Monday, July 4, 2011

Zoya Smoke and Mirrors Collection Fall 2011 Swatches and Review

Zoya's fall collection - Smoke and Mirrors - is a refreshing change of pace from all the brights and neons of summer. As usual, this collection is divided into two parts: Six creme shades (Smoke) and six shimmers (Mirrors). The theme for this set is smoky, sultry color and I have to say I'm digging all the greens and purples.

SMOKE


Anja. The second picture (with flash) shows the base color of Anja quite well, but the first picture is accurate to how it looks on me. This is a vampy dark red-toned purple, bordering on burgundy, in the same league as my beloved Casey. It's a creme finish, not jellyish like Casey. I love this color so much. It just looks so flattering on my hands and it has that sexy dried blood/wine vampiness that I crave in fall.




Dree. An olive green! This is the drab/dusty/smoky camouflage variety of olive green. It looks soft and dusty and has strong yellow tones. Yellow toned greens are my favorite and the dirty camouflage look of this makes me love it even more.




Codie. It is somewhat hard to tell from the pictures, but Codie is a smoky brown creme with a really interesting greenish tone to it. It looks near-black, but in the right light you can see the rich green-brown base color. The flash picture shows the base color pretty well. So murky and lovely. Makes me think of really old, worn dark brown leather.





Cynthia. This one's fascinating. The color is a very dark blackened smoky teal, leaning more toward blue than green. I've seen this color commonly referred to as "peacock", and it reminds me of MAC Plumage eyeshadow. The finish is the odd part- it looks like a creme, and for all intents and purposes, it is a creme... But when you're applying it, you can see little shimmer particles! It has those little beads of opaque color floating in a tinted base just like Envy has plus some extremely tiny silver shimmer. Once you're wearing it, you can't see the shimmer at all except in very bright light, but even then it's nearly invisible. How odd is that? Also, I can't help but mention, every time I see the name Cynthia, I think of this:

Come on.... don't tell me I'm the only one.




Jana. This color and Petra are really hard to capture because they change so much with the lighting. Jana looks like a pale purple-putty-nude in the bottle, on the nail it looks at least a whole shade darker and more grey, but in sunlight looks more purple and muddy. It's one of those very popular purple-grey-beige shades and this one is particularly smoky and muddy.





Petra. Ugh. How gorgeous is that? I didn't think I'd love it as much as I do. Yet another purple-grey, though this one doesn't have the beigey-browny tones that Jana does. Much more on the cool side, bordering on blueish in certain lights. Like Jana, this dries quite a bit darker on the nail than the bottle color appears. And, like the rest of the shades in the aptly-named Smoke collection, it has a smoldering smoky finish.



MIRRORS




Jem. This one deserves a million pictures 'cause it's so awesome. Following in the footsteps of Yasmeen and Valerie, Jem is a deep vampy purple with bright, shiny duochrome shimmer. This one has a lot of pink and gold in it and the colors shift with the light. It's so rich and velvety looking on the nail and it catches the light so perfectly. And maybe I watched too many cartoons as a kid, cause...








Marina. Marina is a blue-silver metallic. It's a little frosty, but once it's fully dried it has this look of really scratched metal. I actually find it to be really similar to Tao, but more obviously blue. I like the name... Marina was the name of my favorite cashier at the old Italian grocery store my mom and I used to go to every week. I miss that place.





Neeka. Click on that last picture (the one with the flash)- I left it gigantic so you can see the texture of the glitter. This color is freakin' awesome. It's a smoky grey-purple base with a slight pink duochrome shimmer and then super smooth gold glitter. The glitter isn't terribly sparkly for glitter... It gives the polish a speckled look with only a hint of sparkle. Really really really cool.



Nimue. This is the same frosty-silver based metallic finish as Marina, but Nimue is purple toned. I'd say it's more purple than silver but has that definite silvery metal undercurrent. Doesn't look as frosty once it's dried, though there are still some visible streaks, so be mindful of your brushstrokes.




Tao. This is a silver metallic. Not chrome-like and not particularly shiny, more of an old, worn steel machine grey. It makes me think of abandoned machinery or old mirrors where most of the silver backing has worn away. Smoky metal. This has a blue tone to it, but not as blue as Marina.


Yara. DUDE. I can't believe this. Is a smoky green with GLITTER. Gold glitter, to be exact. Go on and click the last picture to see the texture of it. It's flat, thin little flakes of gold. Like Neeka, it's not super shiny sparkly glitter, instead it adds a worn, speckled look to the green with little glints of shine every now and then. It's so nice and olivey... I'm so happy about this color. Can't stop looking at it.


The formula on these was great. Everything was really dense and opaque- almost entirely opaque in one coat on all the colors but Cynthia. I did two coats in all these pictures and didn't need more than that. They were smooth and not too runny. The brushes were even and fan out perfectly to fit my nail shape. Drying time was excellent and all the shades dried surprisingly shiny without topcoat. But... you should really use topcoat anyway. It makes them that much better. I didn't have any problems with the application, dry time or wear.

I am really excited about this collection. I love almost every color- there's some really amazing shades in here. I can't even pick favorites. I like the vampy cremes, the smoky purples, the GREENS, the glitters... The only things I'm meh about are the three metallics- Marina, Nimue and Tao. They don't have the same appeal for me as the rest of the colors. I mean... I don't even know silver frost exists when there's glittery purple in the room.


I have a feeling I'm going to be wearing the pants off this collection. I've already worn Anja twice and I plan on wearing Yara and Neeka until I've worn them so much I can't stand to look at them anymore. I'm really happy about how purple and green heavy this collection is. And they're not the usual types of colors- they're dirty and smoky. The super dark nearly-black cremes are also extremely appealing to me right now.

These will be available on Zoya.com starting July 15th.

(These were sent to me for review.)



66 comments:

  1. AMAZINGGG!!! OMG I cannot wait to get my hands on these babies! Both collections are stunning and so unique.

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  2. Dree, Cynthia, Neeka, Yara and Jem are all MUST HAVES IMO. GReat colors!

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  3. Oh And I totally Remember Cynthia as well!! <333 It is also my mom in laws name!

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  4. Nice! I can't say I'm super excited about this collection because I'm trying to save money and I already have dark greens and purples and blues for fall. So basically I'd buy all of mirrors if I could afford it, but I don't see anything that stands out as a "must have" color.

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  5. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! I love Zoya!!! They are constantly coming out with the season's hot colors. If someone forced me to pick a favorite I would have to say Jem - however, I will be buying both collections in their entireties. YAY for FALL!!!

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  6. OMG, I think I need the whole collection. This is so right up my alley. Neeka does remind me a lot of last year's BBC Michael from the infamous lovers collection. Might not be dupes, but they're certainly close.

    I love all of these... :) Well, maybe not the frosts ones.

    Thank you so much for posting.

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  7. LOL @ the Cynthia reference. I used to love the Rugrats!! I have a little request Petra, looks similar to my beloved Kelly... Could you do a comparison swatch?? Thanks!! Love the blog, never miss it!

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  8. I need all of them!!!
    I can't believe that you found/posted the opening for JEM ! OMG I knew the whole sogn once it started playing! Thank you for taking me back 20+ years =P I used to love that show!

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  9. Yara, Dree, and Cynthia are all calling my name. And Yara, in particular, is SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF ITS LUNGS! Hehe, that color is incredible!

    Oh, and I like how you included pictures of just your 3 fingers, too.
    - Mary

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  10. Thanx for the swatches !! Im the Neeka from facebook they are talking about and I love these colors based off your swatches =)

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  11. Totally want all of these BUT the frosty/metallic ones! GAH. Gorgeous!

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  12. The greeens look great. I personnaly LOVE olive green. Any more red headed fans of olive green tones out there? ;)

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  13. Hi Scrangie!

    I love the swatches, they're gorgeous! I was wondering if it would be okay if I post some of the swatches (just Jem, Neeka, and Yara) on my tumblr but put the source as you and have a link back to this post. I don't want to take away any credit from you, I just wanna showcase your gorgeous swatches on my tumblr :)

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  14. Cynthia, she's a really cool dancer...Cynthia, boogie to the groove now...

    But yeah...Cynthia, Yara (YARA SOFIA), Neeka, and Cynthia must be minez.

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  15. These are all gorgeous! I can't help but wonder how Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area compares to Jana and Petra.

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  16. Cynthia, she's a really cool dancer! Cynthia, boogie to the groove now!

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  17. WOOH love Yara and Neeka. How does neeka compare to RBL catherine from housewives of tudor dynasty?

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  18. This collection looks awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing not only the great swatches,but also your incredible commentary. You do an amazing job. :)

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  19. I think I need Yara and Neeka in my life. I love the glitter but not really texture of them :)
    Also Neeka is probably as close to my alter ego as Zoya will get and I already own both versions of my real name lol.

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  20. Holy crap, these are amazing! I'm liking the Mirrors collection a lot and I'm definitely going to need Jem, Neeka and Yara. Cynthia, Dree, and Anja are my faves from the Smoke collection. Zoya has been on a roll lately with these awesome collections!

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  21. These are the first swatches of these I saw and they are sooo lovely! Thank you! Tao really looks similar to Essie Fair Game and Marina looks similar to Essie Coat Azure, do you think these are still worth buying? And how does Petra compare to the other purple-grays like Below Deck?

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  22. Dammit, Scrangie, you lemming creator!!! (Just kidding.) ARGH, love them dusty poopy colours. I think I might buy at least five of these. ARGH!!!

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  23. Thank you very much for the swatches. I can only say,that to me, these colors looked alot prettier in the promo pics,than they do on the nail. I got myself all excited only to have the air slowly let out of my balloon. I am disappointed,and not sure why really. I got myself all excited over the promo shots,and well the real colors themselves are not what I expected. Kind of sad,but maybe my wallet will feel happy later. LOL!

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  24. I'm totally in love with Jem and Marina! Esp. Jem, oh what an amazing tone! Love that one!

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  25. can you believe i still have a jem doll somewhere..... :)

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  26. Nimue and Marina for me I think. I take it there will be no Zoya exchange this year. I wonder what kind of special they will come up with for this collection.

    (If you don't mind my asking, is that granite New Caledonia? That's what I have in my kitchen.)

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  27. Thanks for the swatches! They look awesome!
    I need at least half of them, maybe more ... "Petra" is especially calling my name, though I must admit that I don't like the name itself. Petra sounds not very likeable to me *gg* but the color is lovely.
    I think I'll skip Marina and Tao, and maybe Codie. Though it looks stunningly beautiful on your nails, almost blacks are sometimes disappointing, when you need a really strong light to see it's not plain black ...

    awesome collection for sure!

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  28. Dude! I use that word way too much! But I must have all the creams. I'm not so much a metallic person but these colors rock! I've already marked my calendar so I can order them!

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  29. I have never bought an entire collection before. This changes everything

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  30. Neeka and Yara are amazing! My favs too. Wow!

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  31. Jem and Anja look INCREDIBLE. I wish we got Zoya here in the UK!

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  32. I'm *ded* from the gorgeousness of these colors! HOLY CRAP! I have to have them all, and Yara! That was the nail in my wallet's coffin. I must have her!

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  33. smoke collection looks much more interesting to me :-D
    although i would't mind having the mirror collection too ;.-)

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  34. I so *want* to like Zoya and up until the pictures of Yara, it was just another ho hum collection. Yara made me take a look at the other colors again to see if I missed something and (although I don't need another gray/purple) Petra is looking like a must and Neeka & Dree would be nice alternatives to similar RBL colors.

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  35. Theese are great! I want the whole Smoke collection and Jem & Neeka from Mirrors. Ummm if you have "The Hub" in your cable line up Jem still comes on. Don't ask how I know that lol.

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  36. LOL @ the rugrats, my kids were addicted to that show in the mid '90's! fab collection, looks like i can see my wallet taking a hit!

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  37. Great swatches. =) Neeka and Yara are so pretty! ♥

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  38. Ugh, these are too gorgeous. What a nice collection.
    I hope I'm not the only one who sometimes buys Zoyas only for their names...

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  39. Gwendolyn, I don't have Kelly in my possession right now (My mom saw it, loved it, wanted to use it, haha!) but Petra is quite a bit darker on me than Kelly. Sorry :(

    Claudia, YES! Someone else who remembers!!

    Head MILF In Charge, OMG, awesome!!! So, do you like the Neeka color? :D

    Sarah, that's fine! Just please don't post entire posts worth of pictures. Thanks for asking permission, I'm flattered you like my pics so much :)

    ChaosButterfly and Jessi M, Hahahaha you too! It's so stuck in my head!


    Krys, Neeka is darker, less dusty, more glittery and more strongly purple :)

    özlem, Nah, they're not really that special, if you have the other colors, I wouldn't bother getting them. Petra is really dark on me compared to most other purple-greys, it looks a lot lighter in the bottle.

    Thalie, haha, I'm the exact opposite! I thought they looked pretty good in the promo pics but WAY better in real life. I love these!

    Crystal, no way, that's AWESOME! I'm jealous :D

    Sandi, yes, it's Caledonia :) I loooooove it!

    NaturalDezign, ooh thanks for the heads up! I don't know if I get the HUB, I have to check my channels... I want to watch Jem again!

    Thanks everyone! Glad to know I'm not the only one who's loving this collection. Mmmmm murky green and purple....

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  40. Damnit, Zoya! You do it to me EVERY time. I like both of these collections - especially Mirrors. I have a feeling I'll be picking up at least those. *sigh*

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  41. Thanks! Here's the link to the post:
    http://sarahhhlilly.tumblr.com/post/7267221119/zoya-smoke-and-mirrors-fall-2011-collection

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  42. This stinks! These are so amazing and I want all but 2 of them, but I CANNOT spend $80 right now :(

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  43. I actually really really like Marina because of the "scratched metal" look! Definitely getting it plus Cynthia, Petra, Jem (LOVE!), Tao and Yara!

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  44. Jem is the only polish which got my point. It's stunning!

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  45. These colors are sexy sultry! love, love, love!

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  46. Ohh, Zoya does it to me every time! Scrangie, do you use their color lock system to keep the polish looking lovely? (I tend to suffer from very bad tip wear quickly with Zoya, which makes me a sad panda).

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  47. Another gorgeous fall collection from Zoya! Every single colour is gorgeous so I think I'm going to save my pennies and get all of them when the time comes. Beautiful swatches as always.
    P.S. Thank you for including nods to Rugrats and Jem in this review. You've brought back many fond childhood memories :)

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  48. Yara, Tao & Petra are grabbing me ASAP. I don't know if I will get a few from each collection or be pulled in to grabbing both collections on release date? I am big time excited for these. OMG! My first look at real swatches of this collection! I am so much more into every one of them now vs. the bottle graphics shot first - then actual photo of bottle shots. Thanks sooooo much for these swatches. I am going to keep coming back to study them to make up my mind. Then watch, if I order a few, then they will send the entire collections in spoons and I will want all 12 of them!

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  50. Yeah, I'll be buying every colour in this collection, with the exception of 2 (but only because I have similar colours already). Zoya did an amazing job with this collection! I'm actually mentally counting the days until I can nab these up...

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  51. The only one I plan to get is Yara. Petra looks just like Essie Smokin' Hot, or maybe SpaRitual Solitude, while Tao looks like Essie Fair Game to me. Still, this is a pretty exciting collection.

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  52. I LOVE all these colors. I'm gonna have to get 'em all. :D

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  53. Lovely swatches as always! Can you tell me how Marina and Tao compare to Essie Fair Game? Marina looks like it might be similar, but monitors can be misleading...

    Thanks :)

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  54. They're all pretty fabulous, but I am especially excited about Neeka and Yara. I love the hint of gold speckle in them.

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  55. I really like Nimue, Tao, and Marina. And I'll have to get Cynthia even though I'm not wild about the color, just because it's my name.

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  56. I love these. :-) They look all gorgeous but Neeka and Yara seem pretty unique and completely awesome. Zoya did a good job on this collection.

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  57. Thanks for responding!! Just the verbal comparison helps loads! Wanted to know if the were different enough to own both and sounds like they are. Thanks again!

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  58. Yara is my favorite. It's just plain gorgeous. I'm just going to buy both collections.

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  59. Purple is one of my fav color's so yes Im very excited to put her on !!

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  60. Okay, now I'm conflicted. I wanted to get Gemma from the Intimate Collection. Now that I saw Yara; I will think I'll get that instead!

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  61. I had completely forgotten about "Cynthia" until I saw this! lulz

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  62. Yara, Neeka and Petra want to come live with me, I just KNOW it. Thank you for the lovely swatches, as always. ♥♥

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  63. Beautiful- I love your site!

    I think Essie Velvet Voyeur is a dupe for Anja (to my untrained eye of course!) Any thoughts?

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  64. Okay, you are so awesome for posting the Jem video! I think I'm going to have to buy Jem just because I loooved the show growing up. Jem are Yara are both gorgeous!

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