By all accounts, this polish should be a stunner. Deep burgundy-brown base, with gold microglitter and a hint of red shimmer. Even when it’s first painted on the nail, the flashes of red sparkle give it depth and intrigue. However…OPI’s Holiday Glow, from the 2009 Holiday Wishes collection (the same one which produced the gorgeous deep purple flakie-packed Merry Midnight), it’s a little boring for me. Just because a polish has unexpected shimmer doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be awesome (case in point: Zoya’s Neeka and Yara). Though, to be fair, I have been awfully hard on most shades coming across my fingertips lately. So I’ll let you decide for yourself:
I think part of the reason I’m not loving Holiday Glow is because it’s sorta brown, I’m sorta brown…there isn’t enough contrast to make it stand out as much as it should. Certainly if you’re a vampy polish lover, if you can find a bottle of this anywhere (I got mine through a swap last year), give it a look at least. It’s not a total fail, just not really a win – for me anyway, and I’ve got enough nail polish now that I feel justified in being hard on those shades that aren’t blowing my socks off. It just means that I can wear those awesome shades more often without reservation, so I’m cool with that 
On a semi-related note, I’m thinking about trying to keep my polish stash under 100. I’m nearing the mark now, and I’ve been consistently putting up for swap shades that aren’t living up to other, more amazing polishes in my stash. I’m not sure how long I can do this for before all the shades I own are kickass, and I surpass the 100 mark, but I’m going to put in a valiant effort in any case. I like change and that often means I get bored of what I already own, so a polish that I loved in one season, I might be so over by the next. We’ll see how it goes, anyway!
#1 by Liz (Beauty Reductionista) on November 28, 2011 - 10:15 pm
Hey, who cares what year it’s from as long as it’s good, right? This one’s a beauty! And I was blissfully oblivious to nail polish collections in 2009 so I’d have picked this one up as well.
I have about 150 after giving away a bunch of stuff to my friends and sisters. I’d also like to reduce further and keep it capped at 100 but not sure if I can take that step yet. Sounds to me like you’ve been really good about swapping and purging regularly! Need to learn from you and stick to the plan!
#2 by Latoya on November 29, 2011 - 1:58 pm
It’s interesting how quickly things change, I was relatively in the dark about polish collections back then too Liz! That was only two years ago – crazy! Anyway, my lofty ambition to keep my polishes to 100 and under will be a challenge, that’s for sure. But sometimes I feel like we just need to have the *thought* of keeping things under control, and it helps immensely. It’s unlikely I’ll really succeed, but I’ll feel like I’ve achieve something when I can turn down polish because of my ‘rule.’
#3 by kat on November 29, 2011 - 1:35 am
that’s a beautiful color! love the little flecks of glitter
#4 by Latoya on November 29, 2011 - 1:56 pm
Sometimes I catch it in just the right light and I like it quite a bit…but most of the time it just looks plain to me
Glad you like it though, Kat!
#5 by Eugenia on November 29, 2011 - 12:41 pm
Ok….um….I’m not going to print here how many bottles I presently own, as I’m not partial to being run out of town…..lol!! Moving along…I love how this looks on you (brown on brown notwithstanding, and for the record…they’re 2 entirely different shades of brown, plus YOU don’t have sparkles, remember?LOLOLOL!!) Can you believe that I picked this one up (as well as Merry Midnight) back when they first came out, AND HAVE NEVER ONCE WORN THEM??? How shameful is that? You reminded me that I own both, and thanks to your swatches (which I loved!), I will be dusting them off and giving them a go!
#6 by Latoya on November 29, 2011 - 1:55 pm
LMAO! Yes, I don’t have sparkles, sadly
Heheh. Good point! I dunno, I guess I just picture this on someone fairer and looking quite striking (say…you!?). Definitely pull these babies out and play – especially with Merry Midnight; my old swatches don’t do it justice, so pretty!!
#7 by mariebeedee on December 1, 2011 - 12:24 am
I do like it on you, but life is too short to wear polish that doesn’t make you happy! (Maybe put on, oh, Zoya Cynthia?)
#8 by Latoya on December 5, 2011 - 5:54 pm
Hahaha you got it! That’s what I mean, if I had a bunch of ‘just nail polish’ shades, it might be a different story, but where I have some super awesome shades, the sub-par ones just don’t seem to warrant hanging on to!