Yesterday was an epic nail polish day - I also received a sample set of China Glaze's Poolside Collection for Summer 2010 to swatch for you (amongst other cool things to come). I have the press materials on this collection, and it will be released on April 1st, which is Thursday, so there's little wait for this one.
I've avoided reading reviews on this collection so I could form my own opinion. My first impression upon taking the bottles out of the box was that they appeared to be amazingly sheer. My little test for opacity, which is normally pretty accurate, is to roll the bottle and look for how easily I can see the mixing balls through the polish. On all six of these, I could very clearly see them. Additionally, my first impression was that they were pretty dupey on the whole to existing neons. I discovered upon swatching them that I was wrong on both counts, and I'll tell you about that for each color. They're all neons, and five are cremes, one a shimmer.
As for the pictures, I took them under a halogen lamp made to emulate natural light, despite the forecast for a sunny day. A while back, probably a good year ago, I showed you the difference lighting makes in the inherently difficult to photograph neons, comparing the halogen lamp, an Ott light, and direct and indirect sunlight, and the result was that the halogen lamp was the clear winner - the other light sources washed out the neon colors.
I considered swatching these over a white, given that my assumption was that they were super sheer, but decided for collection swatches, that would not be truly representative of the polishes, and swatched them alone. They dry a bit matte as most neons do, but top coat fixes that. All but one were three coaters, with the other requiring four.
That said, let's look at pictures of nail polish!
Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, in the bottle appeared to be yet another highlighter yellow creme. In swatching it, I found the color more lemon yellow than the highlighter shades. The first coat was unbelievably sheer, just a slight wash of color, but it built up well. This one did require four coats, but it was the only one of the six that needed that many. Truthfully, four coats for a neon yellow is not that bad - many require more.
China Glaze Poolside Collection, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Four Coats
Kiwi Cool-ada is a vibrant green neon creme. This one, I think likely has a Color Club dupe.
China Glaze Poolside Collection, Kiwi Cool-ada
China Glaze Kiwi Cool-ada, Three Coats
Flip Flop Fantasy is a unique one - it's a coral orange creme, and I don't think I've ever seen this shade in neon before.
China Glaze Poolside Collection, Flip Flop Fantasy
China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Three Coats
Sun Worshiper is another unique color. This one is somewhere in between yellow and orange, and the vibrant shade is perfect for a neon creme.
China Glaze Poolside Collection, Sun Worshiper
China Glaze Sun Worshiper, Three Coats
Pool Party is a fuchsia pink creme, and this is the other that I think should have a dupe out there somewhere. I'm thinking Nubar Hot Fuchsia.
China Glaze Poolside Collection, Pool Party
China Glaze Pool Party, Three Coats
The previous five pictures were swatches, this one of Towel Boy Toy is a full manicure with top coat. Initially I thought this was dupey to Nubar Hot Blue, but when I swatched it I saw it has a shimmer. The shimmer in Towel Boy Toy is subtle, but stronger than a "secret shimmer."
China Glaze Poolside Collection, Towel Boy Toy
China Glaze Towel Boy Toy, Three Coats
For the collection as a whole, I thought the formula was good. After two coats most were streaky, but the third coat evened things out. The polishes were relatively thin, but easy to control and work with. The one I did a full manicure with dried completely very quickly, and I found that in swatching, when waiting for each coat to dry a bit, that the drying times of the cremes were very good as well. There are plenty of neons out there, but these are strong, and the collection has more unique shades than colors I suspect of having a dupe.
That's China Glaze's Poolside Collection, and the end of what I have for you this morning. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you! 
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