Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I'm a bit late to the party on this one but let me start with a story.  I always thought that bar glitter looked weird.  In fact, to me it looked kind of hairy.  Because of this, I didn't originally purchase the Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection when it was released back in November of 2011.  Fast forward a month and I won a Twitter contest held by Glamour Magazine and Zoya and won the whole collection!

I was so excited!  So, even though I'm late on these swatches and reviews, hopefully you enjoy them!  Below you will see each other foils followed by their corresponding bar glitter!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Izzy

First up is Izzy, which I surprisingly loved!  I say surprisingly because I'm not really a pink person but this magenta is gorgeous!  Practically a one coater but I did 2 for full coverage and it looks gorgeous!  The foil finish is just perfect!

Above:  2 coats Izzy under 1 coat Kissy

Kissy is the matching polish to Izzy.  Kissy is small pink glitter with pink, purple, silver and holographic bar glitter.  While it does look a bit hairy to me, I kind of love it!  It's so festive and fun!  Plus it matches so perfectly with Izzy, what's not to love?

Above:  2 coats of Noel

Please excuse my lobster hands above!  I was still figuring out my lightbox!  Noel is a gorgeous medium blue with lots of silver foil.  I love it!  This was truly opaque in 2 coats but I added a second for good measure.  I love that you can really see the silver in this polish but it's definitely still blue!

Above:  1 coat of Twila over two coats of Noel

Noel is similar in consistency to Kissy however it's all blue glitter, both small round glitter and larger bar glitter, with the slightest hint of holographic bar glitter.  I would have liked the holographic to be a bit more pronounced and maybe seen another color, like purple mixed in, because all the blue to me just looks like hair blue nail polish!  I really wanted to love this polish but I think it was my least favorite of the collection.

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Holly

Holly was definitely my favorite foil of this collection.  It's a beautiful, deep, rich hunter green that just glows on the nail!  I seriously love this!  Perfectly opaque in 2 coats, so much pigment, this is the perfect holiday green!

Above:  1 coat Rina over 2 coats Holly

Rina is an almost all green glitter, with both small round green glitter and green bar glitter with just a hint of holographic bar glitter as well.  Even though it looks like hairy green, I kind of like it!  For some reason, this just works to me!

So there you have it, the Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection from Holiday 2011.  I love the foils and am slowly coming around to the bar glitter!  Zoya nail polishes are available on their website and are $8 each!

What did you think of this collection?  Any dupes?  Any must haves for you?

Dr.'s REMEDY Holiday 2011 Jolly and Joy Collection Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers and happy new year to you all!  I will have another fun post later today but first I wanted to show you something that came out last month and I didn't get a chance to show you in 2011!  So, I figure one last holiday collection is a great way to kick off 2012!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Essential Emerald

Up first is the gorgeous ESSENTIAL Emerald.  This stunning shade of green has a ton of micro shimmer to it that I love!  It's perfectly opaque in two coats and the shimmer really gives it great dimension.  This was almost a one coater but two coats gives it the perfect pigmentation.

Above:  2 coats of REVIVE Ruby Red

Every holiday collection needs a perfect red and Dr.'s REMEDY got it right with REVIVE Ruby Red!  I love how deep this color is but it doesn't even come close to blackened territory!  The shimmer looks so festive and the opacity was amazing with two coats.  If this color doesn't scream "party!" then I don't know what would!  I love that this is a true red and doesn't get orange or blue as well!

Above:  2 coats of PASSION Purple

I had a bit of trouble capturing the true color of this polish but trust me when I say it's really pretty!  PASSION Purple is a bit magenta leaning which is what gives it a warm glow rather than a blue/purple look.  The shimmer is very festive and this color looks incredibly rich on the nails!  As usual, 2 coats gave it perfect opacity and it's so shiny even without top coat!

Above:  2 coats of RESOLUTION Red Glitter

A glitter!  I was so excited when I got the original press release for these colors that there was a glitter involved!  In fact not one, but two!  The first one I tried was RESOLUTION Red Glitter which is red, sliver and copper glitter all packed into one!  I love that the glitter was opaque in 2 coats but wasn't thick as some glitters can be!  The effect of the different shades makes it look almost like a warm pink but up close you can see the red.  Look at how sparkly it is in the last shot!

Above:  2 coats of SERENE Silver Glitter

Last but certainly not least is SERENE Silver Glitter.  I'm in love!  Silver, blue and purple glitter all in one?  It's like the perfect storm of glitter goodness!  Like RESOLUTION Red Glitter, SERENE Silver Glitter is opaque in 2 coats but not thick.  I love the effect of the different colors!  It's absolutely stunning and the perfect party polish! 

All in all, these polishes were great.  Dr.'s REMEDY formula is always fantastic and I love that they don't have toxic chemicals and the polish is actually good for your nails!  Dr.'s REMEDY retails for $17 and can be found on their website.  I think my favorites would be ESSENTIAL Emerald because it's just such a gorgeous green (and it doesn't make my skin look yellow like many greens can) and SERENE Silver Glitter because it's so unique!

What did you all think of this collection?  Did you pick any up when they first came out?  Any must haves for you?  Any dupes?

China Glaze Let It Snow Holiday 2011 Collection Part 1 Swatches and Review

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Today, I have the first part of the China Glaze Let It Snow Holiday 2011 Collection!  I bought 9 out of the 12 polishes in this collection and bought them as sets in and of themselves so today you get to see the Winter Ice portion!

As per the name, this part of the collection features blues, greys, silvers and sparkles!  This is actually my favorite of the sets so I wanted to show it off first!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Blue Year's Eve

This polish is stunning!  This is truly a perfect royal blue shimmer!  I truly fell in love when I put this polish on.  It was almost a one coater but I put on a second coat for full opacity.  I just love how deeply pigmented this polish is!  It's such a great fall/winter color.  In fact, I'm looking at the swatch of this right now (I swatched it a couple of weeks ago) and I want to put it back on tonight!  As far as I know, no staining with this blue either!

Above:  2 coats of Tinsel Town

Tinsel Town is a gorgeous charcoal grey micro glitter that also has larger, hexagonal glitter packed into it.  Fully opaque in 2 coats, to me it looks like glittering pavement.  I love it!  As many grey and silver polishes that I own, I don't have a dupe to this.  I've been wearing it as a pedicure for about 2 weeks and it's just so pretty!  I love how it's dark but glamorous with all the glitter.  It is a bit of a pain to remove, but totally worth it!

Above:  2 coats of Icicle

Icicle is a very pretty silver foil.  I have a lot of silver foils, some are lighter, some darker, some more sparkly, and Icicle is a pretty standard light smooth silver foil.  It's pretty but not the most unique.  It is fully opaque in two coats and would be great as a base for layering!

Above:  1 coat of Snow Globe over various polish and bare nail

Last but certainly not least is Snow Globe.  You may remember that I recently did a comparison of Snow Globe to MAC Unconditionally Fabulous and found that they were fairly close!  Above you can see Snow Globe over my bare nail as well as the other 3 polishes in this collection.  Look how stunning it is over Blue Year's Eve!  Here is a macro shot of it:

Absolutely stunning!  I just want to layer Snow Globe over everything!


So there you have it!  The first 4 polishes from the China Glaze Let It Snow Collection!  So far, I'm very impressed with these polishes!  They are all opaque in 2 coats (with the exception of Snow Globe of course) and very pigmented.  Blue Year's Eve is definitely my favorite!

What do you think of these polishes?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?