Here are my final two selections from China Glaze's Fall collection, called "Autumn Nights." I saved the best two for last!
First, is China Glaze- Strike Up A Cosmo:
Strike Up A Cosmo is a light pink foil with gold fleck/ flakie particles. It's too pink to be called rose gold; it's more of a muted, metallic, dirty pink.
Artificial light, two coats:
Shiny! And, fairly unique!
Window-filtered daylight:
The gold is really noticeable in low light!
Outside, shade:
I have no sun swatches to show, since it was raining. Unfortunate, because I'm sure this one is gorgeous in the sun- but I do have macro shots of the finish to show you instead:
Up close, the finish reminds me slightly of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure- Gilty Party or even Zoya- Ziv.
Formula: Nice! It goes on smoothly, and is fairly pigmented and opaque. You'll still probably need two coats, but I was expecting to have to do three for some reason. Impressed, A+.
Quick Comparison:
I didn't have anything quite like Strike Up A Cosmo! I think people will wonder about Orly- Rage, so I included it. It's definitely more rose gold and less straight pink like the China Glaze. I added OPI- Warm & Fozzie to the mix just because the finishes are very, very similar: foils with flecks.
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Finally, here is China Glaze- Don't Make Me Wine:
Don't Make Me Wine is a jewel-toned, red-violet (wine) shimmer with a metallic finish. You could also think of it as a deep magenta, but there are plummy tones as well.
Artificial light, two coats:
Window-filtered daylight:
Very beautiful, blackish at the edges- "glows from within"- whatever that means. Easily my single favorite from the collection! (My photos don't even do it justice.)
Outside, shade:
Sun:
Formula: Very similar to Tongue & Chic, except doesn't smell as strongly, and will probably need two coats for opacity. On my first coat, I got some thinner areas toward the cuticle, but maybe I underloaded the brush. It has minor noticeable brushstrokes if you don't attempt at all to paint in straight lines.
One other thing: during the time I had the bottle open painting one hand, this polish seemed to thicken up a lot. I paint my nails frequently, and I'm pretty quick at it by now. That leads me to believe that this formula will really need thinner somewhere down the road.
All that said, a very workable formula, and all of my gripes are pretty minor.
Quick Comparison:
The closest I had in my stash is Illamasqua- Charisma, and as you can see the two aren't dupes- not even close. Charisma has much more red. Zoya- Mason is much more purple and the shimmer is a little bit different.
Essie- Bahama Mama is a jelly finish, but I threw it in the mix because the base color is fairly similar to Don't Make Me Wine.
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I need the first one! Stunning pics <3
ReplyDon't Make Me Wine is gorgeous!
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