vanilla ice

I like shiny nail polish. My nail polish drawer is stocked with my favorite shine products — Essie Shine-e and CND Super Shiney Top Coat — so I can add shine when it starts to dull. I like my lips shiny, too. I don’t even mind a little shine on my forehead.

Now, the talk for fall is matte polish — as in free from shine or lacking luster. I don’t understand the appeal of nails that look like a chalkboard.

The good thing about nail polish is it can be changed in a flash. If the color or finish makes you gasp rather than ooh and ahh, a little polish remover can give you a fresh start.

So, I decided to give matte a test-drive.

Matte options are plentiful. Essie has a new Matte Finisher that can take a shiny nail to matte in seconds. The Web site shows several nail designs you can try at home, including a matte nail and a shiny tip or a glossy nail and a matte tip and matte moon.

Sephora by OPI offers three new limited-edition matte nail colors. Nail experts recommend not using a base and top coat with matte polishes, and to allow the first coat to dry a couple of minutes before applying a second coat.

Matte by OPI will launch six shades for fall. Zoya’s limited-edition MatteVelvet collection is described as "shimmering mattes.” A drawback: I’ve read that matte doesn’t wear as well as shiny.

Since I’m getting a pedicure in a few days, I decided to try the Essie Matte Finisher on my hot pink toenails. It took away the shine in a second. I’ll admit the flat shades probably look more edgy than my high gloss colors. I may grow to like it on my toes, but I don’t think I’ll ever take a shine to matte polish on my fingernails.