Zoya Sophisticates Fall 2017 Swatches, Part 2!

*Sent for review*

The second half of the Zoya Sophisticates collection is a very "fall" feeling set of colors. If you like classic vampy fall colors, you will love these. Zoya Mona is a deep burgundy wine creme with some plummy pinkish tones. It's not super dark and vampy, but dark enough to have a little edge, while still being pretty work appropriate. Indoors this looks a bit darker than this, but you really see the plum tones in brighter lighting. I put this on my toes immediately after swatching it, great fall pedi color!

This is two coats. Mona has a lovely formula and nice pigmentation. Like the other half of the collection, this half is mostly opaque in two coats and nicely easy to apply.

Zoya Yvonne is a rich berry toned red creme. This polish is like a fine red wine. The berry hints make it more interesting than just a straight up red creme. I think this would be very flattering on a variety of skin tones.

Two easy coats here too! Nice consistency and opacity.

Zoya Tabitha is a deep forest green with pearl shimmer. The shimmer is very refined and adds a nice depth to the polish. It's quite a dark green, in some lighting it almost looks like charcoal gray. I don't think I have a shimmering green this dark in my collection!

This is two coats. When I look really closely, I can see some brushstrokes, but in person I don't notice them at all. Otherwise the formula was good.

Zoya Gal is an interesting shade. Zoya describes it as a "smokey, iridescent, peridot gold metallic". It's kind of a mix of green, gold and maybe some silvery gray. A murky looking metallic shade that looks different in different lighting situations.

This is three coats of Gal. In the pictures I still see a bit of VNL, but I didn't in person. It's almost a foil finish, and I find that sometimes those foil shimmers can look a little see through in pictures. The shimmer is a chunkier shimmer than any of the other shades in this collection.

Zoya Hadley is a deliciously dark night sky blue creme. It looks almost black in lower lighting, but it is really a great smoky blue with charcoal tones. This is a perfect vampy shade for fall. If you think black is too harsh on your skin tone, but want to wear something really dark, try Hadley. It is softer looking and more flattering than black, but still very deep.

This is two easy coats. Could almost be a one coater if your coats are thicker than mine!

Zoya Elaine is a very deep brown creme, described as an "umber brown". Umber brown usually has some reddish tones and I do see some very dark wine tones in Elaine. This is another shade that is very deep and vampy, but more flattering than harsh black. The slight warmth of the brown is nicer on me personally than a cold black.

This is two easy coats. Again, it could almost be a one coater if you do thicker coats than I do. The formula was a very nice consistency.

The Zoya Sophisticates collection is a great selection of classic fall feeling colors. My personal favorites are Presley, Tabitha, and Hadley. Can't resist that super dark blue!! If you missed my post with the first half of the collection, check it out here. What colors are catching your eye here? I will also have swatches of the lipsticks from this collection soon!

The Zoya Sophisticates collection is available now at Zoya.com.

Zoya Urban Grunge Metallics & Holos Fall/Winter 2016 Swatches!

*Sent for review*

Today I have the Zoya Urban Grunge Metallics & Holos for your enjoyment! We've had a couple of days that felt sort of like fall here, so I am definitely getting more in the mood for the season. Nail polish is a big part of feeling the season for me and this gorgeous Zoya collection is definitely helping me feel ready for fall! Zoya Merida is probably my favorite of the whole collection! It's a gorgeous deep green scattered holo. The scattered holo look is similar to some past Zoya fan favorites like Dream, Blaze and Storm. I think the holo effect is stronger this time though, with more holo particles in the polish. Zoya describes the color as a "lush evergreen" and it really does feel rich and lush.

This is three thin coats. You might be able to do two, but I found three to look a bit better and not have any remnants of VNL. The formula was great, very easy to apply and had that gel-like consistency that I love.

Zoya Troy is a dark gunmetal metallic shimmer. It's highly reflective, yet deep and sultry too. Zoya describes it as "liquid pewter with a foil finish and an edgy touch of black and gold". I can see a touch of gold sometimes (see below, right in the center of the nail), depending on the lighting, and that definitely makes this polish more unique than other dark gray metallics I own. 

This is two coats, but it really could be a one-coater! I would actually wear this in one coat, it was perfectly opaque. I only did the second for the camera. The formula is perfect too, nice and buttery smooth.

Next up we have a pinky red metallic foil, Zoya Britta. Britta is a berry red, with purple and fuchsia touches. It's right on the line between red and pink, sort of hard to pick which one it is! But if you like jewel-toned reds with tons of pink undertones, I think you will like Britta.

In the picture below, you can see that lower lighting/shade really brings out the purple tones in Britta. I did two coats for these pictures and the polish was very pigmented. Great formula and easy to apply too!

Oh man, look at this beauty!! Zoya Finley is a majestic purple scattered holo that I want to wear pretty much all fall. This one definitely has way more scattered holo pigments packed in there than Zoya scattered holos of the past, and I love the effect it gives! I hope Zoya does more scattered holos like Finley and Merida in every color of the rainbow.

This is three coats of Finley. I would really wear just two coats, as it looked perfect to my naked eye, but I did a third for my fussy camera lens. It is more pigmented than some of the older scattered holos  too, and the formula is just a dream. I took a billion pictures of this because it is so gorgeous!

Zoya Ash is a bright cherry red metallic shimmer. This one feels very much like a holiday color to me, especially when I had it sitting next to Merida! Whether it's a holiday or fall nail polish, it pretty all the time. It has some red and gold shimmer, so it's very vibrant.

Ash was nicely opaque in two coats and has a lovely formula. No complaints here!

Ahhhhhhh, let's all stare at Zoya Alicia for a minute.


OK, now that we got that out of the way, I was SO excited to hear that Zoya was going to release a linear holo polish. Besides Color Club, there aren't a lot of mainstream companies doing linear holos right now. To me, that's kind of mind-blowing, considering the intense popularity that linear holos have in the indie polish world and the fame of the old OPI holos. So let's have a round of applause for Zoya right now! On top of just releasing a linear holo, they also made it insanely gorgeous and unique! It is this really cool mix of silver, white and gold. Somehow I manage to see all of those colors together when I look at Alicia. It's mostly white gold, but it doesn't lean too warm, so you do get that silver flash in there too. And the linear flame is nice and strong!!

This is three coats of Alicia. It is a bit on the sheerer side, but buildable in three coats. The formula was a little thicker than the others in this collection, but it was still very easy to apply. Like the creme half of the fall Zoya nail polishes, the metallics and holos all had fantastic formulas. You just can't go wrong with these!

*Sent for review*

This half of the Urban Grunge fall collection is my favorite Zoya collection in a long time. I am thrilled with Alicia, and really love Merida and Finley as well. The three metallics are also beautiful and so easy to apply, so I know I will wear them a lot in the coming months. A+ on this collection, Zoya!

The Zoya Urban Grunge Metallics & Holos are available now at zoya.com.

Formula X Alchemy II!!

*Purchased by me*

Maybe you are in search of a gorgeous metallic polish to wear on New Year's Eve... Or maybe you got some Sephora gift cards for Christmas... Either way, you need Formula X Alchemy II! I wear the original Alchemy all the time. I leave it out on my dining table year round and just slap on a coat when I have an event to go to and lack the time to really do a mani. So I couldn't wait to get my hands on the new version. The new version is a little darker and more coppery, with hints of rose. It has the same super reflective, smooth metallic finish as the original. I love having two versions of this polish and they are definitely different enough to warrant owning both. I don't have a comparison today because I am wearing this, but I will put one up soon.

This is two coats in these pictures, but you can absolutely just do one coat and get away with it. I also almost never use topcoat with the original Alchemy, so I didn't use it here. It is really easy to apply and has all the sparkle of a glitter without the texture and difficult removal.

Get thee to Sephora.com to purchase this puppy ASAP before it is out of stock!!

Are you gearing up for New Year's Eve? Any big night out plans? I am boring and never do anything on NYE. The bf and I usually watch movies and eat tons of food!

NOTD: Sparkly Santa Hats!

 *Some polishes sent for review*

Every year I have all these big plans for the Christmas manis I'm going to do and then I get too busy with holiday stuff and don't do them. I finally did one of them today and if it's the only nail art I manage to do this season, at least it's cute! I did sparkly Santa hats today! The silver base is OPI I Drive a Supernova. I made triangles with Scotch tape and used Sephora by OPI Merry Me for the hats. Using a dotting tool, I made the puff ball on top of the hat with OPI Angel with a Leadfoot. I used a smaller dotting tool to make the fluff at the bottom of the hat.

This was pretty quick and easy to do, so definitely give it a try if you're like me and have a busy schedule around this time of year!!

OPI Starlight Holiday 2015, Part II!

*Sent for review*

I'm kicking off part II of my OPI Starlight swatches with my favorite polish of the collection so far, OPI Give Me Space. Give Me Space is a rich velvety cobalt blue with scattered holo shimmer. This looks like a beautiful night sky in the winter, clear and crisp. I really love this one!

This is three thin coats of Give Me Space. You would probably be fine with two regular coats, but I tend to do thin coats, so I still had some VNL at two. It was really easy to apply, the perfect consistency. I barely had to do any clean-up.

OPI By the Light of the Moon is a silver metallic shimmer with silver hex glitters. This is a pale silver, kind of like silver mixed with some shimmering white. The hex glitters are several different sizes and there is some teeny silver microglitter in the base as well.

This is two coats of By the Light of the Moon with one coat of Essie Gel Setter on top. It was smooth to the touch with one layer of top coat, although it does look a little textured still. It was pretty easy to apply. I know a lot of people weren't big fans of this, but I kind of like it. I like the twinkles of silver glitter in the silver foil base. 

OPI Ro-Man-ce on the Moon is a classic OPI red shimmer. I just think other companies should quit making red shimmers, because OPI has them down to a science. They are always glowing and perfect, and they make me want to wear them, even though I rarely wear reds! I can't decide if I want to do this as my pedi tonight or Let Your Love Shine that I swatched the other day. Ro-Man-ce on the Moon looks a little cooler toned than Let Your Love Shine because it lacks the golden shimmer of LYLS. 

This is two easy peasy coats of Ro-Man-ce on the Moon. It was a dream to apply and I did zero clean-up. Just what you need for a fast holiday mani!

This pretty silver foil is OPI I Drive a SuperNova. I am always a big fan of silver polish, I wear it like it's a neutral color. Silver foils also tend to be nicely opaque, so they are easy to slap on when you need to be at that holiday party 5 minutes ago!

This is two coats of I Drive a SuperNova, but it was pretty much opaque in one. I did two just for the camera because I think it looks a little richer. But I could easily wear this at one. This is a good formula and it's not as brushstroke-y as a lot of silver metallics.

OPI Cosmo with a Twist is a really great alternative to all the holiday reds and metallics. This is a moody vampy blackened blue-violet with lots of flecks of bluish-silver shimmer. In some lights, this has nearly a duochrome effect. You can see kind of a red-brown plum base and the blue-violet color too. See my picture 2 below to see what I mean.

See how there is a warm plum/pinky color and the blue-violet too? Very fun!

This is two coats of Cosmo with a Twist. It has a nice formula and was easy to apply. The formulas in this collection seemed to be pretty much great. I have no complaints so far!

What would a holiday collection be without a classic red creme? OPI Love is in My Cards is a warm red creme. 'Tis the season!

Time to sound like a broken record- this is two easy coats! Like I said, no complaints here!

*Sent for review*

My favorites in this set of swatches are definitely Give Me Space and Cosmo with a Twist. They are really beautiful and feel right for the season. That being said, one of the red shimmers is going to be the first polish I actually wear from this collection, because I am all about the red shimmers in December! I will have part III of my Starlight swatches up in a few days, hopefully on the weekend!

The OPI Starlight collection is available now at Ulta and Ulta.com.