Good lord, how is it almost September already? Well, I always say September is the perfect time to review summer collections, right? heh

I finally am getting around to reviewing summer collections (thank you new job and spending money once again), so look out for the Essie and Orly summer collections coming soon!

But today I have the China Glaze collection from summer 2017. As always, this is a 12 bottle collection, and I purchased mine off transdesign.com.

Let’s just get right into the swatches because there’s a lot of them!

First, I’m starting with the batch of polishes that dry with either a matte or a satin finish, because I was surprised to find a few of them!

Starting with the 2 neons, this first one is called ‘Sultry Solstice’, a bright warm toned neon orange. Just like any neon, this took 3 coats and was then opaque, however it pops more with a white base (which you’ll see down below). There’s still a little bit of visible nail line, but it’s subtle. It leveled itself pretty well and was pretty smooth after 3 coats.

When I first started with this polish, I got very discouraged. I wrote that this had (pardon my language), “a shitty neon formula”. See the first coat below – it was very streaky, uneven, and almost a crelly formula. But stick with it, because it saved itself on 3 coats, surprising me most of all.

And when you put a white base under it? Hot damn! (I used the white from the Sally Hansen Crayola collection). 2 coats over a white base and it’s a true neon color, just really popping off the nails. It also looks so much smoother over the white base. (I’m still not a huge fan of neons, but this is helping). As with any neon, this dries matte.

The next one, ‘Sun-Set the Mood’, is a bright pink neon. This had the exact same formula as ‘Sultry Solstice’ above. Again, a streaky crelly formula, that was good after 3 coats. This one is a little more uneven and bumpy after 3 coats, so it really needs a white base.

Bam! Over a white base it’s just so much better and smoother! Perfect for summer right? (She writes at the end of August).

Up next is a bright red cream, called ‘Flame-boyant’. This had a beautiful formula, and could be opaque on 1 thicker coat. I did 2 in the picture below. And it dries with more of a satin finish.

 

With top coat it’s just super squishy and a lovely bright red. And the best thing about this red, it wasn’t a messy removal like I was expecting! Praise Jesus! A lovely polish.

Next is a true matte of the group, ‘Sunset Seeker’. I found this dried slower than the other mattes they put out, so it was a lot easier to control, and you have more time to level it before it’s completely dry. You could get this opaque in 1 thicker coat, but I did 2 easy coats for the picture below. Like any matte, it can get bumpy if you manipulate it too much, so just paint it on and smooth it and leave it.

(Does anyone get more of a fall vibe from this? No? Just me?)

With top coat, she’s a bright shiny burnt orange. Another easy formula.

‘Summer Reign’, the namesake of the collection is a bright jewel toned shimmer. It’s like ‘Sunset Seeker’ above, with a matte formula that still gives you enough time to work with it. It has a more sheer 1st coat, but then is completely opaque in 2. It’s brighter than it appears in the bottle, and the shimmer in the bottle is more subtle on the nails.

With topcoat, that shimmer pops more, and it’s a beautiful bright purple.

The rest of the collection is creams and metallics, so they dry nice and shiny.

Up first is a dusty green cream called ‘Emerald Bae’. This can almost be 1 coat, but it’s a more runny formula, so a thicker coat can really flood the cuticles and get everywhere. I found with this one I could get too much product easily, so really make sure to wipe off the brush. This was an easy 2 coats, but as you can see in the photo, it can almost get a little bumpy and uneven as it dries – a good thick top coat will help that out. I also barely had this on my nails, and it stained a little bit, so get a good base coat.

Next up is ‘All Glammed Up’. Unf, this color. I feel like China Glaze does one of these in every collection, but I just can’t get enough of them (I’ll compare it to others in my next post).

This is a beautiful mint cream. This can be opaque in 1 coat, but a thick coat can run and flood the cuticles. I found it was easily opaque in 2 thinner coats, and was just an absolutely lovely formula. One of my favorites from the collection.

Up next is another shimmery formula, ‘I Truly Azure You’. This had a sheer, uneven formula, but was good and smoothed out after 2 coats. When I first applied that 2nd coat, I could see some visible nail line. However, if I kept manipulating it and smoothing it on the nail, I got the nail line covered and smoothed out. The shimmer is subtle but still visible on the nail.

Up next is the polish I’ve seen the most buzz about, ‘Simply Fa-blue-less’. This is a royal blue crelly formula. With that formula, there’s a sheer first coat, but it builds and deepens up nicely to make this beautiful, juicy blue color. Can be good on 2 coats, but there are still some visible nail lines. I did 3 coats for the photos, and while you can see my nail line in my bright lights, its less noticeable in regular everyday lighting. But there just seems to be a lot of depth to this polish, and well, it’s fabulous.

Up next are the 3 metallics.

The first is ‘Rosé My Name’. I described this as a “super shimmer”, bright jewel toned pink with silver shimmers. It has a smooth easy first coat, and the color and shimmer deepen with a 2nd and 3rd coat. I also found many of the brush strokes disappear on their own.

I feel like I need some pink wine with these nails.

‘Chroma Cool’ is a bright metallic silver color. This could be good on 1 coat, but I still had some uneven patches at different angles, that a 2nd coat covered up. As with any metallic, this does show brush strokes pretty well, so keep that in mind, and paint as straight as you can.

It’s such a bright silver on the nails though! Would be fun for the holidays.

Last, but certainly not least, is this soft gold metallic called ‘High Standards’. (Wearing this polish I do feel like I have high standards, thank you’. This one has less brush stroke problems, and can be good on 1 thicker goat. I did 2 for the picture below and it’s an easy smooth formula. This is a unique gold because it just feels softer and just refined.

So that’s your China Glaze summer collection! Overall, there’s a whole mix of formulas and finishes. Is it just me or does this collection not really seem cohesive? Like looking at the photo of all of them together, it looks pretty random and not at all like it’s following a theme. Hmm.

But because it’s not quite cohesive, this means you get some different finishes and many different colors to choose from! There seems to be a little bit of something in there for everyone. The formulas vary across the board, but nothing took more than 3 coats. Overall most were easy and smooth to control.

Some standouts for me are ‘All Glammed Up’, ‘Summer Reign’, and ‘Flame-boyant’ just based on their lovely formulas. From there, it’s based on your finish and color preference!

Since this post is already gosh dang long (and I wanted to get it up now), I’ll be doing a separate post soon comparing colors from this collection to colors I have in my personal stash, so look out for that!

Any stand outs from this collection for you?

 

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