Limited Edition Zoya Matte Velvet Collection

Wow. Just... wow. These are even better than I had hoped for.

Zoya's MatteVelvet Collection for Fall 2009.

Dovima. Matte black shimmer. This is super matte. Much more than I had anticipated. I LOVE IT. It's so sexy and industrial looking. The shimmer keeps it interesting, it really reminds me of rocks or granite. That's what it is! Granite! Or perhaps graphite. This shade of black is also a little bit lighter. I wouldn't call it grey, but it's not a deep, saturated black either.


Loredana. Matte grey shimmer. Again, super matte. Not even a hint of shine here! This is a medium charcoal/grey- it reminds me of unpolished metal. Or frozen concrete. This is going to look amazing with all the clothes you wear during fall. I don't normally coordinate my outfits with my polish, but this makes me want to wear a black turtleneck.


Posh. Matte red velvet shimmer. This is posh, indeed. It reminds me of antique and expensive Victorian furniture, red velvet and satin fabrics, sophisticated but almost a little spooky. If dracula was a chick, he'd wear this. I am not a red-lover by any stretch of the imagination, but I am infatuated with Posh. I can't get over how insanely beautiful it is. It looks like every nail is covered in red stain fabric.


And, because I couldn't resist... I added some Seche Vite to see what they look like glossy.

Dovima. Ridiculously sparkly.

Loredana. This looks like it's filled with broken glass!



Posh. Look at that depth! It's even more complex than I thought it would be!

The formula on these is perfect. Some of the best matte formula I've ever used. It's smooth and not too thick- a lot of mattes tend to be as thick as glue, but these aren't. They're really opaque- Posh only needs one coat and Dovima could use one thick coat, but I did two coats on all just to be safe. They dry lightning fast. They were dry before I even started snapping pictures. I did have some staining from Posh, but it stained my skin and not my nails.

Since mattes are quite different than normal polish, I think it's wise to give a few application tips. Here's how you should apply mattes:

Start with a lot of polish on the brush- enough to do the entire nail plus a little extra to keep the brush wet. Fan out the bristles at the base of the nail and then in one smooth motion, 'push' the excess polish toward the free edge (this will remove the excess polish from the nail and leave it on the brush). You want to try to cover your entire nail in as few strokes as possible. Zoya's brush lets me cover my entire nail in one stroke if I fan the bristles, but if you have larger nails you may need to do two.

This does start to dry as you're applying it, so the faster you can work, the better. Be mindful of creating a smooth, even surface because the matte finish will show any flaws in application. This is why I recommend starting with lots of polish and using only one to two strokes.

Honestly, I was expecting these to be good, but not quite as good as they are. I was expecting them to be more of a satin matte or semi-matte, but these are REALLY matte. I have not had them long enough to determine how well they wear or how basecoat effects them, but I'll be testing them out all week.

I'm just positively thrilled with these. I love mattes a whole lot. I think they're edgy, sexy, mysterious, bad-ass and a little masculine. They're non-traditional. They fit me. I am extremely happy that Zoya and other companies have decided to do mattes. They're also great for men, and I've heard from a couple polish-wearing dudes that the matte finish is easier for them to wear.

These are limited edition, but I don't know exactly how limited. They're not officially released until July 1st, but they're available now for pre-order on Zoya.com.

Thank you, Zoya. You've made this matte-lover very happy.