China Glaze Summer 2008 – INK
Tattoos are a controversial topic. You either love or hate them. They’re regarded as both beautiful and tacky, depending on who you ask. But no matter what your opinion is, tattoos are extremely personal; a memorial, an artistic expression, a memento of a wild escapade, a drunken regret, a terrible reminder of past events or loves. Inspired by this colorful body art, China Glaze has put together a collection of neons that you can use to create your own tattoo-like nail designs.
Tattoo art has moved out of back alley parlors onto the couture collections of fashion’s top designers. INKâ„¢ by China Glaze is a collection of neons for brilliant self expression. Customize and personalize
…Ink My Nailâ„¢.
INK includes six bold new shades, a set of nail decals and rhinestones, a black nail art lacquer with fine tipped brush, a limited edition bottle of their yummy smelling Orange Cuticle Oil AND the six existing neons from the WOW collection. Now that’s a lot of neon.
A quick word about the finish. As with other neons I’ve used, these all dry to a semi-matte finish. It must have something to do with the type of pigment used to create neon shades. So if you’re looking for high gloss you’ll have to add a shiny top coat. Therefore I’ve shown all the lacquers with two coats of color on the nail and no top coat; exceptions are noted.
Blue Sparrow is a royal blue peppered with light blue glitter. The glitter leaves a gritty feel to the dried polish so between that and the matte finish you really need to use a coat of a thick glossy top coat to bring out the lacquer’s true brilliance. I’m showing you the color without top coat but I included an up close swatch with a coat of Seche Vite.
Celtic Sun is a neon yellow with a hint of green undertones. The polish is shown with three coats on the nail yet the smile line still shows through. I personally prefer a more lemony yellow. This color has a very 80s retro feel to me. It’s a shade right out of the Wham! Wake Me Up Before You Go Go video.
Japanese Koi is the shade of a perfectly ripe tangerine. It’s got a slightly pink base that keeps it from being day-glo orange.
With it’s hot pink base Rose Among Thorns is no average rose. I found this image of the beautiful Cerise Rose and thought this could have been the inspiration for the shade. 
Sacred Heart is a dusty red that is unlike any red I own. There’s something about the satin finish on this one that reminds me of the skin on cherries. Odd reference I know, but it keeps popping in my mind. 
Flying Dragon is my personal favorite from the collection. It is a deep purple that has a reddish tone to it in person. The red and blue glitter really makes this polish unique. Like I mentioned above, the finish is my only real issue with both glitters. For some reason this seems to be a bigger problem with Flying Dragon. According to a rep for China Glaze it is the unfortunate downside of blending neon with glitter. Their suggestion, two coats of Seche Vite to avoid a rough finish. 
The INK collection is available now in salons and online at 8ty8Beauty and coming soon to Head2ToeBeauty.
So who’s going to be sporting bold, bright neons this summer? Which colors are standouts?
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I just read about Ink the other day. I’m so excited to try them! I love the blue and the purple, but perhaps I’ll try the Sacred Heart as well. I love a standout red.
Eeek, I’m NOT a fan of the two glitters in this collection! The base colors on both are gorgeous, but the finish looks so horrible to me. The glitter is so chunky it feels like I’m looking at sandpaper. Especially without the topcoat, my reaction was “ew! that’s gross!”
Oh man… those glitters look pretty awful. :-X The colors are nice enough, but that finish would drive me crazy.
Can’t bear the glitter, but the two red/pinks are beautiful.
Crazy…but I love the Purple Color too! The glittery ones def. look better with a glossy top-coat!
Is Rose Among Thorns a jelly? I love the color!
Now thats my kind of collection. I love neon type colors! Although I am not overly excited about the gritty finish w/ the gorgeous glitters, I think I’ll be able to manage, lol. Will H2T and 8ty8 have the stickers, cuticle oil etc.?
Thanks for posting!
Great swatches as always!
I prefer brights over neons, but I’m definately getting BS and FD from this collection.
I’m wearing Flying Dragon, and it’s absolutely fabulous. It’s grape-juicy-bright without being a screaming purple, and the shimmer of the hot pink and electric blue glitter add a fun new dimension.
To combat the rough texture, I used a top coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine; it obliterated the glitter grit and left it smooth and shiny.
YUCK!! I hate them all….They really missed the bused with this collection… Ewwwww………
I meant to say bus.
I’m afraid I have to agree with the ladies who think that the glitters are pretty awful-looking :(. Even with topcoat, I don’t like them.
I’m not really loving anything in this collection, honestly. I guess neon just isn’t my thing. Oh well, different strokes!
I really love all of the nice bright colors that everywhere for spring/summer. They’re such a great contrast to all of the super-dark shades we’ve all been sporting for the past couple of years, and yet they are stil somehow just as edgy as the darks once were. I love all of the shades in this collection. I thought my favorites would be blue sparrow and flying dragon, but even though the colors are gorgeous, I am beyond disappointed by the finish. They would have looked much better as cremes. Plus since when are tattoos glittery anyway? I’ve got five tattoos and not a one has ever seemed to appear glittery.
I’m not so excited by the glitter finishes although the colors are nice. I think I may pass on this line… When will CND come out with some new colors
Even though ChG missed the boat this time in my opinion, I always love your swatches!! You can put black Sharpe on your nails and I’d try to figure out how to buy it
neat concept, but the execution was not great….as they’d say on project runway!
oh well, at least I can save $$$$ this time around!
Blue Sparrow is simply ah-may-zing! I got a giant order of polish in today of mostly China Glaze, and a few OPI and Essie and this one nail polish is one of my favorite out of the forty sum-odd ones I own.
So, so pretty! I know the finish isn't so hot but with a coat of China Glaze's Patent Top Coat it makes the glitter somehow brighter and it's just fab.
I just had to rave! <3
Can you tell me what I do with the bottle of Orange Cuticle Oil that comes with the kit? How am I supposed to get it from the bottle to my cuticles? Mine doesn’t have a brush or anything, just a tiny opening…
MrsKiwiYeti – An applicator or brush tip would have been nice with this. The bottle is cute but not very practical. I just press my fingertip against the top of the bottle and turn the bottle over, like you would with a perfume sample. Then just dab it onto my cuticles.
To Miss Kiwi Yeti:
I was thinking what if you used a round cotton pad (they come in packs of 50+) and just dab a little on the pad and onto your cuticles. Or maybe you could pour a small amount of the oil into a small plastic cup and dip each fingernail into the cup and rub the oil onto your cuticles until it vanishes. xoxoxo Geo
i love this collection but i cant fiond it anywhere….where can i buy this one at….
This is an older collection but some of the colors are part of the perm China Glaze lineup. Head2ToeBeauty.com still has some of them in stock. Though not Flying Dragon
Stephanie: If you live near a Sally’s, I believe they have most if not the entire collection. I know for sure they have Flying Dragon as that’s where I got it.
Hope that helps!
Now I see. There are definitely 2 Flying Dragons out there, and mine is not the pretty one in your pictures!