Zoya Casey - a beauty with issues

For me these almost blacks are the safety blanket of manicures an they have been that for a long time. I guess that I was lured by some woman's magazines ages ago and bought one of Chanel's outrageously priced polishes: Rouge Noir - and was hooked. When some girls reach for their favorite nude I grab my trusted nearly black and feel instantly good about my manicure.

I've been looking for a reasonably priced alternative for Rouge Noir for a while and Casey really delivers. When speaking just about the color Casey does an excellent job. It is not an exact twin for Chanel polish - Casey is more purple and very dark, Rouge Noir is more red and tad lighter (will dig an older pic of Rouge Noir later for comparison). But there is that same dramatic outlook that I adore. As an added plus Casey is extremely shiny. With Mavala topcoat I can almost fix my lipstick using the reflection from my nail. And see those bluish higlights! This image shows the colour very black, but the red purple flashes beautifully in bright light.

I have to say that I have some issues with Zoya. All cream polishes and light shimmers bubble really badly - I guess that they are not compatible with Mavala Mavadry topcoat. Casey was also chipping on the next day after application. I have zero interest to try Zoyas color lock system. First, I think that it is expensive. Second, my nails don't stain and they are quite smooth - so for me the basecoat feels like totally unnecessary extra step in the manicure. Third, I hate fast dry drops.

So I really need to find a fast drying topcoat that works with Zoyas. I'm open to all suggestions!

Zoya Lulu - that summer peach

I have some recent manicures photographed and ready to publish, so I will purge those pics here eventually.

This is Zoya Luly, a lovely, slightly jellylike peach + Mavala Mavadry topcoat. That jelliness makes a difference to the usual, chalky outlook of most pastel polishes and really sets this color apart in my records. I can totally see myself wearing this a lot in the next summer, it will probably be even more flattering when I get a hint of color to my skin.

Usually four coats is too much for my patience, but this particular color really needs them, and it really got prettier and prettier with each application. One coat made my nails look just stained. There definitely is a yellowish tone in this color - so there is no use for it in sheer manis unless you have a purpose to look like a chain smoker.

Otherwise this polish was nice to work with. The consistency is little bit in a thin side as with my other Zoya polishes, and it dries pretty fast. Except that four coats of polish never dries particularly fast...