Candy Corn, Accents, and Mattes. Oh my!

I've had a bottle of NYC "Matte Me Crazy!" top coat sitting out to try for over a month now... I knew I wanted to do something interesting with it, and as I was picking my brain for Halloween / fall themed nail art, the naturally matte texture of candy corn plopped in front of me like a welcome pet.  I already had a gorgeous duo of orange and yellow to use, "Orange you hot?" and "Sun Kissed", both from the China Glaze Summer Neons Collection and I swear by the Sally Hansen french tip white pen. All that was left to do was figure out how to apply it, right?

Well, yes, but it wasn't easy. I tried taping but did it too soon and ripped all the polish right off with it and gunked up my nail bed (eww) so I tried to freehand it and it looked okay but I kept getting the proportions wonky. And then the debate on what order to do the manicure in commenced between a few friends and myself. A few advocated for yellow, orange, then white tips since white tips are a classy nail staple. Others advocated for white moons, orange middles, and yellow tips so that the cone shape of my nail would mimic the cone shape of the candy corn. I could see both sides, and was torn.

So I did both as accent nails! Yellow-orange-white on my left hand ring finger and white orange yellow on my right hand ring finger. I'll post all of my photos and I want YOU to help me choose which to do as a full manicure! Check out the pictures and tell me which is your favorite in the comments.

Both hands, no flash, holding on to an awesome candy corn gel candle. Smells like the real deal, no calories! 

Left hand, no flash

Left hand, flash

Right hand, no flash

Right hand, flash

Left hand, full sun (With jumbo smarties! Candy is on theme, right?)

Right hand, full sun

The accent nails, head-to-head, full sun

So what do you think, internet? Do the white tips rule supreme? Is the conical candy dupe the way to go? Do you admire my resolve in not eating the entire jumbo roll of smarties before taking a photo of it? (Because you should...) Poll winner will be announced in a follow-up post Sunday!

Poll winner announced here: Winner!

As far as this manicure goes, I ended up letting a coat of orange dry over night, taping the tips, and free-handing the moons which meant lots of clean up. I'm in LOVE with the matte finish though. I was skeptical at first because I adore the smooth shiny finish of a Seche Vite manicure, but this feels silky to the touch and give a whole new life to a bright shimmer like "Orange you hot".  You can bet I'll be doing more with matte soon!