madzooks | My Nail Art Blog-Tutorials, Reviews, and More

About madzooks

madzooks has been a member since January 24th 2011, and has created 255 posts from scratch.

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Swatch and Review: Zoya Liberty

published Friday, June 14th, 2013 at 11:30 am by madzooks

Zoya Liberty is a beautiful, bold blue from Zoya’s Summer Pixie Dust collection. For the Summer collection, Zoya has really stepped it up with bolder, brighter, more pigmented polishes. Each is bright, colorful, and perfect for summer. Plus, what could be better than glittery, matte brights? Liberty in particular is so pretty in the bottle, though when applied to the nails and “mattified,” it is stunning.

Zoya says…“Zoya Nail Polish in Liberty can be best described as a blue sugary sparkle in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Textured, Matte, Sparkle formula.”

Color Family: Blue
Color Finish:PixieDust, Metallic Matte Texture
Color Intensity:5 ( 1=Sheer – 5=Opaque )
Color Tone: Cool, Neutral

Here are some instructions to apply Pixie Dust polishes from Zoya.com:

Do not use a base coat or top coat.
Apply 1-3 (for full coverage) thin coats of polish.
Allow product to dry completely in between layers for full effect.
The PixieDust textured formula may take up to 10 minutes to dry down completely matte. Once dry, the textured finish is long lasting, matte and ultra-glittery!

Pros:
-Unique Finish
-Pretty Color
-Fairly Inexpensive
-Dries Quickly

Cons:
-Doesn’t last a super long time (due to not using top coat)
-Stains your nails*

*I don’t have a picture of this, but Liberty specifically was very pigmented, and therefore, using only glue for a base coat, it stained my nails horribly. It left them extremely blue, so I don’t recommend using this polish without a base coat or with the PVA glue base coat.

Grade: B-

You can buy Liberty here
You can buy the Summer Pixie Dust Collection here

Tags: liberty, review, swatch, zoya
Posted in Reviews, Swatches | No Comments »

Nail Art: Pink Flowers to Match My Dress!

published Monday, June 10th, 2013 at 3:43 pm by madzooks

I recently bought a super cute new dress for a party I was attending, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do a new nail design. (I will put a picture of the dress at the end of this post). So I painted pink flowers with green leaves over the nude polish, Zoya Farah. Farah was the perfect nude polish for this design, because it is a light shade of tan and it is extremely smooth and creamy,which made for a great base for the flowers. Overall, I love how this design came out, and I think it represents the dress well. I just love to get inspiration from fashion for nail art. Where do you get your inspiration?

I used:
Nail Magic Nail Hardener
Seche Clear Base Coat
Zoya Farah
Pink Acrylic Paint
Green Acrylic Paint
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

And here is a picture of the dress!:

Tags: dress, Farrah, flowers, nail art, nude, pink, zoya
Posted in Nail Art | No Comments »

Swatch and Review: Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt

published Monday, May 27th, 2013 at 3:51 pm by madzooks

Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt is a very pretty blue color that I bought specifically to match a dress for a party I had to go to. It reminds me of Essie Butler Please, although I don’t have Butler Please to compare, they are very similar. In addition, I bought Cobalt for only $4, while Butler Please is around $8. So if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to Essie Butler Please, Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt is definitely the polish for you. Although, Cobalt is a bit sheer and needs a few coats to be completely opaque, which is why there is a bit of VNL in the photos that I didn’t notice before. But overall, the polish is good quality. (Especially for $4)

Pros:

Lasts Long on Nails (with top coat)

Beautiful Cobalt Blue

Dupe for Essie Butler Please

Very Inexpensive

Good Quality Formula

Nicely Shaped Brush for Easy Application

Cons:

Slightly Sheer (creates the need for extra coats)

Grade: A

You can buy Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt here
You can buy Essie Butler Please here

P.S. I am going to be attending Generation Beauty by Ipsy in L.A. Saturday June 1st, so expect pictures soon!

Tags: cobalt, Nina ultra pro, review, swatch
Posted in Reviews, Swatches | No Comments »

Swatch and Review: Zoya Godiva

published Wednesday, April 17th, 2013 at 6:35 pm by madzooks

Zoya Godiva is the third polish in the Zoya Pixie Dust Collection. It’s a very pretty, sandy colored polish. And of course it’s a pixie dust so it is glittery and matte! This polish is perfect for work, because it is glittery and fun, but neutral and somewhat conservative. I wasn’t sure that I would like this polish as much as I did, because I tend to like bright colors better. So if you are like me and love bright colors, but you need a more conservative polish for work, than Zoya Godiva is perfect for you.

Zoya says…“Zoya Nail Polish in Godiva can be best described as a soft nude with a sugared sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.”

Color Family: Nudes, Beige
Color Finish: PixieDust, Metallic Matte Texture
Color Intensity: 5 ( 1=Sheer – 5=Opaque )
Color Tone: Cool, Warm Neutral

Pros:

Pretty Soft Nude Polish

Perfect for Work or School

Affordable

Dries Fast

Dries Matte for a Unique Glittery Look

No Need for a Top Coat or Base Coat

Cons:

Doesn’t Last as Long as Typical Zoya Polishes Because you Don’t Use a Base Coat

Hard to Remove (because of the glitter)

Texture can be a bit Irritating

Here is some information from Zoya.com how to apply Zoya Pixie Dusts:
Do not use a base coat or top coat.
Apply 1-3 (for full coverage) thin coats of polish.
Allow product to dry completely in between layers for full effect.
The PixieDust textured formula may take up to 10 minutes to dry down completely matte. Once dry, the textured finish is long lasting, matte and ultra-glittery!

You can buy Zoya Godiva here
You can buy the Zoya Pixie Dust Collection here

Tags: collection, Godiva, pixie dust, review, swatch, zoya
Posted in Reviews, Swatches | No Comments »

Swatch and Review: Zoya Chyna

published Thursday, April 4th, 2013 at 4:39 pm by madzooks

Zoya Chyna is the second polish in Zoya’s Pixie Dust Collection. It is a stunning ruby red with textured matte sparkle. They remind me of ruby slippers from the wizard of oz. I’m in love with this polish, because in my opinion, the texture shows even more than it did for Zoya Dahlia. Chyna has a combination of light and dark red glitter that highlights the amazing pixie dust texture when the polish dries. The photo below shows just how unique Chyna’s texture is…

Zoya says…“Zoya Nail Polish in Chyna can be best described as a red dazzle with a sugared sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.”

Color Family: Reds
Color Finish: PixieDust, Metallic Matte Texture
Color Intensity: 5 ( 1=Sheer – 5=Opaque )
Color Tone: Cool, Neutral

Pros:

Beautiful Color

Unique Texture

Fairly Inexpensive

Nice Pedicure Polish

No Need for a Top or Base Coat

Dries Very fast

Cons:

A Little Hard to Remove (Unless You Use PVA Base Coat)

Texture is a Little Irritating at First

Doesn’t Last Longer than a Week without Chipping

Here is some information from Zoya.comabout how to apply Zoya Pixie Dusts:
Do not use a base coat or top coat.
Apply 1-3 (for full coverage) thin coats of polish.
Allow product to dry completely in between layers for full effect.
The PixieDust textured formula may take up to 10 minutes to dry down completely matte. Once dry, the textured finish is long lasting, matte and ultra-glittery!