Zoya Nail Polish Haul + First Impresions

A couple weeks ago, Zoya had a sale on their website featuring BOGO free on nail polishes.  I was absolutely ecstatic because this is a brand of polishes I have been wanting to try for a really long time.  What caught my eye from the beginning was the beautiful duochrome-ity of the colors that made them so shiny and so unique.  It was EXTREMELY difficult to narrow my selection down to these 8 colors:

Swatches (1 coat over Revlon Base Coat):

More swatches (2 coats over Revlon Base Coat):

 Akyra (#4) actually only has one coat.  I messed up on it and forgot to do the second coat.

Sorry this pic was taken without flash.  The pictures don't look the same on the tiny screen on my camera and I thought the lighting would turn out better.  Obviously my nails haven't bee cleaned up.  I didn't bother because I was removing these swatches right after.


As Zoya describes the colors best, I'm going to take the descriptions straight from their website.

1.Tangy: Bright apple green shimmer with peachy-orange duochrome. Fun and funky yet easy to wear. 
Color Family: Greens 
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 4 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: Candy 
Thoughts: I love the brightness of this color, but I was quite disappointed by the first coat.  A second coat does wonders and is absolutely necessary for this polish.  I wouldn't say that the intensity is at a level 4, but rather a 2 or a 3.

2. Irene: Muted, mossy camouflage olive green accented by fine yellow-based green shimmer. An earthy way to wear the green nail trend.  
Color Family: Greens 
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 4 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: Utopia
Thoughts: I do like this color.  It reminds me of the holidays, which is probably why I chose it.  I wish it was a tad bit darker though.  Again, this requires two coats to look right, and I would disagree on the intensity level that Zoya gives it.

3. Veruschka: Deep blue-kissed emerald evergreen garnished with strong metallic shimmer in a velvety matte finish. The ultimate combination of this year's hottest trends- deep green and matte finish. 
Color Family: Greens  
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 5 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: MatteVelvet 
Thoughts: I truly love this color.  When I first looked at the color on the brush, I was disappointed because it just looked like a metallic emerald.  While I love emeralds, a sparkly emerald isn't all that special at all.  I'm glad that I decided to try it out because I absolutely love this color, and plan to buy more from this collection. Check out my NOTD post on this color here.

4. Akyra: Medium metallic teal shimmer in a dark smoky blue base. A dark aquatic shade for a hip and edgy nail look.  
Color Family: Blues 
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 3 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: Utopia 
Thoughts:  Quite sheer, but very pretty.  A good 2 or 3 coats should do the trick.

5. Deidra: A delicate mauve-purple with an overlay of shimmering gold frost. A whimsical shade for fairy-tale nails.  
Color Family: Purples 
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 2 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: Classics
Thoughts: Loooove this color!  It's like a light golden purple, very pretty and feminine.  I would rate the intensity level at a 4, because as you can see  from the picture above, a single coat is quite good compared to most of the other polishes.

6. Kelly: A rich gray shade with soft purple and blue undertones. An easy to wear alternative to black and a perfect NEW neutral.  
Color Family: Purples, Greys, Blues 
Finish: Cream 
Intensity: 5 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: Wonderful 
Thoughts: It was a much deeper grey than I expected, but still a nice neutral.  I think I like this one the least from the bunch.  If I were to wear this, I would probably settle for just one coat.

7. Kotori: A dense bright blue shimmer superimposed over a sheer black base. Dark and edgy yet perfectly chic.  
Color Family: Blues 
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 3 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection:  Downtown 
Thoughts:  Was super disappointed with how sheer this was considering how I fell head over heels in love with the swatch on the website.  I suppose I just have to layer on more coats but I don't like wearing too many layers as the polish seems to chip and peel more easily.

8. Edyta: A complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish.A dark shade balanced with sparkle for a dramatic look.  
Color Family: Greens 
Finish: Metallic 
Intensity: 5 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque ) 
Tone: Cool 
Original Collection: Wicked 
Thoughts: This is a very deep green, almost black color that is LOADED with gold shimmer.  All that glitter may be the reason why it was a pain in the butt to smooth over my nail the first time.  Again, nothing a second coat can't fix.

Overall~
These polishes met maybe 90% of my expectation, which is decent.  They are very runny so you will have to be careful not to drip it all over the place like I did.  I would absolutely buy these polishes again for the gorgeous unique colors, but preferably when another sale comes around.  Until then, what Zoya polishes (or polishes in general) do you recommend?