Zoya Color Lock System Revisited and Zoya Perrie Polish

I have been using the Zoya color lock system for two months now.  I liked it right from the first review, but it has now reached holy grail status for me.  I love it that much. 

When I first heard the words 'color lock system', my first thougts were: complicated, multi-layered, and very expensive.  Well, it's nothing more than a top coat and a base coat.  I also have the drying drops, because I'm impatient.  So anything that cuts drying time is great for me.  There is also a ridge filler if you need one (which I don't), and a polish remover I have yet to try (but I've read some great reviews).  What's great about this 'system' is that it was designed to work together with the nail polish so that it adheres to the nautral nail.  And the best part is that Zoya delivers on that promise. 

With the color lock system, my manicures consistently last for a full seven days with minimal chipping.  And that chipping is usually due to me playing with the dogs, or hiking, or using my nail to peel a sticker off of something.  I know, I shouldn't use my nails as tools.  But sometimes I do.

The only drawback is that your nails take quite a while to dry, even with the drying drops.  This took me a while to get used to, having switched from Seche Vite which dries almost instantaneously.    And also, the base coat bonds pretty strongly to your nail, so no picking at your polish!  I made that mistake, and ended up with some peeling.

Now here is a swatche of Zoya Perrie.

 

Perrie is from the Flash part of the Sparkle and Flash collection.  It is a creamy lavender with a definite flashy kick.  To my eye it's also more blue than the bottle in the above picture (see my swatch below), but I quite like that.  Great for summer.  However, I am not sure if I just got a dud, but this one did not apply as smoothly as my other Zoya polishes.  It was a little clumpy and did not spread well.  But the application imperfections were fixed by the top coat so it's ok.  And it is a very opaque polish, so I only needed two thin coats.

This swatch is about 5 days into the mani, on the right hand (I'm right handed), and still going strong.  Please excuse the cuticles, they're not going as strong as the mani.  Note how shiny the top coat is still.  Seche Vite always got dull 2-3 days into the mani.  And I don't reapply topcoat every couple of days as Zoya recommends to make the mani last longer.  After 7 days I'm bored with the color and need a change anyway!

Holy Grail Status

  There are products I like, and there are products I don't like.  But then there is a whole other section of products that have reached Holy Grail status in my books.  These are products that I have and will continue to purchase over and over again.  I like a lot of products, but I'm fickle and more often than not want to try something new.  But once in a while, I find perfection and my eyes don't stray to others...that's a Holy Grail.

I love the pink tweezers by Anastasia.  They are precise, just the right angle and width and always stay true.  I can get every single stubborn brow hair, no matter how small.  The pink color is a bonus.  I lost my first pair of these when my purse was stolen, and didn't entertain the idea of trying something else for a second.  I just marched down to Sephora and got the exact same ones.

The MAC 217 is the perfect eye shadow brush.  If I was going to a desert island with a palette of shadows, and was only allowed one eye shadow brush, the 217 would be it.  This is one of those desert islands that has fancy restaurants and cocktail parties.  On days when I'm in a hurry, I apply all of my shadows with this one brush.  I have two of these just in case one is dirty. 

CoverGirl's LashBlast mascara is perfection in a tube.  The fatty wand takes some time to get used to, but this mascara rocks.  It does not flake and it does not run.  It's the only non-waterproof mascara I can use without looking like a racoon after 3 hours.  It doesn't clump, and does a great job of defining my lashes.  Why buy $20+ mascaras when there is LashBlast?

Dermalogica's super sensitve sunblock is the my all time favorite face sunblocks.  It does not irritate my skin, which turns red and blotchy when it doesn't like what I put on my face.  It protects my face no matter what I may be doing.  It stays put pretty well without running into my eyes when I'm sweaty.  I wear this one to work, the dog park, biking, hiking and anything else.  For swimming, I will choose something waterproof.  Otherwise, this is it.

MAC Viva Glam V.  It's a lustre - creamy, shiny, sheer.  The color is 'my lips but better' and I don't need to wear a gloss with it.  Need I say more?

My hair hasn't seen silicone in about 8 years.  In that time, I have been using veganese almost every day.  When the weather is dry, and my hair is dry, I mix myself a bottle of 1:1 Veganese and American Cream.  It smells and works better than American Cream alone.  Veganese conditions my fine hair well without weighing it down and yet tames those pesky baby hairs at my hairline.  Love it!

Sure I have a pair of fancy everyday sunglasses.  But for all of my outdoor activities, I swear by these Rudy Project Apache SX Girl Sunglasses.  Diffeent colored lenses pop in and out of these frames with ease, so I can switch up depending on conditions.  I even have a clear set of lenses for gloomy days of mountain biking - so that my eyes are still protected even when the light is too low for sunglasses.  When the sun is low the orange lenses actually make everything brighter.  And the best part is that Rudy Project guarantees their lenses FOR LIFE - so if you ever scratch them, just send them in with a S&H fee and they send you replacement lenses.  BRILLIANT.  Believe it or not, I've already gone through 2 pairs of these sunglasses.  One got stolen at the beach, and one got stolen with my purse, along with the replacement lenses!  Man, I lost a lot of good stuff with that purse!  So this summer, I'll be replacing these with a third pair.  That's how much I love them!

The Sugoi Evolution Shorty is THE BEST biking short I have ever used!  I love the padding of these - just enough but not too much.  I love the fit.  Low waist but not too low.  Higher in the back so my butt crack doesn't show.  The panels make the shorts more comfortable and more flattering.  The bottom elastic is wide and not too tight, so I never get 'sausage leg'.  I use these for Spinning and for mountain biking.  The fabric is durable so when I've wiped out any small holes did not get bigger.  I have successfully patched the Shortys up too.  I used to teach 5-8 spinning classes per week, and bike on top of that.  So I own 6 pairs of Shortys so I didn't have to do laundry every other day.  My oldest pair is about 7 years old, and has lady bug and honey bee patches on the arse and thigh, but they're still going stong!  I have plenty of different jerseys, but the Evolution Shorty is what I ALWAYS wear.  Other shorts I've tried have chafed, ripped, sausaged, bunched, sagged, shrunk, frayed,  and rubbed.  No wonder I'm so loyal to the Shorty!

I have to admit, I'm only on my firsst pair of Zamberlan hiking boots.  And I got them for $20 at an REI garage sale.  But I have had them for many many years.  These things are indestructible.  I have hiked in sand, snow and water in these - sometimes all in the same hiking trip.  Through all the abuse, these boots have retained their shape and remained supple and comfy.  If these ever fall apart, and I'm beginning to doubt that they ever will, I will be buying another pair exactly the same.

I use my KitchenAid 600 Pro at least 2 times each week, and sometimes more than once per day.  I use it for baking everything from cakes to pizza dough.  It whips egg whites and cream like magic.  I also have the pasta attachment and the meat grinder.  I NEVER buy ground meat anymore, so I know what exactly is in my ground meat.  And one you've had home made pasta, it's hard to go back to store bought.  Especially for lasagne.  Hands down, the best kitchen appliance ever.

What are your holy grails?

Lush Big Shampoo - When My Hair Needs a Little Pep

When I my hair has the 'blahs' several days in a row, and I want to give it a little pep, I turn to Lush's Big Shampoo.  This shampoo looks like a salt scrub and smells like a margarita.  For the longest time, I didn't believe it would EVER lather when I picked some out of the pot.  In my world, salt scrubs don't lather.  But with plenty of water in my hair, Big shampoo gives me BIG lather, and it gives my hair BIG life.

Big shampoo is too harsh for everyday use.  But as a clarifying shampoo, it's a miracle.  I'm sure I've used more than 10 pots of this stuff over the years, and it's the first product that reached HOLY GRAIL status for me.  More on that later.

So here's a margarita toast to a week of good hair days!

Cheers!