While I was at JoAnn's Fabrics this past weekend, I saw this set of 12 "vintage leaf glitter" vials from Martha Stewart. I had bought her 12 glitters vials about 2 years ago and it's done nothing but sit on my shelf of crafts as another one of those "I'll eventually play with this" things. I figured with this, I could use it in nail art just like gold leaf foil (which I had to fight myself from buying last week as well). At $20, this is a pretty good value considering how little you use for art and how many different colors are included.
I opened my vial, and tried to "paint" on some of the leaf glitter using my paintbrush that I clean up my cuticles with but that didn't do much, so I just used my fingertip to place the leaf glitter on my nail and then added a thick coat of Seche Vite. A few pieces were still sticking up, so I pushed them down with an orange stick to try and get it to stick. Bottom line, I wasn't patient enough. I'm positive with enough time and patience (and a good top coat), you could get the leaf glitter to properly lay down and even place in a design.
This was over my earlier manicure, Zoya Mira.
The shine is amazingly brilliant but as you can see, a few corners are still sticking up which can easily catch on things... mainly hair since I tend to play with my hair a lot.
Even in the shade, this catches any available light to reflect upon. I definitely think this is a great way to spruce up a manicure :]
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration. For more information, please read this post.
Moving on down the line of Zoya's Summer 2011 Sunshine and Summertime - today I have Zoya Mira, a "blue toned medium purple with dusty lavender tones and an opaque cream finish. For a muted yet colorful purple that isn't too dark." Now, when I first saw this color, I giggled at the name, because in Spanish, mira means "look", and as a teenager, it was popular to say "mira, look it" (which is totally redundant, but also hilarious at the time)... Okay yeah, it's kind of weird but what can I say. I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of Mira, and a top of Zoya Armor. Formula was very nice and even.
Now, this color looks a lot like China Glaze Grape Pop, but I haven't had any time for comparisons just yet. That's one reason why I'm doing my nail project, so I can pull comparisons all the time. I have a little over 50 nails done, so I'm only 5% into it (oy). Very beautiful purple though.
Here in the shade, you can really see the blue tones coming through - I'm not sure what I like more... I'm a huge blurple lover in general.
Indoors with the flash... very Barney purple like. Great creme but not entirely unique. I promise to have comparisons again soon!
Zoya can be purchased on their website for $8/bottle.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration. For more information, please read this post.
I follow a few Tumblr "blogs" (I don't really know what you'd call them, maybe it's just "tumblr"?) and I've been noticing a lot of China Glaze Let's Do It In 3-D postings from their Kaleidoscope collection. This is a rainbow holo (not linear) in a charcoal grey base that I originally hated. Seriously, I nearly gave it away last year because I was so underwhelmed by this polish. Today I decided to try again.
I used a base coat of Nfu-Oh Aqua Base which takes a bit longer to dry than normal base coats because of its thickness, but provides a nice smooth base for the nail polish. Next I added three thin coats of Let's Do It In 3-D. And then I fell in love.
Not going to lie - I took about 50 pictures. However, I'm going to spare you and only show the best one that showed you that holo goodness we all love. Yay!
However in the shade, well you know the story.
Boo shade.
Indoors with the flash provided a bit more holographic pictures, but not by much. This is definitely a "wear in the sun and blind everyone" type of polish - which is fine by me.
While this color is discontinued, you can find it sometimes on eBay (ouch on prices) or in small/local beauty supply stores or salons.
I'm officially finishing some CosmoProfNALV items today (YAY!) and I have a pretty pink for you! Zoya Areej is a "pink with an opaque cream finish. A pink for when you want a bold pop of color but not something neon-bright." It's almost Barbie pink but has a bit more blue in it. I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of Zoya Armor.
Here in the sun you can see that it's definitely a darker pink than "Barbie pink", but still quite lovely I like this shade of pink better than light because I feel it's better with my skin tone, but who am I kidding, I wear all kinds of polish. Yellow is still my "ehh" color thought.
Oddly, in the shade, this looks much more berry than pink. It's still quite beautiful, but just a little bit different.
Back indoors with the flash - I can't stop raving about Zoya Get Even and how well it covers ridges. People constantly ask me where I get my nails done and I'm happy to say "They aren't fake!"
Zoya can be purchased on their website for $8/bottle.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration. For more information, please read this post.
Continuing with the Sunshine and Summertime collection is Kieko, a "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." I'm such a sucker for purples and while this isn't a purple glitter, it's still PURPLE! I really want to put my purple peek-a-boo highlights back in my hair, but just haven't yet. I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of Kieko and a top of Zoya Armor.
Check out this pretty girl in the sun! It took me a whole hour in Photoshop to get the color correct, but it's totally worth it so you see the correct color.
Mmm even in the shade, this color rocks my socks. I love this berry purple plum thing!
Indoors with the flash - you can see a tiny bit of balding on the ring finger, but otherwise this is a pretty well opaque creme. I would definitely recommend this color if you're a purple fan.
Zoya can be purchased on their website for $8/bottle.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration. For more information, please read this post.
