China Glaze Aroma Café

I found a bunch of really old China Glaze polishes at a little hole in the wall beauty supply store that I go to often. I don’t like to spend too much time in there at a time because it’s so dusty that I feel like I need a shower afterwards. Eeeek! I like to peruse the section that I like to call “From the Mesozoic Era” because they have all kinds of crazy bottles that look like they are full of primordial ooze. They are all separated and most of them have long lost the original bottle lettering. This probably sounds like garbage to most people, but to me it is a chance to possibly find a treasure. Since I am a huge China Glaze fan, I was intrigued by these little bottles. Upon further research, it looks like this collection came out in the fall of 2002 and I was so excited to get something so old. This collection precedes my nail polish obsession like so many other awesome collections. It always makes me sad to know I missed out on the OMG collection.

These polishes came in a set of 6 colors and were supposed to have a coffee scent to them. I wasn’t expecting the scent to be there 10 years later–and it wasn’t! They did, however, smell “like a turd covered in burnt hair.” The smell was pretty disgusting and I don’t know if that’s just what happens sometimes when nail polish is super old…or maybe the coffee scent fermented to the smell of death. I also noticed that the formula was kind of spotty and then it went postal when I put a top coat on it as you will see below.

With Milk, Please! was streaky on me and when I applied a top coat, it became a beast. Look at those ripples!! What the heck is that? It’s like ridges. The color is a perfect café au lait.

 

Xpress-Ahh! is a super saturated dark coffee bean color. This one smells bad too, but I like the color better. It also reacted poorly to the top coat but it’s less evident because the color is so dark.

Will I wear these colors again? No. Do I regret purchasing them? NO WAY! I love having these old polishes. I guess you can say the collector in me has taken over. You can still find these on ebay and other independent nail places that never get rid of inventory.

Now I want some Starbucks…Caramel Macchiatos dance around in my head (nonfat and triple shot, of course!) Are you a coffee drinker? What is your coffee drink of choice?

34 thoughts on “China Glaze Aroma Café

  1. "What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole… wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing." Best. Movie. Ever. I'm just excited I found a place to appropriately use an Anchorman quote on a nail blog! You guys made my night! tee heee

    1. LMAO…I love that so many women on here love that movie. It always made me sad that I was in the minority of all my girlfriends who know and like that movie. I am seriously counting down for next year when the new movie comes out.

      I actually think that Anchorman quotes are always appropriate. I MAKE THEM FIT ANY SITUATION.

      "I miss your musk. When this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together!"

      1. Yes! I can't resist one more before bed…"No, she gets a special cologne… It's called Sex Panther by Odeon. It's illegal in nine countries… Yep, it's made with bits of real panther, so you know it's good." Oh man, I cry real tear whenever I watch the outtakes of that movie! Allright ladies…I must stop blog stalking and go to bed. Goodnight!

  2. I have so much to say about this post! I was laughing so hard my brother was like, "Having fun?"
    Firstly, holy crap, WHAT is this store with ancient inventory? Crazy!
    I've never heard of this China Glaze collection. "God no, it smells like, like a used diaper… filled with… Indian food. Oh, excuse me. " "You know, desire smells like that to some people."
    This also made me really want Starbuck's, even though it's 10 at night. My favorite is a nonfat pumpkin spice latte in the fall and nonfat peppermint mocha in the winter. Gotta be sweet and ridiculous.
    "I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. " I use this one a lot.

    1. LOL. I'm glad that it made you laugh. 😀 These comments make blogging all the more entertaining.

      Ok, so this store is like the land that time forgot. There is an area in Orange County that is known as Little Saigon and there must be like over 20 beauty supply stores. Some of them are newer, but there are also really old ones that hang on to their stock for eons. The one I go to does carry newer collections but they have tons of old as hell nail polishes. There are a few like this that I go to but this particular one has the most. It's hard to really find things because there is just so much stuff and it's all disorganized and dusty so I have to prepare myself when I go there.

      I really like peppermint mochas but I can't stand pumpkin anything except for like…pumpkin pie. I just hate anything that has that weird combination of spices. Ugh…I'm dry heaving. lol

      "I wanna say something. I'm gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back. I want to be on you." If only men knew this line would actually work on some women. lol

  3. It happens with my old polishes too. Maybe you can put some drops of nail remover (acetona) and it will become less thick and maybe the ripples would disappear..!

  4. “What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole… wheel of cheese? How’d you do that? Heck, I’m not even mad; that’s amazing.” Best. Movie. Ever. I’m just excited I found a place to appropriately use an Anchorman quote on a nail blog! You guys made my night! tee heee

    1. LMAO…I love that so many women on here love that movie. It always made me sad that I was in the minority of all my girlfriends who know and like that movie. I am seriously counting down for next year when the new movie comes out.

      I actually think that Anchorman quotes are always appropriate. I MAKE THEM FIT ANY SITUATION.

      “I miss your musk. When this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together!”

      1. Yes! I can’t resist one more before bed…”No, she gets a special cologne… It’s called Sex Panther by Odeon. It’s illegal in nine countries… Yep, it’s made with bits of real panther, so you know it’s good.” Oh man, I cry real tear whenever I watch the outtakes of that movie! Allright ladies…I must stop blog stalking and go to bed. Goodnight!

  5. I have so much to say about this post! I was laughing so hard my brother was like, “Having fun?”
    Firstly, holy crap, WHAT is this store with ancient inventory? Crazy!
    I’ve never heard of this China Glaze collection. “God no, it smells like, like a used diaper… filled with… Indian food. Oh, excuse me. ” “You know, desire smells like that to some people.”
    This also made me really want Starbuck’s, even though it’s 10 at night. My favorite is a nonfat pumpkin spice latte in the fall and nonfat peppermint mocha in the winter. Gotta be sweet and ridiculous.
    “I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. ” I use this one a lot.

    1. LOL. I’m glad that it made you laugh. 😀 These comments make blogging all the more entertaining.

      Ok, so this store is like the land that time forgot. There is an area in Orange County that is known as Little Saigon and there must be like over 20 beauty supply stores. Some of them are newer, but there are also really old ones that hang on to their stock for eons. The one I go to does carry newer collections but they have tons of old as hell nail polishes. There are a few like this that I go to but this particular one has the most. It’s hard to really find things because there is just so much stuff and it’s all disorganized and dusty so I have to prepare myself when I go there.

      I really like peppermint mochas but I can’t stand pumpkin anything except for like…pumpkin pie. I just hate anything that has that weird combination of spices. Ugh…I’m dry heaving. lol

      “I wanna say something. I’m gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don’t, send it right back. I want to be on you.” If only men knew this line would actually work on some women. lol

  6. I prefer the first one 😀
    And I'm sorry but I don't like coffee… I only drink chocolate (in the morning or in the afternoon in winter XD) *god save starbucks, I don't have one near me, but when I was in London last year, I went here twice, and I loved that place <333333)

    1. Mais tu es française! Le café est sûrement dans tes veines comme le vin! 😉 (Typiquement americaine, hein?)

      I didn't used to drink so much coffee before, but I've been addicted for the last few years. Coffee addiction runs in my family. I don't want to like Starbucks but I looooooove it. My wallet does not like it one bit.

  7. I prefer the first one 😀
    And I’m sorry but I don’t like coffee… I only drink chocolate (in the morning or in the afternoon in winter XD) *god save starbucks, I don’t have one near me, but when I was in London last year, I went here twice, and I loved that place <333333)

    1. Mais tu es française! Le café est sûrement dans tes veines comme le vin! 😉 (Typiquement americaine, hein?)

      I didn’t used to drink so much coffee before, but I’ve been addicted for the last few years. Coffee addiction runs in my family. I don’t want to like Starbucks but I looooooove it. My wallet does not like it one bit.

  8. Oh my gosh your description of the smell had me laughing so hard!! I'm hoping and assuming the smell went away once it was on your nails! Thats super funky about the interaction w top coat but oh well- they were fun to try. 🙂

    Mmmm coffee! Im a coffee drinker in the way that I like a coffee once in a while when I'm tired. If I had the extra money and wanted to get fatter I'd drink them all the time but since in both cases I do absolutely NOT I only have one occasionally. In the winter I like a nonfat w whip peppermint mocha or a nonfat w whip pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks or a pumpkin pie latte from Dutch Bros. In the summer I can't like without my iced kahlua kicker from Dutch Bros and the occasional mocha cookie crumble frappuccino (aka sundae!!) from Starbucks. I got Dutch Bros like 3 times in the last 2 weeks, and the guy remembers where I work now. Not a good sign. :p

    1. I don't know what Dutch Bros is and I want to know since it involves coffee. lol I do like regular drip coffee; I only brew Dunkin Donuts Dark and it's my absolute favorite. I was getting addicted to drinking a huge mug with half and half (bad idea since I'm lactose intolerant). Well, I had "issues" so I had to back off. The weird thing is that nonfat milk doesn't give me so many stomach problems so that's what I ask for when I go to Starbucks. The caramel macchiato is the most frilly drink I will order…I am not a fan of milkshake/sundae drinks disguised as coffee drinks! 😛

      OMG the smell. It was horrid. The smell did go away for the most part but the memory of the smell lingered so I had to take the offending polish off!

      1. Oof I hate when a bad smell seems to hold on and live in your nostrils even after you KNOW it's gone. Ick.

        I'm a BIG fan of the sundae/ice cream drinks that masquerade as coffee! They're my favorites! haha. See, my problem is I don't really like coffee! Haha. I only like it a little, for example with so much coffee mate it's nearly white! I'm probably really upsetting you now, huh? Haha. Sorry!!

        Dutch Bros (Dutch Brothers) is an awesome little coffee chain maybe just locally out here. I'm not sure. They have a smallish menu (compared to starbucks) but are like alllll over the place out here and are about half the price of the same drink at starbucks. I get a kahlua kicker on my way to work and they're delicious!! Mmmm…. Now if only they really had alcohol in them! 😉

  9. Oh my gosh your description of the smell had me laughing so hard!! I’m hoping and assuming the smell went away once it was on your nails! Thats super funky about the interaction w top coat but oh well- they were fun to try. 🙂

    Mmmm coffee! Im a coffee drinker in the way that I like a coffee once in a while when I’m tired. If I had the extra money and wanted to get fatter I’d drink them all the time but since in both cases I do absolutely NOT I only have one occasionally. In the winter I like a nonfat w whip peppermint mocha or a nonfat w whip pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks or a pumpkin pie latte from Dutch Bros. In the summer I can’t like without my iced kahlua kicker from Dutch Bros and the occasional mocha cookie crumble frappuccino (aka sundae!!) from Starbucks. I got Dutch Bros like 3 times in the last 2 weeks, and the guy remembers where I work now. Not a good sign. :p

    1. I don’t know what Dutch Bros is and I want to know since it involves coffee. lol I do like regular drip coffee; I only brew Dunkin Donuts Dark and it’s my absolute favorite. I was getting addicted to drinking a huge mug with half and half (bad idea since I’m lactose intolerant). Well, I had “issues” so I had to back off. The weird thing is that nonfat milk doesn’t give me so many stomach problems so that’s what I ask for when I go to Starbucks. The caramel macchiato is the most frilly drink I will order…I am not a fan of milkshake/sundae drinks disguised as coffee drinks! 😛

      OMG the smell. It was horrid. The smell did go away for the most part but the memory of the smell lingered so I had to take the offending polish off!

      1. Oof I hate when a bad smell seems to hold on and live in your nostrils even after you KNOW it’s gone. Ick.

        I’m a BIG fan of the sundae/ice cream drinks that masquerade as coffee! They’re my favorites! haha. See, my problem is I don’t really like coffee! Haha. I only like it a little, for example with so much coffee mate it’s nearly white! I’m probably really upsetting you now, huh? Haha. Sorry!!

        Dutch Bros (Dutch Brothers) is an awesome little coffee chain maybe just locally out here. I’m not sure. They have a smallish menu (compared to starbucks) but are like alllll over the place out here and are about half the price of the same drink at starbucks. I get a kahlua kicker on my way to work and they’re delicious!! Mmmm…. Now if only they really had alcohol in them! 😉

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