Perfectly Polished Tips 225 - Zoya Beach

Here is the other half of Zoya summer.

I kind of hated the formula on these, especially Shelby. It was thin but goopy, I had many bald spots. I was most looking forward to Wednesday and it is still my favorite from both sets. I know I always always always say this but I really wish Zoya would do other colors than pink and red. Three pinks in this collection is almost as bad as the three neutral shades in the last collection. What about yellow, blue, brown, gray? I do recall saying that I had wished that the last collection had a pastel orange. This set does, most of the colors in the Beach collection remind me of spring but I guess since polish is not seasonal to all it does not really matter.

As usual two coats of polish, no base or top coat.

Reagan-Lara-Shelby-Arizona-Tracie-Wednesday

Reagan-Lara-Shelby

Arizona-Tracie-Wednesday

I saw a little bit ago on Zoya's facebook page that these are available NOW. You can get them from Zoya.com.

(these were sent to me for review)

Perfectly Polished Tips 224 - Zoya Surf

I am having a really hard time accepting the fact that it is the end of March. Time is flying and I don't like it one bit. We didn't have much of a winter or spring here in NC! Not that I am complaining, well maybe a little. I don't like highs of 83 degrees in March.

For summer Zoya is releasing two bright and fun collections. One half is cremes (with a lone shimmer) and the other is foils. Today I have the foil half, Surf, to share. Each swatch is two coats of color, no base coat or top coat

Carly-Kimber-Rory-Myrta-Meg-Zuza

Carly-Kimber-Rory

Myrta-Meg-Zuza

The formula on these was a little thick but it dries quickly. I found that if I tried to do too many brush strokes it got goopy. All of the shades are very vibrant. My camera made Kimber a little too red, it's more on the magenta side. For once I actually like each shade in a collection. Meg gives me lobster hands and I don't love green but it is still a nice polish. I love the little shimmer bits in the polishes. I remember reading some where that these were foils like Rea & Kotori. I am wondering if the ones available now are similar. My Rea & Kotori are nothing like these polishes. I actually hate Kotori because it is such a pain to apply and so sheer. I didn't have sheerness issues with any of these.

I am waiting for the sun to be over my deck so I can swatch the Beach half. I will hopefully have those up later on today or tomorrow.

Beach & Surf will be available on April 1st. They retail for $8 each.

(these were sent for review)

Perfectly Polished Tips 223 - OPI Get in the Espresso Lane

This was supposed to be a NOTD Monday post! We don't have cable, we haven't for probably about 18 months now. We did however sign up for Amazon Prime because who doesn't need to stock their bathroom with 42 rolls of toilet paper at once? Thanks to Amazon Prime my kid recently discovered Go Diego Go! Whenever a computer is turned on she thinks it is Diego time...she is completely obsessed. I have been spending a lot less time on the internet because of this. It's probably a good thing though.

This week's NOTD is OPI Get in the Espresso Lane. It's from OPI's Touring America collection which was released last fall. In the bottle it is a murky, brown, kinda grayed out creme. I was hoping that it would be similar to the bottle color on my nails. It pulls way more gray and looks like cement on me. It's still a very nice color but with the beautiful weather we have had here in NC it is way too dark and drab.

The formula on this polish was decent, I had a bit of pulling which gave bald spots. One nail has three coats of polish because the first two were not even at all. The worst part of it all was the brush! I already have a strong dislike for the pro wide brushes, this one had bristles sticking out every which way. I tried to attack it with cuticle scissors but I was not that successful.

Yea, that is my steering wheel. NO I WAS NOT TAKING NOTD PHOTOS WHILE DRIVING! Who do you think I am? The high way FOTD taker from MUA? :)

In all seriousness though please don't take photos while you are driving. Not only are you putting yourself in danger but all the other people on the road! I was parked when I took these.

Zoya Surf & Beach landed here today! I hope to have swatches up over the next couple of days.

Perfectly Polished Tips 222 - Bare Naked Nail Challenge Week 5 Update

I have hit the half way point of the challenge! I think I had unrealistic expectations of the TIPS for Toes nail conditioner. However, I think my nails have improved from using it daily. My left hand still looks better, I think the only way for righty to catch up would be to not do ANY chores for a week or so. That would be next to near impossible. The nails on my right hand are still growing at the same pace as the ones on my left though. I guess I can trade some rough cuticles for long nails.

Before          Week 4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Left Hand

Left Ring - the damaged spot might be growing? I need to look at past photos.

Left Thumb - peeling is completely GONE!

Right Hand - the cuticles are still so dry

Right Thumb - still dry & peeling

I had nail polish on for a few days during this week. I know that the polish hardens on the nail and prevents the treatment from being absorbed but I think my nails need the extra protection. During most weeks I experience little parts of my nails breaking off. I had none of that this week. I had the polish on from Friday until Monday evening. Unless of course I had no breaks because of my continuous usage of the TIPS for Toes. I will have to go polish-less again and see if I notice a difference.

Goals for this week - continue babying righty. I need to dig out my rubber gloves and wear them while cleaning. I think it would help immensely.

Perfectly Polished Tips 221 - The Return of NOTD Monday

I liked doing NOTD Monday posts and was sidelined due to the nail challenge. While I don't think it will be beneficial to keep polish on all the time during the challenge, I do think it is okay some of the time. I will (hopefully) be doing weekend manicures so I can get back to posting polish photos! That and I miss having color on my tips!

This weekend's manicure was Essie No More Film. It's a beautiful, inky, blurple creme. When I first got into polishes that were not pink or red, blurple was the color I was on the hunt for. At the time the only blurple creme out there was one by L'Oreal and it was hard to find. I was lucky enough to snag a bottle but was disappointed to find that the formula bubbled on me. Every. Single. Time. I tried different base coats and top coats, nothing helped. A few others came out after that and of course I had to have them. Zoya Pinta comes to mind, I think I have a photo somewhere but I'm not sure if I still own Pinta.

No More Film is part of the Resort 2012 collection. I did not pay attention to any of the other colors in this collection, I saw NMF, grabbed it, and didn't have a second thought. This polish is a one coater, the coverage and formula are amazing. I did two coats out of habit though and because for some reason when I polish lately I completely miss the side of my nail. It takes the "gap" to a whole other level, a level where it doesn't belong :) 

I had to tweak with the color settings of the photos. My camera was giving me a boring, navy creme. This polish is far from that! I tried to get it as true to life as I could. I think I did a decent job representing the color. With two coats it dries slightly darker than the color in the bottle. This is no big deal to me. 

Essie No More Film is available now, I got my bottle at Target for around $8.

Perfectly Polished Tips 220 - Zoya Summer 2012

It may only be March but here in NC it feels like summer. It has been hot and sunny all week. I am kind of glad that there was no snow this winter. Usually I am complaining about the gloom this time of year.

Zoya Beach and Surf look pretty promising. Six cremes and six foils.

"Zoya BEACH Collection

• Reagan (ZP614) - deep cerise pink cream
• Lara (ZP615) - vivid cerise pink cream
• Shelby (ZP616) - soft pinky pink cream
• Arizona (ZP617) - soft coral orange cream
• Tracie (ZP618) - sea grass metallic
• Wednesday (ZP619) - soft aqua cream

Zoya SURF Collection

• Rory (ZP620) - lotus pink foil metallic
• Carly (ZP621) - thalia purple foil metallic
• Kimber (ZP622) - magenta pink foil metallic
• Myrta (ZP623) - coral orange foil metallic
• Meg (ZP624) - mermaid green foil metallic
• Zuza (ZP625) - aquamarine foil metallic"

I am most excited for Wednesday and Zuza. I cannot wait to see this collection in person. These will be released on April 1st.

Perfectly Polished Tips 219 - Essie Pretty Edgy & OPI Jade is the New Black Comparison

Happy Weekend! I just have a quick comparison post for today.

Essie Pretty Edgy and OPI Jade is the New Black

Two more of my favorite polishes, I honestly do wear these often. Pretty Edgy is a lot more on the green side than the OPI. Before using Pretty Edgy for the first time I thought it was going to be a similar jade, if you will, color. After finishing my nails I felt so out of my comfort zone. I was wearing green! I don't wear green polish. After a couple of days though I loved it.

As you can see in the above photo they are nothing alike. Jade is the New Black is on my index and ring finger and Pretty Edgy is on my middle and pinky.

I love them both and I think both are an awesome addition to any polish stash.

 

 There is still time to enter my Sneekpeeq Giveaway!

Perfectly Polished Tips 218 - Bare Naked Nail Challenge Week 4 Update

My left hand is showing lots of improvement this week, the right hand, not so much. I am wondering if it is because my right hand is my dominant hand. I use it more so it gets more abuse? This week's goal will be to give righty a little more TLC.

Before
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Left Hand

Left Ring Finger

Left Thumb - Peelies are pretty much gone!

Right Hand

Right Thumb - TBH it looks worse than when I started!

I have no idea what is going on with my right hand, my thumb specifically. I use the same amount of product on each finger give or take a bit. I moisturize evenly, I think. I know I need to work on not using my nails as tools. I think this is a big reason that I keep my nails so short. However, these pictures prove even short nails are susceptible to damage.

I did not cut down my nails this week, I was curious to see what kind of growth I was getting. Here is a this week's left thumb & last week's left thumb pictures. There is some nail growth and the damage is just about grown out.

Hopefully things start looking up for my right hand! I am still fighting to not push back my cuticles. I want to grab my Blue Cross remover and an orange stick badly. I am staying strong though. I think my left hand's cuticles have reached a turning point. I'm excited about that!

Please don't forget to check out my Sneekpeeq Giveaway. You have to be a new user and unfortunately signing up for Sneekpeeq's services will change your facebook page over to the timeline layout. I completely understand if that makes the contest unappealing!

Perfectly Polished Tips 217 - the Balm Hot Ticket Collection

the Balm nail polish is a new to me brand. I have used their lip products before but I had no idea they sold polish as well. I found the Hot Ticket Collection on a dusty shelf in TJ Maxx and decided to give it a shot. I think this may have been a holiday collection of sorts, mostly because of the colors that are included. I liked it though because all of the colors were different! No similar reds or pinks, or beige that you can't tell apart.

My cuticles are so raggedy looking, I though the TIPS for Toes nail conditioner was going to be a miracle worker and that I would have gorgeous hands by now. You are not supposed to push back your cuticles as it does more harm than good. I will just have to deal for now but I feel like my pictures look so unappealing. Sorry!

Better Off Red - pink based red creme, always a classic color IMO. Best part about this one? It's a one coater!

Counterfeit - Dusty teal creme, possibly a dupe to OPI Jade is the New Black

Disco Ball - The name says it all. I kind of sponge painted it on. I can never seem to find a proper time to wear silver glitter. Any tips?

Dodged a Bullet - This polish was really the only one I wanted out of the whole collection but since they were a package deal I had to take them all (boohoo right?). Steely grey with blue, pink, and purple shimmer. Of course my camera did not pick up the awesomeness of the shimmer. It's there though I swear!

Goldfinger - Metallic, shimmery gold. I always have a love/hate relationship with gold polish. I want to wear it but I feel like it doesn't look great on me. 

I love the brush on these polishes. It's a nice normal size! The formula was awesome for the most part. Counterfeit was a little on the thin side and I had a bit of a drag. I was surprised by Better Off Red, in a good way! I also adore the pin up girl on the bottle. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging.

I checked the Balm's website and they have a few colors that look very interesting. The names are questionable LOL but worth looking into. I got this set at TJ Maxx for $10 but it looks like each bottle retails for $10 on the Balm.