Zoya Hazel

Hazel was released by Zoya as part of the Irresistible collection for summer 2013. Zoya's description, a "blue green foil metallic" doesn't do justice to this icy aquamarine beauty. It's a pale cyan blue metallic foil, sure, but it's loaded with shimmering foily flakes in silver and gold. The golden flakes get tinted by the blue base and take on a slightly greenish look, which gives the polish it's greener tones. Hazel has a sort of lightly tarnished mottled look in the shade, lighter along the axis of light with delicious darkening toward the edges, and in the sun it bursts into a scintillating distinct aquamarine with sparks of blue and green.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Hazel is fluid, creamy and dense with a bit of thickness to it of the sort that you can feel as you guide the brush down the nail. Pigmentation is excellent. I was tempted to give it one-coater status after the first coat, but the color richens and becomes a bit less silvery and more blue with two coats. Hazel is a well-behaved polish with very good self-leveling properties and doesn't pull patches or get all uppity if you happen to overwork it, as I found myself doing. I almost couldn't help it, this polish is just so paintable! Cleanup, as with most foils, is mostly a matter of chasing down the shimmery flakes that loose themselves upon your nail environs at the touch of acetone. Hazel dries naturally in average time to a shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence of the foily flakes beautifully.

Photos show two coats of Hazel over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Gorgeous! I love this polish, it's a great aquamarine rendition of Zoya's take on the foily metallic finish, which they do to perfection. I never fail to be wowed by Zoya's foils. 

If you're familiar with the Zoya lineup then you probably recognize Hazel as belonging to the same family as Crystal and FeiFei. They are all cyan blue foils, but in differing intensities and shades. Sister Crystal is more vivid with larger, more prominent golden flakes. FeiFei is darker and murkier with multicolored foily shimmers. Seriously Swatched has a nice comparison photo of these three side by side, here, although I respectfully disagree with her conclusion that it's hard to tell them apart. I think that they definitely have distinct personalities and I love all three!

love,
Liz