Zoya Perrie--A True Radiant Orchid

Today, I'd like to share my favorite Radiant Orchid polish: Zoya's Perrie. 

Zoya Perrie, outdoor, sun

Zoya Perrie, outdoor, shade

 My mother loves orchids. She is a member of several different orchid societies--national, international, and local. My neighbors probably thought we had some strange illegal growing operation because of the T5 light she had to assist in growing some of the currently 88 orchids she owns.

Zoya Perrie, indoor, natural light

Zoya Perrie, indoor, artificial light

Zoya Perrie, flash

This year, Pantone's color of the year is Radiant Orchid, so everyone and their mother is pushing the color. Even Zoya, my fave nail polish company, is including colors that can be considered "Radiant Orchid" in their collections. If you go on their site, Radiant Orchid is searchable within the color family groupings. I'm pretty sure that if a polish is purple, companies (Zoya included) are attempting to call it Radiant Orchid.

If I've learned anything by watching my mother's orchids bloom, it's that orchids come in almost every color. Lots are white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, and purple. If you find a blue orchid in a store, it's usually dyed that color--you can get close to blue with some species of orchids, but they're usually a shade of purple. So, aside from black and blue, orchids show the rainbow of colors, so I sort of raised a skeptical eyebrow at there being a single "Radiant Orchid" shade. However, there is a particular shade of light purple with strong leanings towards pink that is most synonymous with orchids. That color is exactly mirrored by Zoya's shade, Perrie.

Zoya Perrie, indoor, artificial light, next to an orchid of the same shade.

I love this color. It always helps my opinion of a color when it actually looks fabulous on me, but Perrie is simply lovely on its own. Zoya calls is a beautiful, soft, and glossy lavender. I'm of the opinion that it's too pink to be lavender, but it's exactly what I think of as a classic orchid shade. I'd even call it lilac before I went to lavender, but that's just me. They bothered to add orchid to the description of Odette from the Naturel collection; I would have changed Perrie's description. It is beautiful, soft, and glossy, though, so they got that right. Zoya lists it as a 3 in intesity (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most opaque) but the photos I took are all with only two coats, and I think it's perfectly opaque. The formula is perfect; it applies smoothly and without any hints of streaking.

Zoya Perrie, with an orchid with the same color, flash

Zoya Perrie, outdoor, sun, with an orchid

Perrie is one of my top 5 favorite polishes ever. Even though it's a trendy color, it earned top marks from me before Pantone's designation was issued. It's soft enough and close enough to pink for it to be considered office appropriate. It's elegant and refined, while being bright enough to be fun. It's perfect for spring and summer, but I also totally wore it during the winter when I first got it without a second thought. It's just a beautiful shade.

Seeing as my mom has so many orchids, I checked out some that she had in bloom currently. Lo and behold, a couple matched Perrie, so I snapped some pictures of them together. Even if the main part of the flower was white or yellow, it still had strong showings of that quintessential Radiant Orchid shade.

Zoya Perrie, with an orchid, indoor, natural light

Zoya Perrie with not one but TWO orchids with the same shade. Seriously.

If this isn't part of your polish stash yet, I suggest you remedy that shortly... perhaps during the 2014 Zoya Nail Polish Exchange. You can purchase from 6-24 bottles of Zoya's nail polishes for half their normal price (from $9-10 down to $4.50-5) until April 28. Just use the code ZDAY2014. In addition to getting an awesome deal on Zoya polish, you also then can send Zoya as many bottles of polish from other brands as you purchased, and they'll dispose of it in an environmentally friendly method. It's a total win in my opinion. Check out Zoya's blog for more details.

I'll see you soon, my friends. Until then, happy polishing.
Emily, the Manic Paintress

Zoya Dawn

Okay my friends,

I have returned from my stint AWOL, and am completely inspired by this color: Zoya Dawn. It's pink--there's really no way around it, but it's such a perfect color for right now, that it's share circle time.

Zoya Dawn, shade, outdoors

I'm beyond excited about the new summer collections from Zoya that are coming out, but I think this is the perfect shade for both spring and summer. It's also shockingly appropriate for either toes or fingers, too, which is something I don't frequently say about a cream finish polish. Honestly, I'm not usually one to have a cream finish keep my attention for more than a hot minute, but Dawn really has. Another notable exception is one I'll be talking about later--Zoya's Perrie.

Zoya Dawn, outdoors, sun

I have to admit--I almost flounced the color after the first coat. Let's just say that there was a reason I started singing "The Electric Slide," and doing the dance in my room. Boogie-woogie-woogie. It was beyond hot pink on me, which I found alarming, but I convinced myself to wait until I did a second coat, because I really don't like giving up on a color before really giving it a chance.

Zoya Dawn, flash. This is not terribly close to how it looks in real life--it's almost at the electric side in this photo.

I'm so glad I didn't. Seriously. In and out of shops and offices in Boston/Cambridge today, I received tons of compliments on my mani, and it was warranted, if I do say so myself. Just as an FYI, all of these pictures were taken three days into the mani, so I'd say Zoya's formula is as amazing as always. Definitely no chips--not even tip wear yet, and I abuse my fingers pretty thoroughly.

Onto the description. Zoya says it's "a soft dark pink-berry with purple and mauve tones in a smooth creme base." Despite the first coat, I think it's a pretty accurate description. I don't know if I find the purple in it, or even mauve, but Dawn does manage to be both soft and dark simultaneously--at least in so much as it is NOT electric pink. It mellows a bit on the nail when dry, which is also very nice.

Zoya Dawn, indoors, natural light. Probably the closest to how I think it always looks.

I have to admit, when Zoya had the flash promos near Christmas, I sort of went a bit crazy in the purchasing department. Dawn was a product of that frenzy. I got some amazing deals, which Zoya is incredible about, and so far, I've been happy about most of them. Some of the neutrals I bought were a bit on the yellow or orange side, and were given to either my mother or my neighbor. I have a very unusual skin color--it's very pale with a lot of pink. Yellowy neutrals just look like I'm wearing bananas on my fingers. Some pinks can be way too bubble gum on me, as well, or too dusty in tone.

Zoya Dawn, indoors, artificial light. Kind of makes it look a little coral in this pic, but it really isn't.

Dawn is bright and fun, which I love for warmer weather, while not making me think I turned into a teenaged girl from 1986. It's happy, but sophisticated enough to wear to an office. It also is unique in its ability to look good in any light...just look at the pics.

Okay, kids.

I'm heading off for now, but will be back soon--likely with a review of Zoya's Perrie. I hardcore love that color--so lovely. I also want to post on the three Magical PixieDusts from the Spring, as they're all super adorable shades. Holo+textured=HappyEmily.

Until next time, my darlings,
Emily, the Manic Paintress

A soft dark pink-berry with purple and mauve tones in a smooth creme base - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Dawn.html#sthash.GrbHynyG.dpuf

A soft dark pink-berry with purple and mauve tones in a smooth creme base. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Dawn.html#sthash.GrbHynyG.dpuf

A soft dark pink-berry with purple and mauve tones in a smooth creme base. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Dawn.html#sthash.GrbHynyG.dpuf"