NOTD: Zoya Leslie

I first posted about Leslie in my June Nail Polish Haul (check it out HERE). This pretty polish is part of Zoya’s Spring 2015 Delight Collection.

Bridal Nails: Flowers, Pearls, and Shimmer

In honour of wedding season, here is a bridal nail look. Although this nail art may seem difficult, it was very easy to create.
For the base, I used an iridescent polish from OPI called Pearl of Wisdom. Next, I stamped a floral design on the tips of my nails using a white polish and the m51 plate from Konad. To finish off the look, I added some half pearls that I found on eBay.
To see a video tutorial of this look, click HERE.
To see my wedding nail look from last year, click HERE.
Would you wear this nail art during wedding season?

NOTD: Zoya Gei Gei

Is it Gei Gei or Gie Gie? The spelling on the website is different than that of the bottle’s label. I think that I prefer the website’s spelling of Gei Gei,

The polish came out in the Spring 2013 Lovely collection from Zoya. In the words of Zoya, “Gei Gei can be best described as a full-coverage, blushing cherry blossom pink metallic. A shimmery light shade for an always-appropriate natural pink nail look. Originally created as a custom runway shade for fashion designer Zang Toi.”

In my opinion, this polish is capable of more than just your average “natural pink look”. It’s bursting with silver shimmer particles that make nails look like they are gleaming all the time. The cool tones and subtle hints of lilac make the polish very wearable and perfect for spring.

This polish was a little streaky during application but it smoothed over nicely during the drying process. I used three coats to achieve full coverage.

Despite Gei Gei’s embedded shine, the finish itself is not glossy when the polish dries. A top coat is necessary if you want the glazed look.

Overall, I’m very impressed with this polish and recommend Gei Gei to those who are looking for a unique light pink shade…something a little different than the cream finish pastel pink shades that everyone has been wearing lately.

NOTD: Zoya Rory

After a long winter of dark, cream finish polishes, Zoya Rory is a breath of fresh, spring air!

At first glance, this shade appears as a standard pink with a hint of purple, but a little sunlight brings out its truly unique properties. Zoya describes Rory as a “medium mauve pink with lilac tones, gold and silver reflective metallic shimmer accents, and a foil-like finish.” As you can see from the photos in this post, this description is fairly accurate.

Rory was introduced to the Zoya family in Summer 2012 with the release of the Surf collection. The other five polishes in the collection have a similar finish. Despite being a medium shade, Rory is fairly pigmented and becomes opaque with two coats. Zoya gives this polish a 5/5 in terms of opacity.

I’m not sure if I agree with the Zoya site in its classification of Rory as a warm toned shade. I can usually only pull off cool toned shades, but Rory did not compete with my skintone. I think that the lilac tones neutralize the mauve and allow Rory to have a neutral base.

Also, while the finish is quite metallic, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it is “foil-like”. I consider a foil-like finish to be smooth and reflective, or mirror-like (for example, the Sally Hansen Chrome polishes). The metallic-look of this polish is created by gold and silver shimmers which make the finish shiny and glossy but not quite reflective. Either way, the finish is unique and gives the shade dimension.

Overall, I feel that Rory offers a pretty pop of colour, and a surprising splash of shimmer with its metallic micro glitter formula. The formula is easy to work with and it took five days for minor chipping and tip-wear to begin. A perfect spring and summer polish!