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Zoya sent me their new Elements Collection to swatch for you! This would more accurately be called the purple collection because every single color is purple. :P
I have many mixed feelings about this collection. I like the darker, vampy purples and the shimmer/glitter ones. However, most of them lean mauve and just simply look like old lady colors. There’s nothing wrong with old lady colors, but they aren’t on trend or flattering to the eye.
I also had a lot of chipping issues with this collection. I tried four different basecoats as I was wearing these in real life. Regardless of basecoat, these polishes were chipping within 12 hours. I usually get 24-72 hours out of a manicure before my dogs and lifestyle cause some chips. Therefore, I was pretty disappointed even when using different basecoats – including Zoya’s own!
Let’s take a deeper look….
Zoya Leighton is a deep – almost black- purple. This is one of the more wearable colors for me, although it felt strange wearing such a dark color on a 90 degree day. LOL. I’ll usually reserve these deep colors for fall and winter.
Zoya Gardner is definitely one of the more interesting colors in the collection and may even qualify as my favorite.
Zoya Rumor is where we start getting into the overwhelmingly old-lady like colors. And I’m talking old ladies from the 90’s. :P
Zoya Rachael is another vampy purple, just slightly lighter than the last vampy purple. You probably don’t need to own both.
Zoya Maryann is a little better and more wearable, but the frosty finish kept nagging me as something an older lady would wear. Or man. I don’t judge.
Zoya Maeve is about as middle-of-the-road purple you can get. It’s not dark. It’s not light. It’s a plain creme. Nothing to write home about but nothing wrong with it either.
Zoya Ruthie is another old lady color! WTF! Am I being too harsh? I’d love to know someone else’s thoughts on these colors. Maybe I just have a stick up my butt.
Zoya Donnie is a reasonably modern color but again doesn’t strike much joy or interest for me.
Zoya Alyssa…yas. Another vampy purple that leans into an oxblood color. Probably one of the more interesting colors in the collection, but as you have probably surmised, that’s not saying much.
Zoya Jenna…a meh bubble gum pink.
Zoya Kendra…a BRAVE old lady color.
Zoya Devin…ah! Finally something interesting! This one is a slate-gray-purple with a very interesting glitter/shimmer finish.
The Zoya Elements collection isn’t BAD. But it also isn’t good. I have seen Zoya put together much more interesting collections. Purple is one of my favorite colors, only second to pink. So I should have been inclined to love this collection. However, I found it repetitive and lacking inspiration. I feel aweful saying these things about Zoya because their collections are usually wonderful!
I really like how this burlesque nail art turned out. What do you think? Is this a look you would try out?
