Another 2011 summer collection! I know, I'm not even done with the spring collections... But these were just so pretty and sparkly looking, I had to try them on... China Glaze Island Escape!
108 Degrees. A glorious glass fleck, the way only China Glaze can do them. The base of the color is a warmer magenta jelly while the glass fleck shimmer is a cooler toned pink and violet duochrome with a little hint of gold. Definitely brings back memories of their old glass fleck polishes... Doesn't this seem like a cousin to the classic China Glaze It's 5 o'clock Somewhere?
Blue Iguana. Another gorgeous glass fleck. This one is a medium/borderline light blue jelly base with a turquoise blue glass fleck and a tiny hint of purple duochrome. The duochrome is really more like a purple reflection- the polish looks blue, but when there's a reflection on the shiny surface, it's purple. Again, reminiscent of those great old China Glaze glass flecks like Drinkin' My Blues Away and Martini Pedicure.
Cha Cha Cha. A bright, glowy, yellow toned apple green and gold duochrome shimmer. Wow... Another flashback! Don't you think this is in the spirit of China Glaze Moonpool? Sure, it's brighter and less olivey, but still has such a similar theme. It's less frosty, so that's good.
Electric Pineapple. A yellow-green creme. I think this is my least favorite of the collection. It's not a bad color, but it looks bland next to all the other shades. It's really similar in color to Zoya Mitzi- it's about a shade lighter and not matte finish, but the shades are similar.
Papaya Punch. I might like this one even more than the glass flecks! It's a medium bright orange creme. It's not a neon and it's not too bright, it still has a little bit of softness to it. It reminds me of the fake cheese powder in boxed macaroni and cheese. I've said the same thing about Color Club Explosive... this is less yellow than that and not as bright.
Senorita Bonita. A red-toned purple with awesome pink shimmer. This was really hard to capture... that pink shimmer doesn't want to show up in pictures! But it's so so so pretty. Might need to enlarge the picture to see it. I think it shows up on my ring finger pretty well in this picture. The shimmer isn't glass fleck like the other colors, it's actually tiny little broken flakes of red-pink foil. Not chunky or glittery at all. Smooth. This color has a lot of depth and even a small amount of gold duochrome on the shimmer flakes. You have to see this one in person.
The formula on these was okay. They're a bit thicker than I expected. They didn't apply as evenly as some of the more recent China Glaze shades, but they weren't particularly troublesome. I might thin mine. Opacity was varied, but good. The cremes and Cha Cha Cha were good in two coats, but I thought the others looked best with three. I'm wearing three coats in all these pictures. No topcoat, either- see how shiny they dry without topcoat? Drying time was good as well.
You know what I like about this collection? It has echoes of past shades. And not random ones, either... Good ones. Ones that we all love and covet. It's like China Glaze is giving a nod to their longtime fans by including memories of some of their best discontinued shades in this collection. There are no direct copies or re-releases, but the similarity is obvious. Love them for that.
Overall, small but strong collection. The colors are WAY better in real life than they were in the promo pictures. The only weak point to me is Electric Pineapple because it doesn't have the same oomph as the rest of the shades. It's just kinda... meh. But the rest get two thumbs up from me, especially Papaya Punch. Love the sparkle and depth of the glass flecks, the flaky shimmer in Senorita Bonita and the brightness of the collection as a whole.
(These were sent to me for review.)
108 Degrees. A glorious glass fleck, the way only China Glaze can do them. The base of the color is a warmer magenta jelly while the glass fleck shimmer is a cooler toned pink and violet duochrome with a little hint of gold. Definitely brings back memories of their old glass fleck polishes... Doesn't this seem like a cousin to the classic China Glaze It's 5 o'clock Somewhere?
Blue Iguana. Another gorgeous glass fleck. This one is a medium/borderline light blue jelly base with a turquoise blue glass fleck and a tiny hint of purple duochrome. The duochrome is really more like a purple reflection- the polish looks blue, but when there's a reflection on the shiny surface, it's purple. Again, reminiscent of those great old China Glaze glass flecks like Drinkin' My Blues Away and Martini Pedicure.
Cha Cha Cha. A bright, glowy, yellow toned apple green and gold duochrome shimmer. Wow... Another flashback! Don't you think this is in the spirit of China Glaze Moonpool? Sure, it's brighter and less olivey, but still has such a similar theme. It's less frosty, so that's good.
Electric Pineapple. A yellow-green creme. I think this is my least favorite of the collection. It's not a bad color, but it looks bland next to all the other shades. It's really similar in color to Zoya Mitzi- it's about a shade lighter and not matte finish, but the shades are similar.
Papaya Punch. I might like this one even more than the glass flecks! It's a medium bright orange creme. It's not a neon and it's not too bright, it still has a little bit of softness to it. It reminds me of the fake cheese powder in boxed macaroni and cheese. I've said the same thing about Color Club Explosive... this is less yellow than that and not as bright.
Senorita Bonita. A red-toned purple with awesome pink shimmer. This was really hard to capture... that pink shimmer doesn't want to show up in pictures! But it's so so so pretty. Might need to enlarge the picture to see it. I think it shows up on my ring finger pretty well in this picture. The shimmer isn't glass fleck like the other colors, it's actually tiny little broken flakes of red-pink foil. Not chunky or glittery at all. Smooth. This color has a lot of depth and even a small amount of gold duochrome on the shimmer flakes. You have to see this one in person.
The formula on these was okay. They're a bit thicker than I expected. They didn't apply as evenly as some of the more recent China Glaze shades, but they weren't particularly troublesome. I might thin mine. Opacity was varied, but good. The cremes and Cha Cha Cha were good in two coats, but I thought the others looked best with three. I'm wearing three coats in all these pictures. No topcoat, either- see how shiny they dry without topcoat? Drying time was good as well.
You know what I like about this collection? It has echoes of past shades. And not random ones, either... Good ones. Ones that we all love and covet. It's like China Glaze is giving a nod to their longtime fans by including memories of some of their best discontinued shades in this collection. There are no direct copies or re-releases, but the similarity is obvious. Love them for that.
Overall, small but strong collection. The colors are WAY better in real life than they were in the promo pictures. The only weak point to me is Electric Pineapple because it doesn't have the same oomph as the rest of the shades. It's just kinda... meh. But the rest get two thumbs up from me, especially Papaya Punch. Love the sparkle and depth of the glass flecks, the flaky shimmer in Senorita Bonita and the brightness of the collection as a whole.
(These were sent to me for review.)
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→China Glaze Island Escape Collection Summer 2011 Swatches and Review
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