Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Zoya Feel Collection Winter 2011 Swatches and Review

Now this was a bit of a surprise. I wasn't expecting another collection from Zoya until spring! Right on the heels of the glittery and gorgeous Gems and Jewels holiday set comes a second winter collection from Zoya: Feel, a set of six full coverage neutral creams.


Zoya Avery. This is a neutral pale peach creme. It has a very slight yellow tone to keep it from being too pink, but it's also pink enough to keep it from looking beige. It looks like a little bottle of Zoya foundation to me; if I didn't know it was nail polish, I might try to put it on my face!



Zoya Carey. Carey is the true grey in the collection. Several of the colors have a grey base, but this one is practically pure grey. It's on the light side and in certain lights it looks quite blue. Almost looks a little purple in the bottle.



Zoya Kendal. Kendal is a very light purple with a lot of light grey. It dries much darker on me than it appears in the bottle. The bottle seems like a pure pale purple, on my nails it looks like a darker purple-grey. Very pretty either way, I like the way this one looks on my skin tone.



Zoya Kennedy. This is another one that seems to dry a very different color than it looks in the bottle. In the bottle it seems like a dusty pale pink, on my nails it looks like a foundationy peachy-pink with a slight grey tinge. This is one of those putty type colors, just a tad cleaner looking. I like this one on me too.



Zoya Kristen. This is a shape shifter! In some lights it looks like a straight pale grey with some blue tones, but in others is looks like a dusty powder blue with almost no grey. In my pictures, you can see how much it shifts with the lighting. Most of the time it looks mostly blue to me. This seems like the most unique color in the set as I can't think of another blue exactly like this.



Zoya Megan. Not to be confused with the other Zoya Megan. Anyway... This version of Megan is like a mix of Carey and Kendal. It's pale a lilac-toned like Kendal, but it has a lot of blue and grey like Carey does. It looks like a plain light grey in my pictures, but when I see it in real life it has a definite blue-purple tint to it. The purple for some reason just won't pick up on my camera... but it is mostly grey anyway.

The formula on these was not what I expected. The colors are all nice and opaque like I hoped they'd be, but the texture of the formula is quite disappointing. The formula on the recent Smoke collection cremes was amazing, but I found these to be a very different animal. They have that texture that polishes had right when brands switched to three-free: runny and gooey at the same time. You know how you'll think you had removed all the excess polish from the brush, only to have a huge drip run onto your nail from out of nowhere? These do that. They don't seem to self-level like Zoya's other colors. The most frustrating thing for me was that after I had applied the polish, it would somehow run and pool in one corner of my nail, leaving drips and bumps, like it wasn't drying fast enough. The colors were completely opaque in two coats, but because of the textural issues, I applied three coats plus a little topcoat to even them out a little more. The drying time is long on these. I don't know if I got a bad batch or what, but these don't feel like any Zoya polish I've used before.

After playing around with these a little, I have a few tips for applying that may help with the runny formula. First, apply as thin of a first coat as you possibly can. Get all of the excess polish off the brush and stem- even when I thought I had it perfect, drips still formed. After applying your very thin coat, I'd really recommend waiting a good 3-5 minutes before the next thin coat. Otherwise, you may end up with that clumping/pooling issue that I experienced. Finally, wait another 3-5 minutes after your last coat before applying your topcoat. The bristles from the topcoat brush seemed to leave grooves and scratches in the polish when I applied immediately after the final coat, but waiting a little longer should prevent that. The longer you wait between each coat, the better.

Overall, I liked the colors but not the formula. While the colors aren't sparkly or exciting, they are pretty. Every shade looked classic and flattering on me, but because they're mostly neutral toned (none lean strongly warm or cool), they'll look good on a wide range of skin tones. Each shade has either a grey or a beige base instead of a white base, so they all have a very subdued, muted, marshmallowy look instead of a bold or stark creme finish. These are good office-appropriate, everyday neutrals with a little twist. Nothing crazy or edgy here. Good opaque alternatives to some of Zoya's older, super sheer neutrals.

The release date for these is today, November 15th, on Zoya.com.

(These were sent to me for review.)

41 comments:

  1. When I first saw the ads for this collection, I thought it would be meh since I was really disappointed with their Touch collection. But your swatches may make me reconsider. I really like Kristen and Kendal. Thanks for swatching!

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  2. Great review and gorgeous pictures, I ended up wanting almost all of them! Actually I like these colors, neutrals but not sheer. It's a pity application is so difficult, anyway thank you for the thickness/timing suggestions.

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  3. Would love some swatch comparisons to a couple similar Zoyas I have in mind (for the greys?) and the OPI Pirates collections, if you get a chance :)

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  4. Nice collection of neutrals. I'm not ordering any of them. I have enough of this type of polish. Also since I've read how the formula is, I'm not ordering them.

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  5. OOooh, These colors are so Pretty! Hard to pick a favorite. I like Avery, Carey and Kennedy. Thanks!

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  6. That's really disappointing about the formula! I'll have to look for the neutrals elsewhere.

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  7. Too bad the formula is not so good, I'm still getting a couple of those, your swatches always get me ~.~

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  8. hope you had a nice vacation :)

    the first 3 look similar to essie cocktail bling shades or is that just me?

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  9. Who in their right mind names two different polishes the same thing? hmm.. nailpolish-naming seems like the most fun a job could be, so i cant believe they're slacking!

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  10. wow these shades are all soooooooooo pretty!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

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  11. I love Avery and Kirsten, this colletion is so soft, great idea from Zoya. Amazing swatches, as always! x

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  12. I was originally disappointed in the shade they chose for "Kristen" (that's my name), but now that I see it's not just a boring run-of-the-mill shade, I may purchase it after all.

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  13. I think that Kristen is a must-have.

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  14. *shakes fist at Zoya* There's TWO Megans but no Courtneys?! Argh! Megan even got an upgrade from boring nude to super cute grey/lilac!

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  15. I like these - especially since it's a collection with both mine and my sister's name (Megan & Kristen). I think I might have to pick these up just for that fact.

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  16. I was all over this collection till I read about the unhappy formula. :( No go, Zoya. I expected better. Looking at your swatches though, I'd have thought everything was perfectly fine.

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  17. I like some of the colors, but the formula issues make these a no-go for me. I have more problems applying Zoya polishes than any other brand and I don't really want to invite more headaches. Oh well.

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  18. Such a shame about the formula, but wow, Zoya Avery looks like an awesome mannequin hands colour on you!

    I'm so used to seeing you with bold colours (which look awesome on you), but actually, Avery also looks amazing. Different look!

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  19. I was eagerly waiting for swatches, I had a crush on them from the promo pics but was trying to be sensible. Fat chance of that now, I still want them all!!
    Thanks for the beautiful pics

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  20. It's sad when you get a collection with bum formulas. I am not too excited by this collection-seems weird for winter-these are more springy to me. I do love Carey-really pretty!

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  21. Even though I tend to gravitate towards bright colors, especially blues and purples, recently I have been obsessed with neutrals. I love this collection and the colors all look fabulous. I really hope you got some bum bottles, because I want these, but I don't want to deal with formula issues!

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  22. Thank you for sharing the swatches are beautiful!

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  23. Avery & Kennedy remind me too much of the Touch collection.

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  24. Wow, these are all lovely!
    Always love your swatches. Thanks!!

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  25. Thanks so much for swatching these! I've been looking forward to seeing pics of them. Probably won't end up getting any of these, as the ones I like seem awfully similar to colors I already have, boo. Plus issues with the formula make them less appealing. But, maybe I'll pick up Megan or Kristen next time Zoya has a BOGO or something...

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  26. Kendal is my favorite! Too bad about the forumla on these though.

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  27. I really really love these colors, but am disappointed with your report on the formula. The formula is the reason I always come back to Zoya!

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  28. Where can you buy zoya? Preferably internationally shipping online retailer.

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  29. Zoya Carey is gorgeous.love these colors.Thanks for the swatches.

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  30. I'm also going to request thoughts on dupes... pretty please? lol... some of these look VERY similar to some essie colors I own!

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  31. I wonder how they would look with olive skin...I'm tempted to try Kristen although the application seems like a lot of trouble.

    Thanks for the swatches! :)

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  32. I got 2 of the collection before this review... wish I had waited. I got Megan and Carey both did the same thing you described... lesson learned, never buy polish until the reviews are in!

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  33. I just got the entire Feel collection, and the formula seems fine...a little goopier than the Smoke creams, but no pooling or anything like that for me. I think maybe a bad batch got out there, but mine are fine.

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  34. I love the idea of soft neutrals in the middle of sparkly greens and reds, all shades are looking pretty but Carey and Megan are something I would wear

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  35. OMG! I was going to pass until I saw your swatches. Once again Scrangie has enabled me! LOL! ;)

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  36. I am very meah on this collection. Usually I adore Zoya. This collection I keep changing my mind on which 2 or maybe 3 I want to get looking at swatches. I might just wait until my next Zoya order and get the spoons for this entire collection to really see how they look on me. I tend not to wear a lot of pales these days. Thanks for the formula info. Sad as I usually have zip trouble with Zoya formulas.

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