Thursday, July 21, 2011

Color Club Back To Boho Collection Fall 2011 Swatches and Review

Color Club's fall 2011 collection, Back to Boho, is not too different from the fall collections we've seen so far. Except... It has pastels. I'm missing one color (the dark grey creme, Rad Nomad) but have a look at the rest:


Artsy Crafty. A dark hunter green creme. This one has that smoky/dusty finish that's apparently very big this fall. There was a Massini color a bit like this that came out last fall... For the life of me, I can not remember the name and I think I lost my bottle. Know which one I'm talking about? It was a dark blue-toned dusty hunter green quite a bit like this, but not exactly the same.


Blue-topia. Inky midnight blue jelly. In bright sunlight this looks almost purple. Looks black unless it's in sunlight. Similar to most of the other dark blue cremes/jellies (namely NARS Midnight Express, Illamasqua Propaganda) but with a much nicer formula. This was so easy to apply. Perfectly smooth, no streaks. Still stained my hands blue when I took it off, but it wasn't runny, thick or super sheer. This is two coats.



Boho Mojo. Platinum frost. This is a super super light silver, not as blue as it looks here, more of a whitish silver with a hint of grey. Extremely frosty. I had a hell of a time applying this... It's thick and runny like early 3-free formula and it's very streaky. Once it dries it doesn't look so bad because most of the streaks disappear, but the application puts me off of this one.



Earthy Angel. For a nude, this is actually pretty nice. This is a light brown with peachy/fleshy and purple tones. Creme finish, a little muted looking. I don't normally do nudes, but this looks so cool on my hands, I'm just drawn to it for some odd reason.


New Bohemian. My camera picks this up as a bright sky blue, but it's not. It's the most pure, bright, clean, beautiful pastel turquoise ever. I'm in love with this. It's similar to China Glaze For Audrey, but brighter, creamier, more greenish. It really stands out against the drab colors in the collection. If you like colors like China Glaze For Audrey or MAC Peppermint Patti, you might like this.


Nomadic In Nude. A pale putty nude. Maybe more taupe, less nude. Pastel grey with a bit of mousy neutral brown? I'm having a hard time describing this. I love it, though. I think this is my favorite one out of the entire set. It reminds me a lot of another polish I liked, Essie Playa Del Platinum.



Nouveau Vintage. The only true shimmer in the collection! What's with all the shimmerless fall collections this year? Anyway, this is a red-toned brown shimmer, borderline foil. It has a green duochrome depending on the angle. In sunlight, the foil-like shimmer particles sparkle in all different colors and the green becomes less dominant. This is like MAC Green Brown pigment in polish form.


Rebel Spirit. Very dark brown with a slight plum tone. Creme finish. This one isn't dusty/smoky like the other blackened browns that have come out this fall. It's soft, but it's still cleaner looking compared to the others.


Red-ical Gypsy. BERRY.


Shabby Drab. This one didn't want to photograph properly no matter how many pictures I took of it. The color is almost right, but the faded/dusty/smoky finish doesn't translate. It's much less bright and saturated in real life. It's like a dark periwinkle that looks extremely faded. Very cool color, you might have to see this one for yourself if you get a chance.


Voodoo You Do. This is a frosty grey-green. Reminds me of Wild At Heart from the Fall 2009 collection, but a bit more green. Better formula than Boho Mojo. Not as frosty.


The formula on most of these was amazing. The two frosts gave me trouble, but the rest of the colors were perfection. Smooth, thick but not thick thick, very even, very nice. Good pigmentation, good even-bristled brushes (small, though)... Pretty much perfect. Good dry time, too.


Like the other collections I've seen this fall, I feel mixed about this. When I look at the collection as a whole, I feel so indifferent toward it. It looks disjointed, like a jumble of random colors all thrown together into one collection. Nude, grey, red/berry, pastel turquoise, green-brown duochrome... It seems so random, like they don't belong next to each other.

But, when I look at the colors individually and not as a collection, I like it a lot more. I like green creme, I like grey creme, I like shimmery duochromes. There are a lot of good colors in here.

Though, overall, while I do like a big portion of the colors, I feel a little let down. Color Club usually wows us with great colors in the fall (and the rest of the year as well) like crazy shimmery purples, duochromes, rich glitters, sometimes the occasional holo... But this collection is almost entirely cremes and there are very few unique shades. I don't know... I think I expected something more like the Dance To The Musique or Wild At Heart fall collections.

My top picks are (in order of preference): Nomadic In Nude, Nouveau Vintage, New Bohemian, Shabby Drab, Artsy Crafty, Earthy Angel.

Seems like almost all the fall collections have the same theme this year. Creme-heavy collections of earthy drab colors with smoky finishes. I miss the rich autumn gem tones and glitters of fall collections past!

(This was sent to me for review.)

36 comments:

  1. I'm feeling a little let down by Color Club, too! The only one I think I'll get is Artsy Crafty.
    - Mary

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  2. Wow! What gorgeous swatches! Someone at ColorClub must have been reading my mind,because I have been wanting a polish that looks like Mac's Green Brown pigment,I was actually thinking of frankening it.That is so wild!

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  3. Loving these, especially Nouveau Vintage. I think I'm mostly in love, though, with what I can't have. Why can't I find Color Club in Nashville??

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  5. Red-ycal and blue- topia are really hot.

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  6. I am with you on tops for me also are 'nude' and 'vintage' in this collection. Yikes - please don't tell me what the buzz I have heard is correct that companies are going to try to bring back the OLD frost polishes as a 'new' trend. They were a nightmare back then in the 70's and 80's and I hate to see them back - I don't like the look at all. I am underwhelmed with this collection basically. But then no where near me sells Color Club. I would have to make a 4 hr drive to anywhere that sells them - so if I want a CC I need to eBay/Amazon it. Thus I have next to none in my collection. I don't know why they don't market this brand better. It would sell if they bought it into semi rural areas.

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  7. Looks like I'll only be picking up Nouveau Vintage. Luckily CC had some summer shades that would look fantabulous in the fall, ie: Alter Ego, Alias and Total Mystery.

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  8. I really like Nouveau Vintage, New Bohemian, Shabby Drab, Nomadic in Nude, and Earthy Angel. I don't feel like it is a cohesive collection but select colors are very pretty!

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  9. I know what you mean Scrangie. I've been looking at a lot of the new collections online and this is fairly same-old same-old. Still pretty though.

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  10. I'm digging Nouveau Vintage, Shabby Drab and New Bohemian... the rest are meh for me. I get the feeling that the major companies are creating colors that will guarantee sales rather than stepping out of the consumer comfort zone. I miss the awesomeness of the '08-'09 collections when a smoky 'dirty' color was something to get excited about. Now that everyone's basically doing the same thing (with the exception of smaller-label producers like ReBeL) it's a lot of the same old, same old. If beachgal is right and next year's trend is going to be frosts I'm going to be saving myself a lot of money!

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  11. Awe. Why no sparkle??? I wish Color Club would throw us another beautiful bone like Untamed Luxury. Some of these are pretty but overall this collection feels...weird. I love retro things and I get the idea but when it was bad the first time around, why revisit it? Bad frosts, yuck! :( New Bohemian and Shabby Drab are quite lovely but overall...I'm feeling very blah about this collection.

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  12. I really like Nouveau Vintage - so pretty!

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  13. Nouveau Vintage is really the only one that stands out for me and it is gorgeous! The rest don't seem special at all. I'm hating this trend towards frosts we're seeing lately, they've never been good.
    Also, Voodoo You Do reminds you of... Wild At Heart? Do you mean On the Wild Side?

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  14. i love nearly all of them! the one i was most interested in is the one you didn't swatch, though. Oh well, it let me have a better look at the other colors! thanks for the swatches :)

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  15. I think I may just pass on this whole collection. Last year's stuff was wayyy better IMO.

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  16. New Bohemian and Artsy Crafty are the prettiest ones in the bunch!

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  17. Nouveau vintage, Earthly Angel and Voodoo You Do are the three I hope to find one day.

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  18. Nice colors, though I don't like the nudes... But Artsy Crafty and Voodoo You Do look interesting and I might get them (if I can find them somewhere). Thanks for the awesome swatches you do!

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  19. Barilla, probably because no one sells them! I've only been able to find them online.

    Tookie, that's you, Scott, right? I've missed your comments! Anyway, I don't think there really any retails stores that sell it. I've heard that Bed, Bath and Beyond and Ross carry the sets regularly, but I've never personally seen them there. Sorry :(


    Meeka, eh, probably! lol My memory is so horrible lately, I'll have to check again XD


    NailsByCourteney, sorry! It exploded all over everything so I couldn't swatch it :( I think I'm getting a replacement, but I don't know when!


    Thanks, everyone :)

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  20. Lovely swatches as always. I'm with you--there are some nice individual colors, but as a collection it's so 'meh'. I do like it better than OPI and ChG's fall collections though, because at least there's some variety with the pastels and the lone shimmer.

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  21. Mesmo não sendo cores novas adorei tudo !!!!!!
    Beijos.

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  22. I agree with you on the "random collection"...The only one I like is Nouveau Vintage. And "boo" to the frost finish!

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  23. Nouveau Vintage is the only one that isn't "eh" to me. Great swatches, as always, but I'm just not excited about these.

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  24. I love New Bohemian! That color is totally me and really unexpected for fall.

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  25. Yeah, you got it, I still visit your blog almost everyday. You are SO nice! You are a celebrity with great nails or a nail celebrity. I got all giddy when you replied. Over the last year you have had a ton of great pics, but I have almost used up every complement I can dream up. Don't go changin'.

    Scott

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  26. Like most of this collection. So pretty!

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  27. Such a great collection!

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  28. It does seem "random" so to speak.There's a few light colors that look more springy than fall, but Nouveau Vintage is the standout in this collection,and probably the only color I will want.

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  29. Hey Scrangie-just wanted to give you a heads up-I have tagged you for a Sunshine Award=because without you, the rest of us wouldn't exist! So thank you for starting the polish blog craze and I love your blog! My post will go up tomorrow for all to see-

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  30. How would you say Nomadic in Nude compares to Skull and Glossbones? S&G leans taupe-y with my skintone...thanks!

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  31. Scott, awwe, thank you! I know there was a loooong while where I couldn't reply to comments, plus I had to turn off anonymous because I was getting 100+ spambot comment a day... But you always leave insightful comments and I love that!

    Fingers, aweeee, thank you so much <3

    Tluf, Nomadic is a lot more tan/creamy/nude toned but the finish is similar!

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  32. Artsy Crafty & Nouveau Vintage are my favorites. Think I like many more!

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  33. How do you remove the stains left on the hands and fingers from staining nail polishes like Blue-topia, Scrangie (or anyone)?? I had a horrifying experience with OPI's Swimsuit... Nailed It! Now I'm afraid of every wearing it again!

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  34. Patricia, sadly, not a whole lot you can do to prevent it, but I have a trick for removing it. Well, not really so much of a trick, but... After all the polish is off, I take another cotton ball and completely soak it with remover (a gentle one, not pure acetone) and go over each nail as many times as I need to until the blue is gone. You might need to repeat it a few times if it's really bad!

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  35. what stores carry color club nail polishes?

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