Thursday, March 14, 2013

China Glaze Hologram Collection Spring/Summer 2013 Swatches and Review

Now here's a collection to be excited about.  I'm excited, at least.  Tweleve new holographic polishes from China Glaze.  Some shades are similar to the older, discontinued OMG collection holos, but some are completely new.  These feature an improved formula and a really pretty fine linear hologram effect. 




China Glaze Astro-Hot.  Light lavender-leaning pink holo.



China Glaze Cosmic Dust.  Light dirty silver / pewter holo.



China Glaze Don't Be A Luna-tic.  Pale, cool-toned seafoam green holo.


China Glaze Galactic Gray.  Medium warm graphite gray holo.


China Glaze Get Outta My Space.  Light, soft, pinky-lilac purple holo.


China Glaze Infra-Red.  Vibrant warm magenta holo.  This is the most colorful and saturated of all the holos in this collection.  I find it to be quite striking. 



 China Glaze Not In This Galaxy.  Warm medium peach-coral holo.  Almost as colorful and saturated-looking as Infra-Red, but lacks the same punch.


 
 
China Glaze OMG A UFO. Warm, yellow-toned, mossy-olive green holo.


 China Glaze Sci-Fly By.  Light, silvery sky blue holo.


 China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots.  Dark midnight blue holo.  Slightly soft/dusty look to the base color even when the hologram effect is visible.


 China Glaze Take A Trek.  Medium denin blue holo.  Slight lean toward blue-green.


China Glaze When Stars Collide.  Warm, slightly dirty/murky dark purple holo.  This one is the most interesting to me, I haven't seen many holographic polishes this exact color.  If you want a unique holo, this is the one I'd recommend.  

The formula on these was great.  Absolutely perfect.  Thin and smooth-flowing without being runny, yet nicely opaque.  I didn't have any of the typical holo-polish application problems like bald spots, running or streaking.  Most colors were almost completely opaque in one coat.  I used two coats for all colors here.  No basecoat, no topcoat.  The only problem I had with any of these is that a few of the brushes were frayed on the ends.  Very fast dry time on all shades.


 The holographic particles in the Hologram Collection polishes are very fine, but not as smooth at the OMG collection.  You can still see a speckled texture to the polishes, sort of like static on a TV screen.  In dim light, the polishes look slightly frosty with a faint rainbow sheen, which to me makes them better-looking than the OMG polishes.  However, the Hologram collection polishes don't have the same intensity of holo effect in full sun that the OMG holos do.  They're not weak, and they're much better than the Tronica ones, but they're not quite as strong as they could be.


For reference, here are some other popular holographic polishes, shown in indoor light.
Left to right:
Sally Hansen Magical Nail Makeup in Crystal Ball
China Glaze Sexagon
China Glaze OMG
Layla Mercury Twilight


I think these are really good.  I'm not disappointed.  The formula is better than I expected it to be and the colors are nice.  Not all of them are unique, but attractive nonetheless.  The holographic effect could be stronger, but, you know, I'm pretty happy with them.  They're a lot better than the limited edition Tronica holo collection that was gone in the blink of an eye last year (or was it the year before?), and they have a smoother holographic sheen than some of the other holos that have been released recently.  They're not chunky like the Kaleidoscopes and they're not too frosty and streaky like the OMGs.  I approve.

The China Glaze Hologram Collection will be available starting in April 2013.  MSRP on these is $14 each due to the cost of the materials.

(This was sent for review.)

43 comments:

  1. Your swatches are always damn perfect, congrats! I bought some polishes this year based on your pics :)
    Now I'm thinkg seiously about buying Astro-Hot, so cute!

    Have a nice day.
    Tha ♥ Unhas & Cores

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  2. Thank you for the swatches! These are beautiful but I don't feel the need to go out and get all of them. The only ones I'm really interested in are When Stars Collide, Take A Trek, Strap On Your Moonboots, and Galactic Gray.

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  3. I am so glad you posted swatches of these! I'm excited that they are more linear than the last holo collection. You are both a blessing and a curse to my wallet, lol. Thanks for posting!

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  4. I'm in love! I kept saying, "Dammit!" while scrolling down, because how do you choose which ones to get? These are great!

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  6. i really like the variety they came out with, but I must admit that I wish the holo was more prominent. I was expecting something like the OMG collection or the recent Color Club release. I will still pick up a few, however.

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  7. I'm so loving the Galactic Gray and Strap on your Moon boots. The price is a bit expensive for me - but hopefully they will go on clearance at some point!

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  8. Love these colors and I'm so happy to see your swatches!

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  9. Your swatches are lovely, as always. These don't do it for me personally, but I think they'd be ideal for someone who wants a linear holo but feels like they can't wear some of the stronger ones to work. Some of the base colors could even work (hrr) in an office environment.

    I love my violently holographic Color Club Halo Hues, but I work shut up in a church office with little risk of offending anyone except the pastor or the supposed resident ghost...

    http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t160/deepskyblues/485350_423937664346945_645955703_n_zpse19175c3.jpg

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  10. Welcome back Scrangie, it's good to see you posting again! I love these polishes in the shade, they sort of glow don't they? I think my favourite is Infra-Red because of the pink/purple holo colour shift. So pretty. Not in this Galaxy is also calling to me! I'd happily own the whole lot if they weren't so expensive! £14 each in the UK! I'll have to save up... and then I'll probably order a few Layla's haha! Xx

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  11. I just can't wait to see those in person. Your swatches are the best =)

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  12. I cannot wait to see them in person. The ones I liked the most are OMG a UFO and When Stars Collide (it reminds me of Layla's Misty Blush).
    Your swatches are the best =)

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  13. Tronica was 2011 I believe.

    How unfortunate that these came out while some of us are boycotting AII for stealing artwork and using pictures from bloggers without giving them credit as they agreed to do. I think I can console myself just fine with the Color Clubs though.

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  14. Loving your swatches, Scrangie.I picked three from the promo shots, but OMG, now there's more I might want. Cosmic Dust looks green to my eye. I want OMG a UFO, Galactic Grey, Strap on Your Moonboots, and When Stars Collide.

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  15. They're pretty enough, but for that price I want an actual noticeable holo, especially since there are a growing number of indies doing holos that are stronger out there.

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    1. Thank you, omg. The only ones I want are When Stars Collide and Galactic Gray, maybe Moonboots or Cosmic Dust since a seller on Ebay has a 3-fer lot going for the price of two. These are absolutely comical compared to the Color Club ones.....

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  16. So good to have you back and blogging. I like this collection very much because of its wearability. What I don't like is that it has too many blue and pink/purple shades. Where's the red one? Or the orange one? Or deeper green? Yellow? I do hope they'll make these too.

    I'm shocked to see how much these cost in the UK. They aren't much more expensive in Serbia than regular China Glaze polishes and cost the same as other silver-capped China Glaze polishes (regular ones are about $4 and these about $5). I do understand that everything is more expensive in the UK, but I didn't expect such a difference.

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  17. These are all so pretty! I'm such a fan of holos, and your swatches are absolutely gorgeous <3

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  18. So glad you swatched this collection. I've been missing your photos. Definitely going to need a few of these.

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  19. I love these swatches! amazing.

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  20. I remember foaming at the mouth when I finally saw a new holo line was being made. The colors are beautiful, there's no way I can just pick one so I'm definitely getting all these. But not for 14 bucks! I understand their holo polishes China Glaze but your kind of over milking the cow with that price. I will be doing some online snooping for these bad boys for a cheaper deal. I already have a few polish sites in mind! lol Thank you so much for your swatches scrangie. PS: I also have Layla mercury in my collection as well! If the holo isn't as strong, I'll use it as a slight topcoat to give more effect.

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  21. I remember foaming at the mouth when I finally saw a new holo line was being made. The colors are beautiful, there's no way I can just pick one so I'm definitely getting all these. But not for 14 bucks! I understand their holo polishes China Glaze but your kind of over milking the cow with that price. I will be doing some online snooping for these bad boys for a cheaper deal. I already have a few polish sites in mind! lol Thank you so much for your swatches scrangie. PS: I also have Layla mercury in my collection as well! If the holo isn't as strong, I'll use it as a slight topcoat to give more effect.

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  22. Great review! $14 is a little much considering that they don't have the strongest holo effect. I actually found these online for $8.99 and they should be about the same at Sally's, probably less with promos, coupons and the beauty card. I picked up 4 online yesterday and can't wait for them to arrive! I also hope to pick up a few more when they hit Sally's in April.

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  23. Well. I was kind of hoping that your swatches would make me think I don't need all the colors. Alas... they did not... I'm a holo whore.

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  24. Thanks for the great swatches :)

    I don't think I'll buy any of these, because it's to difficult to buy China Glaze products when you live in Germany and the colors aren't worth it, because they are not as special as I thought they would be.
    I hoped for a stronger holo effect, like Layla's or FNUGs.
    But... nope.
    The colors theirselves are really beautiful, though. I would have liked them better without the holo effect.

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  25. i saw a few i love but will pass on everything as i am not paying $14 a bottle, they can keep them.

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  26. i picked up galactic gray and strap on your moonboots, i like the gray but the blue im not impressed with at all. i can only see a slight holo effect in direct sunlight or under florescent lighting, and the gray is only slightly better. to me all of these shades look more metallic than holographic, and there is absolutely no justification for ChG charging twice what they normally do...soo disappointed.

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  27. I'm pretty underwhelmed. You did your best in the photographs but Color Club's new 2013 line knocked it out of the holo park. The price point is also better. HITS, Jade and Layla are also great holo choices. Thanks for the review. I'm going to pass.

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    1. I agree with CuriousCreature. Great photos but the set leaves me cold.

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  28. oh so pretty, love the ufo green one and the galactic grey, and also the purple "stars collide" one you liked. i'm sadly having to take a break from painting my nails, they turned yellow. does this ever happen to you?

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  29. $14?! I just picked up some Color Club holos that are amazing, a stronger holo than these and only $6.99. I think China Glaze is just taking advantage of how popular the whole holo thing has become and the fact that people run out to get these as soon as they release. For $14 I would expect the same holo goodness as the OMG collection but these fall surprisingly short.

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  30. Yeah these fail big time. They look like brush stroke y frosts in 90% of your swatches, sorry. For $14 they need to be at least 20% more awesome than their most awesome collection, OMG.

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  31. Yeah these fail big time. In 90% of your pictures they look like brush stroke-y frosts, sorry. For $14 they need to be at least 20% more amazing than their most amazing collection, OMG. ChG collections have seriously sucked since the end of 2011.

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  32. Awesome! I've already ordered Galactic Gray and When Stars Collide, and thinking about adding Strap On Your Moonboots and Get Outta My Space. The only thing is that I'm wondering how Get Outta My Space compares to Color Club's Fashion Addict??? I love it but don't need a dupe....

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  33. I just picked up the OMG A UFO...personally I love it..went on smooth..looks great..My boys even commented on how cool it looked..Going to go back for a few more colors!!

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  34. Really disappointing collection. I think CG made the wonderful Kaleidoscopes and OMG collections and then lost their formula and since then have only been able to make failed holos after failed holos.
    Not to mention the price, first it is a joke for so bad holos, second this is indeed over milking the cow.

    Like many others I would really advise getting some of the wonderful Color Club's Halo Hues instead.

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  35. Hi I got this whole collection as well and liked it but wished it was more like the OMG and kaldiscope collection. I am actually trying to find the OMG and kaldiscope collection for my holographic nail polish collection and ebay sells want way too much. Do you know anywhere besides amazon and ebay that I might find them?
    Also I LOVE holographic nail polish especially the china glaze ones and I have resorted to stop getting new ones until I complete the china glaze OMG and Kalidiscope collection lol.

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  36. I was able to get this whole collection and I got most of them from sally beauty and they were only 7 bucks each and the rest I got for like $5 bucks. The reason why I completed my colelction wicked fast was because sally had buy 2 get one free.

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