China Glaze Deserted Fall 2023 Collection Swatch And Review

Purchased by me, affiliate links used

Hi friends! I am typing this on my porch wearing a sweater because apparently, 64F is chilly to me now. I won’t lie though, sitting on the porch wearing a sweater is definitely putting me in the mood for all things Falloween!

Today’s blog post is for the new Fall 2023 collection from China Glaze. Not to start off on a negative, but after last year’s I Don’t Give A Sip collection I had high hopes for this release. 2023 has been a pretty good year for China Glaze so I had hoped they wouldn’t do us dirty.

So for 2023, we have the Deserted collection which is a mixture of metallic and shimmer shades inspired by the desert. This collection is starting to pop up in stores. I purchased my set from Head2ToeBeauty. It is not yet up on BeyondPolish but when it is, feel free to use my affiliate code to save you 10% on the collection.

At the time of typing this post up, I don’t have the official descriptions yet so the descriptions are based on what I was seeing in person. As always, I will have more links and sale details at the end of the post. If you would like to see these in different lighting situations, do check out my live swatch video!

Live Swatch Video

China Glaze is a US based mainstream brand. Their polishes are in 14ml bottles, 7 free and cruelty free.

Alpenglow

Description: a berry metallic

Alpenglow we are starting out with the berry shade. As someone who kinda hates metallics and can take or leave berry shades, I went into swatching this one ready to go meh.

I found the base to be a little bit on the thinner side, it has a tendency to run down the stem of your brush quite a bit. As long as you remember to wipe the stem of your brush, the application will be pretty easy. The formula itself was pretty good, the brush strokes that go with the metallic effect were fairly minimal.

I feel like my photos make this look almost duochrome-y but alas it isn’t. I noticed in my video footage that I can see a hint of VNL at some angles. So depending on your personal preference, this will be a 2-3 coater.

My photos show Alpenglow in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. This will remove very easily and I didn’t experience any staining.

Bring The Heat

Description: a metallic dark orange

Bring The Heat had a pretty good formula. It had that same thin but not watery formulation as Alpenglow. I love orange shades like this one.

The metallic base does show a lot of brush strokes, which is why I dislike metallics to behind with. If that kind of thing bothers you, try to get them as straight as you can or sponge on your final coat to completely remove them from the picture.

Coverage was ok in two coats. I feel like I was really skirting the edge as far as being opaque in two coats so I opted to go in for a thicker second coat to make it opaque. If you use thin coats, this will likely be a three coater.

My photos show Bring The Heat in 2ish coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal and I didn’t have any issues with staining.

This polish is not a dupe for Orly’s Light My (Camp)Fire from the Breathable In The Spirit collection. LMC is more saturated and glowy. If you’re trying to decide between the two, I would recommend Light My (Camp)Fire. I found the formula and color more enjoyable.

Dunescape Sand

Description: a beige crelly base with gold shimmer

Dunescape Sand was the color from the collection that I was least looking forward to. I was kinda surprised by how much I liked it! If you know me, you would know that the reason why I liked it so much was 10000% the gold shimmer!

I was really happy with the formula of this polish. I expected it to be streaky and kind of a pain to work with but it applied really nicely. The shimmer is a bit more delicate than I personally prefer but it was pretty.

My photos show Dunescape Sand in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Once again, easy removal and no issues with staining.

Night Dunes

Description: a greyed out navy blue with silver or blue metallic (?) shimmer

Night Dunes was the color that I KNEW I was going to love. We have a slightly greyed out navy base which is key to my Falloween heart.

This was pretty sheer on the first coat. I do think this is going to be a 2-3 coater depending on your application style. Unless you use thicker coats, this will likely be a 3 coater.

The shimmer in here is another more delicate one however it is easily visible in various lighting situations.

My photos show Night Dunes in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy but messy removal and I had no issues with staining.

Sky Of Lavender

Description: a slightly greyed out lavender crelly base with shimmer

Sky Of Lavender had a similar formula and application to Night Dunes. Thinner than I personally prefer but by no means watery.

However, where I was able to get Night Dunes opaque in two coats Sky Of Lavender definitely needed three to reach full opacity. I wanted SO badly for this to be a 2 coater but it was just too sheer for me to say it was passable in two coats.

This is a very pretty color and the shade of lavender is definitely giving those fall vibes. I’m just a little bummed at this being so sheer.

My photos show Sky Of Lavender in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal and no issues with staining.

Twilight Desert

Description: a dark purple crelly base with purple metallic (?) shimmer

Twilight Desert is another 2-3 coater. On the first coat, it was surprisingly sheer but I was able to reach full opacity in 2 thicker coats. If you go in for thinner coats coverage will be fairly uneven and the color won’t match up with what’s in the bottle.

Overall this is a very nice shade and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t have strong feelings towards dark purples. The shimmer is a nice touch.

My photos show Twilight Desert in 2 thicker coats plus glossy top coat. Once again we have an easy but messy removal and I didn’t experience any staining.

Final Thoughts

As a major China Glaze fangirl, I was really excited about this release based on the promo images. Sadly that excitement died down a little bit when I found out that this collection was made up of metallics. I am pretty biased against metallic finishes as I really hate brush strokes.

On the positive side, I really liked that this release had a mixture of metallic AND shimmers. I love the color story of this release as well. It reminds me of sunsets. I feel like all we are missing is a golden yellow shade.

When I was doing my full hand swatches I was super committed to making all of these polishes 2 coaters. I don’t have a solid reason for why (my current guess is because I don’t like metallics but who knows what Nicole-of-the-past was thinking!) I was so committed to these being two coaters. I fully recognize that when we get into specialty finishes, the likelihood of needing 3 coats becomes pretty normal.

Overall I think this was a pretty good release. There weren’t any bad formulations in the bunch and this was MUCH better than last year’s Fall collection. My top picks are going to be Night Dunes and Bring The Heat.

China Glaze
14ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information

The Deserted collection by China Glaze is available right now in places where China Glaze is sold, including the China Glaze website. I purchased this release from Head2Toe Beauty.

If you would like to purchase this release at a discount as well as support the blog, consider using any of the following affiliate links. Beyond Polish (use code NicoleLovesNails to save an extra 10%), Amazon, Sally Beauty, Walmart, Rite Aid and Ulta. Thank you for the support!