Zoya Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the third and last polish from Zoya's recently released Flair collection that I purchased. Most of the browns in my stash are holos and I've loved them all, so Cinnamon's rich bronzey brown semi-metallic look appealed to me at once. But when I pulled it out the package and got a good look at it, I immediately felt a wave of dismay. All I could think about was the potential for brushstrokes, to which I am wholeheartedly averse. So I harbored a lot of apprehension about this polish prior to using it. 

All for naught, I'm happy to say. Brushstrokes there are, but for the most part they melt away as the polish sets up and what few remain aren't the incredible distraction I expected them to be. Zoya calls this a classic bronze but it's not a straight metallic by any means. There's all kinds of brown in there. However, the color turns out to be much more unique than I anticipated. It has the burnished beauty of a golden brown, but the base color is quite cool, like a medium bole or sepia or coffee. The superabundant micronized shimmers read as bronze through the base, and create a finely-grained semi-metallic glow that reminds me of the chatoyant effects in gem tiger eye. Atypically for brown polishes, you really don't notice very much of the red that, when mixed with yellow and black, makes up the color. The minimal influence of red results in a certain reserved, aloof quality to the full-bodied glow of the polish on the nail.

Application was pretty good. The consistency of Cinnamon is fluid, smooth and very dense with a creamy, self-leveling flow over the nail. I found it to thicken noticeably in contact with air, so I added a squirt of polish thinner whenever I felt the viscosity begin to interfere with smoothest application. The shimmers do make for brushstrokes, but as I mentioned they gradually disappear as the polish sets up and begins to dry. Pigmentation is very good with completely even opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. There's a bit of pigment travel but no residual staining. Cinnamon dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, glossy finish. Topcoat acts to further dissipate the appearance of brushstrokes.

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Zoya Cinnamon

Pretty cool, no? Cinnamon was originally designed for Zang Toi at New York Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2015 and it definitely has a fashion forward feel to it. Edgy and stylish and pleasingly uncommon, it has the charisma of a statement polish without pretensions to grandeur. 

I like it. I like very much. 

love,
Liz