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ALU’s 365 of Untrieds – Mattese Elite Attitude

mattese-elite-attitude-nail-polish-365-untrieds 365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to.

Life is imitating art as Black Swan has continued to inspire beauty and fashion with ballet themed trends. I’ve seen more women rocking ballerina buns lately than I can remember in past years and the onslaught of adorable ballet flats makes my feet very happy (heels are not my friend).

Mattese Elite is another brand bringing the trend to our finger tips with their spring collection; The Ballet Colors of ME.  The majority of the collection is pretty soft and sweet with pinks and neutrals but it’s Attitude that really caught my eye.


Formula & Application: Mattese Elite nail polish is 4-Free (including formaldehyde resin). The bottle shape is identical to Milani though the round brush is slightly fatter than Milani’s. The brush bristles are pretty flexible though they don’t spread out as wide as I would like.

The formula reminds me so much of Essie. It’s squishy and semi-sheer just like Essie. It’s not that well pigmented so I needed three coats to get it opaque but it dries nice and glossy. I normally use a top coat when I photograph a polish but I didn’t need one for this color.

Mattese Elite Attitude is a sandwashed sea blue creme.  Speaking of Essie, this would have made a great addition to the North Fork Resort collection from 2009 being that it falls somewhere between Greenport and Sag Harbor.  Even though the polish isn’t uber-pigmented I’m loving its beachy vibe.  It doesn’t exactly scream ballet to me but I love it anyway.

mattese-elite-attitude-swatch-nail-polish-1

Bottom Line: The formula isn’t my favorite and it does take three coats but I’m really into the color and can picture this being a shade I would wear a lot in the summer.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: Being that I can’t find a dupe for it in my collection I’m STASHing it.

Mattese Elite Attitude can be purchased at Ricky’s NYC stores and online at RickysNYC.com. Mattese Elite nail polishes retail for $5.99/ea for a .5oz bottle.

Thoughts on Attitude? Have you tried Mattese Elite polishes before? Do you agree with my Essie comparison? Do you plan to pick up a bottle of Attitude?

Disclosure: A product samples was provided by a representative for Ricky’s NYC. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

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There Are 18 Brilliant Comments

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  1. I love Ricky’s! I have Attitude – I found the color like nothing else I have/seen.

  2. I really like the color, but the formula just isn’t winning me over. I wish it were more opaque!

  3. Serena says:

    I did a review of this too (my swatch is no where near as nice). I am in love with the color, but needed 4 coats (I use pretty thin coats). I wish there were a dupe!! Decided to keep it also.

  4. LesleyKat says:

    I find that the formulas of the Mattese Elite polishes are inconsistant. I actually used one today and I got full coverage in 1 coat. I also HATE the brushes.

    I do like this color. It reminds me a little bit of color club Sheer Disguise but a little less grey.

  5. Erin says:

    The color reminds me of my tutu back when I took ballet and tap. I was the only little girl in class with a blue one. Will definitely have to pick this up, happy memories :)

    • flipflopgal says:

      ha, I was the only little 6 year old ballerina in my class with a lime green tutu. I remember my mom trying to talk me out of it, but for whatever reason, I LOVED it :)

  6. Kate says:

    I own that entire Essie mini-collection and I totally see where you are coming from! I love this one, too. I loaned the Essie Shelter Island to my little sis and when I got it back, the bottle was literally half empty! Turns out the boy she likes complimented her on the color, so every time she knew she’d be seeing him, she redid her nails with it. Ha! I’ll have to pick up a bottle of this as a bday present for her so I can get my Essie back :)

  7. Chris says:

    I did think of Sag Harbor when I saw this. This color looks too light for me. I bought Essie Coat Azure, which is as close to a lighter blue as I would get.

  8. Kate & Zena says:

    Actually, it reminds me very much of ballet. When I was younger and a ballerina, I was required a ballet pink and black leotard with matching skirts for my new ballet school (pink for ballet, black for Cecchetti). At the ballet store, my type of leotard also came in the color blue you have and I wanted it so badly! The 6-year-old me begged my mom for that sea glassy/powder blue leotard so I could practice my barre routines at home, but I never got that leotard!

    Ballet “uniforms” (the leotard, skirt, tights, and shoes) actually come in a variety of colors aside from the pink, white and black that are the ballet cliche. I actually would love to see a ballet nail polish collection of bold reds, gold, silver, blacks and blues that are the typical colors of ballet. Pastels and subdued colors are the colors of the practice rooms, typically in younger group rooms. The performances are nothing but bold.

    • meme says:

      Reminded me right off also of one of my tutus I had when I was about 13. It was one of my favs as it had little bits of tiny glitter in the inside layers of the tule. They barely showed, but I knew it was there. And it WAS just this color. I almost mentioned this was a ballet shade reminiscent to me when I wrote my comment earlier. Now that a couple other of you have said same I had to comment. My fav was the great cross body wrap top/skirts that you wore a pair of only the bottom of leotard type pants or made sure your tights were the super thick theatrical weight ones that were totally opaque. I had one of those wraps in this blue shade also and wore it with a really faded pair of once was ballet pink tights!

  9. Iris says:

    this color makes me die of happiness.

  10. Emily says:

    This reminds me of RBL Bikini Bottom.

  11. meme says:

    Never used, never heard of this brand before, but call me a small town kid! I love it. Cannot think of any I have or seen. It’s nice that they got this shade but it does not come across as they added a ton of white to bring up the shade to a lighter color like some in this category of blues & greens can tend to look like.

  12. NailPolishFan says:

    I love this color. It’s perfect for the spring/summer months. I’ve never tried this polish before so I guess I’ll have to put it own my wish list. How does this polish compare to RBL Bikini Bottom?

  13. Nicole says:

    I think I like that one too! I’m not a fan of three coats of polish, but this one looks like a def for me.

  14. sonidlo says:

    Wow, very good looking ;)

  15. Jill says:

    I love this color! I bought two Matisse shades a few years ago when visiting NYC, and I absolutely loved the colors, formula and wear but the brushes in both bottles split apart over time and now they’re unusable. I have still kept them though. I’m wondering if they have improved this over the years.

  16. Cat says:

    I like the color, but I have RBL Bikini Bottom and Essie Sag Harbor and the fact that it has pigmentation issues is making it a ‘pass’ for me.

    Also, it’s been years since I’ve done ballet, but I always remember one recital where we had to wear pale blue leotards and this flowy flowery skirts and it was my favorite ballet costume EVER! I think the pale blue works in a ballet collection.

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