My Go To, Last Minute Holiday Manicure – OPI Here Today… Aragon Tomorrow Suede
After a long and lovely Thanksgiving break, I’m back to blogging. I took a bit of a break to give my nails a rest from swatching and to focus on enjoying the holiday with my family and friends.
The boyfriend and I hosted dinner again this year and all I can say is I am very thankful to have found a man who can cook, and cook well. I’m a disaster in the kitchen and he is a Turkey Day champ! We packed our schedule pretty full including Cleveland’s Winterfest Wine & Ale Fest downtown Saturday night. Naturally I was running late so I relied on my usual last minute manicure trick, matte nail polish. It’s a quick drying lifesaver. Given the holiday theme of the event I opted for a green, OPI Here Today… Aragon Tomorrow, and it’s the perfect shade for the season. |
I know matte nail polishes are “so last season” but I’ll tell you what… I love having them in my arsenal of lacquer. When you’re running late, as I often am, it’s a great way to slap color on your digits without worrying about smudges or dents. The last thing I do before leaving the house, with my shoes & coat on, purse packed, keys out and easy to grab, is slap on a couple of coats of matte polish. It’s dry before I get out the door.
Now I don’t wear the truly matte colors, devoid of sparkle. The flat wall paint is look is not for me. I opt for the shimmery colors, like the OPI Suede and Zoya Matte Velvet hues. On Saturday I pulled Here Today… Aragon Tomorrow. It’s a rich emerald green that screams “HOLIDAY!” It’s a pretty true green, with more yellow than blue in its base. The only problem is it’s so stunning wet, that it looks boring and disappointing on its own.
I remembered ALU Fanatic Cathy posted a pic of HTAT with top coat on the ALU Facebook page so I slapped on one layer of Olan Quick & Slick to bring the luscious shimmer to life. Though as you can see below, one coat left the polish with more of a satin finish. Since I was on the run, I didn’t realize it until I arrived downtown but it got the job done.
These last two images were shot two days later and the polish is holding up nicely. I’m wearing it tonight to a preview dinner for a new restaurant in town & have no tip wear or chips to repair. However I did add a second coat of Quick & Slick to maximize the glossiness.
And here’s a look inside the event. The Winter Wine & Ale Fest was held at 200 Public Square, the former BP Building. The Downtown Cleveland Alliance brought together 20 local breweries and wineries to sample their seasonal and most popular beverages. The proceeds from the event go to “Generocity Cleveland” which funds programs, services and a social worker to assist the homeless with documentation, job placement and permanent housing.
I discovered a new favorite holiday beer, Hoppin’ Frog Frosted Frog, a spicy Christmas Ale with a lot of yummy clove, and sampled old faves from Thirsty Dog Brewing and South River Winery. I love an event that supports local businesses and works to build a better downtown CLE.
OPI Here Today… Aragon Tomorrow Suede was released in late summer for the fall and it can still be found online, including eBay, if you choose to go that route.
Other options include Zoya Veruschka and Revlon Emerald City. Veruschka is from the Winter 2009 MatteVelvet collection and looks very similar to OPI HTAT. Veruschka is a bit darker but the difference is negligible. I haven’t seen the Revlon yet but since it came out for fall you may be able to hunt it down.
Does anyone else rely on matte polish for a last minute manicure? What’s your go to solution for looking polished when time is of the essence? How many of you wear a glossy top coat over your matte/suede polishes? Is anyone still wearing mattes as mattes, just for fun and not because of necessity?
Disclosure: A product sample was provided by OPI. I purchased tickets to the Winter Wine & Ale Fest. For more info, view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
My solution is to slap on a coat of Matte Magic…especially if I smudged my base color before walking out the door. The matte hides the boo boo and gives me a different look!
yap its the best when you are running late. Similar incident happened with me and this was my savior
YAY! I’m so exstatic to get a shout-out, thanks Michelle!!! : ) I’m also very glad you had a great Holiday and took a break, not an easy thing to do! The polish looks fabulous on you btw, great for your skin tone and it IS the perfect Holiday Green. I’ve even water marbled with it and it’s lovely! Thanks again <3
Thanks for letting us know about the sale and ebay… it’s a lovely color. And I still need to learn the art of applyig nail paits… I suck at it.
<3
Practice, practice, practice. I used to be a disaster at applying polish. It comes with time. My best advice is to find a sturdy table to polish on and stabilize the arm holding the brush to give you more control.
Good tip! I have a few mattes & thought I’d never use them. I’m such a “last minute” chick & didn’t even think about the fact that matte dries so quickly.
I’ll try to remember this the next time I’m in a rush!
Did you hear that Coty bought OPI? Wonder if anything will change as a result.
Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors and read yesterday that the deal is now official. I’m curious what this will mean and hope to find out more details on it soon.
OPI has stated that Coty will not be taking over the produciton of OPI, and that OPI will remain the same in it’s formulas ( 3-free, cruelty-free). It sounds like it may be marketing and advertising that Coty will be responsible for, but internally OPI will remain the same. Here’s to hoping!
I hope you’re right. Where did OPI state that?
More on the whole Coty-OPI deal, for those not in the know: this means the same company would own OPI and Sally Hansen (and Rimmel and N.Y.C.).
Revlon Emerald City is easy to find in Louisville, KY. It is in most drugstores and Kroger stores on the holiday displays. I have not purchased it because it appears to have no shimmer. I believe it will be too flat-looking on the nail for my taste. I would prefer to hit one of my other greens with a true matte topcoat or Orly Nails for Males (which seems to have disappeared from my local Sally’s) which gives a satin finish.
Oh my goodness!!!! It’s so pretty!! I neeeeeeedddd ittttttt
lol 
HOLY CRAP I’M IN LOVE. I always kind of looked past the suede colors because I’ve never really liked the matte look, but with the top coat on, this one is GORGEOUS. I’m probably almost as obsessed with greens as you are, so I might have to go hunting for this one.
As much as I love the new looks and such, when I find a look I love, I don’t care if it was last season or a decade ago. I am wearing a matte coat over Nuf Oh #40 on top of a lovely blue. And it is lovely.
In the summer I am known for neon’s regardless of what is in. And my toes are ALWAYS neon, regardless of season.
Love both looks on you! How did I miss that color? I have to get it now. When I am low on time I go to my old trusty “vintage” Opi You Cannoli Imagine. When Im really low on time I skip the topcoat. I try to use polishes without a lot of pigment so they dry faster when I am strapped for time. I always use a topcoat over the matte polish, I think they always look better.
I have a bottle of this and it seems like they have updated the formula since the first suedes came out. It just seems so much better in comparisson to the You Don’t Know Jacques Suede that I have. Did they change something? this has gotten pretty heavy rotation from me because it evens out a little better and isnt nearly as thick.
I have just tried a bottle of the Revlon Matte Suede in Fire Fox… and its sooo not matte. its like a dull plastized texture. Im wondering if I didnt wait long enough for it to dry before giving up and slapping on some top coat. Are you going to be reviewing them?
Hmm, now that I think about it, you’re right. The formula is a bit thinner with HT…AT. I threw on LPAD Suede recently and it was thicker and more pigmented but it still dried evenly.
Thanks for the heads up on the Revlon. I’m going to see if I can hunt down a bottle.
I love the way that looks with t/c on top!
I often rely on matte polish for quickie on the go manicures. I agree that many think matte is over but I still love it!
And the event sounds like it was a lot of fun. As a fellow Clevelander I can appreciate an event that supports local businesses
Yay, CLE represent!
Any tips on how to apply Suedes? I tried once with OPI Ink Suede, and it was a disaster — uneven, clumpy, etc.
You have to make sure your nails are completely dry, especially if you apply base coat. If there is any moisture on the nail it will be lumpy and uneven.
Just wondering, If i didn’t put the top coat on and just left it a satin finish would it chip off in 2 minutes?
o rather if i left it without the top coat and just left it matte or suede
I can usually get a night out of a matte with no chipping which is all I’m looking for. But once you take a shower or wash your hands a few times, a chip or two will pop up. A base coat will help with wear time but you need to make sure it’s completely dry before applying the polish or it will go on lumpy. I usually don’t have time to wait for a base coat to dry so I skip it and take my chances.
Mattes are so out!
I’ve been wondering what the suede polishes looked like for some time now… I’m off to go buy a load now… thanks!
Oooh, I love this! I’d never been overly fond of the OPI Suede but now…
Mattes are like..my last last minute manicure choice.
My first choice is one of the Color Club holos. Revvvolution, Wild at Heart, Fashion Addict, or Worth the Risque are the ones and I have. They’re opaque in one to two coats, dry megafast, need no topcoat, and are terribly entertaining. But for an event where holo isn’t appropriate, then a shimmery matte it is.
Holos are a great suggestion! I always forget about them because I keep them in their own drawer. I’ll have to keep them in mind next time I’m on the run.
Pretty! The matte version is so different from the original version. The original looks almost like black, but this one is a lot greener!
Ohh I love that shade (especially with the top coat)… and the name. Makes me think of Viggo Mortenson, which is never a bad thing!
Truthfully, I’ve never thought about matte nailpolish as a quick manicure option. I’ve only tried 1 matte formula and didn’t care for it. Will have to check this out though.
On a side not – Hoppin
Hi!
I love your blog and all the color comparisons. What are your favorite / top recommended base coats and top coats?
And can you clarify what a tacky base coat is?
Thank you!
A tacky base coat dries with a sticky finish to help adhere the polish to the nails. Examples are Orly Rubberized Bonder and CND Stickey
I prefer the tacky base coats like the two I mentioned though some people find them drying. If you have any ridges or imperfections a ridge filler is a great option. I like the Seche, butter London and Essie (fill the gap) ridge fillers. Top coats depend on how much time I have and what polish I’m using. If I use a CND, RBL or Zoya polish I usually use their complete systems because I have them on hand but my go to top coat is Olan Labs Quick & Slick because it’s fast drying but thin and easy to work with. Seche Vite has a lot of fans but it gets thick halfway through the bottle and needs thinner to make it usable. Quick & Slick doesn’t have that issue. Neither does Lippmann Addicted To Speed but it’s more expensive. Another great top coat option is Sally Hansen Insta Dri.
P.S Have you considered doing a post on sun- color changing polish? I would love to see pictures and your thoughts!
I’ve reviewed a couple Del Sol polishes a while back.
http://www.alllacqueredup.com/category/del-sol
We have a Del Sol store in Ohio and I’ve purchased a few of their colors. I like the glittery ones much better than the frosty ones as they leave major stroke marks.
I take it back about Emerald City. It’s got gold shimmer in it, I went back and looked. I am still sticking with my other greens, even though it looks good in the bottle. Halle’s green eye makeup in the display looked wonderful, though.
I think this colour looks very pretty matte!
Hi! Oh, I’m wearing this polish right now! I couldn’t get OPI nail polishes here in Belgium up till now, but last weekend I could even pick this colour up. I’ve heard of Suede before and when I saw Scrangie’s swatches, I got hooked. I love this particular shade, I feel it is even Christmas-y with the pine hues. It will probably wear off in a day, but it’s so unique I love having it.
Great blog, I love reading your posts!
As long as Coty basically leaves OPI alone to continue it’s fantastic line, then all will be well.
I know that lots of people don’t like Matte or/and Suede, but I just love it!! I love Matte so mutch I put Essie Matte about you as a topcoat on regular/cream/shimmer lacquer to.
I love Matte so mutch, I was considering to buy a Matte car to!!!
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://automobil-blog.de/wp-content/uploads/Autos/Lancia/Lancia_Delta_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.automobil-blog.de/2008/02/06/auto-salon-genf-lancia-delta-2008&usg=__CYe7MFBvfgd7D7MrdmRtMsYa2PU=&h=298&w=495&sz=21&hl=de&start=7&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=TNCU6KCoiEDx0M:&tbnh=78&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlancia%2Bdelta%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dde%26tbs%3Disch:1
I never thought of using mattes as a last minute nail colour! Mind you I have this colour as my first and only matte, and I found it very fussy being so thick to apply. Any tips on that?
Thus I usually end up devoting more time if I were to use it. However, I found out why the little tag says to avoid creams and such. It takes off the matte finish.
A couple days of wearing it and the natural oils of your fingers transferred to your nails by touch gives it a very nice sheen, like old polished wood (you can speed up the process by using your regular hand cream). Not as glossy as top coat but very nice as it takes off the crayon on your nails look, a finish somewhere between top coat and the original matte result.
I have four of the OPI suede polishes for fast out the door manicures.
I saw the suede line at the store and was intrigued but noticed a warning sign saying not to use a top coat on the suede polish. Have you seen/heard this, and would you be able to say why? Obviously, your nails look gorgeous with a top coat, so it’s not a huge problem, I’m assuming. So why warn against it?