Zoya Awaken Collection & Monet - Spring 2014

Hi, you guys! Hope your week is going well. :) Is it me or is this month just flying by so fast? I love this time of the year, with all the flowers and trees blooming, and the extended amount of day light every day. I think my hubby, who does all the mowing, disagrees with my love of spring. We get just the perfect mixture of rain and sun so that the grass is growing like crazy weeds this time of the year lol.

Today, I've got Zoya's Spring 2014 offerings—the Awaken Collection and Monet special effects topper—to share with you. I always look forward to Zoya's spring collections with their fresh, understated colors and soft finishes, so I was super excited for this.

OPI Baby Please Come Home

Hi, you guys! Yay for it being the weekend! Gosh, this past week has just been absolutely crazy. I'm so thankful and relieved that the weekend is finally here. Hope yours is off to a fun and relaxing start! :-)

Today, I've got another beautiful liquid sand from the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday Collection to share with you. Baby Please Come Home is a subtly purplish silver with lots of shimmers and larger silver glitters that all dries down to a textured matte glitter finish.

This is another lovely liquid sand, scattered with the larger silver glitters that I've really come to love from OPI. While it appears to have a good amount of purple in the bottle, I feel like once it's on the nails, the purple seems more subtle and the overall polish leans more silver, probably due to its large amount of silver shimmers and glitters. The formula is everything you can ask for, making application super easy. Each coat comes out smoothly and with even distribution of the glitters and sand particles, and two coats is all you need for full coverage. :-)

You can find Baby Please Come Home at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

Sephora + Pantone Universe Purple Wine

Happy weekend! Hope yours is off to a fantastic start! :-)

As you guys know, "pink" and "shimmery" are two of my favorite words when it comes to nail polish, so I'm always looking for more of that to add to my stash lol. When I came across Purple Wine from the Sephora + Pantone Universe Spectral Lacquers, I knew I had to have it. Purple Wine is a bright purplish pink with tons of prominent blue shimmers.

Just look at the glow of the blue shimmers against the pink base! *stares* Seriously, you guys, I faint! :D This has got to be in my top five pinks now, which says a lot cause I have way too many pinks lol. The formula's pretty flawless, too. It's smooth and easy to apply, needing just two coats for total coverage. And it dries to a slight velvety matte finish, which looks amazing with the shimmers.

You can find Purple Wine currently on sale at Sephora stores and periodically here on Sephora's website for $5 for 0.3 fl oz (original price is $10).

Priti NYC Empress Tree

Good morning! Today, I've got another lovely shade from Priti NYC to share with you. Empress Tree is a soft, muted light purple with a hint of gray in a creme finish.

This is such a pretty neutral with just a hint of color. :-) Application is nice and easy for this one. Each coat comes out thin and smooth without any issues. I did three coats to reach total coverage for this color, but it didn't take very long overall because each coat dries quickly to a glossy shine.

You can find Empress Tree on PritiNYC.com for $13.50 for 0.43 fl oz, and you can use the code PRITISPECIAL for 10% off valid until August 1st.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

Essie Under Where?

Hi you guys! :-)

Continuing with the Essie Resort 2013 Collection, I've got another pretty shade to share with you today. Under Where? is the quintessential lilac creme, leaning just slightly more pink than blue.

I'm a little slow, but this is the one whose name finally made me realize that all the polishes in this collection have slightly naughty names lol. :D Pink-leaning lilacs tend to be more forgiving against my skintone than blue-leaning lilacs, so I'm a big fan of this shade. Formula-wise, this is a trickier one in the collection. It's thinner and streakier than the rest. The first coat is definitely very patchy, though the second coat does a lot to help with that, and that's what you see in the swatches. You can probably do a third coat if you want it extra smooth, but I'm ok with just two coats.

You can find Under Where? on Essie.com, at your local nail salons and drug stores, and at big name retailers like Target and Macy's for $8 for 0.46 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

Zoya Stevie

Hiiiii there! Happy weekend! :-)

I've got another sparkly textured polish to share with you today from the Zoya Summer PixieDust Collection. Stevie is a cool-toned lavender purple with tons of reflective silver shimmers and glitters that dries to the signature pixiedust textured matte glitter finish.

The purple base color is very rich and pigmented, and the silver glitters add a slightly dusty tone to the lavender. The result is beautiful. The formula is fantastic, as I have come to expect from this collection. It's easy to apply, and builds up to excellent opaque coverage in two coats. This one feels to me like it takes a smidgen longer to dry than some of the others in the collection, but that could be due to the pigmented base.

You can find Stevie on Zoya.com for $9 for 0.5 fl oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 - $9 total and free shipping! More info HERE.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

Butter London Molly-Coddled

Hi you guys! Today, I've got the second of the two polishes I was sent from the Butter London Spring 2013 Sweetie Shop Collection to share with you. Molly-Coddled is a pastel lilac purple with a creme finish.

Depending on the lighting, this purple shifts from a warm pink-leaning purple (under artificial light) to a cool blue-leaning purple (under natural light). I think it's quite a lovely color - sweet and light. The formula is great, just like the rest of the collection that I've tried. It's thin and pigmented, going on smoothly and reaching opacity in two quick coats.

You can find Molly-Coddled on butterlondon.com and at select retailers such as Nordstrom and Ulta for $15 for 0.4 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party

Hi you guys! I've got another of my picks from the China Glaze Avant Garden Collection to show you today. Tart-y for the Party is a medium lavender with a creme finish.

This shade shows up quite bright in my swatches, but it has a hint of dustiness to it in real life. It is just a bit too dark to to be considered a pastel, and it can look more blue or purple, depending on the lighting. This has a fantastic formula. It's creamy and pigmented, going on smoothly and reaching opacity in two coats. It's a little runny, so be sure to wipe off the brush well or you may find a dollop of polish running down the bristles onto your nails during application.

You can find Tart-y for the Party at your local nail salons and at beauty stores such as Ulta and Sally Beauty for a retail price of $7 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Zoya Julie

Hi you guys! Hope your Monday is off to a tolerable start. :-)

Today, I'm wrapping up the Zoya Lovely Spring 2013 Collection with another soft and pretty color. Julie is a cool light lilac with tons of silver shimmers.

Just like the other two shimmers—Piaf and GeiGei—in the collection, Julie was originally released as part of the limited edition Zang Toi NYFW Spring 2013 trio last year. And just like those two, the formula for Julie is a bit on the thinner side and slightly watery, so I did three coats for the swatches, although you can probably get away with just two if needed.

Overall, I'm a huge fan of this collection. The soft, "lovely" colors are a breath of fresh air after the moody colors of fall and the bright sparkles of the holidays. I love that they are clean and subdued without being dusty. My favorite from the collection is Blu, but I'm really loving all the colors. Let me know what you think of this collection in the comments below. What are your favorites, and which ones will be making it onto your wishlist?

You can find Julie on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5 fl oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 total and free shipping! More info HERE.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Zoya Rory

I kept thinking all yesterday that it felt like Friday, so it's a relief that Friday has finally arrived today. I think Fridays are just my favorite day of the week. They are filled with the promise of two whole weekend days, filled with relaxation, yummy food, great books, and lots of fun! Hope your Friday is awesome, my friends! :-)

Enough with my rambling :P; let's get to the good stuff! Next up in Zoya's Surf Collection is Rory, a lilac pink with strong silver shimmer in a foil finish.

Rory is the perfect balance between pink and purple. If you are a pink fan like I am, you'll definitely love this color because there's enough girly pink to satisfy. But if you aren't normally a pink fan, don't rule out Rory just yet. There's enough purple and lilac tones to give it a lot of depth and character, and the silver shimmer adds a ton of shine.

Rory is another one-coater for me, and I swatched the pictures above as such. The color payoff is so intense that you can get full opaque coverage without needing a second coat. The formula is thin without being watery or streaky and it spreads out evenly, making it super easy to apply.

You can find Rory on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 total and free shipping! Info is HERE.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.