Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Zoya - Zara

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry if my posts lately have been boring, you probably don't think they're boring but I'm worried that they seem boring! Haha. I just haven't had a lot of time to do much nail art or swatching.
Tomorrow I think I'll be trying some nail art and doing more swatches so I'll have some more fun things to show you!

For today, I'm showing you another of the polishes I got while on vacation.


This is Zoya - Zara.
Zara is a lovely purple polish with intense gold shimmer, and it was on my wishlist for a while.
However, I ended up not loving it as much as I thought I would.


Flash pictures of the polish make the base color seem much more vibrant than it really is.
Yes, in the sun, it is a beautiful, vibrant purple wit the prettiest gold shimmer ever, but when not in sun or direct light, it falls a bit flat for me.
The shade of purple is more of an "old lady" purple than I usually care for. I just like vibrant things!


This picture is more true to the purple, but still a bit light.
Don't get me wrong - it is truly lovely, but I just wish it was brighter!

I've been wearing this polish now for 4 days, without a single chip. The formula was easy to work with and it covered well in 2 coats but I added a third just for extra shimmer.
I've heard from people before that Zoya polishes do not hold up well without Zoya base and top coats, but I used it with my normal Seche Retain and Seche Vite and it is wearing just like any other good polish would.
I wore Zoya Caitlin and Dannii on vacation with no base coat and Seche Vite, and again I had no chips.
So in my case, at least, the rumors of Zoya not lasting well without the specific base/topcoat is false! I'm very pleased to learn this because there are quite a number of Zoya polishes I like and will probably feel more inclined to get now!

However - Zoya does not ship to Canada. Apparently they are working on getting the license to ship "dangerous goods" internationally, but their customer service on this matter has been crap. Inquiring about the matter in any way shape or form provides you with no answer from Zoya.

Kayla Shevonne has even reached out multiple times asking about being on their PR list to receive emails, and they have basically made no effort to accomodate her, just to put her email on a list. The form you would have to fill out requires an American address. It's a bit crazy. She even spoke to someone on the phone who could not help her. Really? An email address?
So yes, they may be trying to accomodate Canadians (and of course other countries,) but I've been pretty unimpressed thus far.

When they DO finally ship to Canada, they better have a good promotion for us! Am I right?!

(Furthermore - I bet when they do ship to Canada they will mark the correct value of the packages on the boxes, meaning if we order more than $20 worth, we'll have to pay more duties and taxes. I know they want to be legit about their shipping and stuff but come on, Milani doesn't have the license to ship and yet they let Canadians order - my $60 order came marked $10 of Art Supplies. If Milani can do it, Zoya can too.)

17 comments:

  1. This polish is beautiful!! It looks alot like my franken! im gonna kepp this polish on my wishlist! :)

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  2. Zara is a great shade - and if building a stash - one I recommend for everyone to include as a staple. It's not duped.

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  3. Ugh I have such a love/hate relationship with Zoya.

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  4. Zara is one of my favorite Zoyas. I use Revlon's Quick Dry Top Coat with my Zoyas b/c Seche causes them to shrink on me. I hope they start to ship to all of you up in Canada soon!

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  5. totally agree with you with Zoya and foreigners! I'm from Europe and I so wish I could benefit from their promotions and stuff but never...lol

    anyway, I like Zara very much! It does look really pretty on you...but I can understand what you mean. the 1st time I tried Zara, I was a bit disappointed but on the 2nd time I was "wow"!lol

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  6. Sorry Zoya is stinky when it comes to living outside of the US so far. I hope they figure it out soon! I'm not in love with this color, I've looked at it on their site and this just confirmed I don't need it. So thanks for that LOL

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  7. It's definitely nice but I was expecting more from Zara. Even at 3 coats I didn't get the saturated color other bloggers got. I traded it eventually.

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  8. Hi Rebecca,
    You have to understand that shipping nail polish from the US to Canada is illegal unless the companie doing the shipping has a special permit. It really sucks, but nail polish is considered aa hazardous material. Changing this is out of Zoya's power. It really is up to customs and duties to change their laws, and I don't think Zoya needs to risk getting themselves in trouble by lying to customs about what they shipping like Milani does. They could face heavy fines for doing so. Anyway, I just wanted to shed light on the issue and I really do hope the laws change one day. I don't know why nail polish is considered dangerous, but it is :(

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  9. I've wanted this forever!! It makes me sad that you don't love it! I will most likely, at some point, make this one mine!!

    That sucks that you can't get Zoya's! They really have the best promos (don't mean to rub salt in the wound!! lol, sorry!). I hope they can start shipping to you ladies in Canada!

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  10. I've actually seen zoya's in randoms stores throughout Vancouver... Does this mean they are illegal?? lol

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  11. haha, no kim, retailers can have them brought in. commercial shipping is different than consumer shipping.

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  12. this is such a pretty colour i love it :D

    shel xx

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  13. yeah, I have seen stuff I can't get shipped to me in Canada through Sephora's online store (like some perfumes and such) and then seen that exact product at a store here! Our shipping laws need some updating... we need like a beauty community petition or something to fix that up! Nail polish and other cosmetics aren't hazardous!

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  14. The only place I've been able to get Zoyas reglarly is Trade Secrets.It might not be in your area, but it's a Canadian company so they might open one soon!

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