Zoya Nail Polish Review

Storm, Mimi, Neve, Arianna

Well, I know I’ve been absent for quite a long time. The longest since I’ve started the blog, I’m pretty sure. Thomas had a 7 week work trip down in Long Beach, and we also went home to FL for Thanksgiving, so we were out of town a lot in the last two months. Which brings me to a little detail that I should probably throw in…

We got engaged! The day before our 4 year anniversary in October. And we’re getting married next October.

Now onto what has definitely become my favorite nail polish brand! (And, well, there’s another ring shot too.) 🙂

Arianna

I picked this red glitter (Arianna) Zoya polish on a visit to Vegan Haven right before our trip home last month. This was my first time trying one of the Pixie Dust colors, which leaves a matte glittery finish. It literally looks like real glitter on your fingers, instead of glitter polish. Let me try to get a better picture…

Detail (sorry, I’m not known for my polishing skills!)

I wasn’t sure about how I’d like the texture when I bought it, but ended up liking it, and I thought it was fun and festive in red for the upcoming holidays. It lasted almost a week during our trip, which was about what I expected based on previous experiences. Last year was my 1st time using their polish, and I tried Storm (black shiny glitter polish) and was shocked that it lasted a week without chipping, and I even worked in it! I’m normally the type of person who starts chipping the next day. I’m curious to see how the pixie dust will stand up to the rest of my skating and work week, and will report back with more.

Storm on Day 5!

The best thing about this polish, besides the long wear and nearly infinite amount of colors and finishes available, is the super high quality of the polish. (It also has a super comfy rubberized cap/handle!) Zoya is not only Vegan, but also free of toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and DBP (dibutyl phthalate). One, or any combination of those nasty ingredients had clearly been an issue for my nails in the past, because whenever I had my nails painted with let’s say OPI, it ALWAYS caused tremendous damage to my nails after. They would always start to peel and get brittle, even after just one polishing. That combined with always working a lot with my hands, and for most of the last 10 years of being in the medical field = a lot of hand hygeine, I had pretty much given up fingernail polishing entirely.

Zoya also runs a lot of nice, affordable specials too. The regular sized 0.5 oz bottles go for $9 or $10 each, and mini sized 0.25 oz for $5, when available, which is not terrible. But they often have specials going on which is how I got my initial 3. It was a get 3 polishes for the price of shipping deal that they do once or twice a year, and today I was able to get in on a good one for an 8 oz bottle of remover and 3 polishes with free shipping, for $20!

So I’d highly recommend to follow them on some social media to get some good deals and check them out. I think they do that 3 free polishes deal around the beginning of the year too. Here is their facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram!

Crazy Rumors Vegan Lip Balm – A Review

Thank you, Crazy Rumors!

I’m happy to report that I’ve finally found awesome vegan lip balm! People had been telling me for a long time to try Crazy Rumors, but I was happy with my HURRAW! (reviewed here), so I didn’t bother. That is until I started cutting almonds out of my diet (Allergic, and I barely ever break out in hives now!) and realized sweet almond oil was a main ingredient in the latter.

Allergic, yet again!

Unfortunately, my path to allergy free lip love was not direct. First I picked up this baby from Crazy Rumors’ HibisKiss line. It worked great as far as moisturizing was concerned, and I loved that it was available in a variety of subtle shades. Just one problem, every time I applied it my throat would swell up (and stay swollen for hours) and I would also get symptoms ranging from a runny nose, to coughing fits, to sneezing that would immediately resolve when I wiped it off. I persisted applying it for a week, hoping that it really wasn’t my new lip gloss, but in the end I had to admit defeat and toss it. I’m assuming it’s the hibiscus in it. I’m pretty allergic to all things floral, so it’s really not a big surprise.

Despite that unfortunate introduction, I decided to give their regular balm a chance, and I’m so glad that I did. No almond oil, no floral fragrances, and their regular natural lip balm comes in a bunch of safe-for-me flavors, which I’ll describe below.

Coffee: I haven’t been able to drink coffee for years (Tea is my hardstuff), but I thought it’d be nice to smell it. This one turned out to be a little more like the old acid coffee taste/smell to me that I find off-putting. (Coffee breath?) Not my fave flavor, but the balm itself works great.

Chocolate Mint: More minty than chocolatey, and kinda subtle. I decided this is a good one for bedtime.

Pistachio: Yum! It definitely tastes like pistachio ice cream and cake! So good. This one lives in my labcoat at work.

Rootbeer (not pictured): I went back to Vegan Haven and got another one for my regular coat pocket, since I gave the coffee one to Thomas. LOVE THIS!

Conclusion:

This formula is absolutely fantastic! By the time I acquired these, my lips were cracking, burning, and splitting from the lack of lip lube. In two days they were fully healed! (Below) I’m usually the type that likes to peel and bite at my lips, and I don’t even do that now, because they’re always in perfect shape!

Thank you Crazy Rumors!

Happy, healthy, moisturized!

BLINC Eyeliner Pen – A Review

Hey guys, I guess this post went up sans text when I uploaded the pictures this morning! My mistake; that happens sometimes since the default setting on the wordpress app is to publish! Oops! It was early. 😀

Blinc known “across the world” for their “superior line of mascara”, is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida of all places! (Pretty much my hometown.) While I have yet to try their mascara (don’t worry, that’s next!), I am IN LOVE with their eyeliner pen!  All of their products are vegan and gluten free. (The pic above shows the pen and the packaging tube it arrived in.)

I was very fortunate in that right after fracturing my left humerus, this eyeliner came in the mail. Fortunate because I was able to apply it effortlessly with one hand on the 1st try. The control you get from it being a pen is just amazing. (1st use pics above & below!)

In fact, I was SO impressed that I immediately threw out the last of the brand that I had been using for the last 12 years. I had stuck with that brand because it lasted “16  hours”, and because it had a great cone shaped [non brush] applicator.

This has the best applicator I’ve seen! It delivers the right amount of liquid to get nice opaque coverage. And the liner is JET BLACK.

What’s also really great about it, is while it’s not waterproof in the traditional sense, it will NOT run. It only comes off with warm water and pressure. You don’t need eye makeup remover, and it won’t run in the rain. If your eyes water, it won’t budge. It’s absolutely fantastic. It also doesn’t smudge onto my eyelid the way my old one would after a long day.

Impression:

This is a 5 star eyeliner pen! I doubt there is a better one to be had, vegan or not! It’s a bit pricey at $26, but I will gladly pay it for as long as they make this product! Thanks to Melisser at Cruelty Free Face for the recommendation! 🙂