Adorned Nails: KOH Matt on Rain Forest

Let’s revisit an old friend today. Some of you might remember KOH Rain Forest. It was my first ever KOH nail polish acquired at a time when my relationship with nail polish hadn't reached addictive proportions yet and when nail art stamping was about as foreign to me as Greek is.

I thought it would be nice to shine the spotlight on it again but this time, with a different look: matt. On its own, Rain Forest is a glossy medium green with yellow undertones. Pictured left is a comparison between Rain Forest on its own, and Rain Forest with a matt top coat (surely you can tell which one's which).

KOH has finally released its version of a matt top coat, naming it simply KOH Matt!. This is what KOH says on the packaging (excerpts):

The top coat has a matt effect on any nail polish colour and creates a protective layer, shielding the nail polish from scratches, chipping and flaking.....It has been enriched with bamboo extract and vitamin E for improvement of the nail condition.

KOH Matt retails for €19.95 and it's housed in a 10ml bottle. Note: KOH Matt was sent to me by KOH to try out. KOH Rain Forest was my own purchase.

Now, I've come to the conclusion that green isn't a much loved nail polish colour and neither is matt a favourite finish. Combine both together and I’m beginning to wonder what you might think! To me, Rain Forest on its own is like a glammed up golden army green, which I do like. The mattified Rain Forest loses its glamorous gloss and some of the yellow undertones but consequently, it becomes a very subdued, nonchalant and unpretentious green. I actually like the matt version even more. If you’re not that into green or feel too self-conscious, I’d recommend applying a matt top coat and suddenly, it becomes very wearable and is much easier on the eye.

Next, I did some stamping on it. The image used is from the Fauxnad image plate T05 from Chez Delaney and the polish was a yellow Konad stamping polish. With the dull lustre of the mattified Rain Forest and the thin lines of the image, the end results were very subtle. I’m not very sure what plant the image is. It looks like an innocent plant but I do wonder if it’s actually hemp! All images were taken in daylight.

Just for the record, I wore this for five days (I don't usually leave polish on for so long). I thought this matt top coat was pretty hardy against scratches. Chipping began on the fifth day.

Anyway, this is what I came up with:

Here, I thought the images looked like engravings on the nails.