One of the colours I find the hardest to wear is grey. Aside from beige, grey is definitely the odd one out playing by itself in the sandbox that is my nail-polish collection.
So when I had the opportunity to wear China Glaze Elephant Walk from the On Safari Collection, I was crossing my fingers, toes, and eyes that it would be one that wouldn’t clash with my skin tone. (Yes, I was quite the beautiful sight…) 😉
Speaking of elephants, are you also a fan of the majestic creatures? I like how they take their time and aren’t ashamed of being so wrinkly. (Or who knows? Maybe they slather themselves with anti-aging creams at night and hope for the best. I wouldn’t put it past them!)
And for the fellow Canadians out there who were children of the 1980s, did you used to watch The Elephant Show with Sharon, Lois, and Bram? I did – it was one of my childhood favourites!
China Glaze Elephant Walk Pictures
Flash
Natural Light
Flash
Natural LIght
China Glaze Elephant Walk Ingredients
China Glaze Elephant Walk Swatches
All swatches have:
- Nubar Foundation Base Coat
- 2 coats of China Glaze Elephant Walk
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Claim: TRUSTED
√ Cool graphite grey
Key Notes
- Name: China Glaze Elephant Walk
- Collection: China Glaze On Safari Collection 2012
- Press Release: Click here to see the China Glaze On Safari Collection press release
- Colours Available in the China Glaze On Safari Collection: Elephant Walk, Adventure Red-y, Man Hunt, Exotic Encounters, Jungle Queen, Kalahari Kiss, I’m Not Lion, Call of the Wild, Desert Sun, I Herd That, Purr-fect Plum & Prey Tell
- Amount: 14 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: Nothing! (This was provided by PR.)
- Where to Buy: NailPolishCanada, Victoria Nail Supply, 8ty8Beauty, Nailsupplies & Trans Design
China Glaze Elephant Walk Review
Colour
My flash photos are more accurate than my dim natural-light photos.
A lot of the time there’s a concrete slab type of grey, but sometimes you’ll see a bit of blue come through that makes it look softer.
According to China Glaze, this is cool-toned.
(I often have trouble picking out the right shade of grey for my skin tone. I have yellow undertones. Can you suggest specific grey nail polishes for me to try?)
When I see this colour, I certainly think of an elephant. What do you think of? Haha, 50 Shades of Grey? (Nope, I haven’t read the book.)
Finish
Elephant Walk by China Glaze has a subtle silver-shimmer finish that helps this grey nail polish from looking really flat.
I find that many creme greys are just too simple for my taste and never look right on me. So the shimmer is a nice touch that makes it more interesting to me.
That being said, the second day I wore this colour, I ended up doing nail art on top to make it more my style. Make it work! Right, Tim Gunn? 😉
Application & Formula
Elephant Walk by China Glaze was thick yet a bit runny. However, it was very pigmented, so I only needed 2 coats to achieve complete opacity. That’s good because for grey nail polish, I tend not to be very forgiving.
You see, because I have a soft spot for greens, if a green needs 3 coats, I’m okay with that. But, for a grey, if I have to use 3 coats, I’m very disappointed. Yeah, I play favourites sometimes. Shh! Don’t tell the ‘children’ in my Helmer, or they’ll start fighting! 😉
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 6/10
There’s nothing wrong with Elephant Walk, but it just makes my heart walk…not race. As much as I love elephants and tried really hard to fall in love with it, I just thought it was okay. If you’re a fan of grey nail polish, you’ll probably really like this one.
Oh, and you’ll find out soon what kind of nail art I did with this as the base. I ended up loving the manicure after I tweaked it. 🙂
Are you a fan of grey nail polish? Which greys would you recommend for me?
Do you love elephants? (If not, please leave my blog immediately! Hahahaha…no, no, no! You should stay! Pull up a seat, stay a while, and then you’d better explain yourself to poor Mr. Elephant! He’s crying in the corner, wiping tears away with his trunk! I suggest giving him a peace offering in the form of peanuts, maybe…)
Edit: In case you’ve never heard the Skinamarinky Dinky Dink song from The Elephant Show (*Gasp*), I’ve included a link to it here. Funny how even after all these years, I remember the words, the melody, and all the gestures still!
Hey Mary! I used to watch Sharon Lois and Brahm too! Though I am a child of the late 80s 😉
I love elephants, they are so cute! And I actually really like this colour. I would probably have to try it on in order to decide if I like it on, but I really like the colour of it in your swatches 🙂
Hey Erica!
Most people I know in real life look at me like I’m crazy when I mention The Elephant Show (which isn’t actually that often). And I’m always shocked that they didn’t grow up with that great show. Sooo…YAY that you remembered it! 🙂
Hi, I’m new to your blog, and I’m really loving it! Thanks for the honest reviews and especially all the details.
I don’t know about Elephant Walk. It seems even with Seche and the shimmer, it’s still a bit flat. I can’t wait to see what you stamped over it. I like greys, but this one isn’t really doing it for me. I’m partial to Skull and Glossbones ’cause it’s kind of taupey (is that a word?) and pale grey depending on the light.
And I’m a US citizen, and I was totally raised on “The Elephant Show.” I completely forgot about it until this post! Thanks for the memory!
Hey Allison!
Welcome! 🙂 I’m so happy that you took the effort to leave me such a lovely comment! Hope that you’ll stop by again soon. I update daily so there’s always something new here.
I understand how you feel about Elephant Walk – it was way better with nail art on top. 😉
Oh, I had no idea that they showed The Elephant Show in the States – how cool! 😀
I love grey nail polish. It looks very chic haha. My favorite is essie cocktail bling. It’s not the kind of color I would normally wear, but it looks great on and is very pretty. I love elephants, they are one of my favorite animals! When I was younger, I rode an elephant, and it was so cool!
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Hey Brianna!
Wow, that must’ve been a cool feeling to ride an elephant. But…when you were little, were you scared at all? I ask because elephants are so big, so that’s pretty high up for a kid!
My brother rode an elephant when he was little, but I’ve never ridden one – just horses and ponies!
Hey Mary!
Even though greys aren’t your favourite nail polishes Elephant Walk looks amazing on you! Tim Gunn would be very proud at making it work for you, can’t wait to see the nail art you did 🙂
Sharon, Lois, and Bram was one of my favourite shows as a kid, I even still have the stuffed elephant to go along with it! 😀 Your mention of the Elephant Show and that youtube link just brought on a huuuge wave of nostalgia.
Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous by OPI is one of my favourite greys. It’s a metallic grey/silver with shimmer, so when I want to wear a grey it’s a bit more exciting than something like Essie Chinchilly. The formula is on the sheer side though, (I usually have to use three coats :O) so I don’t know if I’d recommend it for you, but it is pretty!
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Hey Jenn!
Aww…thank you so much! 🙂 After I finish replying to comments for a bit, I’m going to see if I have time to edit the photos I took of the nail art. With any luck, I’ll have the post up for tomorrow morning. 😉 If not, then definitely by Saturday.
Oh yeah…when there’s silver, I like grey a lot more. And I can’t think of any grey cremes I’ve loved or even liked. There always needs to be shimmer, glitter, etc. for grey…haha!
I’m not Canadian but they showed that show down here in the states, only it was called Skinamarink TV. By far, my favorite show growing up! I loved it to death and even now as an adult I sing the Skinamarink Song sometimes. Oh, memories… Lol thanks for making my morning!
Hey Jessica!
Oh, I had no idea – hehe, Skinamarink TV sounds so cute! Hehehe, I love how you still enjoy the song. Actually, I remember everything about it even to this day. (I ended up editing this post to include a link to a YouTube clip of the song at the end of my post so that more people could enjoy some good nostalgia!) 😀
I’m not a huge grey nail polish fan, either, but I recently found one that I love – Sinful Colors “Slate”. It’s a touch lighter and a bit less blue than Elephant Walk. The big difference, though, is that is also has a bit more shimmer in it, not enough to be a metallic, but enough to give it a luminous sheen and depth, even inside. It’s almost a pewter, but not quite.I love the way it looks on my nails, and at $1-$2, the price really can’t be beat.
Hey Keira!
Hmm…don’t think I’ve ever seen SinfulColors in Slate before, but you make it sound nice. And, yeah, when the price is inexpensive, that’s always great. But…I just can’t seem to get down with many greys. Greens and purples are a whole different story, though. 😉
Not a huge fan of grays, but they do make for a nice neutral to cover up in glitter or nail art 😀 Looking forward to see what you did with this!
Hey MC!
Hopefully I have time tonight to crop the photos and put them in a post. I’d really like to show everyone on Friday because I had so much fun wearing it, and I’m curious to hear what others think of it.
Hey Mary,
Elephants are my favorite animals! I was hoping you’d review this nail polish. Even though greys are not that exciting to me either, I’m considering buying it just because of the name. Have you ever done that? That’s probably not very good haha. Something else that is not very good is that I’m reading your blog & posting this comment at work. You’re feeding my nail polish addiction, Mary! 🙂
Hey Brenda!
Yay – I’m glad that I reviewed it, too, especially now that I learned how you were curious about this colour! 🙂
Hahaha, and YES, I’m very guilty for buying some polishes just because of the name. While I can’t think of any off the top of my head, I’m 100% certain I’ve done it more often than I should’ve. But… ’tis the plight of a true nailphile, right? 😉
Oh boy – please don’t get in trouble with your boss at work! Remember, it’s not my fault! Hahaha!
Hi Mary,
I absolutely love elephants! I have above 5 statues of them, all with their trunks turned up, facing the front door, for good luck (mine, not the elephant’s, but who knows, right?)
I also happen to love this shade of grey on you, even if you simply like it. It really goes well with your skin tone. It is one of the few shades I purchased from the collection, the other being Plum Purrfect (I also love cats, large and small, LOL).
Did you know the the elephant society is largely (no pun intended) a matriarchal society? They raise their calfs communal style, all the older females taking care of each others’ young. If that’s not Women’s Liberation, I don’t know what is. And they are so advanced emotionally, they mourn their dead. Wow. And humans are so arrogant to think we are alone in this advancement.
BTW, I am new to your terrific blog, and I love it, too. ^^
Hey Sandy!
Oh, elephants bring good luck? I’ve never heard of that before. Now I feel like I need to take my one elephant sculpture and make it face the door!
Do you know what it is about this particular shade of grey that makes it work for my skin tone? I don’t know! Whenever I choose a grey, it’s usually the wrong shade, so any tips for me would be greatly appreciated!
Very interesting fact about elephants! I didn’t know they had a matriarch. That’s so uncommon…not just in the animal kingdom, but also among human societies! Very cool!
Welcome to Swatch And Learn, by the way. 😀 Please stop by again soon because I love interacting with my readers. It’s really what motivates me to continue blogging and it’s a great way to learn from each other.
I do love elephants! I have a stuffed Horton sitting on my desk. 😀
Anyway, grey is such an under-appreciated color! I do love it though. I only have 2 grey polishes (although one is probably more silver) and I adore them both. Elephant Walk looks great, too! I wasn’t sure about it in the bottle, but your swatches definitely make it look like a color I’d wear.
Hey Angie!
Yes, grey doesn’t get much love…but especially on Swatch And Learn! I can’t even remember the last grey I wore or reviewed…YIKES!
I got this one Mary, along with Kalahari Kiss. I have to admit this Elephant walk is the only grey polish I have now. I didnt quite like how it looked on its own so I stippled on some silver tips and then it was all better! I’ll be waiting to see what you did with yours
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Hey Naomi!
Good for you for making it work, too! 😉 Sometimes certain polishes need a little help from us to really shine. Nothing wrong with that…and sometimes it’s fun to challenge ourselves to get creative.
Ohhh, did you find that Kalahari Kiss was hard to pull off? I haven’t tried mine yet, but that shade definitely makes me nervous. Funny, but the more neutral/nude a shade is, the more iffy I am about how good it’d look on me. I really feel the most comfortable with bold and high-contrast shades.
I was not going to buy this one – thought…nothing different. But then I was holding it up next to some of the grays I have on the classic wall of ChG polishes and discovered I have either much lighter, more chalky looking grays or ones that are charcoal or almost black/grays. So I bought this home. Have not worn it yet – but can see wearing it come fall – probably a better toe shade for me. I have trouble wearing gray polishes too – not sure why as I wear a lot of gray clothing and it’s fine.
Hey beachgal!
Yeah, just looking at it solo, it doesn’t seem too different than any other greys. Interesting how it IS, though. (I don’t have many greys to compare it to in my stash.)
I also used to watch The Elephant show and loved it! 🙂 Like you I never know how to tell if a colour will work with my skin tone or not, only after I put it on do I know. I think the shade above is pretty neutral so it looks fine with your skin IMO, BUT I know exactly how you feel… Once you feel something “doesn’t work” next to your skin, it never will. As always thank you for your great swatches Mary! I appericate you taking photos in different lightsetting.
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Hey Karen!
We really need to figure out these rules about undertones (etc.) because it would save us some money (and frustration). It seems like there are a lot of women who can tell these things just from looking at the bottle! I want to be like that…haha, also then I would be able to describe colours a lot better for my readers, too!
I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed my photos. I do try to take photos of my manicures in as many different lighting situations as possible in case it’s helpful. 🙂
First, you did a great job painting your nails while having your fingers and eyes crossed (I’m impressed 😉 ).
Second, poor little grey shade playing alone… unfortunately my ‘sandbox’ doesn’t have all that many greys either.
Third, elephants are wrinkly AND really coarse to the touch… I remember being sooo confused by that the first time I got to pet an Elephant in the African Lion Safari… I expected them to be soft/velvety to the touch for some reason… but watching them swim in the water is absolutely breathtaking… large animal turns so playful in the water
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Hey Marta!
Haha, yes, it was quite a challenging feat. But, I also didn’t mention that the whole time, I was spinning a plate on a chopstick…with the end of the chopstick on the tip of my nose. 😉
I just love it when elephants suck up a lot of water with their trucks and spray themselves with it. It’s like they’re portable shower – convenient!