Up first is Blaze. Blaze is a berry red with holographic microglitter. As you can see in the below photos the microglitter in Blaze pulls red, pink and purple. The fact that this doesn't show the silvery shades we are used to with holographic glitter gives is a 'lit from within' feel. The formula was easy to work with and opaque in two coats.
Aurora is a red toned purple with holographic microglitter. The holographic effect in this is much more obvious than my camera could capture. It's a real stunner. The formula on Aurora was easy to work with and fully opaque in two coats. Magenta and red-toned purples are my favorite, so this is a definite win for me.
Next up is Electra. Electra is made up of holographic bar glitter in a clear base. To be completely honest, I'm not the biggest fan of bar glitter but I really fell for Electra. Electra reminds me of the tinsel that my grandmother used to put on the tree at Christmastime when I was a child. This gives off a real holiday feel. The glitter is dense and this I was able to get it opaque in three coats. (The photos below do not have top coat) The formula was easy to work with and there was no fishing for glitter or having to move it around the nail to get it even. Electra is also more holographic than my camera could capture.
Ziv is a gold foil with tiny gold glitter pieces and a touch of silver. I was a little unsure how this would work on my skin tone (NW15 with some redness in my hands) but it's beautiful. After seeing this in person and getting to wear it I really do think that this would be flattering on all skin tones. The first coat went on a bit sheer but it was fully opaque with the second coat. The formula on Ziv was also very easy to work with.
Oh, Logan. Where do I begin? Logan is a b-e-a-utiful emerald green foil with a touch of gold fleck and teal. It's gorgeous in the bottle but it completely blew me away once on my nails. I have a few greens in my stash that I thought might have been comparable but once I took a closer look I don't have anything in my stash of 800-900 bottles quite like Logan. The formula was super easy to work with and it was fully opaque in two coats. If I was more careful, I feel that I would have been able to get away with one coat of Logan.
Last but not least, Storm. I was not expecting to fall in love with Storm the way I did. I thought this would be another black with holographic glitter, but something about Storm really won me over. Storm has a black jelly base with dense holographic glitter (the same holographic glitter as Aurora). It's extremely shiny even without a top coat, and a second layer does not make all of the holographic glitter in the first coat completely disappear. The formula was easy to work with and it was fully opaque in two coats. Storm is much more holographic in real life, my camera wasn't able to capture just how holographic this really was.
Overall, I'm super impressed with the Ornate collection. I wore Blaze and Logan for two days each without any chips (I topped them with Zoya-friendly Out The Door, skip Seche Vite with Zoya polishes as it seems to pull and cause shrinkage). The formula on each polish was easy to work with and the dry time was fast.
I recommend the entire collection, but if you are on a budget I would say that Blaze, Aurora, Logan and Storm are must haves. If you are a holo lover, the holos would be a fantastic addition to your collection. If you are a green girl (as I am) don't think twice about picking up Logan as you won't be disappointed.
The Ornate collection can be purchased as a set for $48 or individually for $8 USD from Zoya's website.
Has anyone already purchased any of the Ornate collection polishes? Does anyone plan to? Since swatching these I'm in the mood for the holidays. I'm ready to skip over Halloween and maybe Thanksgiving (we'll stop at Black Friday!) and get ready for Christmas lol ;)
The products featured in this post were sent for my honest review.
Happy birthday Catherine!!!
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with Blaze. I need him in my life!
Thank you! You definitely need Blaze ;)
DeleteHappy birthday!! <3
ReplyDeleteand Aurora and Blaze are insane, i loooove them.
Thank you!! <3
DeleteThey are insanely amazing!
Happy birthday :) Sorry you have to go to work....
ReplyDeleteI really love Aurora. I think I NEED it :P.
Thank you!!
DeleteI recommend Aurora, that's for sure ;)
Happy birthday! This entire collection is amazing. I pretty much want all of them. Aurora is my fave though.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Aurora is such a stunner, definitely one of my absolute favorites :)
DeleteGORGEOUS!!! And happy birthday, beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOooo the Ornate collection is a great one to show off for your birthday! Hope you have a great day! Are you going to be sporting a birthday mani?
ReplyDeleteThank you!! My birthday mani was HITS Aphrodite, it was a present from my bestie so I wanted it to be my birthday mani. :)
DeleteThese are beautiful, and I can't wait to try mine! Happy pre-birthday. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I can't wait for you to try them either ;)
DeleteHappy Birthday!!!! Thank you so much for gorgeous swatches!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! :)
DeleteI just got my Zoya order end of last week. Auora and Blaze are killing me with how pretty they are and different from what I have (that's hard to do because I have collected for eons)...I did not think I would like the bar glitter one because they looked very long and quite thick in the over all bottle...I did not like either of those features of Zoya's last yrs bar glitters at holiday. They had the same issues with too long and my nails looked hairy when I got them on. Have to say, I love the color in this bar glitter - it really shines out...the bars have amazing rainbow holo going on. I also got lucky and was among those who got the 3 piece 18kt Zoya kit...love it. I did not need the Raven (black) nor the white as have them both and others like them...but when the price point for all these 18kt have been so high, it was just a token thing to toss in the black and white I felt. I can always gift those 2. I wished that Logan had true holo in it like Auora and Blaze - but still I love the fact it's not too gold foiled into it that it turns green/gold when your nails hit one way in the light. It's really green and it's not too dark of green yet not totally a Christmas green like last holiday Zoya was...I can see wearing Logan more than St. Patty's day and Christmas season. Over all I think this is the best holiday set out there - though there are a few stunners in the OPI Skyfall collection - I don't think of these OPI holiday movie tie in collections as a holiday collection anymore - sad - like to see OPI return to a true holiday collection. I also am with you - recommend the entire collection - but on a budget at least get Aurora and Blaze (or just Aurora) and then either Storm or Logan depending on how tight the budget is and your lean toward black vs. green polish...I cannot say Blaze is really into the reds that most think of as red - it's so complex with fuchsia - red-raspberry it's not totally red - But Aurora is in the magenta purple family I clearly would say. Happiest of B'days to you! Thanks for all you do here! So enjoy looking and reading.
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you very much! I appreciate it! Thank you for always taking the time to comment :) I was actually shocked with how much I liked Electra since I'm not one for bar glitter. I didn't find them long or thick, and any that hung over the edge of my nails I just pushed back while my nails were still wet. I don't have any of the bar glitter polishes from last year's Zoya collections. The 3 pc Zoya kit with 18kt looks amazing! I really like how the gold flakes are larger in the Zoya than some of the other competitors. Logan would look amazing with holographic glitter, that's for sure. It's still a stunner and it may be in my top favorites (if I have to pick, of course). I haven't picked up any of the Skyfall polishes; when I saw them at Ulta I wasn't really blown away. I may have to go look at them again ;)
DeleteI will definitely be on the look out for these!
ReplyDeleteI hope you had an *amazing* birthday! Even with going to work and all (booooooo ;p).
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this collection. These are some great shades for the winter holidays, but they're not so themed that they wouldn't totally work all year 'round. And I am absolutely going to have go get Blaze--you're so right, it looks totally, incredibly luminous!