Tag Archives: Zoya

Zoya Charli Swatches & Review

Zoya Charli Swatches & ReviewSome nailphiles use soft shades as a palate cleanser, but I used Zoya Charli, a green-tinged taupe as one.

(It’s one of the impressive cremes from the Zoya Focus Collection.)

For me, this is a tame shade because it’s neutral and sophisticated, but it’s far from boring.

In some lighting, it can look more taupe, and it reminds me of pebbles and rocks along a river on a fishing trip. There’s something very ‘earthy’ about this colour, and I feel very calm when I see it.

My nails are the happiest when they sport loud, obnoxious, bold colours like graffiti. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate something that isn’t like carrying a gong around with you. 😉

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Enter the Redbook Contest for Your Chance to Name a Zoya Nail Polish

Have you ever wanted to name a Zoya nail polish? Well, if you’re a Canadian or United States resident, this could be your once-in-a-lifetime chance!

Zoya has teamed up with Redbook magazine to offer a unique opportunity that I’m sure many nailphiles will be pretty happy about.

Enter the Redbook Contest for Your Chance to Name a Zoya Nail Polish!

There are three Zoya nail polishes: a red, plum, and gold

Redbook Name a Zoya Nail Polish

You can also see them shown below (as they appear in Redbook magazine’s September issue on page 60):

Name a Zoya Nail Polish Redbook Contest

To enter, all you have to do is submit a polish name for one of the shades. (The name should be a woman’s name, since all of Zoya’s polishes are named after women.) Then, in two to three sentences, explain what inspired you. Do all of this via the online entry form (linked further down in this post) by September 14 for your entry to qualify.

Redbook magazine’s editors will choose three winners based 50% on creativity and 50% on originality.

Zoya will launch the polishes with the chosen names in an upcoming holiday collection, and the winners will each receive gift sets!

See the rest of this post for further details.

P.S. Today, I took time off work so that I could spend the day at the ex. No, not an old boyfriend’s place. The Ex is the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition)! My mom wanted me to go with her and a couple of her friends.

Follow me on my Instagram, Snapchat (username: swatchandlearn), and Twitter especially because I plan on posting some photos and/or videos during the day. It’s been a while since I went to the CNE, and it’s officially the CNE’s opening day this year!

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Zoya Desiree Swatches & Review

Zoya Desiree Swatches & ReviewBrown nail polish isn’t my thing. Never have I craved a rich chocolate manicure, but when it comes to lacquer, I’ll try out any hue because you never know if it might open a window and push you toward discovering new colour territory.

Zoya Desiree is one of the colours in the new Focus Collection that’s full of cremes, and I decided to go way outside of my comfort zone. With this brown, I did more than that. I went to the Twilight Zone!

No beating around the bush here. I strongly dislike this colour on my nails, even if the formula was flawless and the superior quality that I’ve come to expect from all Zoya nail polishes.

If you love browns, you’ll probably enjoy this, but I just couldn’t get over how it reminded me very strongly of a specific emoji (and it’s not the dancing woman in a red dress)! 😉

When I saw this polish in the bottle, I thought that it would be a good shade for Christmas when you want to do gingerbread nail art. Other than that, I can’t picture myself pulling out this polish to wear solo ever again. Sorry, brown. We were never meant to be.

On a positive note, after I painted my nails, my first thought, other than the emoji I was referring to, was the song, Shipoopi, which is from The Music Man. (Hehe, I used to sing that song after I first heard it, and my dad always laughed.) Anyway, Shipoopi came to mind mainly because of the poopi part. (Uh-huh. I’m terribly mature, I know.)

In case you don’t know (most people don’t), I grew up with musicals. Name any classic musical that was produced in the 1950s and 1960s, and I probably saw it more than once, even though I was born in the 1980s. (My dad was a big fan of movies in general, but he also had all the musicals, and we used to watch them together. I have tons of fond memories from those days, and while some musicals are cheesy, I still enjoy them.)

My all-time favourite movie is a musical – The Wizard of Oz. I probably saw it for the first time when I was 4- or 5-years old. Whenever I was sick and had to stay home from school, I watched The Wizard of Oz. On the weekends, I watched The Wizard of Oz. Heck, one time, I even lost a baby tooth while watching The Wizard of Oz. No exaggeration – I probably saw it over 100 times, yet even to this day, I still enjoy it like I’m seeing it for the first time. That’s a real classic!

(Also, since childhood, I fell in love with Return to Oz! It’s my second-favourite movie of all-time. If you haven’t seen it, it’s not a musical, and it’s a dark and twisted sequel that features Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale. Yup, the same actor who starred in The Craft! Haha, polar-opposite roles, and she was incredible in both!)

My favourite character from Return to Oz was Princess Mombi. (This was my favourite scene from the movie.) She was one of the villains, and she chopped off the heads of young maidens, and brought them to life with The Powder of Life. All the heads, she collected in a gallery, and she would switch out her own head for others. I always thought that was cool and creepy when I was a kid, and I was never into horror films. It was just that character that I found really unique, and back then, I read a LOT of books, so finding a unique character was a feat!)

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Zoya Focus Collection & Zoya Flair Collection Swatches & Bottle Shots

Zoya Focus & Flair Collection 2015 FallYesterday, 12 nail polishes followed me home and then jumped into my mailbox a few seconds before I checked it. (Funny how that happens sometimes, right?)

While I was opening up the package with the gorgeous Fall 2015 Zoya Focus Collection (cremes) and Zoya Flair Collection (metallics), I caught myself humming.

It totally made me laugh because I had a boyfriend who once told me that he noticed that whenever I open up nail mail, I always hum. When I open up bills and junk mail, I’m silent like a lamb. Never realized it until he pointed it out.

For the Zoya Focus Collection and the Zoya Flair Collection, the gorgeousness deserves much more than mere humming. It’s the type of collection that compels you to make some noise! (Where’s a gong when you need one?)

As I pulled each nail polish out of the box and welcomed them all to their new, loving home, my eyes were wide like a lemur, and I was standing up at attention like a meerkat!

I snapped lots of photos and quick swatches of all the shades to share with you. Enjoy! 🙂

As usual, when I wear some as full manicures, I’ll do separate, in-depth reviews with swatches.

P.S. If you want to view the official Zoya Focus & Flair Collections press release, I posted it not too long ago. Click on the above link for the colour story and more information about the collection.

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Zoya Focus & Flair Collections for Fall 2015

Zoya Focus & Flair Collection Fall 2015Although it’s still summer, I have a sneak peek into an autumn collection that’s available to be pre-ordered now!

Zoya sent me the official press release for the Zoya Focus & Flair Collections for Fall 2015 a few days ago.

Fall is my favourite season in general because I consider it to be the most romantic and dramatic. That’s when fashion, beauty, and food speak to me the strongest. With spices and pumpkin treats enticing my palate, cozy textures cradling me, and bold colours making a statement for manicures, autumn flirts with my senses!

While I haven’t seen the Zoya Focus Collection or the Zoya Flair Collection in person, they’re en route to me, courtesy of Zoya, and you can expect some in-depth reviews. (Let me know if you’d like to see any shades reviewed first, and I’ll do my best.)

The Zoya Focus Collection consists of cremes, and if you’ve ever tried a Zoya creme nail polish, you know that they have one of the best, most consistently smooth formulations on the market.

The Zoya Flair Collection includes metallics that dress up your manicure like nail jewels.

Even though I love Zoya cremes, I’m most excited to wear the metallics in the Zoya Flair Collection because they look like the kind that can ‘light up’ your nails and make them look like they’re on fire!

See the rest of this post for all the information I have, including the official swatches and promotional pictures!

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Zoya Cecilia Swatches & Review

Zoya Cecilia Swatches & ReviewSomebody pinch me because the formula of Zoya Cecilia from the Island Fun Collection is so dreamy, it manages to steal my attention away from the smouldering Giorgio Armani models for those men’s fragrance ads! 😉

If you’re looking for a teal that leans more on the green side, Zoya Cecilia will have your pulse racing like your nails are on the track and caught sight of the checkered flag waving.

Once again, Zoya has nailed the creme formula, and it performs like a luxury polish without the high price tag. Total winner through and through!

P.S. In case you missed yesterday’s post, I shared my Shark Nail Art Tutorial to kick off Shark Week!

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Zoya Talia Swatches & Review

Zoya Talia Swatches & ReviewZoya Talia from the Island Fun Collection is a gorgeous turquoise-blue creamy dream!

It’s a turquoise with a deeper sky blue mixed in, and I think this shade would be flattering on many different skin tones.

(In real life, this polish has a touch more green in it than my camera could pick up.)

Zoya Talia reminds me of those days when you can’t spot a single cloud in the sky.

I was tempted to paint a little bird flying on each nail, but sometimes a polish is so pretty, you just have to admire it all on its own.

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