Zoya Sunshine

Sunshine was released by Zoya as part of its PixieDust collection for fall 2013, along with Arabella, Carter, Chita, Dhara and Tomako. Zoya describes Sunshine as a "Van Gogh navy blue in a matte, textured, sparkling finish." I was a little confused by the "navy" part of that, since the blues that I associate with the great artist are varying saturations of sapphire. Like these....

The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889 (source)

Starry Night Over the Rhone, Vincent van Gogh, 1888 (source)

And Sunshine is quite true to this color family. It is a medium-dark sapphire blue, almost like a cross between a denim and a blue-violet, filled with texture particles and silver microglitters. The silver microglitters sparkle fetchingly from within the blue base in colors of silver and light sapphire, and look very beautiful indeed against the matte textured finish.

The consistency of Sunshine is thicker than the other PixieDusts I've tried from this collection. The brush grows stiff with texture particles rather quickly and it becomes difficult to get good edges when it does so. I wiped the brush on alternate cornering sides as I worked to keep the shape more rounded. Pigmentation is fabulous; Sunshine is essentially a one coater although I did two for the photos to correct some errors I made with the first coat. Like other PixieDusts, this is a very forgiving polish. You can go back and patch or add to an edge and it melds right into the polish already on the nail. Sunshine dries naturally in longer than average time to a matte textured finish.

Photos show two coats of Sunshine over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat with no topcoat.

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

Zoya Sunshine

I love this polish. With it's bevy of sparkles against the matte finish it reminds me of the way certain minerals and gemstones and geodes look in their unpolished state, or the way a macadam highway sparkles as it rolls out in front of you under a high summer sun. There's a touch of the surreal to the beauty of this polish. It's not what you'd expect to see on your nails and yet there it is. Did I mention I love this polish?

I've seen photos of Sunshine with a glossy topcoat but I wanted to experience it in person. I topped the above manicure with a coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food and then, because Glitter Food dries to a flat satin finish, a nice thick coat of Seche Vite. Here are the results....

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

Zoya Sunshine with glossy topcoat

The gorgeous color appears darker and more saturated with topcoat but due to the highly reflective glossy finish the microglitter sparkle loses some of its impact. Although I think the topcoated color is to die for, overall I prefer this polish in its natural matte-ness. 

I think I like this one even better than Chita! So for the polishes I've tried from this collection, Dhara is my favorite, followed by Sunshine, Chita and Carter. But they're all pretty close. Dhara isn't as wearable as Sunshine, but it is a matte metallic and has all kinds of color nuances to it that thrill me to no end. Still, I'd only recommend that one to those who love wearing bright orange on their nails. Sunshine, Chita and Carter I'd recommend to any and everyone. 

I don't have Arabella or Tomako... yet! My finances precluded participation in Zoya's recent promo but maybe I'll be able to pick them up on evilbay when I'm a bit more solvent.

love,
Liz