NOTM: Bling-Tastic!

Well, not the rhinestone-sparkly bling-tastic you were probably expecting... More the bling that Kayne West and Jamie Foxx would be singing about... haha.

Anyway,

This is a quick-ish little post to share my current polished pollex's with you! Both of these polishes I had purchased a while ago and I had been yet to wear them (until now!)... The chosen ones are..:

L: Zoya Gilty 18K Top Coat and R: OPI DS Mystery

I think I'm a bit behind for the 18K top coat trend... It was all the rage about 6-8 months ago and you don't see much of it at the moment (probably becuase textured polish is the new thing!). I had also purchased DS Mystery at last years Salon Melbourne (for some reason I thought it was brown but looking at it again it's definitely purple! oops!). I thought it was time to give both of them a go!

The Finished Product!

As you can see, the 18K Top Coat looks very effective over the dark base. DS Mystery is a polish from the OPI Designer Series Range, designed to be more sparkly and special than standard OPI polishes! It is a darkened purple with a gold fleck. The gold fleck is much more visible in the bottle than on the nail (but that's ok!). I chose DS Mystery becuase of that gold fleck, I thought it would complement the 18K Top Coat nicely (and I think it does)! It looks really pretty in real life! The 18K Top Coat can be a little fiddly to get on (for me, it wanted to keep hiding in the bottle!) but you can make it work. This NOTM has two coats of OPI and two coats of Zoya. I also used Cult Nails' 'Get It On' base coat (1 coat) and 'Wicked Fast' top coat (2 coats).

You can purchase Zoya in Australia from Art of Beauty (www.zoya.com.au) and OPI from Myer and David Jones and other Authorised Stockists such as www.adorebeauty.com.au! (be very careful where you buy your OPI from, as like MAC they are notorious for rip-offs!). If you can't get your hands on the Zoya 18K top coat, OPI do one as well.

Happy polishing!
Love,

Your PM x

POLISH FOR YOUR POLLEX: Zoya Pixie Dust Collection

Hello,

Tonight you get another instalment in "Polish For Your Pollex", the Zoya Pixie Dust Collection! Yesterday I posted the very beautiful Zoya Ornate collection (hopefully I'm not peaking too soon! haha).

If you are into nail polish even just a little bit, you would have probably seen that textured polishes are all the rage at the moment, with just about every brand bringing out their take on it! Have you seen the OPI's 'Liquid Sand'? This is the same sort of idea! Zoya's take is the 'Pixie Dust' collection. The Pixie Dust collection is a sparkly, matte, textured polish "infused with magic and wonder"! I believe it was released around the end of February, and Zoya have just released a summer collection of the Pixie Dust polishes in the US! (which look ah-mazing!)

Handy hint: Zoya recommends no top coat or base coat with this polish (I accidently used a base coat when I tried out Dahlia the other week and it didn't really affect it!) You can put a top coat over them (your fingers won't fall off!) but you will lose the matte, textured effect (which is the point of the Pixie Dust range!).

The Pixie Dust collection is a set of six polishes:

Zoya Pixie Dust

They look really sparkly and pretty in the pack! Now for some swatches:

Zoya Pixie Dust

Dahlia: Black base with silver glitter. It is a really interesting one and like Storm from the Ornate collection, if solid black is not quite your thing, this is a good alternative! This was the first one I tried and I was quite impressed with it! It kind of reminds me of a starry night sky!

Chyna: This is the only one that doesn't have silver glitter. This is a red base with red glitter (it may have been silver glitter that turned red? I'm not sure). It really reminds me of China Glaze's "Ruby Pumps". It's super sparkly and if you are going to wear top coat with any, I strongly recommend this one!

Godiva: A nude base with silver glitter. This is a really pretty plain one! It'd be one of those job interview appropriate ones that is still interesting to look at but isn't all in your face! It actually looks alot nicer swatched than it does in the bottle!

Vespa: A dusty green base with silver glitter. I have this one on now and it comes out a bit dustier on my fingies! A good one for spring.

Nyx: A nice sky blue base with silver glitter. This one leans the tinest bit purple and is another good one for spring!

London: A grey with silver glitter. Is this implying that it is based off the actual London? haha. It is a nice mid-toned grey and almost has a slight greeny tinge under certain light!

(L-R: Godiva, Chyna, Dahlia)

(L-R: London, Nyx, Vespa)

You can really see the texture and the sparkle close up! Texture wise, it's actually a bit smoother than I was expecting! It does feel grainy (and has a habit of holding onto things you get on it like hair dye and makeup!) but not much more grainy than a 120-odd grit nail file (except it's smooth!). Wear time is about standard for me (starts to chip after a few days!) but as I've said, my nails are soft as marshmallows so if your nails are nice and healthy you should hopefully get about five days out of your colour!

This Pixie Dust collection is a good introductory one, with a wide range of colours that are appropriate year-round. I would be interested to see what colours they come up with next winter if they bring a collection out... Navy perhaps? Darkened teal? mmm... Delightful!

My picks: Dahlia (becuase it's not a stark black), Godiva (a good all-rounder) and Chyna (try it with top coat!)

 

In terms of availablity, Zoya is rather hard to get in Australia. The collections are usually a few months behind the US (mostly becuase they are seasonally aimed!). I buy most of my Zoya now from Art Of Beauty Australia (www.zoya.com.au). The new collections (including Pixie Dust) aren't up on their website at the time of posting but I imagine you should be able to ring up and place a phone order if you wish. I have also ordered Zoya before from Aussie company Salon Style (www.salonstyle.com.au). The retail price for Zoya is AUD$19.

Do you like the new textured polish craze? Which are your favourites from the Pixie Dust collection?

 

Be kind to your Pollex!

Love,

Your PM x

POLISH FOR YOUR POLLEX: The Zoya Ornate Collection

Hello,

This post marks a new branch in the Polished Makeup tree - Polish for your Pollex! For those wondering, your Pollex is your thumb! (or big toe... but don't worry... no big toe photos, I promise!).

Polish for your Pollex is where I will group my ramblings about polish (a bit like how Under the Microscope is for makeup). As this blog was to include polish too, I thought it was about time to kick things off a bit more seriously rather than just show you what colour I've painted my nails!

Todays PFYP will be on the Zoya Ornate collection. This has been out in the US for a little while, but I was lucky to pick it up at Salon Melbourne (I am a qualified Nail Tech for those curious!). It is a winter-marketed holiday collection, that was released around October/November in the US (which is an Aussie spring/summer). I was a little sad I couldn't get it over here at the time becuase I feel it's perfect for Christmas time! Nonetheless, It'll be good for the Aussie winter that is just around the corner!



Zoya Ornate

Very eyecatching in the pack! I'm pretty sure I squealed with excitement when I saw it! You know what else is awesome about it?... HOLO'S!! This is the first time Zoya have done holo's and in the bottle they look pretty amazing! There are six colours in the Zoya Ornate collection (sorry but you get them swatched on a nail wheel becuase my poor cuticles wouldn't be able to cope with all the acetone! lol):



(L-R: Electra, Ziv, Logan, Storm, Blaze, Aurora)

Electra: A holographic silver bar glitter! BAR GLITTER!! Awesome! It's not often polish companies come out with bar glitter (though Zoya did with their Gems & Jewels collection a year-or-so ago!). It reminds me of OPI's Save Me (minus the blue of course). Would be good for layering also! (But it is dense enough to get it solid if you want to!)

Ziv: A beautiful gold foil! Nice golds are hard to come by (let alone foils!) but this one is nice and not too yellow! It almost leans a little bronze! It's a real glam colour!

Logan: If Charla and Ivanka had a little polish baby, I think this is what it'd look like! While it's not as bright as those two (you can definitely notice the darker undertone) you can definitely see the Charla-esque influence! A beautiful green with a streak of blue foil-y gold shimmer!

Storm: HOLO! A shiny black with a scattered holo. It's good if you like black but a solid black polish isn't your thing! The holo definitely gives it more interest! I am still a bit sad Zoya called this one Storm and not Ebony! (maybe next winter I'll get lucky...)

Blaze: Another holo! I have seen others describe it as red, but I would call it burgundy. I feel it's too dark and you can see too much pink to call it red! This one has got really good depth to it, I think the base and holo particles get along well in this one and make it look like it's got some red glitter going on! I have already worn Blaze and I was suprised to see it went on much darker than I was expecting!

Aurora: The final holo of the lot. A beautiful mid-purple! This one has the most holo of the lot and is super sparkly! I'm pretty sure your eyes would fall out if you saw it in the sun! LOL! It reminds be a bit of the OPI DS Original that is no longer available! (I'm pretty sure they aren't even close but any purple holo I see I think of DS Original! lol).

All of these swatches are painted with three coats. For Blaze and Aurora I could have got away with two but I thought I'd keep things even! And for some close-ups:

(L-R: Logan, Ziv, Electra)

(L-R: Storm, Blaze, Aurora)

PHWOAR! Check the holo! Super pretty! Zoya have defintiely done a good job of this collection! Zoya make great polishes and they are the big five-free! (No formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, DBP or camphor! All nasty ingredients you don't want in your polish!). What I love most about Zoya is their range of colours and finishes! They always try to come out with something a bit more original when they release a new collection! Zoya brushes are thinner than OPI's (for those that have never used Zoya) and a few from this collection did have a stray hair (first time I've had that happen) but they are perfectly easy enough to work with!

My picks: Logan (I can't go past a good green!) and Aurora/Storm (for awesome holo-y goodness!)

In terms of availablity, Zoya is rather hard to get in Australia. The collections are usually a few months behind the US (mostly becuase they are seasonally aimed!). I buy most of my Zoya now from Art Of Beauty Australia (www.zoya.com.au). The new collections (including Ornate) aren't up on their website at the time of posting but I imagine you should be able to ring up and place a phone order if you wish. I have also ordered Zoya before from Aussie company Salon Style (www.salonstyle.com.au). The retail price for Zoya is AUD$19.

Have you used any Zoya's previously? Which are your faves?

Until next time,

Be kind to your Pollex!

Love,

Your PM x

What's On My Nails? Something New!

Good day,

In the interest of fair reporting (as this blog was to be about makeup AND nails!), I have changed my polish so I thought I would quickly share it with you :)

As I picked up some new colours at Salon Melbourne on the weekend, I thought I better start testing them out! (who am I kidding, I was SO excited for my polish to start looking manky so I could change it!). I will of course get around to posting all my new polish goodies soon!

Tonights colour of choice is Zoya Dahlia from their new(ish) Pixie Dust collection. Textured polishes are all the rage this year, so Zoya have come up with a super sparkly version of it! These polishes dry matte, so you don't need a top coat! (You can put one on but it kinda defeats the purpose!). The Zoya website also recommends no base coat, however I had already put one on before I read the instructions... Oopy! It does not seem to have affected my mani though!

Zoya Dahlia

Zoya Dahlia is a black base PACKED with silver glitter! I always thought this one should have been called Ebony! But as you can see, nice and sparkly (thanks macro for helping me out with that!). It took me two coats to get it reasonably black. You can see the texture, and it does feel a little gritty, but nothing like sandpaper! lol. I will report on wear time of this when I post swatches of the lot! :)

I really like these textured polishes for something different! Zoya's summer Pixie Dust collection has not long been released in the US so hopefully we get it over here sometime soon!

In Australia, you can buy Zoya from www.artofbeauty.com.au!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Love,

Your PM xx

Here's Looking at You! FOTD/NOTM

Greetings!

Tonight I am going to share with you my FOTD/NOTM that I had for my trip to Salon Melbourne! I thought I better be all pretty and fancy so I look like I fit in! (no orange tracksuit unfortunately!) I even went to the effort of putting some curls in my hair (and that is a special occasion thing! lol). I had a great time (even though I was only there for about 2 hours!) but I am full of wonderful blogging ideas to share with you over the next little while! (so make sure you visit back regularly!)

Here was my FOTD (Face of the Day):

(Sorry for dodgy iPhone quality - was in a rush so didn't get a camera photo! lol)

FOTD

And for those interested, I used the following products:

FACE

• Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer
• Kryolan TV Paint Stick in NB1
• Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in No.6
• Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in No.1 (for blending into neck)
• Napoleon Perdis Camera Finish Powder in N2

BLUSH

• Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow in Flamingo Road
• Yes, you read right... Eyeshadow! It is such a pretty colour but I am not the biggest fan of wearing reds on my eyes! (I posted about Flamingo Road in my Multi-Use Products Post)
• NARS Blush in Torrid
• Illamasqua Bronzing Duo (Glint only) as a cheek highlighter

EYES

• Kryolan TV Paint Stick in NB1
• Kryolan Translucent Powder in TL1
• Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow in Green Living
• Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow in Queen of the Night
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in White
• OCC Loose Colour Concentrate in Flicker
• Napoleon Perdis Loose Eye Dust in Mosaic Gold
• Napoleon Perdis Mesmer-Eyes Mascara
• Napoleon Perdis China Doll Gel Liner in Equinox
• Eyebrows: Illamasqua Eyebrow Cake in Vehement

LIPS

• MAC Mineralize Lipstick in Lady at Play

PHEW! If you've managed to survive that you'll realise I use alot of products! Sometimes, a little splash of product X or Y can take your makeup from nice to really nice! I really liked my blush in this FOTD. I had Flamingo Road on the outside from my hairline, blending down to mid cheek. Torrid was blended from the apples of my cheeks, up! I then added a touch of Glint from Illamasqua's Bronzing Duo along the top of my cheek for a bit of interest!

Now, nail polish lovers don't be disappointed! Here is my NOTM (Nails of the Moment):



Zoya Kimber

I'm calling it a NOTM rather than a NOTD or similar, becuase I don't know how long they will last! haha. My nails, as mentioned, have the habit of chipping polish like it's nobody's business. However, as I write this (after being on for two days), there is only one tiny chip... amazing! (I think it's becuase they are filed bone short but Murphy's Law is probably not wanting me to try out my new polish yet!) - and yes my hands are still in terrible nick. I'm working on it!

The polish pictured is Zoya Kimber from their Surf Collection (part of Beach and Surf). Surf is such an amazing collection! It's a set of 6 foil-y polishes in fabulous colours! (to date, my fave Zoya collections are Surf, Sunshine and Sparkle! Though, with my newbies I've just picked up I may be adding Ornate when I get a good look at it!) But I'm digressing...

Anyway! Zoya Kimber is a beautiful rasperry red/pink with a foil-y gold shimmer! The bottle in the picture is quite accurate, and the nails show the shimmer up well. I constantly find myself staring at my nails! (and for those wondering I used Cult Nails' 'Get it On' base coat, and two coats of 'Wicked Fast' top coat). Kimber certainly has alot of appeal and would make a great colour for your toes too!

I am full of blogging ideas at the moment, so stay tuned for more posts over the coming days!

Love,

Your PM xx

I've FINALLY painted my nails!

So it's been a few weeks, but I finally got around to painting my nails! (I had done easter nails but they had been nakey since I peeled them off on Easter Sunday... oops!) Being that I am supposed to be blogging about nails as well as makeup I thought I'd quickly share what was on my digits (I say was, because 2 days later I only have 5 left...)

Saturday's polish of choice was ZOYA "Astra", a red and pink glitter with a slight sheer red base from their 'Ultra Glitter' collection. Zoya is not a well known brand in Australia, but they are BIG in America! I love them because a) they were one of the first companies to remove the nasties from their formula and b) they don't recycle the same colours and finishes from season to season! (*cough*OPI*cough*)



Zoya Astra

This is two generous coats, finished off with two coats of CULT NAILS "Wicked Fast", which is a fabulous top coat! (I like applying two coats, becuase I feel it dries faster!). It ended up being so shiny and sparkly, I couldn't stop looking at my fingies!

Also, please excuse my embarrassing nubs of nails... I do keep them short for work (lucky for me I do have long nail beds) but due to the beating they received at tafe last year (while studying for my cert II), they break like nobody's business! lol. Because they are so soft, polish also chips quite easily (the running joke is I look at them and they chip!) and then I end up peeling them off because I HATE the sight of chipped polish! They are also in pretty bad nick, being that I pay them nowhere near as much attention as I should! (Perhaps this should be a 'before' photo and I implement a better nail-care regime! You can tell my cuticles are in need of moisture! I should crack out the Rosebud Salve!)

I aim to blog more about polish in the coming months! If there are any comparisons you would like to see let me know and I'll see what I can do!

What have you got on your digits at the moment? Anything I should try?

Love,

Your PM.