China Glaze Hologlam Collection Part 1

Hi everyone!

OH MY GOD, HOLOGRAPHIC POLISHES. I wasn't actually planning on purchasing the entire Hologlam collection initially. When these went on sale online, I was flabbergasted to see that they were $12.50 a bottle on Nail Polish Canada. That combined with the word on the e-street that these weren't as amazing as the OMG holos... well, you can see what I was thinking. I decided I would get maybe 2 shades max, but I decided to check out my local beauty supply (Secret Nail for those in the lower mainland) and I found these for $5.50 each! Long story short, I was all like, OMG NEED ALL NOW and ended up getting the lot of them. I actually got them for $5.50 each and a 15% discount on top - the only downside to this is that to purchase at these prices you need to get a membership, which is $10 and lasts for a year and is renewable. If you buy as much polish as I do from this place, it's really worth it.

Anyway, babbling aside, here are first 6 polishes (that I managed to swatch before my camera died) from this collection!

First up:

Cosmic Dust - Artificial Lighting

Cosmic Dust - Direct sunlight

Cosmic Dust: This is your standard silver holo. The holo isn't as strong as Nfu-Oh 61 or Gosh holographic, but I still think it's a nice subtle effect. In the shade it looks like a silver chrome polish.

Galactic Gray - Artificial lighting

Galactic Gray - Direct sunlight

Galactic Gray: This is a really pretty gunmetal grey holo. The holo is subtle under natural and some artificial lighting, but in the sunlight it's really gorgeous. It's not overly bling-y like some cool holos, but it's there. This like a grey with a slight red tint (it reminds me of what I think OPI's My Private Jet would look like, with a bit less holo perhaps).

Infra Red - Artificial lighting

Infra Red - Direct sunlight

Infra Red: This one is a bit more red-magenta than pure red. My picture is a little bit inaccurate, it looks a bit more purple than red (so keep that in mind). That being said, I'm not complaining! The colour on this one is really vibrant, but the holo is a bit more subtle than in others (it's still there in full sun though). One of my favourites from this collection!

Take a Trek - Artificial lighting

Take a Trek - Direct sunlight

Take a Trek: Another one of my favourites from this collection! This is a denim blue holo. It doesn't really look like it in the picture, but when I look at the bottle it looks like it has just a tint of green to it. It's a darker based holo, which is a bit more unusual. The holo is a bit more apparent in person (on the nail) in direct sun than my picture shows.

Strap on your Moonboots - Artificial lighting

Strap on your Moonboots - Direct sunlight

Strap on your Moonboots: Whenever I say this name out loud, I think of the "Get on your boots" song by U2. I think this one is my top favourite from this collection! It's a gorgeous dark navy blue - like indigo dyed jeans. My picture doesn't do this one much justice, the holo is a bit stronger in person.

When Stars Collide - Artificial lighting

When Stars Collide - Direct Sunlight

When Stars Collide: When I was planning on buying only two of this collection at the full price, I picked out this polish and Get on your Moonboots. I thought I'd really like this one looking at swatches online, and I do. I love it actually. It's at #2. This is a eggplant-y purple holo. The holo in this polish really nice. Pictures are worth 1000 words, right? Yeah.

Overall:

The formula on  these polishes was nice. They all had a nice consistency. The darker polishes were opaque in 2 coats, but the lighter polishes (making up most of the next set of swatches) required about 3 coats for opacity. I didn't have any trouble with balding or streaking, although the polishes dry a bit 'flat' and can show ridges (really obvious in the swatches of Cosmic Dust). My pictures of these polishes don't really show off the holo really well - it's just a tad stronger in person.

The bottles show off the colour really well, but they don't show the holo at all, so the best way to look at how holo the polishes are in person would be to look at a nail wheel swatch.

Like a lot of people, I was REALLY hoping that these would be as holographic as the OMG collection. It's a bit of a let down that the rainbows are more subtle, but I think that these are good in their own way too. If I had to pick only a few out of this collection, I'd choose the darker more vibrant colours (When Stars Collide, Strap on your Moonboots, etc). I'd probably pass on Cosmic Dust since it isn't really that unique (and there are more amazing silver holos out there).

Hmm, I think that's all I wanted to say for now. If I remember anything really important I'll edit this post and/or mention it in the next set of swatches (happening whenever I get my charger back from my sister!).

Thanks for reading! What do y'all think about this collection? Are you going to pick up any of these polishes?

Marisa