Crazy for Kieko

I loved reviewing Zoya’s Stunning Collection last week, but what’s one color the set was lacking (not that every set can have every color)?  Purple.  So let me show you another summery shade.

This is Kieko, from the 2011 set of six cremes called Summertime and it’s got enough red and berry tones to make it really interesting.  Zoya describes it as “Warm, red toned dusty light purple with berry tones with an opaque cream finish. A nice alternative to pure pink or berry, especially flattering on warm skin tones.”

Well, my cool skin tone loves it anyway.  This kind of color makes me happy just to look at it.

Kieko applied very smoothly and two coats gave wonderful coverage.  I was going to add a clear shiny top coat, but Kieko is so glossy on its own that I didn’t.  For a full manicure, I’d add one for protection, as always.

Under indirect outdoor light and then in bright direct sunshine:

I think Kieko is one of those colors people might not expect on an older woman… which is partly why I love it!

Reva

Ready for the last Sunshine Collection polish from Zoya for me to swatch?  It’s Reva, another red.

Reva differs from yesterday’s Kimmy in that Reva has a dark pink base and has a cool tone.  Overall I’d call it a true red, though.  The gold microflakes warm it up a bit and keep it from being too dark or cool.

Confusingly — to me, at least — Zoya calls Kimmy “candy apple red” and Reva “strawberry red” yet I think it’s the other way around.  Your individual candy apples and strawberries may vary.    Either way, they’re both beautiful.

Excellent coverage was achieved with two coats, and again, the formula was very smooth and streak-free.

Reva, two coats, no top coat, under indirect outdoor light, with a fill flash, and then under direct cloudy sunlight:

Normally I would be more drawn to the cool tone of Reva as opposed to the warm one of Kimmy, but I think for summer I actually prefer Kimmy.  I believe I’d be more likely to wear Reva as a holiday color; it’d be perfect for Christmas.

Kimmy

Hope you’ve gotten your Zoya Earth Day half-price sale polishes picked out!  If not, no rush — you’ve got through the 26th to place your order.

Sometimes it’s hard to choose colors.  For one thing, there are so many.  For another, some of the colors look similar.

Today I have a gorgeous red to show you that I’ve had for a long time but just haven’t swatched.  It’s Kimmy, a fiery red from the Sunshine Collection which was first released for Summer 2011.  All six polishes in this set are chock-full of sparkly gold microflakes, and they’re metallic and glittery without having large chunky glitter.  I’ve swatched Faye, Apple, Tanzy, and Rica from Sunshine previously.

Kimmy should not be confused with Kimber or Kym (Zoya, I beg of you, please stop with the similar-sounding and similarly-spelled names!) although all three are beautiful reds.  Kimmy has a warm, slightly orange tone.  It reminds me of Elke but is more glittery.

Two coats gave good coverage, and the formula was as smooth and as streak-free as possible.  Absolutely no visible brush strokes.  Have I mentioned I hate visible brush strokes?  I hate visible brush strokes.

Here’s Kimmy, two coats, no top coat, under indirect outdoor light and then with a fill flash.

This last photo, under weak direct sunlight, shows a slight pink tinge.  Interesting!

So if you’re looking for a bright summery red that sparkles but doesn’t overwhelm, maybe Kimmy deserves a spot on your wish list.

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.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful…

… but the fire is so delightful
Since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Oh so cold and windy here today. Where art thou, spring? OK, you want to make me think of winter? Fine. Be that way. Two can play at that game — here’s the first announcement (unofficial) I’ve seen of HOLIDAY 2013 polishes from China Glaze.

It’s called Happy Holiglaze and I can’t post any pictures because the only place I’ve read about the collection is at blogger Just Ricarda. Check her site here for heavily watermarked pictures.

The twelve new color names and my approximate color descriptions:

• There’s Snow One Like You — white matte texture
• Elfin’ Around — coral red shimmer
• Just Be-Claws — red shimmer
• Santa Red My List — another red shimmer (lighter?)
• Put A Bow On It — pink/purple fine glitter
• Be Merry, Be Bright — pink/purple larger glitter
• All Wrapped Up — purple glitter
• Your Present Required — white/pink/purple glitter
• So Blue Without You — aqua blue fine glitter
• Bells Will Be Blinging — silver/blue glitter
• Mingle With Kringle — gold shimmer
• This Is Tree-mendous — green fine glitter

A lot of these look like fun, and overall the set seems less red-centric than some of China Glaze’s past holiday collections.  I’m all for more pink & purple.

According to Just Ricarda’s post, there will also be a special top coat called “Colour Travel” that will create an iridescent effect.   Not sure what all it will entail — is it just another frosty top coat? Is it slightly holographic?

I wonder if some of the pictures are from a European source, because some of the wording sounds a bit off to my American ears.  I’ve never heard of a polish finish called “aluminum” nor have I heard of a “travel effect.”

When I read more news and also news of possible gift sets, I’ll be sure to let you know!

After Party

On a recent vacation, imagine my delight to find that the city I was visiting had not one but TWO Ulta stores, one located dangerously close to my motel room.  You see, I am Ulta-deprived in that there isn’t one where I live, so visiting one is a real shopping treat.

As usual (judging from their constant email ads) they had a sale going on, and their own Ulta brand of nail polish was on sale for $2.00 per bottle.  I’d never tried the brand before and thought, “Why not?”  The bottles are “in between” in size and contain 0.33 oz/10 ml.  I probably would have bought more than I did but remembered that nail polish has to be put in a clear plastic bag for declaration at airport screenings, and you’re limited to one 1-quart bag for all your liquids like lotion, hair spray, etc.

The polish that most caught my eye was a microglitter called After Party.  It has tiny red and silver glitter in a clear base, which doesn’t sound very fancy.  But the glitter’s so small that the overall impression is almost one of pink instead of separate red and silver.  Hard to describe.

I’m not crazy about the Ulta bottle handle because it’s round and completely smooth, so not very comfortable to grip.  The brush stem is short and the brush is average.  I like the polish itself however, and even though it’s sheer I was able to build up coverage.  It dried very quickly so applying multiple coats didn’t take too long.

Here I have four coats of After Party on my little finger, and two coats of After Party over one coat of a plain red creme on my ring finger.  I didn’t use a clear top coat for the photos but would recommend one because it dries to a slightly gritty feel.  The pictures are under indirect outdoor light, the camera flash, and direct sunlight.

I hope you see what I mean about the pinkish look.  I like this one a lot but probably would save it more for the holidays, as it strikes me as Christmas-y.  One thing to note — it was difficult to remove.  I thought it’d be a breeze because the glitter particles are so tiny, but they were tenacious!  What I found worked best was to hold a remover-soaked pad on my nail for about 30 seconds and then wipe it off.

The PolishAholic has the Bond Girls!

A couple of weeks ago I previewed the six-polish matte textured collection from OPI called Bond Girls, as in James Bond, Mr. 007.

Good news for us polish addicts is that The PolishAholic just swatched all six and I think they’re pretty darn exciting.  Take a look at her fantastic photos HERE.  It’s OK; I’ll be here when you get back.

< “Jeopardy” music >

What do you think?  I love most of them.  I really want the white, pink, gold, and coral red.  Fortunately, the mini-set of four will contain three of those.  I plan to get the mini-set, probably give Vesper away, and get the gold Honey Ryder.

I love how The PolishAholic compared OPI’s Tiffany Case to the other blue OPI Liquid Sand, Get Your Number, which I already have from the Mariah Carey mini-set.

Also love how sugary Jinx looks!

Frosted Gum Drops from Jesse’s Girl, Part I

Two weeks ago I was quite excited over being able to pre-order the new set of polishes called Frosted Gum Drops from Jesse’s Girl/JulieG at a great introductory price.  The sale has come and gone, but the individual polishes will go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, March 20th (first day of spring!) at the company’s web site.  The price will be $3.99 each, per info on their Facebook page.

These are sugary-looking textured polishes, not as matte as the PixieDust ones from Zoya, and not as glitter-heavy as the Liquid Sand ones I’ve tried from OPI.  Each bottle contains 0.35 oz/10 ml, so they’re bigger than what I consider a mini (0.25 oz. or less) but smaller than what I call full-size (0.45 oz. or more).  I think it’s a great size bottle, since I have yet to use up a full-size polish.

The handle is average, and the brush seemed fairly thick in that it held a lot of polish.  The polish itself was thick but in a good way — not so thick that it was hard to apply, nor clumpy, but applied very well.  It went on super-smoothly and evenly.  I was thrilled with the application, some of the best I’ve ever tried.

Today I’ll show you the three “warm” polishes, Tangerine Dream, Sugar Rush, and Hot Cinnamon.

Tangerine Dream is indeed a bright tangerine color.  It contains micro glitter or flakes in light orange and gold, and I needed three coats.  I love this color even though it’s not that great on my skin tone.  Each swatch is shown in reflected outdoor light and then in direct sunlight.

Sugar Rush is a darker orange-red that made me think of one of my favorite kinds of candy called “Orange Slices” which are really nothing more than sugar, corn syrup, and artificial color.  Like Tangerine Dream, Sugar Rush contains micro glitter or flakes in gold but also orange-red.  Only needed two coats.

Hot Cinnamon is just the color of the candy called “Red Hots.”  It’s bright red although the base is faintly tinted dark pink.   Two coats gave great coverage, and this one dried slightly more matte than the other two.

I’m just crazy about all three and think I’ll be reaching for them a lot this summer.  They’d be great for pedicures, too — so bright and fun.  Tomorrow, the three cool shades.

And two new sets from OPI!

Since it’s almost the official first day of spring, that seems to mean that news of summer collections is coming fast and furious.  Yesterday I told you about three sets from Essie; today I’ve just heard of two new ones from OPI.

To go with this past fall/winter’s James Bond themed collection called Skyfall, OPI is coming out with The Bond Girls.  These are all going to be the newest fad of matte textured polishes which OPI calls Liquid Sand.  Click on the photo for a sharper view.

They’re named after “Bond Girls” in the various 007 movies, and let me say right now that I found the name of the pink polish extremely offensive in the movie “Goldfinger” and I still find it offensive.  With all the names available, OPI had to slap that one on a polish?  How about a salute to that unsung Girl Friday of so many 007 movies, Moneypenny?

My prudish ravings aside, these polishes look very cool.  A sparkling textured white like snow?  Yes, please!!!  And I do like the light pink in spite of the name.

There will be a mini set of four of these — Solitaire, Pussy Galore, Vesper, and Jinx, but I don’t think I want the latter two.  Fantastic nail plate swatches can be seen at Hungarian blogger Bioarcapolis’s site, and unlike some other bloggers I’m not stealing her photos!  Release date is sometime in May.

And if you liked last year’s Minnie Mouse set from OPI, get ready for more from the girl with the polka dots, Couture de Minnie, due out in June.

I believe there are three cremes or shimmers, one glitter, and one Liquid Sand.  Heavy on the red, as you might expect from Miss Minnie.

Again, gorgeous nail plate swatches at Hungarian blogger Bioarcapolis .  Enjoy!

Frosted Gum Drops from Jesse’s Girl available now for pre-order

And what a price!  Last week I posted a frantic you-gotta-see this redirect to work/play/polish.  Here’s the direct link to w/p/p’s review of the limited edition set of six textured sparkly matte polishes from JulieG/Jesse’s Girl Cosmetics.  She loved the colors and application, and said the price was a fantastic $3.99 each.  From the company’s web site, this picture looks good enough to eat:

The colors are:

• Hot Cinnamon: Bright red
• Sugar Rush: Bright reddish-pink (?reddish-orange?)
• Tangerine Dream: Citrus orange
• Rock Candy: Teal
• Blueberry Fizz: Berry blue
• Crushed Candy: Purple

All have glitter or sparkle, some silver and some gold.  I believe each bottle contains 0.35 fl oz/10 ml because that’s what other JulieG polishes have.  So not a full 0.5 ounce but bigger than what I consider a true “mini.”

Jesse’s Girl has the set for sale now at a preorder price of just $20.01.  Yes, basically $20 (don’t know what the extra penny is for) for six bright, brand spankin’ new polishes.  If you’re interested, please go to their web site here.  Please note that they will not ship before March 13th.  Also, if you pay with PayPal, read their specific directions on their Facebook page.

This is a very welcome deal for me because not only did I want the polishes, but I have no local Rite Aid in which to shop, the store that will be carrying these later.  The promotion also says that preorders will receive a free gift for pre-ordering.  So, you’re probably wondering — are we going to be hit with a fat shipping & handling charge?  NO.  I completed my transaction, fully expecting to pay $5-$6 for shipping, but shipping is free!

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Also, don’t forget the giveaway of three Zoya spring colors — Julie, Piaf, and GeiGei — on my Facebook page.  Just a couple of days left to enter!