December 24, 2020

Christmas Nails 2020!

 

*Purchased by me*

Merry Christmas to all of my readers who celebrate! I hope you have a relaxing break and spend the time recovering from this year. I had some nail art planned originally for my Christmas nails, but honestly, it's 2020. I'm tired, I'm not going anywhere for Christmas, so low key glitter nails it is! The gorgeous shimmering ruby red base here is a new one of a kind polish from Lynnderella with the cutest hand drawn Santasaurus label! Getting this beauty in the mail also helped me change my mani plans for Christmas, couldn't resist trying it out. 


I also used Lynnderella Happy HoloDaze! on the middle and ring fingers, and a bit of loose glitter that came with the Santasaurus on my index finger. This red is my new favorite Christmas polish for sure and don't be surprised if you see it again for Valentine's Day!




Join The Glitter Fairies on Facebook to purchase the latest Lynnderellas, including One of a Kind polishes like this Santasaurus! 

December 16, 2020

Zoya Intriguing Holiday 2020 Swatches & Review!


*Sent for review*

We're right in the thick of the holiday season now! It's been quite the year, but I think a lot of us, myself included, are taking some comfort in holiday traditions right now. The Zoya Intriguing collection this year is definitely bringing me some comfort. It's a perfect mix of traditional holiday colors and some unexpected and interesting colors for the season! All swatches in this post are shown with one layer of Vibrant Vinyls Fast & Hard Quick Dry Glossy Top Coat, unless otherwise stated.


Zoya Koley is a glowing red-pink metallic shimmer. For some reason, this reminds me of the ribbon candy my grandma always had out for Christmas. Shiny and brightly colored! I love this one, so festive feeling and great if you want something slightly different than a classic red.


This is three coats, but two coats offered good coverage. I did the third for a little extra pop of shimmer. The formula was a little thin and wanted to wander towards my cuticles, so just don't load up the brush too much.



Zoya Nisha- is it blue? Purple? Blurple? This is another glowing beauty, so vibrant with little sparkles peeking out. Blue is my favorite and most worn polish color and I am such a sucker for this one. Stunning!



Nisha had a great formula. Perfect consistency and easy to apply. This is two coats and it was perfectly opaque.



Zoya Meredith is a deep sapphire with twinkly silvery blue shimmer, like stars in the night sky! The shimmer is little flecks of sparkle, not a smooth ribbon of shimmer. My blue loving soul is feeling this one too. My swatching notes say "Magical! Can't wear to wear".



This is two coats. Meredith was a little uneven on the first coat, but it smoothed right out and is perfect in two coats. 



Zoya Eunice is an awesome metallic chartreuse with yellow gold shimmer. I love that this is so different for a holiday collection. Unique and still feels festive and bright! 
On a side note- one of the first orders I ever placed with Zoya included Zoya Midori. Back then, weird green shimmers were fairly uncommon and I just had to have it. Eunice kind of brought me back to that excitement over Midori. Anyone else remember that one? That was a cool time in nail polish, lots of new and groundbreaking (at the time) stuff.




This is two coats and it was a great formula. Easy to apply and nice consistency. It does have some visible brushstrokes if that bothers you. I enjoy the color so much, I'm not even noticing them.



Zoya describes Nico as a "celadon-toned pearl with a touch of silver shimmer blended in". It's another unique shade, a fun green leaning pale gold. The shimmer is very glowy here too. This definitely screams "holiday" without being your typical metallic gold. From some angles, the green is more obvious, and others it almost looks like a pale yellow. 


Nico was very sheer on the first coat, but built up in three coats. The formula was a nice consistency and easy to apply.



Zoya Regina is THE perfect Christmas green shimmer. Velvety looking and smooth, this one is a winner for Christmas nail art or just to wear on it's own. 




This is three thin coats. The formula was a little uneven on the first coat, but evened out nicely for a rich pigmented finish.



Zoya Lottie is a pale sparkling champagne. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite Zoya PixieDusts, Godiva, but in sheer shimmer form. I didn't think I would like this too much, colors this pale are not usually my cup of tea. But I enjoy it a lot! I think it feels fresh and snowy for winter.


This is three coats of Lottie. It was pretty good to apply, not streaky like some pale shades. But I will mention, even with quick dry top coat it seemed like it took a really long time to dry. I did try it as a topper over Regina, but seems like a little too dense of a shimmer to be a good topper. Maybe over black it would be better.



I am so happy to see a new PixieDust shade! I love my PixieDusts, and good news for those of you who don't like a lot of texture- this one is pretty smooth! Zoya Isti is an icy blue PixieDust with pops of royal blue glitter. My notes say "like sparkly denim!".


This is three thin coats with no top coat. Thinner coats help prevent this from feeling too chunky. It was super easy to apply, I didn't need any clean up. That's one reason why I love PixieDusts, I used to call them "nail pajamas". Removal wasn't too bad either!


Below is Isti with one layer of top coat. This looks great shiny too!



Zoya Brett is the perfect slate blue creme. A nice mix of deep blue and deep charcoal grey.


This is two coats. Nice formula and application. 



Zoya Avi is described as a "smoky greige cream with a hint of red-brown". This is a classic color perfect for pretty much any occasion at any time of the year. This is a little more grey/brown than my pictures look. I had a hard time capturing it without it looking more purple-y. 


This was two coats with easy application. Fantastic formula. If you need this kind of classic shade in your collection, you can't go wrong with this one.



Zoya Beverly is a dusty cranberry creme. It's a nice purple-toned red, a little different and edgier than your average red. It's a great holiday color, but also fabulous for any time in the fall or winter.


This also had a lovely formula. Two easy coats and effortless application.




I almost never wear red polish 11 months out of the year, but then we get to December and colors like Zoya Soko are suddenly so appealing. This "wintery poinsettia" creme is a classic Christmas red. Nicely balanced in undertones, this will look great on a wide variety of skin tones. This will definitely get some use this season!


This is two coats and it was a little thinner formula. Just don't put too much on your brush to avoid flooding your cuticles. It also seems like it might possibly stain, so definitely wear a good base coat. 


I think Zoya really offered something for every taste in this holiday collection. If you want the classic colors, they're there. If you want to wear a bright shimmery chartreuse on Christmas, that's there too. I love the variety and have some new favorites now, like Nisha, Meredith, and Eunice.

The Zoya Intriguing collection is available now at Zoya.com!