Zoya Professional Nail Lacquer

I received my first Zoya Professional Nail Lacquer in my July Birchbox. I have long, natural nails (although they are a little short now due to some landscaping work) and I love painting them. I've purchased my fair share of nail polishes and my usual brand of nail polish is Avon Nail Wear Pro, which I really like. However, my new favorite nail polish is.....ZOYA !!!

This nail polish is wonderful! It goes on smoothly and dries surprisingly fast, which I love. It is very long wearing and chip-resistant. I've painted my nails with it several time and I've gone at least two weeks on one painting without having to do any touch up. I type on a computer all day long, so for my nail polish to last for two weeks is just amazing. Zoya is formaldehyde free and does not contain doetoluene or dibutyl phthalate.

The color I received is Pandora. While I love the polish, I didn't care for the color Pandora. It's so much like the color of my skin tone that my nails don't stand out at all. If I'm going to take time to paint my nails, I want them to stand out, not blend in with my fingers.

ZOYA - Pandora

Zoya has their new Fall 2001 color collection available on their website and the colors look beautiful. I might have to purchase all of them!!

2011 New Smoke & Mirrors Fall Colors (6 cream and 6 metalic)

Zoya is available in some nail salons and can be purchased for $8.00 on their website at http://www.zoya.com/. It's really the best nail polish I've ever used!!!

Josie Maran GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara

I used some of my points at Sephora to get a Josie Maran product sample kit. I have never used any of her products, so I was looking forward to trying some of her products. Included in the kit was a sample of the Josie Maran GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara in Pitch Black. I was excited to try the mascara - I think I'm a mascara junkie, always trying to find the perfect mascara. After using this mascara for a couple days, I have to say this mascara is not the perfect mascara.

The first thing I didn't care for was the brush. It's very large and has a lot of bristles that are bunched together.

The picture doesn't really show how large the brush is. It was very difficult to use on the lower lashes and in the inner corner of the upper lashes. I also didn't care for the formula. It went on very dry and really didn't do much for my lashes at all in terms of thickening and lengthening. I had to apply a lot of coats of the mascara just to get the look that I get with two coats of my regular mascara.

The website describes the mascara as "...the rich, hydrating formula evenly builds thickness and smoothness, delivering a full fringe of blacker-than-black lashes with dewy shine." The color was very, very black, but I didn't get the thickness or a dewy shine. It could be that I just got a bad or old sample with my kit. If that is the case, the company should do a better job with their quality control on their sample products, since a lot of people base their buying decision on whether they liked the sample or not. My sample went in the trash.

A full size GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara costs $22 at www.sephora.com