Thursday, August 2, 2012

China Glaze New Bohemian Luster Chrome Collection Fall 2012 Swatches and Review

I have been eagerly awaiting this collection ever since I saw that first leaked picture months ago. Duochromes are my true love, and duochromes from China Glaze couldn't be anything other than amazing. Now, here we are in the first week of August and the New Bohemian collection is finally here in all its shiny, reflective, chrome-like, color-changing glory. The colors are:

Deviantly Daring - No Plain Jane - Rare & Radiant - Swanky Silk - Unpredictable -Want My Bawdy


China Glaze Deviantly Daring. Turquoise-teal-blue-green duochrome metallic with gold shimmer accent. This is the brightest and most richly colored polish in the collection. It's also the most opaque. The duochome in it isn't as strong on the nail as it is in the bottle, but there's still a modest amount of color shift. The chrome finish on this is stunning combined with saturated blue-green color.


China Glaze No Plain Jane. Ironically, this one looks like the plain Jane of the collection to me. It's a purple metallic with subtle duochrome, very similar to Deborah Lippmann Private Dancer / Nails Inc Cheyne Walk. However, it seems to lack the same strength of blue-purple and gold duochrome that the others have. I see a little orange shift with some gold at the edges, but it's not strong. It's also a little too sheer (at three coats here) for my taste.


China Glaze Rare and Radiant. Another Péridot dupe. Gorgeous, though. Great formula, bright, shiny, reflective finish, strong duochrome. Definitely worth getting if you don't already have Chanel Péridot.


China Glaze Swanky Silk. Beautiful pink, gold, and green chrome-finish duochrome. Another duplicate color; this one looks like Deborah Lippmann Sugar Daddy / Nails Inc. Stratford. I loved those two colors, I love this one. Nicest formula of the three, though the color is practically the same.


China Glaze Unpredictable. A blue-green-gold-teal chrome-finish duochrome. It's like a mixture of Deviantly Daring and Rare & Radiant. Makes me think of mermaid tails or Emerald Ash Borer beetles. Really strong duochrome on this one and very shiny.


China Glaze Want My Bawdy. Maybe it's just my eyes, but I can't see any duochrome in this one. I don't know if it's supposed to have any, but the rest of the colors in the collection do, so I assumed it would. It's shiny ad colorful at least. It's a little bit like OPI Into The Night from the Spiderman collection, just more sheer and a bit brighter/cleaner. I like the name, it makes me think of Majestic and Jessica.

The formula on these was good, but a bit on the sheer side. None of them were too runny or too thick and they all applied very smoothly, but I needed to do three coats of each for complete opacity. The only exception is Deviantly Daring which was completely opaque in two coats (but I did three anyway). I had the best results waiting for each coat to partially dry before applying the next one. The dry time on these is really fast, even without topcoat. And the brushstrokes do mostly disappear after they're completely dry.

I have slightly conflicted feelings about this collection. Without taking into consideration any of the other similar colors released this year and viewing just this collection by itself, I think it's perfect. But, having already seen several duplicate colors released recently (and with a few more potential dupes on the way), I wish there were more colors in here to make up for the clones. I suppose this is both good and bad- good if you didn't want to shell out major cash on the Chanel and Lippmanns (and to a lesser extent, the Nails Inc. ones), bad if you've already purchased those and now a cheaper option with a better formula is available.

Regardless of the dupes, I do still think this is a great collection. I love the colors, I love the shiny chrome finish, I love the formula. I think No Plain Jane should have more duochrome flash to it, but otherwise they're all very good. Fantastic, even. The shiny chrome-like finish on them is very pretty and doesn't have the streaking and chipping problems that older chromes have.

The China Glaze New Bohemian Collection is available now. Word of warning: This collection is limited edition, so you may want to go check it out sooner rather than later.

(This was sent for review.)

60 comments:

  1. Love these! I might pick up all of them.

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    1. I think you'll like them even more in person!

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  2. I don't really get the hype surrounding these polishes but I do like Deviantly daring and want my bawdy :)

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    1. The hype is because they're GORGEOUS! :D And I am more than a little obsessed with duochromes, haha

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  3. Is it my imagination, or are they a bit frosty? If so, that was silly of them. Deviantly Daring is lovely, though.

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    1. Nope, they are definitely a little frosty. Most of it goes away after the polish is completely dry (my pictures are taken while the polish is still wet). Really more metallic-frosty than ew-streaky-gross frosty to my eye.

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  4. Nossa, to passando mal...que coleção mais linda!!!

    Beijos

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  5. Whoaaaaa, I definitely didn't expect a Majesstica mention on here! Awesome :D

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  6. Whoaaaaaaa, didn't expect a Majesstica mention on here! It totally does remind me of them now that I think of it though. Awesome :D

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  7. Wish they were slightly more duo chrome! Love Deviantly Daring, so over the Peridot dupes though - I didn't even like the original!
    Thanks for the great swatches (as per usual!)

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  8. I don't know, I'm just not really feelin' this collection. :/ I think I've seen one too many peridot dupes or something :P j/k

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  9. I've been following you since 2009, and you are the reason for many of my purchases- put frankly, if nail polish was crack, you've been my dealer :) But these, I don't know Scrangie! I don't see all that duo chrome in them- I'm so conflicted!! You're trying to do Jedi mind tricks with your lovely nails- lol

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  10. I've been following you since 2009, and you have sparked numerous buys for me. Basicially, if nail polish was crack, you've been my most consistent dealer :) But I don't know Scrangie! I just don't see the duo chrome goodness in these- pretty frosts, but I'm conflicted! Your nails are just doing Jedi mind tricks to cause me to possible splurge anyway, lol.

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  11. funny you should compare Unpredictable to a mermaid tell - I had on Nicole by OPI Mer-maid for Each Other on when I saw these at Sallys & they look pretty much like dupes =)

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  12. Ok if this comes up three times- my bad

    Scrangie- I've been following you religiously since 2009, and I have purchased tons of polish from your swatches- basically if nail polish was crack, you've been my most regular dealer :) But I don't know about these! I don't see duo chromey goodness in anybody's swatches really, just pretty frosts- I'm so conflicted! Plus your nails are doing Jedi mind tricks, tempting me to purchase....lol

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  13. Despite the fact that the duochrome effect isn't as noticeable as we all hoped, I still think these are very pretty shades. I picked up Deviantly Daring and Unpredictable and I'm very happy with them. I don't mind a few brushstrokes with colors this gorgeous. They are much prettier in person than from what I've seen in swatches (except for yours, of course). :)

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  14. Your swatches always make me want to buy more than I think I should, lol! Unpredictable and Swanky Silk are the only colors that are appealing to me... I'd been eyeing Lippmanns and now I'm glad I don't have to shell out that kind of cash!

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  15. Beautiful swatches, but I'm probably gonna pass on these. The one I would really want (the teal, of course), I feel I already have similar or better versions of.

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  16. Wow how Gorgeous are these colours. Love them xx

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  17. Thanks for the great swatches as always!

    Love the green, beetle-shell look of Unpredictable and Deviantly Daring's turquoise glow. Definitely some good dupes for people on the hunt, but without more duo shift to these, the collection isn't grabbing me like I'd hoped it would.

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  18. I saw these today and the display was almost empty! All I got to see in person were Want my Bawdy (which I really wanted when I saw promo pics) and Rare and Radiant. Neither did much for me in person, so I waited to see swatches. I've decided that I want Unpredictable after seeing your lovely swatches, and will probably get Want my Bawdy as well. Hopefully I can find them before they all disappear!

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  19. I'm sure you'll have a lot of comments about these because so many of us have been waiting to see what they look like. I know there are quite a few dupes for a couple of colours which you've mentioned, but for European girls, it's like China Glaze pretty much copied most of the Golden Rose Classics Metallic collex.

    I've done bottle shots and quite a few swatches of the GR bottles and they're definitely dupes. I guess that it's good for North American girls because they'll get a chance to have these colours now, but it's too bad for those of us who thought there'd be something unique here.

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  20. I think they look prettier in the bottle than they do on the nail. I'll pass this time around! On the plus side, I'm saving money! :D

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  21. It took every ounce of will power to walk out of Sally's beauty supply today without buying even one of these!

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  22. wow, they're better than i expected. i'll surely pick a few!

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  23. I wonder what they are like to stamp with. Hmmmm.

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  24. If you've got time I'd really love a comparison between sinful colors gorgeous and devuantly daring as well as unpredictable with Nicole mermaid for each other!!!

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    1. Nicole Mermaid and Unpredictable are exactly the same!

      I just spent the morning comparing them in every possible way. I was so hopping they weren't.

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  25. Looks to me like Unpredictable is a dupe of Topshop Eclipse and Eye Candy London Green With Envy.

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  26. Deviantly Daring - oh my God! Gorgeous x 1000 :) Can I borrow the picture to put it in my recommendations post?

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  27. Hmm. For duochromes they're a bit MONOchrome.

    Tbh Models Own and Misa have done this better. And Misa did it years ago!!!

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  28. Thank you for the swatches. I don't really like these, they don't show as much of the duochrome on the nails as they do in the bottles.

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  29. I didn't order swanky silk and want my bawdy.. Swanky silk because it looked "boring" and bawdy because of the lack of duochrome color. Now I'm thinking of getting swanky silk anyhow, It seems not that bad. Great pictures and great review.

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  30. what a great collection!! I love the duochromes! Deviantly Daring, Swanky Silk and Unpredictable definitely in my 'Must get List' !

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  31. love these! unpredictable is definitely my fav :)

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  32. Beautiful swatches! I am a bit disappointed, I hoped they were more of a duo chrome as well, judging from the bottles. I do not feel the burning need to purchase these.

    Do you always swatch your nails when they are still wet?

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  33. I just love the duo chromes, I'm glad they are not too frosty. Thanks for the great swatches.

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  34. I'm thinking a couple of these may go home with me, but the collection doesn't grab me like I'd hoped, for sure. I'm curious; how does Deviantly Daring compare to Beauty and the Beach?

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  35. I bought three and don't like them overall as much as I'd hoped. Unpredictable is my favorite, though. My Swanky Silk doesn't look nearly as pretty as yours, Scrangie! Maybe I need more coats.

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  36. Only liked Swanky Silk because it seems to have the most duochrome effect :) Great swatches.

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  37. Swanky Silk and the peridot dupe are my favourite of the bunch! I am a little disappointed though, I hoped for a little bit more duochrome..

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  38. I just had a crazy e-worlds collide moment realizing you know Majestic and Jessica! Crazy!

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  39. I just had a crazy e-worlds collide moment realizing you know Majestic and Jessica! Crazy!

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  40. OKKKKKK, I wasn't going to get these until I saw your swatches. Darn it.

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  41. Thanks for the review! I got Deviantly Daring and had to hold back on getting them all. I appreciate you giving us the extra info before we shell out our cash!

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  42. I bought Unpredictable a couple of days ago. In sunlight the duochrome completely disappears, leaving a frosty goldish green color, but indoors it is a beautiful teal/green/gold.

    Nobody's got it right since the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms.

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  43. I just really can't get into chromes. They remind me too much of the chameleon painted cars that the cool kids had in my high school. That and I think I'm way too fair to pull them off.

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  44. I am so disappointed with the strength of these duochromes. I only can see it very strongly in rare and radient and unpredictable and unfortunately, I have dupes for these two already. Bawdy is a nice color but its lack of duochromeness is sad. At least the formula are good.

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  45. They look a bit too frosty for my liking.
    When somebody says 'chromes' I think of perfectly smooth surfaces, like Layla's Mirror Effect polish has.
    I don't know about RL, but the douchrome effect doesn't look that strong either.

    That said, I like the colour of Deviantly Daring very, very much.

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  46. Nice swatches as always! I'm not feeling this collection though. They look great in the bottle, but don't look very duochrome-y on the nail. They also look brush stroke-y :(

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  47. Nice swatches as always! I'm not feeling this collection though. They look great in the bottle, but don't show up duochrome-y on the nail. Also they look brush stroke-y :(

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  48. I did not know it was limited edition...so glad I got the ones I wanted a long time ago! Swanky Silk was my favorite, but I can never pull off that kind of color with my paleness...I still can't help but wear it!

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  49. just picked these up. i agree with your overall sort of confusion about finite feelings on this collections since we've seen so many dupes...but to me, i'm still head over heels for the collection name. it's really on target with what is happening at the cutting edge of art and culture. every ten years or so, the notion of what it means to be "bohemian" gets reinvented and this time its on some digital, i sit at my computer and make gifs that look like real life shiney things shit. so, if not for anything else, this collection is definitely evident that china glaze has their finger on the pulse more than any other nail polish brand!!!!!!!!! and this is enough of my nerd rant/commentary. cheers 2 u scrang!!!!!

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  50. Deviantly Daring is WAY darker and greener in real life. Totally not what my collection needed since it is a dupe for Essie Trophy Wife

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  51. There are just 6 colours right? The picture of the display really throws me off because there's 12 bottles on it.

    I'm pretty much definitely getting Want My Bawdy, Unpredictable and Deviantly Daring, because I don't yet have any polishes like that in my (ever growing) collection (I bit my nails for 20+ years and have only stopped in the last year or so). I love Rare and Radiant, but I've only just purchased the Jessica version and as they look identical I don't see the point (is there any difference in them?). This site is dangerous to my bank balance

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  52. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! I'M VERY FUN OF YOUR PICTURES AND POLISHES. BYE

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