Serum No. 5 glow in the dark pastels swatches & review

Includes press samples 

When it comes to glow in the dark nail polish, I've never come across a better brand than Serum No. 5. I had been ogling these for quite a while and finally bit the bullet 2,5 years ago when I bought two whole collections for myself! Among them were Awesome Blossom, Laven-daringly Bright, Blue Blazes and Glowin' of Eden, and a while later I received Day Glow and Atomic Peach for review.

Not all 6 of these are part of the same collection, the conception of Day Glow predates the rest of them, but in my mind they are all part of the same line. They just fit so well together! You'll agree when you see the swatches ;-)

Awesome Blossom is a gorgeous Barbie pink that makes me feel all girly! I used 2 coats to reach opacity, and it felt pretty rough so I added 3 coats of top coat to get that glassy smooth finish. At first it eemed to be streaky, but the second coat clung to the rough texture of the first one, bringing it all together nicely. The glow gets 'eaten' a bit by the pink color, this happens with 'warm' colors like red, purple and pink.

Laven-daringly Bright is a very light lavender color. It's so light it could be mistaken for pink, but very sweet and definitely gorgeous. I used 2 coats, and the end result had lots of texture so I added 3 top coats to get it smooth. I think the color of the glow perfectly suits the color of the polish in the light!

Blue Blazes had a pretty streaky application until the third and final coat, which brought it all to a nice opaque whole. The texture was way less rough than the other polishes in this review and one coat of top coat was enough to get it really smooth. This one is BRIGHT and perfect and I love it!

Glowin' of Eden is a lot like Blue Blazes, the texture also isn't too rough but the application was slightly streaky. It took me 3 coats and a single top coat and it's so bright in the dark! You can even see this lighting up in the shade! Love the color so much, it's perfect <3

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the brightest of them all? It's Day Glow! The color is like a pastellized neon yellow if that makes any sense. This one went on pretty sheer and slightly streaky but not as much as Blue Blazes. I used 3 coats, and it could even have done with a 4th to really hide that visible nail line. I only had to use 1 coat of top coat though, to get it smooth. Glow is SERIOUSLY bright, you can see it in the shade and on grey winter days even!

Aaaand lastly we have Atomic Peach! This is not really my color for every day wear but it adds an amazing sweetness when combined with another color, especially of this same collection. I only used 2 coats because it's pretty pigmented. It was slightly rough so to get a nice glassy smooth finish, I added 2 top coats. Glow is buh-rite-ah! (that says bright... but in weirdo language)

Gah! I'm in love! Do you like glow or does it freak you out to see your nails in the middle of the night? I've been surprised a couple of times but then again, I like a little mesing with my mind :-p

All of these are still available from the Serum No. 5 website, but can only be shipped within the US. Be sure to check the stockists page for a stockist in your area! And ofcourse follow the brand via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and/or Tumblr to keep up to date on both glow and non-glow releases!

Thanks so much for spending a minute of your time on my review and hopefully I'll see you all for the next one!


I purchased all of the polishes in this article with my own money, with the exception of Day Glow and Atomic Peach, which I received as a press sample. Opinions expressed are 100% my own and not influenced in any way other than the quality of the product itself.