Today’s Red Fiend Nails feature China Glaze Bend Over Backwards (red), Whirled Away (black and white), and Get Carried Away (black, silver, and red), all of which are from the incredible new Cirque du Soleil Collection.

You may know that red isn’t my favourite nail colour (although I sometimes crave it), but when it’s combined with black and white, I’m crazy about it!

I was inspired by the artistry, fun costumes, and unpredictability of the Cirque du Soleil shows when I designed this simple look. (I’ve never been to their live show, but I’ve seen some of their specials on TV. Brilliance can’t even begin to describe the talent in that production!)

The Cirque du Soleil polishes in this post were lent to me by the same friend I mentioned in the previous two posts. (She’s saving me a lot of money right now, haha, but I do plan on buying a few bottles to add to my collection! Can’t be a complete polish mooch, right?) 😉

This design includes Bend Over Backwards (red), Whirled Away (black and white), and Get Carried Away (black, silver, and red).

Out of the nail-art designs I’ve done so far with the Cirque du Soleil shades, I think this is my favourite because it’s the most cohesive.

Also, a lot of people accent the ring finger, but I chose to accent the middle finger with black. Thought it was appropriate. 😉

P.S. At the end of this post, I’ll provide mini reviews for each Cirque du Soleil polish.

Red Fiend Nail Art Swatches

All swatches have:

• CND Stickey Anchoring Base Coat
• Red: China Glaze Bend Over Backwards
• Black & White Glitter: China Glaze Whirled Away
• Black, Red & Silver Glitter: China Glaze Get Carried Away
• White: China Glaze Snow
• Black Stripes: Milani Nail Art Lacquer Black Sketch (Provided by PR.)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
• Dotting Tool: Daniel Stone Nail Art Tool #3

Dim Sunlight Photos

Natural Light Photos

Flash Photos

China Glaze Bend Over Backwards Mini Review (Red)

I’m so glad that they added the word “Backwards” to keep it PG. 😉 Haha!

Name aside, let’s talk about the colour. It’s one of those reds that has a Christmas feel to it. It reminds me of ribbon candy because while it’s shimmery, the finish has a pearly look to it. And it seems to ‘glow’ and catch the light.

It applies very smoothly and easily. You can get complete opacity with just 2 coats.

China Glaze Whirled Away Mini Review (Black & White)

This was one of the polishes in the entire collection that I was most excited to try because I have nothing like it. Although I’ve been admiring indie polishes ever since they first landed on the scene, I haven’t purchased a single one yet!

One of the indie polishes I’ve been interested in is the popular Sticks ‘n Stones. China Glaze Whirled Away isn’t a dupe, but it gives a similar feel to your manicure.

In clear polish are large white hexagons, medium black hexagons, and long, thin black bars. You get the most black hexagons, followed by black bars, and then very few white hexagons.

Although I applaud China Glaze for bringing this to nailphiles everywhere, I think they need to improve the formula. I found it very tricky to work with.

It’s very thick, which is understandable because the polish needs to coat the glitter, but it’s very goopy. To place the pieces, I suggest using a dabbing motion rather than just painting your nails with regular strokes. Also, be sure to wait until it’s almost-to-fully dry before putting on a second layer (if desired).

Keep in mind that using a dabbing motion will make the polish not completely smooth. And, you may get some bubbling because the polish will be deposited thicker in certain parts. However, you can smooth it out with a good top coat. As for the bubbles, well, the large pieces distract from them. 😉

You may have difficulty getting the white pieces to go on your brush. What I did was just fish one out and then dab it separately onto my nail.

I was surprised that I didn’t have a problem with the black bars sticking beyond the edge of my nails. I may have had to push them back with the brush, but it was very easy to do.

China Glaze Get Carried Away Mini Review (Black, Silver & Red)

In theory, this polish is amazing, but I was severely disappointed in the formula. Not only was it thick like slightly dried school glue, but no matter how hard I tried to apply thin layers, I would only get super thick coats.

And it dries fast. Yes, I love polishes that dry fast, but in this case, it was so fast that I couldn’t ‘push down’ the parts that were thicker than the rest. (Perhaps if you add thinner, it’ll make a world of difference. Obviously I didn’t do that because it was my friend’s polish and not mine.)

This polish has a translucent black/grey base with glitter. It includes small silver glitter, large red hexagons, small black glitter, and thin black bars. It’s much more complex compared to Whirled Away.

Maybe it’s better to layer this, but I wanted to see what it would look like on its own, so I was insane and applied 2 coats of this crazy-thick polish. (It wasn’t fun to remove.)

I like the idea of this polish, but the formula needs tweaking. And with this one, I had an issue with the black bars. Tons of them stuck over the edge of my nail and I wasn’t able to push them all back. (After it’s dry, you can file it so they’re not sharp, but I was feeling lazy, so I didn’t bother. Instead, I slapped on a ton of Seche Vite to smooth it out. Yeah, that nail was REALLY thick!)

Haha, the black bars made my nails look ‘hairy’. It was interesting to look at, but also gross at the same time…

 Do you like the black bars in these polishes, or do you think they’re more work than they’re worth? Can you do a back flip or anything acrobatic?