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Before I started blogging, I’d already been reading a lot of American nail blogs for a long period of time. A common theme seemed to be begging manufacturers to bring back certain much loved but discontinued shades. Clarins 230, OPI Rainforest, Essie Starry Starry Night spring immediately to 
mind as the polishes that any lacquer addict would gratefully have in their collection. Interestingly, I read that a bottle of 230 recently went for over $240 on US eBay. *shakes head*
The first to bow to the pressure to re-release a much wanted polish was Nars. Always a favourite of mine, I own more Nars eyeshadows than I care to mention right now (although I have a post planned on this) and so I was thrilled to see that they listened to nail polish fan’s catcalls to bring this back.
Getting hold of it still wasnt easy – I had to order it from Nars.co.uk as I wasnt able to locate it anywhere in London (as some friends will testify after I dragged them to every Nars counter in the West End back in October). Ironically, Nars.co.uk ships from outside the UK – go figure.
So here it is – new Zulu. A real devil to photograph. I was worried about the
application of this as many people complain about Nars polish and how it goes on. I know there is a bit of a “technique” to applying Nars eyeshadows but I genuinely have never had a problem applying their polish. What you see here is two coats. The first was streaky, the second was fine.
It does look a little bit lighter around the cuticles than the rest of it but I find its sometimes hard to get the coats to line up exactly. But I don’t think I did a bad job. As with previous Nars polish I’ve tried, there were no chips, but the tipwear was obvious and making me itch by the end of the first day. Not the best value for money.
What do you think? Were you pleased that this came back? I’m glad I got 
hold of it and it’s definitely the kind of green I can happily wear – I like how it is blackened but still maintains its greenish hue in all lights.
Did you campaign for the return of Zulu? Did you nab it second time around? What other polishes do you wish companies would bring back?
Helen
I was never really concerned about whether this was brought back or not. It’s nice, but I don’t think it’s special enough to make all that fuss about. Also, I think there are plenty of similar shades.
I ended up getting the new NARS Zulu when I was on holiday in Florida, and imo – it wasn’t worth the $17 I paid for it. IDK if it was just my bottle or something, but oh my god the application drives me INSANE. Patchy as hell, each coat takes forever to dry, and I usually end up putting on 4 coats just to cover the patchy bits… I love the colour but it actually drives me insane.
I find this to be one of the hardest polishes ever to apply! The few times Ive actually got a decent application, Ive loved it, but it drives me mad trying to get the decent application!
Also like you it always looks unever near my cuticles. I just think theres no going around that with this polish. Its a pain in the bum! but a lovely colour.
I opted for Illamasqua Rampage which is a tad less ‘black’ and I’m very happy with it. No Zulus for me…
When I first stubmled upon the np blogs & MUA board it seemed like the Nars Zulu madness was at its peak. I was amazed and somewhat sucked into it all so when the re-release came out I had to almost pysically restrain myself from ordering it from the web. Finally, I managed to convince myself it wasn’t worth the money, the colour is gorgeous but application seemed to be ‘unreliable’ and even swatches by np gurus looked a bit streaky. Reading the comments here just confirms that, so a beautiful, unique polish, but not for me.
Well I got sucked into the furor. I bought two bottles from the website. Also a few more. I haven’t used it yet! I love the color and sure hope I don’t have so many problems. Looks gorgeous on you.
Andrea – You are right – there are a lot of similar shades – I think Nails Inc do one actually.
Steph & Jo – My bottle was ok but I totally know what you mean. My little finger was three coats but the rest only took two. Strange.
Jenni – I saw your pics of Rampage and it is lovely. One that I still don’t own!
Cali – A sensible decision. I can’t see that this is one I’m going to be reaching for on a regular basis – it’s more of a trophy really.
Lucy – two bottles! Wow! I have to say, I bought MASH as well and I have high hopes for it. None of the others tempted me.