The Zoya Flame Collection, Finally!

I am SO behind the times on this collection. I still feel like I need to blog it, simply because it is absolutely spectacular. Zoya's Flame collection is such a gorgeous mix of wearable colors, and I absolutely adore most of them. They all apply beautifully as well. So let's look at them, shall we?

First of all, I think it's important to discuss the differences in the polishes in the set. It's almost as if there are two mini sets within it, a set of foils and a set of glass flecked polishes. The first three are the foils- Tiffany, Gloria, and Crystal. Not only are they foils, but they seem to have flecks of golden foil in them as well, which makes them that much more interesting to wear, especially for a magpie like myself!

Of all the polishes, I was most uncertain of Crystal, specifically because of these golden bits. Hearing about the set at first, I thought Crystal would be a cooler, purer blue. However, it's a drabbed, dusty sort of blue, and the gold makes it seem almost greenish at times. I honestly didn't think I'd like it, but I've used it lots, and it grew on me!

The glass flecked polishes, though, are the ones that take my breath away. I'm much more drawn to this type of color- cool, intense, bright. Lisa, Sarah, and Valerie are crazily intense shades that didn't want to play nicely with my camera. Lisa, especially, was hard to capture... this vibrant cool red is almost impossible to capture!

I sat and held these polishes for quite a while, turning them in my hands, watching them shift inside the bottles. I absolutely love the way these shades play with the light, sparkling and almost dancing in the bottles. They were exciting, and I couldn't decide which one I wanted to try first! Now, let's look at them individually...

 Tiffany is a peachy sort of color, one I found hard to describe. Zoya explains it as such: "Pink, peach and light copper toned foil particles accented by flecks of gold foil." I can agree with that description. This is the sort of color I won't usually buy for myself, but I am so happy I got the chance to try it. As you can see, it lights up my skin tone and looks gorgeous! And I would never have tried this one if it hadn't been for this blog.

The one thing I noticed about the foil polishes is that they seem a bit sheer. It's not really a problem, really, but if you don't like visible nail line, you might want to layer these over a more opaque polish.

Gloria is a more pinky-red-toned foil, but is still a very warm tone. You can see in the photos both to the right and above that there's a bit of golden flash to this one which of course makes it more interesting to me. Zoya describes this polish as "rose, mauve-pink and magenta foil particles with gold and subtle red metallic accents." It's absolutely stunning on!

This is definitely my kind of polish, even if it is sort of pink. It's so incredibly sparkly on! I also can't complain about the application of any of these. The foils apply smoothly with no streaking and are deep and rich with two coats.

Finally, Crystal is the standout of this set- a dusty, desaturated golden blue that is (at least to me) unlike any of the other polishes in the Flame collection. Zoya describes it as "Light, silvered shiny blue metallic foil with sparks of brilliant yellow gold. A cool, snowy winter blue that's ideal for any Ice Princess." I'm not sure how they decided this is a cool blue, because to me, it's about as warm as blue can get before it becomes green! Still, it's a really, really interesting color- the blue and gold both show through, creating such an enthralling combination that I simply couldn't stop looking at it.

In short- Crystal is weird. Seriously weird, but in a good way! :D

Next we come to the glass flecked trio. Did I perhaps mention that Lisa refused to play nicely with my camera? Yea. This red is intense. Zoya describes it as "An iridescent combination of deep raspberry pink, bright candy apple red and subtle gold tones in a dazzling sparkle finish." Oddly enough, they describe the finish for this polish as metallic. I'm not sure I agree, but I don't think it particularly matters.

What does matter is that this is an absolutely captivating polish. When you wear Lisa you will get noticed, because it's a color so bright that it's almost fluorescent, without the 80s-associated feel of neon pink. It's the sophisticated big sister of the neon pink polish I wore in 9th grade!

Sarah, on the other hand, would be the older, wiser, slightly more mysterious sister. It's cooler-toned, deeper, and stunning. Zoya describes it as "Pearls of dark fuchsia, red-violet and ruby tones in a bright sparkle finish." Again, it was such an intense, saturated color that my camera looked at it and said, "Nope, sorry. Can't do it." The photo to the left is the best out of perhaps 30 I shot of this color. What can I say, it was a stinker!

This trio applies so amazingly well. If you're a careful polisher, you could get away with one coat of them, but another coat definitely ups the intensity. Two coats makes for maximum drama, maximum intensity!

Finally, we come to Valerie, perhaps my favorite of the bunch. This is a purple for women who love purple. Zoya describes it as "Royal purple, dark violet, red, deep pink and gold iridescence amplified by a glittering sparkle finish." I describe it as velvet, sparkle, a purple so deep and intense you could lose yourself in it. It is rich, people... it is spectacular.

While I rarely wear a polish twice in a row (or twice, for that matter!), I wore Valerie for three manicures in a row because I just could not get enough. It was addictive, and I still find myself reaching for it over any of my untrieds. This is a color for fall, for winter... it's a rich warm color that makes me feel like I've wrapped myself in the velvet robes of royalty!

Can you tell I like this one a bit? I know, I need to learn to let my emotions out, or I'm going to explode!

Also, congratulations! You've found The Lucky Star for the Overall Beauty 13 Days Of Christmas Treasure Hunt!

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday and are now shopping your hearts out for Black Friday! Starting next week I'll be showing some fun holiday nail art! I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, including an unexpected source for striping tape, as well as nail art for Hannukah and Christmas. Are there any other winter holidays you'd like to see nail art for? Leave me a comment, and I'll see what I can come up with! :D

The Zoya Flame collectrion was provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.