China Glaze Thunderbird

A couple of weeks ago or so I came across a post by Johanna of Paillette featuring three older shimmery reds by China Glaze. Each one was so beautiful that I immediately searched them out on ebay and bought them.

The first of these reds is Thunderbird. Thunderbird was released by China Glaze as part of the Retro Diva collection for fall 2009. This is a deep magenta-based garnet red encapsulating ultrafine pearly tone-on-tone shimmers. It's one of those fine semi-metallic shimmer polishes that looks like it's lit from within on the nail, with a central gleam of bright color along the axis of light shading to a mysterious near-black at the edges, especially in low light. Vampy and glamorous, it's a beautiful polish with an old school candy apple red feel, and reminds me of Zoya Isla but with a little more drama perhaps. Oh and I love the name!

Application was great! The consistency of Thunderbird is fluid, light and smooth with an oily look from the superabundant shimmer load and a silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good, with evenly opaque coverage in two coats but it took an additional coat to completely vanquish my nail ridges. For most folks, though, two trouble-free coats will be enough for a perfect manicure. I've become so used to the flattened, wider type of brush that so often accompanies indie polishes that it takes me a nail or two to reacquaint myself with the dynamics of the China Glaze brush, which is long, round and relatively slender. It's quite flexible and easy to manipulate, though, and once I've re-oriented my painting I very much enjoy using it. Thunderbird cleans up beautifully for a deep red, with neither pigment travel nor staining, and dries in good time to a smooth shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of Thunderbird over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. We're overcast and rainy here today and the low light made it difficult to capture well-focused pics. My camera was already a little confused by Thunderbird's glowing shimmers. And my apologies for the flaky fingers. Time for a rendezvous with the salt scrub!

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Thunderbird

This is the kind of glowy red that polish enthusiasts enjoy associating with the holidays, no? Not unique, but still delicious to the eye for those who appreciate the sleek drama of that lit-from-within look that a pearly shimmer like this provides.

love,
Liz