Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat

I have been playing around with the Butter London Base and Topcoats over the past few days and I have used them in all different kinds of ways to determine how high quality these products are.  I wrote a very favorable review on the Nail Foundation Basecoat the other day and I loved how I could it by itself for a natural look and then under nail polish to anchor the shade.  My favorite way to use it was actually alone, I loved the pretty finish that it gives my nails and I have now used it with and without the topcoat over it.  The topcoat makes this great basecoat even better!

The Sephora website has been my go to for Butter London lately, Ulta has been sold out of most of the products each time that I go and the exchange rate is just too horrid for me to even consider ordering from the Butter London in England.  So I tend to hope that Sephora will have what I want in stock and know that they will email me quickly when items come back in stock. 

The Sephora website states, "A quick-dry, ultraglossy, chip-resistant top coat.  Hardwear™ P.D. Quick Topcoat protects the layers of color beneath it and gives a super shiny finish. Nails look wet, vibrant, and freshly painted even when they are dry. This expert formula protects your lacquer, significantly extending the life of your manicure.  In case you were wondering, P.D. Quick stands for "Pretty Darn Quick!" butter LONDON™ is a new-era design house, creating extraordinary moments in color by living on the inside edge of fashion. butter LONDON does not add formaldehyde, toluene, or DBP to any of its nail formulas. It's color without compromise."

We will look at this product in two ways; first how it performs as a topcoat and then how I use it in conjunction with the basecoat from this polish line. 

As a topcoat, this product performs very similar to most high quality topcoats.  It helps to keep polish shiny and allow only very minimal tip wear for about five to six days.  I found very little difference between this product and the topcoats that I have used from Deborah Lippmann and China Glaze.  I really can't say that I have ever seen that much difference between most topcoat formulas and they either perform well for about five days or they don't even last two or three days.  This is a solid topcoat formula but I can't say that there is anything special about its performance in this aspect.

Like with the basecoat, I prefer to use this product without  a colored nail lacquer.  The combination of the top and basecoat provides a lovely natural finish to the nails with a nice shine.  The combination is easy to wear with any type of style and provides a low maintenance approach on busy weeks.  Two coats of the basecoat and one of the topcoat is the perfect formula for this and I can see myself using this approach a lot. 

I love the combination of the base and topcoats and I would love to see these product recognized for the look that they create together, I want to see Butter London sell these two products in a set and then explain how well they work together.  This combination creates one of my favorite nail looks and will be one that I can wear for many years to come.

photo courtesy of Sephora

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