Zoya Aqua di Lara Trio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoya Aqua di Lara Trio

 

 

I'm back, my fellow polish addicts. I really am cut off of buying more polish for a couple months now, particularly because I just received two of the Zoya nail polish sets that were featured at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim shows in Miami. I purchased both the Luli Fama and Aqua di Lara sets.

The Aqua di Lara set is a trio consisting of Zuza, Ginessa, and a special glitter effect top coat called Mosheen. The trio is sold out on Zoya's website (you needed a code to buy it, and the codes no longer work), but don't despair. Ginessa and Zuza are already available on zoya.com; Mosheen is not available. That being said, when I received my order, I received a Fall 2013 color chart, and, to my delight, the Winter/ Holiday 2013 collection was listed. Among those happy new colors? Mosheen. That's pretty awesome for all of you who didn't jump on the Aqua di Lara trio. The three polishes really scream "swimming" to me, with the white for sand, teal/aqua for the water, and blue for the sky.

Down to the contents of the set:

Zoya Zuza, indoor, natural light

Zoya Zuza, outdoor, full sun

Zoya Zuza, outdoor, shade

Zoya Zuza, flash

Zoya Zuza, indoor, artificial light

Zuza is a polish I already owned. It's a lovely aqua/ teal color with a lot of shimmer in the formula. It's not quite metallic, not a foil, and not an all-out glitter. Most of Zoya's shimmers are color-dense, with very small and subtle glitter particles. That's quite different from OPI's glitters, where you have really chunky and funky glitter. They're really not terribly comparable, but are both awesome in their own way.

The formula on Zuza isn't one of Zoya's best, to be honest. It was almost a bit goopy? It had a nice, even coverage, but felt thick going on, and I don't really know how to articulate why I think that. It's a very pretty color--and considering that my favorite color is a nice teal, this feels like it was designed with me in mind. It almost stains your fingernails, and can be a bit difficult to remove. I'm not sure how often I would really wear it. I don't think it's too out-there or anything, but it feels limiting in some ways. It's a good polish, but I don't think it's one of Zoya's best.

Zoya Ginessa, outdoor, full sun

Zoya Ginessa, indoor, natural light

Zoya Ginessa, outdoor, sun

Zoya Ginessa, indoor, artificial light

Zoya Ginessa, flash

Zoya Ginessa, outdoor, shade

Ginessa is a pearly white/silver that is just lovely. It's just about opaque after two coats, which set it apart from a lot of other brands' pearly polishes (namely essie's Pure Pearlfection). It's really not what I would call silver, as I think it's too light for that, but there is an almost silver undertone at times. It think it's a really beautiful color on its own. White nails are really trendy this summer, and I think Ginessa is a pretty classy way to go white. I'm not usually one to watch trends like that, but I really like this color, trendy or not.

Zoya Mosheen, outdoor, shade

Zoya Mosheen, indoor, artificial light

Zoya Mosheen, indoor, artificial light

Zoya Mosheen, indoor, natural light

Zoya Mosheen, flash

Zoya Mosheen, outdoor, sun

Zoya Mosheen, outdoor, shade

Zoya Mosheen, outdoor, sun

Mosheen is the standout of the trio for me. Seriously. I almost drooled. Remember how I just said that Zoya likes to go for the really small and subtle glitters? This looks like it would be an exception to that statement, but it really isn't. Yes, it's bar glitter, but I did what the pictures of the Aqua di Lara set displayed: I layered it over Ginessa. I started with the Ginessa, and then started layering Mosheen on top of it, starting with the very tips of the nails. My second coat started a little lower, and my third went to almost half of my nail length.

The effect this creates is really very cool. It sort of looks like you stuck your fingernails into blue water, and you look at them while just the tops are submerged. It looks....fluid. That's the best way I can describe it. It's basically a color ombre, moving from white into blue gradually. It's a quite subtle effect, which is nice. Mosheen reflects light beautifully, showing off blues, teals, and a bit of purple. It's like having tiny bits of aquamarine, sapphire, tanzanite, and emerald flecks on the tips of your nails. It almost creates a holo effect, but not quite. The only drawback is that it chipped fairly quickly for me--three days. It was sad, because I loved it. I do think it's because of Mosheen, since only the tips chipped off in big chunks, and the Ginessa on the rest of my nails still stuck.

I do wish that I liked Zuza better than I do, but it's still a very pretty polish. Ginessa is a beautiful, classy polish that manages to be white but not boring or drab. Mosheen really stands out to me, though. It's one that I know I will be playing with in the future: different colors, making it as opaque with just Mosheen as possible, and different placements. It has so much potential and versatility, all while just being a pretty color.

This trio was definitely a hit for me. It epitomizes what I think of as summer and beach colors. If Ginessa is not already in your stash, I think it really should be. If you're a fan of less traditional colors, Zuza executes the best aqua/teal color that I've seen in nail polish. Mosheen is a huge winner for me. I'm psyched that Zoya is putting it in the holiday collection. So pretty.

On that note, it's time for me to leave you once again. I'll update very soon with the Luli Fama collection.

Until then, dear readers, I remain your fellow addict,
Emily, the Manic Paintress