Zoya Kamilah

Zoya describes Kamilah as having a "fiery orange-toned red base with cool toned red metallic shimmer." Kinda hard from that description to imagine what the polish actually looks like, no? And to be honest, Zoya's photos don't help much either. Whatever did we do before polish blogs? I can't make an informed choice without them now! 

Kamilah is a true shimmer polish with a medium adobe red base with popping bright cherry red shimmer and a metallic finish. The effect is a gift wrap ribbon red and reminds me of Venetian glass. It's fire bright and very festive, a perfect medium holiday red. It leans blood orange under incandescent lighting but is a clear vivid red in natural light.

The formula of Kamilah is light and liquid. You don't need much on your brush to smoothly cover the nail surface. This polish is a thin coat applier's dream. I don't excel at thin coats, so I made a bit of a mess which I could have cleaned up a little better than I did. Oh well! I'm sure you're familiar with my repertoire of manicure foibles by now -- this one contains no surprises, just the usual missed swipage here and there and the tendrils of red that I tend to leave on my skin when cleaning up after a red polish. Oh and there's a nice sized bubble in the topcoat of my left ring finger nail for good measure.

Photos show two medium coats of Kamilah over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat plus a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah, with bonus bubble...

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah, with bonus bubble...

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

Zoya Kamilah

If that's not candy apple red then I don't know what is! The shimmer has a cool-toned pinkish red look against the ruddy adobe red base, almost like intact tiny sugar crystals in red sugar syrup. Kamilah has a fabulous dimensional display and a satiny sheen. Perhaps that glow from within is what separates a metallic shimmer polish from a straight metallic or foil polish. 

In any case, what we've got here is one fabulous exuberant convivial red polish. A "rings on her fingers, bells on her toes" red. This is the kind of red that's not going to let anyone sit in a corner by themselves, the kind of red that if it were a host would greet all guests at the door with glasses of Christmas punch and would have a special little gift for everyone at the party, wrapped in bright gold foil bedecked with a froth of curly red ribbon.

love,
Aunt Liz

Fiery orange-toned red base with cool toned red metallic shimmer. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Kamilah.html#sthash.4okqilZa.dpuf

Fiery orange-toned red base with cool toned red metallic shimmer. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Kamilah.html#sthash.4okqilZa.dpuf

Fiery orange-toned red base with cool toned red metallic shimmer. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Kamilah.html#sthash.4okqilZa.dpuf

Fiery orange-toned red base with cool toned red metallic shimmer. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Kamilah.html#sthash.4okqilZa.dpuf

Fiery orange-toned red base with cool toned red metallic shimmer. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Kamilah.html#sthash.4okqilZa.dpuf