zoya polish review

i adore polish.  it's rare that my nails are bare.  such lovely colors mean my collection of polishes is starting to get a bit out of control...and yet there is always a new color or colors calling my name.

this winter zoya has really been on my radar.  i saw a few reviews of their winter 2012/2013 collection a few months ago and then started stalking my local ulta.  it felt like it took forever for them to update their zoya selection and bring out the new collection.  finally they had a sale on zoya buy 2 get 1 free and i finally scored a few.  i picked up blaze and storm along with rekha (which i've not worn yet) from their nyfw 2012 collection.  then as part of one of my glossybox i received electra.

i applied blaze on my nails first as i thought it would be lovely for the holiday season.  the polish applied beautifully and i only needed 2 coats.  the base color is more of a raspberry red.  and oh the shimmer this polish possesses with micro glitter is amazing!  the pics just do not do it justice.

this polish quickly stole a place in my heart as one of my top favorite polishes of all time.  the wear on the zoya formula for me was the standard i get with most polishes.  and even though it has micro glitter, it was a breeze to take off the nails.

this week i wanted some glittery nails for new years so i applied a base of storm polish.  the coverage on this color i found to be a bit more sheer than blaze.  it took two liberal coats for me to get an opaque base.  i was actually more excited for this color than i was for blaze, but to me the micro glitter just shimmers better in blaze.

i decided to apply electra to just the tips.  it is a holographic bar glitter in a clear base.  it is stunning.  however i do have issues with bar glitters in that my tips always seem very sharp once the polish has dried and sometimes the 'bars' of glitter can really poke through the top coat and cause friction when your hands rub against anything.  i did have to take a nail file to the tips of my nails as it was so rough i was afraid it would catch on a sweater or even scratch the delicate skin around my eye when applying makeup.

the storm and electra polishes have been on my nails for two days now and so far no chipping.

- jess

polish review - zoya belle

last week zoya and birchbox launched a package of limited edition blogger nail polishes.  there are 3 shades in the collection - belle, kate and coraline.  belle was inspired by capitol hill style.  coraline inspired by eleventh gorgeous.  and finally kate inspired by the small things blog.

of course as soon as i saw tweets and emails about this collection i rushed out to buy them.  they retail for $22 for all three bottles and ship free.

the polishes are very lovely, especially for spring and summer.  all three are a sheer jelly polish and only one has shimmer.  i currently have kate on my toes.  today's review however is about belle, which is the one polish with shimmer.  as soon as i opened the package this is the one i was immediately drawn to.  it's a beautiful pink that has a coral/gold shimmer to it - i wish i'd been able to capture this better in my pics.  surprisingly i don't have anything else in my collection like it.

now since these polishes are sheer, it did take three coats of this polish to become opaque on my nails.  they apply very easily and dry beautifully.  here's my one and only problem with this polish.  it wore horridly on my nails.  as you can see in the pic above, i had major wear on my thumb nail and that was less than 24 hrs after applying the polish.  i used the same base/top coats i normally do and did nothing out of the ordinary in my every day life to cause extra wear.  i'm not sure if it's just the nature of the sheer polish or what...  next time i think i'll put down a base of an opaque pink first and use this polish as a top coat.


~ jess