Weaved Lines & Gradient

You may have noticed it's been quite a while since I've done some real nail art, so I figured hey, it's Saturday, I should do something cool with my nails! (I was supposed to be studying today but instead I did my nails and cleaned my room... still fairly productive I think!) 

I'm gonna call this look weaved lines.Iit's kind of like doing a braid on your nails but instead of using different colours you just use lines overtop of a base colour. I've been seeing this a lot on Instagram lately, and I have a couple pictures in my phone with this look as well. It seemed simple enough so I figured I'd give it a try! 

I also wanted to practice my gradient technique since I've tried a couple times with very little luck. I figured it if turned out terrible the lines would cover it up. I used two pinks to do my gradient and it's very subtle, and even more subtle in the pictures so for that I apologize. It turned out really good though! I'm very pleased and for my next mani I'll probably do a gradient on all my nails. It's time consuming and uses more polish than most designs but it's a really pretty look! I'll be posing a tutorial soon, or maybe I'll make a video, just with my own tips because it took me a couple tries to get a decent look so I'd like to share how I did it! 

The grey I used is Orly - Decoded. The darker pink is Orly - Cotton Candy, and the lighter pink is Maybelline Color Show - Born With It. I used Seche Vite for the top coat. I just got my Seche Vite a week ago and I love it! It dries so fast and leaves your nails so shiny. 

I know my lines aren't straight and aren't the same size... for some reason I was really shaky today although I'm usually very still! I really like this look but next time I think I'll try doing more of a weave as opposed to the top part being "weaved" and the bottom just with vertical lines. 

XO Natasha 

Zoya - Aurora

As soon as I saw a picture of this polish I knew I had to have it! Apparently so did everybody else, because while I was patiently waiting for mine to arrive, I noticed almost everyone posting swatches of it. 

Everyone said it's impossible to photograph this polish, and they are indeed correct. I've taken some different pictures of this polish so you can see the full effect, but even these pictures combined wouldn't do it justice. The polish is lighter IRL than in any of the pictures, simply because it has so much holo/glitter in it. And you can't tell in the pictures, but the holo is quite linear, more than I thought it would be. 

With flash, you can see just how much glitter is jam packed into this polish! It looks very speckled in the picture, but it's not as obvious IRL. 

Here are two pictures, both out of focus so you can see how much holo the polish really has. Still quite hard to capture but you can see it better in the bottle than on my nails. 

So we've already established how beautiful this polish LOOKS, but let me tell you about the application. I found this polish's formula extremely thick for Zoya which is really annoying, but it applied quite smoothly. Despite looking quite "dense", it's got a semi jelly finish so it took 3 thin coats to make it opaque. One thing I really like about this polish though is the fact that the holo glitter is tiny flakes as opposed to hex or square pieces. It makes the polish look a little more rustic and I just get a more natural feel since the shapes are very irregular. I didn't notice this until a day after I put the polish on, so if you're not a big fan of flakies, you don't have to worry about seeing them unless you look up close or do macro shots. 

This beauty is a must have in my opinion. It's a beautiful shade of purple to begin with, but with the teeny holo flakes, this colour just comes alive. 

Does anyone own own Blaze or Storm? I'm considering getting them since I love Aurora so much. 

XO Natashaa

Zoya Lovely Collection - Spring 2013

Zoya's Lovely collection for Spring 2013 consists of 6 beautiful polishes - 3 shimmers and 3 cremes. I had been lusting over this collection for a couple months before it was finally available on NPC. I was most excited for Jacqueline and Blu, but I ended up loving the whole collection! 

The three shimmers are Piaf, Gie Gie, and Julie. 

The three cremes are Blu, Neely, and Jacqueline. 

Piaf is a light and subtle mustard colour with very pretty shimmer in it. Colours in the yellow family tend to look awful against my Asian-yellow undertoned skin, but I don't mind this one. I like it much better on than in the bottle and I'm considering wearing this some time! The formula was great as always. This is two thin coats and you can see some VNL but if you did one half coat just at the tips the problem would be gone. 

Gei Gei is a really pretty light pink. There are already so many pinks like this one, with and without shimmer so I don't find this colour too unique, but it fits in perfectly with the whole collection. Formula was great again, and to fix the VNL you'll probably need three coats of this polish plus maybe one more just at the tips. 

This gorgeous light purple is called Julie. I don't have anything else like it and I was instantly in love with it when I put it on. It's bright yet fairly subtle and soft, and the slight shimmer really just makes it prettier. Formula was great like Piaf and Gei Gei. I found that of the three shimmers, Julie had the best coverage. Shown below is two coats with minimum VNL. 

Blu is a very light blue. Compared to a couple other blues I have, this one has undertones of purple, making it a teeny bit like a super white washed periwinkle! I find the intense white undertone is a little harsh, although I personally don't mind it. I love this one! It was the polish I was most excited for when I bought the Lovely collection. Application was good, a little thicker than normal cremes and not too smooth but a good top coat will fix any problems. I used two coats for the photo below to achieve full opacity. 

Neely is a great mint colour. I love this one because it's a little deeper and bolder than most mints which are really light and pale. This colour feels whole and it's got a little essence of OPI - Mermaid Tears. I don't own that polish but I've seen so many pictures that I know what it looks like. Application wasn't as good as the three shimmers, but it was typical for a creme polish. Shown below is two coats to achieve full opacity. 

Of the whole Lovely collection, this is the polish that caught my attention the most simply because of the name - it's my youngest sister's name! I've also really been into neutrals lately so I really liked this one. It's neutral, but not enough so that it just blends into your skin. I don't really know how to describe the colour, Zoya says it's a peach undertone. This one is way prettier in person and I'm glad I got it! Application was good, two coats are shown below for full opacity. 

What are your favourite polishes from this collection? I don't think I can pick one... or two... or three... I have to pick four! I like Julie, Blu, Neely and Jacqueline best. I do also like Piaf and Gei Gei, but Piaf isn't my first choice for polish colour at all, and I didn't find anything too special about Gei Gei that makes it stand out from other light pink polishes I have. 

Happy Polishing! 

XO Natasha