Manicure Monday: China Glaze Creative Fantasy

OPI Nail Envy base coat, China Glaze Creative Fantasy (2 coats), Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat. Accent nail: Sally Hansen Berry Juicy topped with loose micro glitter. 

We're still in the process of swatching all of the nail polishes I got while at the Orlando Premiere show. There are so many, I feel like I need to start posting multiple on Monday's just so you won't have to wait forever to see them all.

Today, I'm happy to show you a color I was pretty excited to try (let's be honest, I picked them all out so I'm excited to swatch all of them): China Glaze Creative Fantasy. 

It looks much more blue in this photo. In person it's a brightish grape polish in a jelly finish. Since it's a jelly, it can be quite sheer. I also think it's a bit more challenging to work with than other finishes. However, what I generally like about a jelly finish -- it's glossy finish -- wasn't really present in Creative Fantasy. When it dries down it's finish is almost in between matte and glossy. It definitely needs a top coat to get the jelly shine. 

The color itself is great and you can build it up to increase its opacity. However, the more you build the less vibrant it becomes.  It almost transforms from a sheer bright grape to a deep opaque grape. Notice the difference between my pointer finger and my pinky (two thicker coats vs. two lighter coats). My pointer finger looks like a darker color, while my pinky looks a bit brighter (although its still somewhat sheer).

In my opinion the color in the bottle looks a bit more vibrant than what you end up getting on your nail. In the bottle it looks more like a neon grape. As you can see in the photo, there really isn't anything neon about it when applied. Luckily, I still like the color.

It also takes a little practice to get the application right. The first few times I applied this polish, I got a very streaky finish and had to discard quite a few swatch photos. You want to avoid too thin of a coat so your polish won't streak, but you don't want it to be too thick or it will look like a glob and take an eternity to dry. It's a balancing act, so don't get discouraged if your first few tries don't yield the best result. If you don't like to deal with a learning curve, I don't think this polish is for you. Ditto if you're hoping for a neon finish. 

What do you think of Creative Fantasy? Are you a fan of jelly finishes? Do you find them easy or difficult to work with?