All That Glitters is Holo
It is hard to pass up shiny things, so last summer when I was considering painting my nails for the first time, I had to go big. More specifically, I wanted a nail polish that was both understated yet worth the plunge into a world new to me. I turned to the nail polish company Holo Taco in large part due to my history of watching the company’s creator, Cristine aka “Simply Nailogical”, on YouTube. Despite my lack of knowledge or first-hand experience (excuse the pun) with nail polish, I had been following her journey from nail polish-user to nail brand-owner over the past several years. In turn, I’d gained a lot of behind-the-scenes insight into the methodology of creating Holo Taco’s polishes and understanding their price range, despite both not being the norm to a first-time nail polish user.
Since last summer, I’ve bought six shades, a top coat, base coat, and glass nail files—all of which I review below. I will note that although I provide photos of my nails in some of the shades at the very end, the photos on each review are from the Holo Taco website itself, as I find their photos best capture the holographic nature of the polish. Click on each photo to be redirected to each product on the Holo Taco website.
Circut Breaker
Let’s start off with my favorite of the bunch, as easily the most eye-catching polish I’ve tried yet. Due to how much linear holo glitter is packed into this cool silver shade, the rainbow effect shows up in most lightning. This gives you the most bang for your buck. So far the formula has also been quite opaque without becoming gloopy too quickly.
Naughty List
This is a second-hand review of my mother’s use of this beautiful red shade. The specific jelly-red shade is not my absolute favorite. Luckily the holo glitter provides a layer of richness that brings the shade together to be perfect for any time red polish is in season.
Purple With Envy
Multichrome polish has the added advantage of needing too much direct light to show off, so this shade is another one of my favorites. Any time I moved my hands, it would be a point of conversation. I also would never be able to have such an easy application of multichrome if it wasn’t for this one application formula. The shades of purple and blue (with features of magenta and a green-gold) are distinct enough that it does seem like two colors.
Gold Play Button
This gold shade was a little too flashy for my taste, but my mother loved it for the holidays. What I do love about this shade is that it is a true gold, as it doesn’t stray towards being a cool-toned yellow. I will say this seems to be one of the more sheer formulas of the bunch, but nothing an extra layer can’t fix.
Electrostatic
This is the shade that pushed me over the edge to buy Holo Taco, and it lived up to its expectations. Compared to putting on a black polish with a holo top coat, this is an all-in-one polish. In turn, it does have a slight purple tint, but in low light, it is near to a true black shade. Since black polish seems to be the standard for first-time masculine users of nail polish, this is the perfect twist on a classic. The only downside is that this requires some of the most direct light, so it best shows off on a bright summer day.
Super Gossy Taco (Top Coat)
Admittedly, I’ve yet to try the company’s matte top coats, but I think I am fine remaining a glossy top coat kind of guy. So far it’s done a great job of keeping my polish on towards the two-week mark with a great shine. With shades like Electrostatic, the brush does take on a slight tint, but this might be due to user error—TBD.
Midnight Spark
I bought this shade, as indigo is my absolute favorite color. The good news is that this is quite a beautiful vibrant shade of indigo, and the glitter is densely packed in. The downside is that I felt this shade did not agree with my skin tone, or it was simply not the exact vibe I enjoyed. Fortunately, my mother loves it!
Smoothing Base Coat
As someone that has natural ridges on his nails, I figured I’d try out this base over the others offered. So far it has not been a terrible experience, but the formula has been the trickiest to work with for a newcomer like me. Also, it is not sheer enough to wear on its own as advertised. However, when I do find myself getting a good application with it, that nail of polish does look extra nice.
Glass Nail File
I go through a lot of nail files, so turning to a glass one has been a game-changer so far. To be frank, I didn’t even know glass files existed! They do provide a much cleaner file, and the case they come with is a nice touch. The only slight warning I’d give is that for some reason the pictures don’t give the best sense of scale, and the files are probably smaller than in your head (or at least my own).
Overall, I am quite happy with my purchases of Holo Taco nail polish so far. Their prices and formula (sometimes) can feel a little iffy for a newcomer to nail polish, but the amount of time you spend shifting your nails around to look at the pretty rainbows makes it worth it, I’d say. Their maroon and yellow creme polishes and unicorn skin toppers are on my wishlist.
