Has the winter weather totally just wreaked havoc on your hands and nails? (Raising my hands 🙋🏾). If you are saying yes, then I have some tips to help you get your hands and nails back in tip top shape.
This will be a short series of posts as I have several tips and one post would just be entirely too long.
What's my first tip? It's to perform or get a warm oil (or lotion manicure) instead of or in addition to the standard water manicure. I personally do water and oil, because the water soak sanitizes and whitens my nails. The water manicure does also soften your cuticles, but using a warm oil will also soften the cuticle, while providing much needed moisture to the nails and skin. Moisturizing is the key to maintaining healthy, strong and flexible nails and youthful looking hands.
Who will benefit most?
Those with brittle nails
Those whose hands are frequently immersed in water
Elite Deals is a program that allows you to purchase, at extremely low prices, a varied selection of items mainly via Amazon.com. The products range from skin care, hair care, electronics, kitchen tools, fitness tools, cell phone accessories and so much more. All they ask is that you review the product in return for getting products at minimal cost.
The prices of the items range from free (yes, free!!) to maybe $10+ depending upon the item. I love this program because it gives me the chance to try a product, especially the skin and hair care products, that I have been wanting to try but haven't because I do not want to pay the regular price for a product that I have no idea if it will work for me or not.
The products are full size, meaning your getting enough to actually use it enough times to know if you like it or if it works, unlike the sample sizes provided in many of the subscription boxes.
I discovered that April 10th is National Sibling Day and I thought this would be a great time to try something different. So what did I try…I honored my siblings by putting their picture on my nails.
Here's what I used:
Base coat: Naked Base by Zoya
Base color: Leia by Zoya
Top coat: Armor top coat by Zoya
For pics: Avery shipping labels (5661)
Color printer
Sharp scissors
Tweezers
Before getting started you need to print the pics onto the labels. I recommend doing test prints in black and white on regular paper to get the sizing right. It took me about 3 tries. Once you've got the sizing right, print the pics onto the mailing labels. and get started.
Using tweezers apply pictures to the nail (it's best to apply while top coat is still wet, to prevent any gaps that will allow moisture to get underneath the picture causing it to lift)
Gently press decal to ensure it adheres, especially the edges
Allow to dry
Apply another layer of top coat to seal it (be careful not to go over one spot multiple times, it will smear the ink)
Formula: OMG!! This formula is absolutely flawless. It applies like butter with hardly any mess. If you do get it on your skin I recommend cleaning up immediately, as the shimmer makes difficult to clean up once dry. The formula is the perfect consistency.
Brush: Perfection. Fans out perfectly every time, delivering amazingly clean lines at he base of the nail.
Opacity: to reach full opacity (no visible smile lines) you need three coats. But the opacity at 2 coats is sufficient. It is labeled as a 3 for intensity on Zoya's site, so it's not meant to be completely opaque. And I am fine with that.
Finish: it's dries very quickly to a glossy finish. Not as glossy as the creamed from this collection, but still glossy. According to their website, it is described as "a sheer, opalescent white with flecks of fuchsia, green and gold." I agree with the description, except I do not see any green nor gold, just the fuchsia.
Recommendation: I give this a 5 out of 5. I LOVE everything about this polish. This one is a must have in every polish lovers collection.
I got my hands on the +Zoya Nail Polish Spring 2016 Petals collection and for the most part it did not disappoint. The "shimmers" of the collection are not shimmers at all, but the colors are beautiful.
I only swatched 5 of the 6 colors, the 6th color will be used in my upcoming NOTD mani. I will say the 2 "shimmers" are exactly the same, as well as the 3 described as metallics.
They are discussed below from least favorite to favorite.
Laurel (pink, shimmer, warm)
Formula: ok, formula. The 1st coat is pretty streaky and patchy.
Opacity: (intensity level =4) It's a 2 coater, but mainly due to it being streaky.
Brush: Love the brush, it fans out very nicely, able to get nice clean lines at the base of the nail.
Finish: it has a very glossy finish and dries quickly. Sadly the micro shimmer is only visible under a microscope. This should definitely not be considered a shimmer. It's basically a cream.
Recommendation:I give this one a 3 out of 5 because the formula is streaky and the "shimmer" is nonexistent. I'm not the biggest fan of Barbie pinks, so I say pass on this one, as every polish brand has a color like this in their collection.
Tulip (coral, shimmer, warm)
Formula:ok, formula. The 1st coat is pretty streaky and patchy.
Opacity: It's a 2 coater, but mainly due to it being streaky.
Brush: Love the brush, it fans out very nicely, able to get nice clean lines at the base of the nail.
Finish:it has a very glossy finish and dries quickly. Just like Laurel, sadly the micro shimmer is only visible under a microscope. This should definitely not be considered a shimmer. It's basically a cream.
Recommendation: I give this one a 3 out of 5 because the formula is streaky and the "shimmer" is nonexistent. I actually love the color, but I am kind of on the fence about this one. Tulip would probably look amazing with 1 coat of Zahara layered over top of it. I recommend Tulip mainly because I am really loving the color.
Zahara (coral/orange, metallic, warm)
Formula: Great formula, applies easily and beautifully! All polish formulas should be like this.
Opacity: (supposed to be a 4) It's a 3 coater, with 2 coats you can clearly see my smile line.
Brush: Love the brush, it fans out very nicely, able to get nice clean lines at the base of the nail.
Finish: It has a glossy finish and the shimmer is gorgeous and highly visible!! I would consider this a shimmer instead of a metallic as Zoya describes it on their site. You can actually see faint flecks of fuchsia...just stunning.
Recommendation: I give this one a 4 out of 5. I love everything about this one except that is needs 3 coats at least. I was most intrigued by this one when I saw the collection. I definitely recommend buying.
Azalea (pink, metallic, cool)
Formula:Great formula, applies easily and beautifully! All polish formulas should be like this.
Opacity: (4) You could get away with 1 coat, but the 2nd coat really amps it up.
Brush: Love the brush, it fans out very nicely, able to get nice clean lines at the base of the nail.
Finish:It has a glossy finish and the shimmer is gorgeous and highly visible!! I would consider this a shimmer instead of a metallic as Zoya describes it on their site. You can actually see faint flecks of fuchsia...just stunning.
Recommendation: I give Azalea a 5 out of 5! Everything about this polish is perfect. If you like this shade of pink I highly recommend getting this!
Aster (blue/purple, metallic, cool)
Formula:Great formula, applies easily and beautifully! All polish formulas should be like this.
Opacity: (4) This is a 2 coater, unlike Azalea, it not as opaque on the 1st coat, but still looks great.
Brush: Love the brush, it fans out very nicely, able to get nice clean lines at the base of the nail.
Finish:It has a glossy finish and the shimmer is gorgeous and highly visible!! I would consider this a shimmer instead of a metallic as Zoya describes it on their site. You can actually see faint flecks of fuchsia...just stunning.
Recommendation: Like Azalea, I give Aster a 5 out of 5! Everything about this polish is perfect. If you like a periwinkle shade I highly recommend getting this!. This is my number 1 pick of the collection.
Here's the my swatch video from my Youtube channel:
I got my hands on the +Zoya Nail Polish 2016 Spring Petals Collection. There are a total of 6 polishes in the collection and I also ordered another polish trio. Fortunately for one lucky person, I already have all three polishes included in the "REEM ACRA TRIO". I searched Zoya's website, but it is no longer listed anywhere.
Here is my unboxing of my April 2016 Julep box. I will have a separate product review of the newly released Love Your Bare Face detoxifying cleansing balm stick.
