Matte Topcoat Comparisons, Part 8

In my previous matte topcoat comparison at the end of January, I said I'd have another one "before too long". That turned out to be not so true, as here it is two months later, though I guess that could be considered soon if one has a very long time horizon.

Today I've got four new to me matte topcoats: Glitter Guilty Mattify Top Coat, Rescue Beauty Lounge Matte Top Coat, H & M Matte Top Coat, Kleancolor Madly Matte. I bought the RBL; the other three were gifts from my friend Trish, who has excellent nail polish hunting skills.



Here they are on the nail over Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, in the same order as the bottles above. The RBL is the winner of this quartet when the scores for matteness and ease of application are combined. The Kleancolor comes in second; it's decently matte and readily available (at Amazon and other places), but it didn't level as well as the RBL. I'm not sure if that was due to the formula or the brush; in any case, a second coat might have resolved the issue, but I am generally too impatient to do two coats of topcoat. The Glitter Guilty and the H & M are in a photo finish for third; they're just very slightly less matte than the Kleancolor (but still definitely matte, not satin).



Here's another look at these four:



I advanced the top two from the first group to a matte off with my two current favorites from my stash. Left to right: Wet 'n' Wild Matte Topcoat, Rescue Beauty Lounge Matte Top Coat, OPI Matte Top Coat, and Kleancolor Madly Matte.



And on the nail below. The RBL is really good. It's also really expensive at $18 a bottle, which means that the 99 cent Wet 'n' Wild remains my overall matte topcoat champion.





I haven't gotten any more matte toppers since I swatched these, so there is no Part 9 of this series in the works right now. Of course if I do see a mattifier I don't have, I will buy it, so I expect this is to be continued.

Links to all the episodes in this series (so far):

Part 1: OPI, Barielle, China Glaze, Sinful Colors, Butter London, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
Part 2: Revlon, NYC, Essie, Claire's
Part 3: OPI, Essie, GOSH, Cult Nails, Icing, Ulta, Fing'rs
Part 4: Orly, Salon Perfect, OPI, Sally Girl
Part 5: OPI, elf, L'Oreal
Part 6: Nicole by OPI, OPI, Sally Hansen, Formula X for Sephora, Deborah Lippmann, Dolce & Gabbana, Nails Inc., Nina Ultra Pro, Illamasqua
Part 7: Fresh Paint, OPI, CK One, Wet 'n' Wild

Swap Goodies from Portugal

I did another swap with Akuma Kanji, my friend I've never met who writes Under the Gravity's Nails. Look at all these goodies she sent:



Not in the photo above are some lovely photo cards of Portugal she sent along with a letter she wrote which included extra information about all the polishes, which is why I'll be able to tell you about them as we look at the detail photos.

The Cliché lineup, which I am told is their fall collection:



Left to right above: Nunca Se Sabe (You Never Know), Atitude (Attitude), Mostarda (Mustard—I am loving the pretty ugliness of this one), Atira Te (Go for It), Orquidea (Orchid), Silencio (Silence).

The Andreia Pocket colors—130, 127, 131, 12:



From Incocos—Beijinho (Sweet Little Kiss), Chi Coracao (Tight Hug), Ternura (Sweetness), Miminho (Little Sweet Nothing), and Meninas Purpurinas (Glitter Girls, which I can't wait to use).



Rounding out the polishes are a quartet from H&M and a new to me brand called Purple (kinda confusing but I love it). Left to right: H&M Matte Metallic Purple Metal and Blue Metal, Purple #77 Emerald, H&M Scented Rose Pink and Green Apple.



I am hoping I get a chance to try some of these very soon; it'll just be hard to decide which one to grab first! Right now I'm out of my usual environment, visiting my mom in Illinois and helping her get her house sorted out so we can put it on the market sooner rather than later. It's been more draining a process than I anticipated, so I don't think I'm going to be doing all the posts I'd planned to this week. Guess I'll have to see how the rest of the days go.

Swappity Swap

I have more swap goodies to share today, this time from my recent swap with Miranda of Mirannie's Nails.


Polishes left to right: Essence Choose Me, Glisten Up, and Get the Fever; Catrice From Dusk to Dawn, H & M Cha Cha, and Ozotic Pro 524.

H & M Cha Cha was the first one I tried because there was sunshine when I started swatching, and there's no better polish for sunny weather than a holo. Application was fine; two coats over a base coat was good, and I skipped top coat because this was a swatching session. Indoors, in indirect light, Cha Cha is a slightly sparkly champagne color.





Outside in the sunshine the colors come out to play.





I decided to compare Cha Cha to another holo in my stash, OPI DS Classic, the polish I call my "office holo" because it's not too flashy for a customer meeting but very entertaining sitting in the sun at stoplights on my commute. Two coats of DS Classic was a bit less opaque than two coats of Cha Cha. DS Classic is a little warmer-toned and a little deeper-hued.


Top to bottom: H & M Cha Cha, OPI DS Classic, H & M Cha Cha, OPI DS Classic.


Top to bottom: OPI DS Classic, H & M Cha Cha.

Outside, it was clear that the H & M is a finer grained and slightly less flamboyant holo, though they're both pretty.


Left to right: OPI DS Classic, H & M Cha Cha, OPI DS Classic, H & M Cha Cha.


Left to right: H & M Cha Cha, OPI DS Classic, H & M Cha Cha, OPI DS Classic.

I think Cha Cha might be my new office holo. Thanks, Miranda!