Unwrapping a Zoya Trio

Did you order any of the Zoya Color Box gift sets during the holidays? I thought I'd show you some pictures I took while unwrapping the first box set I received! Here's a little look at the 'Classic Contrast' box featuring Rave, Trixie, and Luna. Trixie is very pretty and shiny - I used it in this metallic mani. 

tissue paper - pretttyyyy

ooh, a box!

ooh, now a fuzzy box!

polishes!

polishes closer - (l-r): Raven, Trixie, Luna

I tried searching their website, but it seems that box sets aren't really available any longer - seems they're special editions for holidays and again more recently for NYFW. Hope you enjoyed this look at a Zoya gift box!
Do you own any of the Zoya boxes?

iPad Blogging?

I upgraded to a fancy new iPad and I'm hoping it will allow me to be more frequent with my posting. I usually take a ton of photos, but then get really lazy about uploading and editing them, so perhaps with the I proved camera and on-iPad editing, I will be less lazy!!

Here's a quickly shot and cropped NOTD from me - it's actually my 'nail of the week' since I did this combo last Sunday before my mini vacay to New Orleans. It's Deborah Lippmann Marquee Moon on the first three fingers and then the Jessica polish that's a dupe of Chanel Quartz on ring and pinkie fingers.




Hope you had a great weekend! I have to go back to work tmrw :'(

PS. This picture looks weird maybe? But I think it looks fine if you click thru for the bigger version. Def let me know all your thoughts and feelings about this in the comments; thanks :) :)

PCFC Spring Challenge - Subtle Spring Glitterbomb!

FINALLY I have something to post for the Purple Crumpet Fairy Spring Challenge! Hooray!! I told you when I posted the swatches of Cho that I had put some really 'swoon-worthy' glitter with it, and now I can show you! Here is two coats of Zoya Cho with Spoiled Jewelry Heist glitter tips on all fingers, with one full coat on my ring finger as an accent.

Here it is in all it's glossy glory. This combo is so very beautiful, and especially Spring-y! It looks even more Easter-y when I matted it (with the Essie matte tc) because Cho became a very delicate looking eggshell background for the glitter.

I couldn't stop staring at how pretty these were! I love the combo of glitter shapes, sizes, and colors in Jewelry Heist - it has small square opal glitters, which you can see really well above. By far Jewelry Heist is my favorite of the newer Spoiled glitters and I would definitely recommend picking it up.

Drugstore Display Cam

Hi y'all! I just wanted to share all the new displays that I recently saw at the drugstore with you :) This is a new idea I have for content, so let me know if you'd like to keep seeing posts like this one! Thanks!! These are all from just one CVS I stopped in, which is awesome. All the Rite-Aids near me have really old, boring displays, so it was nice to see some new things.

 Wet n Wild 'Be Jeweled' collection - the dupes of ChG Prismatic glitters. I didn't want them at all, but then in person they're pretty neat, so I picked up one of each color (hence the empty looking display).

 Have you seen this yet?? I know a lot of people in PAA are obsessed with Disney things, so I'm surprised I haven't heard a lot about this yet - Disney + Lipsmackers = awesome

 The new LE Wet n' Wild 'Flora and Fauna' sets. I was swayed by these, but didn't give in to temptation (yet) - mostly because I like the eye palette on the right, but the nail polish on the left (which I think is re-named/re-packaged Jungle Fever, which is my faveeee)

 Yes, crackle is old news, but duos in America seems like new news! Maybe we'll be getting more duos soon? Let's hope that if we forgive Revlon this small step, they'll continue with new cool stuff!

New new Essie stuff - I desperately want the blurple on the right, but decided to stay strong until I can thin out my blue polishes a bit more.

A new LE Revlon display for a shade called 'Runway Pearl'; it's very pretty, but idk if I'll like it very much because the one swatch I've seen of it looks like a soft shade, and they aren't my fave - but the display picture is very neat and the polish is pretty, so I'm excited to try it at least :D

To re-cap, I picked up one of each other colors in the Wet n Wild display, and just had to get the new Revlon shade because it seemed interesting. I picked it up and put it back a few times, then finally decided it was a necessary purchase.

So, anything exciting catch your eye? Let me know what cool stuff you've seen lately & if you'd like for me to continue compiling posts like this one!

Zoya Cho

Zoya had a pretty sweet Valentine's Day promo and I picked up two of their most recent collection + two reds (my boyfriend treated me to some; I let him pick from a list of reds I wanted, which I thought was at least a little cute). Cho, Sookie, Lotus, and Sarah have been welcomed to my polish family (for now)!!

with flash - l-r: Sookie, Cho, Sarah, Lotus 

backlit with sunlight lamp - l-r: Sookie, Cho, Sarah, Lotus

I have been very into nude/cream/tan/blonde shades lately (altho my boyfriend seems bored with them). It is sort of strange, tho, since I never used to think twice about nudes and stayed very, very far away. My polish tastes have changed a lot since I started polish collecting back in August - and I was especially taken aback when I fell in love with RGB Blonde on Blonde (which I haven't purchased, but have been inspired to buy other similarly pale yellow/beige colors because of). Today I have Cho to show you, as you could guess from this post's title! Zoya describes Cho as "an opaque yellow-toned light soft peachy beige with a hint of ultra fine silver shimmer" (also, they don't use nearly as many commas as I do). Definitely one of a few new pale blonde-y colors to make me very happy - it is so buttery, creamy, and pretty.

mega-huge nails! showing off shimmer :)

I think the 'hidden shimmer' in this polish really bums some people out, but I think it adds a little depth to the color, making it less flat and dull (and mannequin-y). In my experience, polishes with hidden shimmer play really well when adding a shimmery top coats, while the same layering top coat can look either too harsh on creams or too overdone on super shimmery colors. I have a really beautiful, swoon-worthy glitter combo on top of Cho to show you a different day, so you can see what I mean.

shimmer

Did you get anything good during the Zoya Valentine's Day promo (almost a month ago, now, yikes!!!) ??

Inspired: Eurobus by Taylor Holland

I am totally enamored with this fab photo series by Taylor Holland! 'Eurobus' is, you guessed it, a series of photos of details from European tour buses. I really love this photos and find them very inspiring; a lot of them have great color palettes and simple, cute geometric designs I could (attempt to) recreate on my nails. So, enjoy the eye-candy and maybe you'll feel inspired, too!

**These are all from Taylor Holland's website - click >here< for more info

What's inspiring you lately?

11 Questions Tag

Kirsten at Geeky Owl tagged me with the 11 Questions tag foreverrrr ago, and I thought I'd do it now :D

Here are the rules to this particular tag:
Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog
Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.
No tag backs.
No stuff in the tagging section about "You are tagged if you're reading this" You actually have to tag 11 people.

11 Things About Me

1. I work as a barista at a cafe
2. I wish I read more books (currently working on the awesome series by George RR Martin)

3. I have two adorable guinea pigs - Cuddles and Baby Bear
4. I have never broken a bone
5. My biggest weakness is probably sweets (canddddyyyyy)
6. My favorite object besides nail polish is my iPad
7. I have naturally curly hair!

8. Sometimes I wish I still took Spanish/hadn't forgotten 6 years of it already
9. I'm probably way too sarcastic
10. My favorite color is blue
11.  I own two Helmers! (ruh-roh)

Questions That I Answered
1. How many nail polishes do you own?

 Too many - more than 800 {the first time I filled this out, I was still at 650}  !!!!

2. If you could meet anyone alive or dead who would it be?

Ugh this is tough. Can I just wish Heath Ledger un-dead? I don't even have to meet him!

3. Your guilty pleasure? 

Probably really bad television, like The Bachelor, or a really bad movie like xXx

4. What is your favorite film? 

Current fave is probably Timer

5. Favorite music group as a kid?

Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys

6. Favorite animal?

favorite exotic animal = giraffe, favorite domestic animal = guinea pig, favorite fantasy domestic animal = Boston Terrier

7. Coke or Pepsi?

Coke! but specifically cherry Coke Zero. Also, I live in Atlanta so I almost feel legally bound to say Coke (Coke has it's HQ here, and the only Pizza Hut in the world to serve Coke is on Georgia Tech's campus!!)

8. If you could have accent in the world what would it be? 

a true Southern drawl would be adorable, but I'd also go for British

9. Phobias?

I used to really hate snakes, but now I don't know. My nail polish exploding if my house caught on fire?!

10. How often do you change your nails?

usually once or twice a week, but probably more in the near future - I have a lot of untrieds to sift through!

11. Your favorite quote?

 This is probably way overused, and I don't idolize Marilyn Monroe, but I love this quote! 

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they’re right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." 

11 Questions For You to Answer

1. If you could only wear one polish for the rest of time, what would it be?
2. What is your favorite 'fashiony' accessory besides nail polish?
3. Fiction or Non-fiction?
4. What would you do if you won the lottery?
5. Do you know any other languages?
6. If you could be anyone for the day, who would you be?
7. What is your favorite inanimate object besides nail polish?
8. The best class you've ever taken is? (Could be scholastic or hobby-related)
9. What is your spirit animal? Describe. 
10. Your favorite sport?
11. Do you have any tattoos?

11 People I have Tagged - anyone that hasn't done this yet!!I know I'm breaking the rules, but I'd love if any of my more recent followers would do this and let me know, prettttty please! Seriously consider yourself tagged if no one has tagged you yet.