Zoya Carter & Tomoko Nail Lacquers Reviews, Photos, Swatches
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer ($10.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as a “regal purple.” It’s a cool-toned, medium-dark purple with pink-violet sparkle and shimmer. It has a Pixie Dust finish, so it has a matte, sparkling finish (and the sparkle always looks prettier in person than in a static image). It was mostly opaque after three thin coats of polish (I applied per Zoya’s PixieDust instructions). I felt like this one was less sparkly, though, than other shades. It seemed dull in comparison. I didn’t have anything similar to this shade in my stash, but if you’ve discovered a similar shade, please share it in the comments!
Tomoko Nail Lacquer ($10.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as a “glowing silver.” It’s a sparkling champagne beige with dark and lighter champagne sparkle. It was mostly opaque after three thin coats of polish. These are similar shades in terms of color, but the finishes are quite different as they do not have that matte, sparkling finish. Revlon Gold Coin, Illamasqua Swinger, Chanel Diwali are all a golden beige/dirty gold kind of color with frosted, metallic finishes–Diwali is slightly warmer than the other two. China Glaze I’m Not Lion is more glittery but not as opaque. See comparison swatches.
The PixieDust formula is always fun, and I like it a lot. I wasn’t as impressed by the overall sparkle effect of Carter, as it seemed weak and looked gritty rather than sparkly half of the time. Tomoko was more in line with past iterations of the finish, as it sparkled and shimmered beautifully. If you prefer a glossier finish, you can apply a top coat over both. The formula wears well, even without a top or base coat, as it doesn’t even really have tip wear; instead, it’s like it gently sands away right at the edge, but it’s so minimal that it’s not even noticeable after a week.
Carter
PPermanent. $9.00.
Tomoko
PPermanent. $9.00.
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Carter Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
Zoya Tomoko Nail Lacquer
These polishes look like they’re so much fun! The second one looks very appropriate for the holidays!
Love Tomoko! I feel like I probably own something a lot like it already though.
These type of polishes never really appealed to me until now, Tomoko is gorgeous! Since I’ve never tried anything like these, how difficult are they to remove?
They’re in-between full-on glitter and regular polish – not as hard as glitter, but it’s definitely more time consuming than regular polish!
Carter is really, really pretty.
For some reason I was expecting a more glossy finish. Which is silly, because they are textures polishes. Still, I am kind of disappointed, but I know it’s completely unlogical, lol 🙂
If you use a topcoat with them, they become glossy. It makes a pretty spectacular effect.
I see what you mean about Carter. I love the Pixie finish and this one is not quite….there. I have 8-10 of them and the finish on all is awesome. It’s too bad because that is a beautiful color!!
Wow! Zoya is beautiful! The gold one is amazing 🙂 Need to place an order for some- pity we can’t get them in South Africa :/ I’m in love! 🙂
Oooh, I bet Tomoko would work well as beachy sand in nail art, with a shiny blue ocean!
The Tomoko polish looks almost exactly like OPI’s Honey Ryder. That one is limited edition though.
They’re gorgeous! But I can only imagine how much of a pain they’d be to remove. ):
They’re a lot easier to remove than glitter nail polish.
Tomoko looks great for Christmas time!