review: china glaze nail polish (VII)

China Glaze and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship. In the past, there were nail polishes from the brand that really impressed me. Then this past fall, I purchased a neon yellow shade that looked beautiful in the bottle but was without a doubt, the worst nail polish I had ever used. By a country mile. It took more than fifteen coats to build up the colour and it chipped the very next day. (You can read all about that experience here.) Despite that...the shade VII looked absolutely beautiful. The rich plum-maroon shade was enchanting, dramatic, and right up my alley. I had to try it. Did it work? Or was it another disappointment? Here is everything you need to know about this China Glaze nail polish.

Right off the bat, this nail polish was different to that neon shade, Celtic Sun. While the previous polish required an endless amount of coats in order to achieve full colour, VII only took two. It had a nice creamy consistency and applied well. It also dried fairly quickly and didn't smudge. If that wasn't enough, the colour is rich and beautiful and the end result has a lovely shine. Clearly this was a much better experience than my last turn with China Glaze. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing. There were a few bumps in the road in terms of the overall wear time.

That first night, it looked great. I allowed it to dry completely to ensure that it would last. I also used a top coat to seal and protect the colour. All of those steps were for nothing. Literally the next day, the polish started to chip along the sides and the edges of the nails. On both hands. A few days later and the chipping became more noticeable. After that point, it seemed to stay in place but required a lot of touch ups to regain that solid shiny colour. This was disappointing though not nearly as disappointing as that whole Celtic Sun debacle. I took a peek at some of the reviews for VII over on MakeupAlley and they were all pretty decent and yet only 40% of buyers said they would repurchase. To me, that suggests that perhaps other people also had issues with the wear time rather than the colour or application process.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

All in all, this nail polish was okay. The colour looked great and it applied fairly well. This China Glaze polish simply lacked in durability and wear. Ultimately, in future this isn't something that I will be reaching for all that often. I would much rather use something durable and quick drying, like one of the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry polishes.

Have you tried this nail polish? Are you a fan of China Glaze?