China Glaze Poolside Swatches - Summer 2010

Hello all! I have the China Glaze summer collection for you today: Poolside. The release day is coming up! Just a couple more days! Are you dying for them, or what?!

As I am sure you know, Poolside is a collection of 6 neon shades. And I am sure you also know that neons are next to impossible to capture true to life. I did the best I could, and some come out better than others. So I warn you, these are not terribly accurate, either in shade and/or brightness/neonness, but they will at least help give you an idea. And where I could I did comparison pics. The point is sort of moot if none of the shades being compared are accurate, but at least you can see the differences between two shades.

These are all very awesome and very bright. I had them all sitting out on my polish desk and the BF said "Those are the six greatest nail polishes I've ever seen". LOL! I love when he gets into my polish!

Okay, let's get into it!

Pool Party - This is a neon pink, but it is a very red pink. It's a neon "rink", I guess. I have nothing like it but I did a comparison of Pool Party next to Essie - Flirty Fuchsia from last year's Essie neons so you can see how red it is:

pinky and middle: Pool Party
ring and index: Flirty Fuchsia

Again, neither of these are accurate thanks to the loss of neon in the pic, but at least you can see that Pool Party leans more red than pink.

Flip Flop Fantasy - This is a neon coral. Perfect description. It's not pink, red or orange. It's all of them! And it's neon! This is the stand out shade of this collection in my eyes. I don't think there is a shade like it at all. I don't have a comparison pic to show you for this because it is so unique. This is a must have shade. I adore it. If you don't think it is impressive in my swatch it's because my camera murdered it's magic. Trust me, this is amazing. This is absolutely getting a spot in my Top 20, as soon as I can think of who I want to bump off...

Sun Worshiper - I have been so excited for the release of this collection because of this shade. I just love colors like this. This is a yellow sided, orange neon. The neon glow shows itself much better in this pic than the other neons! *Whew* This is very, very bright. I do own a couple other shades similar:

From left to right: LA Colors - Force, Cosmo - Bus Route #1, Sun Worshiper, Hot Topic - unnamed neon orange
Again, these are far more neon in real life, but at least you can see that Sun Worshiper is the most neon and has the best formula. All are three coats.

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - This is neon yellow. Neon, hi-liter yellow. This picture is awful. This is not remotely close to accurate. I am ashamed to show it. *hides* This is mega bright. This swatch is 4-5 coats. Some have 4, some have 5. Either way, I probably could have done way more than that!

This is how Yellow Polka Dot Bikini stacks up next to one of my fave polishes ever: Essie - Funky Limelight. I do believe Funky Limelight is a smidgen brighter, but YPDB is still so bright, no one would think you could get any brighter!

Kiwi Cool-Ada - This is a neon green. NEON green. This doesn't look neon at all! Trust me, it is. I thought the formula of this one was pretty nice. I believe this swatch is three coats.

This is how it compares to the other neon greens I own. From left to right:
Hot Topic - unnamed neon green, Sinful Colors - Irish Green, Kiwi Cool-Ada, China Glaze - In The Limelight
I found that KCA was very similar to another neon green release from China Glaze: In The Limelight, however ITL has shimmer. KCA is also brighter and more opaque than Irish Green and the Hot Topic one is really all alone because the shade is very different.

Towel Boy Toy - I love this name! So cute. Anyway, this is a neon blue, and I was impressed by the neonness of it! I expected it to be a bright blue but not terribly neon and I guess it is less neon that the others, but it is still neon. This also differs from the other shades in this collection since it has shimmer and the rest do not. This is 3 coats.

This is how it compares to Color Club - Pure Energy, which we took a look at last week. They are practically identical, but the shimmer in Pure Energy is more apparent and it leans green making these not exact dupes.

The formula on these was thin, but surprisingly buildable. China Glaze isn't trying to hide it. The press release I posted a while back even said these will be on the thin side as they are neons. The first coat is scarily thin. But the second makes a huge difference, and by the third you are smooth sailing. I found Kiwi Cool-Ada, Towel Boy Toy, Pool Party and Flip Flop Fantasy were three coaters, but Sun Worshiper needed a 4th coat maybe, and Yellow Polka Dot Bikini needed it for sure, plus maybe a 5th. BUT a great trick for fixing the need for so many coats is layering these (and this goes for any neons) over a white base. Observe:

One coat of OPI - Alpine Snow + one coat of Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. It still looks streaky since my Alpine Snow was streaky. I should have done 2 coats of it, but anyway, the point is that you can cut down the number of coats big time by using a white base, or help hide any VNL at all, since even the 3 coaters can leave a little VNL.

These also dry very matte as neons do. I added a topcoat for my swatches so they were shiny.

Final Verdict: I think Sun Worshiper and Flip Flop Fantasy are the standouts. Pool Party is unique in my collection and great if you like pinks. Towel Boy Toy and Yellow Polka Dot Bikini are good buys if you don't already have Pure Energy or Funky Limelight (also maybe China Glaze - Celtic Sun. I don't know since I don't have it) and Kiwi Cool-Ada will be dependent on if you like green and if you don't have another stand out neon green shade. It may be skippable, but that is a personal choice that I can't make!

Poolside officially launches in just a few days! APRIL 1st!!!
What are you going to get?
:c)


Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.