Beauty trend: matte nails

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Forget the shiny top coat, matte nails have become the biggest beauty trend this summer. A company called Knock Out has basic colors packaged in an enviable Art Deco bottle, Essie launched their neon collection a few months ago — all matte and this month OPI starts selling its matte collection, which is a line of six of the most popular shades sans shine.

OPI has Alpine Snow, Russian Navy, You Don’t Know Jacques, La Paz-itively Hot, Lincoln Park After Dark and Gargantuan Green Grape in its matte line. Painting them on my nails takes me right back to junior high school when I glided a Wite-Out brush over the tips of nails as something of a boredom-induced DIY French manicure.

One thing, I think this matte trend was meant for edgy rocker type girls, not the prim and prissy girl who loves a long, shiny red nail or a perfect acrylic tip. Matte polish looks much better when the nail is cut short and clean, rather than on a long, dainty nail and it definitely beats Wite-Out.

Stick to one coat — it’s enough to cover the whole nail evenly. I went for two coats and started to feel like I dipped my hand in poster paint — again, junior high school flashbacks …

— Melissa Magsaysay