Zoya Mod Mattes Collection Summer 2011 Swatches and Review

In addition to the Sunshine and Summertime shimmer/creme sets for summer, Zoya has also released a mini collection of matte finish brights. They are:

Lolly. A bright pink creme matte. I like this shade of pink in the matte finish. It's a cooler shade of pink than OPI La Paz-itively Hot Matte and it has no shimmer.

Mitzi. A yellowy pea green matte creme! This is my favorite of the set. It really stands out on the nails. It's bright but murky at the same time. More dirty and yellowy than OPI Gargantuan Green Grape Matte.


Phoebe. A bright blue matte with blue shimmer. The only shimmer finish matte in the bunch. The shimmer is very subtle but it adds a nice satiny glow to the matte color. Think satin ribbon. Also, I just noticed that I have foundation in my cuticles. Ew. Sorry about that.

Since Phoebe has some shimmer, I was curious to see how it looked with topcoat to make it shiny:



It's nice glossy, too! The shimmer is still subtle but it looks electric. The blue on blue with a touch of green is really eye-catching.


The formula on these was good. You seem to have more time to work with these than previous mattes and that helps application somewhat. Your best bet is still to completely load the brush and cover the nail in as few strokes as possible, but you don't have to do it as quickly with these. They do dry completely in only a few minutes and they don't require topcoat so they're great for when you're in a hurry. They are much more sheer than other mattes and I needed three coats to make them look perfect. The wear time is average for mattes; I wore Phoebe for two days with no chipping or tipwear until the end of day two when a large section of polish on my index finger cracked off unprovoked... It's so weird when that happens. It just goes POOF! and it's gone.


I love the mod look of these. Very funky and even a bit psychedelic. It's nice to see more colors of matte, I'm getting a little tired of all the matte greys and blacks! Matte nail polish isn't over yet... wonder if anyone else will do more mattes this year?

(These were sent to me for review.)

Zoya Sunshine Collection Summer 2011 Swatches and Review

My first summer collection post of the year! A welcome change from all the bland colors I've been staring at lately. The Zoya Sunshine set is the shimmer half of their summer collection. It reminds me a little of their Sparkle collection from last year, tons of glittery sparkle in these. Take a look.



Apple. See what I mean? Look at all that gold sparkle. This shade is a light yellow-toned green with crazy amounts of sparkling gold flecks. It looks like it could be a nice match for Color Club Magic Elf... I haven't compared them on the nail yet, but they strike me as being extremely similar.



Faye. This might be my favorite of the collection. I don't think I have another color quite like this. It's a warm prune purple base with insane gold sparkle. It's so bright. And it's not exactly glittery; the particles are really smooth and thin and shiny, not chunky or rough like true glitter. They blend together and make a really glowy smooth look.



Kimmy. Such a hard color to capture, it's so rich and colorful and sparkly. My camera can't handle it! The gold metal flakes and the saturated warm red go so well together. It looks like fire.



Reva. This color is much cooler and saturated in real life, the lighting is washing out the color in this picture. It's the cool toned counterpoint to Kimmie. It's a strawberry shade... except imagine that instead of seeds, the strawberry is speckled with 24 karat gold.


Rica. A golden coral glimmery shade. I like the depth in this, it's not a flat shimmer at all. The base of these colors is sheer and the gold flecks look really cool through the sheer base.


Tanzy. A light orange with gold fire. It's a little like Gabrielle, but the flakes are smaller and shinier.

The formula on these was different this time around. The biggest difference is the drying time, which is much longer than I'm used to from Zoya. The texture is a little thicker on these compared to the similar Sparkles, and they're more sheer so those factors could contribute to the long dry time. The Summertime half of the collection doesn't have the same long dry time. These were on the sheer side and I found that they looked best with three coats. I'm wearing three coats in all these pictures. Application was good aside from the thicker than usual texture.

All of these colors are so glowy. They're luminous. I really like how they look like they're glowing when you're wearing them. The colors are bright and cheery, and the cheeriness is only amplified by all that golden glow.

My top picks are Faye, Kimmy and Reva. All of them are nice, but those three wow me the most. Faye, because it's unique and gorgeous and Kimmy and Reva because they're so rich and colorful and the red shades look amazing with the gold metal flake.

And, I'm sure you've all seen the news about the promo, but just in case, I'll post it for you:

Do you have an account** on Zoya.com? If you answered yes, a very special offer is waiting for you!

A BOGO (Buy One, Get One) Offer*
on the new Zoya summer collections
12:01 EST 3/21/2011 - 11:59 EST 3/25/2011 only.

As an ADDED BONUS for taking part in the exclusive account holders only BOGO Offer*, standard shipping will be only $2! (Order more than $55 and shipping will be free!)

You can BOGO* any colors from Zoya's ModMattes, Summertime and Sunshine collections! With 15 new colors to choose from you are bound to find plenty of BOGO offer* options to love!

Please see the ZOYA blog (http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com) for complete details.

*Offer open only to those with active accounts** on Zoya.com, artofbeauty.com, Qtica.com and qticasmartspa.com as of 3/20/2011 at 5 PM ST. Offer open to consumers, Online promotion only. Continental US ONLY. BOGO Offer* is good on Open stock .5oz Polish ONLY from Summer 2011 collections. (Zoya Summertime, Sunshine and ModMatte) BOGO Offer good for up to 7 polishes. BOGO Offer* code is unique and non-transferable. One code per account. Code expires on 3/25/2011 at 11:59PM EST. Standard ground shipping is $2.00 and FREE for orders over $55. Upgraded shipping not available for this promotion. Please allow standard time for processing and shipping, however if volume is higher than expected please allow up to 4 weeks for shipping and processing. Please allow 2-6 weeks for delivery. Comments, videos and pictures posted about this Zoya.com BOGO Offer* outside of Zoya.com or zoyanailpolish.blogger.com are not representative of the opinions of Zoya Nail Polish, Art of Beauty, Inc., Qtica and Qtica Smart Spa and we do not confirm the accuracy of any postings..

**Qualifying accounts are those with a valid username (email) and password that has been created and used in the last 3 years account must be made by 3/20/2011 at 5PM EST to qualify for the BOGO Offer. No purchase necessary to start an account. Customers are responsible for maintaining active accounts. If username or password have been lost we (Art of Beauty, Inc.) are not responsible for restoring accounts or giving out any account information.

(These were sent to me for review.)

I don't want to go on the cart...

Well, uh, hey there guys! I know I haven't posted in quite a while so it's a little awkward starting this post. I ended up being sicker than I expected and I'm still not fully recovered. Unfortunately, I was still in the middle of swatching when I got sick so I don't have any of the new collections finished enough to post yet.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and that when I'm completely recovered I'll be getting back to posting. I leave you with the last mani I did before I got sick:

Illamasqua Radium as a base with Illamasqua Gamma polka dots and China Glaze Lightning Bolt on the ring finger. I haven't swatched the whole Toxic Nature collection (I will soon!) but I wanted to try on some of the crazy colors and this is what I ended up with. It's like crazy nuclear toadstool psychedelic acid trip terror moldy nightmare. I love it. I'll go into more detail about the collection when I finally get my review finished, but let me just say that Illamasqua really knows how to create a whole fantasy world just based on colors.

That mani lasted a really long time, too. An entire week. Of course, I wasn't doing anything besides sleeping and tripping out on NyQuil, but still... it lasted the whole time without chipping.

See you in a bit.

Nubar Spring Garden Collection Spring 2011 Swatches and Review

Here's Nubar's spring 2011 collection, "Spring Garden". A set of pastels that are a little different from all the ones we've seen lately. They're kinda dirty (in a good way) and each shade except Honeysuckle has a silvery hidden shimmer.


Baby Sprout. Not the mint green clone I was expecting! This is just barely green, like a creamy white with a bit of green cast to it. It's lighter than China Glaze Groovy Green. Really pretty color, though unfortunately it gives me mega lobster hands.



Blue Hydrangea. This is a pastel blue- it's like a dark baby blue or a pale sky blue. It is the only one that actually looks shimmery, the shimmer in the rest of the colors is more of a secret shimmer. The shimmer gives it a reflective pearl finish.



Earthen. A dirty, murky grey! I like. It has a little bit of a taupe tone to it, but it looks mainly grey on my skin. The very fine shimmer softens the color a little bit so it looks sort of... fuzzy? It's ever-so-slightly pearly, but only in certain lights.


Honeysuckle. Here's the obligatory Pantone 2011 Color of the Year honeysuckle shade. It's the only true creme in the collection and it adds a jarring pop of bright color amongst all these faded, dusty pastels. It's bright and clean and surprisingly nice; it has a subtle jelly look to it, though I wouldn't call it a true jelly finish (it's too opaque). Oddly, I never think of this color when I think of honeysuckle flowers. The honeysuckles I remember from my Grandma's garden were all white and yellow.


Pink Lily. Light, peachy pastel pink. Slight subtle pearl finish from all that fine silver shimmer in there.


Purple Aster. A light lavender pastel. Not quite as blue toned as it looks here, but still slightly blue toned in real life. I had about two seconds of sunlight to take this picture, I think it shows how subtle the shimmer is. Only a hint of silvery frost, you would never know if you didn't see it in direct light.


White Peony. This looks like a pure clean white in this picture, but in real life it has a bit of a dirty look to it. Not enough to call it off white or ivory, but it looks slightly faded and really creamy. I can't tell if this one has shimmer or not, actually... At some angles it looks like it, but my eyes hurt from staring at it!


Yellow Primrose. Very pale butter yellow. Lighter than Nubar Lemon Sorbet and Maybelline Banana Pudding. Very cute, very springy. The shimmer in this is almost invisible, but it softens the look of the color so it doesn't look chalky.

There's one more color in this collection- a coordinating glitter topcoat called Dewdrop. It doesn't really show up well alone, so I've only photographed it layered. It's a pastel opal glitter in a clear base, reminds me of something like Color Club Bishop's Weed or China Glaze Glacier.

I've done one coat over each color, no topcoat.

Dewdrop over Baby Sprout.

Dewdrop over Blue Hydrangea.


Dewdrop over Earthen.


Dewdrop over Honeysuckle.


Dewdrop over Pink Lily.


Dewdrop over Purple Aster.



Dewdrop over White Peony.


Dewdrop over Yellow Primrose.

The formula on all of these was good. It was thinner than usual but still nice and even, not runny. These weren't as opaque as previous Nubar cremes, I found that I needed three coats on all shades to get them completely even. Drying time is good. Bottles and brushes were all without defect.


These pastels are a little bit different from all the other pastels this year. I really like Earthen and Yellow Primrose, and White Peony is a nice white for wearing alone since it's not quite as chalky looking as other whites.

These will be available soon on ByNubar.com, though I don't know the exact date.

(These were sent to me for review.)

Regarding the boring nail polish collections...

While I'm finishing up some spring collection reviews and working on a few other things, I thought I'd pose this question...

It seems that I'm not the only one who isn't particularly impressed by recent nail polish collections. My question is this: Are the collections actually boring/unoriginal/recycled or have we just maxed out on awesome stuff in the past few years?

Think about it. Think about all the incredible polishes that came out in the past two or three years. The greens, the glitters, the holos, the neons, all the exciting, edgy, fun and uncommon colors that are now cherished parts of our stashes. Have we seen it all? Can any new nail polish really impress us, or are we so overloaded with cool polish that nothing could ever top it?

I personally think it's a little of both for me. I do see a lot of recycled, safe colors right now, but I think my expectations are set so high from all the great stuff that's come out in the past few years that it may take more than just a little green polish to impress me.

Another thought I had.... Judging from the 160-ish of you that weighed in on my last post, most of us are wishing for the same thing. Better, more colorful holo polishes, better duochromes, lots of polishes in the 230/Toxin/Liquid Euphoria theme and more unusual colors.

If so many of us are saying that we want to buy these, that we would even be willing to pay more to have these types of colors, why don't the exist right now?

I've heard some speculation that they just can't make some of these colors anymore, specifically the 230-esque shimmer duochromes, because the pigments and minerals used to create them don't exist anymore.

Another theory I've heard (and I've suspected this as well) is that those types of colors don't work in the new Big 3 Free formula.

Are these colors impossible to make, or are they just cost-prohibitive? Are the materials exhausted or have they just forgotten how to make these types of colors?

Anyone with industry insight able to weigh in on this? Chemists? I'm all ears.

Anyway, those are the thoughts that have been kicking around in my head for a while. Wanted to see what all my fellow polish lovers thought. Please continue to list your wishes in the other post. I need to figure out a way to make it a permanent page so people can keep adding to it and using it as reference.

Zoya "Get Your Green On" Promo SOLD OUT!

EDIT: Whoa, you guys were fast! Zoya is completely sold out of greens! Sadly, since they no longer have the inventory to fill any more orders, the promo has ended early.

We sure do love our greens...


Here's a sweet deal from Zoya for all my green nail polish loving buddies...

Get Your Green On!

Green nail polish is in! We want you to get your green on!

Get 3 of Zoya's best selling green nail polishes for $5*! This incredible offer includes Zoya Suvi, Zoya Shawn and Zoya Ivanka! Green polishes for work, play and everyday! Get this $24 value for $5* when you add it to your cart now! (You save $19!) Don’t miss out! This offer is only valid until March 7, 2011 at 11:59 EST! Limit one Trio per customer.

Here's how it works:

Add one "Get Your Green on Trio" to your shopping cart. Once in your cart a discount for $19.00 will appear, reducing the net Trio cost to $5.00. Then just complete the checkout process. Remember only one "Get Your Green on Trio" will be discounted. Any additional trios that you purchase will be at regular price.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OFFER RIGHT NOW!

(*Consumers Only, Continental USA only, Valid Credit card with sufficient funds needed to process order, Limit one per customer. Any additional trios (Zoya Suvi, Zoya Ivanka can Zoya Shawn) be purchased at retail price. Valid ONLY FROM 3/4/2011 - 3/7/2011 at 11:59PM EST. Non-Transferable. Not Valid with any other promotions or offers. Standard S/H applies. For complete details see www.zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com.

Don't you want this? :D

Zoya Shawn

Informal poll: What kind of nail polish do you want to see?

This picture has nothing to do with the post, I just thought it was cute. Yay doggies!

I was just thinking (and complaining on Twitter) about how uninspired a lot of the nail polish collections seem lately. It seems like they're all duplicates of each other or re-released colors with new names. Which lead to me wondering what types of colors I'd rather see instead... I want to know what types of colors/finishes/types of polish you want polish companies to make.

This is sort of an informal poll, I want to see what you all think. Please comment with what type of nail polish you want to see in upcoming collections. Anything that comes to mind, even if it seems impossible. New colors, re-releases of old collections, anything! Post it!

Personally, I'd like to see a decent range magnet polishes that are available in North America, some really unusual/weird creme shades, or the same unusual shades with contrasting duochrome flash, some good true holos (like China Glaze Kaleidoscope and OMG) in different colors (do we really need more gold, silver and lavender holos?) and some polishes that have pretty pink and blue and purple glitter in them, like the Cover Girl Ice Slicks. And let's not forget my eternal wish for Clarins 230 / Urban Decay Toxin and Id- type polishes in all different hues.

Nail polish companies do read blogs... Maybe if we ask for something enough, they might make it! It's happened before, it can happen again!