China Glaze Fall 2012: On Safari

By now you might have noticed a coherent theme emerging from fall collections: jungles/safaris/places you might wear khaki pants to. China Glaze is no exception to the rule, with On Safari as the title of its fall collection, you can just imagine what kind of colors they proffer.

On Safari consists of ten cremes and two glitters, including:

• Kalahari Kiss: Light sand brown
• I’m Not Lion: Glistening gold and multi-color glitter
• Call of the Wild: Beautiful chocolate brown-dark cherry blend
• Adventure Red-y: Vivid red
• Desert Sun: Delicious caramel
• I Herd That: Brilliant copper glitter 
• Man Hunt: Bold cobalt blue
• Exotic Encounters: Lush green crème with blue undertones
• Elephant Walk: Cool graphite grey
• Jungle Queen: Smoky violet
• Purr-fect Plum: Bold burgundy 
• Prey Tell: Daringly dark red 

On Safari is also available in two 6-piece sets:

• The "Native" Collection: Man Hunt, Exotic Encounters, Elephant Walk, Jungle Queen, Purr-Fect, and Prey Tell
• The "Tourist" Collection: Kalahari Kiss, I'm not Lion, Call of the Wild, Adventure Red-y, Desert Sun, and I Herd That

I received four random pieces from the collection to swatch, so without further ado...

Desert Sun

Desert Sun was a surprise in that I was so sure I couldn't pull it off, but having it on my fingers changed my mind. Who knew a pumpkin shade wouldn't make my fingers look more yellow? 

Purr-Fect Plum

Purr-fect Plum is the quintessential fall shade (I know I said there's a jungle trend, and I don't care what they tell me. I know wine shades will be "in"), which I thought I should own by now – surprisingly, no. The closest I have are varying hues of rose that are not at all close.

L-R: Butter London Toff, China Glaze Purr-Fect Plum, Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised

Call of the Wild

Call of the Wild looks like the plummer version of Chanel Vertigo.

I'm Not Lion

I was super excited because I received one of the glitters! I'm Not Lion is (I think? Not super sure about nail definitions) a holographic white/silver/pink/green glitter and of course it's my favorite of the bunch.

Everything is a one-coater and I applied it as such to show you it's possible (though if I were doing a real manicure I would still do two). Application was brilliantly easy and even I'm Not Lion was a breeze to remove.

Based on the press release, individual polishes retail for $7, while the 6-piece set retails for $42. However, I recall previous China Glaze polish purchases at a much lower rate, so remember to compare different sites like 8tybeauty, Amazon etc. before you hit the checkout button.

The products in this post were sent by PR for editorial consideration.

Something Blue?

How do you know you have too many blue polishes (and that blue is so painfully obvious a current trend)? When you have more than enough of them to do a blue ombre manicure.

Here's what I have on each finger: 

• Thumb: Le Métier de Beauté Mint Bliss
• Index: Essie Turquoise and Caicos
• Middle: China Glaze For Audrey
• Ring: Le Métier de Beauté Bon Voyage
• Little: Le Métier de Beauté Aurora (from the Northern Lights collection)

I didn't purchase Le Métier de Beauté Aurora (I applied this at the counter) because I find it just a hair's breadth away from Bon Voyage. The latter is a true blue while Aurora has just a teensy drop of yellow in it. They're not exactly the same, but they're close enough that I know I wouldn't regret missing out on Aurora.

After this manicure, I made myself promise not to purchase another blue polish until leaves start falling again. My stash needs colors from the other side of the wheel!

China Glaze Colors From The Capitol Collection

I rarely post up press releases on Messy Wands but this shall be a fine exception. I am beyond excited for this Hunger Games-inspired collection by China Glaze available early next year (exact date unknown but you bet I'll let you know as soon as I find out). I see great potential in Riveting, Harvest Moon, Electrify, but if I had to choose one it will be the moss green Agro.

SO. Any Hunger Games fans on Messy Wands? Let's chatter about your favorites from this collection, or about the books, or Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss (which I heartily approve), or that Movie Peeta is blonde (which I disapprove)!