This week’s Makeup Wars topic seems deceptively easy – our favorite neon polishes. But do you know how many neon polishes I have… and how many of those I love? Plus, there are so many KINDS of neons! Neon cremes, neon shimmers, neon jellies, even pastel neons!
I decided to narrow down my choices by focusing on the brand with the most diverse offering of neons. That brand, of course, is China Glaze!
China Glaze has put out so many great neon collections over the years. Right before I started getting into nail polish, there was INK (Summer 2008). Then after I started blogging there was Poolside (Summer 2010). One of the first collections I was sent samples by China Glaze for was Summer Neons (Summer 2012). Then there was 2013’s huge Sunsational collection which consisted of six pastel neons and six neon jellies!
I pulled out all the polishes I have from those collections and started swatching them on paper to narrow down my choices. Here are the 13 China Glaze neon polishes that made the first cut:
You Drive Me Coconuts (Sunsational – The Jellies)
Hang-Ten Toes (Summer Neons)
Heat Index (Sunsational – The Jellies)
Flip Flop Fantasy (Poolside)
Shell-O (Sunsational – The Jellies)
Neon & On & On (Sunsational – The Crèmes)
Son Of A Peach (Sunsational – The Crèmes)
Sun-Kissed (Summer Neons)
Highlight Of My Summer (Sunsational – The Crèmes)
Keepin’ It Teal (Sunsational – The Jellies)
Towel Boy Toy (Poolside)
Splish Splash (Summer Neons)
Are You Jelly? (Sunsational – The Jellies)
It shouldn’t be surprising that so many jellies from the Sunsational collection made it past the first cut, I am a jelly lover at heart! But I had to be tough on my choices and many of those jellies didn’t make it past the first cut. Here are the seven polishes that did:
You Drive Me Coconuts – Amazing bright jelly that dries shiny! (Swatch)
Flip Flop Fantasy – The definition of neon coral in my book! (Swatch)
Son Of A Peach – I find it strange this one made it, as I didn’t love it the first time! (Swatch)
Sun-Kissed – Highlighter yellow shimmer that dries shiny. (Swatch)
Highlight Of My Summer – A strangely bright yellow green that is hard to capture. (Swatch)
Towel Boy Toy – Neon cyan with shimmer. One of my favorites, yet I have never posted it! Oops!
Are You Jelly? – A stunning purple jelly that dries matte. (Swatch)
I wish I would have realized earlier I didn’t have a good picture Towel Boy Toy, I would have applied it as my mani today! Instead I applied You Drive Me Coconuts. Since I don’t have a swatch available for you, check out Kelly’s swatch here!
If I was absolutely forced to pick just one, I would not have a hard time. It would hands down be China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. I have been told there is more than one version of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy out there, mine is the original release. I have already named it my Favorite Summer Mani, one of My Favorite Corals AND and it makes a fabulous pedicure! In fact, I have been wearing it as my pedicure since the Fourth of July and it just started to chip!
I was surprised to find the entire Poolside Collection available on both Amazon and eBay. It makes me wonder if those sellers have the original Flip Flop Fantasy?
As I was doing “research” for this post, I was disappointed to learn just how many neon polishes that I didn’t own from the collections I listed at the beginning of this post. Thanks to eBay, I have the following neon polishes on there way to me right now: Japanese Koi (INK), Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Pool Party, Kiwi Cool-ada, and Sunworshipper (Poolside), Flirty Tankini, I’m With The Lifeguard and Ride The Waves (Summer Neons). I almost bought Ride The Waves three or four times on clearance at ULTA, but each time I convinced myself I already owned it! Let me know if you want to see swatches of these neons when they arrive!
What’s your favorite Summer Neon? Did you discover any new ones today?
Check out the rest of the Makeup Wars posts below to get even more ideas!
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