Zoya Carly - $8 - zoya.com - 

Just a reminder: there is still a sale at Zoya for BOGOFREE Beach & Surf polishes with the code SUMMER7 and will run through tomorrow as well. It's a great time to get some fun, bright polishes to enjoy the last month or so of summer with. 

Carly is one of the Surf polishes, so it's part of the BOGOFREE going on right now. It's berry-magenta with an intense color payoff and a very dense foil finish. It sort of reminds me of China Glaze Steppin Out, which has been discontinued for a looooong time. Wow, that photo is so old, it really takes me back, lol. Carly is a great polish, and if you're taking advantage of the BOGOFREE, I highly recommend adding it to your cart, along with Zuza which also very excellent. 

If you're interested in seeing some other Zoyas (that aren't part of the BOGOFREE) to add to your order, check out some of my Zoya swatches! 

OPI The Show Must Go On - about $5.50 at transdesign.com (not affiliated)

This is the one polish that I was most looking forward to mainly because people were saying it was similar to, if not a dupe of, MAC Bad Fairy from Venomous Villains. Turns out it's not a dupe... It's lighter and pinker, but I think I like it better. It's a super metallic, almost a foil and the base color is a super vibrant magenta. It's also got an orange or amber duochrome to it that is quite subtle but gorgeous. At angles in which this polish have that amber cast the polish looks like OPI Music Hall Curtain Call to me, but then when you can only see the magenta base it's very similar to Zoya Astra in shade. Astra is a glitter, but the color is so similar. I don't know how else to explain it but when you look at it in a mirror, like the car side-view mirror it's so bright that it's almost like one of those photos where everything is black and white except one particular focal point that is in color. Even up against normal colors it stands out so much. I adore this polish!! It's a little difficult to remove, but that's no big deal. The application is interesting, it took three coats for opacity, but overall wasn't a real issue. Out of the non-glitter portion of this collection this is the only one I bought. So far...

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DS Exclusive is a highly holographic polish with a magenta base color in the same family as DS Extravagance, but a little more vibrant and slightly more sheer. This is one of my favorite OPI Designer Series polishes, and I got in the mood to swatch this because I'm on vacation in Clearwater, Florida, and the first time I came here I wore Exclusive. It brings back such awesome memories. There's not much to say other than what I already have and that it's got a super vibrant and holo-ey :D

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This is another "holo interrupted" polish from the OPI Designer Series like Fantasy and Diamond, which I showed you recently. You'd feel gypped by the lack of strong holo if only the almost textured shimmer weren't otherwise making you drool. The color is basically like a magenta. If you're familiar with OPI DS Exclusive, it's a bit darker and more opaque than Exclusive. This applies like the other DS polishes; immaculately. If you like the OPI DS polishes Extravagance, Diamond and Fantasy I highly recommend you try Color Club Wild at Heart which has that same "almost holo" feel to it.

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Index to pinkie: Zoya Roxy, Claire's Chunky Purple, Zoya Roxy, Zoya Astra

Zoya Roxy: This is what I refer to as my "party in a bottle." Roxy is pure magenta glitter goodness in a bon bon of a bottle. Three or four coats of this and the nails are a deep sea of outrageous vibrant glitter.

Claire's Chunky Purple: I originally picked this one up because it reminded me off-hand of Roxy and boy it's close. Aside from the obvious addition of silver hex glitter and the fact that the "other" glitter is smaller than Roxy's, the base is the same and the end result is so similar. It's jazzed up a bit, but still just as awesome. The hex glitter adheres to the nail well, and you get good coverage for this one in about three coats. it's also SMOOTH on the nail with just a coat of topcoat which is a feat for such a "chunky" polish

Zoya Astra: Astra is a bit lighter and more pink than the others. You also see a fair amount more glitter than the others per coat of polish. It's ultra blingy and a happy unique warm pink that I haven't seen anywhere else. I love the addition of a little silver in the glitter.

I am so sorry, I totally forgot to take a bottle comp photo!!! I'll see if I can remember to get one soon.