Swatch: China Glaze - Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection

Hi ladies! I have an exciting post for you today featuring the brand new China Glaze collection! Before I get into the swatches, I have a little bit of information on the Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection taken from China Glazes' Press Release;

China Glaze and Ardell Introduce Exclusive Collections Inspired by Paramount Pictures’ new 3D Film, “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away”

"China Glaze and Ardell announced today their partnership with Paramount Pictures to offer exclusive collections of nail polishes and eyelashes inspired by the upcoming 3D film, "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" in theaters December 21st.

From the big top to the big screen, visionary filmmaker James Cameron and writer/director Andrew Adamson invite you on an all new 3D adventure: "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away." A young couple who is separated must journey through the astonishing and dreamlike worlds of Cirque du Soleil to find each other as audiences experience the immersive 3D technology that will allow them to leap, soar, swim and dance with the performers.

The new China Glaze and Ardell "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" inspired nail polish and eyelash collections will bring to life the wonderfully exotic artistry that is presented throughout the film. The China Glaze nail polish collection combines rich crèmes, soft shimmers and bold glitters to create 12 limited edition shades."

I just want to say also, that the weather in the UK has been dreadful lately, there's been NO sunshine whatsoever, just thick, black rain clouds. Which means all of the photos you see in this post have been taken inside a light box, resulting in some of the polishes being 'dulled down' due to the lack of natural lighting. I'm still trying to figure out the best settings to use with the light box too but I have tried to make them all as colour accurate as I can!

Since this is going to be a very picture heavy post, swatches are after the jump!

The Cremes

Surreal Appeal is a bright, more leaning towards a Pink, Coral creme. As always, my camera freaked out when it saw a Neon though the lens, as you'll see with a few more in this collection, and instantly softened the colour to a Peachy Orange. In reality, Surreal Appeal could be compared (though I don't own a bottle for an actual comparison) to a slightly more muted version of China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy. For the photos above I applied 2 coats of Surreal Appeal without a base/top coat.

Def Defying is a Lime Green creme. Again, my camera softened the true colouring, it's slightly brighter in person. I'd say Def Defying is similar to Models Own - Edamame and by bottle comparison, Finger Paints - Sexy Sundress, though I no longer own that particular polish to compare. For the photos above I applied 2 coats of Def Defying without a base/top coat.

Hanging In The Balance is a bright Cerulean Blue creme. I don't have anything like this in my collection to compare it to, I thought originally it would be BarryM - Cobalt Blue, but after comparing the bottles side by side, Hanging In The Balance leans more towards Green than Cobalt Blue. I used 2 coats of Hanging In The Balance without a base/top coat for the photos above.

Creative Fantasy is a deep, yet almost Neon, Grape jelly. I was actually surprised to find Creative Fantasy was a jelly polish! Similar to BeautyUK - Jelly Bean Creative Fantasy dries to a satin finish. I applied 3 coats of Creative Fantasy though I should have applied 4, without a base/top coat.

Ignited Love is described by China Glaze as a 'Hot Tamale Red creme'. I applied 3 coats of Ignited Love  for the photos above without a base/top coat.

Escaping Reality is a Raspberry, almost Neon creme. Again, my camera muted the colours of Escaping Reality, but to give you an idea on colour, it's just a tiny bit less Neon and Red toned than China Glaze - Pool Party. I applied 3 coats of Escaping Reality without a base/top coat for the photos above.

The Shimmers/Glitters

Bending Over Backwards is a metallic, Copper Orange shimmer. Yet another polish my camera hated, although Bending Over Backwards leans more Red toned, it could be compared to China Glaze - Riveting but with a little less Shimmer. I applied 2 coats of Bending Over Backwards without a base/top coat for the photos above.

Running In Circles is one of the most sparkliest (is that even a word!?) Cilantro Green, Duochrome glass flecked, shimmer...Phew. As always, being inside a light box put a serious damper on it's shine, but it did mean I was able to capture the Blue/Purple duochrome shift. I applied 2 coats of Running In Circles without a base/top coat.

 Whirled Away is a mixture of medium Black & large White hex glitter with Black bar glitter in a clear base. This was the most talked about polish in the Nail Polish Community when the Press Release was announced,  a typically 'Indie style' polish brought into the main stream by one of leading Nail Polish brands. However, as with a lot of people I was disappointed by it's application. In order to have a reasonable amount of glitter on the nail you have to dip and dab it all over the place, which results in a bumpy, uneven finish. Not to mention how long you have to spend fishing out the White glitters. Sorry China Glaze, but you failed on that aspect of it. The photos above is 1 coat of Whirled Away over all of the Creme polishes, with the exception of Creative Fantasy.

Get Carried Away is a sheer Black base packed with medium Red, Silver & Black hex glitters as well as smaller Black & Silver hex and Black bar glitters. You can either wear Get Carried Away alone or layered over a dark polish, due to it's Black tinted base. For the purpose of the photos, I applied 3 coats of Get Carried Away alone without a base/top coat.

It's A Trap-eze is another main stream take on a typically 'Indie' style of polish. An off White milky base packed with various sized, multi-coloured hexagonal glitter, It's A Trap-eze can be worn alone or layered over a light base colour. Again, for the purpose of the photos I chose to wear It's A Trap-eze alone, this is 3 coats without a base/top coat.

Water You Waiting For is a mixture of Blue, Purple & Green hex glitters in a Blue tinted base. I'd like to apologise for these swatches, the polish in my bottle was seriously thick and gloopy making it even more difficult to work with, I also didn't have a top coat with me to smooth everything out. Water You Waiting For is almost identical to Nicole By OPI - Kendall On The Katwalk, you can see a comparison The PolishAHolic did here. I applied 3 coats of Water You Waiting For in the photos above without a base/top coat.

The Verdict

As always, China Glaze nailed it with their Cremes, they were easy to apply, the consistency wasn't too thick or too runny, they all had good coverage and dried to a glossy finish but unfortunately they were let down by Whirled Away, if you're against spending ages fishing out the glitters in Nail Polish, then I advise you to stay away from this particular polish. I spent at least 5 minutes just fishing out and manipulating it on to one nail! Which is why there are no full mani pictures of Whirled Away. Another thing that puzzled me, is for a Winter release, Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away has a lot of Bold/Bright colours which would have been more suited for a Spring/Summer release.

I believe the Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away collection will be hitting stores on December 1st, though I know they have already been released in certain stores in the US. So it's worth checking out your local Beauty Supply stores to see if they are already there! Which polishes do you see yourself purchasing from the collection?