So sorry for any creme lovers, I’ll say right out that this collection absolutely won’t be for you.

Today, we’re continuing on with our Holo Taco catchup (and overall blog catchup, let’s be honest). At this point I’ve accepted that I’ll be collecting every future release from Holo Taco, so you’re going to get all of the posts about their polishes and collections, and you’re going to like it. I’m working on first reviewing more recent and still available sets, and then we’ll dive into the backlog that’s hanging out under my desk. I’m nothing if not positively overflowing with content.

If you’re not familiar with the brand Holo Taco, was founded by blogger, then influencer and YouTuber SimplyNailogical aka Cristine. She helped really popularize nail art on YouTube, being the biggest and most popular creator in that genre. Though she’s not posting regular nail videos anymore, she still continually streams, both in gaming and with interesting behind the scenes content of collection and overall stats from the brand. She had years and years of testing various polishes and figuring out her preferences and so it only made sense to start her own polish line, to fill in for shades she wanted to see on the market. It’s in between a true indie brand, one that’s hand mixed, and a large mainstream brand like OPI – they have their own warehouse and are able to create new and unique formulas in larger quantities than other indie brands. She’s known for her love of holographic pigment – it’s even in the name, though she’s expanded into gorgeous creme formulas as well as other interesting finishes!

With that intro, let’s dive on into this release! This collection is the Birthstone collection, and that title can give you a good idea what you’ll see here. That’s right, a 12 piece polish set that are named and inspired after the 12 birthstones. All of these shades are filled with so much sparkle and shimmer, which is only appropriate for gemstones.

When the collection dropped, the crowd went WILD, and it sold out even faster than any of their other releases, which Cristine and Holo Taco weren’t expecting. I mean, everyone loves connecting with a “label”, though many, like me, purchased the whole set. It was just something about the finishes and shades that got us all. Unfortunately the full bundle is no longer available (and I’m not sure if it’ll get restocked, maybe at the holiday time again) There are still a few individual shades in stock now on the site. I still wanted to get this post up JUST IN CASE, whether there’s a future full restock, or any of the available colors catch your eye.

Now let’s get on into the swatches!

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We start out the year and the collection with January and its shade, ‘Gosh Garnet’. This is a super dark burgundy base filled with a bright red shimmer, and it just feels like a smoldering gemstone on the nails. Especially as it shifts on over from that burgundy to an almost golden olive green shade. It’s almost feeling witchy and villainous and no that’s not me saying everyone born in January is a villain, unless you want to be.

This one has a super pigmented formula and it’s practically opaque in just 1 coat. I always do 2 coats for every swatch. Often I’m smoothing out the texture of my ridges more with that 2nd coat, and this one also layers up the color and shiftiness of this shade even more. It gives us a lovely start overall (even if this actual year has started with pure dumpster fire here in the US).

Gosh Garnet • Crystal Mommy – Live Swatches

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For February we have ‘Crystal Mommy’ and I’ll say it right out: I hate this name, and you people on the internet have ruined the word “Mommy”. That’s all I say and we’re never going to say the name ever again. We’re only looking at the pretty polish and we’re calling it February if anyone asks. Anyways, this one is a bright, warm toned purple base that’s filled with a bold scattered holographic glitter.

This is one of their “Crushed Holo” formulas and I need them to make every single color that exists in this finish, thank you. It’s just so insanely sparkly and a party on the nails. There was some sheerness after the 1st coat, but a 2nd comes in and layers up that sparkle and color and makes it fully opaque on the nails. This is going to be the same for many of the formulas, so be prepared for me to repeat that over and over. It’s so perfect for you February babies to help brighten up these endless gray days.

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Continuing on, we arrive at March’s shade, called ‘Happily Ever Aqua’. We have a classic linear holographic finish here – we can never get too many of those – in a, of course, bright aqua blue color. It’s warm and happy on the nails, and Holo Taco is trying their best to get me to like the first 3 months of the year, I can feel it.

I did notice this one has a thicker formula than other brands I’m used to, which I usually don’t mind. For this, that thicker formula made it easy to control on the nails, and I didn’t have to worry about it flooding into the cuticles, even with a thicker application. It painted on well and was opaque in just 2 coats, and I didn’t notice any issues with drying. Of course, that holographic look is going to be more apparent in my bright studio lights – don’t feel “duped” if it’s not as visible in indirect lighting. But if you get this into some sunshine, that’s when they absolutely SING.

Happily Ever Aqua • Ride or Diamond – Live Swatches

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Now I bet you can guess where we’re going with April’s shade, ‘Ride or Diamond’. Yes, that’s right, it’s a clear base just jam packed with silver metallic flakes and glitters to give you that diamond bomb right on your nails.

That first coat is a touch sheer, which I expected for a polish with a clear base. It’s about layering up those glitter flakes if you’re looking to wear it on its own. It also builds up to pretty well opaque with 2 coats if you’re looking to wear it on its own! I didn’t notice it feeling too thick on the nails, and a top coat will just bring out that sparkle even more. With that clear base it can also be applied as a 1 coat topper over any shade. If you want an even more scattered look, you can wipe off more of the flakes on the brush before application.

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IT’S GONNA BE MAY. (I hope we all get that reference). May’s birthstone shade is ‘Emerald City’ – and again I’m sure you already have an accurate visual in your head for this color. This has a rich forest green base (some might call it an emerald green) that is just jam packed with iridescent flakies. Those flakies truly give it that dimensional gemstone-like look, almost as if you’re seeing all the different facets of the stone as you move your nails around.

Like others, it has that jelly base so it’s a touch sheer, but with that deeper jelly color it layers up easily. There’s some nail line peeking through after the 1st coat, but the 2nd coat comes in and builds it all up and makes it opaque. That jelly base also allows it to layer over those flakes and still let them peek through, giving you even more depth in the final finish.

Emerald City • The Price is Alexandrite – Live Swatches

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Continuing on into June, we come to ‘The Price is Alexandrite’. And ooooh we have another duochrome here. You can see the range of colors on my nails, as it goes from a brighter teal shimmer in the middle of the nail, on over to a cool blue and then a purple on the edges. There’s also scattered metallic purple flakes in there, as well as soft holographic sparkles.

This one was more of a dense shimmer in a jelly base, so it was more sheer than I was expecting for such a deep color, but just took a little building up. I was pleasantly surprised as it built up so well in just 2 coats. There’s some nail line after 1 coat, with full shiftiness and opacity after a 2nd.

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Next up, we’re full on into SUMMER and the HEAT. It’s JULY, so it’s only fitting to have some RED SPARKLES. This is ‘Ruby, Madly, Deeply’ and it’s a bright cherry red jelly base filled with larger holographic glitters. Should I mention Wicked again? Should I say these look like the Ruby slippers? Have you had enough posts about that yet?

Once again because of that jelly base, it’s sheer on the 1st coat, with the 2nd coat coming in and layering up the color and glitters to make it fully opaque. It’s a touch sandy after it dries because of those larger glitters, but a top coat will fill in those gaps and smooth it all out. It’ll also really bring out that sparkle and shimmer to help one, say, follow the yellow brick road (sorry).

Ruby, Madly, Deeply • Peridon’t Bother Me – Live Swatches

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‘Peridon’t Bother Me’ is August’s shade and though it’s not my birthstone, it’s my favorite polish of the collection. I can’t get enough of lime greens like this, and I’m going to wear it so no one bothers me while I’m blogging. This polish is another shifty dense shimmer, with a bright cooler toned green on the edges of the nails that pulls into a more olive toned green shade in the middle of the nail. There are also green reflective glitters within it that’ll pop when using a flash – me fully forgetting to show that in my swatches as I forgot it was a reflective finish!! Nobody’s perfect!!

This is another dense shimmer formula so you know the drill, it just needs some layering. It’s still a pigmented formula so it builds up well and is opaque with just 2 coats. Reflective glitters are typically larger overall, so with those in the formula there is some texture as it dries. With any sort of texture in a polish, a top coat will help smooth it all out and bring out the sparkle.

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The seasons switch to fall now, with September’s shade called ‘Playing With Sapphire’. Being inspired by a sapphire, it has a rich, deep blue jelly base filled with scattered holographic sparkles as well as some iridescent flakes.

A broken record here: it’s another jelly formula that’s very similar to the previous shades. You can practically finish the sentence now: “it’ll just need to be layered up” and “it’s opaque in 2 coats”. It painted on so smoothly, and it’s perfectly vampy for those colder months.

Playing With Sapphire • Birthday Brat – Live Swatches

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We come to October and this shade is extra special, as it’s the birthday shade for the founder, Cristine. Ergo, why it’s ‘Birthday Brat’. This shade gives us a bright fuchsia version of their “Frosted Metals” formula. That means it’s a rich pink jelly base just filled with silver metallic flakes. The customers are always asking for more Frosted Metal finishes, and she delivered on her own birthday.

Once again, a jelly base here, but it builds and layers up to full opacity in just 2 coats. I’ve found Holo Taco jelly formulas are more pigmented and thicker than other brands, so they’re easy to build up and wear on their own. Especially as they’re filled with so much sparkle and other elements.

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And now we arrive into the final two months of the year. This next shade might not be for everyone but HEAR ME OUT, GIVE IT A CHANCE. This is ‘Topaz Tears’ for November and it’s a BROWN, but daddy I love him. This is more golden and almost olive toned with some bronzey-ness in there too and it just feels like a cozy moment within the colder months to me. If you don’t want it, I’ll take them all.

This also some fun iridescent flakies in the formula as scattered bright shimmers to make it a whole Thanksgiving party. It’s a touch sheer on the 1st coat with that jelly base, but it builds up to full opacity with just 2 coats.

Topaz Tears • Tanzanite Away – Live Swatches

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Last but CERTAINLY not least, we get to December, aka the best month because it’s MY MONTH. This is ‘Tanzanite Away’ and for us Sagittarius babies, it’s a deep purpley-blue base filled with red microshimmers. There are also blue reflective glitters scattered throughout, giving a little peek out of the drk base.

This has us ending the year with another easy 2 coat formula. With those reflective glitters and shimmers, you can see it does dry with a little more matte and textured. I always like to show the polish on its own without any sort of top coat so you can exactly how it’ll dry out of the bottle. But of course a top coat will smooth everything out and really bring out that sparkle.

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And we’ve now traveled through an entire year. It can’t be too bad when we have this much sparkle and glitter. Overall all of the shades had lovely formulas and applied easily in just 2 coats. We have a wide range of colors and finishes here, so there’s a little something for everyone – even if it’s not from your own birthday month. I’m just a sucker for anything inspired by birthstones and I’m glad to have them in my collection.

Are you interested in picking up any of these shades? Do you like the polish for your own birthday month?

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Upcoming Posts
Pleasing x Fantasia collections • Mooncat Fallen collection • ILNP Eternal collection • Orly The 70s Spring 2024 • Hold Taco x David’s Tea collection • OPI’m Dreaming Spring 2024

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