Actual NOTD: Zoya Jem

Because I'm running the Zoya giveaway (thanks to Verve 360 nail salons in Pittsburgh PA), I thought to pull out my own bottle of Jem when it was time to do my nails this past Sunday. (I haven't bought Anja because I managed to convince myself I have enough purple cremes in a range of hues and values.) Upon taking off my old polish, I was pleased to see no signs of new peelies; you can bet I put the Quimica strengthener right back on with this manicure.



Over the Quimica, I put Instant Artificials, then two coats of Jem; it's so pigmented that I might have been able to stop at one if I'd used a thicker first coat. I topped with Sally Hansen Insta Dri top coat and as I'm typing this, four days later, I just see a bit of tipwear and no chips.





Indoors, Jem mostly shows the pink side of her shimmer, though you can catch glimpses of the gold, too. Since there was some sunshine when I put this on, I went outside to see what I could see.









Later I snapped a couple shots of Jem's different faces inside, in the sunlight coming through a window. Most of the time it looks plummy and purple, like this:



But sometimes the light hits it and the gold shimmer makes the purple go off in a bronze-y direction:



As purple shimmers go, this one is quite nice, and I'm glad to have it in my collection. The giveaway for it and Anja closes tomorrow at noon my time, for continental U.S. residents only (when someone else puts up the prize, they get to make the rules).