Untrieds: Zoya Zara

~ stashy

I purchased this during the Zoya Free 4 You sale back in January, where you selected 4 polishes of your choice for free and just pay for shipping and handling.  A couple of weeks ago, I finally wore the first of the 4 – the shade Zara.
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This was a somewhat significant event since I had mostly gotten rid of all my Zoya nail polishes and had not worn a Zoya for years.  I found that in general, Zoya polishes didn’t last as long on me, they would chip really badly and on some occasion, peel off in sheets.  With this great deal, I decided it was time to give Zoyas another try since they offer some fairly unique colours.

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Zoya’s site describes Zara as: vivid blue-toned light purple with strong golden duochrome shimmer. This is the photo that’s shown on their site:
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I beg to differ. It’s not THAT vivid. And it’s not blue-toned. It’s a medium kinda bright-ish lilac-y shade. 😛  This is what it really looks like:
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And my camera is making a liar out of me by tinting all my purples so they look blue-toned! I tried to shift the tint more reddish toned but this is the best I could do without making the shimmer look bright red. When I think of vivid blue-toned purples, I think of African violets.  This ain’t no African violet!  But despite the shade disconnect, it’s still a lovely shade.

The Zoya site also ranked this polish a 5 out of 5 in intensity – I would have ranked it 3 out of 5. It’s somewhat sheer especially on the first coat:
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I ended up applying 3 coats to get the coverage I wanted, here’s coat 2:
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And coat 3:
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And here’s the glamour shot:
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(but it’s not this blue-toned in real life! I’m staring at the bottle right beside me and it’s making me twitchy that I can’t get the exact polish colour without making my hand look like lobster claws)

The duochrome shimmer is stunning though: it shifts from orange to yellow depending on the angle – it’s unique to my collection. This macro shot is probably the most accurate colour that I was able to achieve:
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I wore this polish for a full week.  The peeling and chipping issues I had experienced with Zoyas before didn’t materialize, although I did notice that this polish seem to show noticeable tip wear more quickly than other polishes – within a day my nails looked like I’d been wearing it for 5 days.  It’s not a deal-breaker and I’ll be testing out the other 3 polishes to see how I fare with those.
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Zoya was one of the first mainstream polishes to be 3-free – now it’s so commonplace that we don’t think twice.  They’re available at beauty supply and salons for around $12 CAD each.

Are you a fan of Zoya polishes?  I’ve been on a purple polish kick lately. What’s your favourite purple coloured nail polish?

39 thoughts on “Untrieds: Zoya Zara”

  1. I haven’t actually seen that much about Zoya polishes before. I’ve heard of them and I know they have a huge range of colours but that’s it. This colour looks super pretty on you, I really like the duo chrome and shimmer effect! It’s good that it didn’t chip like past polishes. Did the three coats feel thick on your nails?

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    1. Zoya polishes aren’t the easiest to get a hold of compared to OPI or Essies so it’s not as popular. But they have some gorgeous colours and finishes.
      No, the 3 coats didn’t feel thick on my nails, I made sure to do thin coats. And actually, I ended up having SIX layers of product on my nails! 1) nail strengthener 2) base coat 3-5) Zoya Zara 6) top coat! 😮 It didn’t feel or look thick at all.

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    1. It’s really close to how it’s showing on here. I just want to represent it as accurately as possible! Which Essie one are you thinking of?

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        1. I just looked it up – yup it’s way more pink toned than this one. I don’t own the Essie one so I can’t do a side by side comparison. Would love to see you review it though!

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    1. Aw thanks! You should see me when I do these nail polish application photo shoot… at the dinning room table with the little “studio” lights set up, taking photos after every coat of polish. My bf shakes his head at me. But as long as I’m not interrupting his Game of Thrones show, he’s happy! 😛

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  7. I love Zoyas, as you know! This one has been on my wishlist for ages, yet I never seem to get it. I did LOL when you said it wasn’t blue-toned at all, ’cause yeah it looks blue-toned in the pics 😀 But I know exactly what you mean about the camera screwing around with purples! It’s beautiful, regardless – glad it’s worked better than previous Zoyas you’ve tried.

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    1. You understand my pain with purples! 😛
      I also think the golden shimmers messes with the base purple shade – so maybe the base is blue toned but the golden shimmers shifts it? I just know that in real life and on my nails it’s very much a lilac shade.

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  8. Haha, the Zoya picture and yours are a completely different shade! In real life it looks more pinkish-purple? Nonetheless still a pretty colour! The duochrome is stunning.
    After you mentioned the sale on your blog, I was going to buy some polishes, but then I forgot about it until the last day of the sale at 10pm our time, so I was too late by an hour or two! 😛

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    1. Yes, in real life it’s more pinky toned. I think the golden shimmers also changes the base colour a little bit.
      Aww that must happen to you a lot being on Pacific Time! Late for everything… 😛

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  10. Wow! What a stunning colour! I agree with you 100% about Zoya. I chucked all of mine because I found they would never dry through, and “melt” throughout the week. Lint would get caught in the soft nail polish and look just disgusting. Like you, I will give the brand another try…

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    1. Glad I’m not alone with my Zoya challenges. So odd it works well for some and not for others.
      It’ll likely never be my go-to polish brand but at least I’m not hating it. I hope your 2nd time is a charm!

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  12. Totally agree with the African Voilets being the gold standard for blue-toned purples. I don’t see the blue in this either. Bummed I missed that deal though! I haven’t had the best luck with Zoya in the past either and it would have been a great chance to try more!

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  13. I just hate it when the camera won’t pick up the actual color of the polish!
    I love the duochrome finish of this one. Would love to try Zoya, but they are so tricky and expensive to get hold of here. Will wait for your other reviews on longevity and maybe make an effort 😉
    xo Anne – Doves & Roses

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    1. Zoya isn’t readily available here either, especially not the full collection. I’ve got so many new polishes to try, do you know that week after week I keep forgetting about the Essie Maximillian Strasse-Her?!! 😮 I think it will have to wait until after I’m back from holidays.

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  14. Beautiful color! I am not a fan of having to do more than 2 coats of polish though, I find it starts taking forever to dry and I end up getting nicks. I have had issues with Zoya before as well, might have to try a new bottle soon.

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