I was completely inspired by The Mercurial Magpie's Top 10 Must-Have Zoya Shades, so I thought I'd compile my own list!  (She picked some stellar colors, so do check it out!)

Anyway, since I don't think there exists such a thing as too many lists, I thought I'd provide one of my own ahead of the Zoya Earth Day Nail Polish Exchange which runs until the 28th. Hopefully it'll provide some inspiration/ enabling!

This was going to be a "top 10" list with two runners up, but I picked my polishes, then kept waffling on which two should be the runners up! So, Top 12, it is!




These won't be in the same order as the bottles shown above, and I haven't swatched them all for Polish Hound.  My ownership of some of these predates the blog!


1) Zoya- Harley, [Spring 2009 Twist collection]

The first polish that sprung to mind immediately I haven't swatched yet- but it may well be my very favorite Zoya!  I used to write a different blog, mostly about photography (which is no longer up), and this photo is the first I remember ever taking of my nails!

It just happens to feature Zoya- Harley:



This picture, although probably color-inaccurate, is so nostalgic for me because I had just stopped biting my nails for the final time. (This photo was probably taken a few months after they'd grown out from bloody stumps- _yum!)  I had just learned about accent nails and begun reading nail blogs, and Zoya was already one of my favorite brands. For me, this polish was the beginning of it all, nail-wise, I think!

Harley is not just a grey; it's somewhere between lavender and dove-grey, and has gorgeous understated shimmer.
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2) Zoya- Kelly, [Fall 2010 Wonderful collection]


This is one of the most famous Zoya polishes, and for good reason! It's not grey, it's not purple; like Harley, it lives in that space between the two (although it's a creme and quite a bit darker).  It pulls very cool on my cool-toned skin, but I love it. A perfect darker neutral. I own tons and tons of gray cremes, and nothing like Kelly.
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3) Zoya- Gemma, [Spring 2011 Intimate collection]
 

Gemma is also fairly well-known, and also immediately sprung to mind as one of my favorites.  A classic, I think. I haven't worn it in a year or two, but it is one of the best greens that I have. Very unique- I need to swatch this one!
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4) Zoya- Yara, [Fall 2011 Mirrors collection]


Yara is a faded Army green with chunky, flakie-type golden-yellow shimmer. Very pretty.  It's another neutral-ish green with a twist! This is so unique in my stash!
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5) Zoya- Logan, [Winter 2012 Ornate collection]



I actually have three from the Ornate collection in this list, which goes to show how much of a giant win that set was!

Anyway, Logan was a surprise favorite of mine. It just looks like a metallic green in the bottle, with maybe some blue around the edges, but this is really the greener sister of Zoya- Charla, which is probably one of the most famous/ loved Zoya polishes ever.  It's glassflecky, with bluey duochrome tendencies around the edges, and sometimes also flashes yellowy.
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6) Zoya- Aurora, [Winter 2012 Ornate collection]

 swatched here

Also from Ornate! Aurora was one of Zoya's first forays into scattered holographic shimmer.  This polish is so freaking lovely that I don't know what else to say.  The finish is divine, and they need to continue to make more of these!
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7) Zoya- Blaze, [Winter 2012 Ornate collection]



This is Aurora's red sister! The holo shimmer is slightly finer than in Aurora, but not in a negative way.  The base is very cherry/ pink-red, and is just so flattering on pale skin.  If I had to choose between Aurora and Blaze, I might choose Blaze, honestly!  I don't think my photos did it justice.
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8) Zoya- Jem, [Fall 2011 Mirrors collection] 


Like Yara, this is also from the Mirrors collection.  I remember bloggers raving about this when it came out, and it is amazing: a warm, glassflecky plum with golden duochrome!  Everyone who loves Zoya should have this one!
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9) Zoya- Liberty, [Summer 2013 PixieDust collection]


I had a hard time choosing just one Pixie Dust finish, but I had to go with Liberty. It's just an incredibly saturated blue, and I want to wear it constantly despite my massive pile of Untrieds!
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10) Zoya- Phoebe, [Summer 2011 Mod Mattes collection]  


This was my first matte nail polish, and still my favorite! Phoebe is an incredibly-bright, eye-catching matte blue! It also has aqua-teal shimmer running through it, so if you wear it with a top coat, it's completely different (and just as gorgeous).  I shook that bottle up really well before the photo, but I think you can still see the fill line. It's one of my most depleted bottles of nail polish, and is actually what Ham is wearing in the banner photo (although that banner may not be super color accurate, FYI)!
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11) Zoya- Brigitte, [Spring 2014 Naturel collection]  



I had to pick one from the Naturel collection, and in the end, Brigitte is the most flattering on my skin (although I love Odette, too)! Is it mauve? Rosy-brown? I don't know, but I love it! It also had a great formula.
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12) Zoya- Elodie, [Summer 2008 Gossip collection]  


Elodie is a polish that I don't see many people talking about, but maybe that's just because it is older. This is my first jelly polish- before I knew what a jelly was! I remember picking it up because I didn't have many corals.  Elodie is very, very bright- almost a neon, but not quite- and is squishy and shiny like a true jelly.

I remember being frustrated at first because it was sheerer than I was expecting, but I've grown to absolutely love this one- even more than the jellies in the Gloss set. It's definitely in my top 5 Zoyas with Harley and Gemma!
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That's it! I had quite a time narrowing down my favorites to these twelve (out of >100, can you believe that?!), but I'm happy with my picks! There are definitely a few here that I wish I had time to swatch!