Zoya Naturel Swatches And Review

Hey there lovelies! Is everyone done with their Christmas shopping? Surprisingly, I am actually done ahead of schedule for once! I'm SO the type to be buying gifts on Dec 23rd!

The lovely people at Zoya sent me their new Naturel collection to review for you. I really loved the idea of this collection. Zoya has been putting out a lot of really bold, saturated, gorgeous polishes lately so this soft neutral collection was a really nice departure.

That being said, I don't know that you need to own every polish in this collection as there are some very similar shades. All of the photos show two coats of polish topped off with a coat of Seche Vite. The formula on every one of these polishes is exactly the wonderful formula we've come to expect and love from Zoya. So without further ado, here are the swatches!

Chantal:

 This pretty little lady is a yellow based nude polish. I think that this one was my least favorite of the bunch just because my skin has a yellow undertone to begin with and this brought that out which wasn't a good thing for me! I think this would look lovely on some darker skin tones though!

Taylor:

 

 

This one is SO incredibly similar to Chantal that I kept wondering why it was put into this collection. The only thing I can think of is that it's a little more friendly to different skin tones. This definitely has a more neutral base to it and I prefer Taylor to Chantal. That being said, I think you would only need one or the other, depending on your coloring.

Rue:

 

 

This one is sort of a lavender-based nude. It was a little odd for me though because it wasn't quite light enough to be a nude but it also didn't have a lot of color saturation. I think this is another one that would look better on a darker skin tone. It's a lovely color, just not so much on me.

Brigitte:

 

Brigitte is a really lovely lavender-grey type shade. I'm not 100% sure how exactly to classify this one but she is pretty! It's a great answer to how to wear a pastel in the Fall/Winter season and I think it would go amazing with any neutral outfit. 

Odette:

 

 

This little girl is definitely my favorite of this collection. This polish looks much darker in the bottle than it is once it's on the nail. In fact, I found that to be true about this entire collection! The colors are wonderfully opaque in two coats without that bold saturation of recent Zoya collections. The great part about that is that every single polish in this collection is perfect for the office!

Normani:

 

  

Normani is a taupe/grey color that is very professional looking. I don't really have a lot to say about this color because I'm not all that fond of taupe/grey polishes but I know that it would look incredible on the right skin tone - olive perhaps?

In conclusion, I think that this is a fabulous collection by Zoya but definitely not one that needs to be purchased in entirety. The last several collections (especially the Cashmeres) from Zoya have contained such different polishes that you could most definitely own the entire collection. The Naturel collection is one that has something for everyone but not necessarily everything for everyone, know what I mean? 

 

Blog Sale!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want some awesome polish at an amazing price? Then check out my Blog Sale!

There's some pretty fabulous stuff up in there so please, go have a browse!

Bright and Beautiful "Gradient"

Hey there sweetums! How is everyone after Thanksgiving, still in a food coma?? I had such good food AND I got 4 days off of work!! It was so awesome that I don't know if I'll remember what to do when I go back.

My husband and I actually got to go on a date! We went out to dinner at HuHot and then we did some Christmas shopping at TJ Maxx. Then I went into Ulta and my husband bought me the Be Merry Be Bright palette for my bday which is coming up on the 11th. All of you, please, feel free to shower me with gifts of polish, makeup, candy and jewelry!

Alright, finally on to what y'all came here to see - mah nails! These were SO fun, quick and easy! I started off with a base coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On so that I would only have to do one coat of the colors and they would really POP!

I wanted the "gradient" to be kind of rough and didn't really want it to blend so I just used the polish brushes and haphazardly added the colors to 1/3 of the nail. At the base of the nail is one of my favorite polishes, Barry M - Indigo. Then comes one of my new polishes (new to me!) Essie - Bottle Service which is a beautiful, rich, pigmented pink! Finally, I added China Glaze - Custom Kicks. This is a fabulous, creamy bright teal! I stamped over my "gradient" using Konad Black and Cheeky Jumbo Plate 9 - Wild At Heart.

If you like stamping, you seriously need to check out these Cheeky Jumbo Plates, they're freaking adorable! I only have three for now but plan to add to that eventually!

Then, of course, I had to top it all off with a coat of China Glaze - Fairy Dust. What do you think? This was one of my faves and it even lasted 4 days before I finally took it off and it still didn't have a chip in it - that's a major record for me!

You love it, don't you?? I know you do! Go ahead, comment and tell me how much you adore me and my fabulous nails!

I seriously love each and every one of you that takes the time out of their busy, crazy lives and reads my little blog, it honest-to-goodness means a lot to me!

If you're wondering why I keep putting the word "gradient" in quotations, it's because there's really nothing gradual about this gradient, it's more of a splat of colors. So now you know, your life is complete.

Waterfalls In The Nude

Hey, hey, hey!! I told you I'd be back! I've had a cold and have lost my voice so typing this is kind of nice since I feel like I can finally communicate for once! Of course at work, clients RARELY every call me but as soon as I lost my voice, the phone was ringing off the hook! Then the clients wouldn't leave a message so I didn't know who it was that called and I couldn't email them to let them know. One of them decided to contact my boss to say I wasn't getting back to her - UGH, really? I didn't get in trouble or anything but I had some annoyed clients.

Today I was finally able to talk on the phone but I sound like someone who has been smoking for 632 years! 

Anywho - on to much better things! This mani that I have for you is one of my favorites. I just had to try the waterfall mani so I started with a base of Essie Sand Tropez. This is seriously my favorite nude. It's tough to choose between this and Zoya Flynn but I think the Sand Tropez is more of a true nude and matches my skintone a little better. 

The waterfall was done using China Glaze - Peachy Keen, Sweet Hook and Dance Baby. I also used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet and then I added a touch of China Glaze - Fairy Dust. I seriously love Fairy Dust, it is the PERFECT touch of glitter to go on top of a nail art design. It's not too overpowering that it obscures the design which is really important!

 

Looking at these photos, I'm really missing my fingernails being this long but it's honestly just too dry right now. If I grow them much past my tips, they just curl really bad at the corners and then want to peel and break so better short than sorry!!!

Seriously guys, if you haven't tried this technique, give it a go! It's super easy and the color combinations are truly endless! The best part - it's quick and precision is not required!

The Comeback...Of Sorts

Ummm, hi? My name is Lindsey...we've met. Don't remember me? Wellllllllll, that's because I fell of the face of the planet! Seriously though? I got an awesome promotion at work and had a lot of training to do and I've gone from working 25 hours per week to 40 hours! Between that and the fact that I had at least one of my kids or myself sick for over a month and it's been a rough time. But look, now we're on the other side (sort of) and I'm so excited to be back! I definitely can't guarantee that I will post regularly but I will try!

For now I will be posting manis that I actually did months ago. Because of that, I may not always know or remember the polishes I used. I apologize for that in advance but I'm working up to this whole blogging thing!

Here's what I have for you today...

 Due to the metallic nature of this paint, I had a hard time getting a good shot but you get what you get and you don't upset, right? This gradient was actually done with metallic acrylic paints and a cosmetic sponge.

In these next photos I added some stamping using some stamping plate and some nail polish, lol! I'm too lazy look up the plate and I don't remember the polish... my bad. Aren't you glad I'm back now?

I'm sorry for the craptasticness of this post but I feel like I'm new at this all over again! It's good to be back and it can only get better from here, right? Right. I missed you all and I hope that you still love me after all of this time!

Girly Geometric Nails

So school is finally underway and I'm back from camping with the family as well! Unfortunately, this past weekend, the baby was sick with the puking yucks so that wasn't any fun! I had my interview for my new position at work and I will hear back regarding that one by Friday at the latest!! It's a major opportunity and while it will definitely be more hours, it will be twice the money - GULP!

Enough of that though, let's get to the important stuff! I did these nails quite a while back and I absolutely love them! The colors used here are China Glaze - Sweet Hook and Dance Baby and Orly (can't find it right now - I'll get back to you on that one!) I used a TINY brush to paint the shapes and then I outlined them with black acrylic paint and an even tinier brush!

 

What do you think? I kinda liked these! I also was about halfway done with some really sweet neon nails before I left for camping. Needless to say, I didn't get those done and I'm pretty sad about that one! I hope to see you again very soon - love you all!

Let Me Apologize...

...for sucking at blogging recently! Things have been super crazy in all parts of my life! The kids started back to school and that's meant getting up earlier and more running taxi during the day. Then work has also been very busy and on top of that I have applied for a new position at work so that's been niggling at my poor, little brain! Then we also went camping last weekend which, of course, required 10 days of prepping for 3 days of camping, lol! I've also got some voiceover projects I've been working on and on top of all of that, the baby is teething and has been a little bear!

I actually have some really awesome manis that I'm really excited to share with you but I'm still in the photo editing process! That's my least favorite step and takes the longest. It seems like I just get started on it and something comes up to interrupt me and I don't get back to it.

Not to fear though, I haven't forgotten about all of you wonderful people and I'm hoping that I have something on this old blog very soon. I'm also hoping that, with summer over (BOOOOOO!), things will calm down a bit and I can do more regular posting. Unless I get a new position at work... which would mean training...and more hours...and more stress... Ahhhhhhhhhh! Don't worry, I'll be okay - I promise - just hang in there with me because I also have some fantastic video ideas and product reviews - yayyyy!

Oh yeah, and I know that I suck but I did notify the winners of the giveaway, so if you didn't get notified - SORRY! Thank you all SOOOOOOO much for participating, I will definitely be doing it again sometime! MWAH!

Rad Awesome Guest Post At Gnarly Gnails!

Hey everyone, I'm super excited to share with you that I'm a guest poster today on Gnarly Gnails!! I'm sure you've all heard of the fabulous Missy that runs that place but if you haven't - go check her out! Click on her banner below to enter a world of awesomeness and see what I cooked up for her!

 

I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting the results of the giveaway and I will have those up for you tomorrow! Sorry, work is crazy and unfortunately, nail polish doesn't pay momma's bills so I gotta go to work!

Zoya Fall 2013 Cashmere Collection Swatch and Review

Hello beautiful people! I meant to have this post up sooner but my 'puter broke. I had to shell out the dough to buy a new one and that kind of hurt but I likey my new laptop a lot!

Let me just get this out of the way and tell me that these polishes were provided by the awesome people at Zoya for my reivew! This will not affect my opinions in any way - you can count on that!

I have NEVER fallen in love with an entire collection like I did with the Zoya Fall 2013 Cashmere line. LORDY - just look at it will you? The colors are insanely rick and beautiful and I'm just going to tell you off the top that they all applied like a dream - no lie! I'm pretty sure I oohed and ahhed during this entire swatching session!

I'm listing them her in order from least to most favorite... not to say that this has any real meaning as even my least favorite is a gorgeous polish and something that I will wear again!

First up is Pepper. I feel like this is the most "Fall" of all of the colors and I'm not really a Fall person. That being said, this was two dreamy coats even though you could get away with 1 if you were careful. It's a true brick red and I felt like it was more brown in real life - these photos give it a bit more red than I saw. I don't know how Zoya does it but doesn't it look like a gel polish? *sigh*

 

Then comes Louise. This is one coat only - woohoo! Usually brown would be on the top of my list. Even though she is a real, rich beauty, the others in this collection were a little more unique! Either way, I love that this is a chocolate brown that even though it's deep in color, won't be mistaken for black. Also, there aren't any undertones to it so it really is a neutral and will go with any color!

Then comes Hunter. The name says it all - it's a true hunter green. Normally, I can't stand dark greens but there is something about this one that I really liked! This photo is two coats but this one could be a one-coater if you were in a hurry!

Then comes the classy lady of the bunch - Livingston. A PERFECT red that would be flattering on any skintone! I found this one to have an almost crelly finish to it and for me, that only added to the depth of the color and richness. This one does need two coats but you certainly won't mind with this formula!

And hello Sailor! Wow, just wow. I know a lot of you are blue fans and I'm normally fairly "meh" on them but this little lady really took me in and held me captive - WOW! This navy creme is amazing. Have you ever seen a blue look this classy? I dare say I haven't! This color finds the balance between really dark blue and bright, cartoonish (I know, weird) blue and is a highly wearable color for any occasion! This baby was a one-coater for me.

 

And finally, at the top of the polish pile is Flynn. I honestly never thought I could love a nude polish this much but she is amazing. Nudes usually have a yellow or pink tint to them that make my skin look terrible or they are so close to my skin color that they give me mannequin hands - blech! Not only will Flynn make a fabulous base for nail art but it can be worn all on it's own without looking weird or unfinished.  This was two coats and was just as amazing as the others to apply!

  

So, what do you think - do you love them all? Some of them? None of them? (If you say none then I can't be your friend anymore - I'm sorry.) I'm sure you will be seeing these polishes in many more posts to come. 

Zoya - good on you!

Cheeky Cupcakes!

Hey happy, lovely people! I have my favorite mani to date to share with you today! I'm obsessed with everything cupcake. From nailart to eating them to having them on my kids clothes, whatever it is, I want it!

 

I ordered 3 of the new Cheeky jumbo plates on Amazon and let me tell you - they are AWESOME!!!! I got # 7, 8 and 9 even though I want them all, I went with these first because they were my favorites. I think you will be seeing a lot of stamping on this blog for a while.

 

For this particular mani, I painted on a base coat of Color Club - Harp On It and stamped over that using Konad - Black Pearl. This particular image is from Cheeky Jumbo plate 7 - Home Sweet Home. I then used a TINY brush and acrylic paints to add the colored bits! This one took me quite a while but I loved the outcome so much that it was totally worth it. What do you think?

 

 

I honestly never keep a mani on for longer than about 24 hours but this baby has been on my nails for 3 days now and that includes a day at the water park! There is only a tiny bit of tip wear so I could keep wearing it but I'm too excited to try out some of the other stamps so it's got to go.

Don't forget to go enter my GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

International Nail Art Day And My 100th Blog Post!!!!

HELLOOOOOOO! I hope everyone's Saturday is going awesome! As many of you know, today is International Nail Art Day or INAD! I thought it was pretty flippin' awesome that this day just happened to coincide with my 100th blog post so I did something extra special!

 

For this mani, I painted a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White on and then stamped over that with Konad black pearl and Mash plate 47. I just got my Konad polish and I'm not sure how I lived without it! It makes such beautiful, clean lines and stamps like a dream! After stamping the image onto my nails, I then went in with acrylic paint for all of the lovely color you see!

The lighting in the next two pics is a little weird but I think they really show off the design so I included them anyway!

 

What do you guys think? Was this worthy of a 100th post ceremony? Thank you so much to all of you that have put up with me this long - I hope you stay tuned in because (hopefully) I'm just going to keep getting better!