5 Tips and Tricks for the Matte Nail Trend

In my article comparing a variety of matte polish top coats, I promised you some tips on embracing this trend. After months of wearing matte nail polish myself, I came up with these tips to help your manicure and polish last and to get the best results possible.

China Glaze's Recycle polish with Rescue Beauty Lounge's Matte topcoat for the designs.

1. Try to use as little hand lotion or cream as possible. If you do apply lotion, gently wipe it off your matte nails with a soft cloth or old T shirt. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a glossy finish.
2. Really take your time applying your colored nail polish. Focus on getting it smooth and even. Matte top coats and polishes show every little ridge, bubble and mistake.
3. Use a quality base coat like CND’s Stickey ($19 at Sally Beauty Supply) and Dermelect Launchpad Anti-Aging base coat (at $18 at SkinStore.com). Both of these are my go-to base coats for any nail polish. Some people recommend not using a base coat with matte colors, but I tried that- and I just ended up with peeling color immediately. These two base coats help adhere your polish color and really increased the life of my manicure!
4. Experiment with colors! Grays, taupes, navy, red, lime greens all look super cool when mattified. But think outside the box too- Glitter polish with a matte top coat is very unique! It’s almost like frosted stained glass. In the photo below I left my pointer finger glossy, all the rest have one coat of essie’s Matte About You.


Glitter polish topped with essie's Matte About You produces a softened effect.

5. Combine gloss and matte finishes. You can do a monochromatic French manicure by applying a matte top coat on your entire nail and a glossy top coat across the tips, or reverse it! Stripes and dots also look fresh and subtle.

If you’ve tried the matte nail trend, what was your experience? Do you have any tips to share?