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:

Essie Fall Collection 2008 - Six rich colors!

The colors for Essie Fall 2008 are:

Forever Young – Fiery tango red

Lacy Not Racy – Velvety vintage burgundy

Big Spender – Divinely lush red-violet

No Boundaries – Juicy passionate plum

Swept Off My Feet – Dusky rose seduction

Tomboy No More – Red currant truffle

Those sound fantastic! I can't wait to see them! There are two colors that aren't included in the Nordstrom Mini 4 pack and they sound amazing.

The release date for these is August 1st.

I'll have pictures as soon as I can!

Huge thanks to Essie for this information!

Tropical rain in Penang

We had so much rain lately here in Slovenia. Luckily there wasn't any floods where I live, but it was pretty bad in Austria and Czech republic, whole towns were flooded. But the rain here makes me depressed. It just doesn't stop, it can go for days or weeks without a break. I remember few years ago, one October, we literally had 14days of rain. Crazy! Well, now it was like 4-5days, still bad, but not as bad as autumn rains. This rain made me browse my old photos and I stumbled accross my Penang pics from 2007. One folder says 'rain torrent'. Then I remembered: It was the heaviest rain I ever saw! It was May and one of those periods in northern Malaysia, when it rained a lot. It poured like crazy, but it stopped pretty fast. That's what I love about tropical rain. It's finished fast and it's not so cold when it rains. And few hours after the rain, everything is dry already. I like rain, but only the tropical one. I hate the rain here in the northern hemisphere. Here's the pics from Penang in May 2007. It was taken from Sunrise Tower near Gurney plaza, from the 6th floor, where I lived. Amazing view and a very nice part of Penang. 5 min from the fabulous shopping mall and cafés and condos. Full of tourists and locals, very vibrant... Especially because of a big foodstall area near by, every night was crowded. I have very fond memories from that time. So, here's the pics:

It starts off slowly...

...getting stronger...

...and stronger.

Soon the whole road is flooded.

Look at the bikers, they're like on water scooters!

Soon there's a lake...

Cars having a hard time...

They're almost sinking.

That rain started fast and finished fast. And the lake was gone fast, too. In the evening, everything was dry already. If this were in central Europe, it would take days. That's why I love the climate in Malaysia.

[Photos by MKL, 2007]

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.

Essie Fall 2008 Nordstrom Exclusives

Still no word on what Essie has planned for fall, but this was brought to my attention:

"Straight from the runways to your fingertips! Indulge in the Mini Fall Collection by Essie. From Tomboy No More and No Boundaries to Lacy Not Racy and Forever Young, these irresistible colors are the perfect accessory to any ensemble! -

Forever Young: Not for the faint of heart, amp up the glam factor with this fiery tango red.
- No Boundaries: This juicy passionate plum is ripe for the picking. Bold and intoxicating, it's anything but ordinary.
- Lacy Not Racy: A twist on a classic, this velvety vintage burgundy walks the line between naughty and nice.
- Tomboy No More: Transform into lady sophisticate with this red currant truffle luxe enough to satisfy any lady's craving. "

Nordstrom Exclusive Essiie Fall 2008 Mini 4 Pack available for preorder.

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!