Zoya Payton and Zoya Storm: Reviews and Swatches

Here are two of my all-time favorite dark polishes: Zoya Storm and Zoya Payton. They're both holographic from Holiday collections, but Payton is from the 2013 Zenith Collection, and Storm is from the 2012 Ornate Collection. I love both of these to pieces, so let me get on with the swatches and reviews:

Zoya Storm, outdoors in sunlight

Zoya Payton, outdoors in sunlight

First up is Storm. She's described as "a full coverage, holiday black with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter." Accurate. Dead accurate. The rainbow of colors really comes out beautifully in Storm; my guess is because there's nothing to compete with it? In low lighting, the holo looks white, which just gives the black a bit of dimension.

Zoya Storm, indoor in natural light

Zoya Storm, outdoor in shade

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this polish. It's so, so much. I have the matte velvet, Dovmita, which is cool, and looks like leather on your nails, but there is nothing that compares to Storm. Storm catches the light at times and just shines and shines, but doesn't take away from your favorite LBD. I just... love the heck out of this polish. It's one of my favorite in my stash, and I go back to it quite often. I even have worn it in the Spring and Summer, when I feel a little dark. Because, you know, you can with a quality black polish. You can go punk or goth, and the sparkles say "I don't care if I'm supposed to be emo, I can still taste the rainbow!"

Zoya Storm, indoors in artificial lighting

Zoya Sorm, flash

Well, maybe only I think they can, but I stand by my statement. Somewhat.

Storm is available on zoya.com for $9. Seriously, go buy it. You won't be sorry.

Payton is another amazing polish by Zoya. It's sort of like Blaze, Storm, and Aurora had a menage a trois, and Payton was their love child. Zoya describes her as "a full-coverage, galactic cranberry with holographic glitter." My description is so much more fun than theirs, but cranberry is pretty apt.

Zoya Payton, indoors in natural lighting

Zoya Payton, outdoors in shade

Payton is much darker on than Blaze. Like all the holos, I could get away with only one coat, but it was much deeper in tone, that I almost went with two. I have a heavy hand, though, so those of you who don't may want to use two coats. Or, if you're my mother, three. Otherwise, you might streak this a bit. Payton could be a bit finicky if you aren't careful. But, boy, her high maintenance streak is totally worth it if it does come out for you.

Zoya Payton, indoors in artificial lighting

Zoya Payton, flash

Here's a bonus shot of Payton, in low sunlight. It's just not as rainbow-y as I wanted, but it really captures how lovely she looks in all levels of outdoor light. Thought you might appreciate it, so I included it.

Zoya Payton in low sunlight

Zoya Payton is available at zoya.com for $9. Go. Buy her. You won't be sorry.

I adore these two polishes. They're so darn pretty. They shine. They sparkle. They aren't too in-your-face that you can't wear them any time. Just... buy them.  You really won't regret it.

'Til next time, which will be very soon (again),
Emily, the Manic Paintress

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, natural ligh

Hey gang! As promised, here is my run-down of OPI's Tomorrow Never Dies. This is from their Skyfall collection, introduced late last fall/ early winter, in time for the James Bond movie's premiere. Each of the colors in the collection were named after a Bond movie's title. "Tomorrow Never Dies" was a Bond film of the Pierce Brosnan era. I prefer Daniel Craig over Brosnan any day, though Sean Connery is my favorite Bond. Brosnan was too... something. I don't know. The plot of "Tomorrow Never Dies" was interesting, and the movie was certainly fun, but I wouldn't have expected the polish to outshine the film. That being said, it really does.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, natural light

Of the Skyfall collection, Tomorrow Never Dies and You Only Live Twice were my two standout favorites. They were also the only ones I purchased. You Only Live Twice is very close to the previous year's Meep Meep Meep from the Muppets collection, so I'm not going to swatch and review it terribly soon.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, artificial light

Tomorrow Never Dies excited me, because it was a shockingly vibrant purple metallic color. I've heard a lot about Zoya's Imperial Russia Zang Toi trio that had a vibrant blue purple in it, and I'm betting Tomorrow Never Dies is a similar animal. I have to say, as much as I love the color, it has a bit of an identity crisis. I bought it for the purple, but it vacillates between purple and electric blue. To be honest, I think it leans blue more often than purple, but it's too beautiful for me to complain. When I think of periwinkle, I picture a soft and light blue/purple, so I'll have to call this a darker, electric periwinkle. It does tend to photograph on the blue side, so know that it does lean purple, as well. You can see, both in the bottle and on the nail, some micro fuchsia glitter in there.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, artificial light

The formula is actually quite lovely in this OPI polish. It glided on my nails quite nicely, and took just two thinner coats to be opaque. I used Zoya Anchor, OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, Zoya Armor, and Zoya Fast Drops for this manicure, and it was done in about an hour or so, from prepping my nails with nail polish remover to dry. Not bad at all. I'm a bit bummed, because I did the mani last night, and I already have some very visible chips in the tips. I've been spoiled by Zoya lacquers that last a few days with no chips.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, outdoors, sun

Sigh. I guess I can't have anything. I'm excited to see what Zoya's Belinda in their upcoming Holiday 2013 Zenith collection will be. It describes it as "cosmic purple," which might be very similar to Tomorrow Never Dies. Then again, Neve from the Zoya Satins collection is put in both the blue and purple categories, so that might be a winner, too.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, outdoors, full sun

I love the color of Tomorrow Never Dies, and I think it was a total standout for me in the collection. You can still find this and the rest of the Skyfall polishes on Amazon, as well as elsewhere on the net. Some are still hanging out in beauty stores, that sell through their older stock of OPI polishes well after the collection debuts. At least around me in Massachusetts, I've found that this collection sold out pretty quickly, so I wouldn't bet on that, though. Online is still your best bet.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, outdoors, shade.

This polish is a total statement, bright, fun, and electric. The formula is great; it glides on beautifully, and has excellent coverage. I am disappointed in the chipping situation. Sad Emily doesn't like chips.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, flash

I'll be posting some thoughts here soon, and have more swatches in the queue.

Till next time, kids,
Emily, the Manic Paintress