Zoya True Spring 2012 Nail Polish Collection Swatches & Review
As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I’m a sucker for greens, blues and purples. Even before I became the full fledged polish fanatic that I am today, those were always the shades I gavitated to. I grew up in a purple bedroom with purple shag carpet that remained until my parents moved 12 years ago. For the majority of my life the only jewelry I wore contained my birthstone, emerald. And my first car was a white convertible with slate blue leather. I’ve had two electric blue cars since.
So you can imagine my joy when I laid eyes on the Zoya True nail polish collection for Spring 2012. They couldn’t make it any more “me” if they tried. Not unless they can make an emerald green holo happen, ha!
A fresh bloom of dewy color. Inspired by the runway looks of top designers this collection features slightly muted and unexpected spring shades in six easy to wear, full-coverage creams and metallics.
I’m sure like a lot of you, I feel programmed to expect Spring to be all a flutter with sheers, pastels and brights. So much so that anytime a brand releases anything outside that color box, I get excited. The True collection certainly gives me butterflies.
Formula & Application: Zoya is a 4-Free brand (including formaldehyde resin) plus they leave out camphor, which can be an irritant. Their signature Italian glass bottles have a tapered, shiny black plastic cap that rests comfortably between the thumb and index finger while polishing. The brush is short, round and medium in girth with flexible bristles that allow for ease of control.
The Zoya formula tends to feel a bit watery and that can lead to coverage issues. For the most part I was able to get away with two thin coats but on some nails I had to throw on an extra layer to make up for dragging near my cuticle. As I shared in my Zoya Ivanka Wear Test, Zoya nail polishes wear best with the full Zoya Color Lock System or top coats that exclude Cellulose Acetate Butyrate.
Zoya Bevin is a sage green creme. There was a point in my life where I was obsessed with the color sage. I battled with the boyfriend to paint a room in our old condo sage (I lost) and ended up buying every sage colored accessory I could find instead. This version of sage is a bit more energized. Not quite as diffused as what I typically think of as sage.
Zoya Cho is the D’Artagnan to the Three Musketeers that are the Zoya Touch collection. A full coverage French vanilla with a subtle silver shimmer. If any of the neutrals in the Touch collection were too peach, pink or yellow, your inner Goldilocks will be satiated with Cho.
Zoya Farah is one of those, would you like some coffee with all that cream, kind of shades. It’s a great, work-friendly neutral that doesn’t lean so far towards yellow to make it unwearable for cooler skin tones.
Zoya Lotus is a smoked-out, deep violet sprinkled with magenta metallic flecks. It’s an edgier twsit on those smokey purples that were so popular a few years back (eg OPI Parlez Vous OPI?).
Looking at slate blue shimmer, Zoya Skylar, for the first time I couldn’t help but think, “RBL Catherine H?” They are definitely cut from the same cloth but Skylar is lighter and doesn’t have as much royal in its base. It’s more like if you mixed some butter LONDON Victoriana and a drop of white in Catherine H. The gold, blue and light pink flecks really set this one apart from its competitors.
Zoya Tru is a grape-y shimmer packed with reddish bronze micro-shimmer. Zoya is calling this an “orchid” shade but I always think of orchids as having more pink to their base color than this. It actually matches a sweater I bought recently in a color named “The Grape Cape” so there you have it.
Bottom Line: Even though I don’t pull out the neutrals that often, there isn’t a color in this collection I would label as a “pass” or one I plan to pass on to friends. If I just HAD to pick a top three, they would be Skylar, Bevin and Lotus.
Zoya True for Spring 2012 is on sale now. Zoya nail polishes are available online at Zoya.com and at salons nationwide including ULTA. Visit the Zoya Salon Locator for a retailer near you. Zoya nail polishes retail for$8/ea for a .5oz bottle. Don’t forget, you can try before you buy with the Zoya Color Spoon program.
Are these colors ringing TRUE to you? Which ones will make it into your spring nail wardrobe? What if you had to pick just ONE?
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by Zoya. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
Lotus=next purchase!
I liked bevin and skylar and true in the spoons that zoya sent me of this collection. However, now that I see your photo of Lotus, I may get it, too.
Sigh, I always feel like I need ALL of them after I see your swatches.
Me too! Should come with a wallet warning
If I could only pick one, it would be Skylar. But I didn’t have to so I got Tru as well!
OMG. LOVE them all!!!
nice swatches and pics! so pretty!
I love Bevin, but I’m afraid it’d be too close to Mermaid Tears/Turquoise & Caicos etc. Then I’d have to punch myself in the face. I’ll have to get a spoon.
I own both Mermaid Tears and Bevin, and there is a definite difference. To me, Bevin is the superior color because it is a bit warmer and more subtle. They are different enough that you could do a contrasting manicure.
Loving Skylar (name AND colour) but can’t help thinking it looks very like the upcoming OPI “I don’t give a Rotterdam”. Does anyone else think this too? Zoya is not big in New Zealand (at least where I live) so if it’s a dupe to IDGAR, I can at least pick that one up (OPI is EVERYWHERE!!) and be happy.
lotus and skylar look a lot like colors from the opi holland collection- dutch ya’ just love opi and don’t give a rotterdam. what do you think?
I love Lotus, Tru, and Skylar.
Like this collection but for the fact they put 2 nude in it. I needed only 2 nudes with the recent nude collection Zoya just released not too long ago…and in place of one of the nudes here it would have been delightful to see a great dusty peachy/orange. I also wonder who spilled the beans and this collection has so much dupes in the OPI Holland collection? 1 dupe is OK but 3 is really suspicious.
Could you compare Bevin to OPI Mermaids Tears? I’d love to see that. None of these is so must have that I can’t wait till the sample sale at my office in a few months, actually I rarely have a retail outlet for Zoya in this area and get all my colors of there’s at the sample sale.
The neutrals look beautiful, and I say that as someone who has never successfully purchased a neutral or light pink color for myself. I’ve failed every time to get something that looked good. The closest I get are metallic and micro glitter champagne colors.
Love your swatches, and the colours are so beautiful. Zoya is doing such a great job lately
Love these colours, particularly Skylar and Lotus (I’m a sucker for blues and purples).
If you really want an emerald holo, a-england’s new collection has THREE green holos in it. They’re all really pretty.
I love bevin, i just with it would look god on me!
Lotus really is the best Spring color, isn’t it? Maybe Spring 2012 will be all about orchids and irises!
I have Lotus on right now and got so many compliments at work last night on the color. I also bought Tru and plan to order Bevin and Skyler as well. Neutrals don’t do much for me, so I’ll probably pass on the others.
Is it just me, or is this collection almost identical to the OPI Holland collection? I swear that I see at least 3 or 4 dupes right now. I prefer OPI to Zoya so I think that I’ll pass on this whole collection.
wow! lotus is so wonderful!
Lotus and Tru look almost exactly alike. Is that just my computer screen playing tricks on me or do they really look that much alike in person?
They don’t look alike on my screen or in person. Lotus is dusty and more muted while Tru is pretty vibrant and darker.
Thanks! I think it’s just my screen.
Lovin Bevin!
Lotus is the one for me.
This collection is a little too close to OPI’s Holland collection for my taste. I mean, I understand that certain colors are trendy right now, and nail companies follow trends. But it seems like Zoya didn’t even try to be that much different than OPI. Lotus is pretty, but I’m passing on the rest of this collection.
Wow!
Skylar looks good to me:)
Hey, ALU, I recently noticed how OPI Pedal Faster Suzi looks identical to OPI Princesses Rule.
Could you please do a comparison?
I’ll have to check and see if I still have Princesses Rule.
Wow! They’re all so pretty!
ahhhhhhhhh! I love this color group! Great job zoya!
Is Farah a dupe for RBL Grunge?
Tru looks JUST like Dutch Ya Just Love OPI. Just an observation.
Your swatches are gorgeous!!! I am definitely going to have to get both purples and the blue one!!
Skylar looks amazing. One I definitely want to try. I think that L’Oreal has some good colors out for spring too. I tried some of them and really like the collection.
I just picked up Bevin and Skylar and I’m currently deciding which one to put on at this very moment! I think I want one of the purples as well, but can’t decide which one!
I rec’d Farrah in my April Birchox, and its a little bland for my taste. I wore it yesterday but ended up putting a very sheer pink shimmer over it,and liked it better. I love all of the other shades though. I just purchased Skylar and Lotus using my Birchbox points, and will probably purchase Bevin as well.
I love your blog. The swatches you show make me want to run right out and buy whichever polish your showing!
lotus, skylar and tru for sure!
I love the Zoya Cho color!