China Glaze Holiday 2013 – Happy HoliGlaze Nail Polish Swatches & Review – Part 1

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze

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The holiday season is in full swing and that means we have parties and family gatherings to look forward to. And what better way to compliment your holiday ensembles than with some sparkling nail lacquer. The China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze collection is all about the glitz and glam and in this first half of the collection, we’re looking at six fine glitters and metallic shimmers.

Formula & Application: China Glaze is a 3-Free brand 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.

In this half of the Happy HoliGlaze collection, there are three fine glitters and three metallic shimmers.

The glitters all have a sheer base packed with fine glitter and it takes a minimum of three coats to get full coverage. This is the kind of glitter that eats top coat so a thick top coat, like Seche Vite, or multiple coats of a thin top coat will be necessary to get a smooth finish. I used two coats of Out The Door and could still feel the texture a bit.

Two of the metallic shimmers are unique in that they look like foils but don’t have the large metallic flecks normally associated with them, the gold being the exception. These all have excellent pigmentation only requiring two coats of color. When dry, they have an almost aluminum type reflectiveness to them.

Note: The glitters are a challenge to remove. Be prepared to soak it in remover using either the foil method or just holding a cotton pad on the nail for a minute or two.

China Glaze All Wrapped Up is an indigo micro-fine glitter with a sheer tinted base, filled with both blue and purple particles. The one thing to note about these glitters, is that they make the brush a bit thicker so it’s a bit trickier to get right up to the edge of the nail and create a clean line.

China Glaze All Wrapped Up

China Glaze Just Be-Claws is a traditional holiday-esque cherry red filled with a lit-from-within shimmer that makes it glow on the nail. I don’t own anything exactly like it but it reminds me of my very first OPI nail polish, INRAW.

China Glaze Just Be-Claws

China Glaze Mingle with Kringle is a warm golden metallic foil shimmer filled with champagne and true gold shimmer mixed with warmer golden flecks. Zoya Ziv is a kissing cousin, if not a dead-on dupe for Mingle with Kringle.

China Glaze Mingle with Kringle

China Glaze Put A Bow On It is a magenta glitter with a sheer tinted base. It’s packed with magenta, hot pink and lilac glitters. This tinted base is a bit darker on this one so it gives it a somewhat blackened tone to the background.

China Glaze Put A Bow On It

China Glaze So Blue Without You is an icy cyan blue metallic shimmer that reminds me of wrapping paper. It’s so shiny with an a chrome-like finish yet it doesn’t suffer from brush stroke issues.

China Glaze So Blue Without You

China Glaze This Is Tree-Mendous has a mix of gold, emerald and chartreuse fine glitters in a sheer tinted base. Because the base on this one is practically clear, it doesn’t give quite the same coverage as the other two glitters in this collection.

ps the name makes me think of Heather Mooney from Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion saying, “Tremendous! That’s tremendous! Go get your stupid yearbook. I’d be happy to sign it!”

China Glaze This Is Tree-Mendous

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze

Bottom Line: As much as they are a pain to remove, the fine glitters in this collection are all gorgeous though All Wrapped Up is my fave. Of all the metallic shimmers, Mingle with Kringle gets top honors though, if you own Zoya Ziv, you don’t need both. Even though I’m not a big proponent of reds, Just Be-Claws captured my attention the same way Ruby Pumps did many years ago. And So Blue Without You is, well, blue, so you know I’m in.

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze is available now at salons and mass retailers nationwide including ULTA stores and online retailers Amazon.com, ULTA.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com and TransDesign.com. China Glaze nail polish retails for $3.25-$7.50/ea depending on the seller.

Which colors are calling your name? Are you more into glitters or metallic when it comes to holiday colors? Or do you go the complete opposite and rock cremes?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for China Glaze. Affiliate links appear in this post. When you purchase through an affiliate link, you help support this site. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.