Zoya Pixie Dust Vespa

Zoya Pixie Dust Vespa

Zoya Pixie Dust collection is six polishes with a sugared matte finish. I love, love, love the finish and feel of them all. They are all matte but still sparkle. It really does look like you sprinkled really fine sugar onto your nails. Very cool. I was sent the collection for review and have had a chance to wear them all and each one was a huge pain in the ass to apply. They have a gooey gel like consistency and if you don't wait for the first coat to 100% settle you will get major dragging and balding. They take forever to dry if they dry completely at all. The brushes on all of them are really soft and wonky in some way which made applying them even more of an issue. 

I am a huge fan of the finish and feel of the Pixie Dust collection but I am not a fan at all of the formula or the brushes. I've seen the reviews for this collection on other blogs and I can't be the only one who got bad brushes and had issues with the formula. Maybe Zoya just hates me. I really hope another company comes out with this finish because I just can't work with the Zoya collection. I'm really, really glad I didn't pay for these. I highly suggest waiting for a sale. 

This is Vespa a soft green. It's three coats and the second application. I did use thinner - lots of it - but the formula was still a pain. 

Zoya Ziv and BM-322

Zoya Ziv and BM-322

I thought Ziv from Zoya was going to be a boring plain gold but it's got little flecks of darker burnished gold glitter. It reminds me of a golden Jessica Champagne Bubbles. I only needed two coats for coverage so no complaints on formula. It did take awhile to dry even with topcoat but Zoya tends to be fussy with drying for me. 

Ziv is from the Zoya Ornate Holiday Winter collection and is now available for purchase online. 

I decided to stamp over it using Bundle Monster plate BM-322 and Konad blue stamping polish. My stamping skills are rusty! 

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for review by Zoya. 

Zoya Zuza

Zoya Zuza

Ah, Zuza is gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. I think this is a must for blue/green lovers or those that just enjoy color. This reminds me very strongly of NerdLacquer Cyance Friction and I love that one so this fits well into my heart. Great formula but the color - oh the color! This is the star (in my opinion) of the entire Beach and Surf collection and if you only get one polish from the Summer 2012 offering I think it should be this one. 

*This item was kindly sent for review

Zoya True Collection

Zoya True Collection

I have favorites with this collection which is not a surprise but I like the complete collection. I think I am biased though because most of the colors have this soft, subdued and worn look to them. They remind me of growing up and hanging my clothes out on a clothes line to dry in the sun. After doing this for a period of time some of my clothing became sun-washed and muted. I did love the feel and smell of wearing a shirt fresh from hanging outside and these colors bring that memory to the front of my brain.

I do have to say that Cho and Farah seem out of place with this collection. They're dull compared to the others and I would have liked to have seen them have a contrasting shimmer in them. They are nice but so oddly out of place and Zoya recently released a nude collection. I would have liked to have seen a yellow and apricot shimmer instead of the two nudes. I think Zoya is a star when it comes to shimmer and shimmer flecks. They just seen to do it right and this collection has a few of those examples. Overall I like the collection and can see myself reaching for a few of them to wear again and again. This collection can be purchased from Zoya.

Bevin is a creamy sage and I really like it. I'm a sucker for greens so that is no surprise. Wonderful formula.

I added Essence Clyde to jazz it up.

Cho was a surprise for me. The yellow base comes out strongly on me and I like it. It reminds me of butter. It does have fine shimmer throughout but it's so very, very subtle that I think of it as a creme.

Farah was the trouble maker for me. I found the formula gummy and thick and it just does not look good on me. I can see this working really well as a base for stamping or other nail art but alone it's not for me.

Lotus is a hit. A dusty muted smokey purple with pinkish red shimmer. I want to layer other sheer shimmers over this to see what I get.

Skylar is my pick of the collection. It's a beautiful cornflower blue with shimmer and flecks woven all through it. Love this one!

Tru is the vibrant sister to Lotus. It's a soft grape purple with shimmer. The shimmer is warm so the contrast to the purple is really interesting.

This collection was sent for review.

Zoya Fleck Effect Collection

Zoya Fleck Effect Collection

A little tip for flakes: they work better when they are a bit thicker. You can take the brush out and let it sit for about an hour to thicken it up or you can put it in the refrigerator for about five minutes. This works for me to get better flake payoff.

I think that 2012 may be the year of effect polishes. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of seeing polishes that have an effect like magnetics and flakes. The Fleck Effect collection is Zoya's offering in the flake department. Each is in a tinted base but it's so sheer that it doesn't completely change the color it is being layered over. My pick is Chloe for it's slightly different take on flakes from the standard orange/red or blue/green that is usually seen. I like them all and though they aren't mind blowing they are fun and easily had for us US residents. The Fleck Effect collection is available online from Zoya and retail for $8 a bottle.

Chloe over Zoya Cho. Doesn't really showcase Chloe very well but I like it over a nude base.

Maisie over Zoya Posh. I really like the look of this one.

Opal over Zoya Veruschka. Pretty, pretty!

This collection was sent for review.

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

My bottle of Kotori is half gone. I do wear it often but it is also sheer and needs about four coats to be opaque. I prefer to layer it over a dark midnight blue cream but I decided to wear it alone this time around. A shimmery blue with hints of darkness - lovely!