Zoya Mod Mattes, Summer 2011 swatches

This never-ending overcast weather has me all sorts of blah, so I thought I'd post my swatches of the Zoya Mod Mattes collection from this summer as a pick me up.  I grabbed the mini set on amazon, but these are also available directly from Zoya.  All Zoya polishes are 4-Free (including camphor) and vegan friendly.  Zoya is known for its collections of matte polishes, so I had pretty high expectations for these polishes.  These polishes are gorgeous, but they are kind of a pain to apply.  However, the great colors make up for it in my opinion.  Another bonus with this Zoya mini set is the bottle.  Unlike the terrible OPI mini bottles these seem to have the same flexible brush as the full size bottles and have a bottle and grip that doesn't make application hard.  Since these are so pretty I applied top coat to each to see the shiny versions.  These pics look great full size - if you click the images you can see for yourself.  Enjoy!

Pheobe

3 coats Pheobe, natural light, no top coat

Pheobe is a light neon-ish blue creme with a silvery shimmer.  It dries to a matte finish on its own, so the shimmer adds a pretty cool effect.  Pheobe reached opacity in 2 coats, but I needed a 3rd to even things out.  These polishes need to have time to try in between coats or you will get some serious dragging.  I'm not exactly known for being patient, so I obviously rushed between coats and had to do some repair work.  Look at this beauty with top coat!  The color on this is great.

3 coats Pheobe, natural light, 1 coat seche vite

Mitzi

3 coats Mitzi, no top coat, natural light

Mitzi is a bright apple green matte creme.  I used 3 coats again to keep things even, but you can definitely get away with 2 coats.  Mitzi is way easier to apply than Pheobe, but was pretty darn difficult to remove.  I had bright green cuticles that would not quit.  The color on this is really unique, but I can't decide if I like how it looks on me.  What do you think?

3 coats Mitzi, natural light, 1 coat Seche Vite

Lolli

2 coats (by luck) Lolli, natural light, no top coat

Lolli is SO pretty and by far the easiest to apply of this trio.  It's a bright barbie-esque pink matte creme.  By some miracle I pulled this off in 2 coats.  I love that feeling of applying a polish that flows onto the nail the way you would hope.  This is definitely a polish that gives that feeling.  If you are looking for a matte, but are concerned that you don't have the application skills to apply one evenly, this is the polish for you.  It evens out very nicely.  Lolli also surprised me with the color.  I didn't expect I'd care for such a bright pink, but I really think it's great both matte and shiny!

2 coats Lolli, natural light with 1 coat seche vite

Verdict? While I'm not so sure I love Mitzi on my nails I am going to be keeping this trio stashed.  Maybe it will look good on a friend?  Maybe I'm a hoarder?  TBD.

What are your favorite Zoya mattes?  Can someone send me some nice weather?  K, thanks.

-Shbecky

OPI: Planks A Lot

Welcome to all of our new followers!  Thanks so much for joining us.  I'm glad that all three of us are up and posting and that we can tell our friends and families that we aren't just talking to ourselves.  I've finally finished up with the 48 hour graduation marathon at Penn and I couldn't be more proud of my sister, Maddie.  Denzel Washington was pretty fun to see as well.  My sister worked so hard and she will definitely go on to do incredible things.  We're even getting along.  She let me give her a little lesson in nail polish basics tonight.  I also did some lovely shatter manis/pedis for my other sisters which I may grab some pics of later.  I love days when I get a chance to fill my nail polish cravings (well as much as is possible).

Tonight I have OPI Planks A Lot from the new OPI Pirates of The Caribbean collection that was released in conjunction with the new Pirates movie.  I know, you've seen them everywhere, but now you get to see one again!  I grabbed a mini collection so that I could make up my mind about some of the polishes.  I love all of the colors and think that the names are really cute.  Planks A Lot is a dusty lilac creme that is 3-free and opaque in 2 coats.  The full size bottles have the pro wide brush like all of the new polishes coming from OPI, but the little bottles certainly do not.  More on that in a minute.

3.5 coats OPI Planks A Lot + 1 coat Seche Vite, terrible artificial light

Since I'm in my family's house I am without my new light box and the gloomy weather refuses to let up the pic is less than stellar.  I go home tomorrow so I will work on getting better pictures.  With regards to Planks A Lot, I adore this dusty lilac color.  However, the mini OPI bottles are a disaster.  I may just throw out the polishes unless someone really wants them.  The mini bottles do not have the polish name on them and have these tiny little brush handles with tiny little stiff brushes to match.  It's almost impossible to get enough polish for even one stroke on a nail.  It was impossible to get good coverage and I found myself dunking the brush 4 times for a coat on a nail.  To get any sort of presentable coverage I needed 3-4 coats, but the formula makes clear that I could get away with 2 if I had a better brush!

It may just be me, but I have trouble placing such a tiny little brush.  As you may be able to see I was having trouble keeping the paint out of my cuticles.  Not even my handy clean up brush could help me out. 

Verdict? Trash/Share, but I will be purchasing full size bottles if Eisenbrat doesn't have all the shades I want.  I attribute the issues to the mini bottle, as I did not have the same issues with Mermaid Tears. 

Am I the only one who can't seem to manage with the OPI minis?  Maybe I'm just a klutz.

-Shbecky