Zoya Element Fall 2018

Hello everyone! Today I have swatches of the full Zoya Element Fall 2018 collection! Exciting, right?

Zoya is a nail polish brand that I have always wanted to get more into, and boy am I doing that now! Zoya kindly sent over both their Fall and Winter collections, as well as a selection of nail care products, so they are going to be featured a lot on my blog in the future. From what I have tried, I am LOVING their products! And this Fall 2018 Collection is no exception…

About Zoya

Zoya falls under the Art of Beauty brand that was started by Zoya and Michael Reyzis, two Russian natives who immigrated to the US in 1979. While Zoya was a classical pianist in Russia, her husband Michael was an advanced chemist. With Zoya’s dream to create high quality, healthy and natural salon and spa products, and Michael’s ability to formulate such products, they together developed and patented products that eventually founded this brand. Her husband was in fact the first to formulate a successful fast drying topcoat! These two are THE power couple. 

Art of Beauty owns and manages the brands Zoya, Qtica, Smart Spa and Zoom.

Zoya polishes are 10 free, meaning that they are formulated without formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate, toluene, camphor, THPH, parabens, xylene, ethyl tosylamide or lead. Their polishes are also safe for pregnant women.

My thoughts on the Zoya Formula

Overall, the Zoya formula is a really solid one. The most impressive quality of Zoya nail polishes is the opacity of their lighter cremes. Often “skin-coloured” or lighter cremes require at least two if not three coats to reach full opacity. Zoya’s lighter cremes are almost fully opaque with ONE coat. That is incredible! So clearly the pigment is there. And this rings true for their other shades as well. One thing I always like to touch on is the brush width, because that is an important characteristic for me. Unfortunately the Zoya brush is really quite thin, so it is not my favourite. However, for most of their shades I don’t find it is a struggle to achieve a non-streaky finish, which is usually the number one problem with thinner brushes. In terms of wear, I find that the Zoya formula is chip resistant until you hit around the 4-5 day mark, which is pretty typical, if not a bit better than typical.

Zoya Element Fall 2018

This collection features an array of blush-toned mauves, deep sultry hues and some mystical metallics. I think this collection offers something for everyone, whether you are a neutral or colour lover. It also offers classic Fall shades, and some with a twist. So let’s get into it!

Devin

Devin is a steel blue metallic foil with multicoloured shimmer. This shade is so unique and really quite stunning! I can see myself wearing this a lot during the Fall and the Winter. However, I did notice that these foils dry exceptionally fast. Almost too fast. Because the brush is thinner it takes a bit longer to fully cover the nail, and I found by the time I was getting full coverage it was starting to dry. This just made the application not quite as easy as it could be. This shade looked best with two coats.

Rumor

Rumor is a light pink mauve with a smooth metallic finish. I found it a little more difficult to get this shade to not be streaky, but the finished result was really beautiful. This shade is so girly and the perfect nude for Fall. This shade looked best with two coats.

Jenna

Jenna is a light pink with a hint of purple and a creme finish. This shade in particular seems like it would be great for pink lovers year-round! I have to say, I am super impressed with Zoya’s creme formula. They are almost opaque with only one coat, however, I would still recommend two. I’m a nail snob, what can I say?

Ruthie

Ruthie is a medium rose with a creme finish. This is my kind of pink! I love anything rose-toned, or scented, or patterned….. This shade looked best with two coats.

Maryanne

Maryanne is a medium rose with a shimmer finish. I think this shade is so beautiful and girly and I am loving the subtle sparkle it has. It also pairs really well with the other pinks in this collection. This shade looked best with two coats.

Kendra

Kendra is a medium berry with a touch of wine and a creme finish. This is the perfect shade for the Fall. Not too vampy, but definitely deeper and more moody. I can totally picture myself wearing this on a crisp November day. This shade looked best with two coats.

Alyssa

Alyssa is a medium/deep true red with a creme finish. I absolutely LOVE this red. Because it is a little deeper and more subdued than any typical bright red, it is awesome for this time of year. This shade looked best with two coats.

Donnie

Donnie is a medium purple-toned fuchsia with a creme finish. This is such a fun bright shade. This shade looked best with two coats.

Maeve

Maeve is a medium grape purple with a creme finish. Even though there are plenty of purples on the market, this true shade of purple is really quite unique! This shade looked best with two coats.

Rachel

Rachel is a mulberry purple with a creme finish. This is the perfect vampy shade for Fall. What I love about it is that it isn’t so dark that you can’t tell what colour it actually is, which is often a problem with a lot of shades like these. This shade looked best with two coats.

Leighton

Leighton is a dark eggplant with a creme finish. Because this shade is so deep, it can be difficult to see that it is purple and not black, unless you are looking at it under a bright light. As it is, this is a gorgeous moody shade. This shade looked best with two coats.

Gardner

Gardner is a deep blue metallic foil with purple shimmer. I am totally picturing using this shade once I start doing Winter mani’s with snowflake details! This foil performed similarly to Devin, in that it did dry exceptionally fast during application. This shade looked best with two coats.

Thoughts on this collection

Overall, this collection is super comprehensive and definitely includes something for everyone. All of the shades apply super smoothly and have a great level of opacity. I also found that they wore well for 4-5 days before any chipping occurred.

In terms of the shade selection, I am left with a few questions as to why this was called the Element collection. Zoya always seems to name their shades with female names, and never inanimate objects or anything like that, and this collection was no exception. So I do feel like I am left wondering what the inspiration was for this collection as a whole, as well as the individual shades, and how it relates to the element trend that is so popular right now. But as it is, it is a beautiful collection! 

Have you tried out the Zoya formula? What is your favourite shade from the collection? Let me know down below!

Disclaimer: These products were sent to me for review. As always, all of my opinions expressed here are never solicited and are entirely my own.