I'm breaking the theme again now... Earlier this week, I got Sephora by OPI's new LE mattes, and I ♥ them very, very much! They go on smoothly, are super matte, but are not one bit chalky. They're totally different than the regular OPI mattes, which reminded me of sidewalk chalk. These are just perfect matte cremes. I was going to hold off on showing you, but used one for today's mani that makes me laugh and laugh, so I thought I'd just post them.
My swatches are two coats of the $OPI mattes (all were two-coaters), but I cheated... It's recommended that one not use a base with these. With the Metro Chic and Domestic Goddess, I used Nubar Ridge Filler under them. My experience of mattes going south with a base seemed to be a matter of drying time, and Ridge Filler dries very fast. With What's A Tire Jack?, I used both Nail Weaver and Ridge Filler as a base for a full manicure, with no troubles at all. The benefit I see in using a ridge filling base is that mattes, particularly cremes, are extremely unforgiving, and we've seen the condition of my nails. With Ridge Filler, they're nice and smooth for the mattes.
On to the pictures! I'll show them to you in order of my preference, least to greatest.
First up, Metro Chic, which we all remember as last Fall's sellout. It's even more chic matte, in my little opinion. Even though it's least loved on the list, I'm still a huge fan.
Second is Domestic Goddess, one of my favorite $OPI shades, made even better matte. This one's a unique color for a matte, and is the super-matte finish that I have yet to find a top coat to achieve.
My favorite of all is What's A Tire Jack? - Matte. It is so black, so smooth, and so matte (and stays that way) that my nails look airbrushed walking around. It's amazing.
I posted these pictures on a message board as soon as I took them, and one comment from Scrangie was the the black looked "badass." Today, I'm running with that, and I did my most badass mani of all time, What's A Tire Jack? - Matte with a couple of patterns I never thought I'd have occasion to use from one of my Hot Topic fauxnad plates ("Nail Art Stamping Kit" or something like that, not really fauxnad).
This manicure makes me giggle, largely because I'm quite conservative in dress and overall, very proper. So I'll go to my nail polish play date this afternoon in my khaki capris and neutral shirt with Biker Chick from Hell nails. Ha ha ha!
One other quick update: the morning after my post about Barry M's failure to fill my order, I miraculously got a reply to an email to them (three weeks later...). As I wrote this post, the doorbell rang, and it was the mailman with my Barry M order, postmarked August 4th. I haven't checked it for completeness yet, but it seems that they came through. I guess all you have to do is publicly publish that they didn't fill your order to get their attention! If you, Dear Reader, have had the same troubles, please feel free to email me about it.
That's all for today. Until next time, love and nail polish to you! 
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