Top Coat Stress Test: Revlon Matte Pearl Glaze

Matte polishes aren’t my favorite things in the whole world, yet I keep trying them. Up to this point, every one I’ve tried has ended up being party polish. Then I learned about Revlon’s Matte Pearl Glaze.

Matte Pearl Glaze is a part of Revlon’s Transforming Effects collection. What attracted me to this one is that it’s a matte top coat and it has a beautiful pink shimmer. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, so when Rite Aid recently had Revlon polishes on sale 2/$4, I made a point to acquire it.

I decided to test it over Ulta Blue Holiday, a polish I rated as excellent. My hope was that testing Matte Pearl Glaze over a solid foundation would tell me whether this was going to be a good topper, or $2 I’ll never see again. I used one coat over two coats of Blue Holiday.

 

I really love how this looked. The matte finish would have been nice enough on its own, but the pink shimmer really is fantastic 

So, how did it hold up?

Pretty well! I suspected it wouldn’t last as long as it would have if I’d used my usual top coat and I was correct. With that said it definitely did better than straight up matte polishes have. Just a couple chips and some loss of texture.

I did try stamping with it. It can be done but I don’t think it’s really worth it. It came out looking like adhesive that was left behind, and only showed up on really dark polishes. Pity that. I found it dried out too quickly to be used in water marbling. I think its best chances in nail art would be to use it with nail vinyls.

Verdict: Good

If you’re like me and you want your matte manicures to survive more than six hours, definitely give this top coat a try. I am looking forward to playing around with it some more. If Revlon came out with the same thing in different colors, I would absolutely buy them.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Zoya Posh

Matte polishes are pretty, but they’re known to not last as long as traditional polish. I tend to not buy them unless they legitimately interest me. Zoya Posh is something I probably wouldn’t buy on my own. As luck would have it, I got a bottle in a shipping mistake I was allowed to keep. Woohoo!

Posh is a lovely shade of wine red, with a red shimmer. It almost seems to glow on the nail. I used two coats with no top coat.

It doesn’t stamp or water marble. You also can’t stamp on it either. Something about the matte finish prevents the design from sticking. I suppose if you put a top coat on first it might work, but that seems beside the point.  

Does this one perform better than others of its kind?

Sadly no, although I was really hoping it would. After one day of work, it was obviously chipped.

Verdict: Party Polish

This is another great polish for special occasions that doesn’t hold up to everyday life.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Claire’s Purple Mood Polish

Every so often, I’ll see a gimmicky polish that looks like fun, even though I know it might not work. Claire’s Mood Polish would be a good example. Being as it’s winter, I figured this would be the perfect time to test it out.

Although the label on the bottle says Purple, it never really looks that way on. It starts out looking like a darker pink, and turns to neon pink when warm. I didn’t really like how it looked in its transitional state. Normally I like how mood polish will create a French manicure look. This just looked like my nails were dirty. Meh. 

Here's how it looks all the way warm.

 

It’s a crelly, with a matte finish, so if you hate visible nail lines, turn back now. I used three coats, plus my usual one coat of Seche Vite on top to make it shiny. This doesn’t wholly come as a surprise to me, but this polish will not water marble or stamp.

Here's how it looked after one day.

I adjusted this photo to get the polish color accurate. This is its cold state.   

This particular morning, I did little more than get dressed and head out the door. No washing dishes, cooking, anything that might accelerate the doom of a manicure. Just as I started my car I noticed I already had some chipping. It only went downhill from there. Even with low expectations, this was a bottle of fail. 

Verdict: Loser Polish

While the color change effect is neat and all, what’s the point if it’s going to chip if you so much as look at it wrong? This one’s a waste of money.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sally Hansen Sun Sheen

When I first got into nail polish, I really liked the Sally Hansen brand. It always seemed to work well for me, and it was in my high school student budget. As an adult, I find I rarely buy them. I keep seeing interesting colors and promises that ultimately don’t seem to hold up well on my nails.

That being said, if I genuinely like how one looks, and if it’s cheap enough I’ll still try it. That leads me to today’s polish, Sun Sheen from Sally Hansen’s Satin Glam collection. As I write this, it’s on clearance at Walgreen’s and CVS, which puts it in the range I’m willing to spend for a brand I don’t completely trust.

Sun Sheen is a very pretty orange matte polish with orange and gold glass flecks. It looks more sparkly on the nail than it does in the bottle. I don’t know if it’s because it doesn’t have a glossy finish, or it’s just that you have to see it on the nail to appreciate it, but that’s how it is. I was worried about the durability of this one because of the satin texture. Was I justified?

 

Oh yes. One day of work destroyed it.

I know two data points aren’t a trend, but I’m getting the impression the words matte and durable can’t be used together in reference to polish. The damage doesn’t show as clearly as it did with China Glaze’s I Love Your Guts, but I’d say it was equal in severity.

Verdict: Party Polish

This is another polish that’s good for special occasions, but just won’t stand up to real life. If you’re going to get one of these, spend as little money as possible on it.

Nail Polish Stress Test: China Glaze I Love Your Guts

I like China Glaze’s core polishes. I’ve found them to be reliable across the board. Their gimmicky polishes? Not so much. I have one of them to test out today; I Love Your Guts from their Apocalypse of Color collection. I picked this one up during my last trip to Sally Beauty Supply. They put their Halloween displays on a rear facing end cap in the middle of the store, which was weird. I almost missed it!

This is actually an iridescent matte polish with black glitter in it.  It’s much prettier on than it is in the bottle. I found two heavier coats were enough for full coverage. It dried very quickly too. 

So, how did it last? Well, it didn’t. It was pretty much wrecked after one day at work, and it wasn’t even that busy! Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. Matte polish is less durable than traditional polish. Some companies will even go so far as to put disclaimers on their displays or websites to make that clear. 

Verdict: Party Polish

This polish is too pretty not to use, but it’s not going to hold up unless you’re just going to sit there and look gorgeous. I can’t recommend getting it otherwise.