Dear Laura,
I painted my nails! I know, it’s a rarity. I feel that nail polish takes so long to dry that I don’t really have time for it… and I did end up wrecking these within two hours of applying the polish. I’ve been using Butter London’s Matte Finish Topcoat constantly and really like it. I originally thought it might dry my nails faster, but it takes just as long to fully set my nails as usual… if only I could seem to remember that.
The color I used is Julep’s Stefani from one of my old Julep Maven boxes, described as a “Gold flecked grey metallic”. There are tiny gold flecks in the polish that begin to stand out as the polish dries. Julep nail polishes are 4 free and I like to use natural products as much as possible, so they get my dangerous chemical-free approval.
Like all other metallic or glitter Julep nail polishes I’ve used, the color is great for a day (maybe two), but then rapidly deteriorates. At 72 hours after application it looked like my nails were done three weeks rather than three days ago. I don’t know if it’s just me, but metallic polishes just don’t seem to work for me. Luckily I prefer my nails without sparkle.
Julep Nail Vernis in Stefani, $14 at Sephora.com | Butter London Matte Finish Topcoat (c/o Coterie and the Lucky FABB gift bag) | $19 at Zappos.com | Essie Grow Stronger, $8 at Beauty.com
I’m always surprised by how varied nail polish colors can appear under different lighting. The photo at the top was taken in natural light, but this one was taken indoors in fluorescent light. Indoors Stefani shows up a little golder and greener, while in natural light it appears as a cool silver with a bit of gold if you look closely.
Kimberlee VDW says
Ohh lovely! I don’t typically like matte finish but these look like metal :p
Katja Reise says
Thank you so much for your sweet comment!
Love the polish!
-Kati
http://almoststylish.blogspot.de
silvrgurl says
I paint my nails about every 5 days
I am a polish junkie and love to change colors
I got a Butter polish back in Oct. I have to say it chips worse than my $1.99 polish ever thought about. So disappointed!
Love this color you are sporting
Brett
Alex Elizabeth says
Interestingly, the butter metallic polish I have is pretty decent at 5 days. All the solid colors have been terrible for me though. I have a pink and a red that are a disaster within 36 hours. So disappointing too, because butter is twice as much as OPI or essie!
Caitlin says
I use Essie’s Matte About You to get a matte effect, and the only thing I don’t like about it is that the matte soon becomes glossy after a few days (don’t even think about touching lotion when you have matte polish on).
Alex Elizabeth says
Ugh, I know. The matte comes off of Butter too, starting near the tips for me.
Kristin & Megan says
J’adore that color! I’ve found that Chanel metallic polishes hold up well! :)
Lyddiegal says
that is a gorgeous color! I havent even tried the matte topcoat, I’ve been sticking with my Essie Good To Go speed dry top coat, which does in fact reduce the dry time.
Alex Elizabeth says
I’ve heard that’s a good one! I usually use Sephora, but I got several recommendations for better ones from beauty blogger friends.