Zoya Valerie

   Ah Fridays.  The start of the weekend.  The end of the work week, for some.  Also in this case the end of my Fire & Ice week.  I'm ending with my favorite of the collection, Valerie.  She's described as a deep purple baby in a sparkling metallic.  I think that's a pretty good description, what about you?

   This is a rich, deep purple with hints of black at the edges.  The sun shots were taken with the sun running out on me but, I think you can still get the idea of how beautiful Valerie is.  Zoya really did a great job on this collection with the formula.  Every one of them is great with easy application.  I used 1 coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion base, 2 coats Valerie, 1 coat Seche Vite top.

Direct Sun

Indirect Sun

Shade

Indoor

   There's something a little odd about Valerie.  At certain angles in the sun, especially the bottle, you can see flashes of gold.  So I was expecting the foil particles to be gold when removing the polish.  But they weren't.  They were the same fuchsia as Lisa and Sarah.  I have a couple of shots I'd like to share with you, but I can't get them to upload right now.  I'll update this post if I can ever get them up.  

   So now you've seen the whole collection.  Which ones do you want and which ones do you think are a pass?  I say Valerie is a must have and if not both Lisa and Sarah, then at least one of the two.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration

Zoya Lisa and Sarah

   Is there anything more classic than the perfect red nail polish?  And is there anything more frustrating than trying to find that perfect shade?  Ok, maybe trying to find the perfect shade of red lipstick for your complexion.  And there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of different ones for us to choose from.  With more coming out every year.  Especially around the holidays.  This year is no different.  The Zoya Fire & Ice Holiday collection offers two.
   First is Lisa, a celebration red sparkling metallic.  It took me a little while, and help from David, to figure out what Lisa reminded me of.  It's the red stripes in a candy cane.  The cheery red with a hint of pink at the edges.

   Lisa is from what I call the "Fire" half of the collection.  I found this half of the collection to be more pigmented than the "Ice" half.  Formula and application were great once again.  The foil particles in this half are fuchsia instead of gold.  I think that's what really gives Lisa the candy cane color for me.  I used 1 coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion base, only 2 coats of Lisa, and 1 coat Seche Vite top.  Notice I used 2 coats of polish with this one instead of the 3 I needed before.

Direct Sun

Indirect Sun

Indoor

   During removal, I actually thought to take pictures of the cotton ball so you could see just how many foil particles are in these colors.  All six polishes are equally packed.  Remember you can click on the pictures for larger images.

No Flash

With Flash

   That's a lot of foil.  It gives great sparkle on the nail, but makes removal a little difficult.  But I think it's worth it.

   Next is Sarah, possibly the prettiest sparkling red metallic ever!  That is a direct quote from the press release.  Including the exclamation point.  Is it the prettiest one ever?  I'm not sure.  But it is really pretty.  Sarah is a deeper red than Lisa.  Sarah is closer to a berry shade, while still being a red if that makes sense.

   Once again I used 1 coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion base, 2 coats Sarah, and 1 coat Seche Vite top.  The foil particles are the same fuchsia as in Lisa.

Direct Sun

 

Shade

Indoor

I really liked both of these reds.  I'm not sure I could pick a favorite between the two.  Which do you guys like better?  Are you more of a bright red fan or a darker red fan?

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration.

Zoya Crystal

   Is the week really almost half over already?  I swear I don't know where the time is going lately.  Anyone else have the same problem?  For me I think it's because I have so much to do before I leave next Thursday and so little time left to do it all.  Can I freak out a little now?
   But that's not what you're here for is it?  Nope, you're here to see polish.  Today I have Crystal from the Zoya Fire & Ice Holiday collection.  Crystal is described as a frosty blue sparkling metallic.   That is exactly what this polish looks like.

   The formula for Crystal is spot on, but like the other two in this half of the collection the density is a little sheer.  Once again I used 1 coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion base, 3 coats Crystal, and 1 coat Seche Vite top.  My thumb has 4 coats of Crystal because once again I was impatient and smudged the center.  You can see the lumps in my pictures.  Sorry about those.  

Direct Sun

Indirect Sun

Indoor

   I was running out of sunlight for these shots so sorry for the blur.  Though the blur does let you see just how sparkly these polishes are.  The gold foil particles in Crystal don't take a back seat like they do in Tiffany and Gloria.  With this one they decided they wanted equal focus.  If you look closely at the indirect sun shot you can see a bit of a mottled look to the polish.  That's because there are almost equal amounts of blue and gold showing.  This causes an interesting effect on the nail.  While looking at the bottles Crystal was one of my favorites, but once on I didn't like it quite as much.  I'm not sure if that was just the smudged thumb talking or the abundance of gold showing.  I've never been much of a yellow gold fan, so when it shows up unexpectedly I'm not always a happy girl.  So I will have to give Crystal another try with a full mani for a few days before making my final judgment on her.  But what do you guys think?  Remember you can click on the images for a larger view.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration.

Zoya Gloria

   Today I have for you the other champagne metallic from the new Zoya Fire & Ice collection.  Gloria is described as pink champagne, but again that description doesn't quite feel right to me.

   Gloria has more a white merlot feel to me.   It is a very pretty dark rose metallic with gold foil particles, just like Tiffany.  Application was the same as Tiffany as well.  A little sheer at three coats for me, but lots of sparkle.  The formula was great as well.  Again I used one coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion base, 3 coats Gloria, and one coat Seche Vite top.

Direct Sun

Indirect Sun

Shade

Indoor

  Just like with Tiffany, I had issues with the foil wanting to stay on my fingers during removal.  I found that wiping the polish off in only one direction helped keep the glitter fingers to a minimum however.  

   While I still wouldn't call Gloria a going out on Friday night polish, I'll probably wear her for more than family events.

Disclaimer:  The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration.

Zoya Tiffany

   Happy Monday!  This week I will be featuring the Zoya Fire & Ice Holiday collection.  I'm starting off the week with Tiffany, the lightest of the collection.  Tiffany is described as a soft champagne sparkling metallic. 

   I can see where they were going with the champagne descriptor, but it's a little more like a pink champagne to me.  This is definitely a pinkish peach color, not a soft golden color that I would associate with champagne.  If you remember the press release for these, Gloria is described as a pink champagne color.  But I'll talk more about that in my Gloria review. 

   While looking at the bottles, Tiffany was the one which least excited me.  But once I had it on, I really started falling for her.  Now she's not going to be a call up on Friday night to go downtown with me color, but more a Sunday brunch with the in laws color.  But that's ok because we all need at least one of those in our collection.  Or 5 or 6.  You know something like that.  

   The formula was very nice.  Not too thick, but not so thin it wouldn't stay where I wanted it.  The foil/metallic flecks went on very smoothly with no clumping or dragging.  Those flecks are a lovely gold in this polish and look a lot like little bits of glass in the sun.  I used 1 coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base, 3 coats Tiffany on all but my thumb. which has 4 as I smudged the tip a bit during cleanup, and 1 coat Seche Vite top coat.  Normally I would not use Vite with Zoya, they do not play well together.  But I'm impatient and wanted these to dry so I could take pictures and share with all of you.  And I'm going on vacation in less than 2 weeks and my parents are arriving 36 hours after I get back for a visit so I wanted to make sure I got the full collection swatched during my frantic house cleaning before I leave.  I do NOT recommend this schedule btw.  But back to polish talk.  Or better yet, pictures.

Direct Sun

Shade

Indoor

   Inside, the copper really comes out more in Tiffany.  I was slightly reminded of a brand new penny.  You know the ones that are fresh from the mint and still shiny and clean.  Because this is such a light colored polish, it does run a little sheer.  You can get by with 3 coats, but I think 4 would be better.  Removal was a little more time consuming than a plain metallic because of the foil.  And the foil loves to stay on your skin, so the foil method for removal will probably be your best bet to avoid glitter hands.

Disclaimer:  The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration

Fire & Ice - Zoya Holiday 2010 Collection

   I love getting packages in the mail don't you?  They're always so much better than bills.  Well yesterday morning I heard a knock on the door as I was getting up.  I figured it was maintenance coming to replace my air filter since they had been by the day before to see what size filter I needed.  But, to my pleasant surprise, it was the mailman delivering a package from Zoya.  Trust me, there was giddiness.  What was inside?  Their new Holiday Collection Fire & Ice.  Here's the official press release:

   Click either image for a larger picture.  Sorry about the size of the text part, I have tech issues sometimes.  

   Now for the fun part.  Pictures.  There are 6 polishes in this collection.  I like to think of 3 as the Fire half and 3 as the Ice half.  I don't think there is an official distinction between the halves, that's just the way the colors look to me.

Whole Collection

"Ice" Half

"Fire" Half

   Do you guys see why I've personally labeled them that way?  So which ones are everyone most excited to see?  Individual reviews and more pics coming soon of course.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were sent to me by the company for consideration.