August 27, 2014

Two Colors from Zoya's Fall Collection Plus Random Nail Art!

Recently I hit a small milestone in my weight loss journey - I dropped five pounds in one month!  I figured I deserved a reward for that (and subsequently decided to treat myself for every 10 lbs dropped), so I went on a mini shopping spree at ULTA for some nail polish.  Hey, it's better than rewarding myself with cake or pizza, right?  Hells yes, because nail polish won't make me gain weight!

I wound up finding Zoya's 2014 fall collections at ULTA, so I got the two colors that I'd been planning on buying - Remy and Ryan!  (I also got a couple of clearance polishes because yay sales!)

Zoya Entice: "Ryan"

 


Ryan is a GORGEOUS creme polish.  Completely flawless coverage in just ONE coat!  Well, almost completely.  I did two coats to even out the lines around my cuticles and because I sort of missed a spot on the side of one nail.  But a more steady hand could definitely make this polish a fabled One-Coat Wonder!


Ryan is so dark that she almost looks black on the camera screen (though once I got it on to the computer, I see that it doesn't look so black), so I took it outside for a few shots.  Luckily the Universe played nice and it was sunny out for me!

Zoya Ignite: "Remy"


Uuuunnnnnnghhhhh Remy is so, so, SO unbelievably beautiful!  In the bottle, she has a lot of gold in her.  In fact, I added her to my list of blue-green-gold-turquoise polishes in my post on Muse.  But once you get Remy on your nails, all that gold vanishes and you're left with a ridiculously deep, dark blue sparkle with just a hint of green.  It looks like the freakin' night sky.


Application is lovely, as always with Zoya!  I really don't think Zoya has a polish that applies badly.  The shimmers are too small to cling to the brush, and the formula spreads evenly, correcting any mistakes immediately!  Two coats, but again, one coat is almost perfect!


Outside, Remy is nothing short of dazzling.  I mean, look closely at my middle and ring fingers.  Look at those sparkles!  Did I paint tiny stars on my nails?  Nope, the polish is just. that. sparkly.


Bonus: Experimental Nail Art!


Partly because I wanted to test out some new designs, and partly because I wanted some interesting nails for Zoya's Twitter event tonight, I decided to throw some nail art on top of those gorgeous blues.  I didn't really stick with a theme here; I just had fun and got creative!

does my skin look weird here? that would be because I tried to tone down the washing out of my skin
 by putting on some makeup that's too dark for me.  it didn't help all that much.  oh well.

Left pointer: a pair of daisies.  I used a dotting tool dipped in China Glaze "Happy Go Lucky" for the centers, and a striping brush dipped in China Glaze "White on White" for the petals.

Left middle: Galaxy!  For this one and the other two galaxy nails, I followed some of the designs in YouTuber SaraBeautyCorner's galaxy nail video.  I used the same white and yellow as before, with a tiny bit of Zoya "Frida" and "Robyn," then topped it with the flakes from Revlon Moon Candy "Galactic," and a final coat of Zoya "Sparkle Gloss."  Also, this was my first try at galaxy nails.  I'm quite happy with how they turned out!

Left ring: a chevron design, with Remy on top of Ryan.

Left pinky: a French tip using Zoya "Harper."  (That's another one from the summer 2014 Bubbly collection.  Zoya recently had a BOGO sale on all of their summer colors, so I got Harper and her creme counterpart, "Wendy."  I'll probably swatch them soon!)


 Left thumb: a stripe of Zoya "Muse" on top of Ryan.  I used two pieces of Scotch tape for this design - super easy and I think it looks surprisingly elegant!


Right pointer: a different style of chevron, again using only Ryan and Remy.

Right middle: another galaxy.  This one has Robyn, Ryan, and Zoya "Malia" on top of Remy, as well as a few dots of the same yellow and white as before.

Right ring: yet another galaxy.  I actually only meant to do one galaxy on this hand, but long story short, I messed up.  This one has Ryan, Robyn, and Harper on top of Remy, with a coat of Sparkle Gloss; then I used Scotch and striping tape to cover up the design with more Ryan.  I'm not quite so crazy about the way I covered it up, but oh well.

Right pinky: another diagonal stripe.  I used Zoya "Wendy" for the stripe.  I kind of wish I'd used Robyn or Ryan instead, but I still like it!


Right thumb: another French tip, this time Ryan on top of Remy.

I had more fun with this than I would have if I'd done the same pattern on every nail.  It's a lot of fun to mix and match patterns and designs; I encourage you to try it out if you haven't before!  What's your favorite design?  What else would you have done using Remy and Ryan?  Let me know in the comments!

P.S.  Please excuse all the color in my cuticles in these photos.  I got a liiiittle bit too excited to take pictures to bother getting them super clean.

3 comments:

  1. My favorite is Muse on Ryan. It's gorgeous! Plus I'm partial to the Muses. I love, love the Remy & Ryan chevrons. Your Galaxy nail is also very cool. I'd like to see a galaxy nail that's more subtle, more dark-cloudy-magical-mystical-whoosh-in-the-night sort of thing. :-)

    P.S. I'm jealous of your nails. You're making me want to quit my career so that I can grow my nails out again. I still say I should develop a massage modality that includes a back scratch. Somehow, Massage 'n' Scratch just doesn't sound proper. :-/ Anyway, my nails are *really* healthy right now, and I'm just itching (heh) to grow them out all pretty before I get too old and my fingernails get all thick and fungal and gross. LOL, ew. Anyway, until I can grow mine out, I'll have to live vicariously through your blog & photos. Keep up the great work!

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    1. I think Muse on Ryan was my favorite, too - it just looked so much more elegant that I expected! Plus, during the Zoya Twitter event that I mentioned, Zoya suggested you transition in to fall by putting a summer glitter on top of a fall creme! Made me feel like a trendsetter! :)

      Haha, Massage 'n' Scratch. You could retire to scalp massages only, and then scratches would feel great! Obviously you can't stop nature from doing its job, but your nails will stay healthy and ridge-free much longer if you continue to treat them the way you do! Oils (especially jojoba), regular cuticle massages (even if it's just a little rub while putting on lotion), Biotin vitamins, and lots of love are the top 4 things to do for your nails.

      I think my left-middle galaxy was my favorite of the three, too! I did it a little bit backwards, so it's less subtle than it might have been. (It should have been blue base > dark blue > lighter blue >white > yellow, but I accidentally did blue base > white > yellow > smudge some dark and light blue around the edges of it a bit.)

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  2. Whoops, I meant the left-middle galaxy. I guess I skimmed the text a little too quickly and missed the fact that two of your right hand nails are also galaxies! I thought your right ring finger looked like a work of modern art... I like the smudgy lighter blue lines a lot. Slap that baby on canvas, and you could sell it for a pretty penny, I bet!

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