I had honed AB in my old house, and I miss it. I now have black galaxy polished, and hate it. I did not seal the honed AB, so I had to apply mineral oil to it every once in a while to keep it looking dark. The mineral oil evaporates, and it starts lightening up. It also gets rings, which disappear with mineral oil, but if you are fastidious, you won't like honed AB, unless you seal it. I don't like the toxic sealing material, so I chose to use food safe mineral oil. Really loved it. Lots of people thought it was soapstone, which is what I really wanted, but was worried about durability. My kids could not destroy the honed ab. The only problem is you have to watch dragging pots across it, or any kind of metal, which will "scratch" it. I'm not sure what happens exactly, but it seems to me that particles of the metal get embedded in the granite and are impossible to remove. Someone more informed can explain this. In my new kitchen I'm getting wood countertops, but I may get honed AB around the sink if my budget can stretch a bit.

baltomom - thank you so much for your feedback. By any chance do you remember the name of the mineral oil you used? My husband and I are not super neat in the kitchen so there will be definitely be spills. What was your experience like with fingerprints?