Review & Swatches: Maybelline Color Show Street Art Nail Polish in Green Graffiti

Purchased by Me 

Green Graffiti is one of the new Street Art polishes that are now part of the permanent Color Show lineup for 2014. I know that some of you have grown tired of the "splatter" toppers, but I'm happy to see Maybelline make them more accessible to a mainstream audience, and I couldn't resist picking one up when I saw the display. I went with Green Graffiti because I don't already own a chartruese splatter polish, so let's take a look!

 NEW Maybelline Color Show Street Art Nail Polish in Green Graffiti

(retail: around $3, 0.23 oz)

This polish is like most splatter polishes in that it contains matte glitter (a combination of hexagonal and bar-shaped glitter). There are small, medium, large and jumbo hex glitters in this one and the smaller glitter pieces are quite small (smaller than the glitter in some of the other splatters I own):

Swatches:

For these photos I applied one coat of Green Graffiti over Color Club Endless Summer, which is a vibrant blue creme. I also applied one coat of top coat, just to make it extra shiny and smooth out any bumps.

And here is what this manicure looks like "mattified" (after one coat of matte top coat):

When on the nail, the green glitter in this polish isn't really a bright chartreuse like I hoped it would be--to me it looks more like that shade of green we all associate with glow-in-the-dark products (I checked, just out of curiosity, and the glitter in this polish is NOT glow in the dark). 

The formula is good for this type of polish--it's not super thick or goopy, but I found myself having to "fish" for the bigger glitter pieces by swirling my brush in the bottle a few times. Since the glitter is relatively small in this polish, you won't have any problems with getting the glitter to lay flat on the nail and you certainly won't experience any sharp edges. With top coat, this polish is smooth to the touch.

If you have a lot of experience with these types of toppers you won't encounter any surprises with this one. Dry-time is average (it never hurts to use a quick-dry top coat) and wear-time is good. I didn't experience any peeling-off-in-sheets or major chips after a few days of wear.

FINAL VERDICT: If you're new to splatter polishes or you're interested in venturing out beyond the standard black-and-white color combo, I think these are fun and the quality good. I'm happy that these are part of the permanent collection for 2014, which means we can all wait patiently for the next good sale. I don't know if I'd pay full-price for these since I already own so many splatter polishes, but if you're new to them, $2.99 or $3.99 isn't a huge commitment to see if they're your cup of tea.

Do you own any of the new Street Art polishes? I'd love to hear from you!

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.