Soon we’re all going to be bombarded with the spring collections so I figured I would kick off Spring ’09 with a collection from Spring ’08. Zoya Blissful is a pretty, light and demure collection. All the colors in this collection are subtle and work appropriate. It’s definitely not exciting, but I like it.

Zoya Felicity is rose with subtle pink and gold sparkly shimmer. It’s work appropriate with a kick. This swatch is 3 coats.

Zoya Laurie is jelly-like sheer pale baby pink cream. It’s opaque at 4 coats but can be worn at varying levels of sheerness with less coats.  Laurie is more cute than it is professional, I probably wouldn’t wear this one in really conservative officers.

Zoya Lulu, a jelly-like sheer light peach, is one my favorites from this collection. It reminds me of Rescue Beauty Lounge Starfish Patrick but it’s not a dupe. Lulu is not as bright, however, I think this would be a good substitute for anyone who hasn’t taken the RBL plunge yet. Lulu takes 4 coats for opacity but can be worn with fewer like Laurie.

Zoya Miley, a jelly-like sheer pale lilac cream, has been one of my favorite Zoyas for a really long time. I’ve been on a mission to spread my love for it since I first tried it on. It was one of my choices for the Zoya Mini-Collection promotion last year and I also ROAK’d  it to Dami of Perfectly Polish Tips. She raved about it as well. Like Lulu and Laurie this is a 4 coater if you want bottle color but it can be worn with fewer coats.

Zoya Penelope, a dusty mauve cream, is a Mom color. It’s chic and professional.  This swatch was 3 coats.

Zoya Zanna is a muted dusty rose cream. As many of you know, I have a thing for dusty versions of traditional colors so I’m really digging Zanna. This swatch was 3 coats.

________

Disclosure: This collection was sent to me for review by Zoya.

I am a *huge* fan of vampies. To avoid having a top 20 list made up almost entirely of them, I decided to pick only one. Surely, that would have been an insurmountable task but Zoya Casey is so incredible that the choice took only seconds. In my original post concerning this color I wrote:

“Holy &*%^. Zoya Casey is by the far the prettiest vampy I’ve ever seen, ever. It’s a deep deep deep deep jelly-like ultra glossy plum with a red base. The color is an ‘almost black’ which normally would irritate me to no end but there is just something alluring about this color, dramatic and intense. My ultimate test for nail polish is whether a color makes me continuously stare down at my nails. Casey definitely caused some major mani rubbernecking. Despite my nail polish ADD, I didn’t want to remove Casey. This is one for the top 20 list for sure.”

And like I predicted then, it did make it on to the list. Love this color.

I got an email from a British nail polish enthusiast that was having trouble finding bright pink Zoya swatches online. She wants to find a replacement for her favorite color, Nails Inc. Walton Street, which has been discontinued. These are the colors she requested.

Zoya Gweneth, a crimson creme that pulls towards pink, is my second favorite from this set of swatches. It takes 2 to 3 coats for opacity.

Zoya Jewell is a bright hot pink with very subtle purple shimmer that adds dimension to the color. It’s so subtle you can’t even see it in the pictures. It’s nearly invisible in real life too, however, I haven’t seen it outside so it is possible that the shimmer pops in the sunlight. It takes 2 to 3 coats for opacity.

Zoya Morgan is my favorite from this set of swatches. I’m usually not a huge pink fan but this one, I LOVE. I’d call this creme, Hollywood Cerise (as per wiki haha).  This one has exceptional application, perfect in 2 coats but I preferred adding a 3rd.

Zoya Trinity is a hot magenta with purple flash shimmer. It has a metallic-y feel to it but I wouldn’t label it as such. It takes 2 to 3 coats for opacity.

For any one who has made requests in the past, I apologize for the lengthy delays. I promise I will have all requests up soon, bear with me. Also, I haven’t gotten a chance to reply to comments in the last few posts yet but I will soon. : )

_____________

Disclosure: This collection was sent to me for review by Zoya.

So, let me take a second to shamelessly plug some Zoya products. I am really, really, bad at buying gifts so I enjoy prepackaged gift sets like no other. I figured I would share some of Zoya’s pre-packaged gift sets for my gift adverse readers out there.

Zoya has a slew of these little mini polish and lip gloss box sets, adorable. These feature Zoya’s best selling polishes and a matching lip color. These little sets are perfect as stocking stuffers or as small gifts for the polish addict in your life (haha). Clockwise: The Enchanted Evening Set – Zoya Evageline & Hot Lips Starlet, The Sugar Plum Party Set – Zoya Casey & Hot Lips Visa, The Red-E To Go Set – Zoya Dianna & Hot Lips Disguise, The Opposites Attract Set Zoya Raven & Hot Lips Sparkle.

Next up, Zoya’s manicure sets. On the left we have the Qtica set. It comes with a large bottle of Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, Qtica cuticle repair balm (which I love), and mini bottles of Qtica Extending Top Coat and Qtica Half Time Polish Drying Accelerator. On the right we have the Zoya Treatment Cube which includes minis of Zoya Armor, Zoya Anchor, and Zoya Hurry Up.  The Zoya Treatment Set retails for $12, so I really recommend it for anyone who wanted to try these but didn’t want to shell out a lot of money without knowing for sure that it would be worth it (which it is).

I’ll share these sets even though they are outside the normal realm my expertise. These are great if you need to buy gifts and also need an excuse to place a Zoya order. The Gift Spa set on the left comes with Grapefruit Surprise Sugar Scrub, Grapefruit Surprise Luxury Lotion, Grapefuit Surpise Shower Gel and little set of shower gloves. The Gift Spa set on the left includes Lemon Dream Sugar Scrub, Lemon Dream Luxury Lotion, Lemon Dream Shower Gel, as well as a little set of shower gloves. Both of these sets smell delicious. My Mother *loved* them.

Finally, Qtica Hands & Feet Set and Qtica Feet Set. On the left is the Hand & Feet set which includes Qtica Foot Repair Balm and Qtica Hand Repair Balm. On the right is the Qtica Feet Set which includes Qtica Foot Repair Balm and Qtica Foot Scrub. I’m a pretty big fan of Qtica’s moisturizers, these are no exception.

These sets are all available under the holiday set section of the Zoya and Qtica areas of the Art of Beauty website, respectively.

___________

Disclosure: These were sent to me for review by Zoya.

I have a two-fold apology for everyone. First, I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I had to do a bit of traveling for that interview and my immune system held on just long enough so that I was mildly healthy for it. I started coughing up a storm the minute I walked out of the office. I’ve done nothing but watch Six Feet Under and X-Files for the past 2 days. Second, I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to post the Pulse collection. I know everyone has seen it already but since Zoya is launching a promotion, I figured now would be a great time to play catch up. If you like this collection you can get it for free by entering the code PULSE at check out when you purchase the Zoya Color Lock System on www.zoya.com, or you can enter VIBE for Vibe Fall Winter Collection, or FLOURISH for Flourish Holiday/Winter Collection.

Overall, this collection isn’t for me but I can definitely see why everyone else went ga-ga over it. It’s shimmery goodness, so if you’re into shimmer – this collection is for you.

Zoya Mikka is a deep frosty plum, almost borderline metallic. This is 2 coats with 1 coat of Zoya Armor as a top coat.

Zoya Rihanna is aubergine with magenta shimmer. This is 2 coats with 1 coat of Zoya Armor as a top coat.

Zoya Sloane is dark plum with purple shimmer. This is 2 coats with 1 coat of Zoya Armor as a top coat.

Zoya Blair is a vivid burgundy with red shimmer. This is 2 coats with 1 coat of Zoya Armor as a top coat.

Zoya Colbie is brick red with red shimmer. This is 2 coats with 1 coat of Zoya Armor as a top coat.

And finally, Zoya Jacy which is a reddish medium violet with somewhat subtle purple and magenta shimmer. This is 3 coats with 1 coat of Zoya Armor as a top coat. This color is probably my favorite from this collection.

__________

Disclosure: This collection was sent to me for review by Zoya.

I know most the other nail bloggers have already covered this collection but I’m going to gratuitously cover it as well. I’m pretty surprised by how much I like this collection since usually I’m not into shimmers. It’s not that there is something inherently wrong with shimmers, it’s just that they tend to be really… common. That’s not the case with Flourish which features six are fairly unique colors.

Zoya Zara is an ethereal violet with very complex shimmer that flashes green, gold, and bronze. It looks incredible over whitish colors. I found this out accidentally. Zara has a jelly type quality to it and I was wearing Lippmann Icing on the Cake when I swatching this color so decided to try to layer it. The results were pretty impressive. It applies very well but it needs 3 coats to eliminate VPL. This color is a definite stand out.

Zoya Cyma is a red with magenta shimmer. This is 3 coats.

Zoya Kalista is a dark reddish brown with dark copper shimmer. This is a great wearable dark brown. It applies very well, this is just two coats.

Zoya Mieko is a cerise with sparse fleck gold shimmer. This swatch is 2 coats.

Zoya Richelle is sparkly light copper with a foil finish. This swatch is 3 coats. I am completely in love with this color – it is ridiculously, disgustingly gorgeous. I’m not sure if you guys have noticed a pattern lately with me just loving the ever living daylights out of these recently released gold polishes. I guess I’m moving from my purple period into a gold period à la Picasso.

Zoya Shivon is a mulberry with greenish gold iridescent shimmer. Shivon is my second favorite from this collection. This is a 3 coater.

________

Disclosure: This collection was sent to me for review by Zoya.