Five more Zoya swatches!

Beyonnce #285  A great metallic duo chrome.  A mix of metallic deep hot pink, and orange.  Firey, gorgeoous, and hard to photograph.

 Yes, The second pic is blurry, but shows the duo-chrome nicely!

Melodie #291  A very different color.  Cool toned nude cream base with tons of silver shimmer.  Very PITA to capture on film, but gorgeous in person!

Sirena #292  A bright flirty pink shimmer.  Slightly metallic bright satin pink with flecks pink and silver shimmer.  Super pretty!

 

Calypso #295  A pretty, peach color with tons of frost and shimmer.  Tiny flecks of silver shimmer, much like a peach colored Sirena.  Very nice!

Sunny #298  A warm creamy terracotta base with loads of golden fleck iridescence.  Almost due-chrome.  Very fun for summer or fall! 

Whew!  Hope you enjoy!

Awe, some more swatches!

I have been majorly MIA lately.  I would like to one day own every Zoya color...that's intense.  I'm about 198 bottles short.  I just recently bought the Fire & Ice collection, and now have 176 bottles.  I would like to swatch new collections as I get them in, but need to swatch all the others first.  I know it's nice to look at four fingers glazed in a single color, but please forgive me.  I am going to swatch one finger for each color.  I know this doesn't look as appealing as four fingers, but I have a LOT of colors to swatch for you!  I did ten just tonight! :)  Click on the pics for a closer inspection! :)

Zoya Haley #251  A cream red.  Rich warm tomato shade.  Bright.

Zoya Tobey #253  A cool lavender cream with a touch of violet.

Zoya Jinx #254  A wonderful shimmery golden brown full of shimmer and micro fleck.  Sorry, not the sharpest pics.  Great Fall color!

Zoya Faith #255  A slightly metallic magenta shade of pinkish red.  Micro fleck/frost...reminds me of velvet.

Zoya Sophie #258  A warm cream.  A brick colored brownish red, if that makes sense. 

Zoya Stella #265 A bright blue-red.  Appears mostly like a cream, but has a delicate pinkish frost.  A go-to red.

Zoya Heather #266  A cool-toned white lilac with a hint of lavendar purple.  Appears mostly as a cream, but has a very faint shimmer you can see if you look closely.  Very clean and classy!

Zoya Meadow #268  A deep dusty mauve absolutely loaded with tons of golden shimmer.  The pictures don't do it justice.  This color was most chosen by older clientelle, but is still shimmery enough to be worn at all ages.

Zoya Flora #269  A very pretty, slightly warm, pinkish cream.  Simple and clean. Opaque.

Zoya Poppy #270  This color is so pretty!  A great frosted peach.  Very pretty!  Lots of shimmer going on!

Zoya Buffy and Kara

Zoya Buffy 248



Zoya Kara 250

Zoya Joy and Anthea

Zoya Joy 236

 

Zoya Anthea 238

Zoya Max and Odilia

Zoya Max 228



Zoya Odilia 231

Zoya Charisma and Fiona

Two more lovely vids!

Zoya Charisma 215



Zoya Fiona 223

Zoya Angel and Harmonie

I didn't do much rendering last night since it was late...(and then there was the amazingly scary amount of rain and lightening storms). 

I'm currently rendering my third video for youtube, but I do have two vids so far! The name above the vids is a link to Zoya's website with the color listed. :)  Enjoy! More to come!


Zoya Angel 210



Zoya Harmonie 211

Videos.

Stay tuned...I'm in the process of editing and uploading vids to my YouTube page.  Once it's all up, I'll be adding them here!  I am very excited because swatching this way goes much faster for me!  I did 10 swatches...so stay tuned! :D

Buffers and your nails.

I was recently asked how often you should buff your nails.  I thought I'd share my answers with you all!

Buffers come in different colors and grits.  Usually, the color indicates how course the grit is. When shopping for buffers you may notice grit numbers.  The lower the grit number, the courser the grit will be.  For example, a foot file typically has two sides, 80/160.  The 80 grit will quickly remove callous, while the 160 side will refine and smooth the texture. 

Many people have ridges to their nails.  Buffers are a great way to eliminate that.  They are also great if you have a nail that is peeling, to gently remove the peeling area, without cutting off the nail.  (kind of like trimming off a split end versus cutting all your hair off.)  I use yellow buffers, they are typically 240 grit.  White buffers are the most common, but usually are best for refining nail enhancements, such as acrylic. 

There are also four sided buffers, the courser side used to file down ridges, with the three remaining sides gradually refining in grit strength until the nail surface is shiny. 

Regardless if you only buff out the ridges, or if you want to buff until shiny, you can over do it.  It is best to only file the ridges as the grow out, and when rebuffing, make sure you only do the new growth when using the courser grits.  If you buff your nails shiny, you can use the slick side (usually grey) to your heart's content.  The key is to understand that when you buff your nails with a courser buffer, you are essentially removing a very small portion of the nail plate.  When done in moderation this generally doesn't cause an issue.  But if your nails are naturally very weak, I would recommend using a ridge filling base coat, just to be on the safe side.  Some people naturally have very deep ridges, either due to injury to the nail matrix, or internal causes such as medicine or chemotherapy.  Because of this, a moderate amount of buffing may not smooth the nail out entirely, and the ridge filling base coat will help this. 

I hope this helps! 

Key nail terms to never say again.

As a nail tech I have heard a few phrases that should be retired from ever being said.  In any language.  Ever again.  I will admit right now that I've been guilty of using these terms when I was younger, and didn't know any better.

My number one pet peeve nail term, that I hear ALL the time??????

FAKE NAILS.  or ARTIFICIAL NAILS.
Really??  Fake?  Oh no.  They are just as real as the natural nail underneath.  Just because they are made from a different chemical structure and didn't grow out of your own body, does not make them fake.  Your natural nails are made of chemical structure.  So are the other nails.  Do you tell your friend, "Oh I just LOVE your FAKE hair color!"  Or do you say, "My friend has FAKE hair." No. You would say, "My friend colors her hair."  I will tell you right now, the majority of nail techs out there take great pride in their work and are in this industry because of their passion.  It is an art form.  Not just because we paint (polish), but the overall effort as a whole.  The shaping, the structure....We might make it look easy, but there is an art to it. In reference to my aunt, we are not simply "gluing pieces of plastic on people's fingernails."  Yeah, she said that.  Even when gluing tips on, I will guarantee it's not as simple as it looks.  You obviously have to have the right size tip, and use the right viscosity glue.  We don't just use super glue.  Really.  Speaking of nail tips, do you know what a C curve is?  Your nail tech does.  Nail tips have varying degrees of that too.  Basically, nail tips are as different as jeans. After you get the tip on, (unless you are sculpting a nail) you have to choose which media to work with.  Acrylic, gel, wraps, etc.  Each media has it's own learning curve, and takes a bit to get use to.  When you see an awesome set of nails that look natural, that nail tech has mastered their media.  So don't devalue their talents by saying "fake nails".  Artificial doesn't sound better either.  It's like saying "faux" versus "fake".  They are called "NAIL ENHANCEMENTS".

 By the way, natural nails are not better than nail enhancements, or vice versa.  Don't act like one is inferior to the other.  It's all dependent on the person and what their nails need.  So if your friend shows you her nail enhancements, don't say (with your nose in the air), "I don't wear fake nails!"  Really?  Are her nails fake?  Tsk Tsk!  They are, say it with me, "nail enhancements".

CHOP SHOPS, OR (INSERT NATIONALITY HERE) SHOPS
I know what you mean.  The enormous amounts of nail salons that seem to pop up overnight, run like a factory, and are notorious for being dirty, unsafe, and often working without a license.  But lets not classify this to such bad terms, okay?  Let's call these places NON STANDARD SALONS, or NSS for short.  Or, if you must, "discount salons".  But really, NSS sounds much better.  Let me make this perfectly clear, do not judge a nail salon/nail tech by their race!!!!!!!!  I am white, but I know there are plenty of white nail techs out there who "speak English" and aren't up to par with legal cleanliness standards.

ACRYLIC NAILS/FAKE NAILS RUINED MY OWN NAILS
Really?  Sigh.  Okay, there are some non standard salons that use illegal acrylic liquid.  It's MMA, or methyl methacrylate.  This was banned by the FDA for use in the nail industry. That stuff can cause damage.  But the legal stuff, EMA or ethyl methacrylate, is not.  People like to blame nail enhancements too easily.  What about your tech?  Have they had additional training with their electric file?  Or do they constantly burn or nick you?  Do you get fills/rebalances on time?  Or do you hold out for three or four weeks until you have major outgrowth and lifting?  Do you get tired of them and start to bite or rip them off?  When you want to remove them, do you have them professionally removed?  Don't blame the enhancement when it was likely improper home care.  Nail enhancements don't cause any more damage than the brownies fresh out of the oven do to your hips.  It's all in what you do with the brownies. :)

NAIL SPA
This is in reference to a business using this in their business name.  If you walk in and there is quite, relaxing music, with a relaxing atmosphere to match, then yes, that's a spa.  But if there are harsh odors (from improper ventilation) lots of constantly loud chatter, tv's, and loud un spa-like music, it shouldn't have spa in the title.  Just using hot towels doesn't make it a spa.

Okay, Congratulations if you've made it this far!!  This was longer than I had anticipated! :) 
 

Just say no to shaving.

No, I'm not talking about the hair on your legs, or pits.  I'm talking about shaving the skin off your feet.  We have callouses on our feet for a reason.  We walk on our feet.  Our skin is supposed to be thicker there.  Otherwise we wouldn't be able to walk, let alone run.  (Not that I do that...)  As a nail tech, I see all kinds of different feet, and I know that no two feet have the same callous.  Some people have althlete's foot, some just have callous that starts to peel away.  (By the way, you don't want to peel skin off your feet...just trim it off. Trust me.)

I can confidently say that using a credo blade (also called a callous shaver) is illegal for salon use in Massachusettes and Iowa.  They are not the only states.  You can call a beauty school in your state and ask to speak with the nail instructor.  They will know for sure if it is illegal in your state or not.  If it's illegal for use in a state, salons can receive fines for using them. 

Why is it not good to shave your callouses off?  Well, putting the risk of slicing the bottom of your foot aside, you are simply taking off too much skin too fast.  It is better (and safer!) to use a foot file.  The best one I would recommend is the Swedish Fot File made by Flowery.  This is the holy grail of foot files in my professional opinion.  They are disinfectable, sturdy, and the grit lasts and lasts.  These files are not cheap, they are usually around $10, but are well worth it.  After using them, you can scrub them clean with soap and a scrub brush.  Or, of course, see a nail professional who would love to do the work for you! :)

Another thing you don't want to use, is those round devices resembling an egg with a cheese grater.  Yes, I know what they are called, but am not saying it.  You know what I mean.  This is like a ton of razors scraping away your skin.  Your skin is getting cut away, chunk by chunk, unevenly.  This is why I still recommend a professional foot file.  Cheese graters are meant for cheese.  Not feet.  Even if your feet smell like cheese. lol 

So please, just say no to shaving.

Zoya, Take Four!

Four more polishes for you to ogle! :)

Zoya Jasmine #197  A pretty red.  Fine shimmer, reflective red with slight pink tone to it.  Very pretty!

Zoya Pershiphony #199  A gorgeous metallic pink, with golden shimmer.

Zoya Jordana #201  A pretty cream Spring pink with subtle pink shimmer.  So nice!

Zoya Jolie #203  This is an amazing shimmer!  It's a pearl white with a golden pinkish hue.  Hard to capture with the camera, but certainly gorgeous!