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| China Glaze City Flourish: Part Two Pollen In Love |
But I finally have the second part of the China Glaze City Flourish collection for you. If you missed part one, make sure to check that out! I know there's been a lot of reviews already, but if you're still on the fence about these polishes, I have my thoughts on the collection as a whole at the end of this post.
Formula and application: The formula with these is very similar to the polishes in the first half of the collection. Most of them are tricky to work with, but once you get the hang of them, they are not too bad. Some of the colours are prone to dragging and slight streaking. I found the trick was to apply two thin coats, then finish with a thicker third coat. Also make sure not to use too many brushstrokes - less is more! For all of these I had to use three coats, and while I've heard lots of negative things about the formula on these, in my opinion they could be worse!
Don't Honk Your Thorn is a light neutral beige with a subtle shimmer. It looks a bit dated, but I actually really liked the colour and I think it will be flattering on a variety of skin tones. In a collection of pastels and bright neons, it was kind of nice to see a nude, and I think it corresponds to the popularity of nude colours that we've been seeing this spring. 3 coats.
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| China Glaze Don't Honk Your Thorn Swatch |
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| China Glaze Don't Honk Your Thorn Swatch |
Grass is Lime Greener is a gorgeous lime green neon. Wow, this one is bright, and so much fun! Even though I have other lime greens in my collection I don't think I have anything as bright as this. 3 coats.
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| China Glaze Grass Is Lime Greener Swatch |
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| China Glaze Grass Is Lime Greener Swatch |
Metro Pollen-tin is an orangish-yellow creme that reminds me of orange creamsicles. It's a hard one to describe, but I would call it a mix of a neon and pastel - it's definitely brighter than other pastels, but not quite a neon - get it? This is another unique polish in my collection. I have plenty of yellows, and plenty of oranges, but nothing in between like this. 3 coats.
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| China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin Swatch |
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| China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin Swatch |
Strike a Rose is a slightly muted, cool-toned rose with a pink shimmer. I would say it's a somewhat darker, non-neon version of Peonies & Park Ave. I did not have issues with the formula on this one. 3 coats.
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| China Glaze Strike A Rose Swatch |
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| China Glaze Strike A Rose Swatch |
Thistle Do Nicely is a bright, searing pink neon with subtle coral tones. It's a brighter version of Petal to the Metal, and more coral-toned than Peonies & Park Ave. It's definitely the brightest pink of the bunch. Formula-wise this was one of the more difficult polishes of the group, but I still managed to get it to work in 3 coats.
[Note: the colour on this one was very hard to capture - it looks similar to Strike a Rose, but it's a shade lighter and definitely much brighter!]
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| China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely Swatch |
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| China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely Swatch |
What a Pansy is a nice blurple creme. I has an interesting finish - going on, it looks almost like a jelly, but it has better coverage than a jelly. It's a nice polish and formula-wise I had no issues with this one. This was 3 coats, but 2 would also work.
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| China Glaze What A Pansy Swatch |
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| China Glaze What A Pansy Swatch |
Final Thoughts and Summary
Collection: China Glaze City Flourish (Spring 2014): Part One, Peonies & Park Ave. and Part Two, Pollen in Love
- This collection offers a nice group of pastels, brights, and neons - there's something for almost every one's tastes here. I do wish, however, that there was a bit more variety in the colours. I mean, no blues and five pinks?!
- A number of the colours we've seen before, so those of you who have been collecting awhile might already have similar shades. But for the new collector/hoarder, this collection offers some nice colours.
- If you want cremes with flawless, one/two-coat application, this isn't the collection for you. But if you want some fun spring/summer colours and have a bit of patience, they are perfect. They are also great for using in nail art.
My picks: At Vase Value, Don't Honk Your Thorn, Metro Pollen-tin, Grass is Lime Greener, and Peonies & Park Ave.
What do you think of this collection? Do you plan to pick any up? And since I'm still planning a comparison post, let me know if you'd like to see any comparisons (depends on my collection of course)!
They have some fun shades for the season. I quite like them :)
ReplyDeleteI agree completely! I did buy all of them after all! ;)
DeleteI love most of these shades (and how they're cremes!), but three coats is a bit much for me. Bummer!
ReplyDeleteI understand. If you're painting your nails more than once/twice a week, three coats does seem like a bit too much! :)
DeleteGreat swatches! Love this collection.
ReplyDeleteThank you Natalie! And I'm glad you enjoyed them. :)
Deletethese look really nice and i love the purple but don't think i have patience for the application-- you do make them look flawless though
ReplyDeleteThanks Zoe! I guess that's what happens when you polish your nails A LOT! :)
DeleteThe nude shade is gorgeous on you!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I've really been enjoying nude shades lately and this is a really nice one.
DeleteCould you please, please either swatch or even verbally compare In A lily bit to Sweek hook? Basically, I have Sweet Hook and OPI Mod About you - do I need In a Lilly Bit? In some swatches it looks exactly the same as Sweet Hook, in others - similar to Mod About You, and yet in others - different from either of those. Anyway, will appreciate your comment.
ReplyDeleteI don't have Mod About You, but based on what I've seen on other blogs and websites, it's more of a pale pink, leaning towards lilac. Where In a a Lily Bit is more of a pale lilac/lavender. Sweet Hook is very, very close to In a Lily Bit, it's just slightly darker. I would say if you have Sweet Hook you probably don't need In a Lily Bit unless you really love your pale lavenders. I hope this helps.
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