Each year, Cristine releases something special for her birthday. In the past, these releases have been a bit smaller, but this year she decided to launch the biggest collection Holo Taco has ever had - a whopping 12 polishes as the Birthstone collection.

Simply has been alluding to a study worthy fall collection for a while and it finally dropped a few weeks ago. The set I ordered has finally arrived, so it’s time for some pictures and comparisons!

I recently saw a few folks posting on Instagram about the Mani Mag 2.0 from ShutYourTraps on Etsy. It’s a 3d printed magnet holder to help achieve the velvet nail look using magnetic polishes. I have really struggled with magnetics, so I decided to buy a set as a birthday gift to myself.

A few weeks ago Holo Taco debuted its first thermal polishes in its fifth anniversary Mixed Emotions collection. I was a bit surprised by this since I had previously gotten the impression that Cristine wasn’t impressed with thermals and wouldn’t be pursuing them for the brand. I’m happy that this didn’t turn out to be the case! The set I ordered has arrived - scroll down to see pictures and comparisons!

A few weeks ago, Holo Taco dropped their rainbow inspired (but not ROYGBIV) crushed holo collection. I have been a fan of the crushed holo formula since Highest Bidder was released in the Gala collection back in 2022, so this collection was a definite purchase for me. What I found a bit unexpected was the addition of micro shimmer (that was introduced in Spyglass as part of the Holo Royalty Shimmering Secrets set earlier this year) - it really adds to the look in my opinion.

Today is National Nail Polish Day, so I attempted to paint some nail polish shelves like Simply’s on my nails. Happy nail painting, everybody!

Holo Taco’s loyalty program offers the highest tier members (dubbed “Holo Royalty”) the opportunity to work with Cristine via a set of surveys to design limited edition polishes. For year two, Holo Taco released the Holo Royalty Shimmering Secrets set (year one was the Royalty Debut Trio that arrived in April 2023). The set I ordered finally arrived (and thankfully didn’t take a wild ride around the country like my previous order thanks to USPS) so here are some swatches and comparisons!