HAPPY 9 YEARS!!

I missed it by two days, but I have now officially been blogging for 9 years :) I am not a career blogger, I have a very busy full time job, and a wild off-duty ecology surveying habit, so sometimes I don't have time for blogging. However, it's an outlet for a lot of things I love, and according to Google Analytics, a lot of people read my posts!

So thank you so much to those of you who take time to read my musings, and I can assure you that they will keep coming! This next year I am actually going to take the blog in a slightly broader direction. As I celebrated my 40th birthday earlier this year, I am going to steer it well away from the usual beauty blogger teen/twenties market (plenty of those blogs out there already) and focus on the beauty and wellbeing of being a lady over 40! :)

So to celebrate I wore the most amazing nail polish from Zoya, it's from their Urban Grunge collection from 2016, and it's a scattered holographic. I can only say that it's a 10 out of 10. The formula is amazingly pigmented, the holo particles really shimmer on your nails, and used with Zoya's base and top coat Anchor and Armor, I managed to get 7 days of really good wear out of it. AND it was easy-peasy to remove with no staining! I did 2 coats here. Love this, it's easily the top polish of the year!

NOTD: Zoya "Amy"

I am venturing into more toxin-free nail polish at the moment, for no other reason that my friend is into her cruelty free nail polish, and have showcased some nice Zoya nail polishes lately! I also bought the Zoya top and base coat, Armor and Anchor, to try but I want to give it a few more manis before I do a review on that combo!

I continued to be amazed just how many absolutely amazing colours Zoya carries when I was looking round for some new colours! The brand has a phenomenal array of colours and finishes. The only whole collection I have ever bought is a Zoya one, "Sparkle", which I featured most polishes from back in April 2010. Some of those polishes have been reprised several times! And one of my most used nail polishes is "Richelle" from Zoya as well! Funny how much I realise I actually love the brand when I go back and look :)

The main attraction for many with this brand is that it is vegan, cruelty free and 10-free (that's right not 3, 5 or 7...), but for me it's actually the range of colours... I have had a few Zoya which didn't behave and I know why now; they do not play nicely with formulas that are not at least 3 free!

So back to this NOTD. This is an absolute stunner, and like most of Zoya's glass fleck polishes it's crazy shimmery! I am needing the bright shot of sparkling goodness that this gives off, as AGAIN I'm down with laryngitis :(

This is 2 thin coats over Zoya Anchor base coat, with Zoya Armor top coat. I find the trick is to let the base dry for a minute or so (it's VERY quick drying) and then do 1 coat of colour. I then wait at least 5 mins and do a 2nd coat. Again, I then wait 5-10 min and put on the top coat. This way, each layer has time to set and release their volatiles so the whole manicure dries more quickly in the end. I find that the manicure is set by about 30 min, but I have to be a bit careful for a few hours so it doesn't dent. My previous manicure with Zoya "Mieko" lasted for 6 days before I got a chip. That's unheard of! :)

Love this polish, it's not a current collection so you may have to hunt around for it, but it's worth it!