China Glaze - Pastels

Hi! I'm going to show you some pretty China Glaze pastels today! It's not spring, but who cares! Anyway, here in Singapore it's always summer anyway.

L-R: Lemon Fizz, Refresh-mint, Kinetic Candy,
Something Sweet, Sweet Hook

It's been a while since I posted.. I've been pretty busy with work and housework, and my nails are in a horrid state, making me very unwilling to post anything. They were already short because of practising my guitar, and after doing a lot of housework all 10 of them split entirely and I had to cut them down to the meat again. *sniff sniff*

Anyway, I finally took out my pastels given by my colleagues for my birthday and did a skittle with them. I finished with a fine glassfleck topcoat called White Cap.

For a full review on White Cap, please click here.

L-R: Lemon Fizz, Refresh-mint, Kinetic Candy,
Something Sweet, Sweet Hook

They look a little pale here, they are all slightly brighter (except the Lemon Fizz, that one is slightly more muted) in real life, but these colors are all really hard to photograph. There is also no sun at all, making it harder to get a good shot >.<

The below pictures are all taken in daylight - shade. I have a more color-accurate picture at the end for you, without White Cap, which was taken with flash.

China Glaze - Lemon Fizz + White Cap

Lemon Fizz 80941
I actually reviewed this color already, click here for the post. The color is from the Up and Away collection spring 2010.

This is a very good yellow, good coverage in 2-3 coats, creamy and pigmented. Easy to apply, self-leveling. Love it! It is slightly more muted and pale than the picture. Beautiful, baby-chick easter yellow.

I did some nail art with this yellow as well, if you're keen, you can click here. Only now I realize I already worn this color 3-4 times in 1 month time, that's like.. a record. And it's a yellow. I suppose that just says how nice this color is~

China Glaze - refresh-mint + White Cap

Refresh-mint 80937
This color also comes from the Up & Away collection for spring 2010. overall I really like this collection.

I don't know where to start on this color though, this was a disappointment since I first got it. It was on my to-get-or-not-to-get list for a long time. And I was looking for a pastel green for a while, and this one is so popular and I liked many of the swatches I had seen online. I actually craved for something like.. Gargantuan green grape by OPI. Faithful to China Glaze as I am, I tried looking for something like that in their line, but could not find it.

When I got this.. I couldn't find anything green inside the bottle.. some greyish pale blue, like the sky in winter in Europe, when it's cloudy for days and days in a row. Only in certain lights can I see the slight green tinge to it.. and this is in my humble opinion, not mint-green AT ALL! Like, not at aaaalllll! Only certain lights (artificial light mainly) will reveal green, in any other light looks like a dirty grey/pale blue. It does turn out quite nice with White Cap, a bit of a winter-snow manicure, but just not the color I intended to get. I don't want to make this color appear to be awful, I know so many girls love love love it, but I am not one of them. I think I am just disappointed it wasn't what I was looking for. And it brings out the red in my skin ever so slightly.

The formula is pretty okay on this one, very pigmented and full coverage in 2 coats, but it is a bit streaky and thick. You need to apply it with a lot of care, and try to apply it evenly.

China Glaze - Kinetic Candy + White Cap

Kinetic Candy 80735
This is a color from the Elektropop collection for spring 2012. Another collection that I love.

This may look similar to Refresh-mint from the pictures, but it is much warmer, really baby-blue. I love this, the color is very nice and the formula is fantastic. The picture is too pale, it is darker in real life. The color goes well with my skin tone. I am sure I'll be using this quite a lot! Will be nice to use as a background for nail art too.

It applies like a dream, very smooth, self-leveling, opaque in 2 coats. Wonderful formula, especially for a light white-based color! Not too thick or thin. This is one of my favorites from this bunch.

China Glaze - Something Sweet + White Cap

Something Sweet 80932
I was looking for a pastel pink, and there are many around. After much researching, I decided on this one, because I like the collection it was launched in (Up & Away) and I like the soft warm baby-pink. Also read good reviews on the formula.

The color is just what I wanted, very warm soft pale pink, though it doesn't look as good with my skin tone as I would want to. However, the formula is not the greatest. I needed 3 coats for full coverage and it tends to get streaky and patchy, it doesn't level out as well so you need to apply this with a lot of care. I think it worked best using 1 thin layer to start with, let it dry well, then apply 2 more coats, use a more generous last coat so it will level out easier and applies a bit smoother.

I guess the efforts are worth it as the color is so sweet. I also wonder how this compares to the more recently launched Pink-ie promise (Avant Garden spring 2013). And it looks even sweeter with White Cap on top. Real life color slightly more blue-tones than shown in the picture. It's not so peachy colored.

Overall a nice color, okay-ish formula, but there might be similar colors out there with a better, more pigmented and buttery formula.

China Glaze - Sweet Hook + White Cap

Sweet Hook 80745
Sweet Hook is another color from the spring 2012 Elektropop collection. This might be my favorite of this bunch! The color is a very sweet pink-leaning lilac, I absolutely love it! I like it more without White Cap. Dires up very shiny by itself too!

The formula is amazing too, Thickness is just right, very smooth, 2 layers give full coverage and it levels out perfectly. Nothing bad to say about this! I am wearing this on my toes for the whole week already as well, wanna see? Ignore the chips, it went to a lot of scrubbing and housework already. =P

China Glaze - Sweet Hook + Seche Vite

Actually, this toetsie-picture is really color accurate! Taken with flash. Sigh, really love this color so much, and very flattering for my skin-tone.

End result:

China Glaze - pastels with White Cap

Like a rainbow unicorn, right? I'm still not sure whether I prefer with or without White Cap, it makes it a bit too sweet for me with the shimmer.. Picture taken with flash.

 Without White Cap:

China Glaze - L-R: Refresh-mint, Kinetic Candy,
Something Sweet, Lemon Fizz, Sweet Hook

The above picture was taken with flash, and is pretty color-accurate for all colors except lemon Fizz. Lemon is slightly lighter in real life.

And the winner is:
My 2 favorite colors (and also the best formula): Sweet Hook and Kinetic Candy.

China Glaze - Sweet Hook + Kinetic Candy

Which ones are your favorites? What pastel colors do you like?