Zoya Sunshine Collection Summer 2011 Swatches and Review

My first summer collection post of the year! A welcome change from all the bland colors I've been staring at lately. The Zoya Sunshine set is the shimmer half of their summer collection. It reminds me a little of their Sparkle collection from last year, tons of glittery sparkle in these. Take a look.



Apple. See what I mean? Look at all that gold sparkle. This shade is a light yellow-toned green with crazy amounts of sparkling gold flecks. It looks like it could be a nice match for Color Club Magic Elf... I haven't compared them on the nail yet, but they strike me as being extremely similar.



Faye. This might be my favorite of the collection. I don't think I have another color quite like this. It's a warm prune purple base with insane gold sparkle. It's so bright. And it's not exactly glittery; the particles are really smooth and thin and shiny, not chunky or rough like true glitter. They blend together and make a really glowy smooth look.



Kimmy. Such a hard color to capture, it's so rich and colorful and sparkly. My camera can't handle it! The gold metal flakes and the saturated warm red go so well together. It looks like fire.



Reva. This color is much cooler and saturated in real life, the lighting is washing out the color in this picture. It's the cool toned counterpoint to Kimmie. It's a strawberry shade... except imagine that instead of seeds, the strawberry is speckled with 24 karat gold.


Rica. A golden coral glimmery shade. I like the depth in this, it's not a flat shimmer at all. The base of these colors is sheer and the gold flecks look really cool through the sheer base.


Tanzy. A light orange with gold fire. It's a little like Gabrielle, but the flakes are smaller and shinier.

The formula on these was different this time around. The biggest difference is the drying time, which is much longer than I'm used to from Zoya. The texture is a little thicker on these compared to the similar Sparkles, and they're more sheer so those factors could contribute to the long dry time. The Summertime half of the collection doesn't have the same long dry time. These were on the sheer side and I found that they looked best with three coats. I'm wearing three coats in all these pictures. Application was good aside from the thicker than usual texture.

All of these colors are so glowy. They're luminous. I really like how they look like they're glowing when you're wearing them. The colors are bright and cheery, and the cheeriness is only amplified by all that golden glow.

My top picks are Faye, Kimmy and Reva. All of them are nice, but those three wow me the most. Faye, because it's unique and gorgeous and Kimmy and Reva because they're so rich and colorful and the red shades look amazing with the gold metal flake.

And, I'm sure you've all seen the news about the promo, but just in case, I'll post it for you:

Do you have an account** on Zoya.com? If you answered yes, a very special offer is waiting for you!

A BOGO (Buy One, Get One) Offer*
on the new Zoya summer collections
12:01 EST 3/21/2011 - 11:59 EST 3/25/2011 only.

As an ADDED BONUS for taking part in the exclusive account holders only BOGO Offer*, standard shipping will be only $2! (Order more than $55 and shipping will be free!)

You can BOGO* any colors from Zoya's ModMattes, Summertime and Sunshine collections! With 15 new colors to choose from you are bound to find plenty of BOGO offer* options to love!

Please see the ZOYA blog (http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com) for complete details.

*Offer open only to those with active accounts** on Zoya.com, artofbeauty.com, Qtica.com and qticasmartspa.com as of 3/20/2011 at 5 PM ST. Offer open to consumers, Online promotion only. Continental US ONLY. BOGO Offer* is good on Open stock .5oz Polish ONLY from Summer 2011 collections. (Zoya Summertime, Sunshine and ModMatte) BOGO Offer good for up to 7 polishes. BOGO Offer* code is unique and non-transferable. One code per account. Code expires on 3/25/2011 at 11:59PM EST. Standard ground shipping is $2.00 and FREE for orders over $55. Upgraded shipping not available for this promotion. Please allow standard time for processing and shipping, however if volume is higher than expected please allow up to 4 weeks for shipping and processing. Please allow 2-6 weeks for delivery. Comments, videos and pictures posted about this Zoya.com BOGO Offer* outside of Zoya.com or zoyanailpolish.blogger.com are not representative of the opinions of Zoya Nail Polish, Art of Beauty, Inc., Qtica and Qtica Smart Spa and we do not confirm the accuracy of any postings..

**Qualifying accounts are those with a valid username (email) and password that has been created and used in the last 3 years account must be made by 3/20/2011 at 5PM EST to qualify for the BOGO Offer. No purchase necessary to start an account. Customers are responsible for maintaining active accounts. If username or password have been lost we (Art of Beauty, Inc.) are not responsible for restoring accounts or giving out any account information.

(These were sent to me for review.)

OPI Ulta Exclusives Holiday 2010

Every year around Christmas, OPI does a set of three holiday-themed polishes exclusively for Ulta. Last year's collection raised the bar so high, that I was super excited to see what they did this year.... But I was sadly disappointed, after hearing from a very reliable source, that no one knew anything about them and there probably wouldn't be any this year.

Then, imagine my surprise, when everyone on Twitter was, well, atwitter with excitement over this new OPI Ulta exclusive gold glitter polish. I immediately drove to Ulta and returned home with these safely in tow.




All The Berry Best. A medium berry toned red shimmer. It's rather washed out here because of the lighting; it's a couple shades darker in real life. Regardless, it's my least favorite of the collection. It has some really great gold duochrome in the bottle, but on the nail it's just an average looking red shimmer. It does have a really nice velvety looking finish, though.



Gift of Gold. Now THIS is a glitter. Amazing. It's so ridiculously sparkly. It's a lighter gold mixed with some darker gold and even a bit of what looks like copper or bronze glitter. It's very opaque, too, needing only one to two coats depending on how thick or even you do your coats. It's still rough and hard to remove like other glitters, but it's just soooooo pretty. The best one in the collection for sure. OPI really knows how to do glitter and I'm really glad they've been doing a lot of it lately.


Plum Full Of Cheer. The flash picture shows the base color of the polish and also shows the pretty multi-colored shimmer, but in real life it looks more like the top picture. This is not a bad color at all, it's extremely pretty, one of my favorite types of purples, but it's just so common lately that it doesn't feel special to me. Shimmery, glowy, red-based dark purples are great, I think I'm just a little burned out on them. I had hoped for something really special like last year's Visions of Sugarplum.

Wait a minute... Wasn't last year's Ulta Exclusive holiday collection a gold, a berry-red and a dark purple? What was the year before that? I only remember the gorgeous pink microglitter one.

The formula was good, so no complaints there. The Gift of Gold shade was really thick, but that's part of what makes it so opaque and dense. I only needed two coats of each color (and that's what I'm wearing in these pictures) and the drying time was very good. They were a little dull without topcoat, so I am also wearing topcoat for these pictures.

They're nice, and Gift of Gold is very nice, but they didn't knock me over with awesome like last year's set. Maybe they'll do something more unique this year!

Nicole by OPI Liquid Metals for Spring 2011

Here's Nicole by OPI's latest: A set of four super-sparkly foils. Technically these came out late last year, but they're part of 2011's spring colors. These feature the new Nicole Perfect Stroke brush, which is similar to OPI's ProWide brush, just rounder and flatter.



It Starts With Me. This is a silver-based peach toned foil. It's not quite pure gold, not quite taupe.


Miss Independent. A pink toned foil. Again, it has a silver base with a pale pink-purple overtone. This one is pretty unique, I can't think of another foil quite like this.



Rich In Spirit. An aqua-blue foil. In certain lights it seems like it has a greenish tinge to it, in other lights it looks pure sky blue.



The Next CEO. A good neutral gold foil with a little bit of a beige tone.

The formula on these is good. Very smooth, not thick, not runny. Good coverage, I only needed two coats on all of these. Drying time is very fast. The new Perfect Stroke brush was much nicer in these than it was in the One Less Lonely Girl collection; none of the brushes in this set were crooked or defective in any way. Smooth, easy application and a nice glossy finish even without topcoat.

These foils are extremely shiny and sparkly. While the colors themselves aren't terribly bold or exciting, the finish is amazing. They're like a cross between a true foil like Zoya Trixie, a chrome like China Glaze Millennium and a glass fleck sparkle. They are both reflective and sparkly/shimmery/borderline glittery and that's what makes these stand out. They aren't as dense of a foil as, say, Orly's Foil FX collection, but they're twice as sparkly.

(These were sent to me for review.)

Deborah Lippmann Holiday 2010 Shades - Boom Boom Pow and Today Was A Fairy Tale

I know that I'm a little late posting these as it's now a few weeks into the new year, but there's nothing that requires one to love these only during Winter...

Deborah Lippmann has once again created some magnificent glitter shades. I'm loving this. A high end brand who appreciates the glitter.


Boom Boom Pow. This one is said to contain real 24 karat gold. It has large gold hex glitter and some tiny delicate gold sparkles in a clear base. I'm betting that the 24k gold is those little glimmers of gold in the base. While this polish would be great for layering, I personally prefer it when worn alone, like this. Very magical looking.



Today Was A Fairy Tale. Like Boom Boom Pow, this one also contains a fancy ingredient: Virgin Diamond Powder. What is Virgin Diamond Powder? Well, it's an abrasive made of micronized diamonds and it's used for polishing. Is there a benefit to having it in nail polish? Who knows. All I know is it's cool to say, oh, my nail polish has diamonds in it. Anyway, this shade is a sheer grey base with large and small silvery blue glitter. The base tints the glitter a bit and it has a cloudy sky sort of effect. Very pretty. Excellent for layering:


Deborah Lippmann Today Was A Fairytale (one coat) over Zoya Dove. See how the grey base tints the polish a little? It deepens the color and adds a slight blue hue. So pretty.



Deborah Lippmann Today Was A Fairytale (one coat) over Illamasqua Obsess. Over such a bright color like Obsess, it really changes. It deepens and mutes the base polish and it makes the glitter stand out more- more contrast between light and dark.


The formula on these was good. They're sheer glitters so they need at least three coats- I'm wearing three coats in these pictures. They're a little thick so you should wait a few minutes between coats if you can, it will help make a smoother application. Drying time is average and removal isn't too bad for a glitter.

Because of the fancy ingredients like real gold and diamond, these are more expensive than the average Lippmann polish; they're $20 each.

Do you have these? What do you think of them?

(These were sent to me for review.)

LA Girl METAL Metallic Nail Polish Collection

This review has been a long time coming. I've had these since summer and for some reason could never finish swatching all of them. Same thing happened when I bought all those LA Girl Rock Star polishes last year.

Anyway, I did finally finish them so here they are! This is the new-ish LA Girl Metal metallic nail polish collection. I am missing one color- Pink Steel. I know I'm not much of a pink wearer, but I'm actually kinda bummed out that I didn't get to swatch that one.


Alkaline Blue. Bold blue foil. Very dense silver-based foil finish.


Antique Gold. This is almost more green than gold! Completely gorgeous. Many different shimmering iridescent particles combine to create this golden tarnished olive color.


Brass. Not so much brass as it is dirty rust. Very odd and unique color- silver-based foil with heavy brown creme type pigment... Definitely don't see many like this.


Bronze Medal. Little bronze glass fleck type particles in a sheer base. This is one of the more sheer colors in the collection and you're seeing five coats in this picture. Nice end result but took a lot of work to get there.


Chromium Green. This color appears more blue in my pictures than it looks in real life. Though, in real life, it is actually more of an aqua/turquoise than a true green. Very pretty shiny dense foil finish.


Copper Alloy. Ugh, I can't even stand how pretty this is. Look at how rich and Autumn-y that color is! It's copper and red and rust with gold highlights. So much depth and sparkle. Looks like it's on fire. Total surprise love for me.


Deep Sea Mica. Deep blue/green duochrome shimmer. I don't know if I'd really call this metallic, it has a bit of a glass fleck look to it but the particles are very small. This one is also a bit sheer, it needed four coats, but it's easily layered over another blue or green.


Gold Plated. Warm gold sheer foil. Sheer foil is an unusual description, I know, but it's right in between a true foil finish and a glass fleck metallic like the Milani metals.


Graphite. Great name for this color. Dusty charcoal grey foil. Silver based. Very opaque.


Iron Red. This one is crazy. I wouldn't call it red as much as I'd call it magenta or deep pink. It has so much color for a foil. Yes, it's silver based and foil finished, but it's so freakin' bright! Weird and awesome.


Metallic Olive. If you like green, you need this. I don't know if 'olive' matches this color. I'd call it evergreen. Leafy. Not really olive-y. Many different tones and colors- tiny iridescent green particles. Sooooooooooo pretty.


Millennium. Deep purple foil. Another color you don't see that often! I don't have another polish in my collection that matches this. Very dense and opaque. Very purple. I'd definitely recommend this one, too, if you're looking for unique colorful metallics. I bet this would Konad well.


Obsidian. Black with silver metallic flecks.


Sterling Silver. Silver foil. Not much else to say about it...


Trilogy. This collection is full of weird colors. This is a mauve-mulberry-purple foil. Kinda funky, definitely unique. Seems to have a bit of warm chestnut tint to it as well.

The formula on these is very hit-or-miss. Some are super opaque in one coat, others need 4 or five coats, while the rest look fine at two or three coats. There doesn't appear to be any consistency in the formula. Some are quite thick and almost gel-like in texture. The drying time is long, but they seem to wear pretty well once they're dried.

Some really gorgeous colors in this collection. The greens and the purple Millennium shade are especially nice. Silver and gold foils are rather common, but they do have their place in this set. Copper Alloy was a nice surprise, too.

At $4 a piece they're quite an inexpensive polish. The formula isn't perfect but some of the shades are totally worth getting. I've heard that you can find this brand in some dollar stores, but I've never seen this particular collection anywhere but LA Girl's website. I have ordered from them before and everything arrived safely and fairly quickly. Which reminds me, I've been meaning to order some of those Disco Brites that I keep forgetting about... They glow under blacklight!

(These were sent to me for review.)

Finger Paints Winter Dreams Collection Winter/Holiday 2010

Another lovely Christmas polish collection for your viewing (and perhaps purchasing) pleasure...

This time it's Finger Paints' Holiday set and it's a good one. Finger Paints' winter collections always kick ass. Such an overlooked brand (possibly because you can only buy it in one place), but they really do make great colors.


Holiday Winter Wishes. This is a three-way tie for my favorite polish of the collection. I can't pick just one favorite. This is a really unique glitter, too. At first you might think it looks like Zoya Luna or China Glaze The Ten Man (ten man... ten man... still hate typing that name) but it's really quite different. It's a silver glitter mixed with some very soft gold and champagne glitter in a semi-sheer just barely gold tinted silvery-white base. It has an overall soft, sparkling snowy champagne look. Not pure silver, not strong gold. Lovely. (Irrelevant yet funny: Mine was labelled "Mulberry Madness" and I was all, "this doesn't look mulberry to me!")
EDIT: Heather, you're right, this is Winter Wishes! Mine had the wrong label and I don't know where I got Holiday from XD



Holly Good Times. This is the second one tied for favorite. It's amazing. I know this is supposed to be a Christmas-themed collection, but this one totally screams Thanksgiving. It's a simple combination of gold and red glitter in a clear base, but it looks much more fancy and complex than it actually is. I don't have another glitter like this. To make it even better, it's sheer enough (but just barely) for layering- looks really nice over brown.


Just Plum Fun. A very dark red-toned purple shimmer. Very pretty, not terribly original or exciting, though. Love the color but I was hoping it would be a bit more sparkly!


Merry Mittens. My only disappointment in the collection. It looks amazing in the bottle but it comes out very lumpy/bumpy on the nail. It's a cranberry frost base with tiny gold microglitter, that should have been a dead giveaway that it would end up lumpy. The base is so thick and frosty that the glitter can't shine through. On the upside, it's so thick that it's completely opaque in one coat.


Mistletoe Mischief. This is also tied for favorite! Obviously. Dark green jelly, sparkling green microglitter? It practically has my name written all over it. It does not disappoint. While it is the sheerest color in the collection, the sheerness actually makes this polish better, adding depth to what could have been just a plain green glitter. I love jelly glitters.



Mulberry Madness. Madness, I tell you! MADNESS! Or... something like that? It's not exactly mad, but it is sparkly. It's a little darker than my picture shows. It's a mulberry-red tinted base with pink/red and subtle silver glitter. I was expecting yet another Ruby Pumps clone, but it's actually not! It's different! It's darker, more wine toned. Reminds me of Thanksgiving again. Cranberry sauce. Hm.

The formula on these was varied but good. Mulberry Madness, Holiday Wishes and Merry Mittens were thick, the other three were average. Opacity was great, most needed only two coats, Merry Mittens needed just one. I did three of all and the only one that looked better with three was Holly Good Times. Drying time was a little slower than average. The glitters do dry rather rough, so you may want to double up on topcoat. Actually, try putting a coat of Gelous on before your topcoat, lately I've been finding that to work very well for smoothing lumpy glitters.

Awesome collection. I love to see a good old-fashioned red and green glitter holiday collection. It isn't all red and green, either. It has silvery champagne (would that be platinum? White gold?), gold/red glitter and even a purple. Good balance of 'fun' and 'traditional.' Two thumbs up from me!

(These were sent to me for review.)