Zoya MatteVelvet Winter 2009

Holy cow, you guys! These are AWESOME!!

Pictures first cause I'm speechless!


Harlow. Purple-rose-mauve matte shimmer. Wow, this is pretty. This is the one I was least excited about from the promo pictures, but it's way better in real life! I love it. It's almost purple, so that makes me happy. Kind of more of a soft saturated mauve or very, very dark pink than purple, but still... hot.

Savita. Bright blue-toned purple matte shimmer. AHHH!!! It's so beautiful!! I can't believe my eyes!! So gorgeous.... so gorgeous. Anyway... this is more of a blue-leaning purple but it has kind of a golden pink-red shimmer in it, so you get a nice mixture of blue-ish purple base and reddish purple shimmer. Very complex. It's like a cross between Yasmeen and Zara.


Veruschuka / Veruschuca. Blue-toned emerald green shimmer matte. Green... matte... shimmer... I think Zoya's been conducting secret mind-reading experiments on me. This is the shade that's missing from all the fall collections! This matte is slightly less matte than the others- more of a satin. It's not the chalky no-shine matte I was expecting, rather it's a slightly smooth matte with a little bit of shine left on it.
EDIT: This actually is supposed to be as matte as the others- I got an off bottle. Ignore the finish for now :)

The formula on these is great. Smooth, no chunks, not too thick but thick enough to be very opaque. These do dry extremely fast so you'll have to work quickly. For more matte application tips, please refer to my previous post on Zoya MatteVelvet. Like I said, these dry extremely fast so you won't need any sort of topcoat or drops. You'll be ready to go in about 5 minutes. They recommend not using a basecoat with these- I've never experienced any mattes staining my nails so you'd probably be fine without one. For me, I don't like to be without a nail strengthener on so I do wear a basecoat (Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator) with these and I've not experienced anything negative. Mattes, by their nature, do not wear as long as regular polish. They are quite brittle after they dry and can crack after a few days of wear. I've gotten as long as three days without a chip or crack, but sometimes they can chip after one day. This is normal for mattes.

Wait, what's that? You're asking me what these look like glossy? Of course, you'd think I'd leave you hanging?? I just wanted to get the formula covered before your brain turned to goo from looking at these... Behold:

Harlow with topcoat.

Savita with topcoat.


Veruschuka with topcoat.

They're awesome worn matte but they're out of this world with a topcoat added. The sparkle in them is out of control. It's not glitter- no chunks. They're not difficult to remove like a glitter would be. These are just a very dense and intense shimmer, I'd say it verges on foil.

Overall, I'm totally thrilled with this collection. I am starting to get bored with mattes, to tell you the truth, but as soon as I saw these... WOW. There are other mattes? What other mattes? These are THE mattes. The best shades, the best finish. I don't usually like to declare things 'the best' because I love everything, but really... For me, these blow the other mattes out of the water. They're my favorite colors- how could I not love them? Green and purple in a matte shimmer finish. GET OUT OF MY HEAD, CHARLES!!!

These are currently available for pre-order on Zoya's website, and they ship September 15th.