Cozy plaid blankie

purchased by me

Although it's been unseasonably warm around here, the season still calls for cozy blankies in red and green plaids, just like the Pendleton blanket my mom had in her car when I was growing up.  I used some old Sally Hansen polish strips in a red & black plaid, added a black border with my Migi nail art pen, and then topped it off with Ulta's satin matte top coat.

Incoco Sleigh Ride

purchased by me

What's black & silver & festive all over?  My nails, of course!

Sleigh Ride is available at Incoco for $8.99 + shipping, and it's worth every penny!

Bonita Nail-O-Ween 2015

purchased by me

I am such a sucker for packaging!  I saw this cute set at Rite Aid for $4.99 + tax and I couldn't resist!  The nail stickers are tiny, but there is tiny green shimmer over the black stickers, and I love little touches like that.  There are two glow in the dark polishes among the four.

The green glows in the dark and it's pretty thin.  I used three coats for my swatch, but could have used a fourth:

The purple is also a glow-in-the dark and also needs four coats (shown with three):

The white was fine with three coats:

The black was perfect in two coats:

If your expectations aren't too high, this is a cute set for $5, and would be wonderful for doing your nails with a small someone special!

Orly Infamous collection: Frenemy

purchased by me

Frenemy is a black jelly with holographic glitter.  It's easy to use and pretty, but Zoya did it three years ago with Storm.

Two coats with no top coat:

ZOYA Spooky Glam Trio for Halloween

press release

ZOYA HALLOWEEN PROMO!
Get three Spooky Glam ZOYA NAIL POLISH shades for FREE.

·         Storm (Black Metallic Glam Sparkle Nail Polish)

·         Mimi (Purple Metallic Glam Sparkle Nail Polish)

·         Amy (Orange Metallic Glam Sparkle Nail Polish)

With any purchase of $25 or more, exclusively on zoya.com!

Now thru Halloween (10/31/15)

USE CODE: GLAM3

# # #

NOTE: MEDIA SAMPLES NOT AVAILABLE. DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL

Erin GiddingsMedia Relations & Design
Art of Beauty Inc. (makers of Zoya, Qtica & Smart Spa) 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 29, Inspired by the supernatural

purchased by me

I went a little bit sideways on my supernatural manicure*.  I couldn't decide between ghosts and seances and werewolves and vampires, so I did one thing they all have in common.  I used Zoya Storm and Serum No5 Guiding Light to depict the phases of the moon.

*I originally typed manitou--there's some supernatural for you, lol.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 26, Inspired by a pattern

purchased by me

My pattern inspiration was the Black Watch plaid.  My great-grandmother was Scots, but since my descent is through the female side, I'm not supposed to wear the MacDougall plaid.  Fortunately, anyone can wear the Black Watch plaid!  Here's my attempt:

Polishes used were Sinful Colors Real Teal, OPI Indigo Mood and Zoya Storm.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 25, Inspired by Fashion

purchased by me

My inspired by fashion manicure was intended to be a little black dress with a simple medallion necklace.  I used Cult Nails Fetish, OPI Push and Shove and some holographic hex glitters.  *grin*  It looks like flip-flops!  So, still fashion, just not quite as high-end. ;-)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 23, Inspired by a Movie

purchased by me

My movie inspiration was a movie that has made its way so deep into popular culture that it's become a verb, but that so few of my family and co-workers have heard of--Gaslight.  I used Essie White Page, Sally Hansen Wet Cement and Cult Nails Fetish.  I'm super-pleased with my foggy needle marble, but I have to laugh at my attempt at a gas street lamp!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 22, Inspired by a Song

purchased by me

I've known since the beginning of the challenge what song would be the inspiration of my manicure for Day 22.  My only regret is that I didn't do it justice.  I tried for outlines of Queen Anne's Lace on a sky blue background.  I used Sinful Colors A-Crush and Cult Nails Fetish.

My inspiration was "Black Flowers" by Chris Isaak:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5RsJN8NCX8

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 13, Animal print

purchased by me

Behold some bad nail art (although the concept was fine).  Lo, my attempt at animal print nails was pretty much a failure--I used Milani Dolce as the base and a black stamping polish and a drugstore plate for the "tiger" stripes.  Try not to choke while laughing. ;-)

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 7, Black & White nails

purchased by me

For my black & white nails, I went with two of my favorite e-tailers, Serum No5 and KB Shimmer.  The base for this incredibly simple look is two coats of Guiding Light, a glow in the dark white named after the soap I never missed in the '80s.  The black is one coat of Spot Sign by KB Shimmer.

You can find Guiding Light at Serum No5 and Spot Sign at KB Shimmer.

Formula X for Sephora: The Six

purchased by me

In addition to The Two, I also got The Six in my birthday order from Sephora.  It's a decent collection with a variety of finishes and colors, and at $15.00, the price was definitely right!

Super Charged is a black and silver glitter, opaque in two coats.  It dries quickly and slightly gritty, so I've shown it here with one coat of Seche Vite.

Blast Off is a clear base with black hexagons, black bars and black mini glitter.

Boom is a clear base with blue hexagons, blue bars and blue mini glitter.

Hocus Pocus is a lavender shimmer with a weak linear holo.  Shown with two coats.

Intergalactic is a pink and silver micro-glitter that I absolutely adore.  The formula was the same as Super Charged, so this is two coats with one coat of SV.

Surreal is a light turquoise shimmer with a bare hint of holo.  Two coats.

The Six is available at Sephora for $15.00 + tax and shipping, but I'm not sure for how much longer, given the low price.

Incoco Smoke and Mirrors

purchased by me

Smoke and Mirrors was originally part of Incoco's Autumn 2014 collection, but it's still available and because I think of black and gold as year-round combo, I wore it recently.  The application was typically easy, as Incoco always has been for me and the wear time was decent.  HOWEVER, removal was a mess.  Smoke and Mirrors is not a black base with gold stamping, it's a gold base with a black pattern, and that gold base is made of micro-glitter.  My hands looked like I'd been rummaging through the sale bin on January 2nd.

Glitter bomb disposal aside, this is an elegant pattern, so if you're prepared for the cleanup, you can find it at Incoco for $8.99 + shipping.

Zoya mystery minis reviews and swatches

gift with purchase

Reviews and swatches after the jump!

Got my Zoya mini mystery polishes!

purchased by me

Left to right, Severina, Anais and Charlotte.  None of these names come up on the website, so I wonder if there's a new collection on the way...

Swatches and reviews coming next week!

Incoco Fall 2014: Royal Flush

purchased by me

Royal Flush is part of Incoco's Fall 2014 collection, and it got me a ton of compliments.  With a black lace pattern on a red background, these polish strips are simple but stunning.  Application was a typical Incoco dream.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Royal Flush and the rest of the fall collection are available at Incoco for $8.99 each plus shipping.

Butter London Steampunk Ball

purchased by me

This fall, Butter London has an entire steampunk-themed collection.  Of course I had to get something, so I chose the Steampunk Ball set because 5 of the 6 polishes are only available in this set.  The polishes are all minis, which works for me because I can't remember the last time I used up a whole bottle, and with the exception of the glitter, all polishes were opaque in two effortless, perfectly-behaved coats.

Bric-A-Brac is red glitter in a warm red base.  It's more brick-colored in low light, and it's the only polish that is not exclusive to this set.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Barkers is a dark grey with multi-colored micro glitter, very pretty and steampunk-y.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Baroness is a rosy bronze shimmer and very prone to brush strokes, which means you can see how careless my application was on this one. *blush*

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Brass Goggles is a clear glitter base with black and gold glitter.  It's not quite opaque at two coats, but could easy be opaque with three.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Full Steam Ahead is a dark grey crème which leans green in low light.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Pinkies Up is a peach shimmer with a frost finish and visible brush strokes.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

If you're interested in the Steampunk Ball collection, you can find it at Butter London and at Ulta for $39.00 + any applicable tax and shipping.

Happy Halloween!

purchased by me

It's a bit unfair of me to post this set of polish strips from Incoco, because this particular pattern is discontinued, but there is a glow-in-the-dark pattern in this year's Halloween collection.  The glow is so strong that it's visible in low light and still glowing on my nails when I get out of bed in the morning!

Indoors with flash:

 

Indoors without flash:

Glowing!

The Hocus Pocus collection and other Incoco polish strips retail for $8.99 each + shipping.

Zoya Winter/Holiday 2014: Wishes

press samples

For the Winter/Holiday season this year, Zoya brings us six gorgeous polishes--two shimmers, one crème, and three Ultra Pixie Dust textured polishes.  Swatches and reviews after the jump!