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Hey friends! I am pretty dang excited about this and the next couple of blog posts. I have loved Zoya as a brand for quite a while and have been wanting to review them on here well also for quite a while. Today is the first of 5 upcoming blog posts featuring Zoya! Yes, that is correct 5 Zoya blog posts.
I am starting out with their Fall 2022 releases before moving on to their Winter/Holiday releases. So this first blog post is for the Classic Leathers collection. This one initially caught my eye as the color story reminded me of Holo Taco’s Tea Cremes release from last year. Spoiler, they aren’t dupes but I will have some comparisons in here as well.
I have gone on enough, I’ll have links and all that good stuff at the end of the post. These are all available right now on.
Live Swatch Video
Zoya is a US based mainstream brand. Their polishes are in 15ml bottles, 10 free, vegan and cruelty free.
Althea
Description: A darkened mossy green
Althea had a fantastic formula. It was a little bit sheer and a little streaky on the first coat but it built up for full opacity in just 2 coats. Looking at my photos in editing, I did notice a few light spots on the clear part of my nails but I didn’t notice that in person.
In years past, this color would have been a big NOPE for me. But something about dark greens this year have been really making me happy. I wouldn’t call this a prugly green but it does give me some Army/camo green vibes.
My photos show Althea in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I did have some transparency on the clear parts of my nails but I don’t think that would be an issue for natural nails. This polish dries down fairly glossy.
Dagmar
Description: A deep plum brown with maroon undertones
Dagmar (also) had a fantastic formula. It was surprisingly opaque but not quite a one coater. To my eye, the base color is a deep berry/plum shade, I wouldn’t call this one a brown personally.
While I do not generally like colors like this, I will say it is very nice looking on my nails. I had a tiny bit of lightness on the clear part of my nails but I liked coverage in 2 coats.
My photos show Dagmar in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. This polish dried down fairly glossy on its own.
Note: my bottle calls this one Dogmar but the Zoya website lists it as Dagmar so that’s what I am assuming the actual name is.
Gidget
Description: A rustic orangey mustard with beige undertones
Gidget had a good formula. It felt a little bit chalky but overall formula was good. I did notice that it seemed to take a little bit longer to self level than the other polishes in this release but it did self level nicely.
This is another color that in years past I wouldn’t have liked but this year I have been really enjoying. This polish applies *a lot* darker than it looks in the bottle.
In the bottle, it reminded me of Holo Taco’s Butterscotch Hop. On the nail, it looks more dark mustard leaning towards a brownish color.
My photos show Gidget in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Side by side to Holo Taco’s Butterscotch Hop. BH is more Winnie the Pooh colored and Gidget is more dark honey or a mustard.
Ono
Description: A dark berry magenta
Ono had a good formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues with it.
This color isn’t really my cup of tea. I liked how juicy it looked on the nail but I don’t really like colors like this.
My photos show Ono in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
I wanted to compare this polish to I’m Over Brew. Again, not dupes, kinda similar but both have different looks on the nail. IOB has a more dusky look to it in person.
Ryder
Description: A rich coastal redwood brown
Ryder had a beautiful formula. It was surprisingly opaque! Depending on application (and possibly nail length) this polish could be a 1 coater.
This color leans very warm toned and since I tend to lean more warm toned, my photos came out a little bit more yellow than I would have liked. I couldn’t figure out how to edit them in a way that I liked so I left them be. The polish color is accurate though.
As someone who is hesitant about wearing browns, I was really digging this color. I feel like with a gold topper (I know I always say that with browns) I would LOVE this one even more.
My photos show Ryder in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Sylva
Description: A dark teal with cool undertones
Sylva had a fantastic formula. Not quite a 1 coater but close. I love teals and found this one had a tiny bit of a smoked out look to it.
I found that it was a true teal that didn’t lean blue or green. It was just teal.
My photos show Sylva in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Not at all that this polish was similar to Bring Me The Teal but I thought to compare it since the Tea Cremes also had a teal color.
Final Thoughts
So I thought the color story on this collection was fantastic. I was a little disappointed by the color story on the Cafe Cremes collection (review coming tomorrow) so that Zoya released this one as well for Fall 2022 made me happy.
No surprise to anyone I do wish that this has a topper or something with some sparkle but I’m not mad at the collection as a whole. I do wish Zoya would get around to making the Z wide brush the default but that’s a rant for another day. And yes, I did swap my brush out for these swatches. I really dislike Zoya default brush.
My top picks were Althea and Ryder.
And for a final comparison to the Tea Cremes, I still say it is a little silly to think that one collection is a copycat of the other.
Zoya
15ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
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Sale Information
The Classic Leathers collection is available right now in all of the places Zoya is sold. Each polish is priced at $12 on the Zoya website.
If you would like to pick up this collection at a discount, and support my blog, check out BeyondPolish. All of their Zoya polishes are currently priced at $7.70! With my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails, you can get an extra 10% off that price.
