HOLO 101: An Idiot's Guide To What's Actually Holographic

As we approach the beginning of a new year the holographic trend is at an all time high. Holo nail polish, holo makeup, even holographic clothing have become popular. But lately it seems like company's think they can get in on the holo trend by producing any old sparkly thing. I'm here to tell you its just not that simple!

Holographic everything rose to popularity alongside Youtuber Christine, aka Simply Nailogical, who popularized the trend with her nail videos featuring holographic nail polish. A Self-proclaimed "holosexual", as Christine's channel became more popular, so did holo.

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But as holo has become more popular, more and more brands are creating "holographic" merchandise. Like this "holo" highlighter...

Or this "holographic" eyeshadow palette...

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Sadly, most of these products are NOT actual holo! In many cases these products are actually duo-chrome, or even worse, some are just plain purple! So lets have a lesson on holo, here is the good stuff:

See how the glitter reflects rainbows? Thats how holo differs from regular or duochrome glitters or pigments. For comparison, here is regular glitter:

It's still beautiful...don't get me wrong, but see how regular glitter only reflects white? Here's some duo-chrome:

See how the nails shift between the two colors: purple and blue? That's where the "duo" part comes in. But the fun doesn't stop there! There's also multichrome! Multichrome means the pigments reflect not just 1 (that would be regular glitter), not just 2 (that would be duo-chrome), but 3 or more different tones or colors!

Most holosexuals will admit that duo and multi chrome are still pretty cool, but, honestly, nothing will ever truly compare to the rainbowy goodness of pure holo!