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Pink

OPI Pinkalicious

By on September 10, 2007
in Big 3 Free, OPI, Pink with 4 Comments
First of all, I have to send out a big thank you to my pal and fellow nail boarder Nikki for letting me borrow her coveted set of polishes for this post. Nikki, we need a day of retail therapy soon so I can get these beauties back to you!

Since there isn’t a lot of information available about this collection, I will go ahead and call them the Pinkalicious Collection. If you know different, tell us in the comments. All I do know is that they’ve only been found in Canada and even there they’re not easy to find. Due to Nikki’s love of all things pink and extreme diligence on the phone she was able to find these in a salon and have them shipped across the border for a hefty price.

It’s been a while since I’ve used an OPI polish due to the enormous amounts of swatching I’ve been doing lately. I almost forgot how incredible the Pro Wide brush is. Even though there have been issues with individual polishes since the OPI formula change, these three all applied like a dream. Smooth, highly pigmented and streak-free. All with a metallic silver shimmer and high gloss factor. If you can find these and love pink, snatch ‘em up.

Go Pinkalicious!

Spring Fling

Berry Rosy

Top Coat Challenge – Zoya Armor

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Zoya polishes. Not only because they are a local Cleveland family owned business but because they make an excellent polish with an incredible range of colors.

Unfortunately, not everyone shares my opinion. I’ve read complaints about wear. I’ve even heard it from my own nail tech and esthetician. The main issue is that the polish peels within a day or two of application. However, that seems to be that case more often when using a quick dry top coat like Seche Vite.

I guess I’ve been fortunate to never have this issue when using my usual combo of Creative Super Shiney top coat with Qtica 1/2 Time drying drops. Though I started thinking about this as it’s not just an issue for people using Seche Vite.

After speaking with reps from both Zoya and Nubar, it makes sense that using a non-Big 3 Free top and base coat with a Big 3 Free polish would cause peeling, bubbling or shrinkage (pre-mature pulling back from nail edge). So I decided to give the entire Zoya family of products a trial run to test the theory. I used Zoya Anchor base coat, Zoya Sweet nail lacquer, Zoya Armor top coat and Zoya Hurry Up quick drying drops. Here are the results after 5 days of wear.


As the pictures show, there was very little tip wear after 5 days and no chipping. Even though Armor took a little longer to dry than the popular quick dry top coats, I still didn’t have to wait more than 30 minutes before I could function. I may have even waited too long, I was just being cautious. In fact, I did this mani before bed and woke up with no sheet marks, just pure glossiness.

So for those of you out there that gave up on Zoya polishes or haven’t tried them because of performance reviews, I would suggest giving them a try with a Big 3 Free base and top coat of your choosing. I hope you get the same results I did.

**** UPDATE – After speaking with a rep from Zoya it turns out that ingredient that is causing peeling problems for people is CELLULOSE ACETATE BUTYRATE. “Zoya lacquer will not adhere to base coats containing it. Top coats containing it must be formulated carefully to not cause problems when used with Zoya lacquer.”

Additionally, I must make a correction. Poshe is Big 3 Free which is why I haven’t experienced peeling when using it.

PeaceKeeper Cause-metics ~ Make A Difference Through Makeup

By on February 5, 2007
in NOTD, Pink, Shimmer with 4 Comments

PeaceKeeper Cause-metics, founded by Jody Weiss, is the first make-up company in history to donate ALL of its profits, after taxes, to women’s health and human rights advocacy issues. A successful fund-raiser and non-violence advocate, Ms. Weiss, is using PeaceKeeper as her tool to continue to raise funds for numerous women’s organizations while instilling the message that PeaceKeepers use make-up not for approval from others but to celebrate their own beauty.

Dedicated to helping women Look Good, Feel Good, Do Good™, Ms. Weiss expects PeaceKeeper products, and thereby the women who use them, to become imbued with the power of advocacy and transformation. “The choice is simple: become a part of the solution, become a PeaceKeeper.”

The inspirational PeaceKeeperâ„¢ Cause-Meticsâ„¢ line consists of 12 Lip Paints, 10 Nail Paints and 4 Lip Glosses, with the newly launched V-Day lip gloss joining the collection in honor of V-Day. In addition to never using animals in the testing of their products, all PeaceKeeper Paints are rich, creamy and free of harmful chemicals such as toluene and formaldehyde. Offering Lip Paint colors with names like Paint Me Empoweredâ„¢ and Paint Me Compassionateâ„¢, PeaceKeeper urges women everywhere to use their power as consumers to make a difference.

I am wearing Paint Me Forgiving as my NOTD color. It’s described on the PeaceKeeper website as a shimmery light beige flesh tone. On me it’s a dusty pink tone and the pearly shimmer adds a lot of depth. The application was similar to Zoya in my opinion. I think the lack of chemicals leads to a thicker consistency but that doesn’t hinder it’s ability to spread smoothly on the nail.

Peacekeeper NailPaints retail for $12 and can be purchased on the PeaceKeeper website using PayPal.

Also, check out the Million Kisses Campaign. It raises money to fund education for women and girls who are victims of sexually exploitive situations and slavery. Supported by actress Julia Ormond, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Goodwill Ambassador for the Abolition of Slavery and Human Trafficking, an awareness video plays at Whole Foods and other PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics retailers. It shows how the proceeds from buying just a few PeaceKeeper products can help educate a girl and give her economic options. According to Weiss, “PeaceKeeper builds a bridge in the land-of-plenty to women who can’t even afford a lipstick.”

How it works:

  • Purchase a PeaceKeeper Lip Paint
  • Apply the Lip Paint and kiss the Kiss Canvas that can be found inside the package (The Kiss Canvas can also be downloaded from: http://www.iamapeacekeeper.com/)
  • Write who the kiss is for and why. Mail the Kiss Canvas to the PeaceKeeper Fund with $1
  • The kiss gets uploaded into the Kiss Museum on the PeaceKeeper Website to be viewed

The “Best Kisses” are eligible to win prizes including airline tickets for two anywhere in the USA, PeaceKeeper products and other gifts listed on the PeaceKeeper Website.

PeaceKeeper Lip Paints come in a wide variety of colors and are sold in Whole Foods stores, Pharmaca, Earth Fare and other stores nationwide. Suggested retail price is $16.50.

NOTD: Zoya Bailey

By on February 2, 2007
in Big 3 Free, Micro-glitter, NOTD, Pink, Sheer, Zoya with 6 Comments

Ding, ding, ding we have a winner!! Finally a sheer I not only like but love. Zoya Bailey is a perfect pink sheer with silver micro-glitter and pearly shimmer.

The application was smooth and even. Zoya’s formula is slightly thick but it spreads well with no streaking. I was a bit rushed this morning when I applied it but that didn’t affect the outcome. Even in person, my mani looks as close to flawless as I’ve seen my tips in a while.

With my “Dare Week” coming to a close, I realize that I enjoyed this challenge much more than I expected. Even though my first pick wasn’t a winner, it lead me to here. I now have a color that I can slap on when my nails are bare and I don’t have time to deal with applying my usual bright/dark colors.

Creative Optix Collection

By on January 30, 2007
in Blue, CND, Coral, Green, Pink, Spring 2007 with 0 Comments

*inserts foot in mouth* Alright, I was wrong, the new Creative collection isn’t a redux of Spring 2006. I know that no company would be stupid enough to do that. Give me a little slack though, the pics I saw online weren’t that great. And, seeing them on a nail display makes a HUGE difference.

The only color I don’t have to show you is Milky Way, the iridescent lilac and I didn’t have enough open spaces on my nail display to show you Hyper Fresh. Though I doubt it would translate well.

I would like to thank Red PR for providing me with samples.
For comparison, here is a pic I took last year of some of the Creative Spring colors.

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