Zoya - Zara

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry if my posts lately have been boring, you probably don't think they're boring but I'm worried that they seem boring! Haha. I just haven't had a lot of time to do much nail art or swatching.
Tomorrow I think I'll be trying some nail art and doing more swatches so I'll have some more fun things to show you!

For today, I'm showing you another of the polishes I got while on vacation.

This is Zoya - Zara.
Zara is a lovely purple polish with intense gold shimmer, and it was on my wishlist for a while.
However, I ended up not loving it as much as I thought I would.

Flash pictures of the polish make the base color seem much more vibrant than it really is.
Yes, in the sun, it is a beautiful, vibrant purple wit the prettiest gold shimmer ever, but when not in sun or direct light, it falls a bit flat for me.
The shade of purple is more of an "old lady" purple than I usually care for. I just like vibrant things!

This picture is more true to the purple, but still a bit light.
Don't get me wrong - it is truly lovely, but I just wish it was brighter!

I've been wearing this polish now for 4 days, without a single chip. The formula was easy to work with and it covered well in 2 coats but I added a third just for extra shimmer.
I've heard from people before that Zoya polishes do not hold up well without Zoya base and top coats, but I used it with my normal Seche Retain and Seche Vite and it is wearing just like any other good polish would.
I wore Zoya Caitlin and Dannii on vacation with no base coat and Seche Vite, and again I had no chips.
So in my case, at least, the rumors of Zoya not lasting well without the specific base/topcoat is false! I'm very pleased to learn this because there are quite a number of Zoya polishes I like and will probably feel more inclined to get now!

However - Zoya does not ship to Canada. Apparently they are working on getting the license to ship "dangerous goods" internationally, but their customer service on this matter has been crap. Inquiring about the matter in any way shape or form provides you with no answer from Zoya.

Kayla Shevonne has even reached out multiple times asking about being on their PR list to receive emails, and they have basically made no effort to accomodate her, just to put her email on a list. The form you would have to fill out requires an American address. It's a bit crazy. She even spoke to someone on the phone who could not help her. Really? An email address?
So yes, they may be trying to accomodate Canadians (and of course other countries,) but I've been pretty unimpressed thus far.

When they DO finally ship to Canada, they better have a good promotion for us! Am I right?!

(Furthermore - I bet when they do ship to Canada they will mark the correct value of the packages on the boxes, meaning if we order more than $20 worth, we'll have to pay more duties and taxes. I know they want to be legit about their shipping and stuff but come on, Milani doesn't have the license to ship and yet they let Canadians order - my $60 order came marked $10 of Art Supplies. If Milani can do it, Zoya can too.)