Matte Top Coat Comparison Review: American Apparel vs. Essie vs. GOSH vs. OPI vs. Revlon

EDIT (June 5th, 2013): This is surprisingly one of my more popular posts on this blog. I haven't made any modifcations to the review itself but I will be adding some swatches of the individual matte top coats because I have been using different ones recently. Just adding photos, no additional words. (Well, other than these ones.) I hope you find this useful!

... That was a mouthful! I think that's my longest title yet! Welcome to my capsule review of the battle of matte top coats! We all know that matte is all the rage right now. We've got matte polishes, matte textured polishes, all this nail art of gloss and matte contrast... Matte is pretty slick and it seems to be here to stay for the year. I've mostly used a GOSH matte top coat but wondered if there was anything different. Well, is there?



Here's all the matte top coats I could find here in Canada (remember, us northern dwellers are often shafted compared to our southern counterparts!)... And even then, they weren't that easy to find! From left to right: I picked up the GOSH matte top coat from Shoppers Drug Mart for about $5. American Apparel's matte top coat was advertised online for $9; I tried to find it in stores but alas, I ordered it online for the advertised price. It even took longer to deliver than the rest of my order (I ordered some socks, haha). Essie's Matte About You can be found in the $9-11 range on Nail Polish Canada and in some select stores. Revlon's Matte Top Coat sells for the same price of most of their polishes in the $3-5 range. I picked mine up on sale for $4 at Shoppers Drug Mart. OPI's matte top coat was released this month and not easily found in salons. I ordered mine for $11 from Nail Polish Canada. It's the most expensive matte top coat in this review.

For individual matte top coat swatches, I've used OPI Save Me, OPI In The Spot-Light Pink, Sally Hansen Instadry Mint Spirit and Sally Hansen Instadry Teal-y Fast. Please don't mind the damage on my pinky and index fingers. It's the main reason why we're seeing comparison reviews instead of swatches right now.



Here's my first matte top coat: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat. You've seen the most swatches of this on one on my blog. It has an ever so slight sheen to it which sort of bothered me because the "matte" that I know is like the chalkyness of the Knock Out Cosmetics Flatte Black. Now that's matte! At least with these top coats, there is a bit of longevity to the matte effect, rather than it getting buffed through daily tasks. Formula and brush were good. No problems with streaking or application. I found that when you apply in thin coats, it appears to be more "chalky" matte, but it becomes streaky and unflattering.

And just because we can, here's more GOSH matte top coat:





Next on the plank is American Apparel Matte Top Coat.



I LOVE the bottle of the American Apparel Matte Top Coat. The big squareness and that gorgeous gothic font. YUM. The typography nerd in me is INTO it!!! Now, the thing with the American Apparel matte top coat?... It's... Not that matte. I would even tag it as a "semi-gloss". I don't think there's anything wrong with it; I just wouldn't use it for a matte application. One reason why I wanted to test these matte top coats was my "answer" *coughboycottcough* to Cult Nails' wax finish. I wanted to see if I could find a way to emulate the effect with other products. While I don't have any of their latest wax products, comparing photos, this American Apparel matte semi-gloss top coat just may be the answer.

Here's American Apparel Matte Top Coat over Daily Lacquer's Hotaru:



Onwards with Essie's Matte About You...



The most popular matte top coat on Instagram, from what I can tell. I find that it's pretty damn matte on coloured polishes. On black, they all look the same. Application was good, despite my hatred for the Essie brush. The viscosity works with the brush size and width. There is no need to have any sloppy application. (Unless you're me and accidentally didn't wait long enough, but that's my fault.) Overall, a very solid choice for a matte top coat.



I think Revlon has had a matte top coat for quite some time but they popularized the release of it with the Bubble Gum Days, Urban Nights collection. This was easily the cheapest matte top coat I could find other than GOSH. It has a similar finish to GOSH and Essie's but the formula is VERY thick. The thickest matte top coat formula out of all of these. A decent solution for anyone who wants a cheap matte top coat solution.

Here's Revlon Matte Top Coat over over Icing by Claire's Choco Chip:



Here's Revlon Matte Top Coat over Revlon Trendy and Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol:



And lastly, OPI's latest release... Their matte top coat:



The most expensive of the bunch. It has a similar finish to Essie's but formula was a little thin for the usual OPI wide brush. Because the brush is so wide, and the matte top coat is so thin, at first it may seem a bit streaky. I suggest to either not swipe the excess on the inside of your bottle, or do two quick coats. Nice consistent matte finish just like Essie's when done correctly.

Here's OPI Matte Top Coat over Rainbow Honey Schrammi and Rainbow Honey Yoshimi:



Here's OPI Matte Top Coat over OPI Black Onyx and Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol:



So there you have it... The individual matte top coats on their own, but these are top coats after all, how do they do for wear?

Let's do it with Rimmel's Black Satin first. (Because I'll be honest here, and I screwed up the application royally here.)

Here's my left hand wearing Rimmel Black Satin, with no top coat:



And here's WITH matte top coat (PLEASE excuse the sloppy application):


Index: Revlon matte top coat
Middle: OPI matte top coat
Ring: Essie Matte About You
Pinky: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat
Thumb: American Apparel Matte Top Coat

American Apparel is looking a bit "waxy" rather than matte here.

And this is after one full day of wear (typing on keyboard, washing hair, doing dishes):


Index: Revlon matte top coat
Middle: OPI matte top coat
Ring: Essie Matte About You
Pinky: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat
Thumb: American Apparel Matte Top Coat

Looks like Revlon got the short straw by having the index finger and got a chip. All of them have the slightest buffing at the tips. Overall, nothing major.

How about right hand action? Here's OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia without any top coat (excuse my inability to pose this hand in a flattering manner):



And here's WITH matte top coat:


Index: Revlon matte top coat
Middle: OPI matte top coat
Ring: Essie Matte About You
Pinky: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat
Thumb: American Apparel Matte Top Coat

Again, you can see that American Apparel is clearly the more glossy one amongst its matte counterparts.

And after a full day of wear?:



Same thing - Revlon got the short straw by being on the index finger and chipped. Others had slight buffing on the tips, losing a consistent matte finish on the whole nail.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Honestly? I thought I would have more to say but I'll be honest here - I did not see any substantial differences between GOSH, Essie, Revlon and OPI. GOSH has the sliiiightest sheen, not even that noticeable in comparison to the others. I would have to say that Essie and OPI are my favourite because have a nice matte finish and decent application (granted that you don't have a streaky application with OPI). American Apparel Matte Top Coat is the only one that's not matte but may be an answer for those who are looking for that "wax" finish. Revlon had the thickest formula which I didn't like that much, but again for the price, it is an OK solution. So the final word? GOSH is still in the soft spots of my heart and I'd recommend their top coat to anyone wanting to spend $5 or less, and if you have the extra cash, try out Essie, which has been a long time proved favourite, or OPI, which has the same finish but be weary that the formula can be a bit thin.