Here comes the highly anticipated China Glaze Hologlam collection. I am definitely late to this game, but no one ever gets tired of looking at holographic polish swatches, right? The collection contains 12 colours, but I only picked up the six more unique colours. There is so much to say about this collection, in other words, this will be a long post, so get comfortable! Pictures first, the rant comes second.
The polishes all had great pigmentation, only two coats were needed for full coverage. All swatches show two coats without top coat (base coat presence is specified).
These four swatches were done with OPI Nail Envy as base coat. Therefore, some of these swatches are patchy. I thought I would show these imperfections, so you guys can avoid the mistake of using a base coat under these polishes.
When Stars Collide:
Plum purple. This is a beautiful colour and truly unique for a holo polish. I expected this to be my favorite out of the collection and it is. Holo strength is strongest out of the six, you can even see the holo indoors slightly (first picture).
Strap On Your Moonboots:
Navy blue. Expected stronger holo for this dark colour. Slight staining of nails noticed after removal.
Not In This Galaxy:
Peachy coral. Holo is stronger than expected. This is my surprise favorite of the collection. The colour looks so pretty and delicate.
Infra Red:
Magenta. Holo not as strong as expected; in fact, it might be one of the weakest ones out of the six. However, I do love the colour of this polish. Definitely one of my top choices out of this collection.
Why it took me so long to figure out
not to use a base coat escapes me. Anyway, these next two swatches are without base coat (or top coat as mentioned above).
OMG A UFO:
Moss green. Colour is a tad lighter than bottle colour. Stronger holo than expected. Very unique colour.
Take a Trek:
Denim blue. In real life there is no green tints/hue/influence at all in the colour of this polish. I have noticed some internet swatches show this colour as teal, but this is a true blue. Weaker holo than expected, weakest of the six actually. The colour is very interesting, I do not own any denim blues so this is a great polish to add to my stash.
Specifications:
Dry time - Fast, but not as fast as Color Club holographic polishes.
Shine - Dull, no shine, flat-looking, top coat recommended (see below for TC details)
Wear - Chips easily and tip wear in 1-2 days
Prone to - Brush strokes due to slightly frosty finish
Removal - Easy
*Application: on bare nail was awesome! Dragging will occur
if you take too long, since the polish dries faster than regular
creams.
Application warning: do not use base coat! This will cause major dragging and clumping resulting in major bald spots and lumps. Some bloggers use Nfu Oh Aqua Base under finicky holo polishes.
*Top coat: does not affect holo, so I recommend putting some on
otherwise the mani looks dull. Tried Seche Vite and OPI Top Coat, found
SV scattered the holo a tiny bit making holo tiny bit weaker (not
noticeable difference).
*Holo property: under the
sun is quite strong and very noticeable (stronger than shown in pics).
Indoors you will see muted holo as well (not as
subtle as I expected actually). Different shades have different holo
strength. I tried my best to gauge holo strength among the six.
Holo strength (strong to weak): When Stars Collide, OMG A UFO, Strap On Your Moonboots, Not In This Galaxy, Infra Red, Take A Trek
I like that there are some unique colors and the colors show up strong. However, this collection is just wimpy compared to the Color Club Halo Hues collections, which offer Hercules' strength holo and super easy application with awesome formula (with base coat!). Not to mention the CC polishes are quite a bit cheaper.
What are your thoughts on this collection? Will you be picking some up or passing?
