China Glaze Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection Swatches

Hi guys! Hope you all had a great weekend, mine was nice I'm sad it's already over. Today I have swatches of most of the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Collection to share with you! Apparently this collection is inspired by the Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D movie coming out towards the end of December. I had no idea they had a movie coming out, that'll be something I'll have to see. I've seen a few of the Cirque shows and they are always amazing, I'm sure the film will be awesome.

I've been waiting for this collection, practically stalking my local supply shop for them. They finally got them in last Wednesday so off I went to hoard them all. This collection brings us 12 new polishes, I ended up picking up 8 of them. The 4 I passed on were all red or pink, they just didn't look that unique to me and those are 2 colors I need no more of. Well really, I don't need any more of ANY colors but I don't like reds or pinks enough to justify buying even more of them lol!

To see all the swatches & reviews of each shade click the read more button below!

Creative Fantasy is a dark almost neon purple. In the bottle this looked neon, which is why it came home with me. On the nail it ended up being much darker than I expected it to. I do like the color it's just not what I thought I was buying. The formula was just okay, it was a bit sheer and patchy. I used 3 coats to even it out. This did dry a bit matte, I used top coat for the photos.

Shade

Creative Fantasy vs Sation Miss Emo Shun All. In the bottle these looked nearly identical, on the nail however they aren't dupes at all. The Sation polish is lighter, more blue toned and much brighter. I tried to photo this in the sun to show how much brighter the Sation was but my camera was having none of that haha! Formula wise, Miss Emo Shun All was much better, it was more opaque and a lot easier to apply. I used 2 coats of the Sation and 3 of the China Glaze, I also used top coat for both polishes.

Shade

Def Defying is a chartreuse green creme. Love this color, I have a soft spot for chartreuse because my Grandpa hated it...so I love it. Is that weird? The formula was nice, a little streaky on the first coat but a thick-ish second coat fixed that right up. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Shade

Def Defying vs OPI Did it on 'Em. As soon as I saw Def Defying it reminded me of OPI Did It On 'Em from the Nicki Minaj Collection OPI put out earlier this year. I thought for sure they would be dupes. I was very wrong though, they ended up being much more different than I thought they would be.  Did It On 'Em is way more yellow, when it's next to Def Defying it doesn't even look green at all! I used 3 coats of the OPI and 2 of the China Glaze for the photo below.

Get Carried Away is a sheer black base with silver and red hex glitter along with black bar glitter and small silver and black glitter. There is a whole lot going on here! You can use this on it's own or layered, personally I like it better layered but that's just my preference. The formula was just okay, it was thick and chunky...definitely one that will benefit from thinner. I used 3 coats for the photos below, both photos are in the shade.

Below is 1 coat of Get Carried Away over Creative Fantasy, I really liked this combo!

Shade

Hanging In The Balance is a bright blue creme. I really like blues like this even though it's probably not the most unique shade ever. The formula was nice, not thick and it flowed nicely on the nail. However, this stained...badly. If you get this I would do a couple coats of base coat to help avoid it staining your nails. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Shade

Hanging In The Balance vs OPI Ogre The Top Blue. This is another that I thought was for sure going to be a dupes. In the bottle they looked almost identical but on the nail Ogre The Top Blue is a couple shades lighter. I think they are probably close enough that you don't need both. I used 2 coats for each polish for the photo below.

Shade

It's A Trap-eze is a milky white base packed with multicolored glitter. The glitter colors I'm seeing are white, pink, green, gold, blue and orange but there are probably some other colors hiding in there. Is this unique? I tend to think so but only because it differs from other multicolored glitters due to the white glitter in the mix and the absence of silver glitter which seems abundant in other glitters like this. I have a lot of multicolored glitter but none of them have white glitter. It might not be unique enough to justify *needing* it but it's one I'm happy to add to my collection! On it's own I used 2 coats to get it opaque. It was a little thick and chunky to apply but it's so packed with glitter that I'm not sure there is a way to remedy that.

Shade

Sun

It's A Trap-eze works for layering also if you do thin coats. I feel the need to layer it over everything now, next on my list is to put it over is Creative Fantasy...I think that will look beautiful! I used 2 thin coats over Hanging In The Balance for the photos below.

Shade

Running In Circles is very finely milled green glitter in a green tinted base. The green glitter has a nice golden flash to it! I died a little when I put this on, it is SO gorgeous! It's one of those polishes that just glows. It didn't look that fantastical in the bottle but it's easily one of my favorite greens of the year, I won't be surprised if this makes my 2012 favorites list. It kind of reminds me of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, it's nowhere near being a dupe but it it just gives me those same happy vibes. The formula was great, much more opaque than I expected! I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Shade

Water You Waiting For is a mix of blue and green glitter in a slightly blue tinted base. I really like the mix of glitter, it has very finely milled glitter along with some bigger pieces. It makes it interesting to look at in low lighting. The formula was great, not thick at all and the opacity was really nice. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Shade

Whirled Away is black hex and bar glitter along with big white hex glitter in a clear base. This was easily the polish I was most excited about from the collection, I even almost bought 2 bottles. Glad I stopped myself from doing that because man am I disappointed. This polish is kind of a mess, I appreciate what China Glaze was going for here but this is just...no. I don't know why I dislike this so much since individually I like all the components but it's just something about the mix of glitter that turns me off, I don't like the way it looks on the nail and the formula was a pain. I have a lot of black and white glitters from a variety of indie sellers (because I am obsessed with them) and well, this is easily my least favorite of everything I own.

The formula was a huge let down like I mentioned about. It was hard to get the glitter onto the nail, the white hex glitter was especially elusive...I had to fish it out of the bottle. Even dabbing this on like I do with other difficult glitters was a chore. Maybe I had so many issues because I had instant buyers remorse the second I started trying to apply this which made me give up...who knows.  I used 2 "coats" over Def Defying for the photos below. Please excuse the bubbles in the photos, it was from my top coat and I disliked this glitter so much I didn't feel like re-doing the manicure. Sorry :/

Overall I didn't end up liking this collection as much as I thought I would but there are a couple winners in here. My picks are Running In Circles, Water You Waiting For and It's A Trap-eze.

According to the China Glaze Facebook page the official launch date for the Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection is December 1st. However, you can already find it online...I've seen it on Transdesign.com, it also looks like NailPolishCanada.com will have it soon. If you have little independent beauty supplies (i.e. not Sally's or Ulta) near you they might also already have it out also!

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