NOTD - Sparkling Black Elegance

Lame title but the mani is far from lame! Came up with this mani when I decided to see what Zoya Tomoko looks like glossified by top coat. The look was so breath taking that a mani must be made out of it! At the time I really wanted to wear something gothy and dark = black. Tada! This mani was born.

 Some blurry pictures to show just how sparkly Tomoko is with top coat. Gorgeous is far from exaggeration!

Mani Composition:
Thumb, Middle & Pinky - OPI Black Onyx
Index & Tomoko - Zoya Tomoko (2 coats with 3 coats of top coat)

There is a beautiful balance between hard and pretty in this mani, which is what I love about it. Hope you like it as much as I do and will try it out~

What are your favorite textured polishes turned glossy?

NOTD - Halloween Nails!

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! Hope you guys got to have a festive and exciting way to celebrate the day. I did not get up to anything whatsoever; didn't even dress up for work. I realized, since my teens, I have only dressed up and done something festive two or three times. Perhaps next year I should force myself to do something even if Halloween falls on a weekday. Enough rambling, on to the manicure!

Short blurb on the manicure: me and my fellow polish loving co-worker went to work on Halloween with very similar nail art. We went around the office showing other girls our mani's and everyone thought we had done our nails together! Guess great minds think alike ;)

So much blood! Middle finger has blood dripping and pinky blood splatter. My Frankenstein ended up having very creepy, soul-less eyes that I thought was very fitting. Originally, the index fingers were supposed to be stamped with skulls but it was bed time (I need my sleep!). The thumb was an excuse to use one of my "fuzzy" polishes and I also ran out of nail art ideas. In case you are wondering my right hand had an identical mani.

Mani Composition:
Thumb - OPI My Vampire Is Buff (MVIB) topped with China Glaze You're A Hoot
Index - Zoya Arizona (base) topped with Zoya Rica
Middle - OPI MVIB with dripping OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI)
Ring - Nicole by OPI Sweet On Pete, OPI Black Onyx, OPI MVIB
Pinky - OPI MVIB (base) spattered with OPI AIWFC

This was a fun mani to do. I got to try out a lot of nail art techniques that I have been wanting to do, such as the dripping and splatter techniques. The dripping turned out nicely, but the splatter needs more work (I think I need a thinner straw).

Did you guys do Halloween themed nails for Halloween?

Swatch - Zoya Blu

This polish has been on my wish list every since the collection came out, so I'm very excited to have it part of my stash! Welcome Zoya Blu!

Zoya Blu:
Pale baby blue cream. This is so delicate, clean and pretty. One note about the formula is the polish is on the thick and gloopy side resulting in thick coats. The thick coats could then lead to bubbles (as seen on my pinky). Don't let all that deter you because for a colour like this formulas are usually awful and this one actually had wonderful formula. Another note, I got lobster hands from this polish but that only intrigues me more since I hardly get lobster hands.

Two coats with no top coat shown.

Specifications:
Formula - Little thick making thick coats of polish inevitable (thin coats end up not covering the whole nail and streaks)
Pigmentation - Good, two coats
Dry Time - Average
Shine - Shiny and glossy
Prone to - Nothing
Removal - Easy
Staining - None

All the anticipation of this polish did not let me down. I love it just as much as I thought I would, isn't it nice to get that feeling? This is the first polish that made me notice the lobster hand effect. Some find it hard to ignore LHE but nothing deters me from a polish color I love. 

What colours give you the lobster hand effect? Does it make you avoid those polishes?

Swatch - Zoya Tomoko

Woohoo! My very first Pixie Dust polish from Zoya. Before there was no intrigue in Pixie Dust for me because they didn't look as glitter-tastic as some of the OPI liquid sands I own. However, Zoya managed to come out with two textured polishes that captured my attention big time. One of these polishes is Tomoko, which is what I will be reviewing today.

Zoya Tomoko:
Champagne (silver with the slightest bit of gold to give the colour warmth) textured polish. The texture feels a little "sharper" (more rough, getting closer to fine grained sand paper) than liquid sands to me. This guy was on the sheer side, where at two coats you could see just a hint of VNL at some angles. As for sparkle factor this one sparkles beautifully in the sun and under warm lighting; but just has a soft twinkling under fluorescent light.

The pictures show two coats with no top coat.

Here is a blurry picture to show all the magnificent sparkles!

 Here is a picture comparing top coat versus no top coat (middle & pinky). VNL becomes more noticeable when you apply multiple top coats (2 very thick coats here) until a glossy finish. This becomes a full glitter polish with top coat and is real sparkly. Breath-takingly beautiful!

Specifications:
Formula - Good, easy application
Pigmentation - Okay, on the sheer side so apply thick coats or three coats
Dry time - same as average creams (faster than OPI liquid sand)
Removal - Easy

My first Pixie Dust is a hit! I love this polish! This guy is amazing in the sun and warm indoor lighting. So so beautiful! Can you tell how much I like this polish? Not to mention this is a nice neutral colour that will match just about anything. There is nothing negative to say about this polish except that it could be more pigmented. However, even that isn't much of an issue in my opinion. All in all, I will definitely be wearing this polish again and again.

Do you own any Pixie Dust polishes? Which brand of textured polishes do you like best?