a day at the beach.
Textured nails are timely but shiny nails are timeless. For a jubuliant July look, a trio from the Zoya Pixie Dust Summer 2013 Collection in Liberty (blue), Destiny (red), and Solange (gold) felt a little bit like the bold primary colors of a beach ball and kind of patriotic, without donning actual stars and stripes.
I love Zoya’s pretty Pixie Dust offerings for their serious shimmer and unbeatable durability, but I was stumped on how to mix it up a and create a custom look using the formula. Zoya advises against both a base and top coat for the Pixie Dust collection, and recommends one to three thin coats to create the intended effect, allowing each to fully dry between layers. It seems like nail art would be tough with this product (though pretty tips might be worth trying, stay tuned for that one day soon) but I wasn’t content to just wear it as-is.
It was a really simple solution that turned out to be an incredibly satisfying one. Googling for inspiration, I stumbed onto a post from The PolishAholic blog that showed swatches of the luxe lacquer with a sleek top coat. Duh! Since the richly textured Pixie Dust is really its own the base coat and the glitter and sandy effect build with each layer, finishing it with an ultra-shiney top coat (I used Invincible II Fast Dry Top Coat from Seche Vite) makes the mani look almost like a an ultra-glamourous gel manicure. The dryig time can be a little cumbersome for this polish too, so speeding up how long it can ordinarily take to set was nice.
However, I think that the polishes can be a bit incompatible. It’s well known that Zoya is five-free and non-toxic (also vegan). I don’t know the makeup of Invincible II. I’m no chemist, but it takes polish from soft and tacky to turtleshell shiny in moments flat and smells like the way I’d imagine the inside of the RV from Breaking Bad might. What happens is that after only a few days, the clear layer on top of the Pixie Dust simply peels away and it can take bits of the Zoya along with it. It’s disappointing since the effect seems like it will be tough as nails.
But don’t let that dissuade you, just be prepared for it. Going high-gloss really gives the dazzling Pixie Dust a ton of extra pop and I can’t wait to try it with Zoya’s gorgeous new Fall 2013 collection too. — Casandra Armour
