Review: China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil Collection, Part I

Hello!

Today I have the first half of China Glaze's new Cirque Du Soleil collection to review for you.

I've been pretty excited about this collection because it contains not only some pretty colors, but also some indie-style glitters! I didn't expect this collection to come out so soon, so when I saw it was available, I jumped on it. Well, on all of it except one--I couldn't bring myself to buy the pink in the collection, it just isn't my thing. But the rest I'm very excited about. It's a collection that's full of whimsy and fun, the sort of colors and combinations that make you feel young and happy. :)

When I swatched some of these, the sun was nowhere to be found, so in those cases I only have overcast/indirect light pictures. But I've taken sun shots where I was able. :)

Let's get right into it! First up is Surreal Appeal, which is a pink-leaning coral creme. Application was good, and I have it here with two coats and one coat of Seche Vite:

China Glaze Surreal Appeal

China Glaze Surreal Appeal

This is neon-ish; not fully neon, but definitely in that family. It's a bit more pink than I would normally wear, but when paired with a topper, it turned out to be really appealing to me (see below).

Next up is Hanging In The Balance, which is a cyan blue creme. It's a bit darker than it shows in these pictures, especially inside. Application was really nice, and again I have 2 coats here, with SV:

China Glaze Hanging In The Balance

Hanging In The Balance in the sun

Hanging In The Balance

I really love this color, and don't have one like it yet in my collection, surprisingly. I couldn't have asked for a better application and can't wait to wear it again.

Next up is It's A Trap-eze!. This polish is a milky-based glitter with multiple colors of bright hex glitters; the base color is a milky lavender. I was a bit hesitant on this one-- I don't like glitter bombs as you know, and am only just starting to get into the whole milky-based glitter trend. But I'm glad I got it. I have two coats on in these pictures (along with SV), but I probably should have put on a third for full opacity. I didn't want to do that, though, because I wanted there to be a bit of scatter amid the glitter:

China Glaze It's A Trap-eze!

It's A Trap-eze!

I'm not sure I'd wear this on its own like this as shown here, but as I say, I'm glad I got it. I can see it being great for nail art, but more importantly, it's actually much more versatile than it looks at first glance. To show you what I mean, I did an accent nail with Hanging In The Balance, and put a coat of It's A Trap-eze over it:

It's a Trap-Eze over Hanging In The Balance

Add caption

 I really like it this way. The base of the polish does lighten the underwear a little bit, but not much And the colors of the glitter stand out even more. I can see this being beautiful over a ton of colors.

Next up is Creative Fantasy. This is a grape-purple jelly that seems to be intended for building/layering, as this is three coats and as you can see, it's still not close to opaque. It's meant to be a neon, and dries to the rubber-type finish you see on some neons; I left off the topcoat so you could see it:

China Glaze Creative Fantasy

Creative Fantasy in the sun

I cannot overstate the degree to which I dislike this polish. I'm sorry to say it, because I love China Glaze, but in my opinion, the only creative fantasy here is that you'll ever get it applied in an even fashion and without 100 coats. As I say, I realize it's meant for building, and I do admit to being a bit jelly challenged. But even trying to layer it with something seems a bit optimistic to me given the persistence of the bald spots I had to fight with; even the relative success I had above took much time and patience. The last time I had a polish this hard to apply, it was an old-school holo. I love the color and the finish, but I honestly can't see myself wearing this again.

Next up is one of the glitters, and one of my favorites, of the collection, Whirled Away. This is a clear-based glitter with black bar glitter, black medium hexes, and large white hexes. I'm showing it here over Surreal Appeal:

China Glaze Whirled Away over Surreal Appeal

Whirled Away over Surreal Appeal 

I absolutely adore this glitter--I love the sparser glitter look with different sizes to give the glitter a lot of visual appeal. I also like the versatility of the black and white, which can go over nearly anything. This is one coat, and for the most part I didn't have to poke and prod to get this result--I did have to fish for one of the white hexes because I wanted to have one on each nail. This glitter will add happy to any manicure it touches. :)

And last for today, is yet the third of four glitters, Get Carried Away. It's in a black-tinted-clear base with small black and silver glitters, black bar glitters, and silver and rose medium hexes. In an attempt to make Creative Fantasy improve in my opinion, I decided to use that as underwear for this one:

China Glaze Get Carried Away over Creative Fantasy

Get Carried Away in the light

It's not bad at all, but I don't absolutely love it. However, I don't think that's the fault of the glitter so much as the combination; I don't think the rose hexes show to best advantage over this. I also tried it over Surreal Appeal, but the rose glitters faded out and weren't really visible against that background. I do like this glitter a lot, but think it depends on the right combination to let its magic shine. :)

So there's the first half of the collection...I'll be back on Monday with the rest of it for you. So far, I think it really captures the magic and surreal feel of Cirque Du Soleil.

Xoxox,
M.

(The polishes in this review were purchased with my own money.)