Color Club Halo Hues Holographic Gel Polish
The gel polishes applied really nicely and were opaque in 2-3 coats. The holographic effect is good for gels, though the linear effect is slightly duller than the regular lacquers. I found that most of the day while I’m indoors the polish just looks shimmery… it’s when I get outside in the sunlight that the holo effects really show. I can’t tell you how many times I was distracted while driving when the sun hit my nails. LOL
Eternal Beauty is a purple holographic gel polish. You can see a bit of the linear rainbow effect in my photos, though I admit I didn’t do the best job of capturing the full effect.
Here’s another shot of Eternal Beauty. You can see more of the linear effect on the index finger with the angle of the nail.
Blue Heaven is a blue-toned silver holographic polish. You can see a bit more of the rainbow effect with this picture. The third color that I picked up is called Harp On It and it’s a pure silver holo, but I opted not to swatch it since the color is so similar to Blue Heaven. If I had realized how similar they were I probably would’ve selected a different shade to try.
Here’s another shot of Blue Heaven.
This photo shows all three colors in the RNP and gel versions. From left to right the colors are Harp On It, Blue Heaven, and Eternal Beauty. You can see that the gels do have a linear holo effect, though it’s not quite as vibrant as the RNP versions of each color.
This is a closer shot of Eternal Beauty RNP, next to the gel version.
As I mentioned, I also picked up a bottle of the Color Club Simple Soak which is a non-acetone remover. Color Club said this remover would soak off gel polish in 5-8 minutes so I had to put that to the test. The ingredients on the bottle say: Ethyl Acetate, Fragrance (parfum). Pretty straight forward. The solution has a very sweet citrus scent to it that I found pleasant.
I only had my polish on for about 5 days when I used the remover and I didn’t use the Color Club base & top coats (to be honest I don’t remember what brand I used). With that in mind, this isn’t a formal review but I thought I’d share my experience regardless.
I broke the seal on my top coat with a file and used Simple Soak with my NailMates. The Simple Soak seemed to foam a little when I pumped it onto the foam pads. I placed them on my nails and waited about 6 minutes before checking them. The polish was visibly peeling off and I was able to push all of it off with an orangewood stick with ease. In less than 8 minutes the polish was completely removed! That may have been the easiest removal I’ve had in a long time.
Here’s what my nails looked like after the removal. I didn’t touch this up or do anything to my nails other than push off the polish and wipe them with a cleanser.
I’m curious to see how this remover works with different brands of gel polish, so I’ll be taking it to the studio to try on clients. Unfortunately, at $12.95 for only 6 ounces it’s not really practical for salon use.
So what do you think of the new Color Club Halo Hues and Simple Soak? Will you splurge to buy them, or are they simply priced too high?
Shame that they are so pricey but your swatches look really great!
Thank you! Yes, I hope the price point comes down over time.
Your nails look beautiful…nice to see them back to your “squovals”.
Thanks!
Woah, those prices are out of control.
Also, am I the only one that kind of hates when a gel comes with a lacquer? If I want a matching lacquer I’ll buy it separately. I’d rather pay less to just get the product I want.
I don’t mind it when the price is reasonable for both, but I don’t want to pay extra for a lacquer that I don’t need/want. I think most people prefer to buy them separately.
Me too! I bought a Le Chat Perfect Match and was stuck with RNP I didn’t know what to do with. Was going to sell it, but with postage costs decided it was pointless. I think it got thrown away in the end. I hate ordering something and getting something I have no use for in with my purchase.
Anyway, good swatches Andrea! And amazingly clean removal! Congratulations on your new job. i can’t believe how long I have been following your blog.
Beautiful! Would you mind telling us where to buy them, please? Or oder them on line? I have a few of the RNP’s. Love them!
They’re on the Color Club website and I found them on Amazon. I linked to them on Amazon in the post. I don’t know where else they are being sold. Their website might have a list of stores/distributors.
I noticed these last week on color clubs website. I wondered how they looked on and now I know. Much like you however, I thought that the price point was a touch high. Thanks for the review!
What a shame they are so expensive! I can’t really justify it when I already own their Halos in regular polish. Maybe they’ll sell the gels by themselves eventually.
OMG! This remover is too good to be true. Must try it though my wallet says “Ouch!” Also,I agree with Cathy…….nice to see your squovals back!
Acetone is safer than ethyl acetate with a longer track record of consumer use.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0260.pdf
Hi, I am a chemist who specializes in the development of cosmetic products. I can say with certainly that acetone is not safer than ethyl acetate.
But first, acetone is the predominant removal product in nail polish because it is a more aggressive solvent than ethyl acetate, and thus better at removing material from the nail bed. This is important because most nail polish formulations are designed to stick to the nail, with less thought given to how to remove it. Acetone is also cheaper than ethyl acetate; never underestimate the need to widen profit margins in a chemical market.
On to safety, because acetone is a more agressive solvent, it is more damaging to your nails and skin than ethyl acetate.
The simple fact is, acetone based removal systems are the industry standard because they are cheaper, and they allow a polish to be less effective at soaking off, not because they are safer. Ideally all polish removal systems would be solvent free, but if you can remove polish with ethyl acetate instead of acetone, that’s healthier for your skin and nails.
Very interesting! Thanks so much for your insight on this matter!
You’re welcome. My girlfriend loves your work, so you can thank her for bringing this to my attention.
I purchased the Eternal Beauty and love the color. Wasn’t crazy about getting the RNP either but wanted the color bad enough that I just sucked it up! :o)
As always love your swatches.
Couldn’t wait to hear more about these ever since you shared about it from the COSMO show. However, I would have never imagined the pricing would be such that it is. Guess I’ll keep turning my current CC holos into gel using Gelibility. Even with the minor dilution (using 2:1 ratio that you posted earlier this year) I still get VERY distracted when the light hits my nails — it’s like I’m wearing a rainbow on my fingers. LOL! Thanks for the great scoop as always Andrea! ;-)
I thought I might splurge on the non-acetone remover, but at 6 oz for $18 (with S&H), nahhh. :-(
I’m sure that other brands have pretty holos for less. Since I live in Australia, I use Addictive Gel HoloGlam and it’s pretty close to Harp On It but half the price.
Thanks Joanne, I was considering paying Aud$45 for Eternal Beauty, but think I’ll give Addictive Gel Holo a go first.
You are all so lucky!!! In the UK I pay nearly $37 for 1 bottle of Gelish from an authorised retailer, so these prices seem ok to me. Nail products are so expensive here. X
have u tried the crystal nails version.. omg its so good!
Hey Andrea! On the Color Club Professional site they tell you to apply the gel polish and then wait 2 minutes before curing to enhance the halo effect. I was just wondering if you did this with these swatches? I love your blog!
That’s interesting. I didn’t read that, so I didn’t do it. I’ll have to try it again to see if I get more of the linear effect. Thanks for letting me know!
Andrea, what have been the results of your testing Simple Soak on clients? I had to stop with gel polish because I simply didn’t have time for the soak off and re-application anymore. If this could actually speed that up I might be able to go back to gels which would make me VERY happy! Hard to commit to a trial bottle for $30 without a bit more review from people.
I never tried it on clients. I used it on myself a few times and it didn’t work as effectively with other brands of polish and I don’t want to run trials on my clients and risk the soak-offs taking longer than needed. Pure acetone and heated mitts work great for me at the shop… removal takes no more than 10-15 minutes.
I’m with Simone! I’d love to read some more reviews. This product did not work for me at all. So I’m hoping there is some tip / trick to get the results Andrea did? Thanks
I was wondering if you had to etch the nail before applying this gel polish brand? Or is it like shellac and you can just apply after proper prep?
I don’t know what you mean by etch the nail. You can apply any gel polish after proper prep.
Andrea to etch the nail means to remove the shine usually with a 180 grit file basically to ruff up the natural nail a bit. I just received my gel polish order from color club and it did not come with instructions as to what their definition is to prep. For instance CND shellac brands definition of prep does not require etching the nail while Lechat Perfect Match gel polish you must etch the nail remove all shine from natural nail in order for their brand to adhere. Was just wanting to see if color club gel polist product needs a natural nail that has been etched and shine removed so that it will adhere properly!
I don’t know what their prep requirements are either. I always buff the nail prior to application though.
Cassie, you never *have to* buff the shine off/etch the nail. However if you have difficulty keeping your gel polish on, then buffing first can give the base coat more to ‘grip’ on to.
Personally I never do it as I’m in my 40’s and my nails are a touch dryer than a younger person’s, and if anything I have trouble with soak offs as my polish is stubborn.