Friday, May 18, 2012

China Glaze Summer Neons Collection for Summer 2012 Swatches and Review

China Glaze has a set of twelve new and updated neons out for summer 2012. In the past, the majority of neon colors released were creme-finish polishes, but the new China Glaze Summer Neons polishes have a hint of ultra-fine, iridescent shimmer to them. The colors are:


China Glaze Beach Cruise-r. This is a medium fuchsia with subtle blue, red and purple shimmer. It's not quite neon bright, but it is very colorful. In real life, it's more vibrant than it appears in the picture, just not exactly neon vibrant.



China Glaze Hang Ten-toes. Bright, blue-toned neon pink with faint, silvery, blue-violet shimmer. Such a great neon pink. The shimmer in these keeps the neon finish from looking too chalky or rubbery and adds a nice colorful glow to them.



China Glaze Flirty Tankini. Such an unusual neon! It's an orange-based neon coral and it has silver, pink and coral shimmer throughout. The shimmer in mine has all settled on one side of the bottle, making it appear light pink, but it's definitely coral on the nail. The only thing I don't like about this polish is the name!



Every picture I take of China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard comes out looking like this. It's so bright that my camera can't comprehend it. It took one look at this color and said "You have got to be kidding me. &^%$ this! I quit!". Eventually I figured out how to capture it with flash in total darkness:


China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard. Ultra-bright yellow-toned neon green with bright green and gold shimmer. It's a bit like the old, discontinued shade In The Limelight, to give you an idea of the intensity. It's really amazing, a must-have green, if you ask me.


China Glaze Love's A Beach. Bright neon pink with glowy pink shimmer. This one is darker than Hang Ten-Toes and more warm toned. The shimmer in it doesn't make the color any less bright, but it does give it a less harsh, more glowy finish than other similar-colored neon pinks.



China Glaze Orange You Hot? Light yellow-toned orange neon with coral, orange, silver and pink shimmer. This is one of those "fake cheese" shades of orange, like the packet of frighteningly bright cheese powder that comes in boxed macaroni and cheese. The shimmer adds a warm glow, so that makes it even nicer.



China Glaze Pink Plumeria. This one is hard to describe. It's a lighter, more orange-tinted pink than Hang Ten-Toes, but not as orange as Flirty Tankini. It has soft pink and gold shimmer particles that accent the warm light pink base perfectly.


China Glaze Ride The Waves. This one isn't a shimmer, nor is it really truly neon, but it's still great. It's a bright blue jelly. Not as dark as Rescue Beauty Lounge IKB 2012, lighter and cleaner than Revlon Royal, not quite as bright at Nubar Blueberry.



China Glaze Splish Splash. A bright blue shimmer. This one doesn't really strike me as being neon either, but it is bright. The shimmer in it is all blue, but it's a slightly more green-leaning blue, almost an aqua, while the base is more of a light primary blue.



China Glaze Sun-Kissed. AWESOME. A highlighter yellow neon with warm gold shimmer. This is not pure yellow. There's a lot of green in it. This is what it would be like if China Glaze Limonyte and China Glaze Celtic Sun had a baby. Crazy bright neon yellow goodness with the added glow from the smooth gold shimmer. My favorite color in the collection.



China Glaze Surfin' For Boys. Neon red-coral with pink and purple shimmer. Very, very bright and extremely rich.


China Glaze Under The Boardwalk. This one lacks shimmer found in the other shades and it also doesn't appear neon to me. It's a purple-fuchsia-berry color, creme finish. It is perkier and slightly less blue-toned in real life, reminds me of another color they did recently. I'm thinking Traffic Jam from the Metro Collection? Haven't compared them, but it struck me as being similar when I saw it.

The formula on these is thick. I had some trouble getting them to apply smoothly because the thickness of the formula caused a ridge of polish to form at the edges of my nails unless I was very careful to avoid it. The thickness can also cause the polish to bubble, especially in the summer when it starts getting hot and humid. I'd recommend either thinning these with some polish thinner, or doing very thin coats and letting each one dry for at least two minutes before adding another. I did three coats of each, though most were opaque in two. The dry time was long. Since these are neon, they dry to a matte finish and you will need to use topcoat if you want them to look glossy.

Overall, these rock. It's hard to find different looking neons. It's like all neons are made out of the same pigments so there's rarely any significant variations between collections/colors. These, however, have that added hint of shimmer that makes them look more soft and glowy than the average chalky-finished neon. I think it's a nice update to their existing line of neons, they definitely feel more modern with the addition of the shimmer. The formula could be a little smoother, thinner and easier to handle, but the colors are all excellent. The only one I don't care for is Under The Boardwalk, but the rest are all awesome.

If I had to narrow it down, my top six would be Sun-Kissed, I'm With The Lifeguard, Hang Ten-Toes, Flirty Tankini, Love's A Beach and Surfin' For Boys.


Also available: 8-piece box collection featuring Under The Boardwalk, Ride The Waves, I’m With The Lifeguard, Sun-Kissed, Orange You Hot?, Surfin’ For Boys, Flirty Tankini and Pink Plumeria.

China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available as open stock colors and 12-piece counter display. Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP and the 8-piece box set retails for $56. China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in June 2012.

(This was sent for review.)

52 comments:

  1. Wow, there are so many of these I love! I usually like 1 or two polish in most collections but I could see myself wearing almost all of these!

    Thanks for the great swatches!

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    1. Too many - I hate when they do a 12 piece collection - it's so hard for me to narrow down which ones I want to get! I like the 6-8 bottle collections far better! 12 is way too many!

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  2. Absolutely incredible! I can't wait to get them! I love your posts, Scrangie! :D

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  3. These are so gorgeous!!! I love that they have shimmer in them.

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  4. these are freakin amazing. seriously. i do not own any china glaze polish. i just stop and stare at them online but those.. omg.. those are like GREAT!
    thanks for swatches. i am going to try get my hands on these.

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  5. It actually hurt my eyes looking at the first picture of I'm With The Life Guard, it's so bright!! x

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  6. Every swatch post I see of these adds another to my list. I'm avoiding looking anymore until they are released & I can see them in person. Are you going to get the safari collection to swatch soon?

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  7. I am obsessed with all the corals. I don't think I could wear the neon yellow or green, but I really wish I could, because they are stunning.

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  8. "The only thing I don't like about this polish is the name!" LOL yes, how is a tankini flirty? wtf.

    look's like china glaze is really showing their muscle as the most innovative brand. Kinda crazy considering they've always been around and have always been a salon staple. can't wait for the duo collection wihtewkhrkeh!!!!!!!

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  9. I'm not really that in to neons but I really like the Under the boardwalk one x :-)

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  10. I might need I'm With The Lifeguard just to experience the craziness in person. :)

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  11. I have always loved neon colors & I am so glad that they are now trendy because it makes them much easier to find. Now I can even wear them on my nails! Thanks for the great swatches!!

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  12. I kind of want them all except for the yellow and green..I'm cool with pink highlighter nails but yellow and green? Pass. Great swatches, as always. :D

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  13. Oooh I'm loving quite a few of these! So bright and fun for summer, I'm thinking great for beach day toes! Of course I'm going to have to get a tan to pull these bright shades off!

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  14. A neon that makes cameras go on strike? Oh, *Hell* to the yes! I'm there!

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  15. Thank you!!! My birthday is next month and I know what I'm getting! Every single one of these polishes!!! I love neons, I love China Glaze, it's a no-brainer. The swatches are fantastic, as are the reviews, thank you!

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  16. Ahhh! I want these even more now! I need some new colors for my toesies too! Great review! I think you captured I'm With the Lifegard perfectly. It shows the potential of this and readers won't be surprised by it's brightness. It did hurt my eyes when I saw the first picture, but I still like it.

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  17. I like neons.. and I don't care if CG comes with a bright/neon collection every summer! I think this line is the best and most beautiful neon collection ever.

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  18. Yeah, I think I need them all :)

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  19. I am LOVING that blue jelly! I wish there were more good jellies out there

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  20. oh holy cow i have to have this, i love, love, love neons!

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  21. I think along with tons of others, I have really been anticipating these for months now. I really wish that CG had released these in May...June is too late for anything summer to come out. Folks are already into all their summer clothing - or at least have bought what they need this season because if you don't it's all gone - the close outs of summer stuff START mid to end of June. I am anticipating I will have to order these on line because none of the Sally's in 100 miles of me get more than maybe 5 or 6 of each bottle in the new release collections - it's just silly. Great job on the green neon - never would have thought of it - dark room with the flash burst!

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  22. Best neons in ages! China Glaze really knows neons. I'll be needing a bunch of these.

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  23. Looks like I'm the only one whos not crazy about these, althougr the colors are nice theres nothing that stands out to me. china glaze n other companies do neons ever year round this time thats its nothing really new to me. to me its just another poolside collection. I'm glad you guys like the though and not trying to bring the collection down but just expressin my opinons.

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  24. Droooools! They are all so pretty. I love the fact they they have a bit of shimmers in them.

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  25. I think an almost dupe for Flirty Tankini would be Wet N' Wild's "Let's Get Sushi" from the Spoiled collection. It looks the exact same but is a cream finish.

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  26. Some of these are so eye searing, I love them! Loving all the coraly colours. I may need to get my hands on some of these!

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  27. All are very pretty but sunkissed and beach cruis-er are my favourite :D lovely swatches

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  28. They are so pretty I want them all!!! :D

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  29. They are so pretty!! I want them all!!! :D

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  30. Any chance you can post pics of these with the matte finish? I love the look of matte neons - it's really the only way this old gal can get away with wearing them! ;)

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  31. Any chance you can post pics of these with the matte finish? I love the look of matte neons - it's really the only way this old gal can get away with wearing them! ;)

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  32. I love the neons with a hint of shimmer. Unfortunately I can not wear such bold colors. Maybe as a pedicure? I really liked Sun Kissed!

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  33. oo i really like pink plumeria

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  34. It's really a great collection, I love the colors, but I knowvI would never wear them... Maybe pink plumeria, I need to see that in person!!

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  35. I didn't think I'd be wanting any more neons, since they all seem to look the same. But these, almost every single one of them, are gorgeous!

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  36. I.Have.To.Have I'm with the life guard, it's so glaringly neon. COOL! Love pink plumeria too xD Way to go neons!

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  37. I.Have.To.Have I'm with the lifeguard. It's so glaringly neon. Cool! Also love Pink Plumeria despite it's weird name. Way to go neons!

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  38. Very pretty! I want a lot of these.

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  39. Scrangie, thank you for always taking the time to swatch entire collections. I've never done that for my blog, but I can imagine just how much work that involves. I reallly appreciate it! :)

    All of these colours look cool on you, but I'm With the Lifeguard stands out to me the most. :) Hehe, fellow green lover here. ;)

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  40. I am dying for "I'm with the Lifeguard"!! A must must have! Thanks for the great swatches. The first pink, the "fake cheese" orange and the "highlighter yellow" are also on my radar.

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  41. Ooo, I'm With the Lifeguard looks amazing! How does it compare to Limonyte? I'm not asking for a swatch comparison because I know Limonyte is precious, but since you have it I'm curious - wondering if it's close enough to squash that lemming for some.

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  42. Ugghh, I want so many of these!

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  43. What an awesome collection! Neons are so popular this summer, but I love how China Glaze has added some shimmer to make these colors more unique! I'm definitely loving Pink Plumeria the most.

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  44. I just received my Summer Neons today and love them even more in person! And I like them much better than the neons from the Poolside collection. Unfortunately I have to agree and them being thick and taking forever to dry.

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  45. Yeah I'm gonna need ALL of these!

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  46. I NEED every single one of these!

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  47. So excited they finally have these on head2toebeauty! Cant wait I ordered all of them except Under the Boardwalk and Ride the Waves, definitely not bright enough for me! Beautiful swatches as usual to help me decide. Thanks again!

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  48. I'm so confused.....I just happend to be looking into this but the Splish Splash I have it different then what I've seen on the web....Like- not at all like what you have shown. Are there two versions of this? Maybe I will just email you this with the link to my blog post.....

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