January 30, 2010

China Glaze Up and Away Part Two

Part Two of my three-part review of China Glaze's Up and Away collection features Lemon Fizz, Something Sweet, and Peachy Keen. I'm not going in any particular order this time, because I liked all of these about the same. I couldn't pick a real definitive winner. All polishes are shown with three coats, plus one coat of Seche Vite top coat. All pictures were taken with flash again, as Connecticut's weather is still wonderful (*heavy on the sarcasm*).

Lemon Fizz, three coats, with flash

First up is Lemon Fizz. I have a serious love-hate relationship with pale yellow polish because I LOVE the color, but they are ALWAYS a hot streaky mess. I read one blogger claim that China Glaze must have really worked on their formula because Lemon Fizz was a streak-free pale yellow, so I had great hopes for this one.
Alas, it was streaky, but good thick coat of Seche Vite helped even this one out quite a bit though. I'll definitely wear Lemon Fizz, because I truly do love the color. The only thing I had to compare this to was Chanel LA Sunrise from the LE Robertson Boulevard collection. They are similar in color, but LA Sunrise is darker, more golden, and has shimmer, whereas Lemon Fizz is a creme.

left to right: Lemon Fizz, LA Sunrise, Lemon Fizz, LA Sunrise

Something Sweet, three coats, with flash

Next up is Something Sweet. For me, this is like the sleeper hit of the collection. Something Sweet is a pale, yet bright, pink. It has the same creamy bold look as white polish, but the pink makes it even more flattering. This was surprisingly not as streaky as some other polishes in this collection. I was expecting the worst from this (this kind of color is SO not my usual), but I actually really like it! When I first received these polishes, I thought I had a good dupe for this, but I don't have anything close at all. That's not to say there isn't a good dupe, I just don't have one. Overall, Something Sweet really is pretty sweet! This picture makes it look matte for some reason, but it was nice and shiny in real life. I'll try to take another picture of it without flash, as the flash washes it out a bit.

Peachy Keen, three coats, no flash

Last, but not least, we have Peachy Keen. Peachy Keen is a true peach-colored polish. Before I tried this, I thought I owned peach polish. As it turns out, all my peaches were too orange and dark. This is a gorgeous color, a beautiful light, but pigmented peach. Peachy Keen is also EXTRAORDINARILY flattering on my pale skin, though you can't really tell in this picture (I like natural light pics so much better!). I imagine it would flatter many skin tones though.
Sounds all peachy keen, right? Not really. Peachy Keen, like many of the Up and Away polishes, is streaky. At first, the streakiness made me so mad that I didn't even really like this polish. But later I got a glimpse of my hands in the mirror and it was so flattering that I fell in love. Overall, I am going to wear this color all the time this spring, but it would be better without the streaks.

I still have a couple polishes left in my Up and Away review. So far, I love most of the colors, but honestly I'm not impressed with the formula at all. A thick coat of Seche makes streaks less obvious, but if you're a nail perfectionist, they will still annoy you.

The China Glaze Up and Away collection is available online at 8ty8Beauty.

2 comments:

Paige said...

Gorgeous swatches!

Never Enough Nails said...

Thanks gildedangel!

Meant to add, Part Three should be up later tonight/Monday morning. Part Three includes Re-freshmint, Heli-Yum, Flying High and High Hopes!