty and Get Your Number are matte textures.

No absolute dupes here, and I think all four are quite interesting in their own way.  Liberty and Get Your Number are close in color and finish, but the latter has more sizes and colors of glitter, plus a little holographic glitter flash.  Noel is also similar in color but has a completely different finish.  FeiFei is more grayish.

More comparisons tomorrow!

Disclosure:  Some products in this post were sent by Zoya for review.

Fly With Me

Although the title of this post is the name of a polish, it also jarringly made me think of the early 1970s ads from National Airlines.  Remember their “Fly Me” campaign?  It consisted of very sexist ads that pictured young, beautiful flight attendants — back when you couldn’t even be a flight attendant unless you were young, pretty, and met weight requirements — with the tagline “I’m Cheryl.  Fly me.”  Or whatever the woman’s name was.  “Fly” being a wink-wink, nudge-nudge euphemism for another verb.  If ya know what I mean.

*** sigh ***  The things we grew up with!

But I digress.  Fly With Me is a neon-bright glass fleck or foil from Color Club’s 2012 summer collection Take Wing.  All six polishes are really bright and attention-grabbing.  Click this photo for a much larger, sharper picture.

I didn’t get the whole set, just a store’s retail set that had four of the polishes, and I gave one away because I had a dupe (the yellow).  The complete set is not available from Color Club any longer, but you might find it on eBay, and the individual polishes can be found at Head2ToeBeauty, among other retailers.  The bottles are full-size, 0.5 oz/15 ml.

Fly With Me is an unusual light yellow-green with a slightly darker green duochrome shift.  The formula was good but extremely sheer, and even with four coats I could still see my nail line, so it might be better over a creme such as a light green or white.  It dried quickly and looks very shiny and sparkly.  Under indirect outdoor light:

Same lighting but a different angle, where it looks more green:

And with the flash:

It’s pretty but I think it’s a little too “Nickelodeon slime green” to flatter my hands.  Would be fun for a pedicure, though, and it could even be a Halloween color.  For a lime green, I prefer SquareHue’s Flower Power.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Which is an Irish Gaelic toast meaning, “Blessing of St. Patrick’s Day on you!”  (pronounced Ban-awch(k)-tee nah Fay-leh Paw-rig ur-iv!)

Yes, St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, which in America is generally a day for drinking green beer, too much beer, or any beer.  And eating corned beef and cabbage even though you might not touch it the other 364 days of the year.

Thought I’d get in my St. Patrick’s Day manicure recommendation — green, natch — a few days early in case anyone wants to be thinking about her own plans for the day.  I broke out a bright green foil that I’ve had for a few months, Ivanka from Zoya’s Sparkle Collection.  Ivanka would work for summer, for Christmas, and of course for St. Paddy’s Day.

Although I always love foil formulas and their streak-free finish, Ivanka seemed a little thinner than most foils from Zoya I’ve tried, and I needed four coats to completely cover any visible nail line.  But I was rewarded with a super-bright metallic look.  Under indirect outdoor light and then with the flash:

And what goes with green like gold?  I used Zoya’s Gilty as a top coat just on one nail.  Gilty, a real 18K gold flake, was a limited edition holiday offering from Zoya and is sadly no longer available, but if you bought a bottle, don’t be like me most of the time and forget you own it!

Come this weekend, I’ll be wearing Ivanka and Gilty while dining at our favorite Irish-style pub in town (um… the only Irish-style pub in town) called Sean Kelly’s.  Yep, give me a big plate of bangers & mash and a pint glass of Smithwick’s (“Smiddicks”), and I’ll be a happy camper.

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Now, if you’re only interested in nail polish, stop reading.  ‘Cause I’m going to wax nostalgic.

I have only taken one foreign vacation in my entire life (I don’t count Canada because I’m also Canadian) and that was to Ireland.  It was literally a dream come true.  A few years ago, my husband and I took a week-long hiking holiday in rural western Ireland, and it was the best trip EVER.  We’d hike all day and then hang out in the pubs and restaurants all evening, and the calories in/calories out must have balanced because I didn’t gain an ounce.

We stayed in a B&B in the small, planned Georgian town of Westport in County Mayo, and loved it.  We saw medieval castles and abbeys, abandoned villages and cottages, beautiful views at every turn, and sheep.  Lots of sheep.

One day we hiked to the top of Croagh Patrick (“Croak Patrick“), the mountain where Saint Patrick reputedly fasted for forty days in the fifth century.  Popular legend says that at the end of Patrick’s fast, he threw a silver bell down the side of the hill, knocking the demon Corra from the sky and banishing all the snakes from Ireland.  Even though I’m not Catholic I found the hike and mountain very spiritual.  Archeologists think people have been gathering and perhaps worshiping at the summit for millennia.

This picture is taken at the beginning of our hike.  The summit is in the background, and yes, I walked up there under my own power.  Click on any of the following pictures for an enlarged view.

After coming down off the mountain, we visited the nearby National Famine Monument, a bronze sculpture of a “coffin ship” — so called because many emigrants were crammed into them and died — wreathed in skeletons.  It’s one of the eeriest and most moving things I’ve ever seen.

Then a stone’s throw from the Memorial was the ruins of the 15th-century Murrisk Abbey.  You can just walk up to it, through it, around it — no admission, no guards, no one saying, “Don’t touch!”

Y’know, I could show you hundreds of pictures of sheep, street views, pubs, sheep, mountains, the sea, churches, and sheep, but I’ll restrain myself.  Let me just leave you with the absolute best shop ever found in the entire world:  Curry’s Cottage on James Street in Westport.  I swear, when I die, I want heaven to look like Curry’s Cottage.  It’s a bakery and tea room, and if I’d discovered it sooner I would have been in there every single day.

Whitewashed stone walls, a real peat fire burning in the fireplace, pots of fresh hot tea brought out to your table — I fully expected to see Miss Marple sitting in the corner, knitting.  And enough bread and pastries even for me. 

If you’re ever in County Mayo, pop in there!  And happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!!

Rich In Spirit

Last month when I had my kid-in-a-candy-store trip to an out-of-town Ulta store, I picked up several polishes.  One was Rich In Spirit from Nicole by OPI.

Rich In Spirit isn’t a new shade, but it caught my eye.  It’s a light silvery teal foil, and as you may remember, I adore foils.  Love the streak-free finish.

This is one of those teals that I can’t say is more green or blue, because next to other blues it looks green and vice versa.  In my photos it appears more blue, but I think light silver teal is the best description.  It’s fairly sheer so I needed four coats but that wasn’t a pain because it dried so quickly, and it dried to a shiny powder-smooth finish.

Here’s Rich In Spirit under cloudy outdoor light, with the flash, and under artificial indoor light:

It looks like there’s a thin or patchy spot on my little fingernail, but I double-checked and it’s just a reflection of my other finger.  The finish is very reflective.

I love this one and think it’s very flattering on my skin tone.  Think I’ve found what I’m going to wear for Easter!

The Zang Toi trio has landed!

Look what the FedEx guy just delivered.  You’ll remember my slobbering over this limited edition trio from Zoya last week, and while part of me feels like a chump for paying so much ($33), part of me is very happy to have a treat that doesn’t involve alcohol or empty calories. 

This trio from designer Zang Toi at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) contains Imperial Russia (purple), Peterhof Palace (gold foil — it’s Ziv renamed, not a new color), and Chinoiserie Fantasy (emerald).

There was another color shown from Zang Toi at NYFW, a deep sapphire blue called Catherine the Great, but it hasn’t been released yet.  Zoya is saying it might be released in a fall collection later this year.  I also suspect that Imperial Russia and Chinoiserie Fantasy will be re-released but there’s no guarantee and I don’t have insider information. They may be limited edition only.

I was cool with getting Peterhof Palace/Ziv in the trio because I’d been meaning to get it but still hadn’t.  I bought it as a gift for someone this past Christmas and was very tempted to keep it for myself!  Here’s a quick picture of it since it has been extensively reviewed by other bloggers over the last few months.  I’m usually not big on golds but the foil finish is gorgeous.  I literally felt like I was painting liquid gold foil on my nails.  Two coats.

Imperial Russia is a deep amethyst purple shimmer.  It leans more blue than red if you had to pick one tint, but it’s truly a stunning royal purple.  I see microshimmer particles in dark pink, blue, and purple which you can see in the second photo and the closeup, which were taken with the flash.  Three coats, no top coat.

I pulled two other Zoyas that I thought would be similar, Hope and Mikka, but they’re not even close!

Chinoiserie Fantasy is an amazingly rich emerald green shimmer with a mirror-like shine.  I thought it was teal green but in person it appears to be emerald with a blue duochrome shift.  Hard to capture with the camera, but I tried.  You can see it most in the edges of the bottle and in the higher angle photo.  I used three coats and no top coat.

I love how this green doesn’t make my skin look too red, like many greens.  My camera doesn’t capture how truly beautiful this color is — sounds like hype, but it’s true.  And here’s Chinoiserie Fantasy next to two other Zoya greens, Akyra and Suvi.  No dupes here.

Peterhof Palace/Ziv makes a wonderful accent to the two new colors, which as a set has a kind of Mardi Gras vibe.  I’ll wear these year-round.  Am I sorry I paid so much?  No, because I got the three free Valentine’s Day sale polishes at the same time and most of all because I didn’t have Ziv and I love all three polishes.  The Valentine promotion is good through the 27th, so if you want it and haven’t placed your order yet, you just have two more days.

Izzy & Aurora

Some days, I feel like wearing a soft, gentle, sedate petal pink.

This is not one of those days.

I want to show you two kick-ass yet feminine colors from Zoya.  Maybe you’re wondering what to order in their great sale that starts Monday and you need a few more ideas.  Here ya go.

Izzy is a hothothot pink foil-like shimmer from last year’s Gems & Jewels Collection.  Whether you’re a pink girl who wants something daring, or whether you’re an I-don’t-do-pink gal who might like to give it a try — Izzy.

Application was amazingly good, because I was expecting it to be sheer.  Zoya rates it a 3 on their 1-to-5 opacity scale, but I’d call it a 5.  One coat was almost enough, and even that first coat wasn’t streaky.  The second coat gave full coverage.  It’s got a nice silver and fuchsia sheen.

Two coats, no top coat, under indirect outdoor light reflecting off snow, with the flash, and then under artificial indoor light:

Now that’s bright!

Secondly, I’m thrilled to finally swatch Aurora, one of the newer Ornate Collection polishes.  Again, I think this could appeal to a myriad group — do you love purple?  Aurora rocks with micro holo multicolored glitter.  Do you think purple is too extreme or dark for you?  The base color isn’t dark, and if you’ve never tried purple polish, this might be one to get your feet wet, so to speak.

Aurora has a somewhat sheer grape jelly-colored base, but it’s more opaque than a jelly polish per se.   The microglitter has a holo look and shows pink, purple, silver, and even blue.  The first coat was streaky but the second covered very well.  It’s super-glossy on its own; no top coat needed unless you want to wear one to preserve your manicure.

Aurora looks good under indirect outdoor light:

but it sparkles under the flash:

and it REALLY sparkles under artificial indoor light.  Look at all the dazzling colors of the microglitter!

Here’s a closeup:

I’ll be in the mood for a quiet petal pink another day… but not today.

No rage over Rage

Well, I did what I suggested yesterday as a “try something new” strategy, went and blindly picked out a polish.  And best of all, I love it!

First I wandered through both Walgreens and CVS.  Their beauty departments were sad, messy, and picked over.  Probably not surprising considering the time of year and all the post-holiday chaos, so I kept going to Sally Beauty Supply.  Also a mess!  But I noticed they have a BOGO sale going on for Orly polishes, buy one get one free. 

I stood in front of the large Orly rack, closed my eyes, reached out, and grabbed a bottle.  It looked…. uninteresting.  The color name is Rage, and I’ve never seen anything less rage-like.  Shouldn’t something called Rage be bright red, dark red, purple, or even black?  I thought it was a very blah beige, but at least it was shimmery.  I had forgotten what terrible lighting our Sally store has, though, because once outside, Rage looked more rose-gold.  Ooh, prettier.

Once home — along with the other Orly color I picked out on purpose, a dark plum-gold called Close Your Eyes — I was anxious to swatch Rage, and when I did, I find I can’t call it just beige or pink.  It’s pinky beige; it’s beigey pink; it’s champagne; it’s a very light rose-gold.  The finish is fantastic because it’s not just a shimmer, it’s a foil, and I love foils.

As always, the full-sized Orly bottle is a generous 0.6 oz./18 ml, and the handle is one of the best in the business — large, easy to grip, and concave.  The Sally member price was $6.49, but then I got a free bottle too.

Rage applied very well and the first coat looked thin but the second coat was perfect.  Even without a clear top coat it’s very shiny.  The foil look is so bright that I feel like I have little lights at the ends of my fingers.  So here’s Rage, two coats, in indirect outdoor light, with the flash, and then outdoors in bright sunlight:

You can see how in the last picture, the sunlight, Rage looks more pink.  Indoors it’s just a great neutral.  When it does look pink, it’s not a bubblegum pink at all.

What a great, serendipitous discovery!