Heya nail people! Is everyone ready for a long weekend? Those are the best!

Today I've got swatches of the other half of Zoya's Summer 2015 offering to share with you! This is a set of six metallic finish polishes called "Paradise Sun." The sister collection of cremes, Island Fun, can be seen here.  :)

Zoya describes the finish on these as "micronized metallic pearl." I think that's fancy talk for glassfleck, because that's pretty much what most of these are.





First up, the vibrant green, Zoya- Selene:


Selene is a slightly blue-leaning green metallic shimmer. Almost like an emerald-type of rich green. It has tiny glassfleck-like particles that are an icy blue. It's extremely similar to Zoya- Giovanna, but the finishes are different, and Selene is less "frosty."

Artificial light, two coats:



Formula: A lot of foil-like finishes have easy, excellent formulas, and this is no exception. (This is a glassfleck, but very tone-on-tone, and super foil-like and metallic.) Goes on smoothly, self-levels, and is decently pigmented! Easily opaque in two coats. If anything, the shimmer particles can stick up the tiniest bit above the base, but that is easily fixed with top coat. Very nice!
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Next, the blue, Zoya- Oceane:


Oceane is a saturated, medium blue shimmer metallic with a lot of green in it. Zoya describes it as a "true turquoise," but I think it's bluer than that. It has the same icy blue tiny fleck particles that Selene has; but, because the base color is more similar, they don't show up as much on the nail, giving a very ultra-metallic finish- simiilar to Selene. 

Artificial light, two coats:



You can see by my overblown highlights how reflective this one is! I think I am going to love it on my toes.

Formula: It's extremely similar to Selene: pigmented, leveling, and goes on smoothly. The second coat is especially buttery, giving opaque coverage.
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Here is the purple/indigo, Zoya- Isa:


Isa is a vibrant, midtone, blue-leaning metallic purple shimmer with the same light blue, tiny flecks as the previous two. This could really be considered an indigo, and I could even see some people calling it a blue- it's just right in between! (Color-corrected in post.)

Artificial light, two coats:



The flecks are the most prominent in this polish, contrasting well with the base, and lending a stunning blue flash to the finish.

Formula: It's not too thin, but seems slightly more watery than the first two, and has a tendency to skip (not drag) on the first coat. It's really hard to describe, but as long as you load the brush properly, it's not an issue. Overall, pretty similar to the first two, and opaque in two coats.
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Here is the white, Zoya- Genesis:


Genesis is a white base filled with tiny, silver metallic flakes. Zoya says it's supposed to look like "micro-fine diamond dust."

Artificial light, three coats:



Formula: It's sheer and streaky during the first two coats, and the texture is not as nice as any of the previous polishes. It's a little sticky, and doesn't self-level readily. It can cuticle drag if you overwork it. The second coat goes on a bit more easily, but was still streaky for me. The third coat wasn't opaque, but most of the obvious streakiness was gone, and VNL was knocked down sufficiently for me.

You can see that my nails did end up looking a tiny bit thick, and the shape was a little distorted, even though I tried to use thinner coats.  Overall, not my favorite formula, but it's not impossible if you love the color.
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Next, Zoya- Mae:


Mae is bright magenta pink metallic shimmer filled with tiny, light pink flecks that can look silver.

Artificial light, two coats:



Formula: Unlike any of the previous shades, the base of Mae has a bit of a jellyish texture, and it's a little bit sheerer for that reason. But, it goes on wonderfully: it's smooth, non-streaky, and easy to control. With a second thicker coat, this was ~90% opaque for me, so I left it there for you to see. I think people with long nails or dark nail lines will want a third coat, and you can see that it was a tiny bit thin at the tips of my nails.

This did stain my nails. I wore it for just over an hour while swatching (took a break to eat dinner in between), and my actual nail bed was stained afterward. I had Duri- Rejuvacote underneath, for what it's worth.
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Finally, here is the red, Zoya- Aphrodite:


Aphrodite is a saturated, warm-toned red metallic shimmer with tiny, pink/magenta flecks that sometimes appear to flash gold.

Artificial light, three coats:



Formula: It has a jelly-like texture similar to Mae's. In fact, this is a straight up crelly-leaning-towards-full-blown-jelly, in my opinion.  And, that is a good thing! It goes on effortlessly, and really does all of the work for you. Like Mae, it's also a little bit sheer, but dries down pretty quickly, so three coats isn't too much of an endeavor.

On me, I don't even think this would be opaque at four coats, so you either have to be okay with doing multiple coats, layering it over another red, or wearing some visible nail line. I do think it's worth the effort though- so gorgeous!
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Bonus! I took some macros of the watermarbles I did with these polishes. I also had marbles on my thumbs, which were not visible in swatches, so you can see those too!

Selene, Oceane, & Isa:



Genesis, Mae, & Aphrodite:



If you couldn't tell, these polishes don't marble particularly well. They are too metallic, and when spreading in the water, the pigment balls up and breaks a little (hard to explain). This happens especially when you start to drag the design in the water- you can see what I mean by looking at the weird wavy edges/lines. Sort of interesting though?



Overall, well, I'm not so hot on this collection as a whole, to be honest. I don't dislike it! I just love Island Fun a lot more. The color palette, taken altogether, and unlike Island Fun, doesn't do a whole lot to get me in the mood for Summer. Mostly, this is just a a reflection of my personal preference!  So, really it's just a finish x color aesthetic that's not speaking to me- which is not to say that it won't be perfection for someone else!

There are some highs, and lows, though- and definitely a couple of polishes worth picking up if you're into the colors, regardless of season! Isa is stunning, and if you're into blues, purples, or indigos, you need it. Aphrodite won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's an amazing crelly red with a lot of depth and is actually a great punchy Summer red! I also love Oceane, and my pictures don't do it justice. It's just incredibly saturated and metallic!

Mae, I feel like I've seen before...a lot, and maybe even something close from Zoya- though I'd have to go hunting. Selene is well executed, but not to my aesthetic. It actually reads more as a Holiday color to me, and if I'm wearing a green like that, I prefer it not be metallic. :shrug:

The formulas, save Genesis, on all of these were very nice! A couple were on the sheerer side, but nothing crazy, and Mae & Aphrodite had particularly excellent, amazing formulas.







*Disclosure: polishes in this post were provided to me as press samples for honest review, and all opinions are my own.