Kate Spade Summer Purse Steal + Zoya

Guys, this purse is a total steal and everyone should get one, and that's basically the point of this post.  Well, also that I found some cute nail polish.  You should buy that too. 


Kate Spade Horseshoe Cove Scout in Natural/Black, on sale for $139 down from $278 at katespade.com: The story to how I just bought this bag is funny.  I was thinking of what I wanted for my 21st birthday, and one of the things that I was thinking about getting was a nice bag.  One of my good friends just bought one of the bags I was thinking about, the Mulberry Alexa, which is absolutely gorgeous.  It's also absolutely expensive.  So then I stumbled across a cheaper alternative, the Cambridge Satchel.  How cute are those bags?!  Adorable.  But the actual Cambridge Satchel website is super unreliable, and I don't love the colors that they have on Asos.  So then I stumbled across the Kate Spade Scout bags, and they happened to be wayyyy on sale.  Like half off.  And they come in an adorable range of colors, and have magnet clasps instead of actually having to use the buckles, and an adorable lining, and basically I love them.  They come in either all patent leather (for $50 more) or lacquered canvas with patent leather trim.  I ordered the black yesterday because I figured it would be the most practical and wearable (although I seriously debated about getting the pink version.  It's so cute!).  The interior is lined with a sweet polka dot fabric, and there are two main compartments, with a smaller zippered compartment as well.  The strap is adjustable, and the perfect length to wear cross-body.  What I really love is the size.  It's about 10" wide and 7" tall, which is just the right size to fit all the things I need without giving me too much space to fill with lots of things that I don't really need.

It also comes in Natural/Coral and Natural/Wheatgrass, and how cute is that pink.  I think aesthetically, for how much these purses cost (on sale!  so affordable!), these are a slam dunk.  The structured, boxy shape is very retro, the treated canvas has a summery feel, and the shiny patent trim adds a nice modern touch.  I'm really glad that I splurged on this, because I think it's the kind of purse that I can get a lot of wear out of, year round. 

Zoya polish in Wednesday, $8 at zoya.com: Zoya describes it as a faded, dirty medium turquoise with a green undertone and an opaque cream finish.  I actually got this a few months ago (ahem, I am the worst) and I've been wearing it allllllll the time, on my fingers and toes!  It's just such a fun color.  It's a slightly muted, greener version of Tiffany blue, and it's surprisingly flattering, especially against a tan.  It's bright, but it doesn't look childish.  It applies like a dream, opaque in two coats, and lasts a week on me (that manicure is 2-3 days old).  The picture on the left has flash, the picture on the right doesn't.

 Buy both these things!  They are great.

Images via pursepage.com, polyvore.com, katespade.com.

Outfit of the Day and Zoya

I got a dress from H&M this weekend!  I really like it.  It was like $45, it's fitted through the waist with an a-line skirt, an exposed zipper up the back, no sleeves, and a high-ish neckline.  I'm really feeling higher necklines these days.  This is big for me.  The fabric is thick and stretchy cream with a black lace overlay tacked on top.  It looks really expensive...but it wasn't!  I'm wearing it with a vintage Bergdorf Goodman belt, a Walter jacket, Hue tights and Frye Carmen short boots.

What I really like about this dress is one, that it's so comfy but it looks really put together, and two, it's really easy to style differently.  I tried to make it a little more modern with the sassy boots and leather jacket, but I could also take it in a more '50s direction with a fitted little cardigan and some peep-toe heels. Here's a close-up of the fabric!  And in terms of Zoya, they have a tooonnnn of great promos right now--if you do their 'Share the Love' and sign-up for a new account through your old account (google it, I'm terrible at explaining) then you get 1 free polish and free shipping if you buy two polishes...aka buy 2 get one free and free shipping, which is excellent.  I got (left to right) Wednesday, Dree, and Lara.  I'm wearing Dree right now, and it is a fab dusty olive green.

Review: Zoya Armor Top Coat

So when I did that recent Zoya promotion (buy one get two free), I got two polishes and a Zoya Armor top coat.  


Now, I have a favorite top coat, Seche Vite's fast-drying one.  It dries in seconds and has great wear time and is SO shiny.  So why did I get another one?  Well, Zoya polishes do NOT like 99% of top coats.  Apparently the chemicals in most top coats don't react well with Zoya's more eco-friendly formula.  I heard that the Zoya top coat works perfectly with their polishes, and since I have so many Zoya polishes at this point, I figured that the top coat was a worthwhile investment.


Zoya Armor Top Coat, $7.96 at zoya.com: It's the same price as the polishes, just about $8, and it comes in the same bottle.  I like that, for visual consistency at least. 

As far as topcoat goes, I evaluate it on a couple categories: shine, wear time, drying time, and application.  So, the breakdown:


-Shine: On a scale of 1-10, this gets a 6 for shine.  It's a little better than average, but it's no where near Seche Vite or Sally Hansen territory.  It's definitely not matte and it has a sheen, but this is no mirror/glassy finish.  It's not dull enough that it bothers me so much as to not use it as a top coat, but it's a definite downside to this product.


-Wear time: With Seche Vite and other top coats, I can get about 4 days out of a Zoya manicure before tip wear and chipping start to get to me.  With Zoya's Armour, I can get a 7-8 days before I start jonesing to change my polish (I generally break down before then, but still).  So this has everything else beat when it comes to lasting power.


-Drying time: I'd say the drying time is mediocre.  It's about five minutes before it's dry to the touch and about 30 before I feel safe grabbing things.  That's a bit better than, say, Sally Hansen top coats, but not nearly as fast as Seche Vite top coat.  So it's good, but I've seen better.


-Application: this is a very thin top coat.  On one hand, that's a good thing, because it means the top coat won't get stringy and thick in the bottle as it gets more air exposure (ahem, Seche Vite).  So you can actually use the whole bottle of top coat without it drying out too much.  On the other hand, since it's a thin formula, polish with any glitter or gritty shimmer doesn't feel smooth under this top coat.  Thicker top coats can give you a smooth surface over a glitter polish.  Even with two coats, this can't.


Overall rating: I'd give this a B+.  I wouldn't use it with a non-Zoya polish, but with Zoya polishes it works better than anything else I've used.  So if you have lots of Zoya polishes and wear them a lot, then this is a sound investment.  If you use mostly OPI or Essie, then I'd stick to Seche Vite or Sally Hansen.

Image via zoya.com.

Review: Zoya Roxy Polish

Before you read any further, let me just say that I have had the WORST lighting for taking pictures of nail polish this week.  Like terrible.  These pictures do not do the polish justice at all.  Boo.


Anyways, I got Zoya Roxy with the latest Zoya promo.  The website describes it as "a sheer red-toned purple base loaded with bright purple glitter. A must-have shade for any rock star or glamour girl."


Awful pictures:

I really, really like this polish.  It is such a pretty polish.  I'd say the Zoya description is pretty accurate.  It is on the sheer side, almost a jelly, and it's a medium berry-red purple with fine matching shimmer.  The great thing about this is that the jelly finish makes the glitter seem to float on the nail instead of burying it under the base color.  It is actually the sparkliest polish I own.  It's opaque in two coats and goes on surprisingly easy for a glitter polish, although it does dry a little bumpy.  The wear time and formula are standard for Zoya (5-days and great).

 Overall thoughts: I adore this color.  It's bright and festive and glittery enough to feel girly and fun, but it's not so garish as to be office or age inappropriate.  It's almost a jewel-toned hue, and the glitter definitely adds to that.  I think this would work nicely on most skin tones and if you like sparkly things at all then YOU NEED IT.

Image via zoya.com.

Review: Zoya Neeka Polish

So I did that buy one, get two free Zoya proyo a while back.  I got a top coat (Anchor), Roxy, and Neeka.  Today I've got Neeka to show you all. 


Zoya polish in Neeka, $8 at zoya.com: So Zoya describes Neeka as: "A greyed amethyst with subtle red duochrome shimmer and bright gold glitter accents.? A fascinating, unique shade that manages to be glittery but not too flashy."  I'd say that's about right.  It's a medium, greyed purple (more purple than grey to be sure) with subtle pink shimmer and tiny gold glitter.  It is SO PRETTY.  It's showing up a little washed out here and I could not get the shimmer to show up FOR THE LIFE OF ME.  Stupid rainstorm lighting.  Here's a better swatch.  I adore this color.  It reminds me of Catherine of Aragon from RBL's The Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty collection.  That sold out before I could get it, but it was a very similar color--slightly lighter and dustier with a little more shimmer, but very similar.

There's something so regal about this color.  It has the richness from the purple and the elegant, worn-in feeling from the grey, and the glitter adds a fun amount of dimension.  It's almost like the shade of a dress you'd see in Tudor times, and I am all over that.  It's neutral enough to wear to work, but edgy enough to wear out while still staying in pretty category (it's not an unflattering brownie-grey-purple-taupe type polish at all).


As far as application goes, this is a two coater.  It's a little sheer on the first coat, but the second one fixes that up.  It's self-leveling (meaning it doesn't pool on one side of the nail) and easy to use.  The Zoya brush is a little thinner than an OPI brush, but it's not hard to use.  I got average wear with this and the Zoya topcoat, about 5 days, and I think it my nails were less peely I could have gotten even more.


Overall, I ADORE THIS.  It might be in my top five favorite polishes ever. The color is unique, flattering, and just straight up pretty, it's big 4-free (all Zoya polishes are free of the big-4 nasty chemicals), it was basically free with my promo, and it's just amazing.  I'd give this an A+.  Everyone needs to go buy this.  Now.  I mean it.