China Glaze Put a Bow on It from the Happy HoliGlaze Collection looks like a grape purple in my natural-light photos, but that’s entirely because these days, my only option has been to photograph it during really dim mornings.

The colour in real life is a fuchsia that leans heavily on the pink side, so please take that into consideration if you’re shopping for this shade.

There have been so many dreary days, which makes photographing it challenging, but hopefully my photos still give you a good idea of its personality.

The entire time I wore this, I kept looking at my nails like a vain polish peacock – that’s when you know you’re wearing a winning polish! (It’s hard to take your eyes off it because it twinkles all the time!)

Some dense glitters wear like iron on me, and some don’t play well with Seche Vite and then chip off. However, I tend to have good luck with polishes lasting a long time. (It might be because my natural nails are on the dry side, so polish hangs onto them for dear life like a clingy lover. Haha!)

China Glaze Put a Bow on It held up so well – I’m impressed!

China Glaze Put a Bow on It Pictures

China Glaze Put a Bow on It Swatches

All swatches have:

• OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener (Used as a base coat)
• 3 coats of China Glaze Put a Bow on It
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Natural Light Photos

Flash Photos

Claim: TRUSTED

• Magenta glitter (Yes)

Key Notes

• Name: China Glaze Put a Bow on It
• Collection: China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Collection 2013
• Press Release: Click here to see the China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Collection press release
• Colours Available in the Collection: There’s Snow One Like You, Elfin’ Around, Just Be-Claws, Santa Red My List, Put a Bow on It, Be Merry, Be Bright, All Wrapped Up, Your Present Required, So Blue Without You, Bells Will Be Blinging, Mingle with Kringle, This Is Tree-mendous, Travel in Colour (top coat)
• Amount: 14 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
• What I Paid: Nothing! (This was provided by NailPolishCanada.)
• Where to Buy: NailPolishCanada, Head2Toe, Nailsupplies, 8ty8Beauty & Sally Beauty Supply stores

China Glaze Put a Bow on It Review

Colour

Put a Bow on It by China Glaze is a purple that leans more heavily pink than what is depicted in my photos.

It’s a very girly shade that’s really festive and fun. Plus it’s saturated enough, so I think it’d provide enough bold contrasting that would flatter a wide variety of skin tones.

Young girls and the young at heart will all really enjoy this lacquer. Well done, China Glaze, for making something interesting that also has mainstream appeal!

Finish

The fine glitter twinkles all the time and in many different lighting conditions, which makes it a very magical-looking nail polish.

It looks like there’s more than one colour of glitter, but really some glitter just looks lighter at times because of the light reflecting off it.

Since there’s lots of fine glitter, it really clings to your nails and latches on strongly. So when you go to remove it, expect to spend longer than usual, scrubbing it off. But, remember, if you can’t do the time, then don’t do the crime! 😉

I use the pink nail-polish remover from Sally Beauty Supply, and I didn’t have trouble getting this  glitter off. I needed to spend a bit more time, but I didn’t really have to scrub my nails raw like I have to do with some large, chunky glitter.

(Hmm, this reminds me that I still need to review these plastic ‘pods’ I tried, which hold remover and allow you to soak each finger into it. I completely forgot about it, which just tells you how often I use them!)

This polish tends to eat top coat, which means that when you first apply a top coat, it looks smooth and shiny, but the next day, the glitter seems to absorb part of the top coat, so the finish isn’t quite as smooth or as shiny.

I used Seche Vite, which is a thick top coat. I found that when I used this, the next day, my manicure was still very shiny.

If you don’t use a top coat, the finish is gritty like fine sand, but it’s nothing very scratchy and annoying. You could wear it solo but I feel like you bring out the sparkle more when you use a top coat on this one.

Application & Formula

Put a Bow on It by China Glaze has a watery formula, so be careful and try to use thin coats to avoid accidentally flooding your cuticles.

I used 3 thin coats. The first coat looked like it didn’t cover much, but then with each additional coat, you get more significant and even coverage.

I didn’t have to concentrate to get even coverage. It goes on patchy at first, but with multiple coats, it just evens out by itself, which is nice.

Pros Pretty pink-based purple Sparkles in every lighting condition Glitter has the potential to cling to your nails strongly (but the wear also depends on the base & top coat you use)

Cons Has a sandy finish (You may like this, though. If you don’t, use a shiny top coat.) Tends to eat top coat More challenging to remove than a typical nail polish

Final Verdict: 9.5/10

Even though it took longer than usual to remove this sucker, I absolutely loved every single day I wore this polish. And, had I not been a blogger, I would’ve worn China Glaze Put a Bow on It for much longer. It’s stunning!

What was the most recent glitter nail polish you wore? Have you decided what will be your Christmas manicure? What are your plans this holiday?

Edit: Yay! NailPolishCanada retweeted my blog post on this polish and took the time to tweet me!