Cupcake Polish, NorwayNails and Up Your Nail Vinyls- Oh My!

Good morning, dear readers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and your week is off to a fabulous start! I am admittedly feeling really sad this morning with the confirmed passing of my beloved David Bowie. I had heard the news last night, but it wasn't from a reliable source so I dared to hope it was a cruel joke. As sad as I am, I am glad he is no longer suffering and can rest in peace. The world just got a little less sexier. I'll likely paint my nails as a tribute to him once I can decide exactly what I want to do. Now to something a little more positive....

For today's blog post, I wanted to share something colourful and beautiful to help lift my spirits, and what could be better than gorgeous polishes by Cupcake Polish! I picked up The Dog Duo, a pair of two beautiful glittery shades that are sold exclusively at NorwayNails.

I was planning an easy nail art look using both shades, hence the combination of colours in one manicure. I decided at the last minute to snap of quick couple of photos of these dazzling shades in all their glory.

Scarlett's Purple

Purple holograpic microglitter jelly

Sasha's Blue

Teal/bright blue microglitter, holographic jelly

I love both these shades so much! I used two coats plus top coat for these photos in preparation for my final look.

I picked up these fabulous swirly wavy diamond vinyls from Up Your Nail Disturbed Vinyls, and I had to use them with these Cupcake shades! Check it out!

A quick coat of black creme a la Zoya Willa and it's done!

I love this combination so much, and the fact that it is so easy to do is even better!

As mentioned above, these particular Cupcake Polish shades are exclusively sold at NorwayNails; they can be picked up here, either separately or as a duo (just get the duo, seriously!). Other beautiful Cupcake Polish shades can be purchased directly at the Cupcake Polish site here. Zoya Willa can be picked up here. These and other awesome vinyl stencils can be picked up at Up Your Nail Disturbed Vinyls here.

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

XO!

Zoya Stamped Nail Art

TGIF, dear readers! This has been the first week that my husband has been back at work full time since the holidays started, and it certainly has felt like a long one! It has taken several days, but we now seem to be back to our normal routine- right in time for the weekend! Ha! C'est la vie, I suppose!

In my previous blog post, I reviewed the Zoya Whispers Transitional Collection. I'm loving the look of these neutrals, and I ended up creating a nail art look with the full six piece collection and additional shades. Check it out!

I started off with Cala as my base, and then I randomly placed April, Eastyn, Ireland, Lake and Misty on top. I loved the look as my accent nail from my swatch photos like this one below.

Once I had it on all my nails, it just didn't seem interesting enough any longer. I decided to spice things up by stamping over the look with Zoya Lael and Neeka. I had no idea if they would work or not, and I was delighted to see Neeka was able to stamp so I could have subtle golden shimmers on my nails. I used stamping plate BP-L 003 from Born Pretty Store for both the stamp images. I then topped my nails off with top coat for these photos.

I learned from this experience that I love neutral nails, but very neutral nail art on all of them is just too boring for me. I needed just a little more colour! I love the final look, and I've actually been enjoying it for several days now. That almost never happens!

I hope you've enjoyed today's blog post! What sort of nail art would you do with these shades? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, have a great day and wonderful weekend!

XO!

Zoya: Whispers Transitional Collection

Press Sample

Good evening, dear readers, and happy hump day! I've been trying to get this post up for a few days now, but it seems as though everything has been going against me. I've not been sleeping well, and by the time I had some time to myself to write, things started to really jumble together and not make sense. Thankfully I'm not to tired yet, so let's get to the post!

I always look forward to the Zoya transitional collections, and this year is no exception. The Whispers Transitional Collection is composed of six muted neutral shades with hints of colour. As much as I love wearing really colourful nails, I do love my neutrals!

These shades are great if you work someplace that doesn't permit you to wear bold or bright shades. Let's get a closer look at the colours in the collection!

April

A light, rosy toned neutral that is a modern take on blush.

It has been raining a lot here lately, and it's only going to keep doing so for a couple months. April adds a beautiful touch of brightness that I just love! I had a little bit of patchiness with the first two coats, but a third coat leveled the polish out beautifully.

Cala

A soft nude with a kiss of warmth that will flatter most skin tones

I love this nude! My original swatch pictures are more colour accurate and not quite this yellow, but for some reason they are getting more of a yellow tinge with uploading on my blog. I used three coats for these swatch photos. The first two coats had a little bit of balding in some areas, but the third coat fixed it up nicely.

Eastyn

A subtle grayed grape that is more interesting than mauve and gives a modern alternative that is ever so wearable

These are looking more yellow to me with the uploading to my blog as well; I have no idea what is going on here! At least it isn't too far from accurate! I really dig this shade! I love the hint of purple here! The formula was fantastic and easy to work with; I used two coats for these photos.

Ireland

A uniquely wearable green that is muted enough to make it subtle yet still interesting. This green is well balanced between blue & yellow so it’s flattering on all skin tones

I definitely don't have a shade quite like this in my collection! It's a fun shade of green that isn't too pastel. I had no issues whatsoever with the formula, and I used two coats for these photos.

Lake

A softened blue that gives the effect of serene water with just a hint of vibrancy to preserve its luminosity

I'm getting a little frustrated with these photos uploading slightly yellowed, so I'm going to have to look into it further to fix it. Lake definitely looks more sky blue in real life than it is here, and it is quite a pretty shade. I had a little bit of patchiness during application, but a third coat evened my nails out perfectly.

Misty

An easy to wear taupe that is an updated version of gray with just a touch of green to make it daring

I'm probably a little biased since I love taupes, but Misty is a favorite from this collection. Of course it's looking a little more yellow than it should with the upload. I have no issues to report with this polish, and I used two coats for these photos.

My accent nail for all the photos used all six shades from the collection.

I really like this transitional collection as we leave the holiday season and start thinking about spring. I apologize for the photos looking more yellow than they should be, and I need to find out what is going on and how I can fix it. I've uploaded a few times already and it's the same thing; I may just have to try again tomorrow.

The full Whispers Transitional Collection is available for purchase from the Zoya website here. Hopefully they will have the colours listed individually at the close of their current promotion.

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful night!

XO!