Another special deal from Nubar!

The 20% sale has ended and Nubar is already offering another nice deal for their customers!

Until the 15th, receive a free full-sized Foundation Base Coat and Diamont Shine Top Coat with every order of $50 or more.  (If this were a discount, it would amount to 29% off!)

I don't think there's a code or anything, I'm pretty sure they just add it to every order that totals at least $50.  

The Diamont Shine topcoat has been getting really good reviews lately- I've been using it a lot more and find that it really does seem to help polish wear!  

Thanks, Nubar!

Dazzle Dry Nail System

I've been seeing the Dazzle Dry nail system advertised in Nails Magazine for months, and it had me very curious. I finally broke down and had to have more information on this mysterious brand. Now that I've tried it, I am in love!

Dazzle Dry is a line of super fast drying nail lacquers, if you can't tell from the name... And when they say fast dry, they mean it!! They are seriously the fastest drying polishes I have ever used in my entire life. I am extremely impressed.

For best results, it is recommended to use the entire Dazzle Dry system when applying the polish on natural nails. The system consists of a nail prep/primer, a basecoat, the color and a topcoat.

The Dazzle Dry Nail Prep is sort of like pimped-out rubbing alcohol. It removes oil and sanitizes nails to provide the ideal surface for the bascoat and polish. This step really helps polish wear and prevents chipping.

After you prep your nails with a Nail Prep soaked cotton ball, you apply the special Dazzle Dry basecoat. A word of warning: if it is cold outside or wherever you are storing the basecoat, it will solidify. No joke. When I got my bottle it was a thick, cloudy gel, almost the texture of Vaseline. This is easily remedied by running some warm water over the bottle. It returns to a clear liquid state very quickly. Apply one coat of basecoat to your nails.

It is important for the basecoat to be fully dry before applying the Dazzle Dry polish. If it's not completely dry, it will make the polish streaky and stringy and you don't want that. So give the basecoat a couple seconds to dry before you try to polish.

Applying the polish is a breeze. Of the three colors I tried, one was completely opaque in one coat and the other two only needed two coats. If you are doing two coats of color, wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second to avoid streaking or clumping. The polish dries so fast, you really only need to wait a minute or two for it to be totally dry.

This polish dries to a semi-matte or satin finish. If you prefer a glassy shine, apply the Dazzle Dry topcoat. The topcoat dries in seconds and is incredibly shiny.

Pretty straightforward. The coolest part is how quickly this polish dries. If you do only one coat of polish, it dries completely in about three minutes. If you do two coats like I did, it's completely dry- not dentable, smudgeproof, absolutely bone dry- in about five minutes. Holy crap!!!

The polish dries very hard and shiny. My nails feel very strong while wearing it. And on top of all that, this stuff wears like iron!! I've been wearing it for a couple days already and there's barely a hint of tipwear, no chipping, no shrinkage even after cleaning, cooking, dozens of hand washings and a very hot bath. Friggin' amazing.

Here are the colors I've tried:





Carnival Coral. A vibrant, saturated, summery coral creme. I'm currently wearing this as a pedi and it's very flattering! I don't normally wear this type of shade, but this is bright enough to be interesting.



Lavender Parade. A soft, springy, Easter-egg type lavender creme. It's delicate and feminine but still fun because it's purple! These types of purples seem to be really popular this season, nearly every spring collection released so far has one... I like them, but I think they need a little visit from the Konad Fairy...

And I saved the best for last...




POLAR JADE!!! Wow, can you believe this color??? It's a medium slightly dusty emerald green shimmer, and it's drop-dead gorgeous. Seriously. I'm head over heels for this color. It looks darker indoors than it does in sunlight and it's proving to be a very difficult color to photograph. I'd say it's in between the indoor and outdoor colors- it's not as warm as the outside one and it's not as cool as the inside one. Right in the middle. Absolutely stunning. I'm still wearing this polish and I don't want to take it off!

Overall, these polishes rock. I am very impatient when it comes to polish drying time. I always use Seche Vite and quick dry drops and even then it can still take too long for me. That is nonexistent with this polish. You don't need Seche, you don't need drops, you don't even need to wait for it to dry because before you even realize it it's already dried! This would be the perfect "Emergency Polish" to keep in your purse- you can apply it three minutes before you need to be somewhere and not have to worry about ruining wet nails.

Removal is impossibly simple. Just use regular polish remover and it comes off in seconds. It might be due to the thin texture of this polish, but it is way easier to remove than regular polish.

The formula is great IF you let the basecoat dry. Like I mentioned above, if the basecoat is still wet, the polish will get stringy and sticky. The polish formula is thin, smooth and pigmented. No bubbling or shrinkage at all, no dents, nothing. Perfect.

The color selection is small but good. They have your traditional reds and pinks, but they also have a good selection of unique shades like Polar Jade. They have purple, blue, yellow, gold and even black. I'd love to see this line expand even more, it's become a new favorite of mine and I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to test drive it. It's awesome.

You can get the Dazzle Dry Nail System and Nail Lacquers directly from VB Cosmetics. Individual polishes are $9, the treatment system is $54 and comes with the Nail Prep, Basecoat, Topcoat, three nail colors of your choice and complete instructions on how to use the system. They even sell a special thinner designed to restore the texture of Dazzle Dry polishes and treatments.

Zoya and Qtica Holiday Gift Sets

Every year I say, "Oh, I'm going to get my Christmas shopping done early, I'm going to have everything all wrapped up weeks before Christmas! I'm not going to be one of those crazy people out shopping on Christmas Eve..."

And every year, inevitably, I end up being one of those crazy people out shopping on Christmas Eve. Every. Single. Year.

Instead of doing what I do, why not just shop online? No crowds full of hacking, coughing people and snotty-nosed kids running through the store screaming while their parents are busy elbowing you in the ribs to get the last insert popular item here off of the shelf before you do....

One thing I really love are gift sets. I've always been attracted to gift sets. The way they're packaged with special shiny paper, all the little products inside all lined up and pretty looking. I just love them! When the gift sets are filled with beauty products, it's even better.

Not very many nail companies do good gift sets (or any gift sets for that matter). OPI has some minis and little bottles of lotion, Essie does some minis, CND sometimes has special polish... Nothing impressive, really. Nothing even different than what they do the rest of the year.

So who has the best gift sets? That would be Zoya. They're actual, useful, jam-packed full of awesomeness, honest-to-goodness gift sets. I'll show you a few of my favorites (the ones I'd love to unwrap on Christmas morning instead of another pair of driving gloves.)

In my opinion, this is the best gift set of them all. It has all of my favorite things! The Holiday Nail Gift Kit has three of "my holy grail" products: Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm and Qtica Half Time Polish Drying Accelerator, plus one product I like but just don't use all that often- Qtica Extending Topcoat. I would love to receive this gift, and I'd love to give this gift as well. At $25, it's a very affordable gift to give. It's also a great deal- it comes with full size products, and the Nail Growth Stimulator alone costs $20.

The Natural Nail Growth Stimulator had me skeptical at first, but after using it consistently for months, it's all I use now. I'm sold. It really does help my nails grow quickly! You can see the evidence just by looking at the pictures I post here. I really like this base coat. It helps prevent staining, it helps my nails grow, and even though Zoya says there aren't whitening ingredients in it, I feel like it really brightens my nails.

The Cuticle Repair Balm is just amazing. It's not greasy or liquidy- it might take a while to get used to because it's so different from the usual cuticle products. It's a thick, rich, heavy-duty balm that really hydrates and locks in moisture. It even lasts through hand washing. I use this when I've been neglecting my cuticles and doing heavy cleaning without gloves, and it pretty much fixes them immediately. It also has no scent, so it won't bother you if you're sensitive to scents.

The Half Time Drops are a total staple for me. I was introduced to them when they were included in my first Zoya order as a gift with purchase, and I've been hooked ever since. You apply it to your nails after you put on your topcoat and it helps the polish dry faster. I notice that when I don't use the drops, it does take longer for the polish to dry. I don't know how this works, but it does. It also has the added bonus of preventing dents while your polish is wet. The oil adds a layer of protection that you don't get with just a quick dry topcoat. It makes the polish a lot more forgiving- you won't be able to smudge them or dent them as easily while they're drying. Again, no idea how this works, but it does, and now I use them all the time.

My second favorite gift set is this one. It's called the Holiday Mini-cure, but I call it genius. Genius! It's a mini color lock system, a mini bottle of Remove+ (the Cadillac of Polish Removers) and a mini bottle of Zoya Lacquer in Shiloh. It's like an Intro to Zoya set.

Two reasons I think this is a smart gift set:
1. Maybe you don't want to drop the $36 on the full-size Color Lock System because you've never used it before and don't know if you'll like it, but you still want to try it. This set is $15, comes with the entire system in mini size, PLUS a mini polish. If you don't like it you're not stuck with full size bottles that you spent a lot on. If you do like it, this brings me to my second reason...

2. It's a portable nail survival kit! Maybe you travel a lot, or maybe you're like me and like to always be prepared. This kit has everything you need in one place, but takes up very little space because it's mini! You can keep it in your purse or your car or your desk for a nail emergency.

Like I said, it's an Intro to Zoya. Great idea, especially for people who like to have long-lasting manicures. They also have just the Color Lock items- Anchor, Armor and Hurry Up- in a mini trio for $12.


And my third favorite gift are the Color Cubes. It's a cute little set with a full size Zoya Hot Lips gloss/balm plus a coordinating mini Zoya polish for only $8. It's a perfect stocking stuffer, or a good inexpensive yet still luxurious gift that I'm sure any girl would love. My top picks would be:

• Enchanted Evening which has Hot Lips in Starlet (which is drop-dead gorgeous) and mini lacquer in Evangeline. The colors would be flattering on most skintones, and the colors are not too flashy but still unique.
• Sugar Plum Party which has a Hot Lips in Visa and a mini lacquer in Casey. Casey is one of the most gorgeous vampy colors in existence. It's impossibly stylish and very sexy.
• Fairy Dust includes Hot Lips in Paparazzi and mini lacquer in Austine. Gold is hot for the holiday season, and these are two nice, wearable metallic gold shades.
  

Really, all of them are nice sets, but those are my favorites.

I'm really impressed with Zoya's gift sets. They're all practical yet lovely. For the price, you wouldn't expect something as nice as these. I'm on a super-tight budget this year, and the prospect of being able to give gifts that are affordable but still *nice* and useful makes me very happy. I might have a hard time giving these because I want to keep them for myself... Heh. *shifty eyes*

Zoya Code - Free Cuticle Balm!

I just got this email! Two of my favorite things :) Here's the email:



Grow nails and fix your cuticles this winter. Receive a 0.25oz Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm as our gift with the purchase of a 0.5oz bottle of Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator.
This special is available only through www.zoya.com , www.qtica.com and www.artofbeauty.com.

Just enter "FIX" in the code box during checkout. Not valid with any other coupons or offers. One per order.

Offer expires on 10/24/2008/

10% Off Zoya and Qtica!!

Another really sweet deal... 10% off anything from Art of Beauty! Enter code holiday at checkout. Expires 10/17/08.

They have a really genius gift set available right now: a mini color lock system! For $12, you get a mini Anchor, Armor and Hurry Up.

They're not teeny-tiny, either- they're a good .25 fl. oz. Or, for $3 more you can get the mini Color Lock System plus a mini Remove+ and Shiloh polish!

If you've been wanting to try the Color Lock System (which really does work to dramatically extend polish wear) but haven't wanted to drop the cash on the full sizes, I think this is the perfect way to test it out without risking much.

However, my favorite holiday giftset would be Qtica's Holiday Nail Gift Kit. It has all my favorite stuff: My new 'holy grail' basecoat, Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator (full size!), Qtica Half Time drying drops, and Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm. It also comes with an Extending Topcoat, but I don't use it often enough to know if I like it or not. But the Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, Half Time and Cuticle Balm are must haves for me.

Anyway, I'm babbling. I'm really excited about the gift sets they have this year. I freakin' love gift sets! And even more, I love 10% off.

So... 10% off until the 17th... Sweeeeeet.

Free Shipping with purchase of Treatment System at Rescue Beauty Lounge!

Ok, so how many of you have been wanting to try the Rescue Beauty Lounge three step treatment system? I know I have, but haven't been able to pull the trigger just yet.

I think now might be the right time for me to try it, cause now through Halloween, Rescue Beauty Lounge is giving us free shipping on the treatment system and any order that contains it!

I've never seen free shipping at Rescue Beauty Lounge, so I'm gonna jump on this one!

If you need some polishes to travel along with your treatments (you know, to keep them company so they don't get lonely!), check out some of the swatches I've done- just enter Rescue Beauty Lounge in the search bar above :D

I'm gonna go plot my order... Thanks Rescue Beauty Lounge!!

Scrangie's Nail Care Must-Haves!

In response to a request from lovely reader Gef, here's what I use to maintain my nails:

TOOLS:
Glass File (I like OPI's and Essie's)
Buffer (cheap three-ways from nail supplies work well)
Metal Cuticle Pusher (Round on one end with a pointy thing on the other)
Cuticle Nippers (must be extremely sharp and clean!)
Nail Brush (cheap disposable ones that I change out often, used every time I wash my hands)

Treatments:
Creative Nail Design Cuticle Remover (the clear gel in the big squeeze bottle)
Creative Nail Design Solar Oil
Creative Nail Design Cuticle Eraser
Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm
Qtica Half Time Drying Drops
OPI Nail Envy
Seche Vite (or Poshe)
Cutex Original Nail Polish Remover (or if I'm feeling fancy, Zoya Remove+)

So, there are my absolute must-haves. Now, how to go about using them...

My basic routine is mostly upkeep. I never really take much length off my nails so I usually just file them to maintain their shape. When I do a full manicure, it goes something like this:

1. Remove old polish
2. File nails to desired shape using glass file.
   
3. Apply CND Cuticle Remover and wait a minute.
4. Begin pushing back cuticles and cleaning up around sides of nails and under nails with metal cuticle pusher. Be gentle, but remove as much as you can.
5. Wash off cuticle remover and scrub hands with a grainy sugar scrub.
6. Using cuticle nippers, cut only what's hanging off or sticking up. I never actually cut my cuticles, but if I have a hangnail or just too much excess cuticle I carefully trim it.
7. Gently buff nails with 3-way buffer. I only do this if I need to. Too much buffing weakens my nails, so I only buff when they look rough.
8. Apply tons of lotion and Solar Oil.

Pretty simple, nothing fancy, but that's how I do my manicures.

Now for the "treatments" portion of the list. You'll notice that I have a lot of favorites. I love cuticle oil and cuticle balm and I apply it several times during the day. With the CND Cuticle Eraser, I apply that once or twice a day, sometimes only every other day or whenever I remember to. I also like Poshe's AHA Cuticle Therapy- it comes in a better tube with a label that doesn't peel off and it doesn't smell like rotten lemon juice.

The Solar Oil (or OPI Avoplex, which I also love) I apply constantly. I have the big bottle near my couch, so whenever I'm watching TV I apply it a few times. It soaks in really quickly, so you can apply it repeatedly without getting greasy fingers. I buy tons of mini bottles and stash them all over- in my purse, in the bathroom, in my car, in the kitchen, everywhere. Apply the oil every time you see it.

The Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm is special. It's a new favorite of mine and I don't know how I didn't find this sooner. It's super thick, rich and a little sticky- perfect for after you wash your hands. It really locks in moisture and it's so soothing on dry cuticles. I put this on before bed also.

OPI Nail Envy is one of my favorite treatments, but I'm also really digging Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. I use them as a base coat before polish. They seem to prevent chipping and staining quite well, with the added benefit of strengthening your nails at the same time. If I'm using a base coat, I like it to double as a treatment. I used to use Nailtek II Foundation, but I've misplaced my bottle and have no idea where I left it.

As a topcoat, I always use either Seche Vite or Poshe. I tend to favor Seche Vite because it seems to dry a bit faster, but Poshe seems a little shinier. Anyway, I don't know what I would do without these! The way to use them, if you've never used them before, is to apply it directly on top of wet polish. You get a decent sized bead on the brush and you spread it over the nail. it will even itself out, but it does start drying right away. Once you apply the topcoat, your nails will be dry to the touch in a minute or two and completely dry in 10-15 minutes. To speed it up, I use Qtica Half Time drying drops. All you do with the drops is drop a tiny amount onto each nail and it protects your polish while it's drying and helps it to dry faster. They rock.


So, there you have it. My bare necessities, my basic nail care must haves!

Zoya Color Lock System Day 6 (Yasmeen)

Whew! I hung in there for SIX WHOLE DAYS! Can you believe it?! Six days with the same color!!

I decided to end my trial here because it was starting to look too beat up for me to feel comfortable. I'm really impressed with how long this made my polish last. As I've said before, I normally get obvious tipwear by the second day.

Anyway, I'll get to the good stuff. Visuals.



Left hand. Okay, now it actually looks worn. Obvious tipwear and chips on 3 out of 5 fingers.
Can you tell how ready I am to take this off?


Right hand. Looks pretty much the same as yesterday, but the chipping on the index finger is more apparent.

Sorry, Yasmeen. I love you, but I'm not going to wear you again for a long, long time.

You can definitely see that this system dramatically increases polish wear. I'm satisfied with the results. My curiosity has been put to rest. Now that my nails are finally free, here's a sneak peek of what you're going to see tomorrow:

Zoya Color Lock System Day 5 (Yasmeen)

Well, day five and I've had my first official chip. Sure, it's tiny and no one but me would notice it, but it's there nonetheless.


Left hand. Index finger has small chip. Can you see it? Now it's starting to show more wear than I'm comfortable with, but wow! After five days can you believe how little wear there is?


Right hand. More wear than the left hand, but not really any major chipping. Tiny chip on the side of my index finger that you can barely see.

As for the bubbling, Zoya suggested that maybe my bottle of Armor had thickened since reapplying it caused more bubbles. I'll probably try this out again with a new bottle of Armor and let you all know how it goes.

I'm thinking that maybe this will be the last day of my test. One, because I'm just dying to change colors and swatch all the amazing new polishes I haven't yet swatched (including NFU OH!!!) and two, because OMG I'VE WORN THE SAME COLOR FOR FIVE CONSECUTIVE DAYS!!!! The last time I did that was with Essie Viva La Vespa back in what, December?

If the sun comes out today I may remove this and do swatches, but if it stays cloudy I'll leave this on for one more day to see what happens.

Zoya Color Lock System Day 4 (Yasmeen)

So, here I am at day four. I'm just itching to change colors, but I made a commitment to wear this until it chips.

Well, so far, no chips. Minimal tipwear.

Yesterday after the pictures were taken, I applied a coat of Zoya Armor followed by Hurry Up drops as instructed. It restored the shine of the polish and remedied the peeling I had on my right middle finger, but it caused extra bubbling. Minor compared to the bubbling I already had, but still bubbling.


Left. You can see some minor tipwear. Not enough for anyone to notice, but it's there.


Right. Moderate tipwear and a chip on the index finger.

I can't believe I've made it this far. I feel trapped. I WANT TO CHANGE MY COLOR!!!! This better chip soon, I don't know how much longer I can hold out!

Zoya Color Lock System, Day 3 (Yasmeen)

Day three is where I had to end my test last time. Not because of the wear, but because of the bubbles.

Honestly, I think this is wearing quite well. It's day three and I have virtually no tipwear on my left hand and only slight tipwear and chipping on my right hand.

I'm supposed to refresh it today with another coat of Armor and an application of Hurry Up, but I forgot to to that before I took the pictures. Oops!


Left hand, indoors with low light. You can't even tell I've been wearing this for three days, looks great!


Right hand, indoors with low light. Slight tipwear, a little peeling on my middle finger and a tiny chip on my index. Still looks good, aside from the bubbles.

You can tell that the shine is starting to dull. After applying another coat of Armor, the shine is restored to normal.

So, day three and still looking fine. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Zoya Color Lock System, Day Two (Yasmeen)

Similar results to what I had last time. Day two with minimal to non-existent tipwear. Observe:


Left hand, full sunlight. Sorry about the shadow. As you can see, no tipwear at all, even with all my typing. I always have tipwear the second day.



Right hand, full sun. You can see a bit of tipwear here, and a minuscule chip on the index finger. I'm left-handed, so I have no idea how I got more tipwear on my right hand than on my left.

Will I have chips tomorrow? More tipwear? We'll see how it goes.

Second Try - Zoya Color Lock System Day 1 (Yasmeen)

I really love Zoya's polishes, so I'm willing to give the Color Lock System a second try.

If you recall the first time, I had massive bubbling and had to remove my polish.

Now, normally, I never wear the same color more than two days in a row (usually I change every day), so I don't have a need for a product that makes my color wear longer. However, I am intrigued by Zoya's claim that the system will "dramatically extend polish wear on natural nails."

Here we go. Day one of my second run with the system.

This time I decided to go with a polish that has never let me down- Zoya Yasmeen. Yasmeen is pretty much my favorite purple polish of all time. I wouldn't mind wearing this color for 3 or more days.

I made sure to follow the instructions exactly. There was no moisture or oil of any type on my nails. I prepped my nails with Remove+ and waited for them to be bone dry before I applied one thin coat of Zoya Anchor. I made sure to polish my nails in an area that wasn't too hot or too cold and I was away from any sort of vent, fan or breeze.

I gave Anchor sufficient time to dry and then I applied two thin coats of Zoya Yasmeen, letting each coat partially dry before applying the next. Sometimes thick coats can cause bubbling, and sometimes letting them dry in between can reduce bubbling.

I applied one thin coat of Zoya Armor topcoat. I waited a minute or two before I applied Zoya Hurry Up Speed Dry Drops. I remembered to carefully wrap the tip of my nails with all layers to increase wear.

The polish looked great at first, but within five minutes I began to experience bubbling.

Within ten minutes the bubbling had become extreme. See here:
(Click to enlarge)


Left hand, shade. You can see the bubbling.


Left hand, full sun. The bubbling is hidden due to the shimmer finish of the polish.\


Right hand, shade. Bubbling here, too.


Right hand, full sun. Bubbling is slightly more apparent due to the angle, but the shimmer finish camouflages it quite well.

It's also been a couple hours since I applied it and I can still dent the polish.


There is no way I can be messing it up so bad as to cause it to bubble like this. Honestly, what am I doing wrong? I have never had this problem with any Zoya polish using my regular method- OPI Nail Envy or no base coat and Seche Vite on top. What on earth is going on here?

Since the bubbling isn't as noticeable as it was with Indigo, I think I'll be okay leaving this on for a while. I'm really curious to see how long it takes to chip.

The Polish Addict has had much better results using this system- only minor bubbling. My wear during the first test was excellent- no tipwear until day three (even with all my typing). There's no question that this system improves polish wear, but what's up with all the bubbles?

Zoya Color Lock System Day 2 and 3

I had to end my test at day three. While the polish itself was wearing quite well, I just couldn't take it anymore. The bubbling was driving me insane, I had a party to go to and I wanted my nails to look good. I changed to Nubar Gold Leaf and used Nubar's base and top coats. Currently day two and no tipwear OR bubbles! Hahahahaha....

Anyway, here's some evidence:



This was Day one. Notice the extreme rippling of the surface of the polish due to bubbling under the polish.



This is day two. Only the barest hint of tipwear, but not really enough to be noticable.




Day three. Slight tipwear and minuscule chip on my pinkie.

At this point, I'm going to have to say that Zoya's Color Lock System lives up to its claims. It did increase my polish wear by 50%. Normally I have tipwear the second day, as I do tend to type a whole hell of a lot.

So, on that point only, good job Zoya.

I'm just not sure I can deal with the absurdly long drying time and the OMG-are-you-freaking-kidding-me, this-has-to-be-a-trick bubbles.

I'm going to give it another try eventually. The bubbling was just so incredibly massive I couldn't keep the polish on any longer. I have to see how long it takes to chip. Curious minds need to know.

Zoya Color Lock System, Day 1

I couldn't wait to try out my new Zoya Color Lock system, so I painted my nails at 8:00 last night.

So far, not so good.

I followed the instructions exactly. There was no oil on my nails, I waited for my base coat to dry, everything.

The first thing I noticed is that this takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to dry. Like I said, I did my nails at around 8:00 last night, and this morning I could still dent them. I just can't wait that long for my nails to dry, it's not possible. I even used the Hurry Up drops and they did nothing.

The second thing I noticed is the MASSIVE BUBBLING. I have never, ever experienced bubbling this severe. I painted my nails indoors, away from any fans or vents, didn't shake the polish, had no oil on my nails, waited long enough between coats, used thin coats and still, bubbles.

The bubbling didn't appear right away, it started about 10 minutes into the drying process. It's so bad that my nails appear rippled and bumpy. To tell you the truth, I don't think I can keep this on long enough to test the wear. My nails look too awful right now.

See for yourself (click to enlarge and witness absurd bubbling):


This is one coat of Zoya Anchor, two thin coats of Zoya Indigo, one coat of Zoya Armor. It looks like my nails have warts or something. Gross.

But hey, look! Not even a hint of tipwear!

If I can hold out until this chips, you can count on me to post about it. I'm thinking at this point I might have to start over and try it again. I can't deal with the bubbles.

Zoya Color Lock System plus FREE Gossip Collection Sampler!

My Zoya Color Lock system and Gossip Collection polishes just arrived!


Look at how gigantic that bottle of Remove+ is! And yes, those are full size polishes!

I can't wait to try out the Color Lock system, and I'll be sure to review it when I do. It comes with Remove+, Anchor base coat, Armor top coat and Hurry Up speed dry drops (I LOVE speed dry drops, and I'll bet these are similar to my favorite, Qtica Half Time)

So, how did I get the free polishes? Simply purchase the Zoya Color Lock System and enter promo code SUMMER at checkout to get the Gossip collection free. EDIT: Oops, looks like this expired yesterday =( Sorry!!

Thank you Zoya and Art of Beauty for this awesome promotion! I can never resist free nail polish :D

China Glaze Ink Special Edition Cuticle Oil and Nail Art Polish

News flash!

Much to my surprise, China Glaze Ink (the color with the special nail art brush) isn't black... It's a dark navy blue!

The bottle is slightly smaller than a regular China Glaze bottle (.5oz?) and the brush is long and skinny, like a nail art brush. The brush looks perfect for doing stripes and other kinds of art. I can't wait to use it.

Also, the special edition China Glaze orange cuticle oil in Ink packaging has no brush. It's smaller than I thought it would be, and has a screw-top orange plastic cap. Not an issue, just unexpected.

To summarize:

China Glaze Ink is blue, not black.
China Glaze Ink Cuticle Oil has no brush.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.