Again, thanks so much for the comments - I truly appreciate them. I am so sorry that I was unable to respond until now - I lost my beloved computer last week! ;_; I was infected with a nasty malware/rootkit and was unable to recover. I have never seen anything like this one - it had installed itself and had taken control of my system before I even realized there was a problem. It's called Windows Fix, in case you see it... very similar to Windows Repair, but more invasive! It blocked my administrator access, hid all my files, and made it impossible to run any executable files, except for Internet Explorer. It also redirected all Google searches to crap pages, ran non-stop IE scripts, and tried to bring up advertisements every couple of minutes. Like I said... I've never seen anything quite like this one! My hubby always says that the antivirus companies are the ones creating this stuff to keep themselves in business and I've always rolled my eyes and told him he was paranoid, but after all the things this one did... I'm a believer! No random person could create this - it was too good!
I was so frustrated at losing my computer... I have had a lot of problems over the years, but I never had come across something I couldn't fix - I've NEVER had to reformat, and I've had a computer since 1987. *sigh* I felt absolutely defeated, especially after consulting with a colleague and coming to the conclusion that it was my only option. It was a rather easy transition - my external hard drive was up and running, so I was able to easily transfer files and save everything that was needed, but still... ugh. I'm still running Windows Vista (yeah yeah yeah I'll upgrade when someone gives me extra $$... well, actually, I'll blow that on polish and stay with Vista!), so it took FOREVER to get from factory condition to the current updates. 100+ updates to SP1, another 40+ to get to SP2 and then a bunch more from there - took all day!! But, everything is up and running now, possibly a bit better than before! My other PC does work, though it is around 10 years old and slower than I would prefer, but Disqus won't load on it. Same with my work PC - Disqus just says it's loading forever, but nothing ever happens. Weird, eh?
Anyhoo... onto the swatches!
Zoya Sunshine totally caught my eye, once I saw Temptalia's swatches, I had to have them all! Fortunately, Zoya ran a BOGO on their summer collections, so I was able to pick up the ones I really wanted for minimal cost.
Apple is a beautiful spring green sparkle polish, like the springy sister of Ivanka. The finish on these is the same as the Sparkle collection, though Summertime is a bit more sheer. This was 3 coats of Apple and it went on very smoothly, dry time was great. I swatched without a basecoat though and this little minx stained me in the 10 minutes I wore her! :P
Tanzy is a medium orange, so blingy and sparkly! Three coats here. Reminded me quite a bit of one of the new Wet 'n Wild FastDry's, 9021Orange.
9021Orange was a bit brighter and more sheer - I think I used 4 coats in this swatch and it still has some VNL. I don't really know why they call it a FastDry... cos it definitely is not! You probably don't need both of these unless you are an orange fiend. The Wet 'n Wild is pretty danged cheap, but if I were choosing, I'd get the Zoya. It has a MUCH better brush, is more opaque, and actually dries!
I think Reva turned out to be my favorite, though I'm not usually a pink person. The formula was TDF, absolutely flawless, and the warm berry color looks great with the gold sparkle. 3 coats, but I think I could have gotten away with 2.
Faye was the one I was most looking forward to, and she didn't disappoint. I saw a lot of negative comments on her around the nail community, that the purple base was washed out by the gold sparkle, but I didn't think it was all that bad. The bling is rather blinding on the nail, but it also looks fabulous against that mauvey-purple base! And Faye always makes me think of Faye Valentine... any Cowboy Bebop fans out there? ;)
Rica is a pink-leaning coral that surprisingly, doesn't look as horrid on me as I imagined it would. I did waffle on this one, but finally decided to just get it and complete the collection. I'm glad I did - she'll look great this summer, especially on toes!
Finally, here is Kimmy, a gorgeous orange-based red. She's not quite as flashy as the others in this collection, but that doesn't mean much - she's still really lovely. A stainer though... don't forget your basecoat! 3 coats here, but definitely could have been ok with 2. Kimmy reminded me of Hard Candy's Lava, so I compared the two below.
The base colors are similar, but the finishes are different. Lava is a glitter, though removal is pretty easy compared to most glitters, but Kimmy definitely has that different foily shimmer common to this whole collection.
I really like this collection and can't wait for summer so I can wear them! I could start now, but our lack of sun would make it kinda pointless. :P I love the sparkle finish - it's all the fun of glitter, with none of the painful removal. These come off easily, though they do leave some sparklies on your skin. Application is great on all, and the dry time is good. My only complaint is the staining I got from Apple and Kimmy, but if I had been wearing basecoat like I *should* have been, I doubt it would have happened.
After I took off Tanzy, Reva, and Faye, I looked down at my little cotton round and it was beautiful - check it out!
It's like a sparkly butterfly! :D
As everyone knows by now, the Zoya Exchange has started and will be running for a week. My list is kinda huge... Dovima, Ali, Renee, Loredana, Robyn, Pinta, Jo, Paz, Purity, Irene, Perrie, Dana, Ki, and Yasmeen. It's pretty much my entire wishlist - yay to not lusting after any more Zoyas!
Are you participating in the Zoya Exchange? What are you ordering? What are you sending in?
Basecoat: none
Topcoat: none
Number of coats: 3
No comments:
Post a Comment