QUESTION: What do stylish space cadets wear on their nails?
ANSWER: One of the 12 out-of-this-world nail polishes in the China Glaze Hologlam collection, ba-dum-bum!
Sorry. Bad pun, but with these polishes having names like “Strap on Your Moon Boots,” “Sci-Fly By” and “Don’t Be a Luna-tic,” you knew I had to go there, right? If I hadn’t, the piece of my heart that dreams of attending Star Fleet Academy and exploring strange, new worlds would have stopped…
Always have to pick the low-hanging, intergalactic cheesy joke fruit. 🙂
Now, let’s just assume that Star Fleet is lax about their nail polish regulations, and that painting your paws in zero-gravity is easier than it looks.
When you’re ready to rocket with glimmering, holographic nails, check out…
- Get Outta My Space: A powdered violet
- Astro-Hot: A soft baby pink
- Infra-Red: A warm magenta-ish pink
- When Stars Collide: A warm maroon
- Not In This Galaxy: A bright warm coral
- OMG A UFO: A warm mossy green
- Don’t Be A Luna-Tic: A turquoise-aqua
- Sci-Fly By: A light silver blue
- Take A Trek: A cool denim blue
- Strap On Your Moonboots: A midnight sky blue
- Galactic Gray: A warm gunmetal
- Cosmic Dust: A silver metal
So what are holographic nail polishes?
A long time ago (2007), in a galaxy far, far away, China Glaze started experimenting with reflective nail colors, or holographic shades (holos), and they were one of the first lines to do so in a big way.
Holos contain fine flecks of micro-glitter, finer than regular glitters, that appear to change colors in the light (from green to yellow to purple, for example).
CG’s first two holographic nail collections, OMG and 2BKEWL, were was so well received that they quickly sold out.
Arresting effects
With holos, you get galactic nail effects without the drama of full-fledged glittery nail polishes (plus, I think they’re much easier to remove).
One of my favorite things about holos is how they can look like a regular nail polish one minute, but then take off at warp speed in bright or directional light (like when you walk outside in the sun).
One minute, you’re an inquisitive Vulcan — calm, efficient, restrained. Next minute — BAM! — you’re a rambunctious Romulan ready to play!
But these are subtle, and this kind of subtlety comes at a price…
Granted, the holo effect that these new Hologlams exhibit seems less dramatic to me than it was in OMG and 2BKEWL, so if you were hoping for high drama, these may not send you over the moon.
Another thing that could sabotage the mission: the much higher price.
China Glaze priced these at $14 each, but the polishes in the OMG and 2BKEWL collections were just $4.50.
According to China Glaze, they hiked the price to recoup their costs, as the holographic particles used in these shades are more expensive, but I dunno… That’s a mighty big difference. Somebody might be trying to cash in on the demand they aroused with their previous holographic collections.
A resounding maybe
I do like some of the quietly sparkling darker colors in this launch, like Galactic Gray and OMG a UFO, but they aren’t knocking me out of my space suit.
I think I was more excited by the shades in OMG and 2BKEWL… I can still remember swatching those collections at my old apartment in Mill Valley. One after another, those colors just kept taking my breath away.
Hologlam seems nice enough, but that high price hurts like a Vulcan nerve pinch.
PRICE: $14 each for a 0.5-ounce bottle
AVAILABILITY: Coming April to Sally Beauty and Ulta stores, and available now online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
$14?! Seriously??? I’m not opposed to paying $28 for a bottle of nail polish *cough*chanel*cough* and some of the China Glaze polishes could totally demand that for the formula and finish. BUT sadly these holos seem to fall flat and I can’t help but be disappointed. I may have to pass on these. :-/
Bummed that these don’t have more holo shimmer- I have Silver Holo by Urban Outfitters and it’s amazing!
I actually really like this collection. I just got Astro hot yesterday at a beauty supply store for $7. I haven’t used it yet but I think it’s really pretty.
Hmm, I kinda miss more dimension in most of the shades. They look rather flat to me so I got a bit confused by the name of this collection. I mean you would expect some serious holographic effect with a name like that? I do like the darker shades but the price is a bit of a downer. There are enough gorgeous shades on the market to be really impressed by these for me :). Thanks for the honest review Karen ^^.
They’re really pretty and I would love to get Sci-Fi Flyby *but* I would feel like I was getting ripped off. I’ve bought China Glaze polishes for a few years now and I can understand them wanting to make more money. But it is just so much price difference! They should have just took the price for these up just a little and I wouldn’t feel like such a chump for going out and buying them. I probably won’t get these. Great review Karen!
I love the names and theme, but meh otherwise. I think I’ll just try the Color Club Halo Hues instead. Cheaper and a better effect!
P.S. love your ST references 🙂
I got my eyes on Astro-Hot and Get Outta my Space!
Wow that’s a big price difference! Seriously, $9.50 per bottle more than their previous holo polishes? And if it’s $14 there then chances are by the time it reaches Australia it’ll be $30! I do like some of the darker shades like OMG A UFO and Cosmic Dust but I’m not really wowed by them overall.
These shades are pretty, but I wish they had more holo shimmer. As it is, they’re kinda flat.
I got 9/12 of these for 8.99 each @ sally beauty supply. The holo is more in this galaxy where as OMG and 2BKEWL are out of this galaxy. However, they are suitable shades for work. I’ve worn galactic grey and cosmic dust so far and they have worn well for me. I used a ridge filler base coat but no top coat and they lasted 2 days no chips- for me anyway. Videos on youtube depict the rich colors better than most of the pictures I’ve seen. The display board at the store was blah to me so don’t judge colors based on that either. Good luck.
wow al the shades r so pretty..It’s a hard choice n pretty tuff to choose
Sally Beauty is selling them for around $9, and online retailers have them for even less. I bought two, and I’m actually quite happy with them – they look similar to your swatches inside / in the shade, but look quite holo in the sunlight. It’s a really pretty fine-grained linear holo effect.
These are actually a lot more holo in real life, but since none of your pictures were taken in direct sunlight, of course the holo effect looks dull in them! I have all of these and have taken pictures of them in sunlight and the effect is actually pretty good. Not as strong as the new Color Club holos, maybe not even as good as the Layla/Glitter Gal ones, but there are definite rainbows there. Why don’t you check out my post? http://www.pleasureflush.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/china-glaze-hologlam-collection-haul.html
As for the price, you can get them for as little as $6.30, so no need to fork out $14!
I don’t think your pictures are quite doing these justice. I will admit that they don’t seem to be as holo as previous iterations, but they DO have a more holo look to them when you see them in direct, bright sunlight. This lighting seems just a bit dull for them to truly shine.
Dang, I was all excited about these colors until I saw the price tag! They seem fun enough for a party, but subtle enough to still wear to the office the next day. Maybe once they go on sale…
I dunno they don’t really look all that holographic to me. If you want a for real holograhpic nail polish check out Urban Outfitters website. They are $20 each (last time I looked there were only 2 colors) but they are very diffrent than anything I have seen and are true, true holographic looking. Just like all those stickers I had in the 80’s!
Meh. All of these colors scream Fall and Winter to me, and even then I wouldn’t pick them up. Despite being holographic, they’re rather boring!
EEK, these are horrible! I wouldn’t wear them. They look like crumbled tin foil!
I initially read Galactic Gray as Galactic Gravy and thought that it might be an instant favorite for Tabs.
This just made me LOL! Hahahaha!
The price hike is ridiculous. You can see in your 2BHot post that the holographic is better than the new polishes they just put out. I can’t see how the particles ‘cost more’ .. they are just adding a finer powdered grind vs a flecked polish. If consumers are buying this, then I better start selling bridges 😛
The colors are nice, but I’ll pass on the principle of the price point.
Monica
interesting polishes! pretty cute but way too expensive, I’d rather get Butter London ones!
For that price hike, the holo effect should be significantly stronger. I’m also underwhelmed by the colors as swatched. Pass, yo.