Zoya Neeka

Exactly one month ago today (AND on our blog's 100th post!) I showed you Zoya Yara that I picked up during Zoya's last big promotion.  They were giving away two free polishes with a purchase, and lucky me - I needed a new bottle of Remove +!  My second free polish that I chose was the ever-so-popular, Neeka.

Neeka is a smokey, eggplant purple with large, irregular gold shimmer, and super fine pink shimmer.  The finish is similar to Yara, but the gold flecks aren't quite as pronounced.  It dries a good shade or two darker than the bottle color, but I was totally fine with that.  The finished product is beautiful, but I'd say these photos show it a little bluer than it is (Suprise, surprise, right?).  The formula was perfect - definitely the best Zoya I've ever worked with.  It's super pigmented, but still easy to clean up.  I'm showing you two coats below.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Neeka is probably hands-down the fan favorite from the Smoke and Mirrors collection.  While it's really beautiful, I just really wasn't wowed by it.  I don't know if I just can't get over my supreme love of Yara, or if it just reminded me too much of RBL Catherine.  Speaking of Catherine, here's a quick comparison of the two:

(L) Zoya Neeka, (R) RBL Catherine

Certainly not dupes, but maybe...kissing cousins?  Neeka is lighter in color and the gold shimmer particles are much larger.  Strangely enough, now that I've worn both I can say that somehow the smaller shimmer in Catherine shows up better on the nail.  I think Neeka's smokey base is the culprit.  They're different enough to own both, but you may be able to satisfy any lingering Catherine lemmings with Neeka, for less than half the price.

Bottom line?  I love Neeka, but I'm not in love.  Yara is the star of the show for me from that collection, and she already stole my heart.  I still more than recommend Neeka, especially if you don't already own RBL Catherine.  Zoya really knows how to put together a great collection, and they did it again this fall. :-)