I’ve seen a few artists in different places mention that recently purchased GHS Matte Varnish is turning shiny when baked, and not as matte as it used to be? Like the company has possibly changed it. Has anyone else noticed this lately? I’m needing to purchase more soon and I’m concerned it is no longer truly matte. I’ve always relied on it to remove shine from my dolls when they are completed.
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I am highly disappointed with my Genesis Matte Varnish experience. I nearly ruined my first two babies with it and had to air dry varnish both of them which luckily worked. When I looked back at pictures, there was absolutely no shine on either kit before I applied it! I won’t be using it any more. It definitely doesn’t do what I expected it to do.
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I have no problem with mine. I bought it from macphersons probably 4 or 5 weeks ago
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It seems they have changed something. I hope they fix the problem.
Do you use a thinning medium along with it? I thin it with Mona Lisa (but not a ton) and the results were not great. It was as if the thinner never flashed off and all that oil just remained.
Nope, I use mona lisa or museum brand thinner with it. Maybe you got a bad batch? I used it on these babies and they’re not shiny at all.
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I bought some from Jerry’s Artarama about a month ago and used it recently on a doll head I finished, my experience was totally different. The matte I have now seems way more matte and rough than it used to be. I baked Rosie’s head 3 times and at the end of it all she felt like roofing shingles. I actually had to put another layer of thick/satin on top of it to calm it down.
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Who’s your smiling baby in the center photo? He’s sooo cute.
That’s Smilla Altenkirch! She’s really sweet but has hard vinyl and short t-rex arms. I posted a whole topic about her if you want more pics 
Those look great! Maybe it was a bad batch. I’m not going to chance anymore at least not for a while.
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I’ll go check it out. Thank you
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Good plan! I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t either. Stick with what works for you, everything works differently for different people and it would be boring if we all did the same thing
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Mine had a few spots that were very rough and I buffed them off lightly. But, I mixed very well each time I dipped my brush in and it still turned out shiny in some places and rough in others! After that I was very cautious to apply super thinly and really pounce and that’s when the shine really got bad.
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I am a big fan of Genesis so it pains me to not be able to use it. I wonder if it could have anything to do with humidity and similar factors?
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That could be the case! It’s still quite cold where I live. I’m not sure though but it’s definitely possible
I’ve never seen the matte varnish on the site, only the satin. Can you share a link? I would really like to get a large jar of the regular matte. Here is where I normally look to get the mediums on the site.
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Tiffiny you cracked me up with the roofing shingles,great comparison,thanks for giving a laugh this morning.
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I don’t see the matte varnish either on Jerry’s, however Dolls by Sandie has the 4 oz. jar for 19.99
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I’ve only tried mixing in thinning medium and/or thinner twice, and both times I ended up with chalky areas that didn’t go away no matter how many times I baked. So, I only use it straight from the jar, and it’s always been nice and matte for me. But now that it might be different I’m worried about spending any $$ on a new jar that might not be right.
I haven’t seen the Matte listed on Jerry’s for the last four months I’ve checked. Is there a separate link over there for it?