This August/September Essence will release a new collection called Holo Rainbow. The collection consists of five glitter holographics, and I predict that they are going to be quite popular! I couldn’t be happier when I found this collection when I was on a trip in Germany. Of course, all five polishes ended up in my shopping basket. Unfortunately, because of work I could only swatch them quickly and couldn’t wear them properly yet. I want to share my first impressions and maybe in a few weeks I will review them properly!
The collection consists of five coarse holographic glitter polishes. The colors are silver, pink, blue, green and light pink. The silver (01 hello holo) and the light pink (05 holo fever) are super close and pretty much indistinguishable. I think the pink, blue and green polishes consists of silver holographic glitter in a colored jelly base. I’m not entirely sure whether the light pink actually contains pink glitter or that it also has a tinted base.
The application was as you would expect, not as easy as a creme polish. But honestly, they weren’t as bad as you might expect. The blue one (03 holo rocks) has the thickest formula, but was also opaque in two coats. The light pink one (05 holo fever) and the silver one (01 hello holo) have the sheerest formula and definitely need three coats. I would say that the pink one (04 holo love) and the green one (02 holo-maniac) are in between and would require 2-3 coats depending on your application.
The holo rainbow polishes all dry down to a very rough and matte finish. You could wear them like that, but I definitely prefer topcoat to make them sparkle! Even with two coats of topcoat the finish isn’t smooth yet, so if you can’t handle the feeling of textured nails, these polishes aren’t for you. I’m definitely impressed with the result, my pictures definitely can’t capture how pretty they sparkle in real life!
As with many glitter polishes, the holo rainbow polishes are all a pain to remove. You really have to scrub and the glitter gets everywhere. If you own a peel off base coat, I would definitely recommend using it!
Last of all, I want to make a small comparison with indie holographic glitters. Most indie polish makers claim that they use colored holographic glitters in a clear or slightly tinted based, as opposed to the silver glitters that Essence uses. Because of this, indie glitters are supposed to have a more intense color and don’t have the silver cast that the Essence polishes have. You may also experience that the Essence polishes become even more silver when you try sponging them on. I haven’t tried this myself but I can imagine that this might happen. However, many indie glitters are sold for very high prices, I’ve even seen the ridiculous price of 15 euro per bottle. These holo rainbow polishes cost only 2.75 euro per bottle, so for me the choice was quite easy, I’ll live with the less intense color 😉
