formspring.me

Don't forget you can ask me anything! http://formspring.me/BATpolish

Zoya Wants to Spoon With You, Do You Accept?

*UPDATE* You will need a code for the free spoon event. It will be released on Thursday




This Friday only, Zoya will be letting you receive 6 spoons for FREE! Including free shipping! Now I'm a sucker for anything with free shipping, and as a bonus the spoons are really cool in deciding whether or not you want to take the plunge and commit to a color. Because honestly, there's nothing worse than buying a color online only to decide that you hate how it looks outside the bottle. It's a modern day tragedy, really.

This offer is only good on Friday, December 10th, and you will also receive a $3 Color Spoon credit code for use on a future zoya.com purchase, which basically means 6 more free color spoons the next time you buy something from the Zoya website. I personally think it's a great offer, and I've already inputted it into my Blackberry calendar.

Impressions: Johnson's Baby Creamy Oil (Aloe Vera & Vitamin E)

I'm a huge fan of trying new products. I'm always loyal to my Eucerin Daily Moisturizer but lately my hands have been drier than usual. Maybe it's a sign of aging! I'm only 22 though so it's probably not that.

I've always liked Johnson's baby products. In fact, whenever I'm in China I only use their Johnson's baby products, especially their cooling body wash. While of course as we grow older our skins have different needs, I don't think it hurts to go back to basics sometimes.

Johnson's baby creamy oil with aloe vera and vitamin E is my new obsession. This is what the website promises:
"This creamy oil, enriched with soothing Aloe and Vitamin E, combines rich emollients with JOHNSON'S^® Baby Oil to provide long-lasting moisturization. Our indulgent, non-greasy creamy oil absorbs quickly and leaves nothing but softness behind on the skin. Its sweet yet subtle fragrance will delight your senses."

Effectiveness as a moisturizer: Um, amazing. I was very pleasantly surprised as how easily it absorbed into the skin, and even though it comes out as quite a heavy cream, once you smooth it out it is very light. It is very different from a lotion so less is more effective than you think! It really does leave skin quite soft, especially with continued use.

Good for body?: Absolutely! I use it on my scaly elbows and ankles, I think it actually might replace Lemony Flutter as my go-to lotion for those problem areas. This is definitely not something you can use on your face though.

Good for nails?: It doesn't specifically target nails so I don't think you'll see a radical change. I haven't used it specifically for my nails but I've used it for my hands and I really liked it as a hand moisturizer too. I don't know how effective it is for cuticles compared to Lemony Flutter or other cuticle creams/oils but it is very light, whereas Lemony Flutter is a bit heavier.

Price: It was around $3 at Target for 8oz. I like the packaging a lot. It's easy to use and easy to carry around.

Verdict: This is probably going to have a permanent place in my moisturizer rotation. The scent is really lovely. I'm not a huge fan of scented products but this one does have a very subtle smell that disappears...I don't know how to describe it. It's a bit like a sweeter baby powder but without the effect of your nose being tickled by the powder, if that makes sense.

Fun Fact: Johnson & Johnson is best known for their consumer products (Johnson's Baby products, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Band-Aid) but they also manufacture medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.

Some Like It Hot

Hello all! I'm actually on a plane to Orlando, Florida right now but I just needed to keep the posting momentum going =) Which is why I love that Blogger lets you make posts but actually post them in the future.

Now, some people aren't very adventurous with their polish but for those who are, I've got a great yellow polish for you. Even though I'm not wearing yellow for this trip (my nails and toes are China Glaze For Audrey), there's going to be lots of sunshine in Florida! My issue with yellow polish is that it tends to draw out the yellow in my skin and sometimes makes me look jaundiced. But this yellow is bright but also soft at the same time, so my fingers don't look entirely sickly.

L.A. Flare can be found at Forever 21 and Walmart.

Zoya Wonderful Collection

Sorry, I know these swatches have been a long time coming and I actually don't have the swatches for the Wicked part of the collection yet. But these pics were taken with my new camera and are pretty gorgeous if I do say so myself =)

First of all, my materials for swatching if anyone's interested...cut up pantyliners work better than cotton balls or cotton pads in my opinion. Nail polish remover is a must, as well as paper & pen for taking notes.

Burke is described as a sienna red cream, and I really love this as a basic red. It's super glossy, and this is two coats. It's a good, everyday red.

Stacy is described as a mahogany red cream. This is two coats, and it reminds me a bit of Icing Redwood so I definitely love it....I'm all about the vampy reds

Kelly is described as a paynes gray cream. I'm usually not a huge fan of grays because they can be hit or miss but I love this color. Two coats here.

Kristi is described as a crimson red cream. I found that you only really needed one coat for a fresh pop of color, but two coats (as shown here) evens it out more and just gives more gloss

Cola is described as a desert sand red cream. I actually really like this color, it really reminds me of Coca-Cola (my favorite soda!) but it really draws out the yellow in my skin, ick. So I wouldn't really recommend it for Asians with similar coloring as mine. It's a brownish red and it kind of has a bit of a tricky application. It could definitely benefit from a few drops of thinner. This is still two coats too.

Finally, my favorite for last: Shawn, a myrtle green cream. I thought it was gong to be disappointing because the bottle color is nothing to get excited about. BUT it's darker on the nail than in the bottle and it's the perfect green to try if you've never tried green before. It's a lovely shade, but I did have one problem with it: make sure you have a REALLY good basecoat because it left intense staining upon removal. I wasn't wearing my normal topcoat though.

And I will definitely try to post the Wicked collection soon but I was very impressed by the Wonderful collection. I'm normally all about the shimmer, sparkle, and glitter but these were all gorgeous creams and I really love them all. They're SO glossy without topcoat too, so just imagine the shine magnified with a good topcoat. Here are the spoon samples of both collections though:

I've been playing around with a new watermarking software so my address is a little wonky, sorry! Also, are we liking the new camera? It can be finicky at times but the quality is amazing I think.

Thank You ecoTOOLS!

Thanks so much to ecoTOOLS for giving me body mists for my first giveaway! I hope everyone had fun and congrats to April, Sharon, and Kiki for winning!

ecoTOOLS Body Mist Giveaway!

It's no secret that I love EcoTools...they're actually the only brushes I use to put on makeup. I've talked before about how I love their new skincare stuff and now three lucky readers have a chance to win an EcoTools body mist! I have two of their Blooming Planet and one Passion for Change body mist available to give away.

First, my review of the products:

As I've said before, body mist is a hit or miss for some people. I like it because it tends to not be as strong as regular perfume and the EcoTools body mists have a pretty decent lasting power


Blooming Planet has been reformulated to be more soft, floral, and feminine. EcoTools says that this mist now has notes of organic peony and passion flower...I don't have a very good nose but it definitely smells more earthy and floral than before. Unfortunately, it also smells heavily of honeysuckle, which I'm allergic too. So it's not the best for me but if you love honeysuckle with floral scents, this may be for you!

6 fl. oz/177mL, retails for $5.99 in stores





Passion for Change is more up my alley. EcoTools describes this as a "mixture of organic ginger, sage, and sparkling citrus." I'm a huge fan of citrus scents and the ginger and sage seem to balance the fragrance out so you don't smell too much like citrus. It's a bit citrusy but with a zing, if that makes sense. I'm terrible at describing fragrances but I really liked it.

6 fl. oz/177mL, retails for $5.99 in stores





How to Win:

• Follow me on Twitter @ballzandthinner
• Retweet me once! To make it easier, please no extra RTs. One entry per person anyway through Twitter
• You can also increase your chances of winning if you ask me a question through Formspring.Me and include your Twitter name
  
• I'll pick out names from a hat on Wednesday, September 15th and mail out the prizes on Thursday, September 16th through USPS with a tracking number
• I will also pick out who gets which body mist through the hat method =)
  
• I will contact you through DM on Twitter
  
• No international shipping this time =( But maybe I'll do an international giveaway soon =)

I hope everyone has fun and participates in my first giveaway! Much thanks to Rebecca from ecoTOOLS for these products!

Thank You Zoya!

Even though I haven't blogged in a while, Zoya so very generously sent me their Wicked and Wonderful collections for Fall 2010. Of course, I could never receive something and NOT share, right?

Expect pictures tomorrow even though I just did my nails yesterday. The California sun has been very generous, so there should be some great pics!

Toy Story 3 nails

Someone posted this on LJ and I couldn't help reposting it here! I'm so excited to finally see it next week, it should be amazing

Apparently there's more nail goodness here: http://nailcrazy.tumblr.com/

What are your favorite and least favorite brands of nail polish?

Oh this is hard! Ummm well in terms of higher-end polishes, I love Misa, Essie, and China Glaze. China Glaze has amazing color variety, great application and staying power. The same goes for Misa. Essie used to really bore me but they've really started to branch out (color-wise) and I think their reformulations without the Big 3 bad chemicals are really great. Not to mention that when it comes to classic and classy colors, Essie really delivers. The application of Essie polishes can be iffy at times but it has great staying power on me.

For drugstore brands, I love Wet N Wild, Sally Hanson, Sinful Colors, and NYC.

As for least favorite...I can't really think of any that I really DISLIKE. I haven't had much luck with Revlon or Creative Nail Design polishes. I really only buy CND if it's on super sale (I only have one, and the drying time drives me insane), and I stopped buying Revlon because it's just not worth it. They would always be streaky and bubbly no matter what and the color selection was never something to get excited over. Not to mention I could get the same results with a Sinful Colors, WnW, or NYC polish that's 2 or 3 dollars cheaper. I did see that Revlon has a mint green coming out (or out right now) that looks really cool though, so I might have to check that out.

Ask me anything