Review: Hema Matte Top Coat

Hi guys! Today's post will most likely only interest you if you're from The Netherlands or Belgium.. A while ago the Dutch store called Hema released a matte top coat. I know a lot of people prefer buying from brick and mortar stores, so I can imagine a lot of people were very delighted with the arrival of this top coat! I did a comparison of matte top coats a while ago, but today I will discuss this particular one.

How about it?

What's really making me happy, is the price. This top coat costs only €2.50 for 11ml. The price is comparable to the P2 Matte Top Coat. But I think it's so much better! Where the P2 top coat leaves a satin finish, the Hema top coat does a great job at mattifying. It still isn't as matte as China Glaze's Matte Magic or Essie's Matte About You, but it's definitely more matte than satin. And not totally unimportant: the application is superb, it's easily applied since it's not thick or streaky. I even prefer it over Matte Magic, since that one thickened up so fast. It will start to wear down around the edges after a day or 2/3, but for this price, I'm not complaining!

The transformation from gloss to matte isn't as fast as I'm used to, but it's doing a great job nonetheless. In the picture below you can see the effect the Hema Matte Top Coat has on several types of finishes. Not bad huh?

Hema cosmetics are also cruelty free, big plus. I don't even know if Essie's Matte About You still is, since Essie is owned by L'Oreal these days..
This top coat will be in stores till the 4th of October this year, so if you're planning on picking one up, please make sure you do this before this date!

Have you tried this top coat? What are your thoughts?

Have a Ball!!

It is the Summer Solstice today!! when I think of summer, I think of the beach, even if I never go there. :-D (this skin doesn't like sunlight, trust me :-P) So today's nails are a beach-themed design, with bright primary colored beach balls on each finger. :-D So whoop it up, summer is officially here, pull out your bikinis and go out and 'have a ball'!

I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base with China Glaze Salsa for the red, Pure Ice French Kiss for the blue, and American Apparel Manila for the yellow. For the shading on the white, I used a mixture of Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud and Pure Ice French Kiss, for the shading on the red and blue, I just added American Apparel Hassid to the base color, and for the shading on the yellow, I used Zoya Jancyn. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat for that shiny vinyl feel. :-D