Gelish Botanical Awakenings (Spring 2016) Collection Swatches
Who’s ready for Spring??? Mmeeee, please! This is the new Spring 2016 collection from Gelish called Botanical Awakenings, which consists of six floral-inspired shades. There are two neutrals, three pinks, and a red in the set.
Let’s take a look at them from lightest to darkest…
Prim-rose and Proper is a light off-white neutral with a cream finish. It has an ever so slight pink-ish tone to it. The coverage was decent with two coats, but I felt that three coats were needed for a perfect, even finish.
I had a hard time comparing this color with my other Gelish neutrals because most of my swatches have faded over time with a yellow-ish tint. Eww. In my initial fade testing of Prim-rose and Proper I didn’t find any issues, so hopefully this color won’t turn over time as well. The three other nudes in the Gelish line that are similar to this one are Tan My Hide, Need a Tan and Do I Look Buff (this one is probably the closest). Prim-rose is a touch pinker than the others and is almost an exact match for LeChat Just Breathe, which I just posted a couple of days ago.
I Or-chid You Not is a taupe cream with slight lavender undertones. I also applied three coats of this color for even coverage since it goes on a bit thin. The closest colors in the Gelish line to this one are My Nightly Craving and Rodeo to Rodeo Drive, but again I had a hard time doing comparisons because my swatches of those colors faded. The good news is that Or-Chid also passed my initial fade test and held up well in the sunlight.
Rose-y Cheeks is a soft shade of pink with a slight peachy tone and an iridescent pearl shimmer. It’s very similar to Can-can We Dance, but is more pink in tone. I also applied three coats of this color for best coverage.
Don’t Pansy Around is a dark, yet vibrant shade of pink with a cream finish. At first I thought it was going to be very similar to A Petal For Your Thoughts or Gossip Girl, but this shade is more pink in tone than most others in the Gelish line. The others lean more toward the orange/red end of the spectrum. I really love this color, but wasn’t crazy about the consistency of the polish… it was thick and applied streaky. This swatch is also three coats.
Warm Up the Car-nation is a frosty red-leaning pink with an irridescent shimmer. This color had a great formula and applied evenly with good coverage in just two coats. I didn’t find any other colors that were very close in shade or finish.
What’s Your Poinsettia? is a medium red with a frosty finish. The finish and formula were very much like the previous color, and only two coats were required. I understand that red was probably needed to finish off a floral collection, but blah… it’s another shade of red, and the name makes me think of Christmas. Personally I’m over red, unless it’s something spectacular. This color is very similar to Gelish Queen of Hearts, but the finish isn’t as pretty.
So what are your thoughts on this latest collection? Any must-haves?
They’re all beautiful!! But I’m with you on the reds – after the Red Matters Collection I am burned out on reds for now.
Does anybody else think they’re all a bit samey now? I love Gelish, but these colours don’t exactly inspire me and I have some that look exactly like the ones sampled
I absolutely agree!
I fully agree with you guys I’m getting a little bored and to be fair slightly miffed that when I open my orders I compare my new colours to some I already have and they’re practically the same with a different name or maybe a tad lighter or darker
Gelish need to up the game plan to excite the loyal customers
Pretty! BUT it seems Gelish needs to come up with something out of the norm! These colors all are starting to look the same as similar colors in the past. Wheres the FUN-FUNKY-EXCITING colors!? Please give us something different, Harmony….Thank you so much for posting/sharing. I love your website & your hard work & dedication. Keep up the good work.
So glad to see cremes!
I am with all of you, I totally agree, Gelish needs to come up with something new and exciting, funky its missing a funky fun color! I do love the 1st two colors . I’d like to see a true Rose Gold color maybe, metallic that would work!
There actually is a true rose gold metallic in the After Hours collection, called Last Call
Oh yeah last call is a very popular colour of mine, like Saskia said probably very similar to what you are looking for in a Rose Gold :)
Do you know if these be available at Sally Beauty?
Yes, they are available in MINIs
Yeah talk about Boringgg…. from Gelish! come on give us spring! I haven’t seen a collection with such gorgeous colours since Paradise Collection. We need more pastel colours……. Ive resorted to mixing colours now to try and get the shades I need. Wish Gelish would come up with more metallics or even a mirror effect topcoat! <3
My purse is happy that I’m not spending more money on Gelish. I haven’t been tempted since last summer’s Hello Pretty! collection. Finding the Madam Glam much more exciting these days…
I’ve got I Or-chid You Not and Warm Up the Car-nation and think they are both absolutely gorgeous!
SO boring! I’m going to hope for something more interesting this summer.
The colors are nice but, I hate applying the creamy and the grey ones because are too watery and they don’t dry properly inside the led lamp. Have problems just with these two colors, and after applying 4/5 coats to have a better coverage stay still wet on the nails so when I put the top coat the color comes off and have stripes as result. More than that, the customers are complaining because after less than a week starts chipping. No problems at all with the rest of the gelish colors!!!