Thursday, May 31, 2012

MASH Matte Top Coat

Recently I received the opportunity to test and review MASH Nails new Matte Top Coat. Before you ask, yes, I was provided the top coat in return for a review. However, I was asked to be 100% honest and that's what I intend to do.


First up, the colors I used in this post: China Glaze Fast Track, NYC Black Lace Cream, MASH Matte Top Coat, and OPI for Sephora What's a Tire Jack?


Here is a close up view of the new MASH Matte Top Coat. It comes in your standard 0.5 oz and has a nice, soft brush for application.


Since I had a couple of interviews coming up and needed to look professional, I decided to use a base of CG Fast Track from the Hunger Games collection. Fast Track is a nude polish with very noticeable small gold glitter. 


While Fast Track is a lovely color, the difference in matte and regular top coat did not photograph well on it.  My index finger and ring finger have a standard top coat while my middle and pinky finger have the new MASH Matte Top Coat. 


You can almost see the difference here. Even though you can't really tell a difference between the matte and shiny topcoat in the picture, you can in real life. Let me tell you, Fast Track with the new MASH Matte Top Coat is stunning!

NYC Black w/ regular top coat, NYC black MASH Matte Top Coat, Sephora What's a Tire Jack no topcoat, Sephora What's a Tire Jack MASH Matte Top Coat
Since you can't see the difference in finish in the picture of Fast Track, I decided to do a real test for you. I started with two swatches each of NYC Black Cream Lace and Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack? Now, What's a Tire Jack is a naturally matte black polish and will be my basis for comparing the new MASH Matte Top Coat. First I compared the matte top coat to a shiny top coat both over NYC black (the first two nails). As you can see, the MASH Matte Top Coat definitely creates a more matte finish in comparison to a standard top coat. It definitely does not create a completely matte finish like the naturally matte Sephora polish. The last two nails compare a bare matte and the same matte with the new MASH Matte Top Coat. It still keeps that matte finish when used over a matte polish but does give it a little bit of shine. 

Verdict: While not creating a 100% matte finish, MASH Matte Top Coat does create the most matte finish of all the matte top coats I have tried. It goes on beautifully. Like most matte top coats I have tried, it does soften the underlying polish and takes a little longer than most polishes to dry. However, I have been wearing the MASH Matte Top Coat over Fast Track for 4 days now with not a chip in site! This is huge for matte polishes which tend to chip quickly. 

Is MASH Matte Top Coat 100% perfect... no. Is it the best matte top coat I have tried so far? Definitely! You can purchase the new matte top coat on the MASH website here: matte top coat for $7.99. 

Happy painting!


1 comment:

  1. I am absolutely going to try matte coating Fast Track next time I wear it--great idea!

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