NoTD: Zoya Pandora aka OHGODYES

My work decided to get even more strict on grooming standards. The 'neutral' and 'understated' make-up rules have been replaced by "clear, light pink or French" for nails and "natural, subtle colours" for all make-up. I will also be spending the next few months learning how to do new hairstyles to comply with the new requirements. I swear, if this job didn't pay so well and I didn't work with such kick-ass people I'd be OUTTA there. I went to private school! I've already done the Barbie-clone-automaton thing! GRRR.

So basically all the lovely pastels, beiges and greys I've added to my stash are totally out. Which pisses me off a little bit since I spent a fair chunk of change expanding my polish and eyeshadow collection for colours which are now not going to get used very much.

The only pink-y shades I have are either sheer or have such horrible formulas that I don't even want to open the bottles lest I 'accidentally' throw them in the bin. Unfortunately most nudes and nude-y pinks are sheer, and I really DON'T like sheer polishes (on their own. Layering is a-ok with me, especially the CND effects which I now own 3 of!) and I especially don't like spending fucking ages putting on tons of boring polish for work. I don't even like having to do more than 2 coats for fun, sparkly and/or bright polish! I'm lazy like that.

When I hear about the Zoya Touch polishes I was over the moon. OPAQUE NUDES?! Of course Zoyas are prohibitively expensive over here in Australia and rather hard to get. Being nudes, I wasn't sure what would work on my skintone either, and I wasn't keen on buying all three to add to my already over-stuffed 'work polish' collection.

I finally bit the bullet a few weeks ago and ordered what I thought was the mini set of all three polishes. It ended up being the full-sized set!

I grabbed Pandora first. On me it's this amazing creamy, rosey mauve which is so subtle and lady-like. The formula was a bit thick and went on with lots of brush-stroke-y mess, but it levelled itself out quickly and by the time I applied topcoat, it was smooth and shiny and most importantly OPAQUE. This is one coat (over basecoat and a coat of CND effects because I was too lazy to take it off first). If the other two apply like this as well I'm going to be over the goddamm moon. I would have to describe the finish as "pearl", it has the smooth, glossy appearance of a creme but with this super soft, glowy shimmer that doesn't make it look frosty or even really shimmery, it just adds this lovely soft glow that prevents it looking dull or drab.

The best part? I have a white mark on my middle fingernail from hitting my hand (which happens a lot) and you absolutely can't see it under the polish! ONE COAT!

I have nubbins at the moment because I broke a nail setting up a fridge and a bed yesterday (I'm moving in with my boyfie <3) and I'm moving all my shit on Friday, so I figured I may as well trim them down to prevent more mishaps then.

Expect more swatches in a few weeks, and some reviews! We do not yet have internet at the new house, so I'm not sure how long it will be until I can start blogging regularly. Which is a shame, since I have a Linnaeus order, more Venomous Cosmetics, two Ozotic Pros and a long overdue Furless Brush review...