Zoya Promotion!!!

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I don't know if this fabulous information graced your email inbox this morning, but it did mine!

The coming of spring means warmer weather, budding flowers and color, color, COLOR! To help you transition from winter to spring, we’re making it easier to freshen up your Zoya Nail Polish wardrobe.
With the purchase of at least 3 Zoya Nail Polish colors of your choice, you will receive any 3 FREE*.
Now through Wednesday, March 14th 2012 11:59pm EST, ONLY.  
Instructions:
  1. Add at least six (6) Zoya Nail Polish colors of your choice to your shopping cart.
  2. Enter code: SPRING3 into the coupon code field in your cart and press "Apply Code".
  3. Complete Check-Out Process, Review, Submit Order and watch your Zoya Collection Blossom!

If you remember their last promotion and the fiasco that ensued the following month with my order, as I waited for my two free polishes to arrive.

I am hoping the same doesn't happen again this time around, but given the offer one can only expect the worst as crowds of women make a mad dash to zoya.com to claim their three free bottles!

Alas, I am an eternal pessimist.

This, however, did not stop me from joining in the madness.  I purchased:

Zoya Trixie

Zoya Nova

Zoya Paz

.....getting ready for spring and summer, obviously.

And the promotional colors I chose are:

Zoya Shawn

Zoya Mitzi

Zoya Adina

So much color.

So much shine.

So much obsession.

What did you ladies get????

XOXO, Varnish

Blue Period — China Glaze High Def

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continuing my Blue Period with a gift from my beloved Gloss......a swoon worthy, sparkly blue polish!!! Two things I love:

1) sparkles

2) blue

China Glaze's High Def:

(Subtle sparkles in partial light)

(More dramatic sparkles in full sunlight)

(Amazing!)

Thank you, Gloss!

- Varnish  Varnish

Refresh your memory....Zoya promotion from early January

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Remember this Zoya promotion from early January? Yeah, I hardly do either.

Luckily, Gloss, as well as most everyone I know, received their Zoya polishes within a couple weeks of ordering.

I, on the other hand, had no luck.

My story begins on the 8th of January when I eagerly place my order with Zoya (Dove and Minka).

About two weeks later, when I heard of others receiving their orders, I realized I had never even received an email confirming the packaged had been shipped.  So, I emailed Zoya, making sure to attach my original confirmation email, asking where my order was and if it has been sent yet.

They never responded :(

But about three days later I received an email from Zoya confirming that my package had been shipped on January 24th, which was the same day this email was sent, two weeks after my order was originally placed.

Oh well, no worries.  It's a promotion, so they were probably crazy busy!....reminding myself to be patient and thankful for the special promotion for two free bottles of polish!

About a week later, I came home from work to find this package at my door!

Thrilled, I dove in head first!

This is what I found!

 Gasp!

Only one bottle of polish and NOT either of the two colors I originally ordered on the 8th of January, three weeks prior.

(Exhibit A: Dove and Minka on the packaging slip) 

Immediately, I was filled with grief and anguish

Ok ok, I'm being dramatic.  But if you are as obsessed with nail polish as me, then you understand.

To top it off, Zoya is on the east coast, which means I had to wait until morning to contact them to notify them of their mistake.

How would I sleep, tossing and turning with nightmares of lacquer delays?!?

Alas, I made it through the night and place my call directly after my shower, hair wet and all!  I prepared for the worst, expecting Zoya to deny me my Dove and Minka!

I called, spoke with customer service about the mistake, they apologized, and approximately three minutes later they confirmed my original package via email, and put it on a rush order!  Not even asking me to return the color they sent me by mistake!

No attitude from the customer service agent or anything (you know how they can be)!

Score!

Three days later, my Dove and Minka arrived!

So, yes, I had to wait about a month to get them, but in the meantime I obtained another free polish, Zoya's Jaunita, due to their mistake.

(In order from left to right- Minka, Dove, and Juanita) 

And, I have to say, although it took forever and I was salivating for weeks with thoughts of unconsummated nail polish orders, I am quite pleased with the results!

- Varnish Varnish

Blue Period — Leopard Print

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I have been dying to do a free hand leopard print nail for weeks now and put together a little tutorial for you guys!  Finally, we wait no longer! Yes, everyone can have a leopard print nail without the high cost of a salon manicure, artistic ability, stickers, or a Konad stamp!

Of course, because I am in my "Blue Period," this leopard print has a twist and will be in shades of blue.  However, you can recreate this in any colors you choose!

What you will need:
• Base coat and top coat
• Two fine tip paint brushes
• Three colors of nail polish in the same colorway.  The base color should be the lightest shade, the large dots a medium share, and the squiggles (that's a technical term) the deepest shade of the colorway you choose.
 
The shades of blue I used are as follows:
• Petites Color Fever in Creme Blue (light)
• Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Extreme wear in Pacific Blue (medium)
• Essie's Bobbing for Baubles (dark)
 
 

First, cover nails in base coat and let dry completely.

Then cover nails in Petites Color Fever in Creme Blue (lightest color from colorway) in two coats of polish.

(ok, this is a super cheap bottle of polish I got many years ago at the drug store.  I have never seen this brand again.  However, this is one of the easiest nail application ever!  It goes on opaque; you could settle with one coat if you are in a rush.  And it goes on smoothly, not too thick, not too thin.  Great color too!  I just love it this little cheap polish!) 

Make sure to let dry completely.  You may want to wait until the next day to continue to the next step, in order to ensure complete dryness.

Next, using one of your fine tip paintbrushes and Sally Hansen's Pacific Blue (medium color from colorway), begin to paint random dots on each of your fingertips.  Make sure the dots are NOT perfect....you want them so be slightly jagged and asymmetrical.

 (I applied these dots by dipping the end of the paintbrush into the end of the nail polish brush.  This way I ensured I would not waste any polish by pouring it out into a cup for dipping.)

Make sure to let these dots dry for some time (a couple hours minimum).

Next, using one of your fine tip paintbrushes and Essie's Bobbing for Baubles (darkest color from colorway), begin to paint squiggles 2/3 around the dots.  This is hard to explain in detail, so I suggest just copying the pic, but again, this is not perfect.  Best when sloppy.

Make sure to let the squiggles dry for some time (many many hours) before applying top coat. *IF YOU DO NOT WAIT LONG ENOUGH, THE TOP COAT WILL SMUDGE YOUR LEOPARD PRINT*

Then, cover nails in top coat and marvel at your handiwork!  Rawr!

(I waited about six hours to put my top coat on.....as you can see it still wasn't quite long enough, especially on that pesky middle finger) 

XOXO, Varnish  Varnish