Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Addition to Sally Hansen HD Liquid Crystal Summer 2009 Collection!

I was kindly told by Karen_D that Sally Hansen had added a new color to their HD Liquid Crystal line! While I was a bit disappointed in these, I had to review it anyway. Original post on Liquid Crystal polishes is here.

Hi-Def is a lime green with tons of blue shimmer. I had less problems applying this one, but it also seemed sheerer. Anyway I think it adds a needed color to this collection, and is pretty nice.

Sally Hansen HD Hi Def:
Sally Hansen HD Hi-Def

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Jade

Well today is our last day in the two month daily Zoya-Fest I have been throwing. I only have two more Zoyas you haven't seen, Jade and Jo, and Jo isn't swatched. So that's it my dears! For now. Thoughts on Zoya - good formula. Pretty much universally all of their polishes have a good formula, not too runny, not too thick, and their thinner, Renew, works in a jiff for any thickness. It's easy to apply and while I'd like a thicker OPI type brush, the brush is just fine, basically.

I'd love to see more glitters in the future, more of their stunning mattes, more color exploration (they definitely seem to be going that way so I expect a super future). I'd LOVE more large grain shimmer polishes like the Truth Collection! And I would die for a glass fleck collection from them. Maybe a couple holographics in their hottest colors, like Paris, imagine a hot VAMPY HOLO. And a blue glitter like Roxy but medium blue, like say China Glaze Blue Sparrow-ish?

Anyway it's been a hell of a ride. I still have to review their Color Lock System, I already have about 4 paragraphs written but I need to do the wear test over a few days and I have a lot of swatching. I'll try to get to that within a week.

Tomorrow sees the start of July, and a new daily polish! Every Day an Essie starts tomorrow, so join me!

As for my last daily Zoya, I picked a real beauty, a sumptuous red jelly stuffed with red glitter. Jade is delumpscious.

Zoya Jade:
Zoya Jade

Monday, June 29, 2009

Don't Miss Zoya's Tweet Buy!!!

Zoya Tweet Buy
From now through Friday 7/3/2009, 5 PM Eastern Time, purchase a Zoya La-Di-Da Sampler and Receive a Zoya Ooh-La-La Sampler Free. Use code "WOW"



Here's How: Simply add an Ooh-La-La Sampler to your shopping cart, then enter the promo code in the "Code" field and press the "Update" button. The Free La-Di-Da Sampler will appear in your shopping cart.



Limit one deal per order. May not be combined with any other offers or specials. Valid only at www.zoya.com

Sally Hansen Emerald City and Amour Rain Glitter Giveaway Winners!!

This was a fun contest! I found a random number picker where you enter names and then it picks one by spinning them in a slot machine after you pull the handle. Cute! The random winner of the Sally Hansen Emerald City polish is Jessamine Pittar! Congratulations Jessamine!

The winner of the Amour Rain Glitter contest was harder to pick. I had some lovely suggestions, like OPI DS Coronation and Shanghai Shimmer, several votes for China Glaze Ruby Pumps (and why not, it's gorgeous!), Nilens Jord, BarryM Blue Glitter and Red Speckle by Santee. Some kind people entered for family and friends. Very sweet! Sally sent a VERY blingy animated entry that tickled me. Comments made about rain glitter were: "sex in a bottle", "all different colours of glitter in one... you can match... with every outfit".

I really liked the entries and it was hard to decide. Some notable entries were:

I would love to win the Amour Rain Glitter because it looks like christmas lights.
-Carolyn

Who doesn't like glitter polish? Let me know and I will glitterize EVERYTHING they own. : )
-Denielle

My favorite is the Ulta Hollywood. The bright red satisfies my inner whore. Plus it is smoother to the touch and doesn't squick me out when I compulsively rub my nails.
-Barbara

But the winner had to be Lynne Rafferty. Her entry:
My favourite glitter polish that I've tried so far is Amour Blue. I am basically a glitter fanatic. I always have been. Glitter, sparkles, shimmer - if it is shiny, I want it. My mom has called me a crow since I was little. Amour Blue is just so dense, so sparkly it's unreal, and I love those big flat brushes that make it so very easy to apply.

Although it does look different, getting lost in the sparkliness of Amour Blue sort of reminds me of the car my parents had when I was little: a ginormous metallic baby blue 1985 Buick LeSabre. I was fascinated by the sparkly car paint in the sun as a kid. I wanted ALL paint to be sparkly like cars! My parents had always told us not to touch the car, a command I took very seriously until one day I could no longer resist the sparkliness as I walked by. Ever the trickster, I pulled my sleeve down over my finger and ran my finger up the side of the car. I had circumvented the rules by not DIRECTLY touching the car! Only some dirt got on my sweatercoat, but that's okay, I could just cut that part off and no one would be the wiser, right? (The thought processes of 5-year-olds.)

The end result of my childhood numbskullery is that the entire arm of the sweatercoat my mom knit for me unravelled because I was a dumbass and cut a chunk out of it to hide the fact that I had Touched The Car *gasp* which was the biggest no-no ever. Mom fixed the sweater, but she did not let that go for years.

And now that I'm back from my tangent, Amour Blue is as mesmerising to me now as that sparkly car paint was to me as a kid. Ooh, shiny!


Congratulations, Lynne, enjoy your polish, and I will see you all very soon with another giveaway!!!

Sally Hansen Emerald City:



Amour Rain Glitter:

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Hope

Zoya Hope is what Mac's new Violet Fire should have been. Big, juicy, shimmery and full of spark. A favorite.

Zoya Hope:
Zoya Hope

Last Day for Sally Hansen Emerald City and Amour Rain Glitter Giveaways!

Don't forget to enter the Amour Rain Glitter and Sally Hansen Emerald City Giveaways! http://tinyurl.com/nupcdv

I'll pick the winner tonight at around 9:30 PST!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Beyonnce

Zoya Beyonnce is a kind of rose/bronze duochrome with gold shimmer. It's very pretty and fun. I love polishes with something special in them like this. I don't see any reason Beyonnce couldn't be worn at work as well as be super hot out on the town. My picture does not do it justice.

Zoya Beyonnce:
Zoya Beyonnce

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Faith

Faith is a dark rose with blurple shimmer. It's quite pretty.

Zoya Faith:
Zoya Faith

Friday, June 26, 2009

Don't Forget Emerald City and Rain Glitter Giveaways!!!

Don't forget to enter the giveaways, Sally Hansen Emerald City and Amour Rain Glitter! Open to everyone, just send me an email at polishmayhem@gmail.com.

http://polishmayhem.blogspot.com/2009/06/sally-hansen-emerald-city-and-amour.html

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Mikka

Mikka is a deep burgundy-purple with, for a nice change, a silver shimmer. Very sophisticated and classy!

Zoya Mikka:
Zoya Mikka

Thursday, June 25, 2009

More Claire's/Icing Polishes

Claire's Yel seemed to be a big hit so I thought I'd mention a few more Claire's and Icing (a sister store) polishes. Claire's and Icing are in most malls in the USA, and polishes are usually buy one polish at $4.50 and get one 50% off. they also sell small sets of mini bottles of polish and single mini bottles separately. The formula varies but is generally fine and not hard to use.

I already reviewed some Claire's 3-in-1 polishes here, and Claire's Yel is here.

Claire's website: http://www.claires.com/

Icing Website: http://www.icingbyclaires.com/

Icing Roger That:
Icing Roger That

Icing Awkward:
Icing Awkward

Claire's Fabulous:
Claire's Fabulous

Claire's Meg Peg:
Claire's Meg Peg

Claire's Blue Crush:
Claire's Blue Crush

Icing Steamy:
Icing Steamy

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Renee

Renee is another one of those hot pink neons my camera just cannot cope with. It has a decent formula, easily thinned down so you don't get that nasty neon clumpage, and packs a lot of color. It's one of the Summer 2009 La Di Da Collection, and one of the prettiest in that Collection, I think!

Zoya Renee:
Zoya Renee

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Another Month of Zoyas! Zoya Emanuelle

Emanuelle is a reddish rose color with gold shimmer. Very understated.

Zoya Emanuelle:
Zoya Emanuelle

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Sloane

I'm not quite sure I have to do anything about Zoya Sloane but show you the picture. It speaks for itself.


Zoya Sloane:
Zoya Sloane

Monday, June 22, 2009

Sally Hansen Emerald City and Amour Rain Glitter Giveaways!!

I've heard quite a bit about Sally Hansen Emerald City. Yep, another green! I've heard it is extremely hard to find. Well some good news! Looks like Sally Hansen rereleased it with a bunch of other colors in a sort of old color revamp. I found it in Walgreen's in a display with a bunch of other polishes, all with new sort of titanium look caps, a black metallic look. I also found a couple with white tops. The metallized cap is mine, but YOU can have one of the white tops!

Just email me at polishmayhem@gmail.com with your name and ask to be entered in the drawing! I will hold it next Monday night!

But since this is another green and I had already had another contest in mind - this week we have a double giveaway!! I am also giving away a new bottle of Amour Rain Glitter thanks to my dear friend Rebecca! All you have to do is email me at polishmayhem@gmail.com and tell me YOUR favorite glitter, or why you don't wear glitter nail polish! My favorite response will win the bottle!! I will also announce the winner for this Monday, with the Emerald City winner.

This time the whole world can enter. So start those emails comin' and good luck!


Sally Hansen Emerald City:



Amour Rain Glitter:

Another Month of Zoyas! Zoya Odilia

Zoya Odilia (Odeilia on Zoya's site) is a sort of rose with a touch of brown in it. It's really a great color in person, and would go well in a lot of situations. Really pretty.

Zoya Odilia:

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Anthea

Anthea is a red with gold shimmer. Zoya calls it a duochrome copper rose, but I don't get that. It is pretty though.

Zoya Anthea:

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Jacy, Zoya Eve and Zoya

I posted so much past few days I didn't want falling by the wayside that I didn't do my daily Zoyas! So today you get three!

Zoya Jacy is REALLY nice. I liked this one especially. It's a slick dark berry creme with purple shimmer:


Zoya Eve is a hot bright red with a HUGE amount of purple shimmer:


Ah, too bad Paris didn't get her own post. A beautiful shiny vampy red jelly. Utterly chic and soooooo sexy:

Friday, June 19, 2009

Zoya Truth and Dare Fall 2009 Collections!

I am VERY happy with these polishes. Rich jewel tones are exactly my style, and I love these. The formula is Zoya's usual one, it's decent and easily controllable if you don't overload your brush. These needed only two coats for full coverage, both shimmers and creme/jellies. They were easy to apply and beautiful.


Let's start with the Dare Collection. These are six warm dark shades mostly based on purple. These are supposedly cremes, but I think they are mostly jellies. There is one shimmer, Ibiza, a midnight blue. These apply easily. I added a bit of Zoya Renew to Ciara, but most were fine without thinning.

Envy, the green is a very dark jungle type green. It has a bit of brown in it, it kind of reminds me of a rubber tree plant. I think the green fans will really like it, though it is NOT a Nars Zulu dupe. I would have preferred an emerald green more in keeping with the other jewel tones, but Envy is pretty.

Zoya Envy:


Zoya Ibiza, the midnight blue sapphire, is the only shimmer in this collection. It's an understated shimmer but is noticeable:


Zoya Ciara is a juicy berry shade:


Zoya Demi is a rich warm purple with some red in it:


Zoya Pinta is a deep glowing royal purple:


Zoya Vanessa is the red of the bunch, but it has some blue in it, so it is somewhat like a garnet or a raspberry:




The Truth part of the double Collection is just flat out stunning. It is all shimmers in warm coppery reds, gold and pinks, and not only is it heavy on the shimmer, but it also has flecks like microglitter in there for big spangle effect shimmer. Not only that but I bet there is aluminum powder or something in there to make them a bit metallic. WOW these are HOT. Maybe a tad more color range would have been nice, I can't help imagining how beautiful Envy would be with this shimmer, and maybe a blue not as dark as Ibiza. But I'll settle for these.

Zoya Penny is a lovely coppery gold:


Zoya Kalmia is more a true copper with plenty of gold shimmer:


Zoya Salma... what can I say. My picture cannot do it justice. It's like Kalmia but redder, and i swear I see a faint dark pink and gold duochrome on it sometimes. It's simply stunning and I wish I could capture it better:


Zoya Isla, a hot burgundy red:


Zoya Anaka, a deep magenta full of big flecks of shimmer and a blurple shine to it that complements it beautifully:


Zoya Drew, a pinky mauve with tons of shimmer that I expected to be meh about but turns out to really like a lot:


If you are like me, you'll want them all! I hope I helped make your selections!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Comparison of Zoya Matte Velvets and ManGlaze Matte Polishes

So how close are ManGlaze Mattes Fuggen Ugly and The Death Tar and Zoya Matte Velvets Dovima and Loredana? The answer is a lot and not much.

Zoya Loredana and ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly are both dark grey, Loredana being lighter. The big difference here is Zoya's polish is far more matte. I think it is the clear winner here. Loredana has a slightly better formula than the other two Zoya mattes, but ManGlaze is the clear winner in ease of application, having a formula almost indistinguishable from regular nail polish. Zoya's is thicker and stickier. But the winner despite formula, for me, is Loredana.

Top to Bottom:
ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly
Zoya Loredana



In the black category, Zoya Dovima is pitted against ManGlaze The Death Tar. The colors here are again similar, but Dovima is a lighter black, with a more velvet soft matte finish. It is again more matte than the manGlaze offering. But the formula once again is better with ManGlaze - it's far easier to work with. I prefer the darker color of the ManGlaze, and the finish of Zoya Dovima. Here I'd say they tie, and you need both. Yay for needing both!

Top to Bottom:
ManGlaze The Death Tar
Zoya Dovima



On Twitter I begged Mr. ManGlaze to make us some new colors. As I asked yesterday, why not the colors of forest and desert camouflage?

Zoya Matte Velvets - New Collection!

So now that I have a moment, let's talk about the new Zoya Mattes. There are three, one dark grey, Loredana, one black, Dovima, and one red, Posh.

The basics: these are thick, and start to dry FAST, like neons. LOAD your brush well, and do not hesitate. You can always clean afterwards. Slap that stuff on thick and do not go back and restroke polished areas! Just dive in. You can always remove and redo. One coat should be fine except for Loredana, which I found much thinner than Posh and Dovima. I needed two coats for Loredana.

Zoya instructions are to wear these polishes with no base or top coat. I will admit I DID use base coat in these pictures. My nails or too thin and ridgy not to. I had no loss of matte-riffic beauty. I have some matte topcoats coming in and will discuss if they are useful for these or not, but I did not use topcoat this time, shiny topcoat certainly would not work. I think they do not want polish slippage and problems from overlapping strokes, but I had pretty similar an experience with plain nail application and with base. Maybe be extra careful if you use base. This stuff is worth the extra time.

Dovima, the black, is gorgeous and so edgy. I think it's hot. I don't think you need to be Goth anymore to wear black nail polish, or even a rocker or metalhead. It's just cool, and would look great out on the town. Okay maybe not on Paris Hilton, but thank god for that anyway.

Zoya Dovima:



The grey is a nice dark grey, with a lot of texture. This required two coats, though your bottle may vary.

Zoya Loredana:



While I love the first two, I think Posh is the scene stealer here. It's a lovely deep wine red, and man this looks just like velvet. Red velvet. It has a shine that comes from below, like the shinier fabric that the velvet pile is based on, and it makes the whole nail look glowing and soft and deeply plush. I will need about four bottles of this, because what if I run out in 2023 or something???? God I love this.

Zoya Posh:


So there's the scoop. Use a bit of care and learn to work with this polish and you will be a knockout.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Don't forget the MAC Friends and Family Sale!!

25% off with the code SUMO! https://www.maccosmetics.com/


You can probably snag the new polishes. And some of the old boring ones. And some of the new Naked Honey Collection. Why no hot amber/honey colored polish, maybe a glitter? MAC needs a polish consultant. But I looooooove everything else about them.

Another Month of Zoyas! - Zoya Valentina

Valentina is a simple, medium red shimmer. It's a lovely shade, if maybe not a slap in the face.

Zoya Valentina:

Zoya Matte Swatch Teaser!

About 15 minutes ago I got my Zoya mattes! They are gorgeous! Until later, when I have more time to swatch, here is a teaser! This is one coat each of Dovima and Posh, two coats Loredana.

Posh looks JUST like velvet on your finger. Wow.

Top to bottom:
Zoya Dovima
Zoya Posh
Zoya Loredana

Update on Zoya Matte and Zoya Truth and Dare Collections!

I got chips of the Zoya Truth, Dare and Matte Collections yesterday!!




Let's start with Matte. Matte consists of three polishes, a black named Dovima, a grey named Loredana, and a dark red named Posh. The colors are rich and should make lovely mattes. They have a velvet appearance in the chips. They come out on July 1, so not a long wait for these! I will soon, I am sure, have real swatches on nails to show you! These are meant to be worn without base or topcoat. Now I am not happy about the base idea, but I will experiment with these when I get them and give you the rundown. Zoya says these will have less staying power, not having base or top coat and a different formula. This is to be expected and I see no problem with it.


Zoya Dovima:


Zoya Loredana:


Zoya Posh:


On to the Truth and Dare Fall 2009 Collections. Truth is a set of six warm colors that range from a gold with a bit of orange, through orangey reds, to blue reds, to pink. These are jewel tones, not pastels, or runway weirdness, or chalky. These are shiny, rich, deep colors in glowing shades. Chips can only tell us so much, but I am not expecting to be disappointed with these! These come out July 15, with the Dare Collection.


The Dare Collection is six cremes in darker shade which also appear to be jewel tone, from red, through reddish purple, to green to dark blue. the dark blue, Ibiza, has a "subtle shimmer". I think it will probably be like the shimmer in some of the reds, it matches the tone so enhances the color rather than making the nail appear to be sparkly. Once again, only so much from chips, but these look exciting and I expect to have bottles soon and believe me will photograph them six ways to Sunday! These come out July 15!! Start saving up now!!