Two finishes. Same design. Very different feel.
Every Tella Skins design is available in two finishes: Crystal Textured Matte and Premium Glossy Smooth. Both are precision-cut PVC vinyl. Both cover your lid and entire keyboard, including every key. Both resist water, fingerprints, and everyday scratches.
The difference is in how they look, how they feel under your hands, and how they interact with light.
Crystal Textured Matte
This is our signature finish and the one most customers choose. We spent years developing it with our vinyl manufacturer, and we wrote a full deep dive into what makes it different from the flat 3M vinyl most skin brands use: Not a Sticker. A Surface.
How it looks: Crystal Textured Matte has a fine micro-crystalline surface that softens the design slightly, giving it depth and a subtle tactile grain. In direct light, the texture catches and scatters light in a way that makes the surface feel dimensional rather than flat.
How it feels: Run your fingers across it and you will notice a gentle texture. Not rough, not gritty. More like the surface of a premium notebook cover or a well-made phone case. It has grip without being sticky, which matters when your palms rest on the keyboard area for hours at a time.
Fingerprints: Nearly invisible. The textured surface breaks up oils from your skin so they do not pool into visible smudges. You can use your laptop all day without wiping it down.
Best for: People who prefer understated, tactile finishes. Workspaces with overhead lighting or natural light where glare would be distracting. Anyone who values the look of a material that feels considered rather than decorative.
Premium Glossy Smooth
This finish lets the design speak as loudly as possible.
How it looks: Premium Glossy Smooth is a high-shine surface that renders every colour at maximum vibrancy. Designs with bold contrasts, deep blacks, or vivid colour gradients hit harder in glossy because the smooth surface reflects light cleanly and evenly. Marble patterns in particular look striking in glossy because the veining appears to have real depth and movement.
How it feels: Smooth and cool to the touch. No texture. The surface feels similar to the back of a new smartphone or a polished tablet screen. It glides under your fingertips rather than gripping.
Fingerprints: More visible than on matte. Glossy surfaces show oils and smudges, especially on darker designs. A quick wipe with a microfiber cloth clears them, but you will be doing that more often than with the matte finish.
Best for: People who want maximum visual impact. Designs with strong colour contrasts or photographic detail. Anyone who wants their laptop to look polished and deliberately styled.
How to Choose
There is no wrong answer here. Both finishes use the same precision-cut template for your exact model. Both include full keyboard coverage. Both are the same price. The choice comes down to personal preference and how you use your laptop.
Choose Crystal Textured Matte if: You work in environments with overhead lighting. You prefer a finish that feels premium under your palms. You do not want to think about fingerprints. You like designs that look refined and subtle rather than bold.
Choose Premium Glossy Smooth if: You want your design to pop with maximum colour intensity. You are drawn to marble, gradient, or high-contrast patterns. You do not mind wiping the surface occasionally. You want your laptop to catch attention.
If you genuinely cannot decide: Go with Crystal Textured Matte. It is more forgiving in daily use, it works in every lighting condition, and the tactile quality makes your laptop feel like a considered object rather than a decorated one. Most of our customers make this choice, and the feedback is consistent: it feels better than they expected.
Both Finishes, Same Standards
Regardless of which finish you choose, the production process is identical. Your skin is printed on premium PVC vinyl, precision-cut for your exact laptop model, and hand-weeded in our Nairobi studio. Every key on your keyboard gets its own individual piece. The design flows continuously from lid to palmrest to every key surface.
The only thing that changes is the surface you see and feel when you sit down to work.
Ready to choose? Every design on tellaskins.com lets you select your finish in the Skin Type dropdown on the product page.