Zoya Color Lock System Review

Zoya Color Lock System (plus cat)

Before I start this long overdue review, I do want to apologize for the lack of posts around here. EK and I are once again preparing for a competition, this time it's the North American National Championships. So we're having lots of practices, while also working, and we're generally exhausted the rest of the time.

I expected a LOT from the Zoya Color Lock System (seen above with my kitty, who refused to move). In case you don't know, the Color Lock System includes Zoya Remove+ (a remover and nail prep), two base coats (Anchor and Get Even), a top coat (Armor), drying drops (Hurry Up), and polish restoring drops (Renew) for when your old polish gets all thick and gross.

Zoya Adina on Day One of my Color Lock System test

Now just as some background here, I know some people have problems with the wear of Zoya polishes, but certain base coats can not be used with Zoya polish. They contain an ingredient that makes the polish chip and wear horribly. When you find the right base coats, Zoya polishes last for ages. I once wore Zoya Harley with NO base coat and NO top coat and it was chip-free for FIVE days. A small amount of tip wear was present on the fifth day, but not too offensive. So this is why I expected big things from the Color Lock System.

I started out swiping each nail with Remove+. Then I applied one coat of Get Even ridge-filling base coat. Next, I applied two coats of Zoya Adina and one coat of Armor top coat. A few minutes later, I applied the Hurry Up drying drops. I believe I followed the directions exactly.

So here is my problem- the whole thing took so stinking long to dry that I ruined every nail on my right hand and messed up a few on my swatching hand before my nails were dry!!! I even applied the drying drops two more times, but they didn't seem to help at all! I waited an hour and 45 minutes before doing anything with my hands and still proceeded to ruin my nails. I know that to get a mani to last, you need to follow all the steps and wait for it to dry, but I don't have that kind of time to sit around doing nothing! So the polish doesn't look too hot in the Day One picture.

Zoya Adina with Color Lock System after four days of wear

By day four, I had a big piece of polish that had chipped off of my nail on the cuticle side, not even a chip from the tip. I don't know how that happens. I also had quite a bit of tip wear. More tip wear than I had when I wore Zoya Harley with no base coat and no top coat. So honestly, between the ridiculous drying time and the fact that I don't even think this made my polish wear very well, I'm not impressed with this system at all. I'll give it another try sometime, but I'm not looking forward to sitting around for 2+ hours waiting for it to dry. This is NOT a must-have at all. Please give me my Seche.

Zoya Adina with Color Lock System after four days of wear, with flash

Zoya Color Lock System and Zoya Adina are available online at Art of Beauty.

The Zoya Color Lock System was sent to me by a PR representative for Art of Beauty. For more information, please see our Disclosure Policy.