Ingredients:
1) One bottle of clear nailpolish (.45 fl oz/13.3 ml)
(I used NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel #271 topcoat--cheap, only $.85 at Target!)
2) 3 1/2 tsps of cornstarch
As you can see, I made a mess. It is impossible not to! So, learn from my lesson and don't do it on the carpet like me, although, I have to admit, doing it on the carpet was a stupid thing to do in the first place.
The results were not what I expected, and I would recommend shelling out the bucks and buying a matte topcoat instead of trying to make one. Here is the one I usually use.
It turns out that the cornstarch clumps and balls up in the nailpolish as you add it in, so each time you add a little bit, you have to stir it around really well with the nailpolish brush.
After a little while the cornstarch will settle to the bottom so you have to shake it up.
The mattifying effect works alright after you add enough cornstarch. The cornstarch also makes your nailpolish dry a lot faster. So I guess you are kind of killing two birds with one stone.
If you want to make your own quick-dry top coat that still has a shine to it, add only one tsp of cornstarch to your clear nailpolish.
The color I used to start out: Sinful Colors in Innocent (#944).
I was trying to take pictures of before and after, but it is really hard to see the mattifying effect. The picture at the top is an after picture if you want to look and try to compare. You can tell that the polish doesn't shine as much in the first picture as it does in the pictures directly above.
Bottom line, if you are looking to quickly mattify...or dry...your nails, the answer is yes, cornstarch works, after much effort and work, and the best thing is that if you have an old clear nailpolish lying around and some cornstarch in the cabinet, and you are pinched for time, it is a lot cheaper and quicker than going to the store to buy a matte topcoat.
One other aside is that people also enjoy adding broken eyeshadow to their nailpolish to change the color slightly and also to give it a more matte color, or just dull the shine a little or add some sparkle. I have not tried this but maybe I will experiment and post about it later. If you have experimented with this I am sure we would all like to hear! Or if you do experiment with adding eyeshadow, let us know how it goes!
On another note, in my Matte post, I talked a little bit about ManGlaze. I LOVE this matte nailpolish and wish I could buy every single color, but it is kind of pricey. Here is a picture of the color "Fatty's Got More Blood". I swear that is the official name of the nailpolish, I couldn't make this shit up. It's a good vampire red and the matte finish gives it an edge.
This is only one coat. It becomes much a much deeper red as you add layers.
"Fatty's Got More Blood"
I will be posting again about DIY matte lipstick! Check back soon (-:
