Thursday, January 21, 2010

Milani Holos (3D Holographic Collection)

I feel like this is the drugstore score of the century... I can't remember the last time I saw true holos from a drugstore brand... Sally Hansen Magicals? Nail Prisms had a couple holos too. But the last time I saw a Magical for sale in a store was 2003? That seems so recent, I wonder if they were old stock.

Sorry, I think my train of thought derailed. Back on topic... Milani holos. AWESOME. Love them. They rock. Pics.


3D. Gold holo. I didn't let these all dry enough before taking the pictures... It was cold and I was in a hurry! It's a lot more holo than this, but the funny thing is... It looks almost more holo under artificial light than it does in sunlight. Bizarre. Love it, though. Nice gold shade, not too warm for my skintone.

Cyberspace. Check out Dexter Douglas, nerd computer ace... Went surfing on the internet and was zapped to cyberspace! That's totally what this color blue reminds me of, and it is named cyberspace...

Digital. Kind of a mauvey-pink holo? It's pink and I still love it. I love the little jewel-like holo particles. So nice.

HD. Your standard silver holo, yet somehow... it's different. The particles are different. I'll get to that in a minute.


Hi-Res. Pretty purple holo! It's a light purple, but it's still purple. I wish there was a better dark purple holo out there... But yeah... super pretty...

Hi-Tech. Bright green holo. THIS IS NOT COLOR ACCURATE. My camera wouldn't pick up the crazy bright yellow-greenness of this polish. It is amazing. My absolute favorite of the bunch, and so far, my favorite green holo. I have never seen a holo with such a bright color. It's like... a super bright lemon-lime shade, not bright enough to be neon but the closest I've ever seen to a neon holo. It looks amazing at night because the yellow-green color stands out even more. The holo effect is really strong on this one too. If you get a chance to see this one in person, please do, my pictures don't to it justice.


The holographic effect in these is great. It's not like the China Glaze OMGs or the OPI Designer Series holos. It's a bit like the China Glaze Kaleidoscopes, but still different. It's closest to Ozotic holos- lots of larger flecks of hologram foil with a few tiny chunks. It looks likes pieces of holo glitter, but it's not glitter. It's perfectly smooth.

The other nice thing about these holographic polishes is that they're nice in low light/indoors/at night. A lot of holographic finishes turn into a frosty looking metallic when there's no light shining on them. These don't. These look sparkly and bright. Like a slightly prismatic foily glitter. I think that's why I like these so much compared to others.

The hologram effect isn't as strong as the OMGs or Kaleidoscopes, but it's still pretty strong. Stronger than the Color Club holos. It's that scattered type holo more like Kaleidoscope, not the linear smooth kind like OMG.

Like I said above, I didn't wait until these were fully dry to take my pictures, so it dulled the hologram effect a bit. They don't look like too much in the bottle, either. They really shine on the nails, though.

Formula was good. Not patchy with bald spots like I had anticipated. A little thin but densely packed with holo particles. Most only needed two coats, but I did three just because I'm like that. They dry super fast. Wear is good, too. I made it two days without chips... I didn't wear it longer than two days, though. The reason I mention the wear is that I don't get great wear from a lot of holographic polishes, but these seemed okay.

The only downside about these is the price. They're not expensive, but $4.39 seemed a little steep for drugstore. Not that they're not worth it... And they're not anywhere near as bad as Sally Hansen.... but when you can get China Glaze for $2.60 and OPI for $4.48-$5, it seems like a lot for drugstore polish. But, I'm not complaining, it could be worse. I just don't like the way all the drugstore brands are raising their prices to be almost level with salon brands.

Milani also had holographic shadows and lipgloss to coincide with the release of these. I got two of the shadows and one of the glosses. The shadows aren't actually holo- the packaging is confusing. It's covered in holo glittery things so it kinda looks like the holo is inside the package instead of just on it. It's also not really eyeshadow. It's basically glitter gel with some multicolored glitter. The bases are slightly tinted, but not tinted enough to wear them alone as color. They're not bad, but they're not as good as I hoped they were.

The lipgloss is Milani's answer to MAC Dazzleglass. I got a fuchsia purple one and I like it a lot. It's a little too sheer for me, but the shimmer effect is great and it's even kinda duochromey/iridescent! Smells nice too, like orange and cream.

These items (polish, shadow, gloss) were all on the permanent display! So that's good news. There were also a line of new neons just above the holos on the display but I didn't grab any. They're all in opaque colored bottles, which is weird. Maybe I'll go back for some. They didn't jump out at me when I saw them, but I won't know until I wear one...

40 comments:

  1. Those look so pretty, I am especially in love with Cyberspace!

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  2. The theme song from Freakazoid...AWESOME like these holos. Thanks for added stop on my errand run today.

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  3. I loved mine, although they weren't the 'holo' I expected. They are so pretty though, I accept them for what they, rather than for what they're not! The green one gave me a definite holo, the others, not so much. I'll have to watch for the glosses, they didn't have any of the cosmetics out yet. Sounds nice. They all look lovely on you :)

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  4. Beautiful! Where did you find them?

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  5. I like Hi-Tech a lot! I agree, they remind me of the slightly thicker glitter and holo effect in China Glaze's Kaleidoscope collection. Thanks for the swatches!

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  6. Oh wow! :D These are awesome! Glad to see your comment on the shadows, too, I was curious about those. And you've now made me curious about the gloss!

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  7. Wow! I haven't seen these at my stores yet (in San Diego, CA)- but I'm definitely on the look-out now! Thanks for the great swatches!!! :)

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  8. Gorgeous! I need that light blue holo. I have a hard time finding new Milani collections, though, so I may not be breaking my no buy afterall. :P

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  9. None of the drugstores around me ever get the seasonal Milani collections =( Is there anywhere online you can pick them up?

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  10. I bought all of these when I first saw them, too - love them. I've also noticed the "indoor lighting" effect - on my nails, all 6 of them are more visibly holographic in artificial light than in natural light. Weird, right? Cool, though, 'cause I'm kind of a vampire and spend most of my time indoors. XD

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  11. Love them!
    Can you please swatch shadows and gloss as well? You described those great, but still I would just LOVE to see some pictures. :)

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  12. <sigh>... and I vowed to take a break after hitting all of the local Dollar Tree stores because they had a bunch of Sally Hansen New Lengths in crazy colors. Now this. Curse you, Scrangie.

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  13. I was convinced that I only wanted two of these. Until I saw your pics and now I want all of them. They look gorgeous on you.

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  14. Love the swatches. I have Cyberspace (the blue on) on right now, and it is just awesome. I love that it's a baby-sh blue, not too bright. Thank you for the lovely post.

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  15. I have never used any of their products before but I LOVE polish colors!! Definitely need to go check these out!! Thanks for the post!

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  16. Pretty! They all look awesome on you, and I hope they come up here. Our one superstore grocery chain has been carrying Milani, so we may get them here..woohoo!

    Hasn't this winter just been so gray here in the middle of North America? I am longing for sun, and I can't wait for warmer temps too!

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  17. Oooo I'll be picking up Hi-tech and 3D I think! Thanks for posting these!

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  18. Thanks for swatching these. And your enthusiasm about these makes me all happy, lol.

    I might try to look these up so I can order some :-)

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  19. Oh and I forgot to say, I *love* the names, since I'm being a nerd for a living :-)

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  20. Those are amazing! I need to track down the green ASAP.

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  21. Where can one buy these? I haven't been able to find Milani at all but a some Walgreen's, and they had a crappy selection. I never found the ones you swatched around Halloween. I bet I'll never find these either. Any ideas?

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  22. Where do you buy China Glaze for $2.60?! In the only store where I can buy them in my town they are $6.

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  23. HOLY SH*T THE GREEN HOLO LOOKS A-MA-ZING!!! I wan't it so bad. 3D looks nice as well. But the green...oh the green

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  24. Freakazoid, chimpanzee. That show was so awesome! These look great!Freaka me, freaka you.

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  25. Love them all, especially Hi-Tech and Digital. :-)
    I hope Cherryculture will have them soon...

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  26. Ohh i love them! Especially the green and the purple.... hope Cherry Culture will have them soon (crossing fingers... ;))

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  27. These look great. I'm so jealous of everyone who has access to products like this. In Scotland China Glaze polishes cost the equivalent of nearly $10 and OPI costs over $16. :(

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  28. I pretty much squee'd when I saw these at the drugstore tonight. The whole Milani display at my Meijers was completely revamped with lots of fun things. I agree that they are a little bit more than I wanted to pay for a drugstore polish tho!

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  29. Gorgeous, thank you!

    Your complaint about the price kinda tickles me - I live in England, and the prices here would kill you :D

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  30. I'm looking 3D, it's so shiny!! Milani's had some really great colors lately.

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  31. Just wanted to say that I'm wearing Cyberspace today. I was seriously about to be like wtf where is the holo but I started seeing it around 2 coats and was quite happy with three. You're right that the holo is different in these polishes and that it is more visible in artificial light. Even if there wasn't a holo effect these polishes would still be really pretty but when you do finally see the glimpse of the holo it really turns it up a notch.

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  32. Think I want most of them! I never seem to find Milani. Guess I'd better start praying now.

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  33. These are amazing! I want to try to do glitter gradients... do you think some of these will work for that or are they too opaque?

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  34. I picked up Cyberspace and HD...I really like them all so I'll go back for the rest. I can't resist them they are gorgeous. Wearing Cyberspace today actually.
    I wonder where you can pick up ChG and OPI for those prices. I mean, I find them at the etailers, but after shipping costs, they are up to 4.50 to 5 bux a bottle. So these are comparable for sure, as I thought the formula was great on these.
    As usual, your photos are gorgeous

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  35. ZOMG WHAT! Where do you live? OPI is like $8.50 or $9. China Glaze is $2.99 at the cheapest. I live in San Francisco, CA.

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  36. I don't know if you look at comments this old, but I finally put on hi-tech the other day and was surprised to see how much a topcoat changes the holo color and texture. Without a topcoat, it looks more rainbow holow. With a coat of seche, it turned a deeper green with less yellow and the holo effect is more smooth. Crazy!

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  37. where do you buy your China Glaze for $2-ish???

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  38. I know this is an old post but, a good DARK purple holo is Color Club-Too Violet. It's not a linear holo but, still very pretty. I would recommend a nice thick coat of SV on top though because, it's a bit gritty. :)

    PS. I agree about Hi-Tech. Definitely the best of the bunch .. I'm wearing it now and I have a hard time NOT staring at my nails, especially in the sunlight .. *swoon*

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  39. Where are you buying your CG and OPI? I pay $8 for both, the Milani is pretty cheap for me D:

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  40. cyperspace is the perfect freakazoid color :-)

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