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Friday, May 22, 2020

Endless Knot Nail Art with Zoya Calm Collection

Press Sample

Greetings, dear readers; I hope this post find you well! It's been a little crazy around here, but now I can officially cross virtual schooling off the list. Yesterday was the last day of school here, and while I'm still going to use some programs to keep the summer slide minimal, it is nice to no longer *have* to stay on top of a workload each day. Here is hoping my sanity holds up now that it is officially summer, when the days are already feeling endless!

Speaking of endless, I was feeling inspired by the Zoya Calm Collection and wanted to enjoy some nail art. It's no secret that the world has become rather strange lately as we deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, and it has left me thinking a lot about not just those that have died, but my friends that are expecting (one little boy was born yesterday). It got me thinking about Samsāra, the buddhist cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The cycle itself is supposed to be unpleasant and filled with suffering, and the only way to break the cycle is through meditation. Whether or not you are Buddhist or believe in karmic rebirth or reincarnation like some other beliefs, I do think any sort of meditation that gives insightfulness is helpful. I opted to create a simple nail art look featuring an endless knot. I hope you enjoy it!


I created this easy look by painting my nails with the shade Laura. I then randomly dry brushed Leif, Vee and Emerson onto my nails.


Once my base was dry, I used Total Eclipse by KBShimmer with the endless knot pattern on MoYou London's Asia 02 stamping plate to stamp on to my nails. I then topped my nails with KBShimmer's Free & Clear top coat for a shiny finish. 


I hope you've enjoyed today's quick nail art post!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day and enjoy a (hopefully) long holiday weekend!
XO!



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Friday, May 8, 2020

Find Your Inner Peace with Zoya's Calm Collection

Greetings dear readers, and happy Friday! This past week has felt particularly busy; I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to a weekend of relaxation! Thankfully the hubby will be home to help keep an eye on the kids and I can hopefully get some alone time to get some work done as well. Wish me luck!

This past week, I shared on Instagram a preview of Zoya's new summer collection that will be launching next Friday. I'm excited about the vibrant hues that are coming, but sometimes you want something a little more mellow. The spring's Calm Collection really spoke to me with the softer shades. Colour really does have an impact on my mood, and this collection certainly has a calming effect! Let's check out each of the shades in this collection.

Press Samples

Colleen

A delicate pink cream with a warm undertone.

Colleen was one of my favorites from this collection. It's a pink that is actually flattering on my skintone! The first coat applied a little on the patchy side, but it evened out nicely with the second coat.

AJ

A subtle, sparkling blush with a gorgeous copper micro-shimmer.

AJ is slightly darker than Colleen with the extra interest of the micro-shimmers. It's fun and interesting without being too much for those work places that permit only "natural" nail colours. It was a little streaky for me, but using Zoya's wide brush and fewer strokes kept it from being an issue. I used two coats for opacity here.

Emerson

A modern baby blue cream.

I love this colour in the bottle, but Emerson isn't really a good shade for me. Like Colleen, it was a little patchy on the first coat but evened out in the second. I did have a touch of bubbling, BUT that is most likely my issue as I'm fighting with the high heat and high settings on my air conditioning.

Laura

A soft pink toned ivory cream.

Laura is another shade I really enjoy from this collection. It's a more nude version than Colleen, so if that is a little too pink for you taste, Laura may be what you are looking for. Shown with two coats.

Leif

A gentle and harmonious light sage green cream.

While I was happy overall with the rest of the collection, the formula of Leif was disappointing. I found it to be oddly thin but still gloopy at the same time. I added in a few drops of nail polish thinner which seemed to help some, but it was still a little problematic. I may just need to use more thinner or let it sit longer. I did have a little bit of bubbling, but between the heat, ac, and shaking in thinner, it's not too surprising. Shown with two coats.

Vee

A muted French lilac cream.

Out of all the shades in this collection, Vee was hands down my favorite. I'm a sucker for more muted warm toned purples, and this certainly fits that description! The formula was also on point with no issues to report. I used two coats for opacity.


The Zoya Calm Collection is available for purchase now. Each shade retails for $10. Whether you are trying to find your inner peace or need an escape from vibrant shades this summer, this collection is here for you!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day and enjoy your weekend!
XO!



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Friday, December 20, 2019

Diamond Stamped Nails with Cuccio Colour Soirée Collection

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you've had a wonderful week and ready for the upcoming holidays! It's been a little crazy here with one kid getting really sick and down for the count for several days, and wouldn't you know it, I seem to have it as well. So far it isn't as bad as he had it, but I really could have gone without another round of illness to end out the year. As a result of being sick for three times within the past five to six weeks, I haven't done much by way of wearing and testing out makeup or doing my nails much. And to think I just bought some more stamping plates and nail art accessories that likely just won't be getting loved this year! That being said, I did manage to create a nail art look last weekend, and I wanted to get it posted before the holiday season has gone.

I had received Cuccio Colour's latest Soirée Collection in the middle of the madness, and I knew I had to create some fun nail art with it. The collection consists of eight shades in various red and silvery designs, making it a great collection not just for he holiday season, but to carry you through Valentine's Day as well! For today's post, I used three of the nail lacquers to create my diamond stamped nail art look. Check it out!

Press Sample

To create this look, I started off by painting my nails with 3, 2, 1, Kiss (red berry shimmer) and Just A Prosecco (silver with golden metallic flecks). Y'all! The formulas of these are incredible, and I'm wondering why I don't have a huge Cuccio stash yet! I found these to have a slightly thicker formula than the average mainstream polish, and I am living for it!


I loved the golden shimmers in 3, 2, 1, Kiss, so I opted to leave those nails alone. The gold flecks in Just A Prosecco are subtle but still present, so I opted to choose a stamped image that would let some of the gold shine through. To do this, I chose this fun diamond image from the Young Nail Caption Boho Bungalow stamping kit.
  

I used High Resolutions, a cherry red crème, also by Cuccio Colour to stamp onto my nails. While the colour is pretty pigmented, a single coat appears more of a berry shade than a red (although it is definitely a red-pink to begin with rather than a rich red hue).


I am really digging this combination. I was admittedly a little unsure about this collection as the colour options are so limited, but it's quite nice to have more options within a colour family to choose from to get just the exact one you have envisioned!


I may not be feeling so fabulous, but my nails sure have been cute this week! I just took this design off last night so I'm ready for another nail art look this holiday season; wish me luck!

Have you picked up any shades from Cuccio Colour's Soirée Collection? How do you like to pair red and silver together for holiday looks? I'd love to use some other shades from the collection and I'm still debating on how I want to pair them together.

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!

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Friday, December 6, 2019

Colourful Snowflake Nail Art with Zoya Sensual

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Happy Friday, dear readers! This has been a painfully long week, but I suppose that is to be expected the week after a holiday. It's been business as usual for the most part, although I've been hard at work with assorted crafting gift projects. I finished off a few things yesterday and am on track to finish up a couple more this weekend. I'm excited to get several packages in the mail early next week and not have to worry about that part of the holidays the rest of the month!

While it doesn't get particularly cold around here, and it's rare to get snow in town, I do like the idea of sparkling snow. I wanted to go in a different direction from traditional snowflakes, at the time being anyway, and opted to pull in some colour for my snowflake design. Several shades from Zoya's Sensual Collection were exactly what I had in mind; I wanted to give it a little more love before I really focus on their winter shades. I also went with a star design rather than traditional snowflakes. Check it out!


I started by painting my nails with KBShimmer Under Pressure for the nails that contain my snowflakes. I used Zoya Ashton for a dark accent nail.


My snowflake/star image is from the Pueen Fairytale Lover Stamping Plate. Because I wasn't using a separate snowflake design, I opted to use three shades at once on the plate to create a colourful look.


My snowflake/star pattern was created using Zoya shades Ripley, Elliot and Michaela.



I finished off my nails by topping them off with KBShimmer's new 5-free Free & Clear Quick Dry Top Coat.

I really love how this look turned out! I'm still likely to create a more traditional snowflake design this season, but I had a lot of fun with this one!

Have you been sporting any holiday or seasonal nail art this month? Do you have holiday-related plans this weekend? We're hoping to go get our tree tomorrow!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day and enjoy the weekend!
XO!


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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving Nail Art with Zoya Sensual

Press Sample

Happy hump day, dear readers, or at least what is left of it! I created a cute turkey inspired nail art look for my six-year old's Turkey Trot earlier today and Thanksgiving tomorrow. The weather has finally dropped below 70° here (barely), and my nude nail polishes from Zoya's Sensual Collection were in need of some more love. Check out my nail art look!


To create the look, I started off with Zoya shades Joss and Kinsley. I then used Zoya Foster to create my turkeys. I have the Thanksgiving stamping plate L001 from Born Pretty Store, and selected the running pattern to really get into the Turkey Trot mode. The images on this plate in general aren't very well etched, and this one was particularly bad, even with dedicated stamping polishes, but I was pretty happy with how these turned out.


My original image did include hearts, but I opted to remove them prior to stamping. Instead, I used hearts from the Love stamping Plate by Color Club with Zoya Rashida to add in my hearts.


As much as I liked this collection, it was lacking an orange and a green, so I pulled in other products for my little pumpkin. I started off by placing Pumpkin Stencils by What's Up Nails on my nail and filling in the open areas with Essie Say It Ain't Soho and KBShimmer Having A Gourd Time. I finished off my nails by topping off with KBShimmer's new 5-free Free & Clear Quick Dry Top Coat.

It's pretty unusual for me to stick with nudes when it comes to nail art looks, but I actually enjoy the way this turned out! It's subtle but fun, and my son was so excited that his school run inspired my nails. He even had to point my nails out to his friends when I arrived for the run!

After not doing much nail art lately, I was reminded how much I enjoy doing it. I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions, but creating nail art more frequently just might have to go on my list!

Are you celebrating Thanksgiving? Will you be eating a traditional turkey dinner or something different? We're actually doing shrimp and fish tacos tomorrow with grilled corn and I am excited!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful night, and for those celebrating, have a great Thanksgiving Day!
XO!


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