Thursday, October 13, 2011

China Glaze Haunting Collection Halloween 2011 Swatches and Review

Only a few more weeks until Halloween! Do you have your Halloween mani picked out yet? I haven't decided on what to wear. Do I wear a Halloween-themed mani, or do I wear something that goes with my costume? Oh yeah... I should probably decide on a costume, too...

Anyway, here's China Glaze's Halloween collection for this year. No amazing orange glitter this time, but there's still some great colors in this set! The collection is called Haunting and it consists of:


It's Alive! What a great glitter. It's bright and shiny, it has a jelly base which gives it depth and it dries fairly smooth and shiny for something with so much glitter. All the qualities of a perfect glitter polish. It's Alive! is a murky, swampy, grey-green jelly base with tiny lime green glitter and larger round lime green glitter. The glitter is nice and shiny and sparkly, it does not look even a little bit dull. Perfection.


Crimson. This looks black here, but it's actually a dark burgundy-purple. On the first coat it looks like a red toned purple glaze, but by adding the second coat it becomes a blackened wine purple. Extremely dark with a hint of redness in the right lighting. I don't think Crimson is really the right name for it, as it's not really crimson at all... More like aubergine.



Haunting. A black base with silver glitter. A simple combination, yet somehow Haunting manages to be a little bit different. The glitter is really tiny and delicate and is spaced so perfectly that it looks like a pitch-black sky with millions of twinkling stars. This one is very smooth and shiny just like It's Alive!.



Near Dark. Oops... had a little accident with a bottle of Crimson... But that bottle looks pretty cool, doesn't it? All halloweeny, like dripping blood! Anyway, Near Dark is just like it sounds. Near dark. Well, okay, maybe it is actually dark, not just near it, but you know what I mean. It's a very, very dark mossy green creme. It looks black in most lights, but not the way NARS Zulu looks black. This is softer and dustier and not a jelly. Closest thing I can compare it to is Zoya Envy. I included a flash picture to show you the base color- nice and green!


This collection is available as individual bottles, or as a four-piece set that includes bottles of Black Mesh crackle topcoat and Ghoulish Glow Glow In The Dark topcoat. Lots of layering possibilities! How about...


It's Alive! (one coat) over Near Dark. These are practically made for each other. One thin coat of It's Alive is all I need over Near Dark. Near Dark enhances the green base in It's Alive. Plus, it's easier to remove all that glitter when there's a non-glitter polish underneath.



Ghoulish Glow Glow In The Dark Polish over It's Alive! Ghoulish Glow adds a milky pale green cast to anything you layer it over, so keep that in mind when you're thinking about color combinations. It's sheer at one coat, so it doesn't change the color too much. Sadly, Ghoulish Glow doesn't seem to glow much on the nail.


Black Mesh Crackle Topcoat over Ghoulish Glow over It's Alive! If my nail polish looks thick here, that's because it is! I just kept layering polish on top of polish and the whole thing is still wet in this picture. Black Mesh looks good over glitter!



Tried to capture the subtle glow of Ghoulish Glow between the cracks in Black Mesh, but it wasn't really strong enough to show up. You can see a hint of it, especially on the cuticle end of my middle and ring fingers, but even in real life it's very subtle.

The formula on these was good. Standard China Glaze formula, no surprises. I used three coats of each polish for these pictures, but only Near Dark really needed the third coat. Drying time is good, no problems with application, all around strong formula. The brush in my Crimson was a little rough on the edges, but that's really the only flaw I experienced.

Now, Ghoulish Glow. I have mixed feelings about it. The year they first released it, I bought six bottles. I thought it was going to be the BEST GLOW IN THE DARK TOPCOAT EVER!! and got a little too excited about it. In the bottle, it is the brightest, glowiest, craziest, longest-lasting glow of any glow in the dark polish I've seen. However, on the nail, it barely glows at all. I have heard that it glows really well when layered over white nail polish, but I've personally not tried that. Maybe I should. Personally, I have the best results with Fantasy Makers glow in the dark topcoat (Night Glow), but, of course, your mileage may vary.

Overall, not the most obviously Halloween-looking polishes, but a good set nonetheless! No orange... Thinking outside the box this year, eh? I love the shiny glitters, the vampy cremes are sexy (but not the most imaginative colors) and the crackle and glow in the dark topcoats compliment the theme of the collection. If you are a glitter lover, you might want to get your hands on It's Alive! before it sells out. It's really a glitter worth having.

(Most of these were sent to me for review.)

28 comments:

  1. It's Alive! is ridiculousness! Thank you for this and I love that you show us different ways to wear the polishes layer over others or with the crackle. :)

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  2. I have the 4pc set and it came with It's Alive, Black Mesh, Ghoulish Glow and an orange: Cross Iron. Strange that they didn't have it in this set. I would've been happier to get Crimson or Near Dark (love the vamps!) than the orange but it's pretty enough by itslef that I don't mind as much.

    A little note on Ghoulish Glow. I was initially really unhappy about how it didn't do as the name suggested. It was too faint. While playing a prank on the hubby, we both found out that if you shine a light on the nails before you go somewhere dark (or hold it close to a really bright light source), the glow intensifies significantly. :) I haven't tried it over white, but I think it would help a lot to throw the glow out too. Very happy with it now.

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  3. Can't wait to get my hands on It's Alive! I love green & that color is perfect!

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  4. Ooh pretty! I already have It's Alive and Haunting, think that's enough for me.. :-)

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  5. I am loving every one of them! It is a disappointment for Ghoulish Glow though. I was really looking forward to it!

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  6. It's Alive looks better than I thought! I like your Crackle mani with it and Ghoulish Glow. That gives me a great idea!

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  7. I picked up it's alive as soon as I spotted it, and it will definitely be my Halloween mani, even if I'm just handing out candy at home. I LOVE the China Glaze holiday polishes because they're high quality but still so affordable that I don't mind buying them even if I only wear them once. Last year I bought Party Hearty for a Christmas mani, and even if I never wear it again, it was worth it for $3. If OPI made that polish it would be $8, and don't even get me started on Ms. Lippmann...

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  8. I have China Glaze Zombie Zest. It's from last years collection, I think. Love it. : )

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  9. it's a live looks like must have for this season :-D

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  10. Oh I like these swatches! I really wanna get a grow in the dark nail polish. Wanna get my nail really for Halloween! ^_^

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  11. I got "It's Alive" a few weeks ago, and oh my gaaaaahd is it gorgeous. Does rather eat topcoat, though... I had to do two coats of Seche to get it really smooth/glossy (and two coats of Seche always means it's going to peel up in big sheets the next day). Next time I'll try a single coat over Zoya Dree or Shawn. Either way, it's an AMAZING polish.

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  12. Just got It's Alive from the mailman and I simply love it!

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  13. Such beautiful swatches! :D I layered two coats of Ghoulish Glow over a light mint green and got a really good result. It definitely needed the second coat to get nice and glowy. The color of Ghoulish Glow really complimented the mint green too - it changed the color a bit but it wasn't in a bad way.

    I love It's Alive! It's my favorite of the collection for sure. So beautiful! So much depth and sparkle, and the colors! <3

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  14. Does Near Dark seem to OPI - Here Today... Aragons Tomorrow ?

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  15. Thanks, everyone :D

    Eva, really close! The biggest difference is the finish; the OPI looks kinda fuzzy and speckly, the China Glaze looks smooth.

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  16. I need It's Alive! Really love greens & glitter. I have some glow in the dark polish from Fantasy Makers.

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  17. I got It's Alive! in the 4 polish set and mine chips like crazy. I tried using a Finger Paints base coat under 2 coats of It's Alive! with a Diamond Cut top coat (can't remember if that's the right name or not--it's from Sally's too). It peeled off. I tried just the basecoat, still peeled off. I tried no base and only top coat, still chipped. Is there a certain base coat/top coat combo I should be using? I don't think I have a bad bottle since I've had this problem with other full glitter nail polishes like a couple OPI colors I have. I don't have problems with glitter top coats like China Glaze's Party Hearty.

    Anyone else have this problem with It's Alive! or other glitter polishes?

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  18. I really love the way It's Alive looks on you. It's my new favourite green of all time. Absolutely stunning and back-up-worthy for me.

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  19. Oooh, it's alive looks gorgeous over Near Dark! I've had pretty good results with Ghoulish Glow, but even better results with the little Blue Cross pumpkin-shaped bottles, which also have the advantage of having glitter in them!

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  20. Dangit, now I've got to get the Haunting polish -- neeeeed that in my life. (thank you!) :)

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  21. These look great! I got the 4 piece set at Sally's earlier today and mine actually did come with a dark orange shimmer called Cross Iron 360. I haven't personally tried them yet but I swatched all of them on my nail art wheels and they're all really great.

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  22. Wonderful swatches! Love It's Alive and Near Dark. Yeah, and China Glaze has a great price point, like some other readers commented.

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  23. I just impulse bought It's Alive based on your swatch. I'm a huge fan of these funky greens.
    Lovely!

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  24. Did you let Ghoulish Glow soak in some lamp light for a while before you tried to see it glow? I've noticed with glow in the dark polish, you need to "charge its batteries" before you get the full effect.

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  25. Haha, yes guys, I know how to use glow in the dark polish ;-) Even after charging for a long time, the glow from Ghoulish Glow only lasts a few seconds before fading and isn't strong, whereas the other brands last a good long while, at least 10 minutes.

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  26. My 4 piece set came with Iron Cross which looked just right (even though it's a re-release from a different collection)

    I've heard other people say that the more you layer ghoulish glow, the better it works (I think I heard 3 layers). Which totally kills your undercoat unless you do white like you mentioned. I haven't figured out what I'll do with mine yet. Oh and I think I heard shake it like crazy (or maybe I'm thinking of a different polish).

    I wish the crackle had been something OTHER than black. Like maybe a vampy red/purple or even a murky green. Black is so BTDT.

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  27. Ok I just did my nails in It's Alive and Ghoulish Glow....
    LOVE It's Alive, though mine was pretty rough and needed 2 layers of top coat (and it's still a bit bumpy). Still gorgeous though! It's like a green version of Nubar's Knight's Armor.

    I layered each ring finger with 3 coats of GG--it makes it a bit matte and cloudy but kinda cool---thinking of like a cloudy evil eye LOL. And it definitely glowed! I giggled like a little kid after turning off the lights at bedtime and looking at my nails under the covers LMAO.

    Anyway your nails look SO much prettier than mine but I'm happy--I actually think I'll wear IA for more than just halloween!

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