Textured Polish Week Day 6: China Glaze Texture (Bump & Grind, In the Rough, Of Coarse!)

(This post was supposed to go up on Saturday but my weekend just got really busy and honestly, I was also feeling lazy and unmotivated... So here I am posting this about three days late.)


Hello everyone! It's Day 6 of Textured Polish Week! I have three polishes from the China Glaze Texture Collection.


These polishes are pretty similar to the Milani Texture and Sally Hansen Sugar Coat polishes I have posted, texture-wise. It's a bit more refined than the Milani polishes, closer to the texture of the SH Sugar Coat polishes. So let's get to the swatches, shall we? :)


Leading the way is Bump & Grind.

Bump & Grind is a dark reddish pink creme that dries to a textured finish. It's not quite matte, but not as shiny as regular polish. This is three coats with no top coat.

Next, we have In The Rough.

In the Rough is a light chartreuse (fancy way of saying yellow-green lol) creme that dries to a textured finish. Not quite matte when it dries, but not as shiny as regular polish either. This is three coats with no top coat.

Last but not the least, we have Of Coarse!

Of Coarse! is a bright medium blue creme that dries to a textured finish. Again, it did not dry very matte, but it wasn't as shiny either. This is three coats with no top coat.

Thoughts? The colors on these are bright and perfect for summer (although these polishes came out a while ago, but then all collections come out a whole season early.) If I had to pick a favorite out of the three, I'd pick In the Rough, just because the color is interesting. Usually I would default to the blues, but this time I'm picking the chartreuse!

The CG brush was a bit tricky to use, as the brush stem is longer than most and the brush is long and skinny (which spreads out well, so I guess that's okay.) Some people might prefer this but personally I prefer a shorter and wider brush. As I was applying Bump & Grind I felt like the brush was gonna snap in half everytime I swiped it against the mouth of the bottle to wipe the excess off. And I'm not sure if it's the brush or the polishes themselves but in my experience with CG polishes almost all of them tend to overload on the brush, so you do have to be careful with them and be sure to swipe the excess off. The formula on these aren't so bad; they did get thick along the way but a few shakes thinned them out. Dry time was also fast. The first fingernail is practically dry as soon as you finish the last fingernail, so you can paint your whole hand without waiting for the first coat to dry.


Would I recommend these polishes? For the most part, yes. The colors are perfect for summer, and the texture isn't as gritty as one would expect, so if you're new to the textured polish trend these polishes are a good place to start. Depending on where you buy them, it'll end up cheaper than those you can find at drugstores. The formula was quite easy to work with, much better than the Sally Hansen ones, in my opinion.


And that is it for Day 6! Stay tuned for the last installment of TPW. :)


*I bought these polishes with my own money from eBay for $15 for the three polishes, including shipping. You can also find these at your local salon supply store for much cheaper; just check for price and availability. I'm not sure if they are still available at ULTA and Sally Beauty so check your local stores for availability.*


*Disclaimer: Due to variations in screen displays and resolutions, polishes may appear different to each reader. I try my best to capture colors as accurately as I can, and if I can't, then I try to describe the color/s to the best of my ability.*

China Glaze Hologlam Collection: When Stars Collide and Strap On Your Moonboots

Hello errbody! I have another bonus post for you this week. Today I'll be swatching two China Glaze Hologlam polishes: When Stars Collide and Strap On Your Moonboots.

It was gloomy yesterday and this morning, which wasn't really doing my mood any favors. (I live in California and might have been spoiled by the almost-all-year sunshine...) So when I came out of the room at around 6 PM (don't judge me; I work night shifts! Lol) and saw sunshine, I immediately thought of taking advantage and swatch another holo (or two) polishes!

I've had these two polishes for sometime now, but have only worn Strap On Your Moonboots once as a full mani (you can see a pic on my IG feed from a couple months ago or so) and When Stars Collide just sat in my untrieds pile til today. And since the sun decided to come out and play for a bit, I decided to bust these polishes out and give them a proper swatching.

These polishes, as you've noticed, have space/galaxy-themed names, as with the rest of the polishes in this collection.

So, let's see them, shall we? :)

First up: When Stars Collide.

Indoor lighting

Direct sunlight

When Stars Collide is a metallic maroon that turns holographic in certain angles and lighting. Shown is two coats with no top coat; first in indoor lighting and then under direct sunlight.

And here we have Strap On Your Moonboots.

Indoor lighting

Direct sunlight

Strap On Your Moonboots is a metallic dark denim blue that turns holographic in certain angles and lighting. Shown is two coats with no top coat; first in indoor lighting and then under direct sunlight.

Thoughts? Well, as you can see, they are not as holographic as the Color Club 2013 Halo Hues, nor their predecessor, the China Glaze OMG Collection (thanks to Scrangie for the beautiful swatches!) Sadly the OMG Collection now sells for about $45 EACH on eBay, because they have long been discontinued and hard-to-find.

Anyway, the Hologlam polishes are like the Halo Hues and OMG Collection polishes' more subdued sister, but that doesn't mean they're any less prettier. This is a good start for those who are intimidated by the in-your-face holoness (is that even a word..?) of the CC Halo Hues or the CG OMG. At first I was actually disappointed in them because they weren't very holographic, but I grew to love them! They do look pretty even without the strong holo. The formula was a little runny but got a little goopy while I was working with it, which isn't really a big problem because it was still easy to work with. I've also noticed that with China Glaze brushes, they tend to overload and if you're not careful you will end up with that surprise glob of polish dripping from the long brush stem. It only took two coats for opacity so I'll give it that. I didn't see streaks or bald spots even without a top coat to smooth it over, so that's also a plus for me, because with holo polishes it's best NOT to use top coat because some top coats can dull the holo effect.

Would I recommend these polishes? Yes, for the most part. They may not be as holographic as the others, but the base colors are pretty enough on their own. It's also a good way to ease into the holographic trend, if you're new to it and find the strong holo polishes to be just a bit too much. The formula and brush might be a bit tricky to work with but just be patient and you'll get used to it. They're also cheaper now than they used to be when they first came out so I suggest you need to take advantage of it.

And that's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed this post and please stay tuned for my next posts. :)

*I bought these polishes with my own money from Amazon for about $7 each, plus free shipping. You can find these polishes at Sally Beauty Supply, other nail salon supplies, and online. Prices may vary with each seller.*

*Disclaimer: Due to variations in screen displays and resolutions, polishes may appear different to each reader. I try my best to capture colors as accurately as I can, and if I can't, then I try to describe the color/s to the best of my ability.*