China Glaze Professional Nail Lacquer: Designed to Colour Your World

China Glaze Professional Nail Lacquer:
Designed to Colour Your World

How many colours does it take to become a global leader in the nail care industry? Well, over 600 according to China Glaze, who currently offer over six hundred gorgeous shades in their professional nail lacquer collections – Gelaze® and EverGlaze®.

Taking colour inspiration from all over the world, the China Glaze Nail Polish Range includes subtle pastels, pretty pinks, bold blues, gorgeous greens, glamorous glitters, high-octane oranges, citrus yellows, ravishing reds, vibrant neon’s, and just about every other colour you can imagine. How China Glaze managed to come up with so many different shades, we’ll never know, but if you consider yourself a colour connoisseur, you may think you have just died and gone to colour heaven!

Since its foundation in 1998, China Glaze has grown to become one of the leading professional nail lacquer providers in the world today, with a cult-like following of celebs, nail technicians, and regular women like you and me who adore the polished perfection of beautifully manicured nails finished with lashings of gorgeous colour. It offers both gel colours for professionals, applied in salon with LED lighting, and regular nail polishes that you can apply at home.

With prices starting under £5 for a regular size bottle, China Glaze is affordable luxury that you can indulge in every day, and as it is enriched with nail boosting ingredients, you can colour your world without ruining your nails with this high-quality lacquer.

China Glaze Nail Polish: The Ingredients

While we don’t want to bore you with a long list of ingredients that you have never heard of before, it is the unique formula of China Glaze that delivers long-lasting colour and a high gloss finish. Enriched with a special balance of polymers and resins, China Glaze nail lacquers glide on with ease, offer good chip-resistance, and have a gorgeous lustre that is hard to beat.

Most importantly of all, this professional nail polish is carcinogenic-free with no DBP, no formaldehyde and no toluene. You may be thinking, why would they mention that? Well surprisingly, many cheaper nail varnishes do contain such cancer-causing chemicals, and so it is important to read the label, or at least ask your nail tech before applying anything to your nails.

China Glaze Colour Collections

At the time of writing, China Glaze offer no less than 27 colour collections. There are nail varnish collections for every season of the year, nail polish collections for special occasions such as Halloween and Christmas, and fabulous collection of nail colours inspired by the changing seasons and latest fashion trends. Here’s a brief overview of my personal favourites:

FW 18’ Ready to Wear: Inspired by the runway colours of Fashion Week 2018, this gorgeous collection includes 12 sophisticated hues that were made for autumn and winter. I particularly love the Haute Blooded – a gorgeous deep red, Sample Sizing Me Up – the most exquisite shade of blue, and surprisingly, Mustard the Courage, which is, as the name would suggest, a deep mustard colour! I’ve never been a fan of yellow nail varnish until now, but this ones changed my whole view – it’s simply stunning!

Glam Finale: Right on trend for the coming season, the China Glaze Glam Finale Collection includes 12 fierce, festive and fabulous nail colours. There are sparkly additions for those who like to stand out under the mistletoe, some slightly frosted fancies for those who prefer a more subtle look, and some statement hues for the fabulous fashionistas amongst us who are not afraid to make a statement. I LOVE the aptly named Santa’s Side Chick – and it will be my colour of choice this Christmas Day.

Electric Nights: The China Glaze Electric Nights Nail Polish Collection was made for the Disco Diva. It includes 12 stunning neon shades that will have you glowing under the disco ball lights my dear Dancing Queen, and there’s a couple of sparkly sensations too. While I have yet to venture into the world of neon nail polish, I’m slightly tempted by Red-Y To Rave… but I can't help wondering if it’s a bit OTT for the weekend shop in Morrisons? 

Twinkle: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, glitter is back ladies – like it or not, and if you want to stay up-to-date with this seasons fashion trends, you need to explore the China Glaze Twinkle Collection where you’ll find silver glitter, blue glitter, green glitter, and even black glitter nail polish. If you can’t decide which colour to go for, go with Dancing & Prancing, which includes every colour in the rainbow in a gorgeous transparent gloss.

Summer Reign: If, like me, you’re not ready to say goodbye to summer just yet, brighten the darkest of winter nights with a selection of summer bright nail polishes from the China Glaze Summer Reign Collection. Including a kaleidoscope of eye-catching colours, this is my favourite China Glaze Collection to date, and I am the proud owner of all 11 shades!

China Glaze Gelaze® Professional Gel Nail Polish

As with most leading nail polish brands, China Glaze offer different options for professional nail technicians and home application. China Gelaze® Gel-n-Base in One is the pro version that is cured with and LED or UV light. Quicker to apply than the likes of CND Shellac and OPI GelColor, this innovative gel polish has a built-in base coat, and so you can apply it in just 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Prep the nails with a dry manicure to remove all natural shine. Shape as desired, cleanse each nail with acetone (or 91% alcohol) and dry thoroughly.

Step 2: With no need for a base coat, you can head straight in with your chosen China Glaze Gel-n-Base Nail Colour. Apply a thin coat (thin is the key word here!), and cure under the lamp, 30 seconds for LED lamps and 2 minutes for UV lamps.  Repeat this process with the second coat.

Step 3: Apply a (very thin) coat of Gelaze® Gel Top Coat and cure for another 30 seconds or 2 minutes depending on the lamp you are using.

Step 4: Finally, wipe each nail with Gelaze® Gel Cleanser to remove any sticky residue – and you’re done!

Removing Gelaze is easy too, and you can do it at home or have your nail tech do it in salon. To remove, simply saturate Gelaze® Nail Polish Remover Wraps with Gelaze® Gel Remover, apply one foil wrap to each finger and leave for 15 minutes. Remove the wrap with a gentle twisting action to remove as much gel polish as possible, before using an orange stick to loosen and remove any final traces.

China Glaze Everglaze® Extended Wear Lacquer

Released in 2015, Everglaze® is described by its makers as, “an exclusive long-wear formula with active technology”. A salon quality nail varnish that you can apply at home without the use of an LED or UV Lamp, it remains a popular choice for DIY manicure enthusiasts, and it is priced to suit every budget.

China Glaze Everglaze® is offered in an abundance of trendsetting colours from sugar-sweet pastels all the way through to bold and beautiful delights, and it is applied in just two simple steps:

Step 1: Apply two coats of your favourite Everglaze® Extended Wear Lacquer to clean, dry, manicured nails, allowing the first coat to dry fully before applying the second.

Step 2: Apply a single coat of Everglaze® Active Top Coat and allow to dry fully in natural light. That’s it!

Removal is just as quick, and you can remove Everglaze® nail polish just like you would a regular nail varnish with acetone or acetone-free nail polish remover and cotton pads.

Longevity: How Long Does China Glaze Gelaze® and Everglaze® Really Last?

One thing you’ll notice about China Glaze is that they do not really advertise how long their nail polishes will last. On their YouTube Videos, they state that Gelaze® will last “for weeks” while Everglaze® will last up to 10 days, but there is little mention of this elsewhere.

Longevity is a key selling point for most other brands, and when investing in a gel manicure or pedicure, most of us want to know how long we can expect our nails to remain chip-free, so why the secrecy?  Well, after doing my own research, I think it’s simply because some China Glaze Nail Lacquers last longer than others. For example, some of the brighter neon shades tend to dull and flake easier than the rich creamy colours, so I guess it could be down to pigmentation levels?

From experience, I can tell you that when applied professionally China Glaze Gelaze® lasts for a solid 10-days, with some colours lasting almost 3 weeks. It has a gorgeous glossy shine and remains chip-free even when subjected to hours on a keyboard or hours of housework, and so it’s a good value option for both business professionals and stay-at-home mums alike.

Everglaze® Nail Varnish combines “strength, stamina and shine” and it is designed to last for up to 10 days. Again, I find that different colours have different staying powers, and that some of the bolder greens and blues tend to fade around the tips after 5 or 6 days, whereas pastel hues and lighter colours last well beyond the 10 days advertised, and so I guess it’s all trial and error. For the price you pay, I think both Gelaze® and Everglaze® offer great value, but you may have to touch up more frequently than you would with other (more expensive) brands to keep your nails looking their best.

Why You Should Choose China Glaze Professional Nail Lacquer

China Glaze Nail Lacquers are priced for everyday use, and not the sort of manicure you need to save for special occasions. With hundreds of different colours to choose from, you can change your nails to match any outfit, and express your unique sense of style with a colour to match your mood.

Life is too short to wear boring nail polish, so colour your world with China Glaze!