Zoya - Zuza

Oh Zuza. With a promo bottle photo like this, is it any wonder you went straight to the top of many polish fanatics wish lists?

Unfortunately I think that magic is sort of lost on the nail. A foil version of the ever so popular tiffany blue is a great idea, but in the end I simply prefer a creme. I wish Zoya did more of a glitter foil, like their sunshine or sparkle collections. If foils are your thing, this is probably a must have. Maybe I'll like it better with a tan, but I can't really see myself reaching for Zuza over it's creme counterpart (Wednesday).

 

Ok Zuza happens to be very photogenic and looks pretty in these photos, but I didn't really feel like it was *that* special in real life. Maybe I'm crazy and it'll grow on me. We'll see !

Zoya - Wednesday

Wednesday was a color I absolutely had to have. It seemed close to China Glaze's For Audrey, but my bottle of For Audrey is seriously hurting so I was ok with having a close dupe. The color does not disappoint. It might actually be a tad been greener than For Audrey, which I love since my skin always seems to bring out the blue in these colors.

I got a lot of compliments wearing this. My mom even said it was one of her favorite colors on me. She also noted that it didn't look like anything I've ever worn before. My polish collection quietly mocked her.

Photos! There is some slight bling on my ring finger from a coat of Essie's Pure Pearlfection. Cute, but I prefer Wednesday on it's own.

Essie Cocktail Bling with Zoya Maisie

I saw this beautiful photo of Zoya's Maisie layered over Kristen and had to try to recreate it immediately. Essie's Cocktail Bling is a muted gray/blue, and while it might not be as light as Kristen it certainly worked out well.

I've learned the thing about flakies is that they never ever look nearly as good in photos as they do in real life. Pictures make them look more odd and speckled whereas in person, flake polishes give off an awesome iridescent glow. They can look speckled in the shade with absolutely no light hitting them, but the tiniest bit of light makes them sparkle and shine and gives whatever color you layer it over a real boost.

I'm definitely a fan of layering flakies over base colors with similar tones. I really enjoyed the contrast of Maisie's blue/green flecks over the muted gray of cocktail bling. It was really hard capturing just how great this was, so you just have to trust me that this looked even better in person:

And here is Cocktail Bling alone. An awesome muted gray/blue that is just as lovely without a sparkly top coat.

Zoya - Yara

Yara is an olive green with gold specks. A lot of photos of this color really highlight the shimmer in it, but on the nail it is pretty subtle. I only have one photo for you, but it's pretty accurate:

Zoya - Faye

Faye is from Zoya's recent Sunshine collection, a series of 6 polishes full of golden metallic micro glitter. Much like the Sparkle collection, this glitter is suspended in a sheer base. The colors need 3-4 thin coats for coverage, but they dry very fast and last super long so I have no complaints. The thin formula actually lends to the really unique finish of these colors. The micro glitter builds with each coat, so the final result is a nail completely covered in shiny particles.

Faye consists gold/bronze glitter in a purple base. My warm skin tone completely brings out the bronze in this polish, though hints of purple peak through depending on the lighting. I had a lot of trouble photographing this polish in my usual setting, but I was able to grab some random shots while out and about. I think I captured the range of this polish fairly well, though the sunlight photo does it absolutely no justice.

China Glaze - Black Mesh / Zoya - Charla

I'll admit my last crackle combination wasn't making me jump for joy. It was interesting and different, but I was still on the fence about it. Well yesterday I was wearing Charla with no intention to put crackle over it and then I got bored and decided to see what happens. I AM IN LOVE. The crackle is a lot less obvious in this combo, from far away it can come across as a deep sparkly green. Once you get close up you get glimpses of the fun crackle texture. My mom even gave this her stamp of approval, which was a huge feat considering my last crackle attempt creeped her out to the point where she didn't even want to look at my nails.

Charla is even more saturated and sparkly in real life. These awkward photos are the most color accurate.

Zoya - Charla

Oh Charla Charla Charla. I want to love you. I think I might love you. But I'm not sure if I'm in love with you on my fingers (yet). I've been wearing a series of purple/pink tones (which tend to look the best on me), so this mermaid manicure was a lil shocking to my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, this color is beyond gorgeous. It's a bright aqua base loaded with blue/green *metallic* glitter. I don't think any swatch online can truly capture how bright, saturated, and shiny this polish really is. Also, it's metallic! I didn't really realize that when I purchased, even though it's clearly stated in the product description. It's fabulous on my toes. Still getting used to it on my nails.

Duri - Divas Only

This is a Zoya Adina dupe I found over at Vampy Varnish. Really interesting purple/green/sometimes pinkish duochrome. I grabbed this for $5 plus free shipping at duri.com, so it was quite a steal! They seem have a lot of other great colors, but I always hesitate to buy without seeing a swatch first.