OPI Mad As A Hatter Wear Test
I’ve been reading your comments about the glitters from the OPI Alice In Wonderland collection and see that quite a few of you have been experiencing major chipping issues. I thought I would share the results of my unintentional wear test with Mad As A Hatter.
You see I wore MAAH for NYE and because I can be extremely lazy AND I hate removing glitters (the soak off process is arduous) I ended up leaving the polish on my right (non-photographed) hand for NINE DAYS. Yes, I walked around for almost a week with a blinged out right hand and random skittles on the left. No, I really don’t care about the stares I undoubtedly received. Don’t judge!
Anywhoodle, when I finally went to remove MAAH, I thought I should document how well it lasted on me. Which is why your comments about chipping are so surprising. I used one coat of Nubar Foundation Base Coat, 3 layers of MAAH and 2 coats of Olan Labs Quick & Slick Top Coat. Now I did get a chip on my left thumb on NYE but that was a Wii related accident. You have to admit, for nine days, the polish looks pretty good.
That makes me curious… those of you that have experienced chipping and poor wear from your Alice in Wonderland glitters, what products are you using and how many layers of each? Remember, the thicker the coats and the more coats you use, the more prone you are to chipping. So my first suggestion, not knowing your technique, is to apply thin coats of everything and see if that helps.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I am taking off MAAH at this very moment. I put it on last week thursday and had NO chips/tipwear or any other damage! I have to admit I have acrylic nails, but I also work with a computer all day and do have tiopwear after 1 day normally.
I used CND Asphalt as base, 2 layers MAAH and 2 layers of David topcoat, didn’t add extra after thursday!
I never have a problem with glitters chipping, and can leave them on for days without any damage (max 7 on my hands and 21 days on my toes). My base is either OPI Natural Nail, or Nubar Foundation, and Sally Hansen Insta Dri topcoat (the red bottle). I tend to do 3 thin coats of most polishes, glitters included.
I usually find that chipping for me is more about the condition of my nails rather than the polish (except for certain brands – WnW and Diamond don’t work well for me). If I have a spot that is uneven or peeling, and I don’t take care of it prior to the base coat, then my polish will chip.
I hope this is helpful for others!
I used Orly Bonder and Seche Vite topcoat with most of my nails completely peeled off by day 4. Oh and 3 coats of MAAH.
I LOVE this polish! I am 13 and it works for me so well for me! I am a complete O.P.I guru… <3 I only use O.P.I and maybe a few Color Clubs. For this I used Black Onyx then put 3-4 coats of this over it… It looked REALLY good, and would of lasted for a few weeks, but I change my polish everyday.
Love Love Love O.P.I! And this blog! Thanks for sharing! God Bless!
How do you know how long the nail polish would have lasted if you change nail polish everyday…?
I’m 13 too and I like to change polish often too
When I do a wear test I leave it on longer.
I used Orly Bonder & Seche Vite. Two coats of Absolutely Alice. Chips galore throughout the 24 hours after I did my mani. I’ll take your advice and try to use an even lighter hand, and then report with results
I must admit, I am surprised to see mentions of these chipping too. I wore Alice with Nails Inc basecoat, 4 coats of Alice , 1 coat Nails Inc topcoat and 1 of a matte top coat as I wanted to see how it looked matte (gorgeous). Mine wore really well, no chipping over the few days I wore it. I was expecting it to with all the layers I had on my nail, but it never moved. Was hard to remove too, it was stuck on like concrete LOL .. but a cotton ball soaked in remover for each nail did the job fairly well.
I have two coats over acrylic nails..put on yesterday..Took a picture today..i’ll take another one in two weeks..I have OPI top coat on..cant recall the name..the one that heat dries.
Glitters essentially are like little fault lines in the polish, knock the polish & its easy to chip & crack. A manicurist taught me a trick of putting a layer of clear, colorless jelly on top (I use WnW clear) before my TC Insta-Dri) – it acts as a shock absorbing cushion & extra sealant around the glitter that makes it more chip resistant. I’ve noticed a big improvement in wear since I started doing this. I’ve also noticed that Orly Bonder doesn’t play nice with glitters for me – I have much better wear with pretty much any other BC.
Awesome to know about Orly Bonder, I will try with another BC just to see. Thanks!!
That’s a great tip, thanks for sharing!
I think the Orly Bonder is the reason why the glitters are chipping fast (for those that are using Bonder and having chipping issues). I wore MAAH with Orly Bonder and by day two I had major chips on my polish. I decided to give it a try again last Wednesday but with a different base (do not remember which one I have on at the moment) it is now a week later and it is still going strong.
So far I’ve worn my Absolutely Alice polish and it was fine for the 7 days I wore it. I regretfully took it off not because I was bored of it or it was chipping, but I just assumed I should change it (now I’m wearing Off With Her Red).
Yeah, 7 days. I use Sally Hansen Hard As Nails in clear as a basecoat and was using OPI rapidd ry top coat (which I honestly don’t like but was my backup for when my Essie Good to Go ran out)
I have problems with chipping in general, not just with glitters. I’m lucky if I can get a manicure to last two days – and that’s an improvement from before I knew about the right products and techniques. Even professional manicures start chipping within a day. Sometimes the polish doesn’t even chip, it just pops right off in one piece.
I haven’t worn MAAH yet, but I did try Absolutely Alice over the weekend and it didn’t even make it four hours. I can’t remember which base coat I used (I’m still in search of my “Holy Grail” there,) but I know I used SH Insta Dri top coat (in the red bottle.) I used three coats of polish and one of top coat.
I wore MAAH for about a week before I changed it out and only had one chip (but I think it was caused more by a peely nail than the polish actually chipping)
I did 1 coat of Essie Over the Top with 3 coats of MAAH and enough coats of Ultra Top Coat (cheap SH brand) to make it not bumpy.
I’m wearing Absolutely Alice right now. I put it on yesterday morning (one coat OPI Original Nail Envy, three coats Absolutely Alice, one coat Seche Vite) and by the afternoon my right thumb had a little chip. Note: I did NOTHING yesterday. I had a day off work and I spent almost the whole day drinking coffee and reading at Caribou. I have no idea how the polish chipped. Besides that, my other fingers are fine. No tipwear yet, but it’s only day two. I’m planning on removing it tomorrow afternoon.
For BC I used a OPI nail envy and 3 coats of MAAH and for my TC Seche Vita. A piece chipped the very next day and the following day I have had 5 of my nails peel right off.
I wore three coats of MAAH with no base or top coats for a week and I didn’t have any visible wear.
Funny you should mention this, because I noticed my holiday OPIs didn’t seem to wear as well as my older OPIs, and I used the same top and base combo. I noticed they smelled differently as well. I wonder if OPIs formula tweaking has anything to do with this?
Mine Absolutely Alice wore like iron, even through an office move where I banged my nails into things and crawled around under desks disconnecting things/plugging them in. By all rights I should have broken a nail, so to not have my polish even chip shocked the heck out of me. I was constantly looking at my nails to check for chips/breaks. I used:
1 coat Barielle hydrating ridge filler
3 coats AA
1 coat Zoya Armor
1 coat SV
I also applied a coat of “David” the next morning, hours before I had to move my desk. I’m positive the key was the non-quick dry TC under Seche Vite. I may try that on one hand and only SV on the other to compare.
I think you’re right. Seche Vite & Poshe may be the main culprit here
Both MAAH & AA chipped horribly within 24 hours, and chipping is not usually a problem for me. Essie First Base, 3 coats polish, & Poshe.
I have MAAH on right now and I’m taking it off tonight. I put this on 2 nights ago. I chipped yesterday/last night.. so it needs to come off. AA chipped on mt too but not as soon at MAAH. I still wouldn’t call it bad chipping since it only chipped on one side of each thumb (a little bigger than the chip in your picture above) and on my right pointer finger (about twice the size of your chip pictured). i was just surprised it chipped in less than 24 hours. i used no base coat since i was at my parent’s this weekend and had none there and 1 thin 1st coat and 2 thick coats after that of MAAD and then 2 coats of SV (i thought I would have only needed one but after 1 coat of SV i was shocked that MAAH looked MATTE on me! wth?!?)
I litterally just got my Absolutely Alice and MAAH in the mail a few minutes ago. Now I’m wondering if I’ll have chipping slash peeling probs. Atleast I’ve read this in advance and know that I should, as usual, do three thin coats, covered with a TP. Thanks for the advive everyone! PS – Looks like I’m a little behind on getting my polishes…
I bought this last week and I am going to take off my Chanel Particulieur today and try Mad as a Hatter. In general, I don’t have problems with glitter polishes chipping, so I would be interested in checking out the wear time.
Thank you for bringing this up. I wore Absolutely Alice for 1 day and I had 4 chips on my left hand and 3 on my right. I removed my other nail polish with 100% acetone nail polish remover, washed my hands, then went over my nails with the acetone again to make sure they were clean. I did 1 coat OPI natural nail base coat, 3 coats of Absolutely Alice, and 2 coats if Seche (however you spell it).
I used a BB couture base coat and top coat. My MAAH chipped pretty fast on certain fingers but it was so HARD to remove with nail polish remover that I just chipped it off instead.
Thanks everyone for all your input and helping out your fellow Fanatics. It seems, as ChynnaBlue said, that the quick dry top coats seem to be at fault. Most of you who complained of chipping used Seche Vite, the rest Poshe or Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. I would suggest trying a non-quick dry top coat or using it as a buffer between the polish and the quick dry.
I’m surprised that so many people had such problems!
Three days ago, I used Orly Bonder, then 3 coats of MAAH, then 2 thick coats of Seche Vite and it shows NO wear whatsoever! No tipwear, no chipping! I DID be sure to “wrap” the tips with SV in between the two coats, and this may have helped tremendously.
This was really helpful! My nails chip if I sneeze, so it’s good to know what to expect when I use MAAH. I find that in general the Zoya Anchor and Armor really help in the chip dept. I have to try their quick dry drops though, because I do grow weary of waiting for Armor to dry. (but it’s so worth it!)
I really want to try David and the Olan Labs t/c, are they 3 Free?
I don’t think Seche is-is it? Maybe that adds to the quick dry problems…
Did my nails again with AA last night & got my first big chip just now. Man, I wonder what it is about the quick dry top coats!
Hi I think it is the top coat because I have used several brands of polish, even glitter and thanks to the quick & slick top coat they all stay on really well.
IF you notice this missing from your house, it’s in my bathroom!!!! I should’ve bought this color at John Roberts when I was there.
You can still find it online. Or I’m sure a store like ULTA has them
I live in Canada, I do have a Regis in the mall near my house, do you think they are for sale there? And also, where can you buy them online?
I live in Canada and I bought mine at London Drugs!
Chipping? I couldn’t get MAAH or AA to come off! I used OPI base coat, making sure to let it dry completely, then applied whichever one I was using in about three coats, four on some. I let that dry completely, then apllied two coats of OPI top coat so that it was smooth.
I had zero problem with chipping for the week I wore each of them. Like I said, my problem was that they were stuck like concrete.
I put on MAAH 4 nights ago. China Glaze Base, 3 Coats MAAH, and 2 coats of Hard As Nails. I spent two days pulling box stock of TVs around at work and I still have no chips. I’m going to re-do my top coat later today.
And I did China Glaze base, 3 coats AA, Essie To Dry For, and one coat Hard as Nails and I was peeling and chipping all over the place by day 2.
You should apply MAAH over Russian Navy! Two layers of Russian Navy and one to two layers of MAAH! Looks gorgeous! Im wearing it right now
Ahh! Definitely try it! And it lasts for a long time! I work with kids and its lasted 2 weeks so far!
Just picked up MAAH a couple days ago. Echoing, Dahlia above, the girl helping me said it needs to be applied over black or dark purple polish to really bring out the depth of the glitter. The next time I do a manicure I’m going to try layering it over Chanel Vendetta.
Not having it be full-on glitter should also help with the takeoff.
I think it would be nice to do a post on how to dry stubborn polishes (it takes for me 3-6 hours to dry some polishes with 2-3 coats over NailTek foundation II, using fast-drying top or quick-drying drops or spray in combination)and how to preserve polish from chipping for longer.
And one more question: did anyone ever try to evaporate solvents from a bottle of badly drying polish and compensate it afterwards with a thinner (like Seche Restore) in order to improve it’s drying quality?
I want really want to get MAAH, and I read that you used the Seche Vite top coat for Alice, so I was planning to get that one too.
But do you really have to wear a base coat?
I got the whole collection just last week and I love it! As far as MAAH here it goes I actually combined it with OPI Linkin Park after Midnight (shimmer one).
1- OPI Base Coat for Acrylic nails
2- (2) coats of OPI Linkin Park after Midnight
3- (2) coats of MAAH
4- (2) coats of OPI Top Coat
It look amazing! and to add some contrasts I did that on my ring finger and all the others I did OPI Onyx….. should have taken pictures!
MAAH has got some serious staying power! The shade is awesome too, I’m so glad that I bought it.
wooo hooo I’m an alllaqueredup virgin – love the site… had MAAH on for 3 days ain’t no way this baby is going to shift, might need to grow it off my toes (eeww). I apologise in advance – I am a ‘no base coat girl’ (except for exceptions, Chanel Rouge Noir etc) I always have a little buff before & some NAS or similar, 1 slick of Diamond Top Caoat… Glitters always seem to go on better first coat slightly thicker, really define that shape, then follow on with 1 or 2 lighter coats to build. The physical medium of the ‘bits’ (excuse the technical terminology) & the fact you don’t have to be scared of the overall finish because it’s so obscured, means you can really work it on. I guess you could go over board & it would certainly ping off. Its dries so quick. Love it. I AM ROCK CHICK !
Hey all,
This polish is so growing on me! Having been a polish fanatic in the past, then suffering huge allergies (fingers the size of sausages, breathing difficulties etc – not great) and now being able to wear polish again due to the formula changes, I am slowly but surely getting into adventurous colours once more. This ‘re-entry’ into the polish world has made me slightly obsessed with the ingredients of nail polish! Now for the more relevant part:
I think that may be 3 free polishes, do not like NON 3 free base or top coats AND vice versa. The formulas simply do not chemically get along with one another, hence Seche Vite not doing justice to the newer OPI ingredients. Would be V interested in others thoughts on this one.
Also… re top and base coat in general – each product is designed to do a specific thing. If you choose a quick drying top coat over a ‘non-chipping’ top coat then, that will be its main function as intended. I personally like non-chipping top coats and then use drying drops – an attempt at ‘best of both worlds’! Re base coats, I find the bonding ones work the best – again chosen for their help in the fight against chips, rather than focusing on, say, vitamins for the nail bed! This is probably why the Zoya system works so well – prep, anchor, polish, armour, hurry up. Ticks all the long lasting manicure boxes – it was previously touted as the longest wearing natural polish – may be it is not just the polish, but the whole system works well together (and no, I don’t work for, or sell Zoya products!)
Sorry such a long post!
Hello Ladies,
I havent had any chipping issues (yet).
I just painted them this weekend.
I used one coat of Lincoln Park after dark, two layers of Mad as a Hatter and then a clear Sally Hansen Top coat.
My sister did the same thing and didn’t have any chipping issues either, but she did mention that taking off the nail polish was a grueling process.
Has anyone else had that issue?
I’m thinking about just walking over to the nail salon and asking them to take it off with their industrial nail polish remover
I am wearing this polish for a week now on my toes. I did two coats of OPI Ink and one coat of this – it looks awesome and I am getting tons of complements on it. I used Creative Super Shiney as my top coat.
Day two.. chip number too..
But I love it anyways…
I alternated AA and MAAH on my fingers. I used OPI chip skip, OPI natural base coat, three layers of polish, and Sally Hansen quick dry top coat. I had MAJOR chipping issues. It wasn’t actually chipping, it was more like the entire thing just popped right off, intact. On several of my fingers. Within a day or so. I redid my nails, this time without the chip skip, but the same thing happened. Has this happened to anyone else??
mine too, and i used the sally hansen top coat too…
maybe thats why?
i painted my nails with off with her red that i bought at the same time as alice to check if maybe the store i bought them from had a defective batch sent to them or something?
but no, off with her red has stayed on for two days now with zero chipping and i only used one base coat, one coat of red, and one sally hansen top coat!
maybe we need a new top coat!
So okay…I bought MAAH and I LOVE IT! I put a color nail polish on underneath..So far I have played around with black underneath and hot pink underneath and so far..my favorite is the hot pink as the bottom layer..I was also told that purple looks great under it. I then apply the MAAH and put a top clear coat on top of that..LOOKS GREAT! I love this nail polish it is so versatile!!!
awww thanks for sharing i’ve been wearing MAAH for the longest!!! i haven’t changed my polish since i got it… only when it chips i re do it with maah….. ahhhhh i love it!!! lol
I had a spa pedicure nearly 2 months ago and the only reason I am removing the MAAH is because of nail growth. I cannot get the stuff off! I am spending about 20 minutes for each of my big toes and still dont have all remnants removed. No chipping here.
i have the absolutely alice polish and mine doesnt just chip, the color peels off completely!
i have tried using
-only two layers of the polish with a sally hansen top coat
-a sally hansen base coat, three coats of polish, and two s.h top coats
-and a vitamin/nail growing solution incase thats why it wasnt sticking
and sure enough, it peeled off all times
i was at school friday and had just painted them thursday night and four nails peeled off!
i have no idea what is wrong
I find that Seche Vite tends to make any polish I put on “peel” – I wore the MAAH wiht Seche as a top coat and had chipping/peeling the next day. Then I used Nail RX Quick slick coat and no problems at all with chipping. Both times I used Total Nail RX build me up nail hardener as a base, 3 thin coats of MAAH and then 2 coats of top coat. But again, peeling is an issue any time I use seche vite. shame, it gives such a pretty shine…..
Since the moment I saw this nail polish, I was in love. However, after only a few days it started chipping, and I was very disappointed. I am definitely planning on using some of the recommended base coats, and hopefully it will prevent it from chipping in the future.
I’ve yet to try MAAH (it should be in the mail!!) However I did try out Absolutely Alice. it peeled off in about ten minutes! I was so sad!
HOWEVER .. i found a trick!
I used “no Room for the Blues” from the OPI brights collections as a base, and then only needed two coats of AA and it turned out amazing! It added so much pop to the color! It also has yet to chip after I put the top coat on! I’m totally in love! I can’t wait till my MAAH gets here!!
I’ve received the most compliments about AA since!
I did nailtek BC 4 coats of MAAH and two coats of poshe and the entire polish came off in one piece the next day as if I were wearing fake nails which was bittersweet because it only lasted a day but I didn’t have to deal with removal altho it did peel some of my nails
Hi Karen, i’m a manicurist and i notice you say that it peeled off in one piece, do you wipe your nails over with nail polish remover before you apply the polish, because in my experience if the nails aren’t wiped over before hand the polish will come off in one piece.
I use Orly bonder as my basecoat, two think coats of MAAH and one to two coats of seche vite. Mine holds up pretty well considering im working with horses nonstop and in a week I had one chip!!!!
as a manacurist who works only with o.p.i i found mad as a hatter extremely durable. o.p.i base coat, 2 coats of colour and top coat and even with all the manicures i did it lasted a week
I am on my 3rd week of wearing MAAH on my toenails and not one single chip and I only wear sandals so I have had several opportunities to chip it. I have one coat OPI clear base, one coat of OPI Funky Dunky and then one coat of MAAH, topped off with clear coat. this is one of the most awesome glitters I have ever used. It is fantastic.
I’m still waiting for my MAAH. I think layering it sounds like a fantastic idea, I’ll try it with a purple OPI i have, that I can’t remember the name of right now…
I love MAAH!!! I bought it as soon as I saw it, and I love to wear it over another color, it looks awesome over OPI Ink and CND Blackjack. I thought it wore well and I am very tough on my nails! I also used it in place of white in a pseudo-french manicure with black as the base coat and received MANY compliments on it.
I was at a salon a couple weeks ago and saw a manicurist putting MAAH over Funkey Dunkey. It looked super cool.
I am a nail tech and i’ve had clients complain about the alice glitters chipping on their hands, but it lasts on their feet. A great way to avoid chipping is to put your normal base coat, a coat of SOLID color polish, then whatever glitter as second coat, and finally the top coat. It works! Its that the glitter is too dry, it dries stiff, so it chips faster. With the solid color under the glitter its still kind of flexible..its weird but true
i never got a chance to purchase mad about hatter
it was sold out everywhere.. but i was wondering if you knew if opi ever brings back similar colors in the future calling it something else? or maybe somewhere i would be able to find it? i chose it for a pedicure once.. and fell in love, and cant stop thinking about it 
thank you
I just wore Absolutely Alice last week for the second time (of wearing this polish since I got it last year). The first time I wore this it lasted 3 days before chipping off in sheets of polish and I got so disappointed! I dared to try it again last week and I don’t know why, but it lasted 5 days straight with ZERO chipping, plus I wash dishes by hand with no gloves! I’ve been in awe all week!!
How I applied it last week —
3 coats of polish, making sure to cover all bald spots.
1 coat of Revlon’s Quick Dry Top Coat all over the nails, then another top coat layer on the bottom of the nail only (where the VNL would be), then lastly another layer of top coat on just the tips of the nails. I find those areas chip first, which is why I did reinforcements.