Nail Art Design Gallery: Matte

Showing posts with label Matte. Show all posts

Nubar Knight's Armor

Hi all!

Today I have a polish for you that I borrowed from Michèle (thanks hun!); Nubar Knight's Armor. I actually ordered it myself, but while I was ordering, it went out of stock. Meh. Anyway, I could play with it a bit so here it is!

Nubar Knight's Armor, two coats in daylight. Knight's Armor has square silver glitter in a black base. It looks alright when applied like this. I expected the glitters to give the polish more dimension, but it doesn't. So, of course, I slapped a coat of matte topcoat on it to see how that would look.

nubar knight's armor grey collection nailswatches nailpolish nail polish swatch matte essie matte about you mattified

Nubar Knight's Armor, two coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. That's better! Somehow the matte topcoats adds depth to it and I'm digging this.

Appliction of Knight's Armor is good. The glitters won't slide everywhere when you're applying it, which is a big plus! The polish dries quickly and was dry before I could take pictures.

That's is for today, dear reader, thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Posh

in Matte, Red, Zoya

Hi all!

Today I have one of the Matte Velvets for you from Zoya.

Zoya Posh, two coats in daylight. Posh is a rich red matte with a slight berry undertone, making it not your usual red. I say it's matte, but it's actually more of a satin finish. I don't know if the finish is supposed to be like this, because my other Matte Velvet polishes are more matte than this.. Anyway, Posh is a gorgeous shade of red and I can see myself wearing this a lot!

I made Posh glossy as well, to show you a full picture of this polish.

Zoya Posh, two coats with topcoat in daylight. See the sparklies that show up? Really nice effect with the topcoat on it.

Application was good, especially since it's a matte. Some mattes have issues with application because you can't stroke your brush twice over one spot, otherwise you'll get bald spots. This one doesn't have any of it. Posh is really pigmented; I think you can make this a one coater if you apply a thicker coat of polish.

What do you think of Zoya Posh? If you own it, did I get a bad bottle or is yours the same?

Thanks for stopping by!

OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow Suede

in Green, Matte, OPI, Suede

Hi all!

Not too long ago, pictures appeared of a new OPI Suede. It was green! You can't imagine how thrilled I was with this one.. A green suede. The Suedes are among my favorite polishes ever, because they're pretty, quickdry and opaque in one or two coats. I got my bottle in a week ago. Let's take a look at some pictures!

OPI Here Today, Aragon Suede, two coats in daylight. HTAT Suede is a medium green with very fine shimmer. The finish is different from the other suedes; this one has a more dusty feel to it and the shimmer is really small. It's pretty though! Let's take a close look at the finish:

OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow Suede closeup. See the fine shimmer? I really like it.

Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow Suede is a lot lighter than the original Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow, but I don't mind. I think it's a gorgeous shade of green.

Of course, it had to be made shiny.. So I put some topcoat on it.

OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow Suede with topcoat. Shiny! It brings a little more depth to the polish and makes it less dusty, but it holds on to the feel it has in the suede look.

Closeup:

And the closeupshot to make this one complete. I really like it shiny as well!

Application was good. The polish is easily opaque in two coats and since it's a Suede, it dries very quick.

What do you think of OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow Suede? Will you be getting a bottle for yourself or do you already own it? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Zoya Gilda

in Essie, Matte, Pink, Sparkle, Zoya

Hi all!

Tonight I have another Zoya Sparkle for you: Gilda. Doesn't that remind you of the series that was on, years ago? Sabrina The Teenage Witch? Lol well it does to me. I used to watch it every time it was on and I loved it! Anyway, on to some pics :)

Zoya Gilda, three coats in daylight. Gilda is a bright pink that has the same sparkle finish as Ivanka and Alegra that I showed earlier. Even though I'm not really into pinks anymore, I think this one is pretty. The sparkles really look awesome!

I did a little mattification (lol, is this a word?)

Zoya Gilda with one coat of Essie Matte About You. Please excuse the white flakes, my Essie MAY appears to be developing these.. Gilda looks pretty with a matte topcoat! Well that's no surprise since the others were great as well. It look like scales of a fish, or pink dragon hide. Hm. Interesting!

Application was good and Gilda needed three coats for opacity. All three coats dried pretty quick. You can really see the sparkles build up in intensity when you add the second and third layer :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Nidhi

in China Glaze, Glass flecked, Imageplate M77, Konad, Matte, Nailart, Red, Silver, Sparkle, Zoya

Hi all!

Is the weather there as good as it is here? It's getting hot and sunny in The Netherlands! Today I have another Zoya Sparkle for you: Zoya Nidhi.

Zoya Nidhi, three coats in daylight. Nidhi is the oddball in the Sparkle Collection; it has a different finish than the other five polishes. It's still super pretty though! Nidhi is a tomato red glass flecked polish with silver, red, lime and yellow particles. This is three coats, but I guess you could go with two coats as well.

Application was as good as the other sparkles. The texture is a bit on the thin side but easy to work with. Drying time was good.

Since I made the other Sparkles matte, here's Nidhi mattified:

Zoya Nidhi, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Pretty, but not as pretty as the other sparkles! Please excuse the white chip on my nails, my Matte About You seems to have issues..

And of course I did a little (because I don't want to cover up the prettyness of Nidhi) Konad.

Zoya Nidhi, three coats stamped with imageplate M77 and China Glaze Millennium. It's a little stamp, and I have to say that I like it! I have never used this plate before and I've had it for a while..

What do you think of Nidhi?

Also, I've been working behind the scenes on my blog. You might not see it now, but you will see major changes on my blog in the near future. I've worked on it for the past four or five days, yesterday even over 11 hours to make everything perfect. I think it will keep me off the streets since I want everything perfect, but I hope you will enjoy all the effort I put in it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ulta Forbitten

in Brown, Essie, Matte, Shimmer, Ulta

Hi all!

How is your weekend so far? I know the US girls still have the half sunday ahead, that's why I say so far ;) Today I have a polish for you that came in a RAOK from a lovely lady from the US. We decided to swap a ton of polishes, but my package is still at customs and probably won't be released ever so she sent me a couple of beauties. Thanks Rachel, they're gorgeous!

She sent me the Ulta Glam Goth Set that's only available in the US, and since the colors are gorgeous it's a big hit :D

Ulta Forbitten, two coats in daylight. This polish is ridiculously shiny so it took me a gazillion pics to get the color right in my pics. Forbitten is a gorgeous dark brown, almost black base with tons of bronze and brown shimmer and it's absolutely stunning. This one definately doesn't need any topcoat because it's shiny as hell itself.

I thought this would make a great matte as well, but I was wrong in this case..

Ulta Forbitten, two coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You. It looks flat and dull and none of the shimmer really shows through the matte.. Too bad!

Application was good, although the brush is teeeny tiny. The structure is nice and went on smoothly so I didn't have any issues with this. Drying time was good as well, I was pleasantly surprised!

If you like dark colors and have the chance to get your hands on the Ulta Glam Goth set, get it!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Ivanka

in China Glaze, Essie, Gold, Imageplate M73, Konad, Matte, Nailart, Sparkle, Zoya

Hi all!

So today I have the second polish from the Zoya Sparkle Collection for you: Zoya Ivanka. Let the pictures do the talking..

Zoya Ivanka, three coats in daylight. For the second picture I adjusted my camera settings a bit to show you how she really looks, since my camera makes her look a bit dull with the regular settings.. Ivanka is a true stunning green with golden sparkles. Whoa. It's no coincidence that this is the color of money with a name like hers..

This one easily makes it to my number one green, bumping China Glaze Emerald Sparkle from it's throne. Damn, this is gorgeous. Of course, I had to mattify her as well..

Zoya Ivanka with one coat of Essie Matte About You. This glows! It looks like dragon hide.. Hm. Maybe I'm reading too much Harry Potter. But look at her!

Is that gorgeous or what? I can't stop saying how awesome this is.

I did a little Konad on her as well. Of course, I used a gold to stamp with..

Zoya Ivanka stamped with imageplate M73 and China Glaze 2030. The colors play really well together! In the closeup you can see that Ivanka just won't stop sparkling underneath the Konadicure.

See? What else can I say.. This is a great color!

Application was good. The polish is a bit watery, but easy to work with and opaque in three coats. Drying time was good as well.

What do you think of Zoya Ivanka?

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Alegra

in Bundle Monster Imageplates, China Glaze, Essie, Matte, Nailart, Pink, Silver, Sparkle, Zoya

Hi all!

Did you miss me? Our internet provider decided to cut us off internet, television and phone last wednesday, so I haven't been able to get back online ever since.. I'm at my boyfriend's house at the moment so I'm able to upload and write some posts. Internet will be off till at least monday, but I'll try to upload a couple of posts so you still have enough to read and look at.

However, I don't know if I have time to answer all emails and respond to your comments.. I hope you will understand :)

Recently I got the entire Zoya Sparkles Collection in and I don't have any regret that I bought all six polishes. They're all beautiful and today you will see the first of six: Zoya Alegra.

Zoya Alegra, three coats in daylight. The weather was really bad when I did this one, so please bear with me. Alegra is a bright fuchsia sparkle; not really glitter, not really shimmer either. I'd say the finish is somewhere in between large shimmer and glass flecked. It's really pretty! As always - when there's an interesting finish to look at - a closeup shot:

Pretty huh? Zoya really does know how to do sparkles.

This polish was just screaming at me to be mattified, so of course I put a coat of Essie Matte About You over it.

Zoya Alegra, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Woah! Damn. It glows! look at it!

Pfew.. This is the kind of pink that I can actually see myself wearing every week, either sparkly or matte.

And to finish it off, I did a small konadicure with one of my Bundle monster plates.

Zoya Alegra, three coats stamped with Bundle monster plate BM05 and China Glaze Millennium. I didn't want to put too much over it because it looks so pretty.. (the color is a lot brighter than shown in this picture!)

Application was good. The polish is a bit runny and thin, but it was easy to apply. Drying time was good, even with three coats of polish. I think you could do with two coats for opacity, but I did three out of habit. I love the sparkles..

Stay tuned for more swatches of the Zoya Sparkles Collection!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: I haven't had the time to count the votes in the nailart contest yet because I couldn't get online till now.. I hope I will be able to post the winner somewhere this weekend. I won't forget to announce the winner!

Essie Decadent Diva

in Brown, Bundle Monster Imageplates, China Glaze, Essie, Matte, Shimmer, Silver

Hi all!

How are you doing today? The working week is in half and I believe there's a ton of sunshine on the way in the weekend (25 C this weekend!) so that's something to look forward to! I'm feeling a little better than I felt yesterday and monday, but still not the old me.. It should be fine in a couple of days though. Anyway, today I have one of my latest acquisitions for you: Essie Decadent Diva! I made this post a long one, so beware ;)

Essie Decadent Diva, three coats in daylight. Decadent Diva is a gorgeous brown shimmer. In my opinion, this is a true stunner. The shimmer in Decacent Diva is a lighter sort of brown and cherry colored, which makes it look like it glows on your nails. I love it!

Decadent Diva is a part of the 2007 Essie Glamour Girl Collection and is in my opinion by far the best color in this collection. I bought this polish without being sure that I would like it, but I sure do.

Application was a bit tricky since the structure of the polish is a bit watery at first, but all evens out in two coats. I did three because of the macro settings on my camera. Drying time was alright, not too quick even though I waited a bit between coats.

Since the polish had a glowy vibe over it, it was screaming "Mattify me!", so of course, I did.

Essie Decadent Diva with a coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Essie MAY makes Decadent Diva look purely matte, without it looking flat. I actually really like this..

But of course, making this polish matte wasn't enough.. I had to stamp something on it! I decided to use one of my new Bundle Monster plates that I got in just a couple of days ago.

Essie Decadent Diva with one coat of Essie MAY, stamped with China Glaze Millennium and Bundle Monster plate BM15. Whew, that's a whole lot! I LOVE this image! I didn't notice it when I was ordering, but I saw it when I got the plates in.. Look at the details of the tail of the peacock! Isn't that amazing? Let's see it closeup:

Whoa, I think I found a new favorite stamping image! Millennium makes a great contrast between the base color and the image. Yes, this combination is a winner for me!

What do you think of Essie Decadent Diva - Do you like her more when she's shiny or when she's matte? And what do you think of the Bundle Monster image? Do you own them yourself?

Thanks for stopping by!

OPI Purple-opolis (Greek Isles Collection 2004)

in Finger Paints, ManGlaze, Matte, OPI

Another old but beautiful OPI polish. I bought this one because of the name and because it is from the greek collection. But that doesn´t mean I don´t like the color, a beautiful purple shimmer. It needs three coats for full coverage. Look how gorgeous it is:

Well, this beauty was screaming "matify me!" so I did :) I used ManGlaze Matte Astrophe. And as you can see, it didn´t cracle. It cracles only if you use it on a fresh mani, this was applied a few hours after. So which look do you like more?

Fuggen Ugly Hot Mess!

in Glitter, Grey, ManGlaze, Matte, Silver

Hi all!

A very quick post today with just my NOTD of today. I will do a full review with more (and decent) pics somewhere later this week.

Michèle from Lacquerized was so sweet to order some ManGlazes for me a while ago. Unfortunately, my bottle of Fuggen Ugly would not open! I tried everything, but the bottle was fuggen stuck. I told Marc from ManGlaze and he offered to send me a new bottle ♥!! Talking about great CS :D Anyway, I got my new bottle in yesterday and it opened! So I thought I might as well put it on.

ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly two coats on every nail (with a thin coat of Nubar Diamont) and two coats of Hot Mess on my ringfinger. Ain't that sweet? I'm really diggin' the combination!

That's all for today dear reader, I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday :)

Thanks for stopping by!

It Doesn't Get Any Matter Than This!

in Black, ManGlaze, Matte, Shimmer

Hi all!

So today I have something awesome for you! Dear Michèle was so kind to order me a few bottles of ManGlaze as well when she placed her order <3 so I have my first ManGlaze to share with you today! Curious? I thought so! On to the pics..

ManGlaze Matte is Murder, two coats in daylight. This is the best matte black ever! It doesn't get any more matte than this.. Most dark mattes are more of a charcoal or grey color, but this one really is super matte black. This is only two coats and they went on really smoothly without dragging or leaving bald spots.

You know me well enough to know that I can't go by any matte polish without putting some topcoat on it..

ManGlaze Matte is Murder with one coat of Nubar Diamont. Look at it! Isn't this gorgeous? Matte is Murder has a very pretty shimmer in it that makes it also interesting to look at when it's glossy.

See what I mean? This rocks!

This is the best matte polish that I ever tried and I like this even better than my Orly Iron Butterfly - which is definitely in my top 3 polishes. It's super duper matte and very easy to work with so I can't do anything else than love this..

ManGlaze can be purchased at www.manglaze.com and they also ship outside the US!

Thanks for stopping by!

ManGlaze nail art

in Black/Grey, ManGlaze, Matte, Neon, Purple

Yesterday I had time to play with my polishes a bit more, so I tried to do a ruffian mani using Color Club Ultra Violet and ManGlaze Matte is Murder. I have never made one before, so as one could expect, it ended up as a major fail :( Well nobody is perfect. I tried to hide the imperfections with some stamping and actually like it like this a lot!

What do you think? Any tips and tricks how to do a nice ruffian are welcome :)

Zoya Loredana; Swatches & Comparison

in Charcoal, Comparison, Grey, Matte, OPI, Shimmer, Suede, Zoya

Hi all!

So, today I have quite a lengthy post for you. I decided to do a matte mani and while I was at it, I did a 'complete' post; Swatching both matte and shiny plus a comparison. Lots to cover, so on to the pics!

Zoya Loredana, two coats in natural light. Loredana is a medium grey, charcoal colored polish. This one isn't shiny, a true matte! I love how this looks. Because she is so pretty, another picture:

Application on Loredana was super easy. The polish structure was just right; not too thick or too thin. A couple of my mattes/suedes tend to be a bit gloopy, but this one certainly wasn't. I didn't have problems whatsoever and since the polish dried so quickly, it's an A+ polish for me!

There isn't any matte that I wouldn't try to make shiny, so Loredana is no exception:

Zoya Loredana, two coats with one coat of Seche Vite in natural light. Pretty huh? She really shows her shimmer when you make her shiny. It looks so pretty! I can't decide if I like her better matte or shiny.. What do you think?

Judging on the color, I thought she might be close to OPI Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede, so I grabbed my bottle and did a comparison.

Index and ring are Zoya Loredana, middle and pinkie are OPI Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede.

Loredana is two coats, while SSITP is three coats. Opacity is better with Loredana. On the nail they are closer colorwise, but my camera shows a huge difference. These are no dupes, but similar. SSITP is a darker grey with more shimmer than Loredana. Loredana looks a bit flat besides SSITP because she is a true matte.

A shiny comparison:

Again, Zoya Loredana on index and ring, SSITP on middle and pinkie. Both are topped with a coat of Seche Vite. You can clearly see now that SSITP looks deeper because she holds more shimmer.

I really like both of these! It depends on my mood which one I will wear, but I know for a fact that both will be a part of my go-to polishes when I'm in a hurry. If you can't decide which one you like best of these two, I'd say the Zoya is 'better', but only because she is opaque in two coats, while OPI needed three to be opaque.

I hope this was helpful :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Orly Gumdrop

in Black, Creme, Green, Matte, Nailart, Orly, Shimmer

Hi all!

The week is in half! Just two more working days till it's weekend. Yay! Today I have a polish for you that I actually wore a while ago. I'm talking about Orly Gumdrop from the Sweet Collection that just came out.

Orly Gumdrop, three coats in daylight with topcoat. Gumdrop is a member of the minty family, but is slightly greener. I really don't know how I can describe this any better. I also have to add that none of my pictures turned out to be true to life. Gumdrop is greener than in the picture, it appears to be a very light blue or so, but it's not.

The structure of this polish is quite thick, but I suppose that's normal for pastels since I've had this issue with all the pastels I've tried so far. The structure of the polish didn't give me trouble, although it applied a little streaky and with bald spots, but all evened out in three coats. The problem was bubbling! Lots and lots of bubbling! I haven't seen anything like it. What a drama! I tried to get rid of the bubbles by using a topcoat, but even the topcoat failed. Too bad, because it's such a lovely color! So, to get rid of the bubbles, I did my new favorite trick to cover up bubbles and smudges; I did a Ruffian inspired mani.

Orly Gumdrop with one coat of Orly Iron Butterfly. Oops, I see I didn't do cleanup with this one.. Sorry about that! I just wanted to show you the lovely color combination. The colors work great together and I like how this turned out. I will defenitely try this again and do a proper mani.

Does anyone of you have the same issues with pastels and bubbling? Is it the polish, or is it me?

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: I will prepare posts in Dutch as well for the next couple of days. I didn't have time to write in two languages. I hope you'll forgive me for that!

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

in China Glaze, Essie, Glitter, Green, Imageplate M69, Konad, Matte, Nailart

Hi all!

So, first day of the week is over. Did you all survive? I'm going back to work tomorrow so I'll just do a short post before I crash into bed. Short, in text that is. I have lots of pictures of this pretty! I'm late to the party, but since Emerald Sparkle was sold out almost everywhere, I got my bottle just a couple of weeks ago from eBay.

Emerald Sparkle, three coats. I could have done two coats, but I did three because I had to take pictures and the macro mode is evil.. Lol. Emerald Sparkle is a gorgeous green glitter polish. The green glitter is in a darker green base that gives it gorgeous depth. I don't know if I own the 'good' or the 'bad' Emerald Sparkle though, from other pictures it seems to be somewhere in between. Application was great! I was so surprised. Dryingtime was quick, I didn't expect it to be dry so quick. This is definitely a winner for me!

And a little closeup of this beauty:

*insert ooh and aah here*

With so much glitter, it just HAS to be a gorgeous matte as well. So, I applied one coat of Essie Matte About You. This is the result..

This is so hot! I love these kind of polishes matte. It gives a really pretty look, although I like Emerald Sparkle better when she shines :) This is a very deep, dark green. A closeup of the matte prettyness:

Oh so pretty.

And because you all know me, a little Konad to play with!

I used plate M69 and China Glaze Cherish for stamping. China Glaze Cherish is actually a light green polish, but it seems like a matte silver or something. I really like the effect it had in this Konad!

Do you own Emerald Sparkle? If not, buy it! What do you think of this gorgeous polish and the different 'looks' in this post?

Thanks for stopping by!