Even though I’m a sucker for green polish, I do have a soft spot for blue lacquer, especially when it reminds me of a starry night sky.
Fall collections absolutely wreck havoc on my wallet. Why do they always have to be so darn amazing?
I bought almost every colour in the China Glaze Metro Collection. Do I feel guilty? Not yet. Ask me in a little bit. (No, please don’t ask me.)
China Glaze Skyscraper was the first one I chose to wear because it’s been a while since I wore a sparkly blue polish.
Even though I really love the way it catches the light, there was something about it that makes me hesitate to reach for it again.
Want to know what it was? You’re a click away!
China Glaze Skyscraper Pictures
China Glaze Skyscraper Swatches
All swatches have:
- 1 coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
- 2 coats of China Glaze Skyscraper
- 1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Natural Light
Natural Light
Natural Light
Natural Light
Direct Sunlight
Natural Light
Flash
Flash
Flash
Sunlight
Flash
Claim: TRUSTED
√ Sparkling glittery blue
Key Notes
- Name: China Glaze Skyscraper
- Collection: China Glaze Metro Collection
- Colours in the China Glaze Metro Collection: Skyscraper, Westside Warrior, Trendsetter, CG in the City, Urban-Night, Traffic Jam, City Siren, Loft-y Ambitions, Brownstone, Midtown Magic, Street Chic & Concrete Catwalk
- Amount: 14 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: $2.99 USD
- Where to Buy: Trans Design, 8ty8Beauty (currently out of stock, but they may restock), Head2Toe & Nailsupplies
China Glaze Skyscraper Review
Colour
There’s no denying it – a night-sky blue with sparkles reminiscent of the heavenly bodies above get (and keep) my attention!
Skyscraper by China Glaze is a winner when it comes to the way it looks. It’s a rich, deep blue with small silver and blue glitter. And the glitter is dense!
Finish
Despite there being so much glitter, it’s not rough and scratchy.
Application & Formula
Here’s where the polish loses major points. I’m not sure if it was just my bottle or if other people have experienced the same thing, but the formula was so thick and gooey that it was extremely hard to work with. It was akin to trying to thinly apply hair gel onto your nails.
I realize that nail-lacquer thinner was invented to solve this problem, but I feel like if I buy a brand-new bottle of polish from a brand-new collection, the formula should be perfect from the get-go. Do you feel the same way, or does it not matter to you?
Since the formula was so thick, I couldn’t apply thin-medium coats. I could only apply super-thick ones. So obviously each coat was really pigmented as a result. It was nearly a one-coater. Oddly, even though it was thick, my first coat showed bald spots, which required a second coat to cover.
Ingredients
Unfortunately the place I ordered this from removes the ingredient labels from the bottom of their bottles. It’s frustrating because I’d like to share this information with you in case any of you have allergies or just want to avoid certain ingredients.
I do know, however, that China Glaze’s new formula is Big-3-Free, which means it doesn’t contain Formaldehyde, Toluene, or DBP.
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 7.5/10
Skyscraper by China Glaze is a beauty to behold, but upon application, it acts like a terrible diva.
I still gave it a high score because the colour is spectacular, and the low price point didn’t make my wallet wail.
Do you have polishes you love the colour of, but they are a nightmare to apply? How often have you thinned your polishes? Is a poor formula a deal breaker despite having an awesome shade? Did you get any polishes from the incredible China Glaze Metro Collection?
That’s such a lovely color that it really sucks that it’s hard to work with. Hopefully some thinner will make it better, altho I completely agree that new polish from a new line should be perfect. They have no excuse like shelf life, etc.
I noticed in some photos that it seems to have a purple cast? Or is it a true navy blue? True blues never fail to tempt me and this looks like what I hope to get when I layer Revlon Midnight Affair with Nicole by OPI’s Me+Blue. The Fall collections are killing me.. Not till December..! @_@
Hey Carmela!
Next time I’ll definitely use thinner and see if it helps. It’s just one of my quirks – the first time I wear a new polish, I never add thinner. I always want to see how it performs initially.
It is a very striking colour in person! It’s more of a true navy blue. On my computer monitor, the natural light photos are the most accurate. The flash made it look purple-ish, but in person, it’s always a navy blue.
Fall collections always kill me, and also the holiday collections. Plus OPI collaborated with the Muppets for their holiday collection, so I’m looking forward to that. Strange pairing, but there should be some really interesting glitters that come out of it. Have you seen the promo pictures? Are there any you like…hehe, or should I not ask if you’re trying to avoid temptation? 😛
A true navy blue? Oh no, I think my “must have list” just grew longer. 😉
Are you kidding me? I didn’t really care much for the Touring America collection (nothing except for that green caught my eye and we know how I feel about poop.. :P) so I’m really excited about the Muppets collab. I want all those glitters, esp Warm and Mozzie, and Gone Gonzo and that pretty Designer..de better! Actually, I’d want to get them all just for the names. 😀 Have you seen the SpaRitual fall collection? That copper shimmer, black with orange shimmer and interesting gray is so pretty!
How am I supposed to hold out till December at this rate?
The navy blue is lightened up a bit by the silver sparkles, and the contrast is so pretty. Haha, I don’t know whether or not to apologize for encouraging you to add it to your list. 😛
Hahahaha – “we know how I feel about poop” – That line cracked me up!
Yes, I’ve seen the SpaRitual fall collection. Howl (the black with orange-red shimmer) looks so sexy!
Answer: You don’t hold out. You grab everything you can and run for the hills! 😛 Hehehe!
I bought the China Glaze Downtown collection a couple of weeks ago and haven’t tried one of them (although the weather outside reminds me more of autumn than of summer so I might as well put on some autumn shades). I experienced that lots of glitters are kind of gluey and not so easy to work with. But this one really looks pretty so it’s worth the effort 😉
Sabine recently posted: NOTD OPI Just Groovy or Got the blues?
Hey Sabine!
Glad you think it’s worth the effort. 😛 I was grumbling a lot while painting my nails with this. But when I was all done, the colour left me feeling total bliss. 🙂
Have you decided which will be the first colour from the China Glaze Downtown set that you’ll wear? The entire Metro collection is amazing. I found it tough to choose.
This is gorgeous! I love it. I’m in love with blue polish that reminds me of starry night skies too. I think they’re my absolute favorite. I really really want this. I can’t wait to have a bottle of my own. It looks very pretty and sparkly. Midtown Magic is the other polish from this collection that I hope to get.
Hey Melissa!
There’s something about colours like these that make them so easy to wear (and fall in love with). When I was in high school, I used to layer a navy blue with silver glitter all the time – it was my favourite combination back then.
Midtown Magic is definitely another beauty! Good choice!
The color is so pretty on you…shame that it acts like a diva though 😉 I am loving the shape of your nails!
Maribeth recently posted: Essence Colour and Go Nail Polish in Break Through with Nubar Dewdrop
Hey Maribeth!
I’m actually self-conscious about the shape of my nails, so your comment just made my day! 😀
And hopefully some thinner will bring that diva back down to earth.
Great review. Somehow I missed following your blog, so I just did 🙂 Love it.
Pam recently posted: China Glaze Metro Collection (part two) Urban Night, Loft-y Ambitions, Skyscraper, Street Chic
Hey Pam!
Thank you! Yeah, I thought I was following you, too, but wasn’t. Just joined your site on Google Friend Connect now!
Your recent post is making me really want Urban Night…and that Pure Ice polish! 🙂 What a gorgeous layering combination! Hmm…but I’ve never seen Pure Ice sold here in Canada.
I love this color! Did you change your camera?The lighting is awesome and the colors so bright:D
Alaeis recently posted: NYX auto eye pencil in Black
Hey Alaeis!
Nope – it’s the same camera that I’ve been using since I began blogging! 🙂 When it’s sunny outside, I try to take advantage of it because the colours usually turn out better. Also, I think this polish is just very photogenic. 😉 The perfect model. Vogue! Vogue! 😛
I just love CG Metro Collection! I’m with you when you say you loke Fall colections. Waiting for Orly’s, Color Club’s and CG Halloween!!!!
Marcia recently posted: Random Manis
Hey Marcia!
Yeah, the Metro Collection got me so excited even back when I just saw the promo pictures! I feel like there’s something for almost everyone.
Hallowe’en is one of the best holidays in the year, so I’m definitely looking forward to China Glaze’s collection for sure! It’s a very hard time on the ole wallet, isn’t it? 😛
Thick polishes are such a pain, but this color is def worth it. SO pretty it reminds me of my sistes prom dress back in the day lol.
Amber recently posted: Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzers
Hey Amber!
Hopefully thinner will salvage it. Some people have told me that their bottles of this had a perfect formula. So it might just be the luck of the draw as to which one you nab.
Now that you mention it, it reminds me of one of my high-school classmate’s prom dress, too. I forgot about that. Haha!
I was just sitting here wondering if I had a sparkly blue polish in my collection, and I don’t think I do… I might be owning one soon though. Maybe it’s fate that I stumbled across this blog post only minutes after thinking that 😉 That’s beautiful!
Leah recently posted: Joey Takes a Vacation…Favorite Shoes (among other stuffs)
Hey Leah!
Yeah, talk about good timing! 😀
*Jaw drops* :O OMG this color is amazing!!! I NEED this! 😀 Sucks though that it was so thick 🙁 Really disappointing, especially when it’s still brand new…
Hey Ruthe!
Hehe, “I need this!” You sound exactly like me when I go polish shopping! 😛
But seriously, this colour is really special. Sparkles like crrrraaazzzzzyyy! Hopefully more bottles have better formulas and you get one that isn’t so thick. Someone on Twitter told me that hers was fine. (I’m gonna bust out the thinner – that stuff is magic!)
I can’t stand adding thinner to a brand spankin new bottle of polish either as a matter of principle. It bugs me… so usually I wait until the next time I wear the polish, which is usually forever, and THEN I add the thinner! It’s not so bad when it’s not *brand* new anymore haha, yeah reaallll principled over here, I stick to my guns!
I’m so drooling over this color, and the glitter, and the beautiful navy… I’m trying to talk myself out of it because I have Dorothy Who and I adore it, but the thing is…. I just absolutely need it. and as an added level of importance I have no dupe in my stash 🙂 (I think the closest cousin in base color and bling I have is OPI DS Glamour but it’s not a glitter, so maybe CG Midnight Mission or Meteor Shower?)
Hey CiCi!
Good knowing that I’m not the only one who has high standards when it comes to polish! Companies really need to do more quality assurance to keep it consistent and high.
And I’m the same way, too. Usually the second time I wear the colour, it’s a long time later and then I don’t feel weird about adding thinner because it’s no longer new.
I have all of the colours you mentioned and have worn them all, so I can compare them.
China Glaze Midnight Mission is a different shade of blue and doesn’t have the blingtastic quality that Skyscraper has. It looks like Skyscraper’s glitter is also bigger.
China Glaze Dorothy Who? is much closer to Skyscraper only in terms of bling-bling. That blue is more like a sky blue, though. Skyscraper is more of a navy blue.
China Glaze Meteor Shower has square multi-coloured glitter and needs a thick top coat because it’s gritty. Skyscraper has traditional-shape glitter and dries pretty smooth.
I hope this helps a bit!
Thanks girl! I figured I’d need it 😀 I love blues, and I love bling and boy do I love China Glaze. Thanks for comparing those for me, that was totally helpful for me to see that I can’t live another day without it! Damn you, China Glaze.
No problem. Haha, yeah, China Glaze is on their A Game! 🙂
I want I need I want!!!!
I have nothing close to this, just maybe a cousin in OPI DS Glamour, or CG Midnight Mission, or Meteor Shower? Nothing too close 🙂
I think that Skyscraper is different enough from the other polishes you’ve mentioned to warrant owning Skyscraper. I think China Glaze Dorothy Who? is a glitter cousin…So go for it! 😀
Hehe…you’re cute. Your “I want I need I want!!!!” line made me smile.
Love that color. My computer makes it vary from midnight blue to purplish. But all do remind me of a starry night. I don’t like that the company you buy from removes labels. Is that a common practice in nail polish sales? I’m new to being a polish-a-holic, so I haven’t noticed this
Hey Paula!
The photos with flash have a bit of a purplish tinge, but in person, it’s definitely a midnight blue.
Yeah, a couple of years ago when I ordered from this company, they didn’t remove the labels. It’s annoying me, so I’m looking into some other places to buy polishes from. I like showing readers the exact ingredients in a particular colour.
No, I don’t think it’s common. In physical stores, they always should have the ingredients listed. And there are other nail-polish etailers I’ve bought from that leave the labels intact. I don’t know why this one company is doing this, but I find it shady. It’s too bad. I’ll have to find a better (and reliable) new source.
Phew! I’m glad it’s not just my bottle. I just bought it and swatching it on my nail wheel for the first time, I noticed that it was pretty thick. I thought I had a bad bottle, so I shook it a few times. It wasn’t spreading evenly like I assumed it would. The brush was dragging as I applied it because of it being thick. It seems like a polish that you have to work quick with. What’s weird is that it doesn’t feel or look gooey when you dip the brush in and out of the bottle, only when it’s applied. I just assumed it would be like the rest of the China Glaze glitters I own. It’s still gorgeous though, so I really don’t mind.
Hey Melissa!
Aww…sorry that you also got the same hard-to-work-with formula as I did. Next time I try it, I’m going to add some polish thinner in it to see if it helps. But, yes, at least the colour makes up for the crappy goopiness!