I sat down and knew I wanted to use my new Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Fiesta top coat, but I didn’t know what I wanted to put it over. So I handed my swatch wheels to my husband and said “This is what I’m putting on top of something… pick the something!”
Before you shake your head and question why I would leave something as important as matching colors of polish to a dude, I should qualify that he knows more about color theory and painting than I ever will. He is a model railroad enthusiast with quite the impressive HO Scale layout in his man cave, the 2012-2013 President of the San Leandro Historical Railway Society, former HO Layout Superintendent, active on the scenery committee, a long time player and painter of Warhammer fantasy figures, and most recently, just won the May model contest with a gorgeous snowy broken fortress model at our local Games Workshop store. So… he’s totally qualified to help me match an interesting base color with these white, red, and black dots top coat.
He was intrigued by Zoya Matte Velvet Lacquer in Phoebe. He wondered why this swatch was not glossy like the rest, and I explained the Matte Velvet line to him. He thought that would be cool with the dots, and even have I explained that the top coat the dots are suspended in would nullify the matte finish and make it glossy anyway, he still liked the color combination and re-affirmed his choice.
I’m glad I went with his choice. I was right and the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Fiesta did give my nails a glossy finish, so I had no reservations of using my trusty Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat on top to give it some added wear duration. Regardless of the matte in Phoebe, it is a very vibrant blue that I actually don’t have in a standard gloss polish, and it really made the dots pop but not in a crazy way. This also makes me wonder what it WOULD look like if the base polish were still matte. Perhaps next time I’ll try using a matte top coat like Essie Matte About You or KLEANCOLOR Madly Matte and see how it works out for a different kind of fiesta manicure!
I’ll definitely be using this Fiesta top coat again, and I’m really glad I bought it when I did since I haven’t seen it since and it’s not easy to find online either (the links I’ve included will take you to eBay, where I HOPE if you’re looking to buy it, it hasn’t sold out already!)
What color would you layer these fun, festive dots over
