Polish Post: Zoya Colors "CarrieAnn" and "Rihanna," and the Color Lock System

I don't know about you, but I'm having a pretty poopie Hump Day.  My kids haven't been in the best of moods.  My youngest, Eamonn, does this screech that resembles that of a howler monkey, and he uses this screech to express a range of emotions.  So I get to hear it all day long, and my neighbors get to hear it whenever our windows are open - at, you know, 6 in the morning, because now that summer is approaching here in Phoenix, the weather has decided to get a head start and send some 100+ degree weather days upon us.  In order to stay ahead of your house cooking, you either leave your windows open at night (not an option for me - my cat likes to escape), or you open them first thing in the morning.  Everyone out here has their windows open by about 5am.  So they all get to enjoy my howler monkey's tune.  It's no fun.  We could probably give the Shrieking Shack a run for its money.  I usually get a headache around 1pm on days like today.  I've already got the ibuprofin setting out in preparation.

Fortunately, last night, I had the time to try out some Zoya polishes I recently purchased, as well as the sample kit I received with my last order of their Color Lock System.  Here are pictures of the polish in direct sunlight:

CarrieAnn is the red color, Rihanna is the purple

CarrieAnn is such a beautiful, bright red that sparkles brilliantly in the sunlight.  Rihanna is a deep purple with lovely golden sparkles at certain angles.  Rihanna is much more rich and less sparkly, so it is perfect as a more subtle but striking polish.  I really like both colors, and both were opaque with 2 coats of polish.  Easy to apply, as well, since they never streaked or got thicker as I applied more coats.  Great polishes!

Now the Color Lock system was totally new to me.  The sample kit came with a mini size of their nail polish remover, anchor base coat, armor top coat, and quick-dry drops.  Their award-winning nail polish remover worked very well!  I admit I did not think it would do a great job since I was removing my Memorial Day nail polish and thought that dark blue would make a big mess.  I soaked one cotton ball in the Zoya remover, and that's all I needed, to mess or fuss!  It was awesome!  I will say, though, that it smells weird to me.  It is reminiscent of a mosquito repellent smell.  But since I always sugar scrub and wash my hands after removing polish, it didn't matter that much to me.  Something to keep in mind, though, if you are thinking of purchasing the remover (I really think you should, it's pretty fantastic!)  The anchor base coat went on nice and evenly and is not thick like so many base coats I have had before.  After applying the polish, I applied the armor top coat - again, went on very smooth and evenly.  

Then the last part was the quick-dry drops.  

I have never, ever seen anything like this (though I haven't really been looking) and was thrown with what to do.  The bottle itself does not have a brush with it, but comes with this little dropper instead.  I had no idea how many drops I would need, or just how fast it would dry, so it was all a little messy for me.  I think I did like 2-3 drops per nail, then the excess started dripping from my fingertips onto my clothing, and I was fussing to catch it with a cotton ball instead.  I could hear 3 Stooges music in the back of my mind as I fumbled.  Once I was done over-dropping my nails, I touched each one to see if it worked, and it appeared to do the job.  However, it leaves behind a very oily residue.  I'm not even sure if any of it stuck - I felt like it all just wiped right off my nails, that were still tender to the touch and showed fingerprints if I touched them lightly.  

Overall, I'd have to say the quick-dry drops were an epic fail for me.  Now I am a bit of a klutz, and there may be proper form for the drops that I just wasn't getting.  But I will be sticking to my go-to top coat, Seche Vite, and will leave those quick-dry drops to someone a little more graceful than myself :P  Seche Vite is spectacular and leaves a beautiful shine to my nails.  I ended up putting a coat of it over my nails last night to make sure I did not have sheet prints the next morning.

Zoya is a great brand.  I have been purchasing polish from them for about 4 years now.  I remember stumbling upon them when I did a Google search for glittery nail polish.  They like to throw in lots of freebies with your orders, too.  For example, if you spend $30, you get a free bottle of nail polish remover.  On my last order, they were offering the nail polish remover AND a sample kit of their color lock system if the cart total was $30 or more.  

They have a HUGE selection of polish colors and types.  The only kind they seem to lack at the moment is holographic, but other than that they have such a large variety, you're sure to find whatever color you need in many different types (solid color, glitter, texture, etc).  Here's their site: http://www.zoya.com/ and their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ZoyaNailPolish  Head on over, give them a "like," and let them know MomMrsAndMe sent you :)

That's all for now!  Hope everyone's Wednesday is going much better than mine :P  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

P.S. Just a reminder - I'm having a giveaway once my Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/MomMrsMe ) Hits 100 fans, so give the page a "like" if you haven't already and share it with your friends! The prize is winner's choice of either a $25 Amazon giftcard or a $25 Llarowe giftcard :)