Mentality Nail Polish: Black Line Holo collex (Part 1)

*Press sample*

Hi everyone! I have an amazing collection of polishes to show you today, I just could not wait any longer! I swatched and edited all last weekend to get these ready for you - but I had a hard time narrowing photos down, so they are broken up into two posts. The second post will go live tomorrow.

Recently, Mentality posted on their Facebook that they were looking for bloggers to swatch for them. I have adored Mentality since the beginning (see embarrassing old swatches from me here and here haha) and I have yet to find a polish of theirs that isn't wonderful. So I thought, what the heck? Why not give it a shot? Never expecting to get picked, considering all the other quality bloggers that would apply. Imagine my shock and awe when Hillary messaged me back saying I was chosen as a regular blogger for Mentality!!! I think I read the email probably 10 times to make sure I was reading it correctly, haha. I am so beyond excited to be included and I hope I can do these gorgeous polishes justice!

The first collection I've been sent to review is called the Black Line Holo collection. I was sold before I even saw them - anything holo is right up my alley! But on top of that, these are absolutely PERFECT fall colors.

In all my excitement, I sorta forgot to take a group shot of the bottles - sorry about that! Here is the photo from Mentality's website showing the entire collection.

I couldn't really put these in order by favorite, because that would be just too hard to do. So, I've arranged these posts alphabetically. Today, I'll be showing you Battle, Combat, Dare, Defy, and Dissent.

First up is Battle, and it is described by Mentality as a dark blue holographic.

Unfortunately, with my work schedule last week, I just could not get many photos in actual sunlight, so the majority of these photos were taken in the lightbox. The holo effect is SO much stronger in actual sunlight. However, I think you can still grasp the beauty of these polishes even indoors!

I used 2 coats of Battle for these photos. In fact, I used 2 coats for all of these polishes. They are very pigmented. I prefer to do 2 coats as a rule just to even out any spots I might have missed on the first coat. I used Mentality's Gloss top coat on all these. I didn't find that the top coat dulled the holo effect on MOST of these - I will let you know which of the ones I think it may have a bit. Battle was unaffected!

Here's a shot in natural lighting, but it was overcast. Even still - check out that sparkle! This is such a gorgeous shade. It would be a perfect backdrop for a galaxy mani, or any nail art involving a night sky. The formula on this, as well as the other polishes was lovely. No issues to report. Dry time was pretty quick, and I didn't experience any trouble with dragging, bald spots, unevenness, staining, etc. The polishes have a glossy finish on their own, but I wanted to try the Gloss topcoat out as well. And, as I mentioned, these are very pigmented and would be great for stamping. 

Because I was (mainly) swatching at night, I also included shots with flash to show off the holographic sparkles. I know a lot of people don't like the looks of photos using flash, but I had to find a way to show you this stunning effect without using the sun! I just love Battle, it is definitely one of my favorites. It's on my toes right now! :o

Next up is Combat - a dark pink holographic, and another one of my favorites - haha, I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that a lot!

Again, I've used 2 coats for these photos, followed by one coat of Mentality Gloss topcoat. Again, no issues to report with formula, dry time was great, and the holo effect is gorgeous!

This polish is one of the more interesting ones to me. It is described by Mentality as a dark pink, and while I can see that, in some lights it looks maroon, purple or even red, so it's kind of like it's full of surprises! This was a tough one to try and photograph - I tried to show it as true to color as I could, but it was being tricky. At first glance, I thought it was similar to Dare, but this one definitely has more pink and purple tones. 

In the flash shot, you can definitely see that it is pink - not red as you will see with Dare. Again, check out that amazing holo sparkle! :)

Here's the one I mentioned - Dare. It is described by Mentality as a dark red holographic.

Definitely not as similar to Combat as I'd originally expected! This one is definitely a true dark red - so perfect for Fall! I love shades like this. Interestingly enough, I mistakenly received TWO bottles of Dare in my package...which is very good news for someone if you stay tuned for tomorrow's post! ;)

Again, the only natural lighting I was able to get was when it was overcast outside. I love how this looks in natural lighting! You can see so many different shades of red, maroon, purple, even blue kinda? This shade has so much depth, it's stunning. It reminds me of crunchy fall leaves. :)

And lastly, a shot with flash - you can really see the red showing through here.

Next we have Defy, a medium grey holographic.

Again, I used 2 coats for this mani plus a coat of Mentality's Gloss. This is one of the polishes that I felt like the topcoat dulled the holo slightly. While you can still see the holographic sparkles, I felt that they were stronger without topcoat. In sunlight, the holo was still pretty strong. Even with a less in your face holo effect, I really like this polish! It's a very pretty metallic grey/silver that would be an awesome base for nail art! It reminds me of robots. :)

Here, with the flash, you can see the holo better, especially on my index finger. Next time I will try without any topcoat! :)

Next up, we have Dissent, a dark yellow holographic. 

Another one which was hard to photograph accurately, especially in certain lighting. Though I know it's described as a dark yellow, it wanted to photograph almost sage greenish on me - it may be because of my skin tone? Or it could be my base coat, Yellow Stopper, sucking some of the yellow out of it. Either way, this is a really unique shade - it's unlike anything I have in my collection. Another great fall color!

I used 2 coats of Dissent, plus 1 coat of Gloss. Formula was great again - no issues to report!

Here's a shot in natural lighting that is a bit more true to color.

And lastly, the flash photo. I love how at this angle, the camera captures a sort of blackened look toward the top of the nail. It makes it look like I did a gradient when I didn't. :) You can definitely see more of the yellow tone here.

Those are all the swatches I have for you today, the rest will be up tomorrow!
I want to take a quick second and talk about the Gloss topcoat from Mentality that I used for these swatches. When I did my first swatch, I had to take it off and start over because I forgot, or didn't realize that this is NOT a fast dry top coat. So there is a little disclaimer for you lol. I'm so used to my HK Girl that I went about doing housework and typing and other things soon after painting my nails and they were smudged after maybe 2 mins. So I just wanted to let you all know that so you don't make the same mistake I made. If you take the time to let it dry though, like while you're just watching TV or something not using your hands, this is a fantastic topcoat. I would say it takes about 10 minutes to FULLY dry. It's thin (not goopy), which is nice, and is so easy to apply. The best part? It doesn't pull off the nail polish as you glide it on. It is specifically made as a topcoat for over stamping nail art, because it will not smudge!! I found it to be true even with the swatches I did, because usually if I run the topcoat (HK or SV) brush over the same spot twice, a lot of the polish comes with it. It was so nice that that wasn't an issue with Gloss. And it left the mani with a smooth, glossy look as the name implies.

I hope you've enjoyed my swatches, I had so much fun reviewing this collection. I think it offers something for everyone - there are some more neutral shades while also offering some vibrant, eye-catching jewel tones. And who doesn't love holo?

The Black Line Holo collection retails for 65.00 as a set, which you can purchase here, and the polishes retail for 7.75 a piece if purchased individually. So you'd be saving 4.75 if you bought the entire set - just saying! Mentality has tons of other great polishes available as well, including flawless stamping polishes, jellies, holos, mattes and tons more...so be sure you look over their website. And as always, shipping is free (within US)!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Part 1 of the Black Line Holo collection! Which of the above caught your eye the most? Of these 5, I think Combat is my favorite! Make sure you stop by tomorrow to see the rest of the collection and something extra! ;) Thanks for reading! <3

Kelly

The products in this post were provided to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. Please see my Disclosure Statement for more information.