China Glaze...Will you marry me?

Hey, if the guy in the commercial can marry bacon, I can marry China Glaze. ;-P

I didn't know that China Glaze existed until a few months ago. Inexcusable, I know...I weep for the years of ignorance and waste. But for a long time, my nail polish life has consisted only of drug store polishes (Revlon, Maybelline, etc.) and OPI, from my salon visit days (nothing wrong with any of those, just sad to be limited to only those). And for the past few years, I've played around with tips a lot, and didn't really paint my nails on a regular basis. I never really branched out much beyond that until I recently discovered nail stamping; then as I began to watch tutorials and read blogs, I began to discover other types of polish.

When I saw that there was a collection of polishes based on the Hunger Games books, I was intrigued. I had just read the books, and was looking forward to the (then) up-coming release of the film. I saw a swatch video put together on YouTube by Dandynails (see video here), and I fell in love with a few of the polishes. I had colors similar to many of them, so decided to get four: Luxe and Lush, Smoke and Ashes, Stone Cold, and Agro. For such a small number, this is a pretty diverse four, because it includes a glittery black, a matte finish, and...a flakie. My very first flakie, in fact...my introduction to the wonderful world of flakies. Sigh...I was so innocent then...

I waited very impatiently for them to show up, and when they did, I instantly put them on. I was completely blown away. The formulas on all 4 were just amazing--incredibly smooth, velvety, one-coat coverage; strong colors; fast-drying. These were far superior to any of the polishes I'd ever worn before, and I was hooked. Here are skittle swatches of them (I think you can click to enlarge):

From left to right:
Luxe and Lush: Clear flakie that flashes with metallic colors
Smoke and Ashes: Black with blue-green flecks. You can't see them in the top picture, so I tried to capture them with flash in the second picture.
Agro: Gorgeous metallic-y olive green. Frosty, but not a frost, really.
Stone Cold: A matte grey with a stone finish. When I first touched this, I expected it to be a bit rough, because it really looks like a piece of stone to me! But it's smoooooth. :)

Luxe and Lush isn't really meant to be worn alone I don't think (I guess you could), and it looks gorgeous over every color I've ever put it on. But, ahem, back to China Glaze as a whole.

I know that every brand has some colors that have better formulas than others, and I'm sure before long I'll run into one that is streaky or runny or goopy or something. But so far, I have yet to find one that is anything short of excellent. Most of them only need one coat, and so far I haven't had one that needs more than two. Unlike other polishes I have, these seem to hide my nail defects rather than accentuate them; they feel luxurious and make my nails look beautiful, whether they're short or long. The 'oldest' CG I have is from the fall 2008 collection, so it's not just their new ones that are awesome. And what really pushes these over the edge is that they are all 3-free. Can't beat that. :)

Luckily, I found a place that sells CG for $2.99, because I quickly discovered that I love most of their colors, and couldn't understand how I had managed to live without some of them (funny how that happens, isn't it?). I'm rationing myself...a few here, a few there. And I'm very much looking forward to the 'On Safari' collection that will be coming out in June, and the 'Bohemian' collection that will be coming out in July. But more about those later...:)

Thanks for reading,

M.