I was a little skeptical of the whole "matte thing" but being one not to shy away from a challenge, I found a girl willing to swap her Essie Matte About You on MUA. Here are the results of my findings.
Butter London - Trout Pout with Essie Matte About You (Index finger layered with Essie Flawless then Matte About You.)
I hunted this down at Ulta. It was the last bottle and looked like it could have been opened but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. It is an absolutely gorgeous color on it's own but with a matte finish gives it a pretty interesting look. I plan on experimenting with other brights in the near future.
L'Oreal - Waters Edge with Essie Matte About You
Waters Edge is supposedly an Essie Greenport dupe. As I don't own the latter, I can only rely on pictures from other blogs and it looks pretty close. I really like this family of colors (being a Pisces) and it also looked pretty neat as a matte, but I still prefer Trout Pout. Incidentally, I also ordered ILF from Manglaze who happens to be the purveyor of fine matte polishes. It's supposed to be a nice teal color so I'll be swatching that as soon as I get it (which I hope is soon!)
Formula wise, MAY is nice, not too goopy like Seche Vite can be and dries quickly, which from what I understand is typical in a matte polish. I like that this type of topcoat allows you to turn your normally glossy polish matte as opposed to turning your matte polish glossy. Anyways, its a nice addition to my top coat family and it will probably be one I'll be using frequently to "tone down" a lot of the bright shades in my collection.
Today's NOTD is exceptional in that, after five minutes I didn't want to take it off.
Priti - #209 Alister Stella Gray Rose
Alister Stella Gray Rose is a nail polish created by Priti NYC An absolutely gorgeous shade, it's one of the first four Priti polishes I ever purchased. It was also the one I was drooling over the most, partly because it was especially designed for Stella McCarthy's F/W 2011 Paris Fashion Week showing. It is a soft, work-friendly coral pink that leans more pink on my skintone -- wow, am I that yellow? (J/k)
Anyways, Priti also collaborated with McCarthy to create a shade for Spring/Summer 2012 Paris Fashion Week:
#137 Sweet Pea
And here's her Spring/Summer 2012 Paris Fashion Week show:
I'm not a huge fan of sheers so I'm not sure how sold I am on it yet but I'm definitely a fan of Priti after trying Alister Stella Gray Rose. Formula was not too thick to be difficult to work with and I reached an acceptable opacity after 3 coats.
The only downside to this polish is that it is on the pricier side, $12.50 USD per bottle but it makes up in a decent formula and gorgeous color payoff. But for me, this is a polish I would definitely want a backup bottle of. Not to mention the color online actually matched what I received. Shipping was fast -- I placed my order on Tuesday and had them on Friday -- and they do have a "clearance" section where bottles are half off. The color line itself is pretty work-appropriate and I don't regret choosing to buy Priti over Rescue Beauty Lounge this time around.
In addition to this shade, I also ordered #511 - Dusty Miller, #559 - Coffee Bush, and # #593 - Lamb's Ear, with the latter two being part of their new 2012 Pre-Spring collection. I'll have photos up on the other three as soon as I can bring myself to take off Alister Stella...hopefully sooner, but probably later.
