REVIEW of China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Running in Circles

Hello baubles,

I wanted to write you this review before you started taking all the ornaments down but unfortunately things didn't quite work out that way. Blah blah, life. Blah blah, excuses. I've been testing. I just haven't been writing the reviews. Let's set out to remedy that immediately by just jumping into this review of China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Running in Circles. I picked this up on sale from cherryculture.

Color: Running in Circles is a festive, sparkly green foil polish. Photographs don't always tell the whole story. I find this polish flashy but not too overwhelming. It's that depth of green that's just a shade or two lighter than a jewel tone emerald but not so bright that it'll blind you. I would be wary about wearing this in a more conservative work or school environment though. It's also a bit thin and glittery as foils go but after I got it to full opacity there was no way I wasn't calling this one a foil.
Formula: This China Glaze polish definitely has a thinner formula whether you're comparing it to glitter polishes, cremes, foils, or even other China Glaze polishes.
Application: The first coat of this polish went on smoothly but not evenly. Because the polish is so sheer it's not thick enough for you to smooth it out into an even coat of lacquer. It was already very glittery in one coat but I felt like more glitter was being deposited that color from the base liquid of the polish. The second coat also went on smoothly. Again, the polish was glittery but still quite sheer. With the third coat I was still getting visible nail line and the polish was nowhere near opaque. I added a fourth coat of polish which I am always loathe to do. I think there was a slight improvement but the polish was still not capable of blocking light. The decision between three and four coats is really up to you as it made a difference but not a monumental one.
Applying the polish with my non-dominant hand, the experience was pretty similar though the polish was a bit more streaky on the first coat and the manicure was a little less even and opaque overall.

CONCLUSION: It's such a beautiful festive green foil that I would recommend it if you're looking for something fun for the holidays or for a special occasion. However, it is quite sheer and that does get annoying so I won't say that this is one you need to have in your collection. But if you don't mind the lack of opacity, application isn't too much trouble and you might still be able to find it on sale somewhere. Personally, I'm glad I didn't pay full retail for it.

SWATCHES

REVIEW of China Glaze Holographic Nail Lacquer in OMG a UFO

Hello earthlings!

I picked up this polish in a recent Cherry Culture haul and I couldn't resist trying it soon after it came in the mail.

Color: OMG a UFO is a green holo polish. I don't know exactly how to describe this shade of green. Swampy? Mossy? Khaki? It's a kind of pretty ugly color like a mix between Butter London Dosh and Essie Sew Psyched. It's like a more muted version of Sephora by OPI Leaf Him at the Altar with more yellow. Needless to say, I love it. These kinds of colors are very flattering for the yellow undertones in my skin. If you're not afraid of color, I think this is a really wearable look. The holo isn't crazy intense and as long as your workplace or school isn't really conservative I think this is a nice option. A little fun but not too distracting. The holo effect comes out in direct bright sunlight and under artificial light at night. However, it disappears in dim sunlight, shade, or indoors when it's not night. I have no idea why. When the holo effect disappears, the polish still has more depth than your typical shimmer but it's considerably less special.
Formula: The polish wasn't notably thin or thick.
Application: The first coat went on smoothly though I did have to even out the polish a bit. The brushstrokes were kind of visible but nowhere near as bad as a frost. I could see the rainbow shimmer typical of holos even in the coat but oddly this polish loses shine as it dries. I haven't tried a ton of China Glaze polishes and I found the brush which is on the long and skinny side to be a little unwieldy. Nothing outlandish, but it wasn't my favorite brush to work with. The second coat also went on smoothly though I had to even out the polish a little more. At two coats this polish still failed a light test which reveals that the coats didn't apply evenly. I added a third coat of polish for more opacity. At three coats the polish wasn't 100% opaque but I wouldn't go over three coats unless you're really a perfectionist. I applied Seche Vite to every nail but my left pointer fingernail. There was a little less shine but no change in the holo effect. I don't think you can really see any difference in the photos.
As for the paint job with my nondominant hand, I had a bit more trouble evening the polish out but it was far from a mess. The polish wasn't thick or gloopy. It just didn't even out the way I wanted it to. But it was thin enough that there weren't thick overlapping brushstrokes. I think part of the problem (other than the formula of the polish) was that the brush was a little too soft to effectively smooth out the polish. The results were OK but not perfect.
Wear: I wore this polish for six days. I experienced a little tip wear but nothing major.

CONCLUSION: If you like these kinds of colors and can find this polish on sale, I would recommend it. Application isn't perfect but it's manageable. The polish is a little sheer but looks fine on the nail at three coats. This wasn't a perfect, out of this world polish but I'm happy to have it in my collection.

If you would like to help support this site please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through one of the affiliate links on my site. It doesn't matter what you purchase. As long as you get to amazon through one of my links, I will get a small percentage of the revenue at no extra cost to you. It really helps me out and I appreciate it greatly.

SWATCHES

REVIEW of China Glaze Elephant Walk

Hi chickadees!

This is my first China Glaze polish. The brand isn't as readily available near me and there are already so many other nail polish brands that are right there in the drugstore, I could never bring myself to order a color that seemed easy to dupe from amazon or ebay. Anyway, I was out in California recently and I was able to stop into an Ulta where I picked up 3 China Glaze polishes. Elephant Walk is the first one I decided to try as it's really the one I wanted the most of the three that I bought.

Color: Elephant Walk is a warm gray creme polish with hidden shimmer. Gray is difficult to describe as it's more of a shade/tone than a color. If it helps, I would say it's in the middle of the spectrum between something light like Zoya Dove and something dark like Essie Power Clutch. I think gray polish is automatically going to look more chic than most other colors. The shimmer is really not apparent unless you're looking at the polish under a strong light source about a foot from your face. But the shimmer is pretty when you can see it.
Formula: The formula wasn't particularly thick or thin but it was difficult to work with.
Application: Since this was my first China Glaze polish, I paid extra attention to each stage of application. The first coat was very streaky but first coats may not be great even for the best formulas. The second coat was still streaky. The third coat and top coat managed to even out most of the streaks though I did have a nail that I was beyond saving that I had to do over. However, the polish was thick enough that you could definitely see where the brush strokes overlapped at the base of the nail, especially when I painted my nails with my nondominant hand.
Wear: And here is where I decided I hated this polish. I painted the nails on my left hand on 2/2 and the nails on my right hand on 2/3. On 2/4, I had crazy tip wear on all of my nails and a big chip on one of the nails on my right hand. That's right, a day later I had a chip. And in case that wasn't bad enough, my polish never chips. Seriously, except for slight tip wear and growth at the nail beds, I could wear the same polish for weeks without any chipping.

CONCLUSION: Elephant Walk is a nice color and the formula is relatively manageable though it is somewhat hard to work with and I had to deal with a lot of streakyness and overlap. But my biggest problem is how quickly it started to chip. So no, I would not recommend this polish.

SWATCHES