Zoya Electra

I'm not a fan of bar glitter, I think it looks like weird hairy glitters. I do, however, love holographic glitter which is what saves this polish for me. 

I decided to put it on by itself and make it opaque. I used two coats of Color Club Harp On It (silver holo) as my base color. Then I applied three coats of Electra. For the most part, I applied Electra with normal brush strokes. I dabbed the polish in here and there to make it even. With my finger, I pushed down the bars that were sticking over the edge of my nail. This needed two thick coats of Seche Vite to get a smooth surface. When I was ready to take it off, I simply peeled it off and threw it away. I used Elmer's Glue as my base coat making it easy to remove. My manicure stayed in place for about four days while I patiently waited for the sun to come back out. 

The sun never came back out so this picture was taken inside with flash to show the sparkles. 

It reminds me of the silver tinsel we put on our Christmas Tree when I was a little girl. I think it will be really fun on top of other colors or used in nail art. 

What do you think? Do you like bar glitter?

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-Mira

Zoya Ziv

Zoya Ziv is more than your standard gold polish. At first glance, I thought this was Zoya Trixie's golden sister. Then, when I got it and put it on, I realized that there is more than meets the eye with Ziv. It has a foil finish with flakes of warmer gold and a teeny tiny bit of silver shimmer. The base is a yellow gold so the deeper gold flakes are a bit noticeable when the light hits it.

 It has a lovely formula, I used three coats and topped it off with Seche Vite to make it extra glossy. I thought I'd have bits of gold everywhere when I removed it but it came off really well. 

I usually don't care for gold, it just doesn't look very flattering against my skin tone. I get major lobster hands with golds and yellows. Ziv made me look a little pink but it wasn't as bad as other gold polishes tends to do. Go figure. 

I have already shown you these but here is some nail art using Ziv. 

I'm going to try to post Electra today as well. I hauled some great polishes yesterday and I want to focus on getting those up for you to see asap. 

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-Mira

Zoya Logan

I used to think that green polish was obnoxious and wondered why anyone would ever wear it. Now, it's one of my favorite polish colors. I wasn't sure how I'd like Logan since it didn't have the holographic glitter Aurora, Blaze, and Storm have. I have plenty of green polish and wondered if this was special enough to buy. I'm glad I did because it is beautiful. I wore this for several days and got a lot of compliments on it. 

It has been stormy here lately so I had to take these pictures inside. It is soooo much more beautiful in real life. If you love green, I recommend adding this to your collection.

 Logan is a forest green with beautiful gold shimmer running throughout it. It's finish is kind of foil like but more shimmery. I also see a little bit of blue in the shimmer. It's very complex and interesting to look at. 

 Formula is fabulous. It applies smoothly, dries quickly, and is opaque in two coats. Be careful when removing, the gold shimmer is a little stubborn. 

 I think Logan would look really pretty with Zoya Ziv. I have a few ideas for those two. ;)

I used flash on this picture to show the gold shimmer. 

What do you think? Are you a fan of green polish? Let me know in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading!

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-Mira

Zoya Aurora

Aurora is the third and last polish from The Ornate Collection (Zoya) that has holographic particles. Electra has holographic bar glitter but I'm talking about the small holo glitter that Blaze, Storm, and Aurora have. Aurora is, of course, one of my favorites from the collection. I am a sucker for anything that shines, sparkles, glows, etc. I love the way Zoya describes Aurora, so I'm going to quote them today.

 "Zoya Nail Polish in Aurora can be best described as a full coverage, medium sugarplum purple flecked with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. The rainbow holographic sparkle turns this plum purple into something truly captivating." 

Amen to that. I couldn't have described this beauty any better. 

When I saw the promos for the first time, I thought, "Eh, I don't need another black or gold and I have so many reds, purples, and greens. This collection has everything I already have." 

W R O N G 

That's what I was, wrong! I saw the swatches take over the interwebs and how packed with micro holographic goodness these polishes were and in an instant I was pre ordering the collection. As for the polishes that don't have the holo particles, they are also very special. I'm glad I have them to join my out of control lovely collection. 

Ok, you want to see Aurora already, enough jabbering! On it. 

In Shade

This is not the best representation of what Aurora looks like inside or in shade. The color is a little too blue toned in the picture. If you look at the color of the swatch below and put it with the glitter particles in the swatch above, that's what it looks like without direct sunlight. 

 Direct Sunlight
It's gorgeous inside but this is where Aurora shines. For a scattered holo, this is pretty darn amazing don't you think?

Let's talk formula. I have had excellent luck with Zoya. They always have amazing formulas and Aurora is no different. It goes on smoothy but needs a second coat just to fill the areas that are a little thin to smooth everything out. It dries quickly, by the time I was done with my 2nd coat on both hands, I was ready to use my top coat. Wear time was great. I wore this one for a few days which is strange for me. I just had minor tip wear and that's it!!

I still have Logan, Ziv, and Electra to show you.
I've had Elelctra on my nails for three days now (I think) and it's driving me crazy! It won't stop snowing. There is no way I can capture how crazy sparkly my nails are without taking the pictures outside. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to get over it and take the pictures inside. I'll do my best to capture them!


Thank you for reading and for your wonderful support!
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-Mira

No More H8 Day

If you just want to see nail pictures, scroll to the end. =)

I've had my fair share of drama in my life and try my best to stay out of it now. I've stayed far away from the issue that inspired today's anti-bullying campaign in the nail community. After giving it some thought, I decided that I wanted to support anything that had to do with standing up against bullying. It's an issue that I'm very passionate about as a former elementary school teacher and as someone who was bullied herself. 

I don't like to dwell on the past so I won't go into details about my experience with bullying. I do know, from what I went through that the emotional scars left by hurtful words and actions never go away. They eventually fade but they are still there. Understanding that shaped who I was as a teacher and person. I can not stand bullying on any level. It's wrong, it's not ok, it needs to stop. 

As an adult, I still feel guarded when it comes to letting new people into my life. As a little girl, I let people walk all over me. My self-esteem was in the toilet and I thought I deserved to be treated the way I was. I know differently now. Unfortunately, I've swung to the other extreme and have become hyper sensitive about how I am treated. If I feel someone is mistreating me, the walls go up and it's almost impossible for that person to gain my trust. I'm working on a happy medium, but it's hard! 

When I first started this nail blog, I was really self conscious about my pictures. I'm still self conscious about them, but I'm starting to feel a little more confidant. I have shaky hands. Strangers have commented on them. Friends have commented on them. They've been shaky since High School and I don't know why. Having shaky hands makes it really hard for me to paint my nails nicely. To make it worse, I had a herniated disc in my neck that was squishing my spinal cord. The little bugger weakened my hands. As a result, I sometimes struggle with doing things with my fingers like buttoning buttons and you guessed it, painting my nails. When I first started painting my nails, it was really hard for me to control the brush. I was determined to get better. I decided if I practiced long enough, I'd develop muscle memory and improve. It's been a year, and it's not as hard to paint my nails anymore but I still struggle. 

Luckily, I've only had positive comments on my blog. I'd be really bummed if someone criticized me. I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. Like everyone else, I thrive on support and positive feedback. It pisses me off when I see people mistreat others. No one knows what it's like to be someone else. Let's just be kind to each other, ok? 

Here are two different purple manis. One is from when I first started this blog and the other is recent. I dedicate this post to anyone who has been bullied and to the fight to stop it. 

Thanks for reading, I know it was very long today. =)

-Mira

Zoya Storm

I have been looking for a polish like this for a while now. I have a few black polishes that have different types of glitter but they just weren't quite right. Storm is now my favorite black polish. It is full of small holographic glitter. It looks kind of like it's full of silver glitter inside but when you go outside, it comes alive. 

 Shade

Please forgive my cuticles and the weird lighting. 

Direct Sunlight

Formula was typical of Zoya which is fabulous. I only needed two coats. It went on smoothly without any issue. Another must have from Zoya. Really, the entire Ornate Collection is a must have. It's truly amazing!

I'll be back with Aurora. 

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Please subscribe and visit me on my Facebook page. I love comments! =)

-Mira

Zoya Blaze

I'm sure most of you have seen swatches of Zoya's Ornate Collection. They are all over right now and for good reason. They are gorgeous. I first saw pictures of them on a set of Zoya's spoons at a convention a while back. I thought they were pretty but I wasn't thrilled. I then heard that they were going to be scattered holographic polishes which of course got my attention again. After the first swatches hit my blog reader I was sold. I really love this collection. 

With how many swatches there are out there with the entire collection, I decided to show them one at a time. I had a rough few days and just couldn't get the whole collection ready to post today. I also, had a lot of fun photographing Blaze, Storm, and Aurora. I want to be able to show more pictures of their awesomeness. I have no idea which one of the three I love the most. I'm calling it a tie. 

Today as you can tell from the name of this post is all about Blaze. 

Blaze is a cranberry scattered holographic polish. These are the first holos Zoya have released and they did a great job. There are a ton of holographic particles, the formula is amazing, and they wear really well. I actually wore these for a few days and I only had a tiny bit of tip wear. Zoya rocks!

 This is what it looks like indoors. I took this outside in the shade. 

 Shade

The rest of the pictures were taken in direct sunlight. 

Do you love it? I couldn't stop looking at my nails when I had this on. 

Tomorrow I'll show you Aurora or Storm. 

Thanks for reading!

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-Mira