This is the second of my Barry M Matte Nail Paints - in Mocha - you can see my NOTD in Crush here. I love the colours/finish of these Barry M Mattes but the wear time is not so good, so with my recent £3 off Boots voucher I bought the No7 Matte Nail Effects Topcoat (it only came to £4) ...
I took these pictures on two separate occasions and on both days the sun decided to make a welcome appearance - on and off mind! As with Crush, Mocha is not a true matte but has a bit of a sheen to it (as in the first pic), which I don't mind at all. Easy enough to apply but you do need two coats and drying time is average. It doesn't last without a topcoat and chipped after a day. It's a good laid back, deep neutral shade though and really does look like one of those chilled iced mocha drinks that go down so well in the Summertime - I now have Summertime on my mind - can't come soon enough!
Anyway - the bottom pic is after having applied the No7 Matte Nail Effects topcoat - although it looks opaque in the bottle it goes on clear. As you can see Mocha is now a proper 'flat matte' with virtually no light bouncing off the nail. With this topcoat the polish lasted two days before chips - so an extra day's grace - still not fantastic but better and to be honest I'm beginning to wonder whether anything will ever last on my nails more than a few days anyway - maybe if I become a lady of leisure someday and employ a cook, cleaner and bottle washer - yeah right!
I know many of us associate nail polish with glossy finish but I do like this effect for a change, it takes it to a whole new level of grunginess don't you think? The No 7 Matte Nail Effects Topcoat is meant to make any polish matte (not just the ones that are meant to be anyway!) - so you could have a field day (should you have the time and patience) messing about with all your different polishes just to see the difference!
Have you tried the Barry M Matte Nail Paints or the No 7 Matte Topcoat? What do you think of matte polishes?
Jen x
