Adventures in Polishland

Dare to Compare | Comparing 6 Sparkly Purple Nail Polishes

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

A few months ago, I reorganized my entire nail polish collection by color. Doing so made it obvious that I own a lot of purple nail polishes that have glitter, sparkle or some other special effect. Even though these polishes are all different, I realized I just don’t reach for these shades when I go to paint my nails. I decided it was time to swatch a handful of the sparkly purple nail polishes in my collection to see what I can keep, and what I can declutter. This comparison post will review six purple polishes, and I will let you know which one I decided to keep for future use!

The products in this post were originally sent to me for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

All of the swatches in this blog post were photographed in natural lighting. I used Holo Taco Peely Base as my base coat, and Zoya Naked Manicure Super Glossy Seal as my top coat. As it turns out, all of these polishes are from Zoya. I’ll let you know what collection they are from in each polish description.

Andrea

First up is Andrea from the Fall 2020 Luscious Collection. Andrea is a purple metallic polish with a green duochrome shift. It is opaque in two coats, and the formula is a bit streaky due to the metallic finish. I also had an issue where my top coat pulled the base polish a bit, which can be seen on my ring finger in the swatches. Andrea looks really cool, but I don’t really like how it looks on me. I knew right away I could declutter this polish.

Neve

Next up is Neve, which is technically a blue nail polish but certainly leans towards purple. Neve has a metallic formula that is opaque in two coats. I really love this polish. The formula is smooth and pigmented, and I love the subtle purple shimmer. Neve is from the Fall 2013 Satins Collection, and still performs well to this day. I love this polish, so I couldn’t declutter it right away.

Nisha

Shifting gears slightly, we have Nisha from the Holiday 2020 Intriguing Collection. Nisha is very similar to Neve, but with a deep purple metallic base shade rather than blue. This polish is opaque in one coat, and applies beautifully to the nails. It’s rare that I find a true one coat polish, especially a metallic formula with a shimmery base. I set Nisha aside to consider keeping.

Gardner

Next up is Gardner from the Fall 2018 Element Collection. Zoya describes Gardner as a deep periwinkle shade with a vibrant magenta shimmer in a foil finish. This polish is opaque in two coats. The formula is a little tricky, as it tends to bunch up during application. I do like how sparkly Gardner is, but I’m not a huge fan of foil nail polishes. As such, Gardner is a polish I am decluttering.

Isa

The next purple polish is Isa from the Summer 2015 Paradise Sun Collection. Isa has a metallic-pearl finish with an aqua shimmer. The formula is on the thinner side, but it is opaque in two coats. I did find that Isa was a bit uneven, but the top coat really helped to smooth out the look. I really like this polish, so I set it aside while swatching.

Adara

Last but not least is Adara from the Winter/Holiday 2023 Enchanted Collection. Zoya describes Adara as a lapis blue with rose gold and blue glitters, but to me it looks like a royal purple. This polish is opaque in two coats. It has a pigmented formula that is on the thicker side. While I think Adara is a beautiful polish, I personally wish it would dry to a more even texture. Even with top coat, it looks bumpy to me. For that reason, I am decluttering Adara.

Side by Side Comparisons

After swatching, I narrowed down my top three choices to Neve, Nisha, and Isa. I tried on those polishes side by side in that order. It immediately became clear to me that I could declutter Isa. While I do like how the polish looks on me, the formula just isn’t as good as the other two. In the end, it came down to whether I wanted more of a blue or purple polish. While I do really love Neve, I decided to keep Nisha since it does have a one coat formula. I also think the purple shade looks a bit better with my skin tone.

I’m so excited that I was able narrow down my sparkly purple nail polish collection quite a bit. While all of these polishes were unique from each other and not dupes, at the end of the day if I am in the mood for a glittery or metallic purple, I’m only going to need one. That being said, this post only featured a portion of the sparkly purple polishes in my stash. I could probably do another entire blog post with more! If you would like to see more comparison posts, either of dupes or just similar colors like this, please let me know in the comments.

Zoya Nail Polish Bloom Collection | Review and Swatches

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

Spring is officially here, and today I have a full review of the Zoya Nail Polish Bloom Collection for Spring 2024. This line of six nail polishes features three micro glitters and three cream polishes. Designed to be a garden party for your nails, the Bloom Collection features bright and sparkling shades. While the polishes look pretty in the bottle, I am left feeling a bit underwhelmed with how they perform during application. Let me share my full thoughts on the Bloom Collection with you, and let you know if I recommend purchasing it.

Zoya Nail Polish Bloom Collection | Review and Swatches

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

All of the swatches in today’s post are photographed in natural lighting. I used Holo Taco Peely Base as my base coat, and Zoya Naked Glossy Seal as my top coat.

Hyacinth

First up is Hyacinth, a pink polish with microfine pink and white glitters. I applied two coats of Hyacinth, and found the formula quite thick and patchy. I did not get an opaque look, but because the polish is so uneven and tends to bunch up during application, I did not add a third layer. I wish Hyacinth had a pigmented pink base, so I could achieve a full coverage manicure.

Rhiannon

Next up is Rhiannon, a blue polish with aqua and white glitters. Similar to Hyacinth, this polish has a patchy formula that is difficult to apply. However, Rhiannon is more pigmented and is opaque in two coats. I do enjoy the icy shade, which reminds me of a blue raspberry slush.

Violetta

The last of the glitter polishes is Violetta, a purple polish with aqua and rose gold glitters. Violetta has the best formula of the glitters in this collection, though it is still tricky to apply. I am wearing two coats in the swatches, and find it to be full coverage. I do think you can still see how uneven the finish is, though, which is disappointing.

Zaria

Now let’s look at the cream polishes in the Bloom Collection starting with Zaria, described by Zoya as a spring rose pink shade. This polish has a good formula that is opaque in two coats. I find it reads more red on me than pink, but it’s nonetheless a nice, bright shade.

Fleur

Next up is Fleur, a bright pink cream polish. Fleur is opaque in two coats and has an excellent formula. I love how vibrant this nail polish is! If you are looking for a really pigmented pink polish, Fleur is a great option.

Phoebe

Last but not least is Phoebe, a coral polish with a cream formula. Phoebe is also opaque in two coats, and has a good formula that applies smoothly. Once again, I’m impressed with how vibrant this nail polish is! We no longer have to layer white nail polish under other shades to get a bright, neon look.

Final Thoughts

While the Zoya Nail Polish Bloom Collection does contain three beautiful cream polishes, I am overall disappointed with this collection. The three glitter polishes have lackluster formulas that are patchy and difficult to apply. This surprises me, because Zoya has released some glitter polishes recently that I’ve really loved, so I’m confused why these formulas are so different from Love and Lucky, for example. Unfortunately, I would not recommend the three glitters in the line, and therefore cannot recommend the Bloom Collection as a whole.

If you do like any of the cream shades, they are worth purchasing separately on the Zoya website. That being said, I do not find the cream polishes to be unique to my own nail polish stash, so make sure to see if you already own similar shades like I do.

Have you tried the Zoya Bloom Collection?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Zoya Nail Polish Lucky | March Color of the Month

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

With Saint Patrick’s Day around the corner, it’s time to share swatches and a review of the Zoya Nail Polish March Color of the Month, Lucky. I am really enjoying the Color of the Month promotion that Zoya started last year. Not only is it fun to anticipate what the nail polish will look like, but I think it’s great that you do not have to sign up for a subscription program. Instead, you can choose whether or not to buy the polish if you like the shade. I definitely think Lucky is a great one to add to your nail polish collection!

Zoya Nail Polish Lucky | March Color of the Month

The product in this post was provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Lucky is a vibrant green nail polish with gold, blue, and fairy dust glitters. The formula applies smoothly and is opaque in two coats. I’ve been very impressed with Zoya’s glitter polishes recently. I appreciate that I do not have to wear a base shade for opacity, and that the formula is not too thick or clumpy. To complete the manicure, I added two coats of the Zoya Naked Glossy Seal Top Coat to give the polish a super shiny finish.

If you are a green nail polish lover, Lucky is definitely a great option. I will admit that the green felt a bit too bright for my daily corporate life, but I can see myself reaching for this polish during the holiday season. In fact, it would pair well with Love from last month for a sparkly red and green Christmas manicure. Lucky also has witchy vibes for Halloween!

Lucky is available on the Zoya website through the month of March 2024 only for $12.00. Make sure to use code LUCKY during checkout, and you will get free shipping on your entire order. Let me know in the comments if you will be picking up Lucky, and what you think of the Color of the Month promotion. I am excited to see what will be released in April!

Springing into March with Zoya Nail Polish Blu

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

With the official start of spring just a couple weeks away, I’m ready to transition into more pastel colors when it comes to my nails. I looked at my nail polish collection and immediately spotted Zoya Nail Polish Blu from the 2013 Lovely Collection. This is one of the first collections I received from Zoya to review, and it’s hard to believe that was 11 years ago now! I decided to pair Blu with an indie glitter polish from my collection for a fun, springtime manicure.

The products in this post were originally provided to me for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. Please see my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Blu is a baby blue cream polish. It has an amazing formula that is opaque in two coats. I’m impressed with how easily it applies, especially considering my bottle is over a decade old! While there were a few minor streaks when the polish dried, as soon as I applied one coat of the Zoya Naked Glossy Seal Top Coat I got a super smooth and glasslike result!

To complete the manicure, I added an accent nail of KBShimmer Toying Around on my ring finger. This polish has a clear base and is packed with multicolored glitters of all different shapes and sizes. Toying Around was part of the Winter 2015 Collection and is no longer available. However, you can certainly use any glitter topper in your nail polish stash for a similar result!

I am really enjoying how my manicure turned out this week! It’s rather simple, but the glitter accent nail dresses it up a bit. Plus, sometimes it can be nice to wear a classic, cream nail polish shade for a change. I do love all of the fancy glitters, shimmers, etc., but Zoya Blu is reminding me how polished a cream can look!

Zoya Nail Polish Gal | Review and Swatches

Posted on February 26, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

One of my goals this year is to try nail polishes in my collection that I haven’t yet worn, so this month I added Zoya Gal from the Fall 2017 Sophisticates Collection to my “to be worn” pile. I’ll be honest, I was not excited to use this nail polish! I couldn’t tell if the shade was gold, copper, or green, and the muted tone is not my typical look. Nonetheless, I decided to give Gal a go so I could decide if I want to keep this polish in my stash or declutter it.

This product was provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Zoya describes Gal as a smokey, iridescent, peridot gold metallic polish. It really is a unique shade with metallic shimmer in a base that can lean towards different tones depending on the lighting. Unfortunately, Gal’s formula is a bit difficult to apply. The polish is quite thin, and tended to seep outside of my nail bed onto my cuticles requiring a bit of cleanup. I applied two coats, and while my nail line was still slightly visible, I didn’t want to add a third coat due to the tricky formula.

I completed my manicure with one coat of the Zoya Naked Glossy Seal Top Coat. Despite having issues during application, the polish does look cool and very unique. The subtle sparkle is especially pretty. That being said, I’m not enjoying how Gal looks on me, and when I look at my nails I do not get excited about my manicure. As such, I will be decluttering Gal from my collection since it’s just not my cup of tea.

If you do like the look of Gal, I do want to mention that this polish has been sitting unused in my collection since 2017, so that may attribute to my formula issues. This polish is still available for sale on the Zoya website for $12.00 if you are interested. If you have Gal, please share your experience with this polish in the comments!

Zoya Nail Polish Love | February Color of the Month

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

February is coming to a close, and I want to share with you the Zoya Nail Polish Color of the Month while you still have time to purchase it. Each month Zoya releases a nail polish that is only available during that month. When you buy that shade and use the applicable coupon code, you get free shipping on your entire order! February’s nail polish is aptly named Love for Valentine’s Day. Let me share with you this stunning red polish!

The product in this post was provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Love is a red nail polish filled with red micro and macro glitters. I am very impressed with the formula, as it applies smoothly and is opaque in two coats. I love that the glitters match the base shade perfectly, giving the nails a multidimensional look. To complete my manicure, I added one layer of the Zoya Naked Glossy Seal Top Coat.

I wore Love for Valentine’s Day week, and was very happy with the wear time. By the time a week had elapsed, I only had minor wear on the edges of my nails. That is longer than most nail polish lasts on me without chipping. I also received compliments on my manicure at work, so Love is seems to be a crowd favorite as well.

Love is definitely a new go to polish for me. I can see myself wearing it during the Christmas season, and it can work for the Fourth of July as well. You can purchase Love on the Zoya website for $12.00 through the end of the month. Use code LOVE24 to get free shipping when you buy Love or any of the Love Bundles.

Purple Party Nails featuring Zoya Soraya and Holo Taco Everything Taco

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

Whenever I have time off from work, I like to paint my nails with the brightest colors and sparkliest glitters. That almost always means I’m grabbing for Holo Taco Everything Taco, which has easily become my favorite special effects top coat. I do mix up the base color, and this week I reached for Zoya Nail Polish Soraya from the Summer 2023 Beachy Brights Collection. As expected, I am absolutely loving this nail polish combination!

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. This post includes a referral link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Zoya Soraya is a bright fuchsia cream polish. It has a great formula that is opaque in two coats, and it dries to a matte finish. Soraya looks much more purple in real life than it does in the photos. The swatches are photographed in natural light, but for some reason the camera did not capture the beautiful purple shade. Please keep that in mind if you are interested in purchasing Soraya.

I then completed the look by adding one coat of Everything Taco, and two coats of the Zoya Naked Seal Glossy Top Coat. I just love how Everything Taco is so easy to apply, and really transforms any manicure! It contains six Unicorn Skin iridescent flakies, and three holographic toppers. I definitely think it is worth the $13.00 price tag on the Holo Taco website! I could easily use this polish on a weekly basis!

Zoya Soraya and Holo Taco Everything Taco

Overall, I’m loving my bright purple and sparkly nails! I definitely look and feel ready for a vacation. You can purchase Soraya from Zoya’s website for $8.00. Use my referral link to save $5.00 off your first Zoya purchase. Also, let me know in the comments what your go to manicure is when you go on vacation!

Random Number Generator Picks My Manicure | Pink Valentine’s Day Nails

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

This week I did not have a pre-planned manicure, so I thought it would be fun to use a random number generator to pick my nail polish look. I first saw Cristine of SimplyNailogical do something similar on her channel, and other nail polish creators have done this as well. It’s a fun way to pick your polish when you don’t know what to wear. Luckily, I ended up with two pink shades that make a perfect Valentine’s Day manicure!

The products in this post were originally provided for my unbiased review. This post includes an affiliate link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

I used Random.org for my random number generator. I narrowed down the polish by having the website pick which box of nail polish to use, then which row in the box, and finally which polish in the row. I was super excited when I landed on Zoya Monroe from the Thrive Collection! This is a beautiful mauve pink shade with a cream formula. It applies like a dream, and is opaque in two coats. Monroe is not available on Zoya’s website currently, but it is on Amazon.

I then decided to choose a random polish from my special effects toppers and glitters since I got a cream formula as the base. I let Random.org choose the row and then the polish in the row. I couldn’t believe my luck when I got another pink-toned polish, Zoya Bisoux! Bisoux is from the Magical Collection for Holiday 2023. It has a light pink base and is filled with rose gold, yellow gold, and holographic glitters. I did a very thin coat on my ring finger as an accent nail. It adds the perfect amount of sparkle to my manicure! I’ll have to try Bisoux on its own at some point, too.

I had so much fun letting a random number generator pick my manicure this week. It was kismet this time around to get complimentary shades that just so happen to work perfectly for upcoming Valentine’s Day. It certainly won’t always turn out this well, so I’ll have to do this every so often to see what interesting combinations I get. Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more blog posts like this!

Zoya Nail Polish Metora | Review and Swatches

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

When I created my nail polish “to be worn” pile for January, I thought it would be fun to wear a garnet red shade to go with January’s birthstone. I immediately gravitated towards Zoya Nail Polish Metora from the Hypnotic Collection released for the Winter/Holiday 2022 season. After wearing a glitter combination for the last several weeks, Metora is a nail polish that can truly stand on its own.

The product in this post was provided to me for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Metora is a metallic nail polish in a deep red shade. The formula is fantastic and applies easily in two coats. I really love the beautiful dimension in the subtle shimmer. I don’t normally reach for metallic polishes, but Metora is an exception! It looks stunning on the nails, and this red shade is a good compliment to my skin tone.

If you are looking for a dark and vampy nail polish, I definitely recommend Zoya Metora. I’m impressed with the formula, and surprised with how much I enjoy the metallic finish. I will be keeping this nail polish in my collection as I curate it this year. I’m also inspired to try more of the metallic shades in my stash to see how they compare!

Snow Day Manicure featuring Zoya Abigail

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Adventures in Polishland

This weekend we got our first big snowstorm of the winter season, and I decided my manicure would match the weather. At the end of December, I chose a few polishes from my collection to wear this month in January. I posted more about my nail polish “to be worn” pile on Instagram, but my plan is to share my manicures here on the blog weekly. While I wore a bright and fun look last week with Nail-Venturous Floam, this week my inspiration was a neutral shade from my nail polish stash in Zoya Abigail. I took this gray polish and added a bit of sparkle to create a snow day manicure!

Zoya Abigail is a cool-toned gray cream polish. The formula applies very nicely, and is opaque in two coats. I normally photograph all of my swatches in natural light, but this week I had to use artificial lighting due to the storm. Abigail is from the Toasty Collection released this time last year. I wouldn’t normally reach for a gray nail polish, but this one actually compliments my complexion nicely.

Different Dimension Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock

I then reached into my stash for a glitter topper from the indie nail polish brand Different Dimension. This shade is Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock from the Big Bang Theory Collection. The polish has a slightly blue tinted base, and is full of silver hexagonal glitters and white microglitters. I think this shade really mimics the snow that was falling outside!

I completed the look by adding two coats of the Zoya Naked Manicure Glossy Seal Top Coat. The result is quite beautiful! I like how the glitter topper really elevates what would otherwise be a neutral cream polish. I really enjoy putting different nail polish combinations together!

Abigail is available on the Zoya website for $12.00. You can use my referral link to save $5.00 off your first Zoya purchase. While you can no longer buy Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock, the brand Different Dimension is still in business on their website. Different Dimension was one of my favorite indie brands back in the day, and I’m glad the polishes I still own apply beautifully even years down the road. I’ll have to see what is currently available the next time I’m in the market for some new polish!