China Glaze Texture Nail Polish Swatches & Review
When I first heard that textured nail polish was going to be the big thing for 2013, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Given that so many DIYers had been experimenting with flocking powder, beads, sugar, embossing powder and just about anything you can find in a craft store, brands could have gone down a number of different roads.
China Glaze Texture - Spring 2013
I’m happy to see that rather than jump on the exact same bandwagon (e.g. crackle), the brands are differentiating themselves somewhat, offering varying takes on texture. The China Glaze Texture collection is one such example.
Of the textured polishes I’ve shown thus far, the majority have gone down the sparkly, glistening sand route. China Glaze’s take has the look of stucco with tiny irregularly shaped particles that remind me of NERDS candy.
Formula & Application: China Glaze Texture nail polish is 5-Free with a round brush that is both medium in length and firmness with enough give to allow for ease of control. The cap is slightly tapered and made of smooth plastic that is comfortable to hold.
The base of the Texture polish is actually a glossy creme. You can see light reflecting off it between the particles. The particles themselves dry with the same finish but because of the way your eye sees it, it has an overall flat, matte appearance. Unlike most of the glittery texture polishes, these are very pigmented. You only need one coat for coverage but two coats add more texture. The polish is actually easy to control in spite of its thickness.
Note: I’m showing all the shades with two coats, except Unrefined which is only one coat so you can see the difference in texture.
China Glaze Bump & Grind is a magenta textured polish. It’s a hot, red-based pink.
China Glaze Bump and Grind
China Glaze In The Rough is a chartreuse textured polish. It’s definitely more green than yellow and very bright.
China Glaze In The Rough
China Glaze Itty, Bitty & Gritty is a coral textured polish. It has a lot of pink in its base so it’s a cool coral.
China Glaze Itty Bitty & Gritty
China Glaze Of Course! is a bright sky blue textured polish. It has a softness that feels billowy, like a cloud.
China Glaze Of Coarse!
China Glaze Toe-Tally Textured is a vivid, yellow-leaning orange. It looks like the skin of an orange, no?
China Glaze Toe-Tally Textured
China Glaze Unrefined is a cool pink textured creme with undertones of lilac. It dries much brighter than the bottle suggests. Again, this is just one coat.
China Glaze Unrefined
A lot of the textured nail art I’ve seen uses multiple coats of polish and looks way too lumpy for my taste. After seeing some chic, Negative Space Manicures that caught my eye, I thought do my take on it with texture. Just one coat of Of Coarse! over a naked nail using striping tape. Application Tip: The tape didn’t want to stick to my bare nail so I used a coat of CND Stickey to give it something to grip.
Negative Space Nail Art
Bottom Line: I honestly expecting to hate this style of texture but the longer I wear it, the more it grows on me. The sandpaper feel is an adjustment but I like seeing the little bits of shine poking through the granules and I enjoy the bright color range. Of Coarse! is my fave of the bunch as I’m still on my bright blue kick but Itty, Bitty & Gritty is a close second. In The Rough is not a flattering color for me so it gets a pass.
China Glaze Texture is available now at salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide including Sally Beauty and ULTA. To locate a retailer near you, visit ChinaGlaze.com. China Glaze nail polishes retail for $7/ea for a .5oz bottle.
So are you into this style of textured polish? Are you anti-texture people coming around? Which of these shades would you wear? How do you like my take on Negative Space nail art?
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for China Glaze. Affiliate links appear via a third party link service. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
Honestly I’m not crazy about them. The colors are fine but I don’t like the look of the texture.
Sick!
Tell me how you really feel, Steph
How do you feel about the wear of this polish? I may not like be a huge fan of the texture, but I find it wears like iron and allows me to have my other hobby – gardening. Does it stand up to “unidentified beer injuries?”
I agree, it does wear like iron. I had on one of the OPI Liquid Sands when I went to Florida in January. And after spending a week down there, in the pool for hours at a time, I didn’t have one chip! That’s saying something
I’m not a fan of texture, and I won’t be trying these, but I think they did a good job with the color choice and quality. Even the one-layer look is pretty impressive and I think these are more wearable than some other collections.
An aside-where can I buy nail striping tape? I can’t find it anywhere-on line or in my beauty stores.
Hi Susy! I included a link in the post but here’s a link to where they are on Amazon.com
I like the colors from this collection better than some of the others I’ve seen, but I still hate textured polishes. I’m sorry, but I cannot wait for this Textured/Liquid Sand craze to end. Give me a smooth polish anyday.
Do you think “In the Rough” would make for good tennis ball nail art? “Toe-tally Textured” reminds me of a basketball!
That’s an awesome idea. It absolutely looks like a tennis ball.
I bought almost all of these… I love them. I have in the rough on my nails now.
I really like them
Oooh…O_o
I’m loving the colors, hating the look of the texture:(. The only one that looks even somewhat wearable is the orange one…maybe…
I don’t know if i could get into the non glitter textured polish. I tried the Milani textured polishes and the Sally Hansen ones and didn’t really like either of them. It felt like they dumped bits of rocks or sand in the nail polish bottles.
That does nothing for me! Nice colors (except thre chartreuse, blegh), but the texture is a *tiny bit* reminiscent of the Sally Hansen Sugar Coats. All bumpy and stuff. It looks like the texture doesn’t apply evenly either, so it looks rather messy instead of trendy.
Hey, love the review!!
Not really my cup of tea – I have to put about 10 coats of topcoat on when I wear glitters (slight exaggeration) because I hate bumpy polish.
I’m with Sharon- no thank you.
I’ll wait for the fall line of glossy/matte
polishes. This texture stuff is..not for me.
I love the colors! However, I believe the texture may be for the younger set, not a 76 yr. old great grandmother.
I prefer the finer textures of OPI and Zoya. I am going to pass on these.
I like them, but I would be worried they would chip more frequently because of the texture.
Oddly enough, they actually chip less. The textured polishes, in general, wear much better than traditional polish. It REALLY adheres to the nail.
I just don’t like the color Unrefined, love the others. Sadly, here in Brazil they’re very expensive.
I like textured polishes but haven’t tried a stucco texture. Not a HUGE fan of these colors in particular but might try the coral. LOVE the negative nail art. I def need to try that!
All I can think is “man, they ruined some really beautiful colors with sandpaper.” I just don’t get it.
Beautiful colours but I’m not a fan of the texture at all.
I love the colors, but I wish they didn’t look like they had so many air bubbles in them.
Not much of a fan of the textured polishes. The worst ones are the dark black-maroons, khakis and browns. Those look utterly repulsive. If I’m going to put sludgy polish on, I want it bright and glittery.
Errr… hmmm…
I am not a fan of this texture. The colors seem alright but nothing special.
However, my immediate questions are:
What are the beads that make the texture made out of?
And, how easy is it to remove this texture nail polish? Is it easy like a regular nail polish, or a b!*@$ like glitters?
p.s. Look at you starting to get into nail art! whoot whoot!
Ha, I knew you would say something about the nail art. I’m still not full fledged on board but I like the simple stuff.
From what I can gather from the ingredient list, it seems the texture comes from tiny pieces of kaolin, which is a clay mineral.
The removal isn’t that bad. I find it to be better than the glittery textures and much easier than traditional glitter nail polish. The only major thing is that some of the texture beads get stuck but not to the point where you’ll curse at it.
Hmm. I do like the orange as I don’t have a plain textured orange yet. I love my textures.
These look quite a bit like the SH Sugar Coat to me. I’d probably have to see them in person to tell the shine as otherwise the consistency looks spot on. Now I want one to see the differences or similarities!
Thank you for the review-I’d have otherwise never known about these.
I liked these colors more once I read your comparison to Nerds- it made me ‘get’ them. I’m still over the moon for my Zoya Godiva, though. The sparkly light-colored route seems to be the best way for me to do texture.
And your manicure is AMAZEBALLS. i gasped out loud.
Interesting – I haven’t made a decision either way yet.
Definitely kind of cool. I wasn’t sure.. but I think I like them. I love the finish on OPI Liquid Sand polishes. This kind of reminds me of that.. but without the glitter. I wonder if that’s just my computer. I definitely like what you did with the nail art.
I like the ones that are glittery, but not just textured creme polishes like these. I did think your tape mani idea was really neat though.
The orange is so pretty!
Am I the only one who likes the texture? Lol. I just got a bottle of the Sugar Coat in Green Apple on sale today and so far I am lovin’ it. The only thing is that I have to file the edges because some of the grains stick off the end of my nails and I’m not a fan. But otherwise it’s pretty awesome
I don’t love it but I like it. I’m all about something different and it certainly is that.
I love the texture! It’s unusual, which is nice. It’s good to be different sometimes!
Are u supposes to apply top coat to Texture polish?
Hi Kate! Textured nail polish is intended to be worn without top coat but you can certainly add one if you are missing the shine.