Entries for Friday April 30

Zoya’s Penny

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released in June 2009 as part of Zoya's Truth collection
• Color Range: metallic molten-gold shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I’m trying to use as many of my current Zoya colors before my polish-exchange haul arrives…so two days ago, I put on Penny, in “honor” of the cooler weather we had. The polish went on very well, with full coverage and full depth of color in a single coat. This color is a “5” in terms of opacity, so maybe that’s how all of Zoya’s most intense/opaque colors will be. This was originally released in the Truth collection, and I ended up getting four of those colors (Drew, Isla, Penny, Kalmia).

I’m actually a fan of cooler colors and blue-reds rather than oranges, but I had hopes that this would be metallic and brown enough that it would look good on me, and I’m very happy with it!

Entries for Tuesday April 27

The SheSpace’s Fortune Cookie Wisdom collection

• Manufacturer: The She Space / About Face Cosmetics
• Availability: through the online storefront, released in late April 2010
• Contains: 30 mineral eyeshadow colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$3.00 for a 3-gram jar, no sifter
• Would you purchase again: some colors, yes

This was “the last hurrah” from About Face Cosmetics before closing down that line and launching Hope Quest. The collection had 30 brand-new colors. I only ordered 11 - some of the descriptions read “sheer” or “iridescent”, which I took to mean “lighter color opacity” (and I was right).

Entries for Sunday April 25

Sparklecrack Central’s Rock the Planets

I've figured out which colors to mix with which duochrome micas; and I've combined the colors into their mixing baggies. I might wait until tomorrow to put them into their proper pots, only because I'm feeling a bit bleary tonight and don't want to spill things all over the place. Each jar of Rocks! Sonic color from Aromaleigh contained roughly 1.2 grams of product - and I used two jars. Each duochrome-mica Interplanetary Traveller sample from TKB Trading contained 1 teaspoon of product - which equals 4.75 grams. So I ended up with 2.5 grams of color, and nearly twice that amount of the duochrome mica. The colors were lightened a little bit, but I haven't tested any of them so I don't know how they'll apply.

Entries for Friday April 23

Zoya’s Ginessa

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released in March 2009 as part of Zoya's Ooh-La-La collection
• Color Range: metallic silver-white shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Zoya’s Sasha

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• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: part of Zoya's Classics collection
• Color Range: dark blue-red creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: China Glaze's Riveter Rouge (but without the microglitter)

I’ve had this color on my nails for the past three days, and had two instances of scratching (both times on the thumbnails). The color’s worn well. It doesn’t seem as dark as the description states - it’s less of a “dark blood red with brown undertones” and more of a “deep rich red”. One coat gave me full coverage, but it was pretty less vampy than garish…a bit closer to “fuck-me red”, which has its uses, but not on my nails thankseverso. The coverage and spreadability are excellent - no brushstrokes in this one, not in either coat. Repairing the scratches was fairly easy, too - the fresh polish just settled right into place. I used Zoya’s Anchor base coat, two coats of Sasha, and the Armor top coat.

Entries for Thursday April 22

Aromaleigh v1’s Fervor

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v1
• Availability: available as part of the Valentine 2009 collection
• Color Range: warm wine-brown copper shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Aromaleigh v1’s Sweet Nothings

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v1
• Availability: available as part of the Valentine 2009 collection
• Color Range: cool mauve rose-brown shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Aromaleigh v1’s Love Note

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v1
• Availability: available as part of the Valentine 2009 collection
• Color Range: grey-brown pearl with blue-green iridescence
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7.75 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Aromaleigh v1’s Lovelorn

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v1
• Availability: available as part of the Valentine 2009 collection
• Color Range: blackened rose-brown shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7.75 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Aromaleigh v1’s Pillow Talk

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v1
• Availability: available as part of the Valentine 2009 collection
• Color Range: soft pink with violet blue sparkle
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7.75 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: don't know
• Similar shades:

I finally grabbed this color because of the manufacturer’s description and note that “fans of our holiday big seller Champagne Toast will love this!!” It’s a nice enough color, as far as that goes; but I’m not quite sure why Champagne Toast lovers would automatically love Pillow Talk. CT’s a neutral, whereas PT’s definitely pink. Still…not a bad color, as far as it goes.