China Glaze Swatch Fest Part 1!

So it was voted on Facebook last night that I do a China Glaze swatch fest, as part of an effort to swatch every color that I own. However, I got about a third of the way through them and realized it was going to take me a while! So, I'm presenting the colors in order of their release dates based on a little research I did, because I feel it's good to know a little about when a certain color came out, or what colors it was meant to go with. This is the first third of the batch of China Glaze's I own. As a note, each color starts with a picture with flash, then a picture without flash in artificial light.

Reggae to Riches (Year Unknown), Caribbean Temptation collection: Gorgeous fuschia with blue-purple duochrome shimmer. Opaque in two coats, fantastic formula and shine, no topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

      

Fairy Dust (2004), Fashion Fairies collection: Holographic sparkly topper, full of small holographic glitter with a silvery tint. The glitter is a little thick but covers nicely. One coat over Sally Hansen White On, no topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

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Exceptionally Gifted (2006, re-release 2011), Exceptionally Gifted wedding collection, Susan G. Komen  color of 2011: Semi-sheer pink frost. Formula is okay, requires three coats for full opacity and has the streaky finish of a frost polish. No topcoat. 

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply when released for Susan G. Komen foundation.

 Lubu Heels (2007), Louboutin Manicure inspired polish: Dark black jelly with small red glitter throughout. Creates a very vampy, high fashion dark look that’s beautiful. Formula was pretty good, opaque with two thicker coats of polish and not too runny or thin. No topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

Unplugged (Spring 2008), Ecollection: Brown metallic with undertones of red tint and gold shimmer. Beautiful formula that went on smoothly and opaque in two coats, no topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

     

 Secret Peri-wink-le (Fall 2008), Operation Colour collection: Pale blue/purple cream, pretty much the color periwinkle to perfection (refer to Periwinkle from Blue’s Clues, it’s her in a bottle!). Pretty nice formula, slight running toward the cuticles and streaks with one coat, but perfectly opaque and smooth in two coats. No topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

Atlantis (2009), Specialty collection: Teal jelly base with medium holographic glitter throughout. While this color is absolutely amazing, my particular bottle’s formula is awful! It’s very thick and goopy the more you use it during the manicure, and if the first coat doesn’t dry entirely, the second coat drags. I don’t know if my bottle is older, has too much glitter, or a bad batch, because this isn’t a problem I’ve seen before. So if you are able to get your hands on this color brand new, you might be better off. One thick coat of Color Club topcoat.

Bought in a blog sale, but can be found on  e-tailers such as Amazon and eBay.

Dorothy Who? (2001, 2009 re-release), Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection: Blue jelly base with small silver glitter throughout. Can I just say I am one that is not only glad they came out with the re-release of these polishes, but that this color is now part of the regular collection? It’s such a vibrant blue, and the sparkle gives it a magical touch associated with The Wizard of Ox movies. Formula wise, this polish was decent, but it required three coats for full opacity and could use a topcoat one dry to smooth out the slight texture from the glitter. One coat Color Club topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

Ruby Pumps (2001, 2009 re-release), Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection: Red jelly base with small red glitter throughout. I feel like I put the ruby slippers on my fingers when I put this polish on, and the sparkle is mesmerizing. The formula is just as beautiful, two coats to full opacity but could use a topcoat as there is a slight texture one dry. One coat Color Club topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

Four Leaf Clover (Spring 2010), Up and Away collection: Somewhere between a kelly and mint green crème. The actual color of this polish is poorly represented by my camera. It is not nearly as blue as it looks without flash, and not nearly as mint as the picture with the flash. But the formula of this polish was fabulous, opaque in two coats, smooth, not too thick or thin. No topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

Flip Flop Fantasy (Summer 2010), Poolside collection: Bright pink-coral neon. This pink is SCREAMING at you even from the bottle, it is a perfect summer color for toes and fingers. The formula wasn’t the greatest, though, it was rather streaky and barely smoothed out with three coats (topcoat helped, though). It also has that neon tendency to dry with a matte finish. One coat China Glaze Fast Forward Topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

 Lightning Bolt and Cracked Concrete (Spring 2011), Crackle collection: Lightning Bolt is a white crackle finish, Cracked Concrete a cement-gray crackle finish. The cracks on these are generally thin, sometimes a little stringy-looking for my taste. However, they always crack on fully dry nails, even though they are starting to get slightly goopy with age. They do dry matte and leave some texture without extra coats of topcoat. One coat Color Club topcoat.

Lightning Bolt bought at Ulta on clearance.

Cracked Concrete bought at Sally Beauty Supply’s website on clearance.