Matte Madness.

So every now and then I get a little bit obsessed with a certain brand of polish, or type of product, at the moment I'm developing a little something for matte polishes and top coats. It started off with my purchase of the Models Own - Hedkandi collection's "Hedonist" polish (£5 in Boots). It is gorgeous! It's a really bright neon pink (or orangey coral depending on the light)and I bought it thinking it was a standard, shine finish polish. Oh no no! When it dries it's the most beautiful matte finish you've ever seen, and this really makes the polish pop. It moves it on from being another bright summer neon to something with a little bit more style and edge, needless to say I LOVE it!

So that's it, now my eyes have been opened to mattes and I'm on the hunt for more, like a nail polish Predator. At the same time though, I do like a cheeky bargain, so you know I'm looking for polishes to test and play with that won't break the bank, and boy did I find one. During one of my massive cosmetics binges I was searching E.L.F, for new eyeliners, foundations that sort of thing and came across their "Matte Finish Clear Nail Polish", so I take a look, and then I take a look at the price... £1.50! So I order it, along with a million other things, and it's awesome!

For that kind of price you expect it to be a super little bottle, or to not quite work or a lot of chipping, and that's so not the case. It's a decent 10ml bottle, it's really quick drying, and you can obviously see when it's dry because it's transformed to matte, and it's actually pretty chip resistant too. The best thing about it? Now rather than having one matte polish, I can have hundreds!

So with my sick new top coat in hand I've been playing around with one of my favourite nail art patterns, the little leopard print on a nice summery pastel shade.

Step one, base coat. I used the Models Own "3 in 1 Base coat/ Top coat & Gloss"

Step two, pick a base colour. I chose Models Own "Lilac Dream", a beautiful pastel purple with great coverage.

Step three, matte coat. Like I said this time I was playing around with my new E.L.F "Matte Finish Clear Nail Polish".

Final step, leopard. For this you can use the branded nail art pens like the Models Own - Wah Nails pens, but I used some Nail Star pens that I bought of Ebay for cheaps, love those bargains! I tend to use a rule of three for the print, using three sides, whether connected or not seems to be the best way that I've found to get the leopard to look just right.

The shine finish of the black really sets off the matte lilac too, making it look super slick! I definitely recommend this matte coat, give it a try, it won't rinse your wallet and it's a top coat like this is a great addition to any collection.