Zoya Elodie

Elodie was released by Zoya as part of its Gossip collection for summer 2008. According to Zoya, Elodie is a "bright and fresh warm melon pink with a touch of coral." My opinion is that it's more of an orange than a pink. I'd describe it as a translucent medium tangerine with strong pink overtones and a juicy Floridian quality. It's a warm-toned bright summer creme that straddles three color families: orange, pink and coral. 

Application was excellent considering how sheer this polish is. Elodie is listed with an intensity (opacity) of 5 on Zoya's site and I would say that's more of a 4. Nevertheless, it applies beautifully. The consistency is fluid and thin but not runny and it lays down nicely on the nail in a very even self-leveling manner. One coat provides a smooth flush of color and I could see it being worn that way for a sheer healthy look. Building to opacity takes at least three coats and even then on my heavily stained nails the nail line was still visible so I added one more coat. This finally got me the opacity and fullness of color I was after. I needed almost no clean up, which says a lot for the application of this polish considering how shaky my hands are. Elodie dries naturally in average time to a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show four coats of Elodie over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl. Malevolence du jour: the dent gremlins had a go at this mani. I woke up at oh dark thirty, did this manicure, lay back down for a snooze and they went after it. Sigh. Also a note on the color in these photos: it is a touch brighter than it is in person. In person, there is a translucent squishy quality to the polish that diffuses the color a little bit. The pics show a flatter, more reflective aspect of this color.

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie

Zoya Elodie, showing that I did indeed need a little cleanup after all...

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away (aka the 80s), there was a brilliant rich coral lacquer from Borghese that I loved very much. For the life of me I can't remember the name of it but it was back in the days of Borghese's opulent swirled polish bottles, long since discontinued. Throughout the renewal of my enthusiasm for nail polish I've been seeking a suitable replacement for this long lost Borghese, an intense gerbera salmon pink-based coral with a cool drop of red in it, rich and vibrant. 

I had hopes that Elodie would be that replacement and it pains me to say that alas it is not. Elodie reminds me of a particular variety of orange azalea, kind of an orange washed in pink. On my pinkage, it comes off with a peculiar fluorescence that adds a grungy quality to my general pastiness. If you'd like to see photos of it worn well, I recommend this excellent review by Shadow and Shimmer or Scrangie's beautiful swatch of it, here.

My search continues. Have you ever tried to find a stand-in for a discontinued color? Do you have a favorite coral polish that you would recommend I try?

love,
Liz

Bright and fresh warm melon pink creme with a touch of coral. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Elodie.html#sthash.qnSYkIb1.dpuf

Bright and fresh warm melon pink creme with a touch of coral. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Elodie.html#sthash.qnSYkIb1.dpuf