This mani actually started because I wanted to play with polishes that I wouldn't normally wear matte. I started with two coats of Color Club That's The Spirit, which has a charcoaly blue base and then a really stunning red/green iridescent shift. I actually applied a coat of Sinful Colors Matte Top Coat over this before I added my stamping, because I felt like it would bring more depth.

For the stamping, I used TiVoli Mirror Effect Nail Lacquer in this deep burgundy shade that doesn't seem to have a name. I wasn't sure at first what kind of image I wanted to use, but I took a look at the BeautyBigBang022 Stamping Plate, which has these kind of wood grain images and decided that it could create a pretty unique look. I used the same image for all of my nails, but alternated the direction of the image on each nail so that they didn't all look the same.

I applied another coat of Sinful Colors Matte Top Coat to finish and voila!




There's something about this mani that almost feels like a contradiction that verges on subversive to me, with the sort of weird color combination and the matte metallic finish paired with the very organic wood grain pattern. Ultimately, I feel like it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's really interesting and somehow manages to be subtle but impactful at the same time. I'm pretty into it.

Be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof, See The World In PINK, and Tea & Nail Polish to check out their Color Combinations mani's for this week's #CBBxManiMonday! And definitely come back later this week for the start of my #12NailsOfHalloween, which I'll be doing throughout October!

Thanks for reading!