I’ve been a big fan of past Holo Taco releases, and I grab a collection here and there where it absolutely sells me (I’ve got a big ol’ cart of past releases that I wish I could just press check out on, but even my inflated polish budget can’t afford that at the moment). And from the moment I saw this one advertised, I was absolutely intrigued.
This is the ‘Gala’ collection, released in honor of Holo Taco’s 3rd Anniversary. Crazy that it’s been 3 years already, time flies truly. But along with the standard holographic sparkle we would all come to expect, this one also had a black and white theme, complete with coming in a box made to look like a clutch bag perfect for any black tie event. We have 4 full color shades and one topper shade to look at here.
Okay yes I KNOW SOME OF THESE SHADES ARE SOLD OUT. BUT not all of them are and I still just want to feature this collection for posterity and future reference! (And I’ll be more on time for posting of future collections, I swear). Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble upon them on a restock or on a future destash. For now, you can check out what’s in stock on the Holo Taco website!
These are still just absolutely gorgeous to look at, so let’s get right into the swatches!
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Up first we start with ‘Featured Guest’, this very light gray, as close to a white linear holographic shade as we can get! The holographic effect on this is more subtle, giving the shade a lovely sort of glow and shine to it.
As for formula I understand it was a teeny bit harder to work with such a light base shade and a holographic sparkle. It is a touch more sheer to let that sparkle peek through, so I did build this up with 3 thin coats for full opacity. It’s still smooth to paint on, if a little uneven on that 1st coat. But it was opaque and fully covered with that 3rd coat – depending on your application and nails you might be good with 2 thicker coats. So a touch more to work with just because of that base color, but nothing impossible or bad. It’s unique and I’m so glad to have it added to my collection! 3 thin coats isn’t bad at all.
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Next one up is ‘Highest Bidder’. This is a softer gray base just JAM PACKED with TONS of holographic flakes all throughout. That’s right it’s LOADED.
Formula-wise this felt like a squishy, almost crelly base filled with all of those sparkles and flakes. But even with that more sheer 1st coat, it built up well and easily and nicely in just 2 coats. It gives a smooth application with all of those flakes being suspended in the base, no texture or anything once it dries.
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Continuing right along, we have ‘Smokeshow’ and what a SMOKESHOW IT IS. This is a very deep gray, almost black that’s once again just loaded up with sparkle and pieces. It has different sized silver holographic glitters all throughout including large holographic square pieces.
Now I had no trouble distributing and getting those glitters onto the nails, you get a lot with each coat. It’s instead more about building up the base color underneath to full opacity – which I was able to do in 2 thicker coats. With all of the pieces in each one, it’ll be a thicker feeling formula in general. I did use the brush to spread out the glitters and even out the base a touch, but overall I didn’t have any pressing issues that you wouldn’t expect with a thicker glitter like this. Something to expect – with this big of glitters it does dry more textured and bumpy. Nothing that sticks out or will get caught – but it will need a coat or two of top coat to smooth it all out.
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Now we have Smokeshow’s less glittery, more goth cousin and the final full color shade of the set. This is ‘Blacklisted’, and it’s a black metallic foil base with scattered holographic sparkles all throughout. Truly a unique finish and look!
This had a very pigmented and opaque formula as well – almost fully covering in just 1 coat. The 2nd coat covered any last patches and layered up that sparkle. Super smooth and so lovely to paint on! It’s a thicker formula, so it’s easy to control and spread evenly onto the nails.
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And last but certainly not least, this release comes with another topper! This is ‘Reflective Taco’ and it’s a clear base containing scattered reflective glitters all throughout. Now if you haven’t been around for the reflective glitter trend, they’re larger glitter pieces that reflect brightly flashing lights. I threw it on over a blue cream base here, and you can see it gives any shade underneath a delicate little sparkle and glitter. It was hard to capture on camera, but it’s truly so dimensional and sparkly and gorgeous.
NOW. That bright, WHITE reflective finish you see all over Instagram (which you can see in the live swatch): we’re here always to be honest and you’ll just that using an iPhone camera with the flash on. It’ll show up in your video but not in real life. The flash and bright light does make it even more sparkly and dimensional, but that bright white insane finish is just for Instagram only. NOT AT ALL TO DISCOUNT THIS TOPPER – I still think it’s gorgeous and a delicate, almost subtle little way to add something a little extra to any shade. Especially over a deeper base in bright sunlight is STUNNING. We’re just always here to keep the expectations realistic and to show you what you’re getting – I think Holo Taco does that well on their Instagram and website, but I do always want to reiterate it with any sort of reflective glitter polish.
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And that’s the set! I absolutely loved the theme and the creativity working with the black and white theme! These were all gorgeous and glamorous and as always I’m glad to add some more unique finishes to my collection! Of course with these more interesting finishes, they’ll be more interesting to work with than straight up creams, but I do (of course) think they’re worth it. What do you think of these?
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Orly Surrealist Fall 2022 • OPI Fall Wonders Fall 2022 • Glam Polish Hocus Pocus Collection • Pleasing Hot Holiday Set • Essie Fall 2022 Collection • Color Club Ride or Die Collection
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