#NOTW - Matte Ombre Red Velvet Nails (24 March 2014)

My #NOTW (Nails of the Week) this week is inspired by red velvet cakes and my new hair colour :) (picture later in this post) - a matte red gradient manicure. Also, sneakily used it as a chance to test out naturally matte nail polish vs matte top coats! But more on that later.

L to R: Barry M Matte in Burgundy Crush, Barry M Raspberry, Essie Matte About You

The natural matte, normal polish, and matte top coat.

Pinky and ring finger have on Raspberry + MAY, other three fingers in Burgundy Crush alone

A subtle red ombre. The colour difference between both polishes was more obvious in bright natural light but indoors they look almost identical.

Nails to match my new hair!

<3 my hair colour at the moment!

Red velvet cupcake anyone?

Too obsessed with maroon / red shades at the moment - my dress, my new hair and even my toe nails are currently painted with Maybelline Color Show Keep-up-the-Flame!

Anyway, back to my little experiment of Matte polishes vs Matte top coats - overall they look and feel really similar, at least for the Barry M Matte polishes. Both also lasted the same (short :/) amount of time before starting to chip, and once they start chipping it was downhill from there (Read: constant touching and re-touching up of nails) Matte nails look good but they are a such a pain to maintain! I noticed that the Burgundy Crush nails chipped slightly more, but it could also be because I use my index and middle fingers more often? My thumb, which has a really thick layer of Burgundy Crush on is still entirely intact after 5 days of wear! Maybe a thicker coat does the trick.

Overall verdict: 

Matte top coat - Easier application but takes longer (waiting between layers)

Matte polish - Super tricky application but really really quick

I love matte nails not only for the way they look, but also because you can do them right before bed and not mess them up in your sleep! Once matte nails are dry, they're pretty much dry and you can do anything without really messing them up. The formula of Matte polishes is quite a nightmare though at least for me. They dry way too quickly, even while I'm halfway through one nail. In comparison, Essie's Matte About You applied like a regular top coat and wasn't thick at all. Practice makes perfect though, and maybe I'll try using thicker coats in future when working with Matte polishes x