Tag Archives: Gold

Zoya Summer Pixie Dust Collection (Press Sample)

Posted on April 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

Today I have the long awaited Summer Pixie Dust collection. I am in love with this collection, the colors are so bright and summery. I really like the textured polishes in general but the sparkliness of the Pixies is really fantastic.

A few quick words about application. Zoya recommends no base coats for these or a top coat, obviously since the top coat would ruin the matte sparkle effect.  For these photos, I used two coats for each shade with no base or top coat.

DSC04377 DSC04378Zoya describes Solange as “a gold metal foil sparkle with exclusive gold pigment”. This polish has got to be the blingiest polish I have ever seen. It’s like Ziv on steroids. Seriously.

DSC04379 DSC04382Beatrix is the tangerine metallic in the bunch. Very summery and will look amazing with a tan. Unfortunately I go from pale to lobster in about five minutes.

DSC04383 DSC04385Destiny  is a sparkly red based coral. It’s like a sugar covered Zoya Rica. It’s also really similar to OPI Jinx from the Bond Girls collection.

DSC04387 DSC04388Miranda is a very feminine rosy pink shade that dries to a sparkle matte finish.

DSC04391 DSC04393Stevie is a pale lavender matte sparkle polish. It’s the Pixie Dust sister of Zoya Julie. I can’t help but wish it was a little more bold for summer.

DSC04396DSC04395 Liberty is the bold blue of the bunch. It’s a really pretty blue and looks amazing. Unfortunately, Liberty is a stainer, I’d recommend using a base coat with this one.

As a whole, the summer Pixie Dust collection is amazing and so representative of the season. Solange is the most in your face sparkly gold polish I’ve ever seen. Destiny and Miranda are my favorites of this collection but all of the shades are wonderful.

***This collection was provided to me by Zoya. All opinions and photos are my own. ***

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Zoya Ziv

Posted on November 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Today I have Zoya Ziv from the Ornate collection. Ziv is actually the first polish I wore from this collection and I got a ton of compliments from my coworkers.

Ziv is a yellow gold foil polish with gold micro glitter. It covers very well in two coats and is completely opaque. Word of advice though, be prepared for gold glitter pretty much everywhere upon removal. Ziv is worth it though.

Usually I shy away from wearing metallic or foil polishes since I have ridges on my nails but every once in a while I find one that I’m really excited to wear. Well, after a good ridge filling base coat.

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February Julep Maven

Posted on February 3, 2012 | 6 Comments

So I received my February Maven box this month and I love it. For starters, I received the American Beauty box instead of the It Girl. I just like the polishes better. This month’s box includes:

  • Julep Essential Cuticle Oil
  • Glenn: “Bold berry red shimmer”
  • Oscar: “Ultra chic, milti-dimensional gold glitter
  • A dark chocolate oscar

I think by now we’ve all realized that if its a red -I want it. Glenn is super red and super pretty -immediately caught my eye. Julep came out with a whole Oscar collection and the It Girl included a copper polish, Oscar (I think he was in every box) and a blue I think.

Last month I swapped for a Julep cuticle oil and already knew I wanted another one of those, so this box is like a no brainier for me. What do you guys think?

Even the box itself has a red and gold Oscar themed packaging. Julep is very good with that sort of thing.

The dark chocolate Oscar -already in my belly.

The cuticle oil, Glenn and Oscar. The cuticle oil comes in a rollerball applicator, how awesome is that?

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Orly Rage

Posted on January 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

Today I’m wearing Orly Rage from last spring’s Foil FX collection. Rage is  a gorgeous rose gold polish with micro glitter pieces. It seriously sparkles in any type of light. This is two coats and its soo pretty!

If you don’t have Rage already, you definitely need it. I need to hunt down the rest of this collection.

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China Glaze Blonde Bombshell

Posted on December 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

For today’s super late post (sorry! I had to work), I’m wearing Blonde Bombshell from the Eye Candy collection. I bought this whole collection and it’ll be a theme week.

Blonde Bombshell is a clear base with gold glitter. There is small and medium glitter as well as some bar glitter. Blonde Bombshell is opaque enough to wear on its own and I wore two coats for this one.

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China Glaze White Cap

Posted on August 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

For today’s manicure I have White Cap from the Anchors Away collection. White cap is a sheer white polish with a gold shimmer. White Cap is nice and clean but still has a golden shimmer. Its absolutely gorgeous on its own but you can also layer it over pretty much everything.

This is two coats over a coat of China Glaze Ridge Filling base coat. I bet this would look fantastic layered over Starboard. What’s your favorite layering combo?

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Dr.’s Remedy Hot Hot Hot Summer 2011 Collection

Posted on August 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Today I have the Hot Hot Hot Summer Collection from Dr.’s Remedy. This is a new brand to me but I was doing some research on cosmetic ingredients and came across the brand. Since I’m doing my best to choose cosmetics (well everything really) that are made in the USA and chemically clean as possible, I was definitely intrigued and contacted them with questions.

Dr.’s Remedy is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. Enriched with naturally occurring anti-fungal ingredients like tea tree oil, garlic bulb extract, vitamins C and E, and wheat protein, Dr.’s Remedy polishes are free from harsh toxins to promote healthier, stronger nails and the first-ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Association.

Tranquil Tangerine is described as a bold but wonderfully-wearable, slice of juicy delight. I think its a fun summer shade. Application was flawlessly smooth, this is two coats and no top coat. I do love a good orange but I think this may be more of a pedicure color for me.

Glee Gold is described as a shimmer-infused coin of perfection. This one is a soft gold metallic foil that I’ll definitely be wearing it again and again. Application was good and this is two coats with no top coat.

Bold Baby Blue is described as an aqua meets turquoise take on every boy’s favorite color. Bold Baby Blue is a slightly sheer smooth metallic blue foil. It was easy to apply but you definitely need multiple coats. This is two coats with no top coat. I like this one but I’ll probably wear it the least since I’m not really a blue nail polish wearer.

Nurture Nude Pink is described as a delicate damsel-in-distress barely-there beautiful. It IS a beautiful pink and I’m a pink kinda girl but its super sheer. In the future I’ll probably wear a milky base coat. This is the only one I used three coats on. In the bottle it looks like the polish has a nice magenta-y shimmer but this isn’t apparent on the nail.

Lovely Lavender is described as a pale purple with matte depth and charm. I think this one is my favorite. It went on nice and smooth and was completely opaque in two coats. I’ll definitely be wearing this one again!

All in all I give this collection a solid A. It has a great mix of colors and finishes. I can’t wait to see what Dr.’s Remedy has in store for their fall/winter collections. I can’t speak for the anti-fungal properties but I can say it doesn’t have an awful odor like some polishes (I’m looking at you Kleancolor!) and I feel better using it because of the additional vitamins.

The bottles are super cute with their lightly rubberized/textured cap -not quite like an Orly cap but definitely not plain plastic. I feel a little silly since I didn’t realize that the square cap is an overcap until I was swatching the third color! I was complaining about how it was difficult to control so I googled it to see if I’m the only one with this issue and I found out its removable. The actual cap is like a normal nail polish cap but its textured and that makes it a little uncomfortable to hold on to but its nothing too major.

Dr.’s Remedy is available for $17 online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL. Be sure to like their fan page on Facebook for additional information and reviews.

***These polishes were sent to me for an honest review***

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China Glaze Let’s Groove & Tarnished Gold Crackle

Posted on July 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Let’s Groove is from the 70s themed Fall 2009′s Retro Diva collection. Its a deep purple shimmer that looks excellent on the nail -it puts me very much in the mood for fall even though its supposed to be ridiculously hot out today.

I used two thin coats for this one but you could probably get away with one medium coat -its that pigmented. I didn’t have any problem with application.

Let’s Groove looked so pretty on its own but I decided to try one of the crackles Mike got me as an early birthday present. So after Let’s Groove had time to dry I put on a medium coat of Tarnished Gold. It didn’t crack anywhere except on my pinky. Weird. On one hand the light gold coat looks pretty over the dark purple but on the other hand I was hoping for some crackling! Epic fail. I’m thinking maybe I just didn’t shake it up enough. And it won’t dry. Even after a quick dry topcoat. Even after four hours! Has anyone else had this kind of fail with the metal crackles?

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My first post!

Posted on June 30, 2011 | 4 Comments

Welcome to Bull City Beauty! I’m Kristal and I’ve been following (okay maybe lurking) on nail and makeup blogs for months now and decided to jump right into creating my own. I’m from Durham North Carolina-home of the Durham Bulls- and that’s where my blog name and pink bull banner come from.

Anywho, on to more sparkly things, my  nails! For today’s manicure I used China Glaze’s “Swing Baby” from the 2010′s Vintage Vixen collection. I’m always more partial to fall collections but this one just sparkles like crazy and caught my attention this morning. “Swing Baby” is a shimmery metallic taupe polish and this is  two coats and applied like a dream -a solid win and DEFINITELY a keeper! Note: In the photos you can see VNL but I can’t see it in person.

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