Sparkly Zoya's: "Blaze"

Hello Ladies! Continuing the Zoya Sparkly polish post series with "Blaze".  This lovely polish was also from the Holiday 2012 "Ornate" collection (see collection mate Aurora).  Blaze is a raspberry red jelly base with the same "micro fine diamond holographic glitter" finish as Aurora, but at a slightly less dense concentration. 


Zoya Blaze - artificial light

In a lot of online swatches, this shade comes across as a deep true red, but that wasn't my experience.  In my opinion this is a pink leaning red, more of a raspberry than a vampy Hollywood red.  I absolutely love it though, it's a gorgeous shade.  I think the picture below has captured this pink/red tone quite well.

 Zoya Blaze - artificial light

As with Aurora the application/formula is fantastic, glides on smooth for a glossy finish and did need two coats for full opacity.  I'm wearing two coats in the pictures, with NE base and HK girl topcoat.  Wear time was excellent - you might notice some tipwear in the pics (sorry for that) but when you consider I took these photos after redecorating my kitchen, then this is pretty impressive.  This mani took an astonishing amount of abuse and stayed really well.  That's a nice surprise with a glitter polish, which in my experience tend to be a bit more fragile.  Removal was also easy, no different to removing a crème.

Zoya Blaze -sunlight

Just look at that sunlit glow! This is a fabulous shade in any light, and it just explodes when the sun hits it.  I'm a big fan.  Previous to this I only owned one Zoya polish (Valerie, which is frankly a bit disappointing, it's a very dry purple foil) so I was a bit unsure what I'd make of the brand.  Based on Aurora and Blaze I'm very impressed with the quality. My only complaint is that their brushes are a bit on  the narrow side.

Zoya Blaze - artificial light

I bought my bottle from the Nail and Beauty Link (link in the supplier's page) for a ridiculous bargain £6.  I'd say this polish is easily worth twice that. 

Next up will be my final "Ornate" collection polish: Storm...until then!

Sparkly Zoya's: "Aurora"

Hello ladies! Today I'm kicking off a run of Zoya posts, showcasing the sparkly polishes that I have in my stash.  I recently went on a Zoya lemming hunt, and these were the spoils :)

First up is hands-down favourite of the bunch: Aurora.  This polish was released in the Holiday 2012 "Ornate" collection.  These jewel toned holo glitters are described as containing "high concentration micro-fine diamond holographic glitter".  Whether this contains actual diamond I don't know, but it certainly sparkles like it does....

Zoya Aurora - artificial light

Aurora is a cool toned magenta, that appears purple in some lights.  It has a jelly base and flawless application.  The glitter particles are fine enough to allow smooth application with no clump-and-drag and leaving a glossy smooth finish.  Removal was also a breeze.  I'm wearing my usual two coats betwixt NE base and HK girl topcoat.  It did need a couple coats to reach opacity.

Zoya Aurora - artificial light - close up

This polish is mesmerizing in every light.  I find some holos can be dull in indirect light, but there is literally not a dull face to this beauty, indoors or out the holo effect is clearly evident and in sunlight this polish is a riot of rainbows.  I found I was still staring at my nails just as much on day 5 as day 1. Wear time was also impressive, I only had minor tip wear after a full week.

Zoya Aurora - in different lights

I've had a major lemming for this polish since I first saw it swatched by the legendary Scrangie...its such a shame she doesn't seem to blog much anymore.  I can't believe I waited to so long to add this to my collection, but it was definitely worth the wait. 

I bought mine from Nail Polish Direct (link on the suppliers page) for £8.95, which is utterly bargainous for a polish of this quality and beauty.  I got it just a few weeks ago, so even though this was a 2012 polish it still appears to be in circulation.

More "Ornate" polish posts to follow...(and a couple from the follow-up "Zenith" collection).

Spotted! The 'Amazing' new Revlon Collection

Hello Ladies!  I was out shopping today (you know, where you decide to just 'go look at the nail polish' and end up buying 6...) and I spotted a gorgeous new collection from Revlon - The Electic-Chrome limited edition collection released as a tie-in for The Amazing Spiderman 2.  The reason for this post is that THESE ARE CURRENTLY ON OFFER! These sell for £6.49 each but Boots is currently doing a 'Buy 2 for £10' offer.

Here's a collection marketing pic I shamelessly nicked from the internet...

Electric Chrome Collection - Revlon

IRL these don't appear to have quite the multi-chrome pop that the promo shots are showing, and instead look more to me like gorgeous bright metallic foil shimmers.  A quick hunt for collection reviews suggested this was the overall effect on the nail, although I have seen a couple of shots where the blogger used black undies to give the shade more pop. I'll definitely be trying that.

left: "Super-Powered", right: "Spidey-Sense"

I chose 'Super-Powered' and 'Spidey Sense'.  It was a really close call though with the magenta 'Gwen's Crush' which is also lovely.  But in the end I'm a sucker for a metallic red so it had to be Spidey Sense.  You may recall that a few years ago OPI released a Spiderman collection (great review post on the PolishAholic) to tie-in with the first 'reboot' and in my opinion this offering from Revlon is more exciting.  I also love the gold spider's webs on the bottles, that's a really nice touch.

Swatches to follow...at some point...really I must get quicker at this swatch and post business!  But I wanted to get the word out before the Boots offer ends....

My first nail polish: Avon "Little Blossom" nail tint

If you were a child of the eighties in the UK then chances are you remember the make-up range Avon made for children: Little Blossom. I happened to be chatting to someone about this today and it brought back such happy memories! The make up was all in pale colors, with light scents and all designed to wash off in the bath. It's so sad that there is no modern day equivalent of this now. I've since found a number of websites and pinterest boards dedicated to people's love for these "vintage" Avon products....makes me feel pretty vintage too have things from my childhood classed as vintage!

This also made me realise that the Little Blossom nail tint was my very first nail polish. I wish I could remember what it smelled like, but it looked like a pale pink clear tint that peeled off easily...perhaps not so dissimilar to the new OPI sheer tints (but without the peeling I'd hope). 

I found this pic on pinterest, sorry I don't know who to credit it too...

Do you remember the Little Blossom range? (And can you remember what this smelled of?)....what was your first nail polish? I'd love to hear from you :-)

Spotted! New Models Own nail art polishes

Hello ladies! I spotted a new collection from Models Own today in my local boots. The Sticky Fingers collection are a series of polishes with a set of nail art transfers wrapped around the lid. They retail for £6 each...personally I prefer to get nail stickers/decals from the Born Pretty store where you get a lot more for less money, plus the colors of the accompanying MO polishes didn't really float my boat...but this still a cute idea.

China Glaze "Let's Groove"

Hello Ladies!  A quick post today to show you a luscious purple polish from China Glaze....feast your eyes upon "Let's Groove" from the 2009 "Retro Diva" collection:

China Glaze "Let's Groove" - artificial light

Phwoar! his polish is all kinds of awesome!  My crazy lemming love for all purple polishes is well documented and this one is a fantastic addition to the stash.  With an almost neon blurple base, this is a royal purple shimmer packed with pink and purple flecks.  It has that 'inner fire' that the best shimmers have and a lovely shine.  It was love at first brush stroke....

China Glaze "Let's Groove" - artificial light

I'm wearing my usual two coats between NE base and HK girl topcoat.  Application was perfect, no complaints about wear time either.  Just look at that amazing shimmer...

Phwoar!

I picked up this beauty from Nail Polish Direct (link on suppliers page) for a bargainous £4.30 with free P&P.  I highly recommend it if you're a lover of purples (and really, what sensible nailista isn't?)

Get yourself some free nail polish!

Hello ladies! Well it's summer which means it's the season of beauty freebies in the major glossies.  There are some nail polishes on offer this month, so get down to your local newsie and you might grab a bargain :)

In Red magazine (RRP £4)  there are 4 Mavala mini's available: 169 Waikiki Orange, 301 Trinidad, 185 Moscow, 97 Witchita.  These mini polishes retail for about £4-5 (in Boots, and online) so this is a reasonable deal if you want to read Red magazine too....

In Harpers Bazaar (RRP £5) there are 6 full size Leighton Denny polishes on offer: Supermodel (nude), 3 Times a Lady (pale pink), Best Seller (sparkly pink), Viva La Diva (red), Plush Pink, & Clockwork Orange.  These polishes cost £11 (John Lewis, and online) so this is quite the bargain.  Unlike Nails Inc giveaways where the release 'special edition' colours in collaboration with the magazine in question, which to me seem like the same watered down crappy colours they give away all the time.  At least these LD shades are from the main collections.

Apparently Marie Claire will have Ciate Mini Caviar manicure kits free with the July issue (should be out now, but I didn't spot it yet).  Marie Claire RRP is £4 I think, and the mini-kits are worth £10, so this looks like another decent deal.

I picked up a bottle of Supermodel with Harpers, since I started dabbling with nudes I can't seem to stop.  My local Tesco had tons of this shade, and a couple of the pinks.  I'd really like to find the orange and 'best seller' (I have a mini of that shade and its awesome).