China Glaze Poolside Collection Summer 2010

Okay, wow! Brightness! China Glaze has a tradition of doing neons each summer and I'd actually be a little worried if I didn't see a neon collection from them this year.... But... they did and here it is!

A quick note before I post the pictures: These pictures are not 100% true to life. Neons must really be seen in person to experience the full effect of the brightness and fluorescence of the shades. They do freaky things to cameras and the best photos I've been able to get of them are mere approximations. They are super bright, vivid and glowing in real life.

Flip Flop Fantasy. This is a super bright and almost... milky looking?... in-between coral orange pink shade. Out of all the shades, I'd say this is the most unique for sure. I can't think of another color that really matches this one. The closest I can think of is Jessica My Cabana Boy, to give you an idea of the shade.

Kiwi-Cool-Ada. Your standard medium neon green creme. Very glowy. Not totally unique, but still hot. There are just not enough neon greens in this world. I wish this was closer to Limonyte, but it's really closer to Color Club Limelight.

Pool Party. Super super bright glowing neon reddish-pink creme. This is a rich-toned neon, very colorful, very bright, very saturated. Much better in real life than in my picture.


Sun Worshiper. Light glowing neon orange creme. This reminds me a lot of that ubiquitous blue box of noodles with the unnervingly neon orange powder that's supposed to represent cheese... Unnaturally bright! This is almost like Color Club Explosive in color, very glowy bright-light fake-cheese orange with yellow tones.


Towel Boy Toy. This one is more of a bright than a neon even though it dries matte like neons do. It's a bright pretty sky blue with a very subtle shimmer to soften the overall look. Pool water!


Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Woohoo, yellow! This is a lot like Celtic Sun but much more opaque and dense. Creamy base more than a jelly-like base. This was the sheerest of all the shades and I'm wearing four coats here, but the overall effect is definitely worth the trouble. It's not quite as bright as Essie Limelight but it is a lot brighter and yellow-er than Color Club Volt of Light.

The formula on these was okay. Not good or bad, kind of middle of the road. Not difficult to apply but not buttery-smooth-perfect, if that makes sense. Average. The only application issues I encountered were the watery consistency of Towel Boy Toy and the slight streakiness of Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. The colors are quite sheer on the first coat but are pretty much opaque in three. I'm wearing three coats of all but Yellow Polka Dot Bikini in these pictures and I'm satisfied with the coverage. A fourth coat would just be icing on the cake. And, like all neons, these dry to a matte finish. If you want them to be shiny, you will need to apply topcoat. If you like them matte, leave them as-is.

I love neons, so these were right up my alley. Even though the shades aren't totally unique, brand-new never-before-seen groundbreaking colors, they're still incredibly lovely. I think it's probably pretty hard to make an entirely unique neon so I don't fault them at all for that. I find that the formula, dry time and application of these is greatly improved from previous China Glaze neons and I'm rather fond of the intense glow these colors provide.

I don't have the exact date, but these are scheduled for a February release. Should be any day now!

(These were sent to me for review)