Zoya Kristen and Shimmer Polish Cassandra

Kristen was released by Zoya as part of its Feel Collection for winter 2011. Zoya describes it as a "gull gray nail polish with a mild bluish hue." Don't think so. I've looked at this polish six ways from Kevin Bacon (I know, but it just came out that way) and the only place I can get it to look remotely like that description is directly beneath a low wattage incandescent light bulb. To me, Kristen is what I think of as baby blue or powder blue, a whitened sky blue, almost a pastel. In some lights it shows up with pale grey overtones and in others with pale periwinkle overtones, so it does have a slight chameleon-like aspect to its nature. But most of the time you're looking at a milky light blue.

I found this polish a bit finicky to apply for a couple of reasons. One is that it lacks the self-leveling quality that I find to be necessary for a polish to apply evenly and well on my furrowed twisty talons. Another is that it tends to drag and harbor bubbles, both of which have the potential to defeat even the most Herculean efforts to obtain a smooth unblemished finish. Kristen is an unforgiving polish -- minor defects and funky patches that occur during application can't be repaired or smoothed over on the fly without it being glaringly apparent. Bummer!

Probably the biggest obstacle to good application of Kristen for me is how unfortunate I think it and similarly pale colored polishes look on my nails. Which actually has nothing to do with the polish itself. It's all about my perception. When I apply a polish that feels uncomfortable on and try to blog about it, it produces a angsty sense of vulnerability, of having overextended my resources. So it is with Kristen and I'm sure you didn't need to know somewhat self-conscious detail that accompanied this epiphany but such is the nature of digression. "Skip a bit, brother... "

Suffice to say that I didn't have a lot of fun applying Kristen. This is actually my third attempt at an acceptable manicure with this polish with no learning curve in sight (a la Butter London HRH) and I'm still not comfortable with how it looks. On the bright side, coverage is excellent with complete opacity obtained in two coats, a minor miracle with a near-pastel polish. Kristen dries naturally in good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat is helpful in smoothing out any unevenness and improving the look of this polish generally.

Photos show two coats of Kristen over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite, with apologies for complete lack of clean up.

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

Zoya Kristen

After going to all of the trouble to get this polish on, you know I wasn't going to leave it au naturel. I decided to try a coat of Shimmer Polish Cassandra over it. Cassandra is one of my favorite Shimmers, a mix of white iridescent glitters in a clear base. It's heartstoppingly beautiful glitter polish, and I renewed my love for it as I applied one easy coat over Kristen....

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen

This combination made me feel a bit better about Kristen, the iridescent glitters over the light blue looked so pretty. I then decided to take it one more step further by adding a matte topcoat, in this case the one by OPI, which is excellent btw. Thin but very smooth and easy to apply with a perfect matte dry down. Love the results....

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Shimmer Cassandra over Zoya Kristen with matte topcoat

Nice, no? So my relationship with Kristen is a bit more mended still. At least, until I decide to apply it again. ;->

love,
Liz