Thursday, April 4, 2013

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Swatches and Review


China Glaze is back in the holographic nail polish scene with their Hologlam Collection for Spring 2013. While fans will have reasons to get excited about these polishes, there are also a few drawbacks that should be mentioned. Read on for my photos and review!


Each swatch shows two coats of the polish. The formula was basically the same on all of them so I will address that at the end. The first photo of each of the shades shows it in indirect light, and the second photo shows it in direct light for a good view of the holographic finish. Please feel free to click the photos to view them larger!

Astro-Hot is a baby pink holographic lacquer. This wasn't the most flattering shade on me but it did have a strong holographic effect.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Astro-Hot nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Astro-Hot nail polish


Galactic Grey is a graphite-colored holographic polish. This is one of my favorites in the collection and seemed to have one of the strongest holographic rainbows.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Galactic Grey nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Galactic Grey nail polish


Strap On Your Moonboots is a gorgeous shade of navy. I was surprised by how much I liked this polish in the shade. It still retained its gorgeous rich color!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Strap On Your Moonboots nail polish


Get Outta My Space is described as a powdered violet. This one would have to be my favorite out of the lighter, more silver-toned shades, though I do prefer the more vibrant colors overall. The purple of this polish seems very clean to me.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Get Outta My Space nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Get Outta My Space nail polish


Infra-Red is heart-stoppingly gorgeous. I'd say it's my favorite in the collection! This bright warm pink is so pigmented and the holographic effect is really pretty.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Infra-Red nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Infra-Red nail polish


Sci-Fly By is a light baby blue. It's a pretty shade but I found the other two blues in this collection more exciting, personally!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Sci-Fly By nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Sci-Fly By nail polish


Not In This Galaxy is described as a warm coral. I'd say that's pretty accurate. I bet this one would look great on people with darker skin tones.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Not In This Galaxy nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Not In This Galaxy nail polish


OMG a UFO is another winner in my eyes! This lime green holographic is punchy. A perfect "little green man" color!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection OMG a UFO nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection OMG a UFO nail polish


Cosmic Dust is a dusty silver holographic. Maybe it was the light playing tricks on me but it also seemed to lean a bit green/blue at times.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Cosmic Dust nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Cosmic Dust nail polish


Take a Trek is a lovely shade of denim blue. I am a big fan of this color, personally.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Take a Trek nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Take a Trek nail polish


When Stars Collide is a gorgeous reddish purple shade. If Infra-Red didn't exist, this would probably get top billing as my favorite polish from this collection. Alas, it will have to live in second place because Infra-Red is unstoppable. You should probably just consider both.

China Glaze Hologlam Collection When Stars Collide nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection When Stars Collide nail polish


Don't Be a Luna-Tic is a light turquoise-aqua shade. It's a bit too pale for my tastes. Like I said earlier, the darker, more pigmented shades are the ones that really made me swoon!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Don't Be a Luna-Tic nail polishChina Glaze Hologlam Collection Don't Be a Luna-Tic nail polish


The formula on all of these polishes was a little finicky. I initially tried applying them over a bare nail. They went on fine, but I imagine that they would probably chip really quickly without a base. I did notice that the polishes settled into my ridges, so next I tried Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat. That was a nightmare, unfortunately. It made the polish go on streaky and clumpy, and it pulled at the cuticle. Eventually I found the best way to apply was over my Nfu Oh Aqua Base. It helped the polishes apply smoothly and without any dragging issues. I may experiment with layering Aqua Base over a ridgefiller and seeing if that solves all of the issues at once!

Be sure to give the polishes a good shake and a few minutes to settle before you apply. Doing this can help to distribute the holographic pigment better and optimize your results.

Overall, they aren't the strongest holos I've seen, but there are some good offerings in here that would be worth checking out. My official Chalkboard Nails recommendations are: Infra-Red, When Stars Collide, Strap On Your Moonboots, and Galactic Grey. I imagine Take a Trek and OMG a UFO will be popular with many of you, as well.

The China Glaze Hologlam collection will be available in fine salons and beauty supply stores this month with an SRP of $14, though you may also be able to find them on beauty retailers' websites.

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20 comments

  1. These polishes look really nice. I like the first one the most:).

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  2. Gorgeous swatches! I will probably just pick up Galactic Grey and When Stars Collide.

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  3. I wasn't impressed with these when I saw them in the store but man, your swatches make me want some of them now!

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  4. I like Not In This Galaxy. Coral seem to have made itself a preferred colored of mine this year, and I have no idea how it happened :)

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  5. I bought them all and I have to say, your review is pretty accurate as to my experience! The formula is quite tricky and you really need to get some practice with it, but after I found the "right" procedure for me it worked. I was just shocked at how absolutely awful Not In This Galaxy looked against my quite yellowish skin tone. Holy moly, that just didn't look good! So frosty. Really weird.
    I love, love, love the darkes shades though - they're wonderful!

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  6. I like most of the shades, but I'll be honest saying I'm disappointed because I was expecting OMG mega-watt holos. There are 3 I'm definitely love the shade though :) . As always great swatches Sarah.

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  7. these are the best swatches of this collection i've seen so far =] thanks!

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  8. Omg!!!! One of the best swatches I've seen so far <3 Im not a nail polish person at all but these are looking incredible <3

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  9. Wow, these are gorgeous, but When Stars Collide and Galactic Grey are absolutely stunning.
    :)x

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  10. Thanks for sharing such lovely swatches! These polishes were not everything I'd hoped for when we first started hearing about them, but there are some very nice colors. I'm wearing Moonboots and I do love the color but application was definitely a bit annoying. Sally's is selling them for $8.99, and they're running a buy one get one deal on them too, so they come out to about $4.50.

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  11. I'm not too impressed by their holo effects, but they look really nice in your swatches (:

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  12. These are so pretty! I've picked up When Stars Collide, Strap On Your Moonboots, and Infra-Red.

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  13. I agree not super original colors or the strongest holos but nice. I'm a little bummed at the price.

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  14. I think I like Galactic Grey the best. But it is too dark for my mood right now... maybe Infra-Red or something light like Cosmic Dust are for me right now. :)

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  15. Thank you for the swatches!

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