I saw this color and had to have it if nothing else than to compare it to another color in my collection.

Petites "Black Amethyst" vs. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Uptempo Plum"

At first glance in the store, Black Amethyst looked like a very good dupe for Uptempo Plum. But once I got it home and could swatch, they're very different colors.

Uptempo Plum is more of a very very dark, almost black reddened purple polish with plummy shimmer, whereas Black Amethyst is black polish with purple micro-glitter.

Uptempo Plum, if you recall my previous post about it, requires two or three coats. Even at two coats it is somewhat sheer, and it applies fairly flat looking, the shimmer stands out most in the sun but even then is quite subtle.  Black Amethyst also requires two to three coats (swatches are 3 coats but honestly had I been taking my time for more careful application two would have been sufficient) for completely opaque coverage, and the purple micro-glitter stands out much more than the shimmer in Uptempo Plum. (The pictures do not do this color justice at all; the glitter is not as subtle as it looks, but it is also not "in your face" glitter either.) I imagine one coat of Black Amethyst might, might be fun to layer over other darker colors but don't take my word on that. It's something I will play around with in the future provided I remember to do it. But on it's own, it's fabulous. Indeed my new favorite dark polish. Between Uptempo Plum and Black Ametyst, Black Amethyst is my favorite.

One thing worth noting about Black Amethyst is that in removing it, some of the micro-glitter tends to linger on your fingers and nails. This is easily cleaned up with a fresh remover-moistened cotton ball/pad, or even just washing your hands. Not a big deal to me, but I thought I'd mention it in case such things is a problem for some of you.

I was able to squeak in a couple new polishes today while shopping. These are three of the four; fourth shade is going to be shown in the next post. I apologize these are kind of messy; I wasn't feeling patient today.

Busted is a sheer blue-purple based color with matching shimmer with a golden pink flash. I imagine it would be a fun color to layer over darker colors. Applies beautifully with no issues at all.

Envy is one of my new favorites, I think. It is a rosey beige/tan shade, leaning a bit more to the rosey side than tan. (I think... that's what it looks like to me at least) with a cream finish thus no shimmer whatsoever. I am a glitter girl and I love shimmer, but there are certain cream shades that have been getting my attention lately and this one I am very happy with. It applies a bit streaky and sheer with one coat, but two coats evens things out perfectly and gives opaque color.

Sand Dune is a pretty metallic beige color. One of my new favorites as well, I've never been a fan of metallic polishes to be honest but this one caught my eye and I quite like it. I did have some issues in applying though; this shade dries quickly and apparently I was polishing too slow because the polish started to pull off and get, for lack of a better word, "weird" on me. I had to take it off and start over to swatch. But it is very pretty. In the sun, it shows a slightly more golden hue while still being beige.

I only have one shade from Finger Paints, given to me by my boyfriend's mom. But, I love it. If I could find this polish anywhere, even online, and if the price tag isn't ridiculous, I'd definitely buy more shades.

Psychedelic Pop is a true, hot pink polish. It applies very smoothly, no issues at all with this one. It does take 2-3 coats for nice opaque coverage, but it's worth the extra couple of coats and the lasting power of this polish is wonderful. =)

Spruce is a hard color to describe as it looks completely different in the sun than in the shade/indoors. In the sun it is a grey-green metallic, leaning more toward grey than green. But in the shade/indoors it is a metallic slightly greyed green. It applies a little streaky, and is somewhat sheer at two coats.

Poseidon is a pretty soft pastelly green with a golden flash. It applies a little streaky and is sheer at three coats.

Baby Blue Frost is just that - slightly frosty baby blue. I love the color, however it applies very streaky. It takes at least three coats to somewhat even out the color. The streakiness is more evident in the sun than in the shade/indoors.

Lemon Ice is a sheer, shimmery pastel yellow. Applies much more evenly than the above Avon shades.

Several of the colors are not what I was expecting. Therefore, in the list below I am linking the color names to their pages on Zoya's site, so you can see the color as it appears on their site so you can see what I saw & expected to get, as opposed to what I actually got (pictured below - in natural light (partly cloudy) with no flash).

Deidra - This is one that I had a better idea of what to expect from some swatches from other nail polish blogs. It is a grey-toned purple with flashes of gold.

Felicity - This is like a soft pink version of Deidra, which again I expected it to look like it does based on swatches seen on other nail polish blogs

Lulu - I think this is about the only one the Zoya site shows somewhat accurately. It's a soft, sheer pastel peachy coral color. I think it is my favorite of the group.

Lyric - As opposed to the golden tan color I expected this one is more brown-hued orange with a golden flash. Still pretty but not something I'd probably buy if I knew what it looked like beforehand.

Meadow - This is like a darker version of Felicity - a medium rosy pink with flashes of gold. I was expecting a slightly browner base but it's a true pink color. I like it, but too similar to Felicity and had I known that I'd have picked a different color.

Piper - Again I expected a pink with more tan/brown based hues but it is indeed a true pink creme color. It is brighter than expected as well, I'm not sure I care for it. I was hoping for something a little softer. It is actually similar to Felicity, minus the golden flash & frost finish.

Sofia - This one is NOTHING like I was expecting. I thought it would be a pretty deep rich plum color, but it's RED. It has an ever-so-slight hint of purple to it, but make no mistake, this is RED polish. NOT purple. I wanted purple. Another one that had I known what it actually looked like, I'd have picked something else in it's place.

South Beach Ice - This one, again, is nothing like I expected and had I known what it looked like I never would have gotten it. I thought it would be a pretty teal-seagreen type color, but it's green. There is not a hint of blue in this polish AT ALL. It is green through and through. I was also expecting something a little more glittery, but it's just shimmery, and very very sheer. Not happy with this one at all. =(

Vegas Freeze - This is a darker purple than I thought but it's still pretty. Like South Beach Ice though I expected glitter and all it has is shimmer. It's super sheer as well.

Zara - A darker version of Deidra, I thought it'd be a bit more gray-based but it is a bluer based purple with flashes of gold. Still pretty though, and different enough from Deidra that I don't mind having both of them but they are indeed similar.


OVERALL THOUGHTS: Overall I'm a little disappointed in these polishes. First because several of the colors are not what I was expecting, but also because now that I've tried the polishes I don't see what the fuss is all about over these polishes. They have average lasting power before they start to show some wear. Some shades apply kind of streaky and some I have had issues with cuticle pull with a couple colors as well. My Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat has had a strange effect on Sofia and Piper, more on Sofia. I need to use it with the others to see if it happens with all of them, but what I experienced is that the nail polish looks fine until applying the Insta-Dri, at which point the tips only become matte, in a splotchy, irregular manner and not even on all nails but on most of them. On Piper this only happened on two nails and only a couple small spots that are not very noticable so I left that polish on. Very odd indeed, and something I've never experienced before. I think you may need to invest in Zoya's quick-dry product, which I do NOT want to do because it's extremely expensive - $16 for a 0.5 oz. bottle!

Basically, I don't think they're worth the $6 normal price tag (plus shipping if you can't buy it locally, as I cannot, and tax). They do have some pretty colors and they are nice enough polishes, but they're not spectacular. I have cheaper polishes that are just as good if not better. I wouldn't mind buying from Zoya from time to time as they do have some unique colors, but they're not a brand I'd buy any old time, and their price tags mean that I'd have to save up and make only occasional purchases. I would also participate in the exchange program again in the future, if I had any other polishes that needed to be tossed anyway and there were Zoya shades I was interested in.

I think the main draw people see in them is they are "big 3 free" - but these days most brands of nail polish are, due to stricter regulations and consumer demands for safer nail polish. So IMHO, that should not really be all that much of a selling point anymore. When they were new, sure... but now, things have changed in the polish industry and being "big 3 free" isn't such a big deal anymore. (Zoya is also free of camphor, if that means anything to anybody. But that's not an issue for me personally; especially seeing as unless you are physically ingesting camphor by eating/drinking it, it's safe and often even used for external medicinal purposes. So... whatever on that one. Think what you want about the stuff, that's fine, I'm just saying it's my opinion that it's not a problem and honestly I've never seen it listed as an ingredient in nail polish anyway. ?)

Platinum is a metallic silvery white. It goes on smoothly but a tad streaky - not enough to be a problem. It is somewhat sheer at two coats, looks more opaque in shade than in the sun.

Heart Breaker is a stunning color in the bottle but goes on very, very sheer. You'll never be able to build it up to bottle color. However, I still love it. It is a slightly blue-green sheer jelly base loaded with turquoise green-blue shimmer. This was one of the harder polishes to photograph; the shimmer really is amazing in person but does not show up well in photos. This color is fun to layer over darker colors to add some turquoise shimmer.

Iced Orchid, from the Frosted Ice line, is a pretty sheer sky/baby blue with a pinkish gold flash. It goes on very smooth and even, and has a soft frosty finish.

Jaguar is a pale golden yellow polish with subtle gold micro-glitter. Applies very smooth and evenly, somewhat sheer at two coats. (It started raining while I was taking pictures, so sorry about the rain drops. lol)

Spit Fire is for glitter lovers. A clear jelly base loaded with soft pink and holographic silver glitter, one coat gives a more subtle glittery finish while two coats gives a more full-on glitter look. A couple more coats and it'd likely be opaque glittery coverage. ;-) As with all glitter polishes the glitter distributes a little unevenly, however this is one of the better glitter polishes available.

Island Smoothie is a pale metallic pink. It applies more silver than pink. It is fairly sheer at two coats. Goes on very smooth and evenly.

Peach Orchid is a sheer white-ish jelly base polish with golden peach shimmer for a duo-chrome effect. Applies very evenly and smooth. Adds a pretty golden-peach flash when layered over darker colors, but it really is a stunning subtle polish on it's own.

Boots No. 7 Stay Perfect polish in Milan is another favorite of mine. Slightly pinkish metallic lilac-purple, just one coat is suitable though ever so slightly sheer - 2 coats gives perfect opaque coverage. Goes on very smooth, lasts like you wouldn't believe even without a protective topcoat (though top coat is always recommended!) and I adore it.

Rimmel 60 Seconds quick-dry nail polish in Stop Traffic is a hot pink with a blue flash. It goes on somewhat sheer and streaky with one coat. Multiple coats increase dry time, so just one coat is pictured to show the results you'll get if you're in a hurry and can only do one coat. If you do more coats for more opaque coverage you can expect the dry time to go up by several minutes, but if you stick to one coat 60-90 seconds will do it.

Sunny Side is a coral-orange color with subtle gold microglitter. I admit, I only bought it for the color name (don't ask) but I rather like it. It is like Stop Traffic in all aspects as far as application and dry time.

Glitzy Glam is a medium bright pinkish red with lots of subtle shimmer. It applies very smoothly, and is slightly sheer with 1 coat.

Foxy Lady is one of my very favorite polishes of all time. It is a beautiful coppery red. Applies very smoothly and is pretty opaque with just one coat. Maybe it's in my head because of the name of this polish, or maybe I'm just crazy... but I wear this one when I want to feel "foxy", and it does indeed help me get into that kind of mindset and mood.

I was going to wait till tomorrow to paint my nails again, but I decided to do it tonight. Really I should have waited... but... well you know me, I have no patience. So. Did it tonight. It's a design I have done before simply with different colors - I can't help it, I love this one. It's simple but so fun and pretty...

Now, it needs to be said that I did a pretty crummy job with this one. I messed up all the flowers & leaves, and the little white dots didn't quite go very well either. There's a reason for that. I painted my nails while sitting on the couch, watching the hockey game. So, I was not only distracted but not sitting in a good nail-painting place at all.

And they're bubbly. I wasn't thinking (remember, hockey = huge distraction for me) and shook my top coat. I didn't realize what I'd done until I'd already painted a couple nails, at which point I decided I might as well keep going and at least ALL my nails would be bubbly and match. I guess I'm odd that way - so many other women would probably take off the polish and start over - I simply shrug it off and consider the bubbles a fun twist to the look to make it unique.

Anywho, the hockey game is back so I'm off to watch. I'm going to be making at least one post tomorrow, quite possibly more. So be ready.