Collection: Zoya 2015 Summer, Paradise Sun
Aphrodite is described by Zoya as a “vibrant summer red with a micronized pearl metallic finish and multi-hued flash”.
This is a lovely, slightly warm-toned (but not tomato-y) red jelly with red shimmer/microglitter flakes, an appropriately romantic shade named for the Greek goddess of love. It was also a massive pain in the butt to photograph, so I apologize for my swatch. In real life, the fine, glittery flakes are much more prominent on the nail, and the finish looks more like the way it looks in the bottle (though not that glittery).
I’m afraid that in sunlight, I also didn’t see much of a “multi-hued flash” at all: just tomato-red sparkles. Don’t get me wrong: it’s lovely! But I don’t quite see what Zoya does.
As you can tell, you can the glitter in the swatch is barely visible! It is actually there, though.
I have to say that while Aphrodite and Isa are both pretty, finish-wise I greatly prefer China Glaze’s glass fleck finish (like in Señorita Bonita). It’s sparklier and livelier than Zoya’s “micronized pearl metallic”.
Application is lovely, as is typical for Zoya, and the polish is fully opaque in two coats. The polish dries to a nice, glossy shine.
Zoya Professional Lacquer retails for US$9 and is 0.5 US fl oz / 15 mL. Zoya nail polishes are free of toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and camphor, and are made in the USA.
Zoya is part of Art of Beauty, a privately held company based in Cleveland, OH, USA.
fivezero 
I love how fine the glitters are in this line. The white is my fave
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Oh I bet it looks great in the white! 🙂
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Zoya and I aren’t on friendly terms. I may have to try one of the few colours that I’ve kept a few darker vampy shades like Yasmeen and Casey to see if the formula works better for me now.
I really like the look of glass flecks – can you recommend some shades from China Glaze with a glass fleck finish?
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I hope you’ll try your Zoyas again…maybe it’s a base/top coat compatibility problem? I have heard this issue from others, too. Bit of an odd one!
I actually don’t have too many of the newer ChG glass flecks, but the older ones are phenomenal! The ones from the Tequila Toes collection are probably my faves (It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere, Drinkin’ My Blues Away). Running in Circles from the Cirque du Soleil collection is also great.
Especially for you, though: http://pinpointpolish.blogspot.ca/2012/06/fast-track-china-glaze.html
I have this one but it’s untried.
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LMAO are you serious about Fast Track? You must have missed it on my Back-up worthy post:
https://stashmatters.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/back-up-worthy-items/
😛 I love how you know me all too well. I’m so predictable!
So you’d consider that a glass fleck? Ok, I thought they would be larger shimmers.
Yes I’m going to retry my Zoyas with different base & top coats to see if they perform better.
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Ahahhaha! You know, I think I saw that you had this as backup worthy…it must have been in my subconscious. 😀
I haven’t actually tried it myself, so I was relying on others defining it as a glass fleck. But yes, generally the glass flecks use smaller particles, so they’re not full-on crazy glitters.
I hope you get the Zoyas to work for you!
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Red colour itself is great on its own and that too with glitters – fabulous.https://lifestylebites3.wordpress.com
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I love reds in general 🙂 Pretty hard for me to say no to one!
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That is true.
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You can see the flash and glitter in the bottle but not so much on the nail!
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It’s defininitely there in real life. Camera just would NOT pick it up on the nail! No comprende 😦
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I love this shade! It’s been way too long since I’ve used a good red on my nails. I’m definitely going to sport them in the fall. I love Zoya nail polish and have a few of them but I don’t remember their names lol. 🙂
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Yes, I’ve been neglecting red, too. Shame on me!
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Red is so classic and classy! 🙂
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Livelier – that’s a good word for it. It’s always a bummer when a polish doesn’t quite live up to its promise.
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Agreed! It’s not that this was bad, because it’s still really pretty. Just didn’t quite live up to the promise.
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Do you buy your Zoya polishes online, or in stores? I have never seen them anywhere in stores in Canada
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I occasionally see them at Winners (who seem to have recently got a shipment of them because I picked up a whole bunch of mostly discontinued ones last week!) for about $6.99. I feel like I’ve seen them at Trade Secrets, but I could be wrong.
Generally I buy mine directly from Zoya.com, when they’re running a special. The additional shipping charge to Ontario, for me, is just under US$9, but when they run a sale + free shipping then that works out OK, to me!
Nailpolishcanada also sells Zoya online, but it’s a bit pricier. HTH!
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We don’t have a Trade Secrets in BC 😥 Maybe I have actually seen them at Winners…
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Hmm, your best bet might be to check out various salons and beauty supply shops in your area!
I looked at Zoya’s store finder, but it looks like there aren’t any BC shops that are listed. http://www.zoya.com/content/salon/
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