I really suck at doing my nails...review on E.L.F. matte nail polish....ramble

So, I kinda wanted to do a Christmas-y themed nail before the holiday, but totally bombed.  I don't have the nail art pens or the specifically designed polishes (that have the thinner brushes), so I attempted to use my very small & thin craft paint brushes.  Yeah, that didn't work so hot either.  SO, eventually I'll get to Sally's & get the nail art brush that has the brush on one end & the dotting tool on the other.  I think it runs about $5.  Luckily I started with my toenails so any error's were easily covered up, fixed, or hidden.

I ended up doing my own thing & I've not really ventured out with nail design in a decade or so.  Here's what I used....

Pure Ice-Black Rage, E.L.F.-Red Velvet, Pure Ice-Silver Mercedes

 I really love these colors.  I've only seen the Pure Ice line at Wal-Mart and I own 3 shades.  The black is wonderful, the silver has almost a mirror finish.  IF you use the silver be sure to buff out any ridges on your nail first as it shows up really horrible.  The Red Velvet only looks good AFTER a top coat.  It looks extremely dull by itself.  So, here's what they look like...

With Flash............2 coats of each color except black.

Without Flash, but under light.

Without Flash

As you can see, I did an accent nail.  I think it turned out really cute.  After doing this, I wish I had a really good gold color to use instead of the silver and a really good Christmas-y green to use instead of the black.  My main beef with how this turned out relates to my OCD-ness.  I used a craft brush to paint on the black line and from a distance it looks fine......but up close you can see the imperfections. 

 NOW.......on to the E.L.F. matte nail polish

Polish + ELF matte polish (with flash)

 

 

 

Polish + ELF matte polish (without flash)

Matte topcoat(L) Shiny topcoat(R) - without flash

Matte(L) Shiny(R) - with flash

As you can see above, I'm not really happy with the matte polish from ELF.   A lot of the comment reviews on the matte stated to use a very light coat to avoid the cracking, white, bird poop look I ended up getting.  The odd thing is, I used MORE of the product on my big toe than on my smaller ones.  In a few spots on the big toe, you can see a small white dot, but not NEARLY as bad as the others.  The OCD in me had to re-do my nails which I was not happy about.  Luckily I hadn't done my fingernails YET, so I didn't have to worry about messing them up too.  It does make the polish appear to be matte, but I don't know if I could keep using it.  I don't want to have to waste more time correcting the bird poop effect this may leave on every nail.  I think in the future, IF I do use it, it will be as I've done now........use and try on my toenails rather than fingernails.


TOODLES Y'ALL!!