13 January 2014

Julep October Maven 2013 Swatches and Review

Purchased By Me

Hellloooo!! I would have had this up last week, but last week was a bad week to get anything done! Better late than never, right?? :D I've been a Julep Maven for over a year. I've skipped maybe 90% of the time because I don't feel Julep is ever on trend with polish, or when they are, they're months behind everyone else, so by the time Julep comes out with their version, everyone's all ho-hum about it because "been there, done that." That being said, when I got the email about the October Selection period and saw some of the colors, I knew I had to get my monthly box. And eyeliner!! I love eyeliner! Also included is a sharpener and there was candy corn, but that's been long gone! :D Plus I had enough Jules in my account to get 2 add-ons. I usually change my style every time depending on what looks good.. this time I chose the Bombshell box and added on Winona and Valerie. 



Cleopatra is a black latex creme. In other words, it's a matte black ;) I really loved the color and formula. Shown is 2 coats. You can probably use 1 thick coat for opaqueness.


Valerie is a teal with iridescent microglitter. Shown is 2 coats, no topcoat. Beautiful color and I love the glitters in it. I may need to use this for mermaid nails soon! (Again??)


Winona is a greige creme. I was really excited about this color because I don't have anything like it in my collection. While the color is gorgeous, the formula was not. Shown is 2 coats, no top coat. My bottle was really thick and I had issues getting the coats to level out. (Pardon the stray glitter!)


Ciara is a "magenta" with teal microglitter. If you remember, I used this as the base color for my mermaid nails! As I previously said, I think it leans more toward a wine color, depending on how many coats you apply. Shown is 3 coats, no top coat. Loooooove it!! This is definitely my favorite out of the 4 polishes.


The dual-sided kajal eyeliner was pretty impressive! Black is on one end, and brown on the other. Both sides were really pigmented. I have used both colors since receiving this box. The only thing I don't like about the black eyeliner was how quickly it seemed to smudge around the outer corner of my eyes, even with eyeshadow primer and setting with black eyeshadow. That won't keep me from using it again! :)



Have a great day and check back for my November Maven 2013 review!

Press Release: Zoya Spring 2014 Magical Pixie

Moooooar Pixies coming for Spring!! These are beautiful and definitely look magical! <3

New Nail Polish Collection for Spring 2014: Zoya Magical Pixie


Believe in it...
Zoya Magical Pixie - a new PixieDust formulation, amped up with spectacular sparkle creating the most magical, Zoya PixieDust ever! Three new never before imagined textured, holographic beauties for spring 2014... 
ZOYA MAGICAL PIXIE
ZP717 - Cosmo: Silver Crystal Sparkle, Textured PixieDust with Mega Hex Iridescent Particles, Full Coverage Formula.
ZP718 - Vega: Blue Opal Sparkle, Textured PixieDust with Mega Hex Iridescent Particles, Full Coverage Formula.
ZP719 - Lux: Rose Quartz Sparkle Textured PixieDust with Mega Hex Iridescent Particles, Full Coverage Formula.

$10.00 ea. (US)


For BEST RESULTS when applying Zoya PixieDust: apply 2-3 thin coats of polish for full coverage to a clean oil free nail surface. Allow product to dry completely for full effect. Do not use a base coat or top coat. Top coat can be applied for additional glossy effects.



*BIG5FREE: Zoya Nail Polish and Treatment Formulas are free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate, toluene and camphor.
Find over 300 long-wearing, beautiful Zoya colors on www.zoya.com. Each and every color has a name as unique as the women who inspired it.
SHIPPING FEBRUARY 2014

ZOYA IS THE COLOR OF FASHION!Available on Zoya.com



Being newly on the bandwagon of textured polish, Zoya has definitely won me over and I imagine these won't be any different! <3 Don't the remind of you of all things magical, fairy tales and fairies and mermaids? These would look gorgeous stamped over with a mermaid scale image!

06 January 2014

Press Release: Zoya Spring 2014 Awaken Collection and Special Edition Topper

Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, Zoya surprises us once again with a new Spring 2014 Collection, as well as a Special Edition topper! See my thoughts at the end!

New Nail Polish Collection for Spring 2014: Zoya Awaken


Just as Spring emerges from a natural Winter slumber, Zoya Awakens to a fresh season of BIG5FREE* color...
Open your mind to the beauty of color discovery; the new, the unexplored, the excitement! Awaken by Zoya - Six new, full-coverage, dew-drenched creams and gold-kissed metallic nail polish colors for Spring 2014. Full of pure pigment, intense color and modern complexity that will take you far beyond the hazy, barely there hues of seasons past into a new world of chromatic joy.

ZOYA AWAKEN - 2014 SPRING

ZP723 - Dillon: Green Mint Shimmer Metallic Full Coverage Formula.
ZP724 - Rebel: Blue Sky Shimmer Metallic, Full Coverage Formula.
ZP722 - Hudson: Purple Orchid Shimmer Metallic, Full Coverage Formula (Yes, it's a Radiant Orchid!)
ZP720 - Dot: Pink Petal Cream, Full Coverage Formula
  (originally created for fashion designer Zang Toi’s SS14 collection).
ZP721 - Cole: Peach Whisper Cream, Full Coverage Formula
  (originally created for fashion designer Peter Som’s SS14 collection).
ZP725 - Brooklyn: White-Gold Shimmer Metallic, Full Coverage Formula.

$9.00 ea. (US)

PLUS, A SPECIAL EDITION TOPPER

Create a nail color masterpiece. The multi-colored, holographic flakes of Zoya Monet lend an impressionistic color change option to existing color palettes. Never boring, this artistic topper can be applied as an accent or used as an overall color changer.

• ZP726 - Monet: Multi-Color, Cellophane Holographic Topper.
$10.00 ea. (US)




*BIG5FREE: Zoya Nail Polish and Treatment Formulas are free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate, toluene and camphor.

Find over 300 long-wearing, beautiful Zoya colors on www.zoya.com. Each and every color has a name as unique as the women who inspired it.


ZOYA IS THE COLOR OF FASHION!
Available on Zoya.com




Aren't these all just gorgeous!! Very reminiscent of  paintings done by the great French Impressionist, Claude Monet. I'm definitely loving Monet, and how can I possibly pick a favorite from the Awake Collection? I'm a huge fan of spring and pastel colors <3 Are you as excited as I am for these?

01 January 2014

Zoya Naturel Collection Swatches and Review

Provided For Review

Happy New Year!! Here it is.. the first post of 2014! When Zoya announced the Naturel Collection, I was pretty excited, especially when I saw that one of the shades is the 2014 Color of the Year! :D I'm just going to dive on in with the swatches, and so as not to repeat myself, all 6 polishes are 2-3 coats, no top coat. These are all incredibly glossy on their own! Application on the darker colors was fantastic, superb typical Zoya formulas. The two lighter colors were streaky on the first and second coats, so a third coat was needed to even everything out. Let's go!!


Zoya Odette is described as a "sultry maroon creme." This is the shade I was really excited about.. right in line with the color of the year, Radiant Orchid. Definitely doesn't scream maroon to me :\


Zoya Brigitte, a bombshell mauve. This ain't yo granny's mauve! Updated version of everyone's unfavorite color. Beautiful color!


Zoya Normani, a sable mauve cream. I love colors like this.. a taupe mushroomy color. This will make a great background for nail art!


Zoya Rue, a boudoir blush cream. I see this being used a lot for weddings! This would also make a great background for vintage roses <3



Zoya Taylor, a light toffee cream. This is very close to Chantal, as you will see below.. so close, in fact, that I had to puzzle over several photos for quite some time to figure out which one was which! :P Another great color to use as a background for nail art.



And finally, Chantal, a french vanilla cream.. very similar to Taylor! I was hoping this would be a little lighter, but it's still a great shade.

All of these have a pink undertone, which does not fare well with my skin. Even though my coloring is pale, I have yellow undertones and it does not usually go well with pink undertones :( I'll still wear these, though! I think all of them will make great base colors for nail art :D You can purchase these from Zoya.com for $9 each!



Are you jumping on the neutral bandwagon? Let me know in the comments below!

Products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.