Critique: Matte About You

Haven't posted in a while... There's been a lot goin on in my life lately. Nevertheless I am back! Above is my new favorite find: Matte About You by Essie. If you are looking to try matte polish, I would say this is your very best option. Why buy a Matte color polish when you can transform ANY of your polishes to a matte finish with this one top coat? I got it for $10 at Ulta.

In my opinion, the matte top coat looks best over a shiny/shimmery color. The matte finish makes this cheap outdated color of polish look chiq again! This Sinful Colors polish in Gorgeous took 3 coats to be opaque, and I still didn't love the color. It doesn't look at all how it did in the bottle (Shoulda tryed it on in the store!). 

BUT no worries, one coat of Matte About You and it transformed this outdated color into a whole new look! I loooove it!

And here is a before and after comparison:

I also tried the matte finish on a solid (non glittery or shiny) color. This one is a great new pistachio color called Navigate Her by Essie. I think this still looks cool, but I almost like bold colors better shiny I think. Matte def looks better over a shimmer polish in my opinion. 

Still pretty cool though! I love experimenting with this matte top coat. Such a great purchase :)

Critique: Nail Art Tools

This critique was made for all you nail art lovers that haven’t been having any luck with it. I am providing my knowledge on the 4 nail art tools that I have tried so far. I have them listed from best to worst (also left to right in the above picture).

1. Double up Detailing/Dotting Nail Brush by So Easy- $5.50

I got this double-ended nail brush from Sally Beauty online. One side is for making perfect dots and the other end is the nail brush. This seems like a deal to me for $5. The best part about buying a brush is that you can use it with annnnny polish you want. All you do is drop a few dots of nail polish on a napkin or paper and dip the brush in. You do have to re-dip pretty often though to get a good line. When you’re done all you do is swish it around in some nail polish remover and wipe with a paper towel.  Only draw back is that it isn’t as is of a line as I’d like. But you could always buy thinner nail art brushes! I am even thinking of cutting a few bristles from this brush to make it thinner.

SUMMARY: Unlimited polish color possibilities, double ended, only have to pay $5 once.

2. Stripe Rite Polish by So Easy (.25oz) - $4

This guy really almost ties for first with the nail brush. This polish is super easy to use, draws very thin lines, and gives you a lot of polish for the price it is. Only reason it falls under the above brush is because you have to buy a new Stripe Rite polish every time you need a different color. What I would do is buy this polish in the staple colors that you know your going to use more than once (i.e. white, black, silver, gold). Then for any other color use the nail brush above. These can also be bought at Sally Beauty.

SUMMARY: great control, great value, 30+ colors

3. Nail Art Pen by Salley Hansen (.067oz)- $7

Obviously this pen is the worst value (least amount of polish, highest price). However, It does have some things going for it. First of all is convenience. I am sure you all have seen these pens at Walgreens or Target etc... So this is probably the most popular for nail art right now. Normally, I would definitely tell you to only go with the first two choices for nail art, however this pen is very easy to use/control. If your not the most artistic person in the world, then this would be a good choice for you. Especially if you only want to do a couple nail art dots or stripes every once and a while.

SUMMARY: worst value, easiest control, very convienent, only 11 colors

4. Nail Art Pen by Cina (.16oz)- $6

This pen pretty much stinks. The whole point of a nail art pen is that it can draw thin lines. This pen drew just about as thick as a regular nail polish brush... Sooo no point. Just as expensive as a polish and not useful as a nail art tool. Waste of $6! Oh well, learned my lesson.

SUMMARY: Too thick of lines, horrible value, just don’t buy it haha.

Critique: Color Change Polish

Since we have had such wonderful and sunny weather here in the Midwest lately, I decided it was a perfect time to try this color-changing polish by DEL SOL. I like it! It makes me feel like a kid again :)

The kind that I used changes from an iridescent ivory to “Pretty in Pink”. The left above is inside and the pink on the right is outside in the sun. Its a thin polish so I had to do a coat of white underneath to make it pop.

Overall, it’s a fun polish, but only changes when you are in direct sunlight. When my nails were outside but hiding from the sunrays for a bit it turned back to ivory. To the left is the polish when it was overcast/cloudy out. It was more in-between, like a pale pink. Still pretty though!

Another sad point is that when your inside all day (like I was working for 8 hours yesterday) it just made me want to go outside even more! Hmf.. haha

        

My advice for this one is to get a color that changes more subtly. This one was nice because the in-between was pale pink and not an icky color. Another good choice would be pink to purple.

Have fun in the sun!

|La

         

Critique: Seche Vite

Two words: Seche Vite. This top coat is the best all time top coat I’ve ever used. I’ve heard of people saying it was a good one, but I just now got around to trying it. It is a fast drying and strong clear top coat that protects your nails VERY well. I think this was the first time I took off nail polish because I got bored of my nails, not because they were too chipped. So funny…

In terms of fast drying, it dries pretty good in about 15 mins and dries completely in about a half hour. This is great in terms of nail polish. I’ve messed up manicures that have already dried for 2 hours before.

In terms of durability, it’s definitely the best I’ve tried. First of all, with this polish I received ZERO chips for the first 2 days. This is unheard of for me since I tend to be clumsy and fidget a lot with my fingers/nails. The picture below (sorry not the greatest, tried to get all my nails in) is after 5 days of wear, including showering every day, washing dishes, typing all day, etc... I have a chip on my left pointer (from nibbling on my nail for better concentration of course) and overall all my nail polish wore down a little on the nail tips. Still, this is great improvement from any other top coat I have used.

Summary of Critique: Seche Vite is a MUST HAVE top coat. Love love love!

I got it at Sally Beauty for $8 (it was $10 at Ulta), but I found it for $4.49 on this site... nice!

Critique: Gel Perfect

Nutra Nail Gel Perfect (I bought it in Orchid). I first saw this product in Cosmo believe it or not. The other day I actually stumbled upon it in the grocery store. Some kind stranger left a coupon sitting by the display so I figured I’d try it! The Gel perfect package was only $10 before the coupon and in my opinion well worth it!

So here’s what it comes with... 3 bottles: An activator, the Gel color, and the cleaner. And most importantly it comes with helpful instructions on how to do the application right. It actually is quite simple. It probably only took me about 15 minutes to complete. The best part is... it’s not just for one use! You can use it until the gel color runs out! Which looks like probably about 15-20 uses. You just have to make sure the Activator doesn’t dry out.

Pro: the packaging does not lie... it literally dries in 5 minutes, maybe even less. This is perfect for doing nails right before bed or as a last minute thought in your getting ready routine.

Con: I thought it was going to be tougher... thought it was kind of a Shellac alternative. However, it pretty much chips just the same as regular nail polish. I think if I had more time I would have applied a clear topcoat (which kind of defeats the purpose of a fast drying nail application, but you can always do the gel perfect now and top coat later!)

Overall, Nutra Nail Gel Perfect comes in some pretty great “staple” colors. I would suggest buying one of these packs and keeping it on hand just in case you need that final touch in a flash! My next pick would definitely be the bright red color because red nails will just never go out of style ;)

Critique: Polish Strips

My Thoughts on Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips

Personally, I have mixed feelings on these guys. In my opinion, it is a waste of money to pay 8 dollars for 1 manicure that lasts about a week. When the average bottle of nail polish is about $8, contains about 40 2-coat manicures, and lasts at least 5 days with a good top coat, doesn't this seem like the better choice?
  
With that said, I did try them (in "Laced-up", pic below), but only because a kind stranger claimed they lasted for over a week without chipping. First of all, she was either lying or very dainty because mine yielded chips the very next day. Some even started to peal off entirely. However, they really weren't that hard to apply and they did look quite fabulous for the first day ;).

 

Advice for use: I think if you really want have fun with these (and get your money's worth), buy one of the fancy designs and apply these the day of some event that you know you are going to ahead of time. i.e. New Years, a birthday party, a dance etc... That way you can coordinate with your outfit and hopefully you will have a chip free manicure all night =). I would also suggest finishing with a no chip top coat.

link to Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips