Nails were huge this year, as evidenced by multiple appearances on our End of the Year Special! One of my favorite trends was matte nailpolish because, well, its kinda weird and ugly, and I like it!

Matte nails showed up on runways and rockstars long ago, but this year the cosmetics companies really ran with it by creating new lines of matte shades. Here are some of my favorites!

KO Knockout
This polish is a bit expensive ($19 at KO Knockout), but totally cool. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is pictured above in their Flatte Black color! They have a few really great shades, including a cool bright blue called Pool.

OPI
OPI has two different collections now: Matte and Suede. They are both essentially the same thing, but the Suede has glitter in it. In the Matte collection, I love Lincoln Park After Dark, a dark purple.

Essie
If you can’t decide on one color, why not make all of your nail colors matte? Essie came out with a clear matte topcoat, Matte About You, that will make any regular nail color matte!

Matte polish is a lot of fun to play around with. It chips pretty easily, and I found that the Essie product worked the best for longevity. Either way, it beats the old elementary school matte look: White-Out!