Zoya Rica Swatch and Review

Ah, the last of the sunshine collection, and like the other two before it: Apple and Faye ... Zoya Rica is heading directly to the give away pile.

I started with two base coats and a first lacquer layer at night.  Let it dry for over an hour before going to bed.  No problems.

Wake up in the morning, and add a second lacquer coat (nothing too thick, just a thin second layer).  No activity for over an hour.  Get in the car to drive ... smudge and dent four nails in short succession.

These truly are the polishes that refuse to dry.  I don't know what Zoya did wrong, but it sucks.

I may eventually forgive Zoya for this travesty ... but it may take a long while.  I still haven't purchased anymore from them, even a year after this collection was released.

I would describe Rica as a slightly coraled rose pink with heavy gold glitter.  Depending on the way light catches it, the polish can seem quite warm or quite cool.  It was a fun experiment, but I don't like dents in my polish, so I've given up on Zoya for the time being. 

I had this same issue with Orly polishes.  Hm, what a darn shame, it really cuts down on my polish spending!  I still see swatches to drool over, but the drying issue is a major irritation.  So I continue to sit and wait for dupes to appear (hey, it worked for that Peridot polish from way too expensive-ville, China Glaze released Rare and Radiant, and it now has a home with me - I am patient ... next up is hoping CG releases a Zoya Faye duplicate).

Zoya Faye Review try 2

Apparently the great blogger outage is only going to repair certain posts ... I would choose the day before the outage to upload four posts of information.


I thought Zoya Faye was going to be my color from the collection. A beautiful plum with gold glitter,  just perfect.   However,  it just does not grab my eye.  I'm not sure how a semi-translucent base with gold glitter smorgasbord can be boring, but this Zoya Sunshine certainly fits the definition in my case.  I've even tossed Apple into the donate pile.  It is almost like they made a collection, didn't like it, and tossed in glitter to liven it up.  But not enough. 

 

Additionally, it is as slow drying as everyone says. I have never had a Zoya dry so slowly. Even with 15 minutes between coats, I banged up two nails after a quick drying topcoat was added.

In the light of the setting sun.


I guess we should have realized, if Zoya was putting this brand-new superduper set of collections on discount sale, something about the formula was going to be crappy.

Base coat - Nubar NuNails
two layers lacquer
quick drying topcoat - Nubar Diamont (old formula)

In the shade.



Too many issues - it is not worth it.

There is a minor bit of VNL present in certain lighting conditions, but I'm surprised that bothers anybody. It is hardly noticeable at two coats.

It has held up quite well to five days of abuse, with chipping only along peeling nail layers.  Minor tip wear.

Regardless, I prefer Zoya Pru,  and will be gifting Zoya Faye to another.

OPI Meet me at the Star Ferry and Zoya comp in Ivy

OPI's Meet me on the Star Ferry (MMOTSF) was in my last OPI purchase.  Really, the last one I will ever make.  Since they have decided to only sell full price, I have decided to take my money elsewhere.  Their polishes are not worth $8.00+ a bottle to me.

And I suppose this is a very good example of why they aren't worth it - pretty color, too cool.  The glitter in this is silver.  Which makes it clash a bit with my skin.

It is a great base color, but everything else added in makes it look sickly on my fingers.

For a comparison, here is Zoya Ivy (left), OPI MMOTSF (middle), and Zoya Pru (right) ... I always think of Ivy and Pru as sisters, though they really aren't.  Zoya Ivy has a very similar base color to MMOTSF, though it is more sheer.  The biggest difference is the shimmer, Zoya's is gold.  So it enhances rather than detracts from my skin color.

Here is a bottle comparison.  The OPI will be deposited in my give away pile, the Zoya will stay (I've worn Ivy several times).

In support of OPI's MMOTSF, it has a beautiful formula that dries just right (neither too quickly nor too slowly).  The brush does seem a bit narrower than other Pro Wides I've used, since I could paint my pinky without spending half an hour in clean up.  It did not chip or show any wear within 24 hours.

On the Zoya side, Ivy stained my nail red in 30 minutes of wear, with a base coat.  I wonder if Ivy is causing my main staining problem ... along with all those reds.  I wear Nubar Nu-Nails whenever I wear a staining polish.  I never considered Ivy a stain offender.  I know better now.  Since the vast majority of my staining had grown out, I was looking forward to some sheerer shades.  Now, I've got one funky red ring nail.  Shoot!

Lacquer Toxicity - 3-free formulae are NOT created equal

Skin Deep Toxicity Levels for Polishes taken from the Environmental Working Group's CosmeticsDatabase.com

CND - 3

Nfu-Oh - 3

Sephora by OPI - 3

American Apparel - 4

Misa - 4

Revlon - 4

Shades by Barielle - 4

Zoya - 4

BB Couture For Nails - 5

China Glaze - 5

Color Club - 5

Nubar - 5

OPI - 5

Rescue Beauty Lounge - 5

RGB - 5

Diamond Cosmetics - 6

Ginger+Liz - 6

Illamasqua - 6

NARS - 6

Orly - 6

SpaRitual - 6

The worst ingredient identified by Skin Deep is Triphenyl Phosphate, effects are listed as: Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Neurotoxicity, Allergies/Immunotoxicity; Occupational Hazards.

China Glaze, Illamasqua, Nubar, OPI, Orly, RBL, RGB, Shades by Barielle, and SpaRitual all contain Triphenyl Phosphate.

The list of ingredients below does assume that companies are not making massive changes from one batch to the next of their 3-free formula. I am surprised by the CND result of such a low toxicity reading. However, I suppose it makes sense, since these are one of the most recent releases. Which I also suppose makes Ginger+Liz high toxicity reading so surprising.

The most toxic ingredients as per "Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database" results are bolded in each of the lists below.

American Apparel Ingredients

Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Isopropyl Alcohol, Camphor, Benzophenone-1

BB Couture For Nails Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; acetyl tributyl citrate/phthalic anhydride/trimellitic anhydride/glycols copolymer; isopropyl alcohol; stearalkonium hectorite; adipic acid/fumaric acid/phthalic acid/tricyclodecane dimethanol copolymer; citric acid; titanium dioxide; red 6 barium lake; red 7 calcium lake; red 34 calcium lake; yellow 5 aluminum lake; yellow 10 aluminum lake; blue 1 aluminum lake; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide; red iron oxide; black iron oxide; guanine; bismuth oxychloride; mica; violet 2; polyethylene terephthalate; synthetic fluorphlogopite; Sucrose acetate isobutyrate; dimethicone; diethylhexyl adipate

China Glaze Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; nitrocellulose; propyl acetate; tosylamide formaldehyde resin; isopropyl alcohol; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; triphenyl phosphate; ethyl tosylamide; camphor; stearalkonium bentonite; diacetone alcohol; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; citric acid; kaolin; dimethicone; mica; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide

CND Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; acetyl tributyl citrate; phthalic anhydride/trimellitic anhydride/glycols copolymer; isopropyl alcohol; titanium dioxide; adipic acid/fumaric acid/phthalic acid/tricyclodecane dimethanol copolymer; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/trimellitic anyhydride copolymer; sucrose acetate isobutyrate; stearalkonium hectorite; citric acid; ethyl tosylamide; iron oxides

Color Club Ingredients

butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, acrylic resin, isopropyl alcohol, camphor, benzophenone #1, may contain: D&C Red #6, D&C Red #7, D&C Red #34, iron oxides, titanium oxide, ferric ferrocyanide, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, bismuth oxychloride, D&C Yellow #5

Diamond Cosmetics Ingredients

Butyl Acetate; Ethyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Phthalic Anhydride/Trimellitic Anhydride/Glycols Copolymer; Isopropyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Hectorite; Adipic Acid/Fumaric Acid/Phthalic Acid/Tricyclodecane Dimethanol Copolymer; Citric Acid; colorants; Polyethylene Terephthalate; Calcium Sodium Borosilicate; Titanium Dioxide; Tin Oxides Silica; Aluminum Powder; Iron Oxides; Aluminum Powder; Fragrance 

Ginger+Liz Ingredients

Butyl Acetate; Ethyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Phthalic Anhydride/Trimellitic Anydride/Glycols Copolymer; Isopropyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Hectorite; Adipic Acid/Fumaric Acid/Phthalic Acid/Tricyclodecane Dimethanol Copolymer; Citric Acid; colors; Polytheylene Terepthalate; Calcium Sodium Borosilicate; Titanium Dioxide; Tin Oxides Silica; Aluminum Powder; Iron Oxides; Aluminum Powder; Fragrance

Illamasqua Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; nitrocellulose; propyl acetate; tosylamide-formaldehyde resin; isopropyl alcohol; triphenyl phosphate; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; stearalkonium bentonite; ethyl tosylamide; camphor; diacetone alcohol; benzophenone-1; citric acid; dimethicone; titanium dioxide; mica; bismuth oxychloride; ferric ferrocyanide; aluminum powder

Nfu-Oh Ingredients

Ethyl Acetate; Butyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Isobutyl Acetate; Isopropyl Alcohol; Adipic Acid/Neopentyl; Silica; Styrene-Acrylates Copolymer; N-Butyl Alcohol; Cl 26100

Misa Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/trimellitic anhydride copolymer; acetyl tributyl citrate; isopropyl alcohol; red 5 lake; acrylates copolymer; yellow 5 lake; stearalkonium bentonite; red 7 lake; styrene/acrylates copolymer; n-butyl alcohol; silica; benzophenone-1; titanium dioxide; trimethylpentanediyl dibenzoate; polyvinyl butyral

NARS Ingredients

ETHYL ACETATE ; BUTYL ACETATE ; ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL ; ADIPIC ACID/NEOPENTYL GLYCOL/TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER ; NITROCELLULOSE ; TRIPHENYL PHOSPHATE ; TRIMETHYL PENTANYL DIISOBUTYRATE ; CALCIUM ALUMINUM BOROSILICATE ; ETHYL TOSYLAMIDE ; STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE ; DIACETONE ALCOHOL ; TOSYLAMIDE/EPOXY RESIN ; SUCROSE ACETATE ISOBUTYRATE ; BENZOPHENONE-1 ; STEARALKONIUM HECTORITE ; ETOCRYLENE ; CAMPHOR ; CITRIC ACID ; DIMETHICONE ; SILICA ; MAY CONTAIN: MICA ; CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE) ; CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES) ; CI 19140 (YELLOW 5 LAKE) ; CI 15850 (RED 6 LAKE, RED 7 LAKE) ; CI 15880 (RED 34 LAKE) ; CI 77510 (FERRIC AMMONIUM FERROCYANIDE) ; CI 75170 (GUANINE) ; CI 77163 (BISMUTH OXYCHLORIDE) ; CI 77000 (ALUMINUM POWDER) ; CI 73360 (RED 30 LAKE) ; CI 60725 (VIOLET 2) ; CI 47000 (YELLOW 11) ; CI 26100 (RED 17) ; CI 17200 (RED 33) ; CI 45370 (ORANGE 5) ; CI 42090 (BLUE 1)

Nubar Ingredients

Ethyl Acetate; Butyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol; Triphenyl Phosphate; Trimethyl Pentanyl Diisobutyrate; Butyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Hectorite; Citric Acid; Benzophenone-1; Dimethicone; Mica; Titanium Dioxide; Black Iron Oxide, Red Iron Oxide; FD&C Yellow #5; Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide; Bismuth Oxychloride; D&C Red #7; D&C Red #6; D&C Red #34

OPI Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; nitrocellulose; propyl acetate; tosylamide/formaldehyde resin; isopropyl alcohol; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; triphenyl phosphate; ethyl tosylamide; camphor; stearalkonium bentonite; diacetone alcohol; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; citric acid; dimethicone; alumina

Orly Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; isopropyl alcohol; nitrocellulose; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/ trimellitic anhydride copolymer; triphenyl phosphate; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; stearalkonium bentonite; ethyl tosylamide; tosylamide/epoxy resin; sucrose acetate isobutyrate; stearalkonium hectorite; etocrylene; benzophenone-1; citric acid; acetyl tributyl citrate; aluminum powder; water;calcium sodium borosilicate; dimethicone; polyethylene phthalate; polyvinyl butyral; propyl acetate; silica; styrene/acrylates copolymer; synthetic fluorphigopite; tin oxide; Trimethylsiloxysilicate; mica; bismuth oxychloride; ferric ferrocyanide; ammonium ferrocyanide; titanium dioxide

Rescue Beauty Lounge Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; isopropyl alcohol; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/trimellitic anhydride copolymer; nitrocellulose; triphenyl phosphate; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; stearalkonium bentonite; diacetone alcohol; ethyl tosylamide; sucrose acetate isobutyrate; tosylamide/epoxy resin; stearalkonium hectorite; camphor; etocrylene; benzophenone-1; citric acid; aluminum powder; polyethythene terephthalate

RGB Ingredients

ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol, nitrocellulose, adipic acid / neopentyl glycol / trimellitic anhydride copolymer, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, triphenyl phosphate, stearalkonium hectorite, diacetone alcohol, citric acid, dimethicone, benzophenone-1, red iron oxide, ferric ammonium ferrocyanide, mica, titanium dioxide

Revlon Ingredients

Ethyl Acetate; Butyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Tri-Benzoin; Isopropyl Alcohol; Propyl Acetate; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Stearalkonium Bentonite; Serica (Silk Powder); Dimethicone; PPG-2 Dimethicone; Triacetin; Citric Acid; Malic Acid; Tetrabutyl Phenyl Hydroxybenzoate; Stearalkonium Hectonite; Calcium Sodium Borosilicate; Silica; Alumina; Polyacrylate-4

Sephora by OPI

butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, tosylamide/epoxy resin, acetyl tributyl citrate, isopropyl alcohol, stearalkonium bentonite, benzophenone-1, silica, trimethylpentanediyl dibenzoate, polyvinyl butyral, cl 77891, cl 15850, cl 77491, cl 77120.

Shades by Barielle Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; isopropyl alcohol; nitrocellulose; polyester resin; trimethyl pentanediol diisobutyrate; triphenyl phosphate; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide; titanium dioxide; bismuth oxychloride; mica

SpaRitual Ingredients

ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose, adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/ trimellitic anhydride copolymer, isopropyl alcohol, propyl acetate, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, triphenyl phosphate, butyl alcohol, stearalkonium hectorite, stearalkonium bentonite, benzophenone-1, citric acid, dimethicone, ethyl tosylamide, tosylamide/epoxy resin, sucrose acetate copolymer, acetyl tributyl citrate, polyvinyl butyral, trimethylsiloxylsilicate, titanium dioxide, mica, silica, bismuth oxychloride, ferric ammonium forrocyanide, aluminum powder, tin oxide, water

Zoya Ingredients

butyl acetate; propyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; isopropyl alcohol; polyester resin; camphor; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; titanium dioxide; iron oxide; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide


The polishes in the picture are:

China Glaze V

CND Guava

Misa Dirty, Sexy, Money

Nfu-Oh 124

PeaceKeeper Paint Me Patient

OPI My Private Jet (original)

Orly GingerLily

Rescue Beauty Lounge Starfish Patrick

RGB Cognac

Revlon Peach Nectar

Shades by Barielle Driven

Sephora by OPI Brainiac

SpaRitual Fall in Love

Zoya Austine

More OhNos from the give away pile

I'm not against light or "neutral" polishes. But I am strongly opposed to boring polishes. And most of these are boring neutrals that don't work for my skin tone. Too orange a lot of them.


The next two photos are of SpaRituals "Solid as a Rock"




























Not exactly a bad color, but the silvery undertone blew it for me.

If Solid had been gold or copper undertoned, we'd have gotten along better.





The next two are Zoya Dea


































Zoya Dea is a dark orange, and it clashed badly with my skin. It would be a great neutral ... for someone else.





Zoya Flowie

















Zoya Flowie - There's a lot of -ish in this here polish. It's a tanish, mauvish, pinkish color depending on the light source.

It was pretty thick and I got bad coverage from two coats. After thinning out the bottle, the third coat "flowed" very nicely. Ha!

It was fairly quick to dry, but it is a funky little color. I can't decide if I like it or not. It got a drab, work camouflage vibe going.

There was some noticeable tip wear following day two, but nothing as bad as my recent RGB or RBL lacquers.

The Recent OhNos Polishes

For lack of great swatches, rotten to non-existent descriptions, and/or manufacturer blobs, every polish order inevitably reveals some OhNos upon package opening.

OhNos are polishes that make you want to cry because they either: 1) are so totally NOT your color, OR 2) are so close but still lots-o-ugly on the nail.

I'm packing up my latest OhNos collection for delivery to the local nail salon, so without further adieu, that which made me cry ...



















Nubar Dark Plum on pinky and middle.















Zoya Kierra on ring and pointer.

Both of these were a thin streaky mess to apply. The first coat was atrocious, but they both settled (mostly) with coat two. I suspect polish addicts would want a third coat.

I can't see myself in either the way too purple leaning Dark Plum nor the magenta of Kierra.



















SpaRitual Pinks: Love Your Mother (darker middle and pinky) and Weathered the Storm (the carnationy color on pointer and ring)

These both applied nicely but had the typical slow dry of SpaRituals.

Weathered the Storm is a slightly "warmed" pink that I would never be caught with on my fingers. A real clash with the yellow.

Love Your Mother is a mauve that I'm iffy over. I still can't see myself reaching for it. So I should get rid of it, or should I? Maybe the name is giving me trouble. I have a good relationship with my mother, so I can't donate "Love Your Mother?" It could be 100% psychological.























Nfu-Oh 31, a peach ... with pink shimmer. Ick.

Great application from what I remember.

No longevity reading since I pulled it off after 5 minutes.





















One coat of Nfu-Oh 46 ... magenta base.



















Nfu-Oh 46 with two coats.

I ordered this after seeing it described as an "orange" based red. So totally NOT orange based.

The lacquer base is a deep magenta, which places this firmly in the "cool" portion of the red spectrum.

However, having worn several Nfu-Oh flakies, I have come to the conclusion that there are two flakie types: cool flakies and warm flakies. The cool flash blue and green. The warm flash green and orange.

The flakie of Nfu-Oh 46, as well as most of the other non-blue/purple colors, is the warm based flakie that flashes orange and green. As such, I suppose I can see why someone would label this a warm polish, though I disagree.



















Zoyas Demi, Ciara, and Coco ... all red-violet based colors ranging from very purple to very red, with the muted Coco reaching the plum definition.



















Zoya Ciara, a very red leaning red-violet. I would be comfortable calling this a berry color. Pretty, but also pretty bright, and not a color for which I would ever reach.



















Zoya Demi, a very purple leaning red-violet. Again, another pretty, though bright color. If it will only collect dust in my own drawers, why not give it a chance to live on another nail?











Zoya Demi on left, Ciara in middle, and Coco (the one I kept) on the right.

Nail Treatments: what works, and what works best ...

Once you start polishing your nails, you kinda need to keep up with it. Even the "safest" polishes stain my nails a rather sickening yellow color.

In all my 'net searches for "how do I keep polish from staining my nails," the gurus say use a base coat. In my experience, it doesn't work. I've never gone without a base coat, and I still have staining. Maybe you need two coats of base, but that's an extra step (and dry time) I haven't tested yet.


To this point, I've used -


Base Coats -
Zoya Anchor
OPI Nail Envy Formaldehye Free
Nubar Nu Nail
Nubar Foundation

They all work. I don't think the base coat does much more than smooth out the nail bed and give some gripping surface to your lacquer. You are paying for their advertising, so I'd go with the cheapest 3-free base you can find. In my case, either Zoya Anchor at $8 or Nubar Foundation at $7 depending on the deals I find during polish acquisitions. I suspect Revlon offers a reasonably priced 3-free base.

As with every treatment, finding 3-free is getting easier, but even the companies that tout their 3-free lacquer are selling 3-full treatments. Buyer beware.


Top Coats -
Zoya Armor is pretty much the only slow dry top coat I currently have ... it was a freebie with purchase. It didn't get regular use until I started topping my manis with Nubar Diamont.

Being that top coats have a very similar ingredients list to base coats, I'd find the cheapest 3-free and use it for both base and top. Once again, I suspect Revlon has a good candidate.


Quick Dry Top Coats -
This is where companies have to stretch the imagination of their chemists.

These quick dries are either 3-full or simply don't work:
Seche Vite
Posche
Zoya drops
Qtica drops

If you still insist on putting a layer of silicone (dimethicone, etc.) on your drying nails, it would be less expensive to pick up a bottle at the hardware store.


My two HG speed tops are:
CND Air Dry
Nubar Diamont

CND Air Dry was my favorite for a long time. It drys to a hard coat in about 30 minutes. I had to be careful, but could return to typing within minutes of an "Air Dry" coat. This is the mani that could be extended for seven days. Every once in a while, I'd follow an Air Dry mani with Zoya top coat and the sides of my mani would give before the tips would.

Air Dry plays nicely with tops coats, though it takes a while to dry to a hard enough finish for normal or extreme use.

Awesome longevity.


Nubar Diamont now edges out Air Dry for ease of returning to normal activity. This is, literally, a half hour mani (tops) from start to finish. However, I sacrifice longevity. Diamont is the dominatrix of the treatment bunch. She doesn't like ANYONE on top. Not even herself.

Diamont with a Zoya Armor layer two days later will peel within a day. Ruined mani.

Diamont with a second Diamont layer two days later does not hold or look good. Another ruined mani. She's particular.

The only way I've been able to extend my Diamont mani (from two to four days) is with a topcoat underneath Diamont.

So this is how I've arrived at my current "pressed-for-time" layer system:
1 base
2 lacquers
1 top
1 Diamont
- maybe four days of wear


If I'm not in a hurry:
1 base
2 lacquers
1 Air Dry
- add top coats every three days or so to extend mani for upwards of seven days

To be honest, I end up with enough bare nail near the cuticle with my "Air Dry" system that even though the polish is in good condition, it just looks odd. And I change my polish based on nail growth, rather than polish aging concerns.

Zoya Jinx, polish swatch

Zoya Jinx is a lovely medium chestnut brown.

I've had it for quite a while, but the paper swatch didn't do it any justice.

On the nail it has a fire that is completely missing in the bottle. It makes me wonder how many other wonderful colors I've written off due to a poor bottle show.



















This mani is approximately four days old and starting to show slight tip wear, no chipping or breakage.

My current regime is to use:
1 base coat
2 lacquer coats
1 top coat
1 quick dry

This mani has Zoya base and top coats, and the quick dry is Nubar's Diamont. Diamont is an amazing quick dry top, but it does not have the longevity of CND's Air Dry. It also doesn't play well with others. However, when time is of the essence, Diamont is the answer, dry to touch in a short period of time (a minute, maybe) and dry to normal/moderately tough use within 10 minutes.

I don't believe I've had the slightest oops after using Diamont. However, I don't get seven days of wear from a Diamont top mani.

Nail Polish and Customer Service ... Rant!

I love nail polish. Fun colors that catch the light and brighten your day. Dull colors to calm a wild wardrobe choice. Deep, dark shades that give winter mystery. And the unending search to find the perfect orange-red for that bit of pop when I'm feeling down.

Nail Polish companies, on the other hand, make me want to tear my hair out in frustration.

I've emailed CND once for suggestions regarding their new line. No response.

I've emailed Zoya half a dozen times requesting color suggestions. They have NEVER responded. I guess I'm much too small potatoes for a happening company like Zoya. Grrr. I'd probably buy more if I could get some half-way decent color suggestions. Which brings me to my second gripe.

Apparently Nail Polish companies are far too busy creating for their pink powderpuff customers, that the rest of us get left in the cold. I happen to know some of those pink powderpuffs, and I am thrilled that they can instantly find a color by closing their eyes and running a hand down a display, "Eeny meeny miny moe, with which one of these pinks shall I go?"

What about me? I can't wear pink. And don't tell me about all the "warm pinks" available. They are pink. I don't wear pink, I have too much yellow in my skin tone. I wear peach. Which brings us to Nubar.

I can, at least, get Nubar to answer my emails. But I'm not sure that puts them ahead of Zoya. This is how a recent exchange went ...

Me, "Salutation, etc. I need warm, spring and summer polish suggestions. I cannot wear pink or orange, instead I need peaches and and other orange based reds. The best examples I can give you are China Glaze's Yee-Haw and Zoya's Amber. I like both shimmer and cremes. I've got an abundance of fall and wintery dark shades, but my lighter colors need some expansion."

Nubar CS, "Check out the Corals Collection."


Okay, let's look at what a coral shade is ... orange. Can we see what I wrote above, I cannot wear orange. Obviously, I've run into another Customer Service group that either: 1) cannot read the email for all those pesky letters, or 2) is where the familial problem child is placed so that he/she cannot cause business difficulties.


Additionally, since Nubar's cart wasn't working, I had to place my order by phone (I detest those infernal devices). AND they sent me the wrong shade. They were quick to fix it, but ... mistake.

I'm not sure what I have learned from this little experience, regardless, couldn't someone who knows basic color theory and mixing describe polish colors on the website itself? Act like monitors still come in shades of green. Spell out for me what your polishes look like.

Zoya's site IS coming along. I've seen a great deal of improvement since I started ordering several years ago. They describe the color, opacity, and skin tone family. But you still can't do an indepth search. If I want an opaque cream ... I'm out of luck unless I want to go through the website bottle page by bottle page. Their search engine is limited to: color family and finish. And that is a pretty restricted list on both sides.

If I were selling polish, I'd have: a great color description, a swatch of the color in natural light, skin tone designation, opacity/translucency characterization, an awesome search engine that allows you specific requests, and shading suggestions (i.e. this color looks great on light warm skin tones OR this color looks best on dark cool or strongly tanned skin tones).

I wish, I wish, I wish ...


Anyone have a good orangy-red peach suggestion in 3-free formula?

NP - Zoya - Irene

Zoya Polish Review - Irene


















I like warm polish shades. And as much as I like the weird and oddball shades some companies put out, I've never seen a pretty green ... until now.

Zoya Irene is this lovely, shimmery, medium olive shade, leaning to the warm side yet still skirting the neutral edge.

Base - Zoya Anchor Basecoat

Polish - Zoya Irene (2 coats)

Top - CND Dry & Shine (requires buffing to shine, otherwise it finishes matte, I shined with a paper towel ... I think)

NP - Zoya - Natalie

Zoya Polish Review - Natalie

If you had told me I could keep a manicure, esp. a medium creme, on my nails for 8 days, I would have said, "You are ODing on a substance (legal or illegal), please stop."

I've never had a manicure last longer than 3 or 4 days on a medium to dark shade, much less a creme that shows every little mistake, chip, and wear point.

Here's my proof, 8 days (I've got to write it again, EIGHT DAYS!!!) of a mani:




















Base - OPI Nail Envy Sensitive and Peeling Formaldehyde Free formula

Polish - Zoya Natalie (2 coats)

Top Coat - CND Air Dry

2nd Top Coat applied on day 3 - Zoya Armor Topcoat


Perhaps that second top coat saved me from early wear. I so rarely remember to reapply a top coat, I'm far too busy with other things.

BTW, all polish is 3 free. Mixing formulas (apparently) gives poor results.


Zoya Natalie is not the easiest polish to apply, I'd say it is a halfway polish (between shear and opaque), and if you apply too lightly you get streaks, but if you apply too much it is hard to thin it enough without destroying the application.

Regardless, I love the color. It is a russet, reddish brown. I'd call it the warm equivalent of a creme mauve. It blends with so many other colors. I've pretty much gone through an entire wardrobe considering how long this mani has lasted.

I don't recommend this for cool toned individuals, but for neutrals and warms looking for a medium creme.

NP - Ingredients

Nail Polish Ingredients and Currently Available Alternatives

Here are the three (so far) ingredients I try to stay away from in polishes: Formaldehyde, Phthalates, and Toluene.


Formaldehye
According to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) at Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Formaldehyde (at 37%) is Toxic and Corrosive. "Probably human carcinogen. Mutagen. May cause damage to kidneys ... Very destructive of mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract, eyes and skin."

Formaldehyde in nail treatment lacquers is usually in a resin form that while not as dangerous as Formaldehyde, is still considered "Harmful if swallowed or inhaled. May be harmful in contact with skin."


Phthalate (specifically Dibutyl Phthalate)
The MSDS states that Dibutyl Phthalate is harmful and dangerous for the environment. "May cause reproductive harm ... Very toxic to aquatic organisms."

Other phthalates are safe though, right? Not necessarily.


Toluene
The MSDS states that Toluene is Toxic and Flammable. "Toxic by inhalation, ingestion or by absorption through skin ... Experimental teratogen (birth defects)."


Here's one of the biggest problems with chemicals in our world, we know how this ONE chemical acts and reacts with the environment and in our body. We don't know how these chemicals act and interact with each other.

Solution? Currently the solution is to avoid as many chemicals as possible, especially fat soluble chemicals, because the science to study all these interactions is economically infeasible at the moment.

Fat soluble chemicals are not flushed out of your system. They are either stored for the rest of your life, or metabolized into substances that can be flushed from your system (which is why you can OD on fat soluble vitamins, but not water soluble). And by your system, I mean your internal body and cells.


Results on Kira's Manicure/Pedicure routine:
I've tossed all my old OPI polishes (I really miss some of them) and have ONLY the following in my cupboard - new OPI Australia and Russian formulas (Toluene and Phthalate free) and Revlon lacquers (all 3 free).


An Affair in Red Square
Rubble for your Thoughts
St. Petersburgundy
Suzi Says Da!




A True Ab-original
Brisbane Bronze
Canberra't Without You
Don't Melbourne the Toast
Kangarooby
Red Hot Ayers Rock
Suzi Loves Sydney



Revlon - Who woulda thought ol' Revlon would have an up to date polish formula?

It rates a 4 out of 10 on Skin Deep's toxicity scale.

Revlon Nail Enamel Ingredients List (from bottle):
Ethyl Acetate
Butyl Acetate
Nitrocellulose
Tri-Benzoin
Isopropyl Alcohol
Propyl Acetate
Acetyl Tributyl Citrate
Stearalkonium Bentonite
Serica (Silk Powder)
Dimethicone
PPG-2 Dimethicone
Triacetin
Citric Acid
Malic Acid
Tetrabutyl Phenyl Hydroxybenzoate
Stearalkonium Hectorite
Calcium Sodium Borosilicate
Silica
Alumina
Polyacrylate-4
and the May contain mess that generally gives lacquer its color

How does one read the extra tiny ingredients list on the back of the bottle? One sticks said bottle under her trusty Leica Microscope and hopes she interpreted the smears correctly. :)

Sheer Nude - nice, basic, no shimmer nude; so very hard to find
Iced Spice
Rosezing - sort of a bronzed copper
Totally Toffee



Other companies I may try: Butter London, China Glaze, and Zoya.

Butter London

Free of all 3 chemicals, and even better, so is their top and bottom coat treatments (practically unheard of). At least, according to their website. They would not send me either ingredients lists or MSDSs. Their rep. did tell me that they list the ingredients on the box. Oh really, that is so incredibly freakin' helpful. Purchase our item to figure out what we have in it. Thanks.

Problem, could that top be any more difficult to manipulate? Honestly, I much prefer a symmetrical applicator that I can maneuver easily.


China Glaze



Beginning with the Audry Hepburn homage "Something Blue" - their newest formulations are Toluene and Phthalate free, but according to their rep., they do have Formaldehyde resin (just like new OPIs).


Zoya


Zoya strongly stresses how safe their Polish is ... quoted, word for [missing] word, from their website:

"FREE of POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS CHEMICALS. Chemicals that may cancer and birth defects. Unlike other nail lacquers, ZOYA does NOT contain formaldehyde, toluene or dibutyl phthalate (DBP). So Don’t Risk your or your babies wellbeing, Make the SAFE choice, the SMART choice, the STYLISH choice…CHOOSE ZOYA"

Their base and top coat were re-formulated from the original formulas (which were NOT safe and smart).

Zoya Anchor ingredients:
Butyl Acetate
Ethyl Acetate
SD40B Alcohol
Propyl Acetate
Nitrocellulose
Isopropyl Alcohol
Tosylamide/Epoxy Resin
Polyvinyl Butyral
Camphor
Etocrylene
D&C Violet #2

Zoya Topcoat ingredients:
Butyl Acetate
Ethyl Acetate
Isopropyl Alcohol
Acrylates Copolymer
Cellulose Acetate Butyrate
Polyester Resin
Etocrylene
Benzophenone 1
Polyurethane Resin
D&C Violet #2

Amazing how similar those two formulations are to each other.

OH, and their quick dry topcoat in the Zoya line, Hurry Up, that they sell for $16.00 per .5 oz bottle ($32.00 per oz.) has the same list of ingredients that the Quick dry from their Qtica line, 1/2 Time Drying Accelerator, has for 7.50 for .25 oz., 22.00 for 1 oz. The ingredients: silicone. Specifically Cyclomethicone and Dimethicone (with Camellia oil tossed into the Zoya Hurry up for a little ... extra oil, I guess).


Well, you are saying, what about my favorite polish/treatment, insert here, it says it is x, y, or z free. Why isn't it in your list?


Poshe - Poshe says they are Formaldehyde and Toluene free ... "Safe Nail Care for a new generation" - Poshe also includes their MSDSs directly on their website, mega plus points.

However, their Fast Basecoat and Topcoat have Butyl Benzyl Phthalate, though their treatment basecoat is free of the 3 big chemicals.


Seche Vite Quick Fast Dry - has Phthalate and Toluene. Besides that it thickens up quickly, and doesn't work well on non-3 free polishes. My old OPI manicures lasted 1 day before chipping and tip wear required complete re-do.


And all the others? Well, all the others hide their ingredients lists. If I can't figure out what's in the formula via basic 'net surfing, I'm not spending my money trying to figure it out.


So here's my list of currently (and new) in rotation products:
OPI Nail Envy Sensitive and Peeling, Formaldehyde-Free Formula (basecoat)
Lacquer - new OPI (has Formaldehyde Resin), Revlon (3 free)
CNDs Dry & Shine or Air Dry (topcoat), both 3 free