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Hey friends! I have a couple of blog posts for you all today, the first being this one for the Zoya summer 2023 collection. Not gonna lie, I was kind of confused by this release. Zoya annouced these for a pre-order a few weeks ago and said that they were a new “patent pending, hand crafted process.” On top of this new formulation, the polishes are all in mini bottles.
I kinda hate mini bottles so I wasn’t too psyched about that BUT these colors looked so amazing I couldn’t help myself so I purchased them mini bottles and all. This collection is currently available now on the Zoya website. They should be popping up over on Beyond Polish any day now if you want to grab them there be sure to use code NicoleLovesNails to save an extra 10% on your order.
As always, I will have more links and sale details at the end of the blog post.
Live Swatch Video
Zoya is a US based mainstream brand. Their polishes are in 15ml bottles, 10 free, vegan and cruelty free.
Yohanna
Description: a vibrant ultra-bright knockout pink
Yohanna I love how bright this pink is. This is the bright neon PANK that I just love. In comparison to Loni, this is a cooler toned pink to Loni salmon-y pink. Self leveling was pretty slow and the polish itself felt slightly chalky. I was caught off guard by how thick it was. It wasn’t overly thick or difficult to work with but thick.
Coverage was pretty good on that first coat but since the self leveling is slow, there were some unevenness and dark spots. It built up ok with the second coat but I noticed the longer it dried the sheerer it got. Sadly I didn’t notice that until after I added top coat and started taking my photos.
My photos show Yohanna in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I feel like I could have used a third coat with it. This polish dries down pretty flat so you will need top coat for a glossy finish.
Loni
Description: a bright salmon coral
Loni the formula on this was more to my liking than the other pink, Yohanna. It started out sheerer than Yohanna but it self leveled a lot better and just felt nicer to me.
The color of this is a warm, bright salmon-y pink. I had the hardest time trying to color correct this one. It photographed much pinker than it actually is.
My photos show Loni in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. After Yohanna dried down so sheer, I opted to just swatch this one in 3 coats. It does dry down pretty flat so you will need top coat for a glossy finish.
Alora
Description: a juicy fire engine red filled with pink undertones
Alora the description for this polish was spot on. It had a juicy jelly/crelly-like formula. This was sheerest polish in the release.
I can’t recall the last time I saw a fire engine red with pink undertones. I feel like usually they had orange undertones. The pink undertones were really difficult to capture. I did end up color correcting this one to attempt to show there were some pink undertones.
This polish is a potential stainer. I had a really hard time getting the red off of parts of my natural nails. It took *a lot* of scrubbing with acetone and some cuticle remover to get the red off.
My photos show Alora in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Avani
Description: an extra bright lemon lime green
Avani in general, I love bright yellow greens. At first I loved Avani, however when I went to remove it I found my natural nails stained a lovely shade of yellowy green.
As far as the formula goes, this leaves a few things to be desired. It has that same kinda chalky, slow self level formula that can cause ridges and bald spots, especially if overworked. As a chronic polish overworker, I wasn’t really a fan. This also dries down a bit sheerer than it applies.
My photos show Avani in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Just like the others, the polish dries down flat so you will need top coat for a glossy finish.
Pluto
Description: a vibrant Carolina blue
Pluto had a good but slightly chalky formula. I love colors like this for summer! This is another shade that I want as a pedicure before summer is over.
It dries down pretty quickly but not so quickly that I had a hard time with the application. Self leveling is pretty slow on it so be careful not to overwork it as you will create ridges and bald spots.
My photos show Pluto in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Looking at my photos, I have a couple of dark spots. This is another polish that driea down sheerer than it applies. When I top coated, coverage was perfect but as it dried more I started seeing the dark spots.
Soraya
Description: a ultra-bright creamy highlighter fuchsia
Soraya ooh I love how bright this color is! Formula and application were both fantastic. It started off a little sheer but build up nicely. Self leveling was pretty good but also a little slow. Not as bad as some of the other colors though.
This is one of those colors that looks both pink and purple at the same time. And it is BRIGHT. Coverage was really great in 2 coats but since it dries down sheerer than it applies, I opted to add a third coat.
My photos show Soraya in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. This will be a 2-3 coater depnding on how you feel about those dark spots.
Final Thoughts
I am torn about this release. I love how bright all of the colors are. I feel like brights/neons are something missing from my personal Zoya collection. However, the formulations on these kind of leave some things to be desired.
I wish they didn’t dry down so sheer that I needed an third coat to cover up dark spots. I also wish Avani hadn’t left my nails stained for the past week. And my biggest wish is that I wish these weren’t in mini sized bottles. There’s something that really irks me about using a polish one time and seeing a noticeable fill line on the bottle.
I won’t be picking a top pick from this colelction but if I were, it would probably be Soraya.
Zoya
15ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
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Sale Information
The Beach Brights collection is available right now on the Zoya website. Each polish is priced at $8 for 7.5ml mini bottles. There is currently a few bundle listings if you want to grab the whole collection (with some extras) at a discount.
These should be popping up on Beyond Polish any day now. Beyond Polish has the best prices for Zoya polishes that I have seen outside of Zoya’s sale periods. If you use my affiliate code, NicoleLovesNails you can save an extra 10%.
