PURCHASED
Each and every year, as the weather gets cooler and the days get shorter, we slowly head into my favorite season, fall and then after that, spooky season. That mystical, magical time of October, and most importantly Halloween. And every single year I sit patiently just waiting for China Glaze’s newest Halloween release.
We aren’t blessed with Halloween collections by many mainstream brands (except for a brief Essie exploration, who remembers the Blue Moon set), but China Glaze has always held up their place as the mainstream Queens of Halloween, always giving us 6 new shades without fail. These collections are usually something a little different and experimental – I mean just look at previous release Don’t Let the Dead Bite. They get a little weird, it’s always a little bold and I’m always here for it.
And this year is no different! Today we’re looking at the 2023 Halloween release, and for this season we’re inspired by our favorite ancient icon, Medusa. Who doesn’t love her and her powers of turning men into stone, I see no negatives. And that gives us ‘Serpentine’, a set of 6 sparkly and shimmery shades, all inspired by our slithering goddess. There’s a lot of deeper shimmers here, with a sort of grungy feel to them all.
As always, I bought these from my favorite, polishpick.com. They’re also available from Beyond Polish as well! (On that site, you can use my code GINGERLYPOLISHED for 10% off individual items – that’s an affiliate code so I will earn a small little amount on each purchase, as always no pressure to use it!)
Now let’s get on into these beautiful swatches already!
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We start right out with ‘Caution: Might Bite’, and it’s only fitting that we start with the perfect Halloween orange. This is a bright, almost tangerine orange shade just filled with golden shimmer. It’s just glowing on the nails, like a lit up Jack-o-Latern.
This has a great 1st coat, with smooth and even coverage. The 2nd coat builds up the color, and brightens up the look and makes it truly pop on the nails, covering any last patches. Super gorgeous!
Caution: Might Bite – Live Swatch
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Next up we have ‘Gold Hearted’ and can you guess, it’s a golden shade. But this one is much more brown toned, like an antique, almost bronze shade. It has larger golden sparkles scattered throughout, and it feels almost ancient in a way, truly perfect for our girl Medusa.
Now this is one of 3 shades in the set that I noticed has a thicker formula than normal – thicker than any of the shimmer shades we’ve seen from China Glaze. So it’s basically opaque in just 1 coat on the nails – very pigmented and very smooth. That thicker formula doesn’t make it unworkable at all, in fact, just helps control it on the nails and makes it very easy to get even coverage. I just wanted to note it, so you’re ready for it upon swatching.
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Next up we have ‘Madam Medusa’. This is another one that feels ancient and mythological, you know. It’s a deeper olive green shimmer shade, filled with those same scattered larger gold sparkles.
Again, this one has that thicker shimmer formula, same as the shade above. Not unworkable, but you can just feel that thickness as you’re painting it on. So it’s very pigmented and practically opaque in just 1 coat. It’s even and easy to control on the nails and smooth all around.
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‘Fall From Grace’ shifts away from that smooth shimmer formula for a more scattered sparkle finish. It’s a deep navy blue jelly base filled with blue and purple sparkles all throughout.
It’s definitely the most sheer of the bunch, being a tinted jelly base filled with a dense sparkle. But that dense glitter does build up well with 2 coats – though I did add a 3rd coat to cover any last patches or unevenness, specifically at the end of my nails. Overall it was easy to paint on, and that jelly base fills in any gaps, and smooths out the texture – I didn’t notice any “sandiness” as it dried.
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This next shade’s name really drives home the theme, and it’s one of my favorites. This is ‘Ssslither’ and it’s a deep dark brown base that can almost look black in certain lighting. It’s filled with a subtle holographic shimmer all throughout, and it just feels like I’m exploring through some deep creepy woods, you get me.
And this was the last of the 3 shades that had that thicker shimmer formula. So again, practically opaque in just 1 coat, though of course for every swatch I always do at least 2 coats. The thicker formula makes it smooth and very easy to paint onto the nails.
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And last up we have ‘Pantheon Goddess’, the perfect name for our Queen, Medusa. This shade is super interesting and almost hard to describe. This is a pearly and shifty off-white, almost gray base filled with a silvery green to purple shimmer. Unique overall and it just feels magical on the nails.
This was a touch sheer, so I did have some unevenness and patches on the 1st coat. But a 2nd coat easily covered and made it all fully opaque – and really brought out that gorgeous shiftiness. Now, since it is a more frosty, pearly finish, you can see there are visible brushstrokes. So I suggest painting as straight as possible, or if you’re really looking for that smooth finish, sponging on a final coat + a top coat will really make it look like a pearl.
Pantheon Goddess – Live Swatch
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And that’s the set! I always love China Glaze’s Halloween collections, and I always appreciate that they give us these spooky seasonal releases each year. I think these shades all fit so well with the Medusa theme, and I had no issues with formulas. We just had some thicker shimmers – but that just made the shades more pigmented and smooth. I can’t complain!
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Upcoming Posts
Glam Polish Addams Family collection • Zoya Enamored Fall 2023 • ILNP Fright Night Halloween 2023 • Orly Breathable Spice It Up Fall/Winter 2023 • Mooncat Underworld collection
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