Getting down to the nitty gritty with two layers of $9 Zoya Pixie Dust in Godiva, available now at Zoya counters and also online

I had a very long, very beauty nerd-seque conversation with a friend a while back about nail polishes with unconventional textures, ala bumps and grit.

I was wearing Zoya’s $9 Pixie Dust in Godiva on my tips at the time, walking around with nails that looked like they’d been dipped in sugar.

New for spring, Godiva’s brimming with fine bits of gritty glitter.

My buddy said the feel of the finish gave her the heebie-jeebies — like clawing a chalkboard or sandpaper — and I can see where she’s coming from. I mean, why purposefully put something lumpy and bumpy on a smooth set of nails?

But then there’s also the question, “Why not?”

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The six-piece Zoya Lovely spring 2013 collection ($8 per bottle, or $48 for the six-piece set), available now in stores, salons and online

Pardon me as I swan dive from the top platform into a full-on pastel nails obsession…

SPLASH!

Sorry about that. I couldn’t resist because the pool is just so lovely — lovely as in the six-piece Zoya Lovely collection. Remember creamy mint green Neely from last week? Yup, these are her Lovely (ba-dum bum) sisters.

Zoya Gie Gie (two coats)

Zoya Jacqueline (two coats)

Zoya Piaf (three coats)

Wearing three coats of Zoya Neely, one of six $8 shades in Zoya’s new Lovely spring collection, available now in stores and also online

First new favorite thing of the day/du jour: French toast 2.0! I made it again, this time actually for breakfast (I’ll explain the 2.0 version in a minute).

Second new favorite thing of the day/du jour: Zoya Neely nail polish, a creamy seafoam green, and the only thing I’ve been wanting to wear on my nails lately.

Every time I glance at my hands when I’m wearing it, I smile. It’s just so cheerful.

Two coats provides pretty complete coverage, but I’m wearing three for these pics.

Last time I applied Zeely, I didn’t use a base or top coat, and it lasted three full days before I started seeing tiny chips appear along the edges of my nails, so it seems durable. And it made it five days before the really honkin’ chips appeared.

Next time I’ll wear it with a base coat, at least, because it naturally emphasizes the ridges on my nails, which I actually think looks kind of neat, but a base coat applied before Neely should smooth things out, and improve the wear time.

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Darn this weird skin allergy! I’d planned to take pics for another easy eye makeup tutorial this afternoon (cat eyes!), but then I broke out in hives all over my left eyelid.

Weird.

They’ve since gone away, but I wasn’t taking any chances on eye makeup today. I decided to get my daily beauty fix the mani/pedi way.

The jewel-toned polishes in Zoya’s new 15-piece fall 2012 collection, available now online at artofbeauty.com, are spread out among three sub-collections — shimmery Diva, creamy Designer and sheer Gloss.

Separately, the bottles, which are all full size, sell for $8 each, or $48 as part of the two six-piece Diva and Designer sets. The three-piece Gloss set sells for $24.

Bummer that you don’t get a little discount for buying the sets…

In each of these pics, I’m wearing two coats.

The Designer collection

From the left: Zoya Designer collection shades in Evvie, Noot and Natty

From the left: Zoya Designer collection shades in Raven, Toni and Monica

The Diva collection

Zoya Diva collection shades in Suri, Daul and Feifei
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What I wouldn’t give to be somewhere with a warm ocean right now… And baby waves! Because I can’t remember the last time I went surfing.

Soon… Soon, I say, but until then, the Zoya Beach & Surf collection will just have to do.

Available now in stores and online, Beach and Surf are actually two different sub-collections of six full-size polishes each. Twelve shades total, all new for summer, for $8 each.

There are also two $48 kits available — one called the Beach Surf Collection Sampler, with Regan, Lara, Shelby, Arizona, Tracie and Wednesday; and the other called the Surf Collection Sampler, with Rory, Carly, Kimber, Myrta, Meg and Zuza.

I’ve been wearing Kimber on my toes for going on 10 days now, and it still looks pretty great! Very shiny, and I hardly see any chips (just a couple at the edges of a few toenails). Not bad at all. For the record, I’m also wearing it with a base and top coat.

Like all Zoya polishes, these are free of toluene, formaldehyde and DBP (phthalates). Oh, and also camphor.

The Zoya Beach Collection: Surf’s Up!

Shelby

Arizona

Tracie
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