A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The moment I saw this Butter London beauty in the bottle, I was smitten.  I love copper polishes, I love smooth glitters, I love my polish with just a hint of eccentricity.  Meet Butter London Scuppered, a polish that simply ticks all the right boxes.

Whoever thought to throw a scattering of green micro-glitter into the mix of what is otherwise, a rather sensible (albeit beautiful) polish, is a diabolical mastermind.  In amongst all this coppery-green madness, there’s another component – a shift of pink and a lighter gold that gives this shade an almost duochrome feel in the right light.

The formula is also wonderful, the above shows three coats – each of which applied smoothly, dried quickly and behaved impeccably.  I think you could probably get away with two coats, but don’t quote me on that.

It’s Autumnal, it’s Christmassy, it’s fun – what’s not to like?

Butter London Scuppered is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

* press sample

Never have I cursed Winter as much as I have this past week.  I got my hands on these samples almost two weeks ago and haven’t been able to do face swatches because of the poor light.  That’s not to say I haven’t worn them, I’m usually meticulous about not breaking into samples before the photos.. but c’mon, you’d have to have nerves of steel to resist these babies.

The formula is consistent throughout the line, and as much as I wanted them to feel like liquid lipsticks, they are indeed lipglosses. They’re not light-textured on the lips and are quite strongly-scented but they’re long-lasting (for gloss) and match almost perfectly with their namesake polishes from Butter London’s regular line.

As for pigment, depending on the shade, these glosses have it by the bucketload but in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda way – you cannot build the pigment, not unless you wanna walk around with jizz lips and gloss strings galore.  Similarly you can’t really sheer these out without them looking patchy although you’ll be pleased to hear that they fade kindly.

Butter London Lippy lipglosses are priced at £13.95 each and available to buy online from powderrooms.com (swatches coming soon)

* press sample

You can keep your Andrex puppies and their loo roll-pulling antics because Zoya Kendal has super-softness in the bag.  This beautiful polish from the American brand is simply perfect.  A gorgeous greyed-lavender creme that incites visions of mist-swirled candyfloss.

The formula is also divine, reaching full opacity in two fuss-free, streak-free coats. You may be able to tell that this is my favourite polish of the year so far…. making me want to retrospectively check out the rest of the Zoya Feel Collection from last winter (thank heavens for eBay).

If you’re finding Zoya Kendal a little too simplistic or cold for your tastes, these kind of muted pastels are my absolute favourite for enhancing with a little glitter.  In this case, Butter London’s Tart with a Heart did the honours…

Ethereal, delicate, beautiful and blinging to the max!

Zoya Kendal is available to buy online from beauty4nails-body.co.uk, priced at £7.99

Staring cross-eyed at Fairy Lights is one of my favourite Christmas past-times, staring cross-eyed at this nail polish makes it only marginally more appealing than looking at it with 20-20 vision.

Butter London’s Fairy Lights is a pink metallic with a high-shine chrome finish that accentuates every single flaw on the nail bed, despite the use of a base coat.  The tiniest ridge will turn into the Grand Canyon and heaven forbid if you have a peeling nail like me…

It applied streakily, coming good on the third coat and is frankly, utterly dupable.  You should check out the MyFace Lil Bling Nail Chromes for similar finishes (they do a pink one too).  Longevity was average on my hardy nails, with tip wear becoming apparent from the third day onwards.

Butter London’s Fairy Lights is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms.

Shapeshifting.  Good or bad?  Would you like to be able to transform yourself from one thing to the next in the blink of an eye?  I remember watching An American Werewolf in London (from behind the sofa) when I was about 8 or 9, that bit where David turns from hairy man into even hairier beast?  Horrifying.  It still gives me the heebies to think of it now.

Butter London’s Knackered is an altogether prettier shapeshifter.  It morphs from green to purple in the most delightful of ways, proving itself to be a very worthy duochrome.  As if that weren’t enough loveliness to contend with, the shade is flecked with holographic micro-glitter.  In fact, it’s almost too much prettiness to contend with, basically the kind of polish I’d create if I ever had me a chance: “Oh, let’s just put EVERYTHING in it!”

Butter London Knackered is priced at £11.95 and available online from PowderRooms.com

Taking a break from the Summer shades for a moment to dazzle you with Butter London’s Black Knight – a veritable nebula of twinkle on yo’ nails.

I feared that The Black Knight wouldn’t live up to my expectations, so many times have I been disappointed by a glitter but this one dodges that particular bullet.

The glitter sits proudly on the nail bed without sinking into the base colour and a single layer of top coat is enough to stop my teeth from grinding in protest against a gritty finish.  Fully opaque in three coats, it’s what one might technically call “a bobby dazzler”.  There, I’ve just come up with Butter London’s next shade name.

Butter London The Black Knight is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

Continuing on the Spring/Summer Butter London parade is Disco Biscuit – a hot pink jelly with iridescent blue flashes courtesy of a sprinkling of micro-glitter.  This jelly finish is my favourite kind, soft and squishy without being too sheer – four coats gives enough coverage to please this opaque-loving polish fan.

Application wasn’t too taxing, a streaky first coat soon smoothed out with subsequent layers.  I really didn’t think I’d like this before applying it, some of the swatches I’d seen made me think I was going to have to put up with that slightly messy-looking finish that semi-sheer shades deliver but this builds beautifully to achieve just the look you want from super-sheer to fully opaque.  It would also make a beautiful layering shade if you’re keen for a little experimentation.

Butter London Disco Biscuit is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

Butter London’s Slapper, a.k.a the hardest nail polish to photograph in the world, ever.  It’s a super-bright teal which definitely leans more green than blue.  It’s more vibrant and a bit deeper than my photograph shows.  I was getting massively frustrated trying to capture the shade until I google image’d it and it turns out that I’m not the only one who suffered!

Unlike the others that I’ve tried from the Spring/Summer collection, Slapper went on like a textbook nail polish dream, the above photo shows two coats of perfection – the shade gave me no issues at all.  This season’s brights from the brand have all been edgier than the traditional summer neons though practically as bright and eye-catching.  The subtle nuances and retro-leanings have ensured that they stand out from the other releases, though so far, the formula has been a little unpredictable.

Butter London Slapper is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95.

Hello Trout Pout, 1983 called – they want their nail polish back.  This is one seriously retro shade that deserves pride of place in Wham’s Club Tropicana video.  It’s neon-leaning with enough pink to keep it looking acceptable on cool skintones.  My picture below sadly makes this look a little less bright than it is in real-life but the shading is accurate.

This is a beautiful shade for sandal-ready toes this summer and applies in two coats, though I did experience the same weird runny-yet-thick texture that I found with Bossy Boots so just be aware of this to prevent any cuticle pooling or bubbles… thin coats required!

Butter London Trout Pout is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

Who’s da boss? Leila’s da boss (when I’m not around – sorry Mr. L!)

It’s Leila’s 3rd  birthday party today, though she doesn’t turn three until the 16th May it was the only day available at the venue so I’ve been trying to explain to a very confused tot why it isn’t actually her birthday yet but everyone will be wishing her a Happy Birthday – cue confused face.

I’m wearing Butter London’s Bossy Boots from their Spring/Summer 2012 collection in honour of the occasion, seeing as I’ll be rounding up a few under 8s, I thought it quite appropriate!

Isn’t it Spring-like?  I love muted shades but whoulda thunk I’d go gaga for a pistachio shade like this!  I like that Butter London haven’t made it too dirgy or grey and have kept it feeling somehow fresh and airy without sounding the “woah green nails” klaxon.  I’m absolutely, positively against wearing green nail polish on your toes usually (fungal feet) but I’m gonna admit to being tempted by this one.  Talk me out of it please!

Opaque in two coats, it needs the second to get rid of pastel streaks – the formula covered nicely but did have a tendency to pool around the cuticles… thin strokes required!

Butter London Bossy Boots is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

I’ve got two NOTDs to show you today, and I thought I’d bunch them together seeing as they both fit neatly along a theme. Union Jack Black and Saucy Jack… err, you’re getting the connection right?

Butter London – Union Jack Black

Butter London – Saucy Jack

Union Jack Black is a rich black with a patent, high-gloss shine.  At three coats, it requires one more than I’d like to reach full opacity but it applies effortlessly and dries rapidly.  When I got to meet Nonie Creme, she ranked Union Jack Black as one of her personal favourites from the line.

Saucy Jack is an intriguing shade with its almost jelly-like finish and blood-red hue.  It gives a stained glass-like impression that is really intriguing and ranks up there as one of my most vampy shades.  Most jellies are quite soft and squishy looking, this is far more gothic in its interpretation.

Talking of Jacks… my brother used to get mistaken for Jack Black a lot.  This is not really relevant but watching this clip always makes me laugh.  Not only does my brother look a little like Barry.  He basically is Barry, albeit slightly less hyperactive.  Also not relevant to the post, but my other brother played bass on Dry The Rain, also in the film here.  It’s like trufax Thursday right here!

Both shades are available to buy online from Powder Rooms, priced at £11.95 each.

Share a random trufax with me!

I was a little bit traumatised at the sight of this shade when I pulled it out of the bag.  I mean, it’s orange.  A proper pumpkin-esque shade that I would imagine to work best on olive skintones.  Boy, was I wrong.  This is pretty much the only orange in the world that I can wear without looking like a try-hard.

It still has the vibrancy that you might want from this kind of shade but it has a subdued edge and a beautiful autumnal vibe that complements rather than screams at pink-toned skin.  A certain dusty quality that I’ve always loved in my purple shades, translating terrifically to something I’d least expect.  Opaque in a couple of coats, creamy and warm.  Lovely.

The bad news is?  It’s being discontinued so don’t expect to be able to find it once Autumn rolls around again.

Butter London Minger is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms