China Glaze Up and Away Part One

Round two... FIGHT! LOL I love me some Mortal Kombat, but seriously, in my second attempt (battle) to swatch these colors, I had my boyfriend take these pictures. He's a part-time wedding photographer with a pricey camera set-up, so I figured he could do a better job capturing these polishes. I can honestly tell you that I think this collection has been overly hyped-up. There are some stand-outs, as you will see, but I have almost perfect dupes for a bunch of these. Plus, in some cases, the formula, to be dead honest, sucks. China Glaze doesn't send me anything, so I'm going to tell it like it is where other bloggers might not.

Anyway, let's start off with a winner- Four Leaf Clover.
Four Leaf Clover, two coats, with flash

Ahhhh my nemesis, Four Leaf Clover. This is an impossible color to capture. I have not seen an accurate picture on ANY blog. Let me tell you, this baby is GREEN! It turns blue-ish teal in most pictures, but it is straight up, beautiful, shamrock green. I have read some bloggers talking about the blue base in this polish. I guess it must have some blue in it if it keeps turning blue in pictures, but it definitely has a yellow component to it as well. When removing this polish, there's some yellow left behind that would surely stain your nails, so definitely wear a base coat. The formula on this one was great- nice and even, no streaks, in just two coats. I think this is my favorite from this collection, even better than Grape Pop.

Four Leaf Clover, two coats, with flash

Grape Pop, two coats, no flash

I'm including my previous pictures and comments on Grape Pop, my second place winner, just for consistency. Grape Pop is a gorgeous dark purple creme. It's dark enough that it can definitely be called grape, but it's light enough that it never looks black. I don't own anything like this, so no comparisons. I feel like the polish world has been missing this kind of purple. This is NOT blurple. It is straight up purple and I love it! The color of my pictures is pretty close. It's maybe a little darker in person, I guess the clouds washed it out a tiny bit. Application was nice and even, I did two coats. The first coat wasn't even streaky either! I'll be wearing this one a lot!

Grape Pop, two coats, no flash

Sugar High, three coats, with flash

Next up is Sugar High, a deep carnation pink creme. This is a very pretty color, not so much my usual style, but I did like it. It's quite bright, definitely not a pastel. I did three coats and the first two were a little bit streaky looking. Once I put the third coat and a layer of Seche Vite top coat, everything evened out nicely. In the bottle, this reminded me a lot of OPI ElePhantastic Pink, from the India collection. On the nail, there's no denying their similarites. They are very close in color. Sugar High is deeper and brighter. Sugar High is also a very thick creme, whereas ElePhantastic Pink is more like a jelly. I prefer the formula of ElePhantastic Pink. If these are too close in color for you to own both, get ElePhantastic Pink- it's not streaky at all.

left to right: Sugar High, ElePhantastic Pink, Sugar High, ElePhantastic Pink

Happy Go Lucky, three coats, with flash

Happy Go Lucky is my kind of color. I am a sucker for yellows of any kind, and this super bright medium yellow just screams SPRING!!!! However, this is not my kind of formula. It was very streaky and not that fun to apply. I did three coats, plus Seche, and could still see streaks on a few nails. Boo. I compared this to Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening and OPI The "It" Color. Clearly, The "It" Color is much too dark, mustardy, and orange to be a dupe for this (this is even more obvious in real life). However, Lightening was a seriously good match. Happy Go Lucky looks a bit lighter in the bottle, but on the nail they are so close, it's very hard to see a difference. Except for the fact that Lightening only took two coats and lacks the streaks of Happy Go Lucky. If you already own Lightening, I'd say Happy Go Lucky is a pass.

left to right: Happy Go Lucky, Lighterning, Happy Go Lucky, The "It" Color


Light as Air, three coats, with flash

Light as Air reminds me why I hate pastel cremes. I really like pastel colors for make-up and nails in the spring, but the formula for most pastel creme nail polishes is just awful. Light as Air is a pale pinky-grey lavender. It's very pretty in the bottle and I was really looking forward to it. On the nail, STREAK city! I did three coats and could still see streaks. I tried applying very thin coats, one thin coat and a thick coat, and any combination of different polish application, but it still came out streaky. This is also a really thick, goopy polish, so application wasn't easy. Maybe it should be renamed "Thick as Mud". I compared this to China Glaze Agent Lavender (sorry about sticking my finger in it before it was dry LOL) and Essie Looking for Love. Agent Lavender is much too blue to be a match. Essie Looking for Love is very close in color, but it is a very sheer polish. I did five coats. To be honest, I think I'd rather do five coats of the nice and thin, non-streaky Essie than three coats of Thick as Mud... I mean, Light as Air.

left to right: Light as Air, Agent Lavender, Light as Air, Looking for Love

Overall, Grape Pop and Four Leaf Clover are must haves! They are really unique and gorgeous spring colors. Sugar High is also very pretty, just be aware of possible streakiness. Happy Go Lucky and Light as Air get a fail for formula. I wish some polsih company could do a pastel like Light as Air without it being thick and streaky.

Part Two of the China Glaze Up and Away collection will include Lemon Fizz, Something Sweet and Peachy Keen, along with any comparisons I can find.

The China Glaze Up and Away collection can be purchased online at 8ty8 Beauty.