China Glaze Metro (Uptown) Collection Review, Photos, Swatches
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Brownstone, CG in the City, City Siren
China Glaze Metro Collection: Uptown
China Glaze Uptown Collection ($2.99 to $5.99, depending on retailer, for 0.5 fl. oz.) contains six shades: Brownstone (burnt terracotta crème), CG in the City (glittering dusty purple, bronze and silver multi-tonal glitter), City Siren (deep, red crème), Street Chic (gorgeous beige crème), Traffic Jam (raspberry pink crème), and Urban-Night (rich purple crème).
- Brownstone is a browned red cream. It was opaque in two coats, but one was quite dense in color. It’s darker and less brown compared to MAC Sly as a Fox and Nubar Sateen. Chanel Fatale and Essie Limited Addiction are redder and not as dark.
- CG in the City contains light purple, purple, bronze, and silver glitter suspended in a clear base. I used three coats for swatches, so you can see how opaque it gets (not entirely). Given the clear base, I imagine it’s meant more for layering than as a standalone product. Rescue Beauty Lounge Frugalista is denser and the particles are larger–plus it’s silver and fuchsia, so they’re not really similar in color either, but it was the closest I could think of.
- City Siren is a deep, red cream with a subtle blue base. I used two coats, but one was nearly opaque. It’s cooler in tone and looks more red than Chanel Fatale and Essie Limited Addiction.
- Street Chic is a grayed, mushroom brown cream. It was opaque in two coats. Rescue Beauty Lounge Decorous is similar in base color, but it has shimmer and a cooler undertone. Both NARS Bad Influence and Nubar Chiffon are grayer, more taupe than brown.
- Traffic Jam is a raspberry cream that is opaque in two coats. This is like a juicy raspberry jelly to me (obviously, jam is on the brain from the name!). The color reminds me of the base color of Cult Nails Iconic but Traffic Jam is slightly more berry than red. I think Zoya Ciara may be similar, but I don’t have a photo to compare it to.
- Urban-Night is a darkened eggplant purple with a cream finish. This was opaque in two coats. It seems similar to Orly Plum Noir. Rescue Beauty Lounge Recherche is much darker and less red-toned.
With the exception of CG in the City (which is a glitter in a clear base), I only needed two coats for opaque color coverage. I typically get a week of wear out of China Glaze’s formulas, both for creams and glitters. The glitter will be difficult to remove, like any other glitter-based polish, if worn alone and as densely as shown in the swatches, so I recommend soaking a piece of felt in remover and pressing against the nail for 15-20 seconds, then pull to remove. I used Zoya’s Anchor and Armor for base/top coats for all swatches.
The formula of the five creams here was good overall. Street Chic was a touch thick, while the others were thinner without being watery. The polish spread evenly without streaking and drying time was about average.
China Glaze Metro (Uptown) Collection Review, Photos, Swatches
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Brownstone, CG in the City, City Siren
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Brownstone, CG in the City, City Siren
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Brownstone, CG in the City, City Siren
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Street Chic, Traffic Jam, Urban-Night
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Street Chic, Traffic Jam, Urban-Night
China Glaze Nail Lacquer: Street Chic, Traffic Jam, Urban-Night
China Glaze Brownstone Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Brownstone Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Brownstone Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Brownstone Nail Lacquer
China Glaze CG in the City Nail Lacquer
China Glaze CG in the City Nail Lacquer
China Glaze CG in the City Nail Lacquer
China Glaze CG in the City Nail Lacquer
China Glaze City Siren Nail Lacquer
China Glaze City Siren Nail Lacquer
China Glaze City Siren Nail Lacquer
China Glaze City Siren Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Street Chic Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Street Chic Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Street Chic Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Street Chic Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Traffic Jam Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Traffic Jam Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Traffic Jam Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Traffic Jam Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Urban-Night Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Urban-Night Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Urban-Night Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Urban-Night Nail Lacquer
I really like Urban-Night and Traffic Jam, hope I can get my fingers on it 😀 Great pictures 🙂
agreed, my favs too! 🙂
I LOVE street chic and urban-night. For your swatch photos, do you have one photo per coat? or is it different lighting?
It is to show different angles – all photos are the same amount of coats as stated in the review for that shade. There are always three photos in natural light and one with flash.
Cool, thank you! I saw that in the review… just had to double check. I appreciate the different angles – it’s crazy how the color varies with those angles!
I really like Traffic Jam!
Love Brownstone! I never wear nail polish but might pick it up just because!
I love these. They make me want to start wearing nail polish. City siren, street chic and urban night call to me. There’s something so unexpectedly hip about that mushroom color.
Oh boy! CG in the City, Street Chic, and Urban Night look really good. The other half of this collection looks incredible, too. I’d better save up. Looks like I’m going to be getting most of this collection.
Thanks for swatching them! 🙂
I’m loving Traffic Jam and Urban Night! I’m not typically a huge fan of cremes, but those are gorgeous!
I’m an “Uptown” Girl 😀 4 shades of these are definitely my type. And maybe 2 downtowns will move in too. This is actually the first time it would be reasonable for me to by one of the packages.
I’m looking at the cg in the city swatch and from the visible nail line, it looks like your nails aren’t stained? Any stain prevention/reduction secrets?
I just use Zoya’s Anchor.
Your nail shape is so stunning, Christine. Everything about you was made for beauty related business…(queue Suck Up music)
Amazing ♥ !!!
CG in the City is a good one..
this polish collection looks fantastic!!! I so want to try these out.. I cant pick a favorite color, so deciding on which to get will be tricky.. I luv your videos.. You do an amazing job, and your nails look fantastic!!!! Thnx for these great videos!!
I love China Glaze but I’m not enthused by this collection. :/ I like Urban Night, and will probably buy it since I don’t have a dark purple creme. But I don’t see myself buying any of the others.
Where is Skyscraper??
http://www.temptalia.com/china-glaze-metro-downtown-collection-review-photos-swatches
Are all china glaze nail polish that shiny!!? so pretty
i bought city siren, brownstone, traffic jam, and urban night.
im soooo excited for urban night. its the one nail polish color ive been waiting for my whole life! i ordered online so i have to wait-bleh! hopefully its worth it!
xoxo
These are finally available on TransDesign if anyone is interested:) I love this collection and will be ordering them all except the brown color. Thanks for a great review and pics Christine! It’s so helpful to see the colors on the nails- China Glaze and etailers should be paying you big bucks for those great close ups because I don’t think I would have bought half as many without seeing them on the nails;) (not to mention our nails are about the same length so it helps even more to see them on longer nails;) Thanks again girl!