Zoya Kotori

Kotori, like Suvi, was released by Zoya as part of the Downtown collection for fall 2007. Zoya describes Kotori as a "dense bright blue shimmer superimposed over a sheer black base." Interesting way to put it. Kotori is a stunning medium peacock blue shimmer polish. It has has a sheer charcoal base swimming with shimmers that are a scintilating bright blue, kind of a cross between a teal and a denim. The shimmers are suspended in the base in such a way that a bright peacock blue bloom occurs along the angle of light while the rest of the nail is enshrouded in a sheer veil of deep grey. It's a stunning combination of elements and has many fans despite application issues.

Application is where this shimmery London blue topaz beauty loses lippies. I'd read the reviews and anticipated multiple coats but when that first coat went on looking like "a pinch of blue shimmer and a sheer navy discoloration of the nail," to quote a reviewer from MakeupAlley, my heart did sink a little bit. 

Kotori looks thinner than it feels, so my first thought was how to get however many coats on there without having a huge build up of polish. It applies well other than the sheerness. I found it would pull patches if overworked or applied too soon over wet polish, so I gave each coat a little time to set up and allowed myself to be liberal with the amount of polish in each coat. I applied three coats and even so there are sheer patches that can be seen at low angles. Four would probably have been ideal. Kotori dries naturally in slightly longer than average time to a smooth shiny finish. It's very vulnerable to smudging unless completely dry.

Because it is so sheer, my clean up was not quite as comprehensive as I initially thought it was. As I was taking pictures for this post, I kept coming across overlooked swipes to the skin. Chagrin du jour!

And, at long last, a word about my skin tone in the photos I take, that is, the unbridled pinkness of it. I've experimented a few times with desaturating images where I felt my pinkness detracted from the focal point of the photo, which is always the polish. But messing with saturation levels quickly starts to resemble an excessively slippery slope where I can see second judging the camera in other areas as well and the whole photo selection and editing process devolving into a complicated and time-consuming exercise in frustration. 

Except for cropping and occasionally adjusting light levels for brightness/darkness, I really prefer letting the camera's image stand on its own. I just don't have the expertise to edit the way the colors are presented in an image to do it well and consistently. I've been intending to comment on this ever since I started this blog, and now I have. What you see is what I get and for the most part I try not to include images that in my opinion don't accurately reflect my experience of the polish. 

Blah blah blah, let's get to the pics! Photos show three coats of Kotori over treatment and basecoat with a thick topcoat of Seche Vite.

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori

Zoya Kotori, direct sunlight

I love the way the shimmers build up in this polish, even if complete opacity is somewhat illusory. The shimmers, suspended as they are in the charcoal base, have wonderful depth and visual texture. For the record, Kotori does layer well over a dark base. I tried two coats of it over American Apparel's Peacock, a medium dark tealy blue creme, and it was beautiful. It's a more substantial, less ethereal look with the opacity of the base underneath it, but with two coats you still get the dancing shimmers.

Those shimmers sparkle like crazy in the sun, and I've heard Kotori is divine with a matte topcoat. My bottle of Essie Matte About You is contaminated with dried residue and deposits white spots when I use it, otherwise I'd have had some matte topcoat on there in a skinny minute.

I can definitely see why so many folks love this color!

love,
Aunt Liz