Zoya Loredana

From the Matte Velvet collection 2009.
This was 3 coats.

This is my first matte polish in a really long time. As I've mentioned before in my haul post, I'm really delighted with the bottle. For all their matte polishes, Zoya gave a little twist to their usual high-gloss glass bottles, and instead packaged them in a frosted glass one. While this may compromise visuality of the polish inside (like how I didn't manage to see the exact shade and the glitters in this one until I opened the bottle), but it gives it a really cute just-out-the-fridge effect and, of course, makes it look appropriately matte.

I had however, expected Loredana to dry faster than it did, since matte polishes are meant to be some of the quickest-drying polishes out there. It wasn't slow, just that it wasn't as fast as I had expected. No matter, however. It is a gunmetal grey shade with a whole lot of silver glitter in it, though the glitter is a little diminished when it dries matte. I don't foresee that I shall be wearing this on its own very much, since I generally do not like black-ish polishes, but I think this will make a great base for nail art. Somehow, it always looks nicer when there's a mixture of gloss and matte. Not to mention, I've seen photos of Loredana with topcoat and it looks fab! I can't think why I forgot to take a picture of that.

aquarius

I wasn't really sure how to name this but here's my first somewhat successful sponging attempt!







Base: China Glaze Snow, 2 coats (Holiday collection 2010)

First sponge: China Glaze Flyin' High (Up and Away collection 2010)

Second sponge (nearer tips): Zoya Charla

I initially had wanted to use OPI What's With The Cattitude for the first sponge (the one that covers about 2/3 of the nail) and I'm glad I chose Flyin' High instead, which is a better match for Charla. I like how Charla adds that mermaid sheen at the tip.

I really like how this turned out! It looks like an ocean spray or something. I could've named it Sea Spray or On Stranger Tides, but they are unfortunately already used as polish names.

I did this by cutting a square of sponge and just putting the polish on a piece of paper (I stupidly tried using kitchen towels in my first few attempts, DO NOT use anything absorbent), then dabbing the sponge on the polish and dabbing it onto your nails. It turns out a little gross and rough at first because of the sponge (unless you're using a smooth sponge), but all is well after you put on your layer of topcoat.

I used a sponge that was holy and I guess rather rough. That's why the gradient turned out splatter-like and sort of like water splashing, which is cool with me, but for a smoother gradient, I think perhaps finding a foundation sponge or something smoother would be a better idea. I might go and hunt for one now, myself.

All in all, extremely pleased with the way this turned out! And it's super fast, because when polishes are sponged on rather than painted, they tend to dry a whole lot faster. The only rate limiting factor is most probably going to be the dry time of your base layer.

UPDATE





So I got bored and I also received my haul from 8ty8beauty so I applied some China Glaze Black Mesh over it and I love how it looks! I love how the gradient pops up against the black crackle in the forefront, and how it all looks really cartoony!

My first attempt at Konad!!

Whoots, here it is! OK, I lied, this isn't my first attempt at Konad, but it's the first ever documented!

Index
Base: China Glaze Snow
Stamp: Zoya Breezi
Plate: m51

I definitely like the index finger design best. It reminds me of old Chinese white porcelain cutlery with their intricate blue designs. But sorry for the smudge. Although the polish looks a little thin on the nail and looks a bit bald in some places, I actually like it that way! Like I said, reminds me of the Chinese cutlery.



Middle
Base: OPI Diva of Geneva
Stamp: Zoya Marley
Plate: m79

Middle finger looks a bit strange! I don't think the combination goes really well. For a relatively darker polish like Diva of Geneva, a lighter stamping colour would be better. Zoya Marley was supposed to be that light shade, but for some reason it came out pretty dark on the nail. The design's a little incomplete but I also surprisingly like it that way. Gives it a bit of a vintage feel, especially since the design is roses and pearls and random lines.

Ring
Base: Zoya Marley
Stamp: OPI DS Diamond
Plate: m60

UGH, I can't see DS Diamond at all! What a pity. I had expected DS Diamond to really shine when on Marley but, no. I can't see it at all. And because it's a scattered holo, I suspect that's why the holo effect didn't come out so well when stamped on, unlike linear holos (like legendary China Glaze OMG etc.) How saddening. Now it just looks like I have some glittery holo topcoat-ish thing on my Marley.

Pinkie
Base: OPI The One That Got Away
Stamp: Konad Special White Polish
Plate: m51

Whoops, I forgot to put on a topcoat for this one. And before anyone comes up to me with an accusation of not cleaning up properly on my pinkie, the story goes that when I stamped it on, I was so amused by that whole bit that stuck out (and rather enamoured by the design) that I kept it as it is. But yes, I will clean it up later on. I like the combination here. The One That Got Away is one of my favourite base colours of just about any nail art because it's that deep but rich shade of reddish-pink, but the glass flecks in it really helps it become bright. So basically it's good for just about everything.

Hailing from Korea, Konad is a brand that specializes in making image plates on which you can paint on nail polish, scrape it off (so that there's only nail polish left in the engravings of the design), stamp it on a stamper, and then stamp it on your nails. It sounds difficult, but it's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Of course, doing it on your right hand (if you're right-handed) is a whole different ball game and one at which I am completely at the bottom of the ladder.

Anyhow, Konad (obviously) recommends you to get their own Konad special polish which is ultra-opaque (so much so that it is highly recommended that you do NOT try painting it as a full coat on your nails - honestly, I don't even want to try) as well as a whole bunch of other stuff. I like how small and handy all the equipment are, very convenient and all-round cute. Everything's a becoming girly shade of pink (hey, if you're doing nail art with flowers and stuff - kinda speaks volumes about you). Using the Konad special nail polish would definitely make it a lot easier for you to get the hang of things, and I would highly recommend that to beginners. Personally, I think the white Konad polish is a must-have for everyone, since white Konad is especially lovely. Black and silver are also becoming tempting. I stupidly bought the lavender shade which I have not used until now.

In my opinion, Konad's one of the easiest nail arts that I've come across. I've tried water marbling, I've tried nail foils and nothing really works without hair-pulling frustration. Shatter polish doesn't count. Konad, however, is pretty simple, as long as you don't do it in a windy place or under a fan, because the nail polish would dry up faster than you can stamp it. Yes, I confess, I learnt that the hard way. Anyway, that being said, Konad isn't fail proof (especially the RIGHT HAND), so you may have to practise a bit before you get things right.

So I'm really happy that I've found colours that are able to work with my Konad. This is my first time successfully trying stamping with non-Konad polishes! Generally, if you want to find something that works, go for those polishes that are one-coaters, or at least has a pretty good coverage in one coats. The thicker and creamier, the better. Zoya cremes work marvelously for this one, I've heard that China Glaze Millenium, 2030 and Color Club Worth The Risque and Revvvolution are great polishes for Konading as well. Will try it out when I get them!

Zoya Kieko (+ Silver Shatter)

From the Zoya summer '11 collection. Again, forgot what it was called. I've no idea why Zoya has such forgettable collection names. I tend to just think of them as an entire big Zoya collection, with new additions every so often.

Zoya Kieko is a warm purple with red undertones. It's really easy to mistake this for Mira, which is another purple released in the same collection. I don't own Mira but I've seen it in action and it has a definite blue undertone to it, as compared to Kieko. On its own, however, the two might be a bit difficult to differentiate. Anyway, as with all Zoya cremes, application was a dream. This was only 1 coat. And look at how glossy and shiny it is! High-gloss finish. You may cap the Seche Vite to use another day.



Here it is with a coat of OPI Silver Shatter. I have to say I quite like the way this turned out. Although purple and silver isn't really quite my thing, but I'm pleased with the way the Shatter turned out. It actually cracked properly and all. Well done, OPI! You deserve a pat on the back for having made the notoriously difficult Shatter formula user-friendly and your pro-wide brushes help tons.

Zoya Marley (+ Silver Shatter)

From the latest Zoya collection (forgot what it was called - Precious? Delicate? they all sound the same.) I never can remember Zoya collection names. It's partially because they don't really go down the usual way as OPI and China Glaze with the ostentatious themes and posters, and having at least five polishes per collection. Sometimes Zoya can just release 3.

Marley reminds me of the movie Marley And Me. I didn't watch it because I don't like tearjerker movies, especially those concerning dogs. I have a Golden Retriever at home and she's getting old herself, so yeah - NO.

'nuff of the banter. Zoya Marley is a very light gray-lavender shade, very feminine and subtle. I like the unobtrusiveness of the shade, and I like how it has a very subtle silver shimmer that you can barely really see, but it contributes significantly to the look as a whole. The application was fabulous, if you're careful you could it in 1 coat. If you use a 2nd coat, it's probably to cover up bald spots, but 2 coats max. It dried surprisingly semi-matte. I wouldn't even say it was near glossy, the way it dried, but yet smoother than the usual matte finishes. I don't know why nail bloggers don't seem to mention this (or is it just my bottle? hmm)

Wear it with a topcoat if you want a glossy look, wear it without for that semi-matte feel. Looks feminine as itself but also an interesting but appropriate base colour for any layering or nail art you may want to attempt like Konad or nail foil (haven't tried these yet, but I'm sure it'll look fabulous).



So I decided to slap on a bit of OPI Silver Shatter and see how it turned out. Well, you can't really quite see the Shatter. It somehow camouflages pretty well on Marley, but I daresay it might be different if I had bothered to slap on some Seche Vite. Cos we all know that Silver Shatter only really comes alive when it meets Seche Vite.

However - not a combination that I'd try again soon, I think. It's not ugly, just - not noticeable.

Zoya Apple

From the same Summer collection as Zoya Faye, Apple is a sparkly, well, apple-green polish. The green tinge of the polish leans towards the warmer, yellow side, which I'm more fond of since I can't pull off cooler greens towards the blue side. This was 3 coats, but you can still see a bit of a VNL there, which is typical of the Zoya glitter formula. I personally find it acceptable, but if you're impatient and can't stand VNL, then this polish, along with almost every other Zoya glitter, is not for you.

It might look like a warmer version of Zoya Ivanka, but as I don't own that polish, I can't compare it for you! I'm not usually much of a green polish person. I had China Glaze Four Leaf Clover and only wore it once because I didn't think it agreed with me. But somehow, I'm excited to try this one on for size, since I'm really digging the yellower tone of the green.

Zoya Jules

I bought this primarily for work, but I realised that this is perfect for events and dinners as well! Jules is a muted dark khaki base with soft shimmery gold glitter. I really like how the gold glitter only seems to show up when the light hits it, and it looks like it's glowing. Still, Jules is toned down enough and it goes really well with my skin tone, making it subtle but interesting at the same time. This was 2 easy coats, surprising for a Zoya glitter which usually tend to go on a little watery and thin.

Zoya Caitlin

Well, this polish turned out more purple-tinged than I expected but it's not a big deal. In dim or artificial light, it looks more like a grayed out cool purple, whereas in sunlight, it looks like a lavender-tinged gray. Still, I'm really digging these cool sort of subtle but classy colours nowadays. This was a mere 1 coat. Perfect application. I love Zoya's creme polish application because, if you do it right, you can easily do it in one coat and it has a reasonable drying time as well. Now, if only I love creme polish in itself more...

The polish that comes to mind when I think of comparison is China Glaze Below Deck from their Anchors Away collection. Not owning this polish, I managed to swatch my friend's onto my colour wheel and a quick comparison showed me that Below Deck's purple is a lot warmer than that of Caitlin. It almost looks taupe next to Caitlin. They are essentially both purple-gray shades, but are far from dupes.

Zoya Faye

Zoya Faye is one of those colours that do freaky things with the light. At one moment, it's a brown red gold, but the next moment, you see a definite tinge of purple amidst all the gold glitter. I remember I painted this one on my Brown colour wheel, only to find out that the base colour is actually a definite purple! I felt rather cheated. So basically, the colour of Faye is extremely difficult to pinpoint, but suffice it to say it is a reddish-purple base with tons and tons of gold glitter in it.

The application was a little thin, as per usual with Zoya glitters. This was probably about 3 coats, to get a good enough opacity. I love just how shiny it is. It's amazingly shiny, and for some reason, the shine and glitter has tons of depth which makes it really awesome to look at. It doesn't have quite the 3D opalescent mermaid effect like collection Zoya Charla was in, but it doesn't disappoint either.

I have heard that this polish is very much like the new OPI Rally Pretty Pink from the Serena Williams Grand Slam collection. I don't personally own OPI Rally Pretty Pink but having seen some swatches, I have to agree that they seem pretty dupe-y to me. Here's a pretty good comparison between the two, by Polishaholic.

Sephora Mini-Haul

Yesterday I went to check out this store called Sephora. I've never before entered it, so I was very interested to see what line of nail polishes they have. Their OPI sold for some ridiculous prices but I did note down the names of some that were really nice. I did, however, indulge myself in 3 of their house brand polishes which seemed very promising. There were several others that looked promising in the bottle but upon testing them out on some adhesive, they fell rather flat to my disappointment. I bought the 3 that lived up to my expectations!



Sephora 0272A.

Seriously, Sephora needs to start giving their polishes some sort of name that's easier to remember than just numbers. I had no other way of identifying them. I think the number is, in fact, just the serial number too. C'mon, Sephora! You can do better than that! Anyway, 0272A is a beautiful glowy radiant bright blue-green colour that takes the light reflection and really transforms it into a glow. It's electrifying and stunning to look at. This was 2 coats.



Sephora 0256A.

A shimmery but not frosty white-beige polish. I like white polish but I don't like to lay on a single layer of pure white creme - that's kinda boring. I'd like it to have some depth, and Happy Anniversary by OPI, while very blingy, was probably not meant to be worn by itself, seeing as it takes a good 5 - 6 layers to build up to opacity. This one works like a charm. I love the off-white tinge, and the opacity which is easily buildable. This was 2 coats.



Sephora 0277A.

I know it's super obvious in the photographs but in real life, the bottle looks a whole lot more like a dark muted lavender than black. I thought it'd be an interesting substitute for L. A. Girls' Punk but I was quite wrong, though I'm happy to be wrong. I was surprised to see that the base colour of this polish is black, but it's so so so chock full of that fine purple, blue glitter that it pretty much negates the black colour. The end-result is a sort of purple-tinged gunmental gray, which is awesome, imo.

This is my first time trying out Sephora polishes and I was pleasantly surprised. Their formula is not troublesome, although it does have a fair bit of bubbling. That aside, I'm in love with their brush. It's completely unlike any of the brushes I've seen before. It's actually pointed in a strange 3D way, which makes it tons easier for me to paint neatly. If you notice, these 3 photos are some of the best applications I've done, in terms of neatness. The colour range of Sephora is not very exciting, though. I probably could find many of the colours as dupes in other brands. Simple solid creme colours. Their glitter range isn't all that special either. When I did pick up their duochromes, some of them looked uber awesome in the bottle but when I applied it onto a bit of adhesive to test, it all turned out really flat and uninteresting. As I've said, these 3 are probably the most interesting ones I picked up. Which is such a pity, because I thought I saw something almost like a Orly Space Cadet dupe.

Each bottle is SGD 9 (roughly USD 7.25) but it's a measly 5 mL compared to the usual 15 mL for OPI, Zoya, Essie and 14 mL for China Glaze and LA Girls. That's 1/3 of the usual volume. Not cool! It's pretty much like a mini, and selling at retail price. Unless they drop the price, or expand the bottle, or diversify their colours, I don't foresee myself buying anymore from Sephora.

However, for interest's sake, I decided to compare the blue-green Sephora to some of my favourite other blue-greens in my collection.



Whew. OPI Yodel Me On My Cell used to be one of my favouritest polish ever, but now I feel that it is in danger of being supplanted by the newcomers like Charla and Sephora. Charla is undoubtedly darker than Sephora, and the shimmer in it is a little chunky but that adds to its epic fish-scales mermaid effect. Sephora employs a much finer sort of shimmer that gives it a much brighter, radiant glow. I love them both. OPI Yodel sadly looks rather uninteresting next to these two but - I still like it. I'd still wear it, definitely. It's good for those times when you don't really want to be all out there and crazy, but yet gives me an adequate shot of my favourite blue-ish shade. (:

sunny days, sweeping the clouds away

Base: 2 coats of Zoya Breezi
Design: Konad plate m79 in White Konad polish
Glitter: 2 coats of China Glaze Fairy Dust.

In the first photo, the shade of Breezi is more true to real life. In the second photo, you'd see an excellent close-up of the holographic glitter of Fairy Dust.

I was trying to grab the chance before my internship started to do something funky with my nails and was playing with Konad one day while watching Pride & Prejudice (not the heinous Keira Knightley version, the awesome BBC 1995 one). By the way, one tip for Konad: DO NOT ATTEMPT IT WITH ANY SORT OF WIND OR FAN BLOWING. I was foolish enough to try to do it under a rather large and strong fan, and experienced several failed attempts before it finally struck me to switch off the fan, which worked like a charm but left me sweating buckets.

In any case, I bought m79 mainly because I wanted to try out the clouds print on it. I was somewhat pleased with the end-result. It looked like a happy starry sky when you take a closer look at it, but the only downside to it is that from afar, it rather looks like cow-spots, or fluffy flowers. D: Not exactly the intended effect, but cute enough, I guess.

I really like how Fairy Dust is your usual fine holographic glitter for layering but there's a certain depth to it that I've never seen before in layering polishes of its type. Usually the cheap-ish layering glitter polishes we see around layer on rather flatly and could even dry rough and chunky. Not so for fairy dust. It's almost as if the glitter particles are suspended in a layer of clear polish, giving it a very 3D effect. It's not quite so visible in the photo or even in the close-up.

Because I took such a long time trying to get the Konad to work, I got frustrated and lazy after doing 4 fingers, so for the rest of the 6 fingers, I opted for the easier option of normal painting. I tried to do something a bit still in theme with the whole sky thing so here it is:



1 coat of Zoya Marley with 1 coat of Nubar 2010.

All right, all right, so it takes a stretch of imagination to see how this fits in with the sky theme, but I intended this to be a sunset scene, where the sky is a lavender hue and the flakes are rays of sunshine as it sets. Yes, I'm very imaginative.

Anyhow, this photo does no justice at all to the opalescence of Nubar 2010. In the photo, it looks rather flat and uninteresting but in real life, it looks a whole lot more orange/green then in the photo (thereby giving it a sunset feel, heh). Nubar 2010 was a good buy, indeed.

Zoya Charla

All my friends would know just how long my obsession with this particular shade has been. It first started when my friend directed my attention to a certain OPI Catch Me In Your Net in the sadly sadly limited edition of the Summer Flutter collection from '10. I probably only knew about this early this year so obviously it was all snatched up like nobody's business. I went on a hunt for dupes immediately, and found Zoya Charla and Orly Halley's Comet. I almost bought Orly from wowshop but then it went OOS before I could confirm my order. Cries! In a last ditch attempt, I finally made the move to place a big order from Zoya. Zoya doesn't ship internationally so it was really my last resort. I had to send it to a friend in the USA who then found a way to get it to me.

Finally. Finally! Chorus of angels sing as I test out Zoya Charla for the first time.

And the end result? WHAT CAN I SAY? If you're as obsessed over blue-green shades as I am, this should practically be enshrined and blessed. It is fast becoming my favourite nail polish of all time because of its sheer beauty! It's basically a blue teal base with green shimmer. The shimmer in it is just stunning. I've never quite seen anything like it and it's really hard to describe. The most apt descriptor I've seen so far is 'mermaid sheen'. It does remind me slightly of fish scales (not the gross types). It's not exactly duochrome but it's just - it's just - breath-taking.

OK, enough of the raving, I'm sure i need no further elaboration of its good points, let's take a look at its bad. Firstly, like all Zoya glitters, Charla does take a few coats to build up. If I'm not wrong, this was probably about 3 or 4 coats and you can still see the VNL. Sadly, the VNL is even more obvious in real life. You'd probably need to strike a balance between painting enough coats to cover the VNL, but trying not to have too thick a coat in the end. Secondly, it is HIGHLY HIGHLY LIKELY that Charla will leave you with smurf fingers. This is the main reason why I have not yet worn Charla for not more than half an hour. Despite layering on two layers of base coat, I still have difficulties de-blue-ing my nails at the end of it. I'm not sure whether it might also be because my nail polish remover is itself blue-green in colour (such is the extent of my obsession), but removal is nevertheless still a big problem. That is not to say your nails will remain permanently blue after an application, but you probably need to run through each nail twice with the nail polish remover in order to adequately remove the blue tinge.

Despite having some failings, Charla is, in my opinion, one of the must-get nail polishes of all time (that is, unless you have one of its clones).

Zoya Reece

I had to quickly swatch this one because my mom bought it with me during the spree so I have to return it to her asap (not that she knows I'm swatching it, heh). Zoya Reece was one of the few polishes that I had my eye on since way back when, and I am not disappointed. It is a deep rose pink with a strong golden yellow-green duochrome shimmer that gives it a lot more depth and zest than it would otherwise have. Application was slightly thick but manageable. This was two coats.

I have to say that the colour of this photo is not entirely accurate, as I take my photos at night and my room lights are slightly warm and yellow. The duochrome has a very strong tinge of green in it that makes it slightly ethereal (though not as much as Zoya Adina). A very feminine rosy colour and the strong duochrome gives it, in my opinion, that rich class and elegance needed. Such a princessy colour, really! Love it.

I personally see a resemblance between this and China Glaze Strawberry Fields but not having the CG polish, I can't do a comparison. However, after having seen several photos of the two, I do think that Strawberry Fields is a more golden shimmer, whereas Reece's shimmer has a definite green tinge to it. Also, I think Strawberry Fields is a very slightly dustier rose pink, whereas Reece is slightly more vibrant in that aspect.

zoya spree and haul!

Oh boy, oh boy! I'm so excited to get down to swatching and reviewing these babies. I recently conducted a private Zoya spree amongst my friends and there was a total of 48 polishes ordered. When I finally got them all today, what else was there to do but to arrange them in order of the rainbow, as is due to my obsession with colours?

TA-DAH! I present to you the fruits of my Zoya spree. Obviously not all are mine. I only bought 9 for myself, the rest are bought by my friends. Isn't it a lovely sight? Here are the names:

Top row: Ginessa, Gaia, Jules (x3), Dove, Kelly, Dovima

2nd row: Shivon, Isla, Tiffany, Reva, Faye (x2), Parker, Lulu, Cassi (x2), Tanzy (x2)

3rd row:
Irene, Apple (x2), Gemma, Charla (x3), Breezi (x2), Phoebe, Crystal, Jo, Caitlin (x3)

4th row:
Marley, Ibiza, Julieanne (x2), Valerie, Adina, Mira, Kieko (x3), Reece (x2)

And here are the spoils of my own haul which I am very excited to begin swatching and reviewing as soon as my exams are over (2 more days!)

L-R: Megan Miller Collection - Carribean, Zoya Jules, Charla, Apple, Breezi, Faye, Caitlin, Kieko, Reece, Marley

The Megan Miller one is a present from my friend from the US. I've never heard of this brand but the colour is lovely! (: Seriously, cannot. wait. to. swatch.

Stay tuned!