Zoya Lana

Zoya Lana in natural light

Let me start by saying that I rarely wear anything with orange or coral tones, most of my polishes are toward the red and pink end of the spectrum.  Zoya Lana in pulling me over to the orange side though, wow!  This is from the Zoya Reverie collection, originally debuted in 2010 as their spring collection.  This was about when my Zoya obsession started, and I now own every shade in this release and none of them have disappointed.  Lana is a bright burnt orange with a dash of melon or coral.  It has a brilliant flecked gold shimmer that stands out in the sun, but hides a bit indoors.  When I first put it on, it immediately reminded me of a friend, Jennifer, who would rock this color!

Lana applied flawlessly, and looks great in 2 coats.  I added an additional coat to swatch since it shows the depth a little better.  This is 3 coats of Lana, and 1 coat of nubar Diamont.  Lana will be in rotation quite a bit this summer.  I imagine it will look spectacular with a tan, and great on toes!

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Essie Armed and Ready

Essie Armed and Ready in natural light

Essie's Armed and Ready is part of the spring Go Overboard collection.  It is labeled as military green with a pearl shimmer.  Inside, the shimmer isn't too visible... but go outside and the gold/copper shines in the light.  I would say the base is a mix of green, brown and grey.  It reminded me of the color I always ended up with before I knew how to mix paint colors properly in elementary school.  I occasionally have application issues with Essie, but this went on pretty easily.  This was 2 coats of Armed and Ready and 1 coat of nubar Diamont.

Zoya Tru with Zoya Chloe

I had originally posted about Zoya Tru here about a month or so back.  At that time the sunlight was a little scarce so I took a few shots out in the sun the other day.  Boy am I glad I did a few swatches that day since I have just about broke almost half my nails in the last week while I have been traveling.

Tru is a creamy purple base with a warm tone to it.  It has reddish and gold glitter flaked though it.  The application on this was flawless, totally opaque in 2 thin coats.  Tru really is a unique color, I don't have anything similar in my collection with the exception of Zoya Neeka.  Neeka is definitely bluer and leans more towards muted grey.  This is 2 coats of Zoya Tru with 1 coat of Zoya Armor.

For fun, I wanted to try out a few of the fleck effects.  I chose Chloe, which you can see from the pictures is a sheer pink jelly base with duochrome flecks that shine pink/orange and blue/green.  What a fun combo!  This was just 1 coat of Chloe over the manicure above.  I loved it in normal inside lighting, but it really pops in the sun.

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Zoya Lotus

Zoya Lotus in natural light

The second to last polish I am swatching in the Zoya True collection is Zoya Lotus.  I would describe it as more of a grey or blue based purple that has gold and almost red glitter glowing from within.  It was extremely difficult to capture the depth in this color, and even after 25+ shots I still don't feel like I am doing it justice.  It was very creamy, easy to apply and was opaque and even in just 2 coats.  Adding a third will give you a little more depth.  This is 2 coats of Zoya Lotus and 1 coat of Zoya Anchor.

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Zoya Bevin

Zoya Bevin in natural light

The next polish in the Zoya True collection is Zoya Bevin.  Bevin sometimes look sage, but can look more teal in a different light.  It is a very pigmented creme, and is completely opaque in 2 coats.  Bevin was a dream to apply, not streaky at all.  This was 2 coats of Bevin, and 1 coat of Zoya Armor.

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Zoya Skylar

Zoya Skylar in natural light

Here is the third color from the Zoya True collection.  This is Skylar, a great blue that is not too flashy and is almost a little muted when not in the direct sunlight.  Skylar has flecks of silver and gold, more silver to my eyes.  Its formula was awesome, totally opaque in just 2 coats and I love it since it dries really smooth.  This is 2 coats of Zoya Skylar, followed by 1 coat of Zoya Anchor.

Would you like 5$ off your first Zoya purchase?  Follow the Share the Love link over to Zoya and create your account.  A coupon will automatically be added to your account for use on your current or future order.

Zoya Farah and Zoya Cho

First off, a huge thank you to the Social Media Fairies at Zoya.  A few weeks ago they featured my post on Zoya Gemma for St Patricks Day.  I emailed back and forth with a few Fairies there and they asked if they could send a few samples.  Who wouldn't love a few samples, right?  Well this was a little more than samples, it was like Christmas in a box!  I was on vacation when it came, so knowing there was a box waiting for me what pure torture!  Here were the contents of the box... I know, are you kidding me?!

Zoya Color Lock System
Zoya True Winter Collection
Zoya Fleck Effect Collection
Zoya Jules
Qtica Intense Total Hydrating Therapy
Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm

I will be reviewing all the products of the next few weeks, and was so excited to try the Qtica products.  I am already loving the Cuticle Repair Balm, as they took a beating in the dry air of Arizona.

That said, here are two of the lighter colors from the Zoya True collection.  First off is Zoya Farah, a creamy beige polish that is best applied in thin coats.  I prefer 3 thin coats to 2 thicker since I have a few issues with Farah pooling.  It needs a topcoat to help even it out, it makes a world of difference.  Farah has no shimmer to it, just a straight simple cream.  This is 3 thin coats of Zoya Farah with 1 coat of Zoya Armor.

Zoya Farah in natural light

Next up is Zoya Cho, probably my preferred of this review.  Cho has a slight shimmer to it, which I believe to be a bit more forgiving.  Cho has more of a yellow undertone to it, in contrast to Farah which is more green.  The shimmer in Cho is almost silver which makes it a bit more appealing to me.  I would go with 3 thin coats here as well, since Cho is a little streaky.  This is 3 thin coats of Cho with 1 coat of Zoya Armor over the top.

Zoya Cho in natural light

Would you like 5$ off your first Zoya purchase?  Follow the Share the Love link over to Zoya and create your account.  A coupon will automatically be added to your account for use on your current or future order.

Zoya Caitlin with Butter London Knackered

And here is another glitter courtesy of my sparkle pusher, Meghan.  What would I do without her!  She is like my fairy glittersister.  This is 1 coat of butter London's Knackered over my manicure from yesterday, Zoya Caitlin.  Knackered is a pretty translucent oyster or mother of pearl base with holographic microglitter.  You could probably achieve and opaque look with Knackered alone, but it would need at least 3-4 coats to eliminate visible nail line.  With that many coats it begins to look a little more purple on its own.  This is 1 coat of butter London's Knackered over 2 coats of Zoya Caitlin.

Zoya Caitlin

Zoya Caitlin in natural light

I am not sure if Caitlin is more cornflower blue or periwinkle.  When I asked my husband, his response was "blue", sigh.  He's a boy who probably thinks there are only 16 colors in the world.  He obviously never had the 96ct box of crayons with the built in sharpener when he was younger.  Zoya Caitlin is really a shade of blue, purple and grey all wrapped into one.  I thought it would be too bright for work, but it is surprisingly muted once applied.  Application is pretty smooth, and this is 2 coats of Caitlin with 1 coat of nubar Diamont.  I wore this for a few days, and tomorrow I'll show you what I put over it!

Zoya Zara

Zoya Zara in natural light

What an incredibly fun color!  Zoya Zara never fails to dissapoint when I wear it.  I constantly get compliments when I am sporting this color.  Zara is a light violet or lilac shimmer with a very strong gold duochrome that can occasionally pop a little green as well.  My bottle is a little sheer, so I prefer 3 thin coats.  I think that also helps give the polish a little depth.  Application was great, no issues with streaking.  This was 3 thin coats of Zoya Zara, followed by 1 coat of nubar Diamont.

Julep Jodie

Julep Jodie in natural light

Julep Jodie came in my last Maven box a couple of weeks ago.  Julep describes is as a deep rose with a golden shimmer and those types of shades scream "old lady" to me most of the time.  I was pleasantly surprised with color though.  While it is rose, it looks a little more brick colored than I thought it would be.  The golden shimmer was nice, with minimal brush strokes.  I only own a few bottles of Julep polish, but they all seem a little runny which makes things a bit unmanageable.  Jodie was thin, and had similar application issues.  It did have the best formula of my Julep polishes thus far.  This is 2 coats of Jodie, and 1 coat of nubar Diamont.

Zoya Pasha

Zoya Pasha in natural light

I know this will be a pretty bold statement on my part, but Zoya Pasha is probably my favorite color polish.  I am constantly reaching for it when I have big meetings and need a neutral nail.  Pasha is one of the very few bottles I have completely used up and have had to purchase another.  It is a muted silver, grey, champagne, gold, mauve... how is that for a description!  It really is chameleon like in its tone as it seems to almost pick up on the colors you are wearing.  Pasha application is flawless, opaque in 2 coats with no brush strokes.  It has a slight shimmer or frost to it for a little character.  It does have a more purple like sister, Brizia, which I will get to swatching in the next few days.  This is 2 coats of Pasha, and 1 coat of nubar Diamont.

And don't forget, Zoya is running a promo through 12:00am midnight EST on Wednesday 3/14.  Put 6 polishes in your cart and enter SPRING3 to receive 3 of the polishes free.  What a great deal!

French Manicure with Zoya Bela and Zoya Purity

Every once in a while I go a little classic.  For some reason the other night I really wanted an actual french manicure, instead of one that I would normally do with colors.  I broke out Zoya Purity and Zoya Bela and my scotch tape and voila!  I started with 1 coat of Zoya Anchor, taped off the ends and applied 1 coat of Zoya Purity.  I let that dry while watching New Girl, love that show, and finished it off with 1 coat of Zoya Bela and 1 coat of nubar Diamont.  I find that it is easier to get a clean line if you apply a base for the tape to stick to.  I wore this for 3 days, which has to be some sort of record for me!

Zoya Jules

Zoya Jules in natural light

Zoya Jules, my name polish!  Well at least until they coming out with a Julie I can say that.  Jules has been one of my nicknames my whole life.  I love this color almost as much as I love my name.  Jules is a muted gold, champagne color with microflecks of gold and silver.  The fact that it has silver in it really makes it a metallic neutral in my book and can go with just about any color.  When it isn't shimmering, it does have a bit of a muddy look to it, but that makes it more subtle, or more restrained in my opinion.  This is 2 coats of Zoya Jules, with 1 coat of nubar Diamont.

Zoya Jules in natural light