Nails: Zoya Earth Day Exchange

Hello Beauties,

The Zoya Earth Day promo is BACK!! Check out the deets below:

"Give the earth a helping hand by joining the healthy nail polish movement! Since its inception, ZOYA has been the pioneer of toxin-free nail polish, releasing the most beautiful colors in the healthiest formula available each season. With Zoya Nail Polish, you don't have to compromise a healthier lifestyle for a glamorous one. go worry-free with a formula that is BIG5FREE**

Now you can join smart, eco-chic women who are changing their world, one gorgeous Zoya Nail Polish bottle at a time! To help kick start your "color cleanse", the Zoya Earth Day Nail Polish Exchange is BACK for 2014. Not only is ZOYA making it easy to swap out old, unwanted color for the world's healthiest and longest wearing natural nail polish formula on the market, we will dispose of your old shades in an eco-friendly manner!

This offer is only good for 1 week - so hurry - Don't Wait!
Valid 4/21/14 - 4/28/14 (11:59pm EST)___
PLEASE VISIT THE ZOYA BLOG FOR COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS!
or visit zoya.com"

Are you excited for this promo this year? What are you going to order? Share in the comment section.

Please Comment, Like and Share this post!

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!

Thank for reading,



*(information received from Zoya's PR department.)

Zoya Ornate Collection: Ziv and Electra!!

Today's post is the last of the Ornate Collection. It is all about Ziv and Electra. Ziv is a golden foil that has some flashes of orange/red depending on lighting. Electra is all about bar glitter. She is a holo bar glitter top coat. You can purchase The Ornate Collection here.

Zoya Ornate Collection: Logan!!

I call Logan a sleeper. This is because everyone is going crazy over Aurora, Storm and Blaze. I want to show you guys that Logan has been "slept on," meaning she's beautiful and people don't recognize it. Logan is a beautiful dark green  polish with gold duochrome shimmer! She is a stunner. Logan can be purchased here.

Zoya Ornate Collection: Blaze!!

I have to say that I am in love with Blaze. She's my fave of The Ornate Collection. Blaze is a deep red color with loads of holo glitter throughout! She makes me giddy just thinking of her beauty. You can find Blaze here.

Zoya Ornate Collection: Aurora!!

Zoya's Ornate Collection has some great colors. The second polish I'm bringing to you guys is Aurora! Aurora can be found on Zoya's website, here. The first one I reviewed was Storm (found here.) Aurora is a favortie among a lot of people. Aurora is a purple jelly-like polish filled with holo goodness through out.

Zoya Ornate Collection: Storm!!

Storm is the first color from Zoya Orante Collection that I will review. I chose to review Storm first because she caught my eye first. Storm can be purchased here. Zoya describes Storm as, "as a full coverage, holiday black with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. Storm is elegant, powerful and versatile." I definitely agree with this statement! 

Zoya Carly

Today's post is about Zoya Carly, a cousin to Zoya Jem, in my opinion. (Click here to see Jem.)  Carly was apart of Zoya's Surf Collection Spring 2012. Carly is a beautiful sparkly, shimmery purple with pink undertones. Carly is very easy to work with and it applied very well. As always I had no issues with this Zoya polish.

Zoya describes Carly as, "Very rich, bold, red-toned dark purple with iridescent red and silver metallic shimmer and a dense foil finish. The bold color and sparkling foil finish make Carly like gift wrap for your nails."

Let's take a look at Carly:

                                                        All pictures are Natural light:

This is my first time using Carly and I absolutely LOVE it!! I love the shimmer in this. It's such a transitional polish. I think Carly definitely works well with any time of the year. It definitely work with this year's fall trends. Go check it out!! You need this polish. You can purchase Carly here!

Thanks for reading,
xoxo -Tamala

Zoya Jem for Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month

September is also Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month. Sickle cell anemia is a disease passed down through families in which red blood cells form an abnormal sickle or crescent shape. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body and are normally shaped like a disc. Sickle Cell Anemia is very close to my heart because I have two younger brothers and they both have the disease. My cousin also has it. 

Sickle Cell is something that people of African decent should definitely be aware of. Please know if you have the Sickle Cell trait and your partner as well. If you both have the trait you can pass the disease on to your children. For more information on Sickle Cell visit here! 

I'm wearing a Burgundy/maroon mani today in support of Sickle Cell. :-) I chose Zoya Jem. Zoya Jem is a beautiful red-purple color with gold flecks! I've loved Jem since the moment I saw it. I've had my eye on it and I finally bought it and used it today for this special post. Jem is a beauty. As with all Zoya nail lacquers, Jem applied great with no issues. 

One coat of Jem had full coverage and NO streaks, but I added another coat just to be safe. I also, hit my nail so I had to put another coat and I didn't want the pictures to look weird :-).
Zoya describes Jem as, "A dark red-toned purple base with metallic dark pink highlights and subtle gold duochrome flecks.? This shade has it all; bold color, vampy drama, bright sparkle and a glam rock persona.?"

Now Take a look:

(Artificial light)

(Natural Light)

(natural light) Blurry to show the undertones.

Please support Sickle Cell Anemia!! Wear your Burgundy for Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month.

I really like Jem. And it reminds me of the old cartoon Jem. Do you remember the cartoon? What do you think?

Please like, Share and Comment...


Thanks for reading,
xoxo -Tamala

Zoya Robyn -Try It On Tuesday!!

For today's Try It On Tuesday, I decided to use the color I tend to hoard most. If you've been following me for awhile, you know that the color is BLUE :-). The blue decided on is Zoya Robyn! What better blue to try?


Zoya describes Robyn as the "perfect turquoise cream." Robyn is darker than shown here on Zoya's site, but she is still a pretty vibrant blue. I like this color!! 


I decided that I wanted this beautiful color to be accented by a white. Instead of polishing a white accent nail, I did white dots as an accent. The white I used is my favorite white, 10 Lady In White.

I used Zoya Robyn, 10 Lady In White and Seche Vite 

and dotting tools to achieve the above look.

I love this combination! What do you think? 


(Please like, share and comment) 




Thanks for reading,
xoxo -Tamala


(all polishes here were purchased by me and all opinions are my own)

Try It on Tuesday!! Zoya Mira

I have had Zoya Mira for a little while now. I love the purple gumball color of Mira. As always with Zoya's polishes, Mira applied like a dream. She would've been a one coater, but I noticed a few bald spots on the first coat. The second coat completely filled that in and Mira was perfection!

I'm also a big fan of the name Mira! How cute is that? Mira, Mira, Mira!! Anywho, my Try It On Tuesday post is dedicated to the lovely grapey purple of Mira.


Take a look:

Isn't she a beauty? I think so.

So, are you taking part in the Try It On Tuesday challenge? You definitely should! It allows you to try the polishes that you haven't. If you participate post your picture on my Facebook page, I'd love to see.


Thanks for reading,
xoxo -Tamala


(Mira was purchased with my own money and all opinions are my own. I wasn't paid for this review.)

Gossip anyone?

Zoya Elodie is from their Gossip Collection. Elodie is a bright orange/coral/pink creme-jelly. I know that sounds weird, but trust me. This color is a must have. The color is sort of watermelon colored, but much brighter. She gives you the hot pink vibe with her brightness. Zoya classifies Elodie as a creme, but I think she's a mix of creme and jelly. I tend to lean more toward a jelly. She applies like a jelly and I used three coats to get the desired effect.

Elodie is lovely. Like most Zoya polishes, she applied very well and the formula is AH-mazing. Take a look:

No flash.

This is the closest I could get to Elodie's true color.

Elodie looks similar to Kate from the Blogger Trio found here. They looks similar, but they aren't dupes.

Elodie can be found at Zoya.com here.

Do you have Elodie? What do you think she should be classified as, a creme or jelly? Please share in the comment section.

Thanks for reading,
xoxo -Tamala


(Elodie was purchased by me and all opinions are my own. I wasn't paid for this review.)

Zoya's Arizona!

Zoya's Arizona is from Zoya's Beach Collection 2012. Man o'man I fell in love with this Collection  from the moment I saw it. I already have Shelby, Tracie  and Wednesday (click to see review) and love those as well. The only one I'm missing from this Collection is Lara. I will soon review Reagan.

Back to Arizona, she is a lovely bright vibrant creme Orange. She is perfect for Summer. I was swatching this color and decided to keep it on and wear it today! I couldn't believe how great she looks. Zoya describes Arizona as, "Softened bright citrus orange with a muted cream finish. This orange is bright but also very soft, giving it a fun, orange sherbet-like look on the nails." 

Arizona formula is not what I expected. Because she is a Zoya polish I had high expectations. She went on a little streaky with the first coat. By the second coat I breathed a sigh of relief. The second coat smoothed out the streaks and left Arizona full of orange creamy goodness!!

Take a look at the pics:

She's a beauty, right? I thinks so! Another winner from Zoya. I've went from 8 Zoya polishes to 31 in like 2 weeks! It's ridiculous. Arizona can be purchased here or Ulta!

*don't forget you can get your free bottle of Zoya by clicking here if this is your first time signing up. The coupon will appear in your "my account" tab under "my promotions." You will have to pay shipping though.

Thanks for reading,

xoxo -Tamala

*Arizona was purchased by me and all opinions are mine. I wasn't paid for this review

I love Tamsen!!

Zoya's Tamsen is a beautiful creme red. Tamsen is from Zoya Summertime Collection 2011. Zoya describes her as, "Medium warm brick red with strong orange tones with an opaque cream finish.  A special red that is both enticing and mysterious." I definitely agree Tamsen does have orangey tones. Tamsen is the perfect Opaque red for this time of year. I absolutely love this color. Tamsen is also close to my name so I have a soft spot for her in my heart.


Tamsen was opaque on the first coat, but I saw a little bit of the VNL (visible nail line) so I did two coats. Tamsen has a shiny finish, but I did add a top coat just to seal the manicure. I don't have anything negative to say about this lacquer. Zoya does it yet again. Have you ever been disappointed in a Zoya polish? The formula was great and it applied easily. Love it!!

No light just a flash from the Camera. 

(Zoya polishes can be bought from Zoya.com. If you are new to Zoya right now if you click this LINK you can get a free bottle all you pay is shipping. Try it today. Zoya doesn't disappoint. The free bottle coupon will show up under your account once you set it up.)

What's you go to Red? Do you have Tamsen?

Thanks for Reading
xoxo -Tamala


(*Tamsen was purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own.)

Jessica & Kristen

I told you guys that I was going to do a swatch comparison of Julep's Jessica and Zoya's Kristen here. This post is dedicated to that. As you can see in the picture above, in the bottle they look like dupes, but I'll show you the slight difference in the two.

 Jessica is described by Julep as "soft and sweet baby blue creme."

In the picture to the left, you can see what Jessica looks like by herself. Very pretty!

Jessica applied very well, but the brush was a little too uncontrollable for my taste. It was a tad bushy.

Jessica can easily be applied in one coat, but I did two coats and a top coat for this swatchicle.

(sn: no clue why the bottle looks that way :-(. I just noticed that.)

Kristin is described as "a gull gray nail polish with a mild blue hue. An ideal cool neutral colors that covers fully opaque in two coats."

Zoya's Kristen is a very popular color! She is beautiful. A bit of a dusty blue that applies very well. Kristen is not as bright as Jessica, but perfect.

The brush on her wasn't bushy as with Jessica. It was smaller, but I had more control.

Zoya gets the prize here for better brush.

Here's a side by side comparison. Jessica is on the left and Kristen is on the right. Jessica is perfect for Spring and Kristen is perfect for Winter. These are the seasons they were meant for. Both Julep and Zoya knew what they were doing here!


I love them both and as I told you guys here you don't NEED both, but I do like both. One for the Spring and one for the Winter.







So in the Jessica vs Kristen who wins for you? Is there a winner?

As always thanks for reading.

xoxo Tamala

Zoya GMA Deal

Right now there is a deal on Zoya polishes for a pack of 3 colors for $12!! Use code: GMAZOYA at check out. This offer is valid until Friday March 30th 11:59 PM!!

If you are new to Zoya click HERE to sign up and receive a $5 coupon to spend on a future order.


*also there is a three pack that includes some of the new Beach & Surf Collection 2012. Go check it out!!

Tamala

3 colors, 3 nails

I was really excited to try out these three colors. I just decided to use three fingers and see what the colors looked like. I absolutely love these colors! One coat of Zoya "Holly", Zoya "Charla" and Essie "Coat Azure:"If you look at this picture you can see that Both Zoya's colors are still a little sheer with one coat. The Coat Azure by Essie seems to be pretty opaque with just one coat.Here is a second coat of each. This is without a top coat:Charla is strategically placed between Holly and Coat Azure. She is blue with the Green Shimmer, however the above picture does not show the green shimmer in Charla. Charla is actually my favorite out of the three. She is very shiny and the green metallic shimmer is so pretty in person. I tried several times to pick up the shimmer, but my cameras just would pick it up. Sorry.This last picture is with a Top coat. This top coat really does nothing for the colors. Holly and Charla both have a natural shine to them. I really love these Zoya colors. The Essie doesn't have a natural shine, but with a shiny brilliant top coat she too can have a little more pop! What do you think of each color? What is your favorite of the three?