First up of the untrieds is Zoya Rea. Rea is described by Zoya as "a silvery, taupe-kissed mauve-purple in a metallic foil shimmer finish. An edgy purple steel shade that's unexpectedly gorgeous." Wow this is really pretty! I'd say it's a medium-light silvered purple shimmer with mauve overtones and a very cool particled foil finish. I've seen it described as an "iced plum," which fits it in feel. The silvery lavender shimmer is pinpoint sparkly in the sun, and the finish has that beautiful Zoya metallic tarnish with speckles of all sorts of variations of purple: mauve, grape, lavender, aluminum, cloud, plum, lilac.
Rea applies beautifully, the consistency is flowy, smooth and controllable. My hands are not though, so I did make a bit of a mess especially around the free edges of my nails. Clean up was a bit more difficult than I expected as the instant acetone hits this polish it disperses into a bazillion silvery purple shimmers that go everywhere. Rea is surprisingly well-pigmented and opaque for such a light colored metallic polish. You could easily get away with one coat if you wanted to. Dry time is average.
On the nail, Rea is an icy pale aubergine confection. It really is delicious, light and shimmery with a soft casual feel. It reminds me of a favorite cotton shirt that you've washed and worn and washed and worn until it's thin and light and soft as a puff of breeze on a hot humid summer day. In incandescent lighting it gleams rosy mauve.
Photos show two coats of Rea over my usual basecoat duo plus a topcoat of Seche Vite to finish.
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| Zoya Rea, bottle shot |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| LOVE! |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
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| Zoya Rea |
The next untried purple for this post is Lotus. Lotus is described by Zoya as "a very soft, dusty blue-toned amethyst purple with colorful shimmer that reflects pink, red and gold. A dreamy smoky shade for purple lovers that looks both soft and luminous." Très (that's FRENCH btw) accurate and I agree except that I don't see red and gold in the shimmer, just pink. This is a very beautiful medium-dark dusky greyed violet with reflective metallic magenta shimmer that doesn't always catch the casual glance but that adds a luminous dimensionality to the polish.
The consistency of Lotus was slightly thicker than Rea but didn't feel dense or stiff, it was softly liquid and easy to work with. It is fairly well-pigmented with opacity in two coats. Lotus dries to a satiny shine and I added a coat of Seche Vite for gloss. Wrapping the tips with every coat is a must with this polish, as I'd wrapped the tips with the first coat but not the second and experienced tip shrinkage on two nails where my second coat was especially thick.
On the nail, Lotus is a soft dreamy dusky violet thing of beauty. It has a spare elegant graceful feel that I find particularly romantic and feminine. I've seen photos of other purples that contain a pink shimmer component and have never been attracted to them, but I find this combination in Lotus compelling and almost irresistibly lovely. I'm thinking this must have something to do with how well or poorly certain colors translate in two dimensions, as in a photo, versus three. At certain angles in certain lighting, Lotus becomes almost a muddy purple brown -- an effect of the shimmer reflecting through the translucence of the polish I guess -- and yet that too I find beautiful.
Babble babble. Photos show two coats of Lotus over my usual basecoat duo plus a topcoat of Seche Vite to finish.
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| Zoya Lotus, bottle shot |
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| Zoya Lotus, shimmah shot |
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| Zoya Lotus, macro shimmah shot in the bottle |
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| Zoya Lotus, with bonus orange glitter (see it? on the pinky! *lol* I have no clue....) |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
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| Zoya Lotus |
I don't think photos do justice to Lotus. It's one of those that is much nicer on the nail than in the bottle, and much much nicer in person than in a photograph. I have a feeling that this will become one of my go to purples. Actually it kind of reminds me of a top I got for you on ebay -- you really liked the top. What do you think of this polish? It's ok, sez Eleanor, but it's not green.... *wink*
I still have two more to try but that's enough for one post, no? You know, I don't even own the two Zoya purples I've most admired online. Must remedy that the next time I'm flush!
love,
Aunt Liz
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