Thursday, May 3, 2012

Zoya Blogger Collection

I somehow managed to not hear anything about the Birchbox exclusive limited edition Zoya Blogger Collection until it was released a couple weeks ago, possibly because it seems to have involved a vote on Facebook, and I spend very little time on FB these days. But I did see a Tweet from Zoya about it being available, and since I like Zoya and am a sucker for the words "limited edition", I clicked on over to Birchbox to order the set, which came to $22 for three polishes and it shipped for free. All the colors are orange tones, which is consistent with the Pantone Color of the Year being Tangerine Dream; it's somewhat curious that an open vote led to three shades that coordinate so well with each other and the color of the year, but maybe there's a rabid orange voting block on the Birchbox FB page. It's also somewhat curious that I, who spend so many hours reading nail blogs, am not familiar with any of the bloggers who created these colors. According the the Birchbox blog, they "invited 12 bloggers to create mood boards depicting the color they think should be on everyone’s digits this spring". Were none of those 12 nail bloggers? That makes no sense to me, but I guess Birchbox is more of a general beauty site.

The winners, left to right below: Coraline, Kate, and Belle. All are sheer but buildable.



Coraline is a red-leaning orange jelly. For these swatches, I used three coats, no topcoat.





Kate is a pinky coral jelly. Here's how it looks at three coats, no topcoat.





Belle is a pink grapefruit shimmer of the micro flakie variety. Like her jelly sisters, I used three coats, no topcoat.





These could be layered on each other in various combinations and used to make jelly sandwiches, but I didn't take the time to play with them because I had the niggling feeling I already owned all three of these colors and couldn't rest until I figured out if that was true. If you were hanging around nail boards and blogs a year ago, it was hard to escape talk of the OPI Texas collection and the six "sorbet", also known as jelly, polishes it contained. I eventually bought all of them, and darned if Coraline and Kate didn't remind me very much of some of those polishes.

When I pulled OPI Y'all Come Back Hear from my stash and set it next to Kate, they looked quite similar.



On the nail? Well, you tell me if you see a difference. I sure don't.



That's Coraline on my index (far left) and ring fingers; the OPI on my middle and pinky. At some angles in some lights, I could almost convince myself one was darker or one was more opaque, but finally decided it was more likely that on some nails I had a slightly heavier touch with the three coats.

There were two OPI candidates for Kate's twin. Guy Meets Galveston looked close in the bottle but on the nail proved to be less orange/more pink than Kate. I'm guessing Mr. Karen and most other nail polish muggles couldn't tell them apart, though. That's Zoya on the left and OPI on the right in the photo below.



OPI Big Hair Big Nails turned out to be Kate's match.



Here's Kate on my index (far left) and ring; Big Hair Big Nails on my middle and pinky.



And now we come to Belle. There's so much variation in the consistency and density of shimmers that I was less certain I'd find a match for this one, but I grabbed my nail wheels and it wasn't too long before I found Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Peach Pavé. This is the old bottle style, and I don't think the color was carried over in the relaunch, but I do still see these for sale sometimes.



I think the Sally Hansen might be a tiny bit more blingy, but that also might be me looking to find a difference where none really exists. Belle is on my index (far left) and ring below; Peach Pavé on my middle and pinky.



So yeah, it was somewhat disappointing to find I'd essentially bought three things I already own. Of course with a stash as large as mine that's not such a surprising event, but still I was hoping for something more special from a limited edition collection from a brand I really like. On the other hand, if you missed the OPI sorbets (though you haven't yet—my Ulta still had some as recently as a couple weeks ago, and they're on Amazon for reasonable prices), or you don't like the OPI brush, or you prefer the Zoya formula, this set might be perfect for you.

If Zoya does another blogger collection, I hope they reach out to nail bloggers. I do wonder how much input the bloggers for this collection had; did it end with the mood board, or did they get a voice about the finish and exact color of the polishes? I'm guessing nail bloggers would want the latter, which may be why none of them seem to have been involved in this collection. If they do another dupe collection, I hope they reach back in time a bit more and copy things like Essie Starry Starry Night or a Liquid Euphoria or Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal. I'd be all over that. This current trio are nice juicy colors, and I can see them being popular with people who want to hop on the orange train in 2012. For me, though, I got a blog post out of them and now will probably swap them away hoping to get colors and finishes I don't already own.

30 comments:

  1. Really good Swatch and comparison.
    Didn't even notice a difference. I hate when polishes have the same color finishes.

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  2. Lol I haven't heard of the bloggers they chose either! Wish they'd chosen nail bloggers :(

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  3. Oh Lady, that was an interesting and informative post, for sure. Yeah, I haven't been blogging for much but I have eagerly been reading a ton of nail blogs and I hadn't heard about this Super Exclusive Collection, nor about anyone participating in the choosing of the colours. Like you, I'm suspicious.

    I'm sorry that you found three exact dupes of them; I hope you will make someone happy swapping that away and getting new colours and brands :) Do you have an idea yet?

    Take care!

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    1. Criminal Nails, given my tendency to procrastinate, the Zoyas will likely sit in my swap box for months before I do anything about them. :)

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  4. I agree, it makes no sense not to ask nail bloggers to pitch in. Also Zoyas, just like OPI sorbets, look too sheer to me.

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  5. I'd heard of one blogger (The Small Things) because I find a lot of her hair tutorials on Pinterest. That's incredibly disappointing that they're ALL perfect dupes- but also nice, too. The only color I actually wanted from the set was Belle, and now I know what to look for at a cheaper price if I can find it ;) I'm not a big fan of the other 2 colors so I didn't buy the set.

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  6. I almost bought this, thank goodness I was being cheap that day lol. I don't have the Sally Hansen dupe but I do have the others and would have been disappointed.

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  7. I can't even tell a difference between the three of them! That's really disappointing. Thank you for letting us know things like this.

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  8. i read about this edition yesterday,, the colours are not exciting and youre right,, limited edition should be somewhat unique and different.

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  9. Thanks for sharing this.
    It's weird that/if there wee no nail bloggers among the 12...

    Any how - very close dupes to existing colors...

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  10. Great blog post - I'm amazed that they are so alike! I mean, I can't tell the difference even when I know it's there.

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  11. I don't see any differences in these! I guess Zoya should try a little harder next time!!

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  12. Ugh. Disappointing, indeed. I follow (meaning: reading or at least browsing the pics) tons of nail blogs, but never saw anyone taking part in this Zoya mixing. About the colours.. well, even if someone enclosed these polishes as extras, I'd swap them away too :) Without even trying.

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  13. beautiful colors, but what disappointment for a limited edition collection. Great job with the comparison! very minimal difference, such a good eye. :)

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  14. Good Eyes! They are indeed dupes. Wow... I was almost about to get this trio because I thought they were unique?!?!

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  15. omg! these are so beautiful! :)

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  16. I can't believe how dupe-ish they all are. They're also a bit too sheer for me. I wonder if that's why Zoya didn't promote them that much before their release? Thanks for the comps!!

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  17. Goodness me! Those are some of the darnedest dupes I've ever seen!

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  18. This is a disappointment. The colors are rather bland to me. I don't buy a lot of OPI, but I definitely skipped over Peach Pave at the drugstore all the time for something else. I would have expected something more daring and unique.

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  19. I love your comparisons! I thought that these colors would be really unique since it's "limited edition", but now I can see that you can just get them somewhere else. Thanks for sharing!

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  20. I was somewhat underwhelmed by these as a set. I tend to think recruiting nail polish bloggers for a blogging themed nail polish collection would be a no-brainer, but hey, what do I know? =)

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  21. Great colors. I love your comparisons! I can't believe they're the same lol. You can't even see the difference! They all look great on you though :)

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  22. Beautiful colors, especially Kate and Belle. It's a shame that they are dupes.

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  23. Heh nail polish muggles ;)

    I don't have any of the dupes so I'll probably buy this collection. Cause like you said...Limited Edition...Zoya...I can't resist!

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  24. I love Coraline and Kate! Also, your comparisons are spot on! Fabulous!

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  25. First I've heard of this collection, jeeeez! And yes, let's dupe Starry Starry Night! (well, get Zoya to... or someone. I'm not picky!)

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  26. Karen! You saved me! I was lemming Coraline and being in Europe, it is impossible to get as Birchbox does not ship abroad, and the polish is not on eBay either! Now knowing the OPI is a dupe I am so pleased! Thank you so much!!!

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  27. Love the swatches and comparisons! I was just about to pull the trigger on this set, but after seeing your post, I think I can safely pass since I own the OPIs, and Peach Pavé can be found easily.

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  28. Hi Karen, er, I would love to do a swap with you for these if you were interested at all.. I'm from the UK and have nothing like these in my collection! Do please let me know x (leishasaurus[at]googlemail[dot]com)

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Thank you for reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate knowing I'm not just talking to myself here. :) I'm moderating most comments now due to the spate of spammers who claim to be looking for sexy times.