A England Ascalon- Holographic With A Purple Flash

I completely forgot I owned A England's Ascalon until I was going through my swatch folder. Yes, I managed to buy a polish, open the package, wear it, take pictures, upload the pictures to my computer AND... completely forget I owned the polish. Do you think this means my polish obsession has gotten out of hand? If the answer is yes, please don't tell me because I'm already too far gone. The obsession has taken root and it's too late for me. SAVE YOURSELVES! Anyway, I can just use the excuse that I DO have a makeup blog and I NEED things so I can post about them right? Waaaay too much money has been spent on the justification that it's "For The Blog".

So, is this polish a must own? I must answer with an unequivocal, "Duh!" For one, it's holographic. Two, it has a duochrome-y purple flash. It's beautiful, it's amazing, it's the best thing to ever happen to you! Superlative, hyperbole, exclamation point! Okay, maybe it's won't change your life, but it definitely is one of those polishes that will make you crash your car because you are too busy admiring your fingers to pay attention to the road.

The formula is great and applied easily in two effortless coats.

A England Ascalon

A England Ascalon

A England Ascalon

A England Ascalon

What do you think? I think it's way prettier in person than it is in pictures, but that's usually the case isn't it? I need to wear it again but I forget I own it for the second time.

Oh, I bought this from Llarowe but it looks like they are our of stock of this color for now. It is also available from Ninja Polish.

Several Zoya Nail Polish Swatches

So, as you may know, Zoya's Nail Polish Exchange is going on this week.  What is pretty much boils down to is that you get polish for $4 a bottle, whic includes shipping.  Zoya's polishes normally sell for $8 each.  All you have to do is mail one of your old yucky polishes to Zoya for every polish you buy.  Zoya then disposes of the old stuff in a safe way.  This is a great opportunity to get some great polishes and dispose of unloved nail polish in a healthy way.  You have nothing to lose!

So here are a few Zoya swatches to tempt you.  These are all swatched with no top or base coat.

Zoya Lola in the sun

Lola is a neon pink with blue shimmer.  This was 4 coats.  Zoya polishes tend to be a bit thin and sheer but the coats dry quickly and don't get too thick or gunky.

Zoya Lola in the shade

Zoya Adina in the sun

Adina is a gorgeous duochrome shimmer that shifts from a lavender purple to green.  This is 3 coats.

Zoya Adina in the shade

Zoya Kelly in the sun

Kelly is a dark grey creme that is supposed to lean purple, but I don't really see the purple against my skin tone.  This was 3 coats.

Zoya Kelly in the shade

Zoya Ivanka in the sun

Ivanka is a grass green glass fleck shimmer. My boyfriend claims it looks like a mermaid.  This was 4 coats and probably could have used a 5th, but it dried quickly.

Zoya Ivanka in the shade

Zoya Crystal in the sun

Crystal is a light blue shimmer with small gold metallic flakes.  The boy says this one looks like a fish, haha.  This was 3 coats, but was decently opaque at 2.

Zoya Crystal in the shade

Available:

• Zoya's polishes are available on their website and at select salons.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Week 2: Shopping My Stash for Untried Polish- Sation Grey Opal

I started a new series last week where I go through my fairly large nail polish stash and actually wear polishes that I've bought and never used.

Last week I wore Diamond Cosmetics' Tropical Dream, which I had for over a year before I finally wore it!

I also bought this one over a year ago.  This was one of the few times I bought a polish without seeing any swatches first.  The bottle picture on the e-tailer I bought it from, Transdesign, wasn't even that interesting.  It was the name alone that drew me in.  Plus, the polish was only $1.39 and I figured it was worth a shot.  I remember being impressed when I saw the bottle because it was even better than I had hoped.  I bought it along with about 20 other polishes, so this one got filed away into my Helmer where I forgot about it until right now.

Sation Grey Opal is a light, cool, almost blue, grey with contrasting pink shimmer.

This was 3 coats with base and top coat.

Taken in the sun

I hate always having to say this, but the contrasting pink shimmer is a lot more apparent in real life!  These pictures make it look sort of frosty; it really isn't!

Taken in the shade

Available:

• At various e-tailers around the internet, including Amazon.  I bought mine at Transdesign.com for $1.39.  It is also available at Victoria Nail Supply for $1.25.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Zoya Loredana and Savita

I really like matte polishes.  Specifically matte polishes with shimmer.  I usually only wear them when I'm running short on time and God forbid people see me with the same mani twice!  After a day I will usually slap a top coat on 'em and that is where they really shine.

I have two matte polishes from Zoya, Loredana and Savita.  I've really been lemming Posh, a matte shimmery red, but it doesn't look like they sell it anymore. Noooo!

On to the swatches! (Please excuse the amateur quality of my swatching.  It's harder than it seems!)

Zoya Loredana

This is 3 coats.  The first coat is disappointingly sheer; I didn't think it would be able to build to opacity.  but, 3 coats is perfect.  It isn't as matte as the next polish I'll show you, Savita, and takes longer to dry, but it is very beautiful.  You can even see the multicolored shimmer.

Zoya Loredana with top coat (Seche Vite)

Wow, look how shimmery and beautiful it is with top coat!  For some reason the teal sparkle was showing the most, but on the nail other colors are visible also.

Zoya Savita

Ugh, I didn't so such a good job with this one.  Plus I dinged my middle finger.  Sorry!  Ignore my misshapen index finger and the random bits of cotton ball fuzz!  This color dries really fast and has a much more flat finish that Loredana.  This is 3 coats.  If you are careful you may be able to get away with 2.

Zoya Savita with top coat (Seche Vite)

Top coat make the pink shimmer really apparent.  I definitely recommend this polish!


Available:

• $8 on Zoya's website.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!