OPI Fall 2009 Mattes

OPI has jumped on the Matte-finish bandwagon and that makes this matte-fiend very happy!

Pics first, opinions second.

Alpine Snow - Matte. Stark matte white. Yep, this is the Alpine Snow I remember, just with all the shine removed. I prefer this over the KO Powder white for two reasons. First, this is brighter, whiter, cleaner while the KO is somewhat yellowed looking. Second, this is more opaque, two coats is perfect but the KO took three at the very least.

Gargantuan Green Grape - Matte. Bright spring green. Same as Gargantuan Green Grape, only matte! Now that I'm looking at these pictures on a different monitor, the color doesn't look right. It's a lot greener with some yellow and a lot more saturated. These pictures make it look like a pale mint green- it's not. Or maybe it's just my laptop screen skewing the color. I'm sure you already have Gargantuan Green Grape so you know what it looks like.



La Paz-itively Hot - Matte. Hot pink matte shimmer. WOW. Just... wow. This is a must-have if you like mattes. It looks like hot pink satin. 80's prom dress? It has that same velvet-looking finish that Zoya Posh has. This is just absolutely fantastic. And La-Pazitively Hot will always have a special place in my heart, it was the first OPI polish I ever bought for myself. Although, the matte version seems different from the original. I will find my old bottle to compare.

Lincoln Park After Dark - Matte. I'm not sure about this one. I don't feel that it translated well into matte finish. The original Lincoln Park After Dark has a hidden shimmer to it- it looks like a creme, but in bright light or up close you can see the little particles. This just looks like prunes. Almost black with a little purple. Prunes, or licorice! Maybe I just need to let this one grow on me, because I liked the original. They should have done Midnight in Moscow or Black Cherry Chutney or some other shimmery red-black matte.


Russian Navy - Matte. This one was a total shocker for me! Based on the pictures, it's the one I expected to like the least, but when I tried it on, it was my favorite! I love the matte Navy shade, it reminds me of blue uniforms. Sexy policeman polish. This would look so awesome with a gold or silver chrome Konad star. I really, really love this. What's odd though is that the original Russian Navy is a shimmer and this is a creme. I would have liked to see it stay shimmery cause matte shimmers rock, but I am happy with this the way it is.


You Don't Know Jacques - Matte. This one is... interesting. I like it but it is very unusual. It looks like dried mud! That's pretty cool. This does look a little better in real life, but it's still a strange choice for OPI to convert to matte. In certain lights, the matte finish on this makes it look more grey so that it resembles stones rather than mud.


The formula on these was great for mattes. Not glue-like and sticky! It was thin, but very opaque. All of these had great opacity, only two coats were needed. Near-instantaneous dry time, so be sure to apply these quickly and evenly! Please refer to my Zoya Matte Velvet post for matte application instructions. There is a trick to applying mattes. They are very unforgiving and fast drying, so you really have to be careful to get it right the first time.

I have been wearing these since yesterday and I can report a little on the wear. They don't stay matte for very long. About six hours into wearing them, they developed a more satin semi-matte finish. Not yet shiny, but not chalky matte either. You could see the matte finish starting to wear off. Today they're about the same, half-matte. No shine yet, but they lost the nice chalky-looking super matte finish. I did apply these with a basecoat- Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. So far there is no chipping, cracking or tipwear. And I have applied hand lotion, but the shine that is added from the hand lotion is easily removed when you wash your hands.

I don't really know why the say not to use a basecoat. With these shades in particular, I would definitely recommend using them. In my matte experience, they don't tend to stain, but I would err on the side of caution if staining bothers you. I wear the basecoat because I like to always have treatment on my nails.

If you are applying basecoat, be sure that it is FULLY dry before applying the matte polish. If it isn't dry, the mate polish will crackle, just like those old Cover Girl Crackle polishes. Cool effect, but not exactly what you want to have happen.

Anyway, my thoughts. While I am super super excited that OPI did mattes and that we are seeing more mattes in general, I am somewhat disappointed in the shade selection. I already have these six polishes and if I wanted to make them matte, I could have used a matte topcoat. You can see where this would be frustrating, right? I would have loved to see six NEW shades, mattes unique to OPI. They have the ability to do great things with polish, we've seen them do great colors for years, they're just playing it extremely safe lately. Maybe it's the economy or maybe we can blame it on the boring consumer who only wants to by the most 'popular' best-selling shades instead of trying something new and exciting.

I'm going to see if I can find my original bottles of these colors and see how they compare with a coat of matte topcoat.

Also, once ALL the new mattes are in my hands (Orly and Nubar are next) I'll be doing a comparison with all the mattes I have. So stay tuned for that if you're curious.

Overall, I'm happy about these. The promo pictures were also deceiving, and I am absolutely shocked at how much I love Russian Navy Matte. It always seems to happen that way- I pick favorites and least favorites based on the promo pictures and advertisements and then I end up liking the exact opposite.