Fairy Dust? or Pixie Dust?

Well, Zoya PixieDust won't make you fly, but it will make you FEEL like your flying, right?

Well, it'll make you want to fly?

Ok, it'll make your fingers feel bumpy, and it's pretty.  But that's pretty much all we can ask from nail polish, anyway.

My friend Jill wanted Zoya London, a beautiful medium grey, with French tips done in Dahlia.

She also wanted them topcoated, which made them supersparkly and smooth, but it also meant that they barely lasted a day before they chipped off.  Word on the street is that if you want to use base and/or top coat with Zoya Pixie Dusts, it has to be the Zoya brand, or you'll get chipping.

Zoya Vespa.  Icy, pale green.  It practically glows.

I took a cue from Jill's mani, and decided to do these with a Dahlia French tip as well.  Love the contrast.

Zoya Nyx.  Icy, pale blue.  But, wait a minute - that's a Julie G bottle I'm holding there.  Yep, one of my nails is painted with Blueberry Fizz.  In Real Life, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart, so I'm calling it a dupe.  By the way, it's my thumb.  Did you guess right?

And, French-tipped with Dahlia again. 

Dahlia.  Well, I can't just show you the little sliver of Dahlia without showing you the whole mani, can I?  I love this color.  Black, with silver sparkle.

No French tips here, but there is another dupe!  My thumb is actually painted with Orly FX Black Pixel.  Nearly impossible to tell apart in Real Life.

As far as formula, you can't go wrong with Zoya.  All of these applied great, one or two coats as you like.  They definitely dry with a texture and a sparkle, but I don't find it to be too rough.  I think the Julie G Gumdrops are more textured.  All of these are easier to remove than regular glitters, but harder than creme polish. 

Have you found any other dupes yet?

Sugar-coated Goodness

Who's ready for nail polish sweetness of diabetic proportions?  Yep, we're going to be looking at the Julie G Gumdrops collection, another textured collection of sweet, brightly-colored polishes.

And, because I'm so intrigued by the idea of doing some kind of nail art with these textures, I thought I'd play around with some 3-D pieces for this collection.

Sugar Rush.  A bright, sparkly coral.  One coat is all that is needed, but if you do choose to add another layer, make sure that the first is completely dry.. or you'll get patches like on my index finger.  Aren't those fimo butterflies totes adorbs?

Tangerine Dream.  Light, fruity orange with sparkle.  These flowers are perfect!

Rock Candy.  This one and Blueberry Fizz are similar, and photograph similar, but they aren't the same.  Rock Candy is a green-leaning teal, not a true blue.  The bottle color is truer to reality than on the nails in this pix.

Blueberry Fizz.  Icy blue sparkle, with bling!

Crushed Candy.  Is it a pink-leaning purple, or a purple-leaning pink?  Not sure.  It is tooth-achingly sweet, though!

Hot Cinnamon.  In the bottle, this looks similar to Sugar Rush, but there is no orange in Hot Cinnamon.  It's a fiery red.  A color this bold needs a bold statement with studs.

These textured polishes are so versatile!  They can be stamped, used with nail art, as a base for 3-D decorations, and then change how they look with topcoat.  What's your favorite so far?