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City Flourish is China Glaze’s 2014 Spring Collection. This collection popped up at ULTA at the beginning of February, and is now also available at Sally Beauty. It is described as “12 pale pastels and high voltage neons, the Spring 2014 collection will inspire you to toss those gloves and coats for shorter skirts and strappy sandals.” It seems to me that they should have created two separate collections of six pastels and six neons, because these twelve shades do not really create a cohesive collection. However, there are some gorgeous shades in here, so keep reading for details!
In A Lily Bit is a soft light violet cream. The first coat was streaky but the color was even after two coats of color and a layer of top coat.
Spring In My Step is a baby pink crème. Be sure to take your time when applying this to avoid dragging the polish on the second (and third) coat. This one was still streaky after three coats, but a layer of top coat hid that.
At Vase Value is a bright baby blue crème that pulled slightly green on me. It was a PITA to apply, but after all was said and done it was beautiful! I wore this one as my mani and when I took it off after two days I still didn’t have any chips or tip wear.
Petal To The Metal is a neon coral. It is a more muted version of favorite neon ever, China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. The formula was thick, as it is to be expected from a neon polish, and required a thick layer of top coat to be smooth. Even with that caveat I really liked this one! See a more color accurate picture at the end of this post.
Metro Pollen-tin is an thick yellow crème that leans slightly orange. It really is the color of pollen! The first coat was very streaky, the second coat the same, and it did need a third coat to be completely even. Again a good layer of top coat was needed. I know yellows are notoriously hard to work with, but this one tried my patience.
Thistle Do Nicely is a very bright neon coral. It is almost as bright as China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, but Thistle Do Nicely has more pink in it. It was even after two coats and was the easiest neon in this collection to work with. See a more color accurate picture below.
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City Flourish is China Glaze’s 2014 Spring Collection. This collection popped up at ULTA at the beginning of February, and is now also available at Sally Beauty. It is described as “12 pale pastels and high voltage neons, the Spring 2014 collection will inspire you to toss those gloves and coats for shorter skirts and strappy sandals.” It seems to me that they should have created two separate collections of six pastels and six neons, because these twelve shades do not really create a cohesive collection. However, there are some gorgeous shades in here, so keep reading for details!
In A Lily Bit is a soft light violet cream. The first coat was streaky but the color was even after two coats of color and a layer of top coat.
Lotus Begin is described by China Glaze as a neon purple, however there is no neon in this pretty purple crème! The formula was thin and easy to work with on this one, and it self-leveled without a layer of top coat.
Spring In My Step is a baby pink crème. Be sure to take your time when applying this to avoid dragging the polish on the second (and third) coat. This one was still streaky after three coats, but a layer of top coat hid that.
Don’t Honk Your Thorn is a pale nude with shimmer. Although I wouldn’t consider it a pastel, it compliments the other shades well. it was easy to apply in two coats and was even without the use of top coat.
At Vase Value is a bright baby blue crème that pulled slightly green on me. It was a PITA to apply, but after all was said and done it was beautiful! I wore this one as my mani and when I took it off after two days I still didn’t have any chips or tip wear.
What A Pansy is a blurple (blue-purple) crème. Another shade I was drawn to and wore as a full mani! It reminds me a lot of China Glaze Fancy Pants, though it is lighter and doesn’t contain any shimmer.
Petal To The Metal is a neon coral. It is a more muted version of favorite neon ever, China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. The formula was thick, as it is to be expected from a neon polish, and required a thick layer of top coat to be smooth. Even with that caveat I really liked this one! See a more color accurate picture at the end of this post.
Peonies & Park Ave is a bright neon fuchsia. It had the same challenges as Petal to the Metal in that the formula was thick and it did not self level. Both of these polishes only needed two coats, so the fact that they needed a top coat to be smooth did not bug me at all. See a more color accurate picture at the end of this post.
Metro Pollen-tin is an thick yellow crème that leans slightly orange. It really is the color of pollen! The first coat was very streaky, the second coat the same, and it did need a third coat to be completely even. Again a good layer of top coat was needed. I know yellows are notoriously hard to work with, but this one tried my patience.
Grass Is Lime Greener is a bright neon green. I don’t own any other neon polishes in this shade! The formula was even more challenging than Metro Pollen-tin and also required three coat plus a layer of top coat.
Thistle Do Nicely is a very bright neon coral. It is almost as bright as China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, but Thistle Do Nicely has more pink in it. It was even after two coats and was the easiest neon in this collection to work with. See a more color accurate picture below.
Strike A Rose is the old ball of the group, a muted coral shimmer that leans very red. This one would not fit in with a collection of crème pastels or neons. It did have the best formula out of this collection – smooth in two coats and did not require a top coat. It is also in the picture below.
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| China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely, Neon & On & On, Petal To The Metal, Flip Flop Fantasy, Shell-o, Strike A Rose |
I wanted to see how these polishes compared to previous China Glaze neons, so I dug a few out of my stash to compare. I did not top coat any of the nail wheel swatches, which allowed my camera to get a more accurate representation of each of the polishes. I added Strike A Rose at a whim.
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| China Glaze Hang Ten Toes, Peonies & Park Ave, Heat Index |
Although I knew Peonies & Park Ave wouldn't be a dupe for any of my other China Glaze shades, I swatched it against Hang Ten Toes and Heat Index for reference!
Overall this was a challenging collection to swatch, but there are definitely some winners here! My favorites were What A Pansy, At Vase Value, and Lotus Begin. Because I’m a sucker for neons, I also love Petal to the Metal, Peonies & Park Ave and Thistle Do Nicely.
Have you picked up any shades from this collection yet?
Which ones are your favorites?
