Candy Corn Mani

Whew, can't believe it's been so long since I posted! Things were pretty hectic for a while with midterms and papers but it's a bit calmer for now. I actually did another mani with spiderwebs but I forgot to take pictures and it didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped anyway, so here's my second Halloween-themed mani:

Yum, candy corn! One of everyone's favorite candies, I'm sure! 

This one's easy to do. I started out with MAC Vestral White as a base, then used Zoya Sienna for the orange, and Milani Yellow Whiz for the tips. It was a bit too many coats though, so next time I'd recommend doing the entire nail orange and then adding the white and yellow on top. 

Of course, I just had to buy some candy corn for the picture and ended up eating almost the entire bag.

Zoya Ivanka

Yikes, I've been away for so long! I've been pretty busy lately and school is starting soon so I probably won't be able to post as often as I'd like. :( Oh well, here's a nice swatch for now!

This is Zoya Ivanka with Zoya Apple on the ring finger. Ivanka is a green jelly with green-gold flaky glass flecks, so pretty! Apple looks like a paler base with the same flecks but more concentrated, almost like a foil. Both are lovely greens for summer! Zoya really does this finish well in many colors, it has the sparkle of a glitter but it dries smooth and is easy to remove. I think this is four coats? I tend to do thin coats, though.

Hope you all are ready for fall!

Zoya Kotori, Crystal, Charla Comparison

I did this at someone's request but I thought I'd post it. I don't have Charla, so I used Orly Halley's Comet instead.

L to R: Kotori, Crystal, Halley's Comet

One coat:


Two coats:


Three coats:

At this point Halley's Comet was opaque so I didn't add any more.

Four coats (three coats of Halley's Comet):

At this point Crystal was opaque, so I didn't add any more.

Five coats of Kotori, four coats of Crystal, three coats of Halley's Comet:


With top coat:


As you can see, they are very different. Kotori, the sheerest, is a dark charcoal base with lots of blue microglitter. Crystal is a metallic light blue with lots of gold flecks. Halley's Comet is teal with yellow-green sparkle. From what I have read, Charla is slightly more blue and more sparkly, but they are very close. All of these formulas were very easy to work with and dried fairly quickly.

In conclusion, these three colors really aren't similar at all and it's worth having all three!

Zoya Nova and Crystal

Yay, I received my free Zoyas a few days ago!

L to R: Nova, Irene, Crystal

Crystal

This is a shimmery light blue with lots of gold flakes. I have read that it is a dupe for OPI's Reflecting Pool, and it certainly reminds me of water. Gorgeous color, great for any season.

Nova

I did a simple dégradé mani with this one. It's a magenta jelly with lots of pale pink glitter, perfect consistency/sheerness for this look. I did thin coats, each coat starting a little further from the cuticle than the last. Very easy to do.

I haven't tried Irene yet, but it looks so intriguing!

Masquerade Nails

So I guess these aren't really Halloween nails, but my BF and I are going to a Venetian masquerade-themed party tonight, so we bought some masks. I wanted to do a mani that matched the mask, so this is what I came up with:

The pink part is Zoya Lola with Diamond Cosmetics Pink Flaminglo on top, then Sinful Colors Nail Art in Time Off and American Apparel Hassid on the lunula, topped with black rhinestones. I originally thought that the glitter from Flaminglo would add some interest, but I think it made the look a bit over the top. Lola is bright and fun enough; I think the look would have looked more elegant without the glitter. I also thought it would be cool to have glow-in-the-dark nails, but it seems like the effect is pretty weak.

I used the nail art polish to outline a curve, then painted a line of top coat to use as glue. Seche Vite is made to permeate the layers of polish underneath, so it softens the polish enough to press the rhinestones into the layers. Then I filled in the lunula with Hassid b/c I found it easier to use than the brush that the nail art polish came with. Topped everything off with a thick layer of Seche Vite and it all seems very secure. I think next time I will try not to paint over the rhinestones, though, because now you can't see the facets and they look like little balls instead of gems. Luckily, the ball look kind of works with the mask.


Happy Halloween!

Halloween Nails!

This post is a bit late (since Halloween is in a few days), but both designs are super easy to do!
Here's the super simple one:

Just some stickers over a sparkly orange polish, Zoya Sienna. I like using all black stickers so it looks more cohesive, even though each sticker is different. I also alternated words with pictures so that there was a good mix of both; too many words looks too busy and all pictures looks too simple in my opinion. This one was inspired by one of Asami's designs.

This one takes a bit more time, but is still pretty easy:

I used Sinful Colors Nail Art polish in Time Off for the stripes. This time I used white/gold stickers so they'd stand out against both background colors. I also alternated stars with the words instead of random pictures because I thought the stars would look a little less busy.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

Zoya Charisma

This color is impossible to photograph! It's a bright, neon purple that looks magenta most of the time. It looks like American Apparel's "Raspberry" color (for their clothes, not polishes).

I love it! Definitely one of my favorites so far. I'm going to put it on my toes tonight. It's a neon, so it dries to a semi-matte finish, but it does dry quickly. It was a bit streaky but a coat of Seche Vite smoothed it all out. I'm wearing three thin coats but could have used a fourth.

Zoya Savita

My first attempt at an un-traditional French:

Tried to adjust to show the color accurately but it made my skin look pink, which was distracting, so I tried to crop it as much as possible. This is Zoya Savita with Seche Vite on the tips. I did this free-handed, but I think guide stickers could be used because the polish dries quickly. My right hand didn't fare quite as well, but overall I did a pretty rushed job. Anyway, the polish was a little weird to work with, maybe because I'm not used to working with mattes. I like this look, though; I will definitely be trying it with more mattes. Speaking of which, I will have to buy some more...

Zoya Bekka

Here's today's mani:


I really like this color! I love yellows and this one is a bright, lemony frost with faint orange flash. It looks more like a chartreuse in the bottle but the greenish tint doesn't show up on the nail. As much as I love the color, the formula left something to be desired. Application was streaky and even after three coats there's still a bit of visible nail line. It also took quite a while to dry. Still, it's such a sunny, happy color that I can't resist!

Zoya Exchange and Diamond Cosmetics

Yay, I received my Zoya polishes today!


L to R: Charisma, Lola, Sienna, Bekka, Kotori, Savita
Charisma is a super neon purple, very excited to try it! I saw this in a beauty supply store and almost bought it before I thought about the exchange.
Lola is a fluorescent pink with bluish shimmer.
Sienna is a tangerine orange with fine gold glitter.
Bekka is a shimmery chartreuse.
Kotori looks like a deep navy blue with blue glitter.
Savita is a metallic, matte purple.
These are my first Zoya polishes and I love the range of colors they have.

Also got my Diamond Cosmetics haul:


L to R: Oh Tiff!, Pink Flamingo, Matte Black, Like Satin

Oh Tiff! is, as you might have guessed, a Tiffany blue. It's kind of a pastel-y turquoise, greenish-blue. It also has a very subtle shimmer. This is supposed to be a dead-on dupe for Chanel Nouvelle Vague.
Pink Flamingo is a sheer pink with iridescent glitter, and it glows in the dark! How cool is that?
Matte Black is a leathery, matte black, pretty similar to Chanel Black Velvet, but slightly more matte.
Like Satin is basically a creamy off-white.
I've never tried Diamond before but I've heard a lot of good things, and they're cheap! Also, it is heavily rumored that they are the actual manufacturers for some $12 brands...

Can't wait to try all of these!