Category: Holo Taco

Holo Taco ‘Haute Garbage’ Capsule Collection – Swatches & Review

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Did you know APPARENTLY there’s a scientifically ugliest color? It’s Pantone color 448C, and though it has only been informally dubbed “the world’s ugliest color”, it’s already been put to work. In fact, that color then was “selected in 2012 as the color for plain tobacco and cigarette packaging in Australia, after market researchers determined that it was the least attractive color.” Who doesn’t love that!

Actually my favorite note about this shade was “The Australian Department of Health initially referred to the color as ‘olive green’, but the name was changed after concerns were expressed by the Australian Olive Association.” I’m learning so much just from buying nail polish. (And sorry, I’m still going to call it olive green, I don’t have any olive farmers beholden to me).

So with the knowledge of this so called ugliest color, Holo Taco was absolutely inspired and released a creme shade called ‘Born Ugly’. I hadn’t purchased the polish when it first released last April as I don’t love to pay shipping for just one polish (woe is me who’s bought every other collection so I had nothing else to buy at the time, it’s just so tragic). It was limited edition and then shortly sold out, so I put it to the back of my brain.

Fast forward one year later, lo and behold, it’s back! A brand new collection containing the famous shade dropped on April 1st and it WASN’T a joke. The ‘Born Ugly’ universe was expanded into the ‘Haute Garbage’ capsule collection. This set features 4 shades, including the original ‘Born Ugly’ creme along with 3 other lovely and ugly polishes. This collection is also limited edition, though at the point of writing this all 4 shades are still in stock on the Holo Taco website.

Are you feelin’ ugly enough yet? If not, let’s get on into these swatches.

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Holo Taco ‘Birthstone’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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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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Holo Taco ‘Dark Academia’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Listen, I have a problem, and that problem is just always having a myriad of unswatched Holo Taco collections and polishes in all places around and on and under my desk. But this posts shows that I’m working on it! I have a goal of having all of my Holo Taco polishes swatched and blogged, and this post gets us even a tiny bit closer. Baby steps.

So alright! This set is one of their newer releases for 2024 (we now have the Birthstone collection ahead of it) and it’s called ‘Dark Academia’ and if you’re at all familiar with book tropes, those words will immediately evoke a vibe. It’s also been a wardrobe and decor aesthetic, and Pinterest can always help you out with visuals. Just know it’s moody. It’s that feeling of shadowy hallways of old brick buildings on private college campuses, murder mysteries to solve in between classes, and all of the plaid and blazers you could ever want. Sure, I’ve personally saved a lot of this aesthetic onto my own Pinterest, and okay yes, I’m instead wearing the same leggings and sweatshirt every day as I work from home. But listen, this collection spoke to me, and I just needed them all on my nails.

We’ve got 8 new shades here, with some cremes, a brand new (to Holo Taco) crelly formula, and some gorgeous shimmers. They’re all vampy, and they’re perfect for stalking around campus, or you know just typing on a laptop in your living room.

Of course these are available on the Holo Taco website. And did you hear, Holo Taco is now in Ulta! That’s right, you can see their shades in person! None of these shades are available in store – and I’m assuming more limited collections won’t make their way there yet, but it’s still exciting. I just wanted to mention it, and you can grab more of their permanent shades.

Okay yes, let’s get on into these swatches!

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Holo Taco Holo Royalty ‘Shimmering Secrets’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Like many other nail polish brands, Holo Taco has a little rewards system – as you buy more, you gain points and steadily make your way up the various tiers. And with each new tier, you receive new and additional benefits – all the way up to the highest called Holo Royalty. Among having all of those perks of the previous tiers, Holo Royalty members also get a chance to add their input to future shades and releases.

To do this, each year Holo Taco sends out a survey filled with choices on various mood-boards, colors and finishes of never-before-made shades. Eventually all of these answers get compiled and voila, a set of polishes is born! I finally made Holo Royalty this past year so I was invited to the super secret survey and added in my thoughts. I’ll be waiting in great anticipation to see what polishes arrive from that, most likely in the next year.

The first collection from these surveys released last year, in the form of 3 purple polishes in different finishes. I do have this trio, and I do plan on getting it swatched up and posted, some might say just for history and archives.

But now we’re looking at the 2nd annual release, 2024’s Holo Royalty polishes. We have 4 shades, all filled with various sizes and shapes of sparkle, in some cooler toned colors. I do love that we got some different shades that Holo Taco doesn’t normally do, like a light ballet pink and soft sky blue, with some different finishes and glitters. We have 2 softer shades, and then 2 more bold, chunky moments.

These are available on the Holo Taco website. These are limited edition, so even though they’ve been sticking around so far, they won’t be around forever!

Let’s get on into the swatches!

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Holo Taco ‘I Need Space’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Recently, I had just been looking at all of the Holo Taco polishes scattered around my desk and drawers, and thinking about collections I still needed to swatch and post about and I was just feeling overwhelmed. I felt the need for organization, so as a true lover and connoisseur of lists, I recently combined those with another love of mine – distracting myself from my work. I sat down, and I went through and listed out all of the Holo Taco collections in release order, while both noting collections I already owned, already swatched, and already blogged about.

And whew, that final category was woefully small (and so was the 2nd column). I’ll admit, Holo Taco (as well as Mooncat, which has gotten the same treatment), as a more “boutique” indie brand has gotten pushed to the back of my nail polish queues, behind the traditional seasonal releases of the mainstream brands. I absolutely love collecting both brands, as they’re both consistently releasing interesting collections, but then those poor shades just wait on my desk, crying out to be loved. Well it’s time to REMEDY THAT.

So I’m determined to get through my Holo Taco (and Mooncat) stash and get them swatched up and blogged throughout the next few months, catching up on both old and new releases. (Maybe we’ll say like 6 months, let’s be realistic here). I’m ready to feel that high of checking things off my lists, and to build up more of a resource and guide on these brands and their many, many releases. I have (most of) them already, and it’s time I show it. Oh darn, more posts for you, I know you’re truly torn up.

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So ALRIGHT let’s start this journey with one of their most recent releases, and the newest collection I have in my stash (for now – though I am telling myself I’m not allowed to buy even newer releases until I get through some backlog, even if that Ice Cream collection is truly calling to me).

Anyways, this is the ‘I Need Space’ set, and as you can tell from the name, it has quite the fun galactic theme. We have 5 shades here all with some fun finishes and formulas. We have flakes, we have shimmer, we have holographic sparkle, and interesting color choices – what more could you need? After all, it’s space-themed, so I’m intrigued already.

These are as always, available from the Holo Taco website. Now enough with the talking, let’s finally see some polishes in ACTION.

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Holo Taco ‘Cristmas Glitters’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Well Merry Christmas, or shall I say “Cristmas” everyone (that’ll be explained later)! Yes I know the date on this post says December 3rd, but I am in fact writing up on Christmas day (I change the dates on posts to match when the swatches were posted on Instagram, to keep them spread out and also in order). I’m here in Chicago on this Christmas day and the city is so empty and there’s just something so magical about that. I’m seeing my family before and after actual the actual holiday, so I’ve been enjoying my quiet day just getting up some blog posts finally.

And so fitting on this Christmas day to post up about these holiday glitters from Holo Taco! Yes, you read that right in the title, they’re the “Cristmas” glitters – without an H. Holo Taco’s founder, Cristine, spells her name without the H so it’s a fun little play on her name and spelling! Fun facts for you.

And more fun facts: these glitter polishes originally released last holiday season. I hemmed and hawed over them for far too long and then suddenly they were sold out and I missed out on them. But then a Cristmas miracle! They were re-released again for this holiday season and I didn’t wait this time and snatched them up (even though they’re still fully in stock).

This bundle features 6 super glittery and shimmery holo shades in some gorgeous holiday shades. They’re jelly bases that are just jam packed with sparkle and I was just so mesmerized by them. I wanted them with my little grabby hands. And if they’re catching your eye, as mentioned they’re still in stock on the Holo Taco website. Treat yourself for this holiday season.

Let’s get into these swatches!

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Holo Taco 3rd Anniversary ‘Gala’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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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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Holo Taco ‘Tea Crèmes’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Listen, even though it can seem like I’m buying every nail polish I could ever want and showing it on this blog, with my budget there are still brands out there that I can’t buy every release from – even though I very much want to. Holo Taco is one of those brands (still sad I missed out on the Christmas collection last year). Yes, I want every single polish they put out, ever. But no, I can’t always buy them while I’m buying all of these other polishes (I know, a terrible problem to have really). And I don’t often ask for nail polish for Christmas either as clearly I’m buying things whenever I want them and it’s often seasonal collections that I prefer to not wait on.

Well, this year I combined the two things, and I asked for this lovely collection for Christmas that I had been drooling over for so long, and I’m so glad to have in my little goblin hands.

If y’all don’t know already, Holo Taco was created by Cristine of SimplyNailogical, a well known polish enthusiast and YouTuber. So I knew she would give us a beautiful creme formula. And wow, did she not disappoint. And she has a great love of tea, so only fitting that we got a tea themed collection.

This beautiful little release is the Tea Cremes collection and it features 6 shades of gorgeous, saturated and delicious creme shades – all with a fun tea theme. These were released a couple months ago in 2021, but obviously are not limited shades.

This collection is still available as a bundle on the Holo Taco website, as well individually for $11 each. Now let’s dive on in.

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Holo Taco ‘Electric Holos’ 2021 Collection – Swatches & Review

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Ahh Holo Taco, my love. Holo Taco is one of those brands that if I had unlimited money, I would throw it at SimplyNailogical and buy every thing she releases. But alas, I don’t have unlimited funds – much because I buy so much other nail polish, okay. I’ll know I have made it when I can press ‘Add to Cart’ with no hesitancy, the dream.

Anyways, every so often, a new Holo Taco releases catches my eye so much that I find a way to squeeze it on into my polish purchasing for that month, and this release was one of them. This is the Holo Taco ‘Electric’ Holos collection. It features 5 linear holographic shades in bright and fun and unique shades, and there was just a bright lime green so I had to have it. It’s available on the Holo Taco website as a bundle or you can purchase the individual shades. Let’s get right into the swatches, shall we?

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Holo Taco ‘Unicorn Dreams’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Listen, I’ve just put on Braveheart so I think it’s a perfect time to catch up on some blog posts. I’ve been doing a hefty amount of swatching lately, so it’s time to put out the accompanying review posts! (As always, you can follow my Instagram to see swatches as they come out as well!) Alright, I’m trying to be less wordy since I know people just want to get right into the review, so let’s do it!

Holo Taco is truly a brand that I wish I had unlimited money so I could buy every single release, but since I don’t, every so often I’m just like SCREW IT, TREAT MYSELF, and I hit add to cart. (If you didn’t know, it’s the brand of Cristine, of SimplyNailogical fame on Instagram and YouTube. So kind of an indie, but I consider it a touch more mainstream at this point). And there was something about this one that tickled my fancy so I had to have it. There have been 2 more releases since this one, a trio of creams, and then a pastel rainbow linear collection (which hoo boy do I want that one).

This is the ‘Unicorn Dreams’ release and it features 2 creams, and adds 3 more Unicorn Skin toppers to her previous 3. I had been wanting to try the Unicorn Skins anyways, and then these 2 creams were just stunning so it got me good. This bundle is still available on the Holo Taco website for $55, or the creams (or cremes as they are called on the website) retail for $11 each and the toppers for $13 each. (If you’re not sure what a Unicorn Skin topper it, it’s explained down below near the swatches!).

Let’s get into the swatches!

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