Zoya Lovely Collection: Blu

The Lovely Collection is now available at Zoya, and this week I have all six colors to show you.  First up is Blu, a delicate pastel baby blue crème.  Blu was opaque in three thin coats, dried quickly, and is shiny before top coat.  It's definitely a white-based pastel, but it's not at all chalky.  All swatches are three coats without top coat.

In the sun:

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Blu certainly makes me think of spring blue skies, and I loved wearing it!  It's available now at Zoya, where it retails for $8 plus shipping.

This polish was sent to me for review.

Travel products: a hit and a miss

The surprise hit for me on my vacation was Kevin Murphy's Session Spray.  This was part of my goodie bag from the Dino Palmieri/Zoya event I attended in November.  I took it because it was small and since my parents were taking my suitcase, I didn't have to worry about taking an aerosol on an airplane.  I was surprised at how long and how well the Session Spray held up, both in hot and humid weather and in chilly and windy weather!  My hair still had plenty of movement, but the spray kept my style in place for the whole day.  When I run out of the sample size, I will definitely be buying more!

The miss was the LA Colors Scented Nail Polish Remover Pads.  I'd picked them up on sale for 99¢ (they're regularly $1.99 at my local drugstore) because I figured the non-acetone remover and the sealed tin would make them easy to travel with.  They were easy to transport, but that's the best I can say about them. The pads were so loaded with fragrance oil that they left my hands soaked in oil, and the remover worked only with a ton of patience, even on non-glitter polishes.  I'm thinking I'll pour off the scented remover and pour in some regular and use the remaining pads, but these will definitely not be a re-purchase.

If you're interested in hearing about my family's Disney adventure, keep an eye on my other blog, Curmudgeonette, for pics and stories!

Get 3 Free from Zoya on Monday, January 7th!

STARTS MONDAY, JANUARY 7th 2013
A New Year Calls For New Color!

Zoya Nail Polish wants you to SHINE in 2013 by rocking your unique style - on your nails! Pick any 3* Zoya Professional Lacquer shades to instantly update your nail polish wardrobe for the New Year!


Offer Valid Monday, January 7th (10AM EST) through 11:59 PM EST January 13th ONLY Pick 3 bottles of Zoya Nail Polish for FREE* ** just pay shipping & processing charges of $10.

Use Code: ZOYA2013
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Receive FREE Shipping*** with any Zoya or Qtica purchase of $25 or more (same code)!
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Create an account on Zoya.com if you do not already have one.. Add at least (3) Zoya Nail Polish shades to your shopping cart, along with any additional items you wish to purchase.
Enter Code ZOYA2013 into the coupon code field in cart and press "Apply Code".
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Shipping & Processing Fee of $10 applies. Valid online at www.zoya.com 10 AM EST, 01/07/13 through 11:59pm EST, 01/13/2013. Continental US only. Not valid in conjunction with other coupons, codes or promotions. Returns or exchanges of promotional items not permitted. Art of Beauty is not responsible for incorrect addresses, credit card entry errors or errors associated with declined credit cards . Code must be entered at the time of purchase. Please allow up to 4 weeks for shipping if volume warrants it. Limit 1 promotional order per account.

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Press Release: Zoya Lovely for Spring 2013

Zoya Lovely

Beauty is a lovely state of mind

Lovely, just LOVELY!

Spring is awash in six soft and lovely new Zoya shades including three dewy metallics and three fresh blooms of cream. Poetic in nature, this collection is sure to capture the beauty of the season like no other....

ZOYA LOVELY – SPRING 2013

Piaf (ZP652) - Fresh Forsythia Yellow Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Fashion Designer Zang Toi)

GeiGei (ZP651) - Blushing Cherry Blossom Pink Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).

Julie (ZP650) - Soft Wisteria Purple Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).

Blu (ZP653) - Lucky Hyacinth Blue Cream - Full Coverage

Neely (ZP655) - Earliest Spring Green Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13).

Jacqueline (ZP654) - Perfect Magnolia Nude Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13)

Shipping January 01, 2013

Ultra long-wearing, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Zoya Lovely $8 (US)

Follow the Zoya Nail Polish and Treatments Blog and stay tuned on Twitter (@Zoyanailpolish) and Facebook for release date updates.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Snow Bunny

Getting ready for the trip is still kicking my butt, complicated by the fact that my shower broke and all I have is a bathtub and no easy way to wash my hair, so I'm depending on the Sally Hansen polish strips for my manicures these days!  Snow Bunny is a white pearl background with snowflakes or poinsettias in red.  It was part of the 2011 Holiday collection, but I found them for $3 at Big Lots, and just saw them for $3 at Five Below.

I don't think I'm going to have time for another post, so happy holidays to everyone--see you in 2013!

The blog sale I didn't have

Unfortunately, the pictures of all the nail polish and manicure sets are on my mom's camera, but I've got one picture of the completed gift bags.  Thanks to donations from Amelia, Cedric Diggory, Phil and Tara, I managed to take 21 bags, each filled with a set of manicure tools and 3-4 nail polishes, to Good Neighbors! I think I'll do this again next year. :)

Thank you, my friends!

My first holiday mani and a blog break

First, the good stuff--my first holiday mani this year.  I started with two coats of Zoya Veruschka, then free-handed French tips with KBShimmer Candy Cane Crush and did a full coat of CCC on my ring fingers.  Veruschka is one of my favorite Zoyas, although it seems to be gone from their site. :(  It's a deep emerald matte, and I just adore it for its ease of use, velvety finish, color and quick dry time.  Candy Cane Crush is an adorable combination of large, medium and small white and red hex glitters, plus small green glitters.  It is also scented with peppermint and vanilla, and this is definitely going to be one of my holiday favorites from now on!

Next, the not fun stuff.  I am stressed out of my mind right now.  Work is crazy, plus I'm trying to get ready to close up the house for ten days and pack for the cruise my family is taking over Christmas.  I'd be more excited if I weren't so freaked out by everything that needs to be done and hasn't been done!  So I am taking a break from five posts a week until I get back from the cruise.  I will take pictures of my holiday manis and post them sporadically.

I would like to thank everyone who has followed along with me through 2012--it's been a rollercoaster of a year, but knowing that people read my little blog has helped a lot through some of the down times.