NARS Matto Grosso Nail Polish

 

         NARS Matto Grosso nail polish followed me home during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale this month. Karlasugar's description of Matto Grosso as "an impossibly rich, dark chocolate creme" is so accurate that I don't feel the need to expand upon it. The color is so rich, dark, and decadent. It's a classy, yet still edgy alternative to black polish, which has a tendency to look harsh, and well, goth. I didn't have a dark brown in my stash, and had been considering some of the OPI Touring America dark browns for this fall. Matto Grosso, however, stole my heart because its impossibly dark, blackened color. Most other browns would look a dirty against my skin tone.

          During my initial assessment, I mentioned that the formula of Matto Grosso had an unpleasant gunky consistency, which was disappointing. I'm pleased to report, however, that the texture is improving. I don't know how to explain it, however I guessed it might happen. I noticed previously that my newly opened Vestale nail polish seemed a more difficult than the in-store tester. Maybe it has something to do with exposure to air.  The formula, however still isn't anywhere near as smooth as OPI.  Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised at the improvement. You can see that my self-manicure is up to par with my normal self-manis; I didn't have to clean up at all. The thick formula does require more concentration and patience, but it's not so bad.

          Despite subpar application, there are major pluses that may outweigh the difficulties: dry time and shine. I noticed that the dry time of the NARS formula is fast. Really fast relative to OPI. Usually with OPI I have to be careful for a good 20 minutes; even if OPI cremes are "dry", the polish will scratch or smudge given slight pressure. I can't do anything manually involved for at least a couple hours after OPI, which drives me nuts. Even then, I can still get duvet marks and accumulate slight scratches over the surface within the next day. NARS polish dries fast, and becomes resistant to these teeny scratch-and-imprint insults immediately. The polish, therefore stays shiny for a long term, and I can go about my normal routine without fear of ruining a good mani/pedi. I don't need a top coat, which is great. Two coats does the trick. Perhaps the NARS formula is thick, because it's specially formulated for shine and quick drying. If so, I'll gladly purchase more NARS. These benefits outweight the formula issues.

          I haven't worn Matto Grosso much, since last I checked, it's still summer. I happened to wear it as a pedi the other day with my leopard print sandals. The combination was so awesome, I'll be sure to use it in the future, like with this leopard print cross-body purse.
 

Overall, I'm happy with Matto Gross and forsee more use in the autumn months. I love this 'vintage' purse too; I fished it out of my mom's forgotten stash somewhat recently. I'm not sure how many decades old it is, but it's fun to give old things new life.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my review and swatches of NARS Matto Grosso. More to come, as I went so nuts taking and processing photos today that I almost got sick of blogging. (Almost). Enjoy your weekends, the weather looked so beautiful today =).

Love, Dovey.