Here are three of the first set of Pixie Dust-finish polishes by Zoya!
A couple thing about the swatches before we get into it:
- These polishes don't photograph well, so in order to show all the twinkly goodness, I shot them with a very narrow depth of field. So, there will be a lot of out of focus areas, and you'll only be looking at one nail at a time- if that. The easiest way to show these in still photos is out of focus.
- I only had sun the day I photographed Nyx, so refer to its swatches for the full effect of the shininess! I assure you the others are just as sparkly.
- Sorry about the nubs!
Without further ado- let's get into it!
First up is Zoya- Nyx:
Nyx is a medium-toned, blue-leaning periwinkle. It looks more purple-leaning in the bottle, but pulled blue on my skin. In some lighting, it looks like there is a good bit of gray in it as well.
Artificial light, three coats:
Window-filtered daylight:
Outside, shade:
Sun!
Completely out of focus to show all the magical glitteriness:
These polishes really come to life when you move you fingers around and the sparkly particles embedded in the finish catch the light. There's just no good way to represent that in photos!
Formula: It's not too thick or thin, and glides on easily. The second coat adheres nicely. Two coats are not quite opaque, and I needed three to obscure VNL completely- however, I think many people will be satisfied with two. I think thinner coats are better to create a smoother, even finish that's not too bumpy.
Zoya does recommend that you let the first coat dry completely before applying the next. I paint from pinkie to thumb, and by the time I got to my thumb, my pinkie was dry, so waiting wasn't really an issue!
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Next is my favorite, Zoya- Godiva :
Godiva is a warm-neutral toned nude. This one is reaaaally pretty, and people with many skin tones will be able to wear it.
It's almost a light beige color, but very soft. It's just slightly too warm for my skin, but wasn't garish or anything, and it became my surprise favorite of the three!
Artificial light, three coats:
Window-filtered daylight:
Outside, shade:
I wish there had been sun for this one, it's gorgeous when the light hits it, and it's such a surprise since it's a neutral otherwise!
Formula: About the same as Nyx: goes on easily, dries quickly, and I needed three thin coats for coverage.
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Last up is Zoya- London :
London is warm-neutral, medium gray. It almost has an ashiness to it.
Artificial light, two coats:
Out of focus completely:
It reminds me of mica embedded in an asphalt road. I like it!
Window-filtered daylight:
Outside, shade:
^The in-focus nail doesn't look like that texture in real life. It doesn't look bumpy, since all those particles are actually glitter. They just photograph dull and gross!
Formula: About the same as the others, except a little more opaque! I only needed two coats for this one, and that made me happy.
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Overall:
Finish: I may have mentioned that I'm not crazy about texture finishes in general, but I do really like these, and think they're probably the nicest "sand" finish polishes out there. They are so sparkly that I don't feel the need for a glossy topcoat, and the overall effect is really lovely and different.
They look much better when completely dried and cured; when wet, the sparkles are subdued, so wait a few minutes to really be amazed.
They make a nice break from smooth, shiny polish, or even plain matte or satin finishes. Sort of a palette-refresher.
The finish is not smooth (obviously), but not overly rough either. It feels sort of sandy under the thumb, but I tried to "accidentally" scratch my face, and couldn't, so I don't think the roughness will be too bothersome for most. Although, I did notice friction against my clothes- not snagging, per se, just a noticeable feeling that my nails were touching the garments.
Something else: they aren't "hungry" glitters either! It only took one coat of Poshe to achieve a glossy, smooth finish.
Topcoat/ Basecoat: A bonus is that you don't need a topcoat with these, and they dry super quickly, so the quick-dry topcoat addicts (all of us, amiright?) shouldn't suffer too much.
I should also mention that you're also not supposed to use a base coat either, but I wore Orly- Tough Cookie underneath because it acts as a peel base for me, and since I was swatching three of these, I didn't want to have to deal with removal, which I'm sure is a pain as with any glitter (so use the glue-base method!).
Durability: I wore Godiva for a couple of days, and had pretty significant chips on the corners of all nails, so it doesn't seem to be as durable as I initially thought it'd be. I think, if it just needed two coats instead of three, it might wear better, but that extra thickness+ no topcoat sets you up for failure.
The Brush! Also, I noticed the brush seemed thicker than normal (in a good way!) so I compared it to an older Zoya brush:
Zoya- London, Zoya- Nidhi
On the left is London's brush, and on the right is the brush from
Zoya- Nidhi, which was released in Summer 2010. You can see London's brush is a bit thicker and more plush, while still retaining the same shape.
I don't know exactly when Zoya changed this, but I took a look at the Ornate polishes too, and they had the thicker, newer type. It's a good change though, in my opinion!
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TL;DR: As far as texture finish polishes go, these are superb and interesting! Really sparkly, not too rough, they dry quickly; new thicker brush!
Have you guys tried any of the Pixie Dusts?
