Zoya Bubbly Collection, Summer 2014. Swatches and reviews of Alma, Binx, Harper, Jesy, Muse, and Staasi

Today, I am bringing you swatches and reviews for the new Bubbly collection from Zoya Nail Polish. Every polish in the collection features what Zoya calls an exclusive liquid-metal holographic jelly formula. I think that's a pretty accurate description for this, as they really are quite juicy, and have a lot of metallic glitter throughout the collection. The holographic glitter is more obvious in some than others, but I think you'll understand once you see the swatches.

Zoya Binx, sun

Zoya Jesy, sun

I have to squee a bit here, as I actually received these as a press sample, so that I could review these collections. My first press samples are actually from my favorite polish company, so I had to let you all know that. All the previous collections reviewed were ones I picked up on my own over time (or as a Christmas present, like the Naturel collection), and if you see polishes older than Summer 2014, they're all polishes I totally needed to buy. That being said, I'd say I would have purchased a good chunk of the Bubbly collection on my own, though I was completely surprised as to which polishes were my favorites from Bubbly.

 

Zoya Muse, sun

Zoya Staasi, sun

Let's do this alphabetically for a change. I usually go light to dark, but feel like a little variety. As always, the first descriptions are Zoya's, then I write my impressions of it.

Zoya Alma, sun

Zoya Harper, sun

Alma is described as a golden peach metallic. When I think of peaches, I generally think of the outside of the fruit, which has a lot of pink running through it. Zoya was clearly looking at the flesh, which is generally a bright, orange-y yellow. Alma is super bright, and the gold metallic really catches the light. I think the holo glitter in Alma actually gets overpowered by the gold in it. There definitely is holo glitter in it, don't get me wrong, but it's a little swallowed in this shade. The formula covered to opaque in two coats, and went on the nail beautifully.

Zoya Alma, shade

Zoya Alma indoors, in natural light

Alma isn't a color I normally reach towards in a polish. I think it might be fun on the toes, but I don't know if it's right for me. Oddly, because my skin leans so pink and pale, Alma actually flattered my skin tone pretty well. I could see it being a seriously funky accessory for a fancier event: a little black dress, yellow gold jewelry, and Alma on the nails. I also think that on people with darker skin tones, or even those with deep tans, this would be an incredible polish. I could see Lupita Nyong'o rocking Alma like it was made just for her--the contrast of really bright on really dark would be so gorgeous.

Zoya Alma, flash

Zoya Alma indoors, in artificial light

Binx is described as a spicy orchid purple dappled with gold metallic and holo sparkles. I would place this more on the pink side with purple notes. Maybe fuchsia? It definitely is spicy, though. The gold is evident in direct lighting, lending an interesting quality. I don't normally see much gold in purple polishes, but this does really work. The holo glitter really comes through, particularly in natural lighting.

Zoya Binx, shade

Zoya Binx indoors, artificial light

Binx is one of my favorites in this collection. I don't know which I would put higher--this, or Jesy. It's definitely fun and bright, but it's dark enough to fit with everyday wear. The collection is pretty bold, overall, and while Binx certainly can fit that descriptor, it's a bit more versatile. I was a bit disappointed that it doesn't have more of a purple tone, but honestly, I think that's more a product of the gold metallic and holographic glitter. Still, it's a beautiful color, and definitely on trend. I used two coats for the swatches, though I almost only used one. It wasn't because one wasn't well sufficient, but rather that I wanted to see if the purple would come out more with more coats. It did, and I'm glad to see that. It's clear that Binx is based on a Radiant Orchid, and is actually closer to the Pantone color than I expected it to be, given how pink it looks in some lights. It didn't photograph as beautiful as it is on the nail, but I think you can still see how lovely it is.

Zoya Binx indoors, artificial light

Zoya Binx, flash

Harper is described as a cotton candy pink with a spun gold shimmer. This is a pretty accurate description. The formula was thicker than the others in the collection in Harper. I'm not sure if it was just my bottle, but I could probably have used just one coat of this. The pink is pretty unashamed of its pinkness, but the gold in it actually tempers it nicely. Harper has the strongest holo presence. I don't know if it's because it's paler, but the rainbow in the sparkles really catch the light often, making a very nice effect. Also, the gold is enough to add a bit of metal, but doesn't overpower it.

Zoya Harper, shade

Zoya Harper indoors, natural light

I was a bit scared of the pink when I saw Harper in the bottle. It's fairly bubblegum, and it makes no apologies about it. Once I painted it on my nails, Harper really gained beautiful dimension. It's still pink, and there's no way around that, but it has a lot of other notes and interest in the polish. It might not be the polish I'd pick out first, but it is quite lovely. I think that this against a tan, or darker skin tones, might make it seem more sophisticated, or at least temper it a bit. It's quite pretty, but I think I'll be saving this for bold moods, or fun occasions. It grew on me the longer I wore it, which is a nice thing. It'll probably enter my rotation more as the days get warmer.

Zoya Harper indoors, in artificial light

Zoya Harper, flash

Jesy is described as a fiery coral orange metallic holo. The photos Zoya put out for Jesy made me think it was going to basically be orange, despite the coral description. I don't always agree with what companies say things are (case in point, OPI's A Definite Mouse-t Have, that claimed its coral color was fuchsia), but Zoya did nail Jesy perfectly. The metallic orange and red tones really do look a bit like flames. Like Alma, I think the gold and orange metallic shimmer sort of overpowers the holo particles, though you can see them, especially if you look for them. Sometimes, when it catches the light just right, those holo sparkles really throw pretty colors into the polish. The formula was perfect, as I've come to expect from Zoya. Two coats made it opaque.

Zoya Jesy indoors, in natural light

Zoya Jesy, shade

Jesy actually managed to be a real favorite in the collection. Based on how orange it looked on Zoya's site and the press releases, I don't know if I would have bought the bullet and ordered this for myself. Seeing it in person was such a nice surprise--the coral is really pronounced, particularly in comparison to Alma. It has a softness that I wasn't expecting; it's what I wanted the Summer 2013 PixieDust Beatrix to be--coral, but not too in-your-face. Beatrix clearly is a different color, but it has the same softer feel that Jesy does, but Beatrix doesn't have any of the pink or coral tones that Jesy does. This looked beautiful against my super pale skin, but I think it will flatter tans very well, too. This is a perfect pedicure color, too. This is a fantastic summer color. I think Zoya knocked this one out of the park. My neighbor (and art buddy) noticed this color right away, and thought it was lovely, and trust me when I say that he isn't the sort to notice a woman's nail polish.

Zoya Jesy indoors, in artificial light

Zoya Jesy, flash

Muse is described as a blue raspberry holographic fizz with a subtle vein of gold. I think that's pretty accurate. It does remind me of blue raspberry Pop Rocks. It has an interesting effervescent quality that isn't easy to describe, and I had really thought Zoya was being flowery when they used "fizz" as an adjective for it, but they weren't. It's almost a royal blue in some lights, and electric in others. Then again, there's also an almost teal note to Muse that's lovely--maybe the holo glitter glinting green? All I know is that it's super complex and the depth of color is amazing. It's definitely the darkest of the Summer 2014 polishes, but it's still definitely fun enough to fit itself in the season. Needless to say, the formula was amazing, and is even enough with the first coat to act as a topper itself. It was perfectly opaque in two coats.

Zoya Muse indoors, in natural light

Zoya Muse, shade

Muse is actually the biggest surprise for me in the collection. I was instantly drawn to Jesy when I saw it, and had been looking forward to Binx and Harper from the onset, but Muse might be the most stunning of the Bubbly collection. In the bottle, it's pretty, but on the nail, it's so striking. It didn't photograph nearly as beautifully as it is on. Personally, I think of the band Muse when I hear the name, because I actually really like them, and I oddly think they would totally approve. I know Matt Bellamy has worn some flashy pants in concerts, and I could actually see him owning this as a namesake and wearing it. It's very fun, and it wants to be noticed and worn by me all the time. I'm not really a blue nail polish person, but it's so beautiful, it'll be in my regular rotation.

Zoya Muse indoors, in artificial light

Zoya Muse, flash

Staasi is described as a brilliant citron green with a gold metallic glaze and holographic finish. It's pretty much the perfect key lime green (the fruit, not the pie) to me--lime, but not quite as dark as a regular lime. It would work well through the holiday season, too, even though it's not quite Christmas green. The gold metallic is mostly present in direct lighting, but the holo really comes through well. They seem to catch the blue colors the most, which adds a bit of an edge to the color. The formula was awesome on this. I actually could see this as a top layer on another color, because it was super even.

Zoya Staasi, shade

Zoya Staasi indoors, in natural light

Green is my favorite color, but I have to admit that I'm not usually a huge fan of it on the nails. Staasi is really pretty, but I'm not sure it'll be a frequent friend on my nails. I do completely plan on breaking it out for the holiday season, though. It's very summery and happy, though. I do think I'll play with it on my toes, though. I tend to stick a bit more traditional on my fingers, and play with my pedicures, and I think Staasi will fit that bill perfectly. Beautiful, but not what I gravitate towards on my fingers.

Zoya Staasi indoors, in artificial light

Zoya Staasi, flash

Tomorrow, I will be posting swatches and reviews of the Tickled collection. Last thoughts are that I think Alma and Staasi are lovely, but not what I'd reach for first. Harper and Binx were my early faves when I first glimpsed them in the press releases, and they remained very pretty--with Binx totally living up to my expectations of beauty. Jesy and Muse are the surprising standouts of the collection. They're gorgeous, and so eye-catching and dynamic. Zoya really nailed this collection, in my opinion. Perfect for the season, and full of lovely, fun color.

As always, Zoya is Big 5 Free: Free of Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate, and Camphor. I strongly urge everyone to go follow @ZoyaNailPolish on Twitter, and to check out Zoya's Blog. They frequently have great contests and promotions, and they offer tons of great tips and advice there, too.  All of the Bubbly collection is available to pre-order on zoya.com for $9 each. They are scheduled to ship out on May 15.


Until tomorrow, my darlings,
Emily, the Manic Paintress

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 Naturel: Chantal, Taylor, Rue, Brigitte, Odette, and Normani

Today, I'm going to talk about a fabulous collection: Zoya's Naturel. This collection is all about the nude, natural, understated elegance. It debuted right around Christmas 2013, and was absolutely perfect for that time. It's split up into two main groups: dark and light. This is one of the only collections where I've honestly wondered why Zoya described some of the colors like they did--they don't all fit with what I think it is.

During fashion week, Zoya had a huge promo/contest called #NudeInNY, where you posted pics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram of your nude manicure for chances to win some pretty awesome prizes. It was generally a sampler of Spring 2014's Awaken collection, with prizes from other companies. Winners were chosen at random, and it was pretty fun to see what people around the country were wearing, especially the nail art that people were doing with the Naturel collection. I myself even got in the spirit, and tried some new nail art looks. I've posted some of the pictures on the bottom of this post.

Overall, I like this collection, though the three lightest shades don't quite work with my skin tone...not alone, at least. As accents to other colors in the collection, they can work, but other than that, I can't really pull them off. It makes me super sad, honestly. I told my neighbor recently that I have super pale and freakishly pink skin, and Chantal, Rue, and Taylor really heighten that fact. Here are swatches:

Chantal is described by Zoya as being a French Vanilla cream. It's probably pretty close to the color of most French Vanilla ice creams. It's a light beige, with lots of yellow in it. On my skin, as you can probably see, it really reads yellow. In some lights it makes my hands look a bit like lobsters. I wouldn't call this a failing on Zoya's part, though. Most people have a definite yellow cast to their nails, so Chantal is a great, skin flattering nude. It's just...not on me.

Zoya Chantal, outdoors in shade

Zoya Chantal, outdoors in sun

The formula on this was a bit on the streaky side for me. I've had to use Renew nail polish rejuvenator on it a few times, but I do think it tends to be on the clumpy side. To some extent, Taylor had the same problem, but not as bad. It was completely opaque in two coats, but it was really hard to get it to lay very smooth on the nail.

Zoya Chantal, indoor in natural light

Zoya Chantal, flash

Zoya Chantal, indoor in artificial light

Taylor is described as a light toffee cream. I think it's sort of like a heavily creamed coffee. It's just slightly browner than Chantal, and looks slightly better on my nails, as it doesn't quite look like I failed at matching my skin abysmally.  I still don't think I'll be wearing it on its own too frequently, but it's a bit better than Chantal.

Zoya Taylor, flash

Zoya Taylor, indoors in artificial light

Zoya Taylor, indoors in natural light

Zoya Taylor, outdoors in shade

Zoya Taylor, outdoors in sun

I actually took a couple pics of both Chantal and Taylor together. Please pardon the total crazy angle. I take these myself, and used my thumb to tap the camera button, so all I could catch were the first couple fingers on each hand. I think you can see the difference, though. Chantal is on the right, and Taylor on the left. I thought it might be helpful. They are really similar in color, but Taylor really is just a hair darker and more brown. I was a bit surprised that Zoya released two colors this close in value and color in the same collection, but they are distinct. I'm not sure if others will find that both work for them, or if, like me, one is slightly better against their skin than the other.

Zoya Taylor, left, and Zoya Chantal, right

Zoya Taylor, left, Zoya Chantal, right

Rue is described as a boudoir blush cream. It's a pink that is definitely not bubblegum. I actually like it for that reason. Personally, my hands have a tendency to have very little color in them, or they turn varying shades of red with heat, cold, and dryness. Because of this, even though Rue is pink, the particular color can clash a bit with my skin.

Zoya Rue, indoors in artificial light

Zoya Rue, outdoors in sun

I actually wore this right after Christmas, and found it quite lovely. It's subtle, which is something not many pale pinks can claim. When I put it on to swatch, I didn't like it as well. It reminds more a bit of silly putty. It's still nice, but in certain lights, I think it's less flattering. I really have very mixed feelings on Rue. I go from thinking it pretty to not, and it's highly dependent on light, time of year, state of my own hands, and my mood.

Zoya Rue, outdoors in shade

Zoya Rue, indoors in natural light.

Zoya Rue, flash

Brigitte is described by Zoya as a bombshell mauve cream. I call it a dusty pink, but that probably doesn't sound quite as attractive or risque. I don't really get much purple out of Brigitte, but it's a very flattering color, in my opinion. It is definitely pink, and in some lights, has hints of coral in it. I think it's meant to be pink with a hint of beige, really, to keep in theme. 

Zoya Brigitte, indoor in natural light

Zoya Brigitte, outdoor in sun

Brigitte manages to be dark enough to not appear too similar to my skin tone to be flattering. That being said, it does manage to remain neutral enough to still fit in with the nude theme. It's not bright or flashy, which is perfect for office settings and times when you want a more understated look. It's my second favorite of the collection.

Zoya Brigitte, flash

Zoya Brigitte, indoor in artificial light

Zoya Brigitte, outdoor in shade

Odette is by far my favorite of this collection. It's described by Zoya as a sultry orchid maroon cream. I'm not gonna lie, here--the orchid was added in more recently. As most of you probably know, Radiant Orchid is Pantone's color of the year, which makes anything that might fit that category pretty damn hot, though I don't think I'd apply it to Odette. I would call Odette a rich, understated mid-tone purple leaning towards gray and blue. I really don't know where the maroon came from, and Zoya has consistently billed it as maroon from the get-go. I think of maroon as dark red, leaning towards brown. I really don't read Odette as brown in any light, and it certainly isn't a deep red.

Zoya Odette, indoors in natural light

Zoya Odette, outdoors in shade

Zoya Odette, outdoors in sun

That being said, I think Odette is really lovely. The name evokes images of French coquettes shyly dancing and flirting in my mind. Actually, that's a lie. I sort of think of the little feather duster girl from Disney's Beauty and the Beast when I hear the name Odette. Lumiere would be macking on her for sure, even though I have no idea if that was the feather duster's name. It probably wasn't. Anyways, I think this Odette does have a bit of a flirt in her. She's easily the brightest of the collection. While it is bright and purple, Odette still has a hint of almost a taupe, which makes it not be too brazen. It's still office appropriate, and not too in-your-face as some purples are. It also happens to look gorgeous on me, which helps in my opinion of it. Every time I wear it, I get tons of compliments.

Zoya Odette, flash

Zoya Odette, indoors in artificial light

Normani is probably the most intriguing of the collection. It was the one I thought I'd like the least, but ended up sincerely liking. It's described as a sable mauve cream by Zoya. I think it's a dark taupe with a touch of purple. It could also be described as greige, which is totally a word someone made up to fit colors we can't really describe because we've never seen them before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoya Normani, outdoors in sun

Zoya Normani, outdoors in shade

Zoya Normani, indoors in natural light

Normani is a sphinx, in that it's hard to pin down and describe. It really fits that niche for when you want to wear something earthy and neutral, but don't want to lean too warm, as it's a very cool toned polish. It's sort of that polish that you keep in your stash, knowing that with the right outfit, it would be perfect, even while you can admit it won't happen that often. I thought it was pretty perfect in late winter, early spring, because everything turns a bit gray, but Normani manages to keep your nails looking polished and sophisticated. It's an unusual color for me, but I ended up getting a number of compliments whenever I wore it. Definitely a sleeper hit.

Zoya Normani, indoors in artificial light

Zoya Normani, flash

I have to say, all of these photographed pretty beautifully. I think Rue probably is most improved by my camera, but as I said, it looks better to me some times more than others, so I could see that. Finally, here are those pics that I had done some nail art for the #NudeInNY contest. I highly suggest checking out @ZoyaNailPolish on Twitter, as they frequently have promos and contests throughout the year. Zoya's an awesome company like that. I'm not the best at nail art, but I sure had fun with these.

Zoya Brigitte with Rue sweep

Zoya Brigitte with Rue sweep

Zoya Chantal, Taylor, and Rue-left to right stripes

Zoya Odette with Rue accent heart

Zoya Rue, Taylor, and Chantal-left to right stripes (yes it is the same as above).

Until next time my darlings, go and play with your polish!
Emily, the Manic Paintress