Mattefied Leopard Print Nail Of The Day and Sally Hansen's Big Matte Top Coat

Hey guys and gals! So today, I had an entirely different post planned out, but it didn't work out. Boo. Instead, you get some nail art and a review all in one! 

I spent all of yesterday afternoon playing around with some of my new Zoyas from the "Color Your World" promo at the beginning of January. Swatch spam to come soon, I may have placed two orders and am still waiting on one to be delivered.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

Used:

Zoya - Arizona

Zoya - Darcy

O.P.I. - Black Onyx

Sally Hansen - Big Matte Top Coat

Dotting tool

So after three failed attempts at nail art yesterday, I finally settled on doing a leopard print. This is actually my first time doing a leopard print mani! It's usually not my thing, but I wanted to see how it would look and if I could actually do one. I used the tutorial from Chalkboard Nails to create the mani, and it was actually pretty easy! If you have had issues in the past, I highly recommend you taking a look and giving it another go.

After I had finished, I thought it would be fun to try out my new matte top coat. My previous one has gone to polish heaven, and since Sally Hansen recently released a huge line of nail art tools, part of the line are various top coats - one being a matte, I grabbed a bottle.

Sally Hansen - Big Matte Top Coat

The Big Matte Top Coat is part of a line of "Big" top coats. While they aren't exactly big as in quantity (they are .04 fl oz), there are quite a few different ones to choose from. Shiny, matte, crackle, smokey (idk?) and different glitters. The matte top coat dries to a satiny finish with no streaks or white clumps and leveled out nicely. My only issue is that it is on the thicker side, and I had some minor smearing from it. I made the rookie mistake of not applying a traditional top coat first, in order to seal my nail and prevent smearing. It also takes a bit longer to dry, but once it looks matte then it is dry to the touch.

It retails for a lot cheaper ($5.49 - $5.99) than the Essie or O.P.I. matte top coats, and I have seen a comparison between this and the O.P.I. that are pretty even. Since I don't have either, I cannot do my own tests, but you can goolge it and see the results.

Hope you all have a great day!

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own. For more info, please read my disclaimer.