The color been described adequately enough but the finish compared to what's in the bottle are different. I was expecting a darker finish and this one was way lighter it looked 80's frosty on me. I also had to use quiet a few coats as the color is not saturated and it took forever to dry, even with seche vite.

China Glaze Awakening is a shimmery dusty rose/mauve with a heavy gold flash. The gold duochrome in this one gives it almost a metallic finish. It also blends with the plum undertones of the base color making it dusty/bordering on muddy. This color was almost a coppery rose on my pale complexion with yellow undertones. While I don't absolutely hate it, I certainly don't love it because of the dustiness and metallic finish. (If this color were just the base with no gold in it, I'd love it!) The application was very good with total opacity at only two coats. The formula was thin but not runny and went exactly where I wanted it to. Wear time was also very good at four days with no chips and Seche Vite as my top coat. All in all, this is not a bad color, just one that I will not buy again.

Love, love, love this polish. When I look at it, I think of a gold frosted cranberry. Which is a little odd, but it's a unique colour to describe! "A dusty rose crossed with a pale copper" is a little more exact. My boyfriend even noticed the colour and complimented it.

It did apply a little sheer at the first coat, but upon the next two coats was nicely pigmented. I knocked out one lippie due to the fact one finger chipped a little after two days but that could have been a fluke as the others have not. It's not too dark nor light and is perfect for the fall/holidays! It somehow manages to be safe, yet intriguing at the same time. I would repurchase and recommend absolutely.

...LOVE...This nail polish is amazing. It's base color is a plum-ish purple. But when the sun hits it in a certain way, or you turn your nail...it has a gorgeous gold reflex type of thing going on. I got a mani/pedi with this and it looks stunning on my toes! I prefer darker nail polishes, and this one is the perfect happy medium for me between bright and dark. With a top-coat, it wont chip, unless you're a nail-biter like me!

I'm glad I found this in a bin of reduced priced nail polishes. It's a purple-y gold jumble of colours. This duochrome effect is so beautiful, and definitely the opposite of boring. I like the mix of colours. I think if I were to choose a name for it, I'd call it "Golden Plum." The way it looks when the sun hits it is wonderful. It's like a unique sunset. A coat or two is sufficient. I wore it for a week straight on my toes and had absolutely 0 chippage. China Glaze is superb. : )

This is one of my favourite China Glaze polishes. At one point this is all I would ever put. It is very beautiful especially with the duochrome effect, never boring.

Awakening is a gorgeous fall color. It's got a lovely formula, goes on like butter. Opaque in 2 coats. A nice duochrome, it's got rosy purple, a bit of a dusty rose, and gold. The finish is kind of pearly in a way, but not really shimmering.

Awakening is a beautiful warm pink/gold polish with a slight frost but no glitter. It goes on easily and does not show brush strokes too badly (often a problem with frosts). It took me three coats to reach opacity but each coat dried very quickly so that wasn't a problem. I love how this looks dark pink in some lights and almost bronze in others. It's very pretty and subtle without being boring.

This gorgeous shimmering duochrome dusty rose/gold lacquer is from China Glaze's Urban Chic collection. Awakening is a very fun color for summer and fall, because of the gold shimmer and because it is not glittery like most holiday polishes.
It has a very narrow brush like most, if not all, China Glaze lacquers; however, I find that the narrow brush combined with the smooth thin consistency of the lacquer makes for a streak free application. It is quite sheer and takes three coats to be completely opaque and full coverage. Looks great on pretty much every skin tone.
I love the color and wear it very often. This is pretty much my go to polish, because you can never mess this one up!

YES! This is one of the most gorgeous nail polish colors I have ever found, and has made me adore duochromes. I cannot say enough good things about this. The formula is very smooth, it may take 3 coats but I've gotten away with two. It looks best in sunlight.

One of my favorite polish shades. A dusty rose crossed with a pale copper that looks good in any season, and every time I wear it I receive compliments. It's a nice shimmer finish, almost frost but not quite. There's enough copper in it to make it nearly a duochrome, and definitely worth having in your collection.

Love the colour! Translates well from bottle to nail. Took me 3 coats to get it perfect but that wasn't an issue since it dried quite quickly.

I was searching for a new polish when this caught my eye. I've never seen a color like this and it's stunning in person! Awakening is a midtone purple with a strong, golden shimmer duochrome. On my nails, the base is more of a dusty rose. It almost reminds me of rose pigment from MAC. Surprisingly, the duochrome transfers perfectly when applied to the nails. The formula was also flawless and easy to use. Will definitely repurchase again.

This is a very odd polish that I picked up strictly on that principle. I've never been one for frosty, metallic, or shimmery polishes, and this is sort of the best (I guess) of all three qualities. But it is, overall, a nice, unique polish.
For color, it's a golden shimmer with a frosty lilac for a base - very unique, I haven't found one quite like this. It's gorgeous in the bottle, but it doesn't look as pretty on my NW20 skin. And for wear, this wears pretty well for the first few days then it starts to chip - but that's expected. It applies very nicely, also, sort of streaky, but does fine with two coats. I love how this looks in the sun most of the time, and on my toes it looks fabulous, but I just don't like it on my fingers, I guess. Hmm. It's a nice polish to try, but I think it's hit or miss with this one and it just doesn't agree with me. I'll keep it and wear it in the fall, though, as it would make a nice unique fall mani.

Not sure I like this, it reminds me of an old maybelline polish I had from their "mirror" line. I never wore than one much either. It chips pretty quick on me as well. I think I'll only end up using this once or twice a year at best. It's not a horrible shade it's just not for me. Won't repurchase.

I really liked the gold-purplish color. I would most certainly buy this again!

This is a truly unique color! Very beautiful! I have had this in my stash for a while and for some reason I kept overlooking it..but finally decided to try it tonight and it is so nice on my nails! Idk why but it reminds me of Mac's expensive pink eyeshadow..love it! Will definitely repurchase!

I absolutely love this color. The goldish plum really looks like and reminds me of a Summer sunset. I can see this color becoming a staple this year in the hotter months. I can see awakening as a Autumn color as well, since golds and purples tend to be associated with that season.

The coolest thing about this color is how different it looks under different lights. Sometimes the gold looks more apparent and sometimes the plum is more apparent. It's really unique; really like two colors in one.

When applying this polish, I had very little problems with streaking. Sometimes I can be a klutz when it comes to nail polish, so sometimes I tend to use a little too much polish at once. If you use too much polish, you will experience streaking. Otherwise, it should be completely fine.

One thing I've noticed with the China Glaze nail polishes is how they dry so quickly. With one coat, it takes about 3 minutes to dry. With two coats, it takes about 10 minutes. I really love that.

The polish's lasting power is pretty decent. There was no chipping at all for at least 3 days, which is the perfect time span for me, since I like to switch colors often.

Overall, I really love this nail polish. It's a very unique and pretty color!

China Glaze's Awakening is a shimmery medium plum polish with a heavy gold flash/duochrome effect. While this makes for a stunning color in the bottle, on my pale skin with slight yellow undertones it turned a rather rose-gold color instead of plum. My guess is that on cool-toned people it's more plum than rose. The application was perfectly smooth and the drying time very fast at five minutes between coats. It was totally opaque in three coats. However, while this polish is pretty, the gold flash makes it too warm for my skin; therefore, I will not be buying this one again.

I almost swapped this color away after seeing it in the bottle. It looked almost brownish purple and I thought it would be way too warm toned for my skin. Thankfully, I saw the pics above and decided to give it a chance. The pics are true to the color - it goes on the nail a rose gold duochrome (I'm a sucker for anything duochrome) which flashes purple every once and awhile. The color is neutral enough that it would work with many skin tones. In a word, Awakening is gorgeous. I have had a problem with China Glaze formulas in the past, but this one went on evenly and provided enough coverage with one coat. I am not usually into pinks at all, but I love this color.