Author: Lara
Lael & The Zoya Color Lock System
Since I was off on New Year’s Day, I had time to relax and try out the full Zoya Color Lock System, which I received in Zoya’s Cyber Monday Mystery Bag.
I started with Zoya Anchor Base Coat. It quickly dries absolutely clear and smooth. I then tried out 2 coats of Zoya “Lael” – described by Zoya as a deep, saturated red-toned plum purple with a shiny creme finish. It’s not quite as dark as Julep “Padma” or “Logan”, but it’s pretty dark. It’s shiny on its own, but once I added a coat of Zoya Armor Top Coat, it was almost a mirror finish. I did NOT try the Zoya Fast Drops – even though Armor isn’t a fast dry, I felt like it dried really fast. After 30 minutes, I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and scrubbed some dishes and they were still flawless. Unfortunately though, I managed to get some sheet impressions and slight dents in my nails while sleeping last night. *sigh*
I also did my toes. My toenails were getting so long that they were hurting my feet! I cut em back and painted away. My toes will be the real test of how well the Color Lock System holds up…
Last Shopping Trip of the Year
Having to work on New Year’s Eve is a total bummer…I drowned my sorrow in cheap bath products. I had already been to the Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale on Monday to buy some gifts and got to use a $10 off $40 coupon…but I forgot the $20 off $50 coupon – I had to go back, right?
Half the stuff is for my husband – shower gel (Twilight Woods and Dark Amber) and foam bath (Energy Aromatherapy). I bought a shit-ton of shower puffs – I just don’t like any other ones – Bath & Body Works are the absolute best. I picked up Pure Paradise Shower Gel (online only now!) and decided to try a new scent in shower gel and body lotion – Strawberry Sparkler (I used it today – it smells like strawberry syrup). I also bought some new travel sizes for my next trip – Pink Jasmine Kiss & Blackberry.
…and I didn’t even buy any hand soap! (Only because most of what they had out was that weird foamy shit – I don’t care for the foam.)
I was pretty proud that my receipt said I saved $92.75. Yeah, I know this shit is overpriced, but regardless – I got a lot of stuff for $39.
New Year’s Eve Fireworks
My son demanded that I do fireworks on my nails for New Year’s Eve. I couldn’t leave him disappointed.
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors “Starry Night” for the night sky. I made the fireworks with a few quick swipes with one of my dotting tools. I chose my shimmeriest shimmer polishes for the fireworks: Nicole by OPI “On A Gilt Trip” (this one has been seeing a lot of action lately), Zoya “Bobbi”, Julep “Dahlia”, Zoya “Cassedy” and Julep “Tin Man”. Sally Hansen Diamond Flash made my nails super shiny.
Logan was very proud of my nails and was sure to tell everyone last night that he was my inspiration. Love that kid!
She’s Dead – Wrapped in Plastic
Here it is – the first of the Twin Peaks polishes.
This is Hare Polish “Wrapped in Plastic”. The base is a translucent blue, the color of Laura Palmer’s skin. Inside the polish are white, aqua and iridescent gold glitter. The polish is a bit thick. I could have gone for a sheerer look and used one coat, but I had to go for two coats, so it got really thick around the edges. I got a few chips in less than 24 hours, but I was sloppy with the top coat, so it might not be the polish’s fault. I think it would also look fantastic with a matte top coat.
As usual, Orly Bonder on bottom and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash on top.
See the first collection HERE…and OMG, they just came out with a second Twin Peaks Collection HERE. I NEEEEED the Garmonbozia!
Xmas Present Round-up
I had a beauty-tastic Xmas!
My sister knows how much I love Betsey Johnson, so she got me a HUGE Betsey makeup bag with flowers and skulls. Inside the bag was an ionika paddle brush and a My Beauty Spot Perfect Eyebrow Design kit. I wonder if my husband will let me use the eyebrow set on him?
My BFF outdid herself this year. She got me the “Welcome to Twin Peaks” Set from Hare Polish. I had no idea this even existed!
The polishes are “The Owls are not What They Seem”, “Wrapped in Plastic”, “The Knockouts of the Double R”, “Damn Fine Coffee” & “The Red Room”.
I’ll be wearing one…or all of them – when we go to the Twin Peaks Festival next year!
Not only is my BFF enabling me, but now she’s enabling Lily. She gave Lily the OPI Coca Cola 10-pack of Style, which has 8 mini bottles of polish (“Coca-Cola Red”, “Today I Accomplished Zero”, “My Signature is DC”, “You’re So Vain-illa”, “Sorry I’m Fizzy Today”, “Get Cherried Away”, “Green on the Runway” & “A Grape Affair”), plus Nail Envy nail strengthener and Top Coat.
I asked her if I could borrow them and she said, “No – you have enough of your own polish.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Review – Atelier Cologne Miniature Discovery Collection
First impressions are important when it comes to fragrances – perfumes smell different from person to person and may even change on an individual person throughout the day. I am far from a trained professional – I cannot identify top, heart or base notes in a scent. I can only reliably identify a few perfumes at first sniff and most fragrances give me a headache. Even so, here I am…reviewing perfume.
My memory is like a sieve (I blame the 90s), so I realized that the best way to capture my first impressions of a fragrance is to quickly jot down notes on the package with a Sharpie. Here are my “first impression” reviews of the Atelier Cologne Miniature Discovery Collection ($50, Sephora), ranked from best to last [later thoughts in brackets]:
1. Cedrat Enivrant – My favorite – like lime & cedar – drinking a Cuba Libre on the deck of a pirate ship; The one that started it all…
2. Rose Anonyme – The inside of a long forgotten perfume atomizer; a love long dead, but not forgotten; Classic, a note of decay [It also reminded me of a months old bouquet of roses – I LOVE that smell]
3. Orange Sanguine – That first spray of citrus when you peel off the skin…Sharp
4. Vetiver Fatal – Most masculine; Hot sex on the forest floor – in a pile of pine needles
5. Vanille Insensee – Like a stripper, but a french, classy one; Burlesque [Later that day, I felt like I smelled like I applied Vanilla Extract to my pulse points]
These fragrances ALL lasted all day on me, which is rare. The Sephoras here do not carry in store and I’m too lazy to drive an hour to sample more of their scents at Neiman Marcus. Another option I may try is to order sample vials from their website – you can get all 17 for $25.
Noir Mi Amor
This is THE best PixieDust from Zoya – “Noir” Ultra PixieDust.
Zoya describes it as deep, vampy plum textured PixieDust with red Mega Hex particles…but I say it’s FUCHSIA.
Instead of starting with a naked nail, I started with a coat of Orly Bonder. It didn’t do shit, because after a round of pots & pans, I have significant edge wear on my right hand. Oh well, I was going to repaint tomorrow anyway.
C’est la vie.
Xmas Tree Nail Art
Finally! I finally ventured into the world of nail art…
I decided to start with simple Xmas trees. After Orly Bonder, I started with one coat of Nicole by OPI “On a Gilt Trip”. I then used my largest dotting tool to create trees with Julep “Priscilla” – Emerald for May. I used a smaller dotting tool to create ornaments with Julep “Oscar” and Funky Fingers “Red Ryder”. I painted a thin layer of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash over JUST the trees to maintain the matte finish of “On a Gilt Trip”.
It didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would…just 30 minutes or so. They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.
A Julep Gift…for Myself
A few weeks ago, Julep was doing daily specials and one day, they had a gift box with any three polishes for $19.99. That’s a great deal…but the 30% off coupon code in my last Julep Box made it even better – $13.99 for 3 polishes.
I got “Serena” – Sapphire for September, “Julie” – Pink Tourmaline for October, and “Joni” – Citrine for November.
I am trying to finish off the Birthstone Collection, but the site is totally sold out of “Savannah” – Topaz for December. I hope it comes back soon…
Snowpocalypse Nails
I’m back! I spent a few days over at my sister’s house, while she she was giving birth to a little Xmas Elf.
I originally intended this to just be a background for some Xmas Tree nail art…I had ambitious intentions…but alas, I ran out of time on Sunday night. After Orly Bonder, I did 2 coats of Sinful Colors “Cinderella”, one coat of Funky Fingers “Elsa” (There are snowflakes in “Elsa”, but I didn’t manage to get a single one out of the bottle) and one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash.
I was still hoping to add some nail art on top of it…until I busted the nail on my middle finger last night. FUUUUUDGE!