Butter London Holiday 2013 Collection - Illusionist

The first of the nail polish collections for holiday 2013 have hit the websites and I am very excited to see that Butter London is leading the way this year.  I have been collecting Butter London shades for the past few months and I know that I need to get a jump on hitting up Ulta to get the new shades before they sell out.  I will have to see if this collection is also offered on Sephora's website and how fast I can get my hands on a few of these shades.

The Illusionist nail lacquer collection includes two permanent shades and four brand new shades.  All of the shades are very pigmented and will make a statement this holiday season and all throughout the rest of the winter months.  I think I will even continue to wear the red shade in pedicures throughout the spring and summer.  Most of the shades have a dramatic shimmer finish and will stand out from the rest of the polish collection releases.  The holiday season is known for dramatic nail polish releases and these shades will lead the way!

Butter London is an English brand and celebrates some of the best of English culture.  I have been an Anglophile for years so I buy these polishes for a combination of the shades and fabulous formula plus I love all the names to them.  The promo picture of this collection gets me excited to start stalking Ulta and Sephora for these new shades!

The new Butter London Illusionist collection...

- Union Jack Black - jet black nail lacquer that goes on like liquid leather
- Come to Bed Red - sexist red nail lacquer in history
- Stardust Overcoat - sheer silver holographic overcoat, like a magical sprinkling of stars
- Petrol Overcoat - sheer tornate topcoat with the opalescent sheen of oil reflected in rain
- Stratford Honey Overcoate - sheer gold shimmer overcoat named for a historic London town
- Bramble - opaque eggplant cream named for prickly shrubs with a gorgeous hue and delicious berries

The first two shades are the ones that are part of the permanent collection, I don't own either of them but I love both of them so they will be part of my shopping list along with the other four shades.  I want all six of these shades but I think my favorite is Bramble.  This eggplant cream actually fills a hole in my polish collection and I will wear this all throughout the cold weather season.

I love this little collection from Butter London and hope this is a preview to all the great nail polish hues that will be released in the coming weeks!

photo courtesy of Butter London

Current Favorites!

August is almost half over and I am in in between soaking up the last long days of the summer and thinking ahead to the fall months.  I am enjoying my last weeks of using self tanner and doing yoga outside while starting to collect the candles that I will want to burn this fall.  I have been using my favorite shades of summer makeup and beginning to transition some of the early fall shades that I have purchased into the mix.  I haven't switched any of my fragrances or body product over yet and don't think that I will for about a month yet.  I have been loving the tubes of Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick and one shade is topping my Favorites list.

My Current Favorites of the late summer...

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Naked - "A luxury lipstick that delivers intense color payoff plus creamy shine.  Revolution Lipstick is rich, buttery lipstick at its best—with the signature Urban Decay pigment-rich color you crave. Addictive to apply (and even more addictive to wear), Revolution Lipstick glides on without dragging or skipping and hugs every curve. Just one swipe gives you a big, gorgeous lay down of color. And with shades that range from gorgeous nudes to bold brights, there’s something for everyone.  Urban Decay’s Pigment Dispersion System™ gives Revolution Lipstick its super creamy texture, intense pigmentation, superior color dispersion, and extended wear. Maxi-Lip™ defines and hydrates lips while making them look plumper and fuller. And a nourishing blend of jojoba oil, avocado oil, cocoa butter and shea butter keeps lips super moisturized and cushiony soft. The luxe, custom-designed gunmetal tube (lined in Urban Decay’s signature dark purple) looks so gorgeous, you’ll want to keep pulling it out of your bag.  Naked is a 'nude pink' with a cream finish."  This creamy lipstick lasts all day and keeps my lips hydrated and healthy-looking.  I love this nude-pink shade and I use it for all kinds of makeup looks and I find myself reaching for this product more and more.  I barely need to retouch this product and just add a bit more when my lips are feeling a bit dry.

Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil Dry Oil Mist - "A weightless, nutrient-rich oil mist that protects hair from heat styling tools, enhances shine, and boosts hair's health.  This double-duty formula can be used as both a deeply nourishing treatment that helps to repair split ends and environmental damage, and as a color protecting style primer. Made with strengthening organic bamboo and smoothing organic kendi oil, it banishes frizz and imparts intense shine while providing vital nutrients.  Bamboo extract and kendi oil contained in this product are eco-certified, fair-trade compliant, and certified organic. Their production and sale aid in supporting the development of local communities while remaining environmentally friendly. Free of gluten, TEA, and phthalates."  I use this on wet dry before blow drying and styling and it helps to soften and reduce the amount of frizz that comes up this time of the year.  It helps to protect my hair from the sun and keeps it looking shiny all day long.  I love that it hydrates while I style and helps to protect my color from the high amount of heat styling that I do all the time.  I have been burning through my bottle of this and will need to re-order very soon.

Butter London Nail Lacquer in Slapper - "A heavily pigmented, high-fashion nail lacquer.  Created backstage at fashion week for the world’s top fashion designers, Butter LONDON’s lacquers are rich in color, giving your nails a look that is more vibrant. The vitamin-enriched formula promotes nail strength and provides beautifully consistent coverage.  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. For brilliant results, use butter LONDON lacquers with the corresponding butter LONDON base and topcoats. When used together, the products last significantly longer than a typical manicure.  Slapper is "truly teal'."  This bright teal cream has been a favorite of mine since I ordered it last spring.  I have been using it at least once a week for almost four months and intend to keep it up until I bring my fall colors out.  This teal is highly pigmented and the formula lasts for about four days with only minor tip wear.  I get more compliments on this than any other shade and this might be one of my favorite shades that I have ever bought!

Stila Lip Glaze in Vanilla - "An ultra high-shine lip gloss in a nifty click pen.  Stila's ever-popular lip glaze is back in action with larger pens (twice the size of the original) guaranteed to keep your lips glossier, longer. The gloss gives lips a punch of color and adds a delicious scent. Whatever sweet flavor you are in the mood for, it is sure to be found in this collection of classic shades.  Vanilla is a 'pearly nude gloss'."  I use this shade at least three times a week and it works with any makeup look that I have come up with so far.  This gives my lips shine and a bit of a pearl finish, it will work well with my tan now and then with my pale skin in the coming seasons.  I will be ordering another tube of this shade before I run out and then a few other shades of Lip Glaze.

Stila Convertible Color in Peony - "A lipstick that doubles as a blush.  Stila's ingenious lipstick and blush-in-one proves irresistible. Non-greasy, this creamy, sheer tint adds an natural glow to the cheeks while lips bloom with fresh, radiant color. A mini mirrored-compact makes touch ups on the go a snap.  Peony is a 'neutral medium pink'."  I have been using this color for a long time now and it continues to be a favorite Stila product of mine.  This shade is easy to wear and the formula lasts all day in the summer months, it lasts through running outside and also hitting the gym after work.  I have no idea when I got this product the first time but I have been using it for a long time and I have not hit the bottom of the pan yet and I should have at least another yet of my pot.

This is my last post about any kind of summer beauty and my big focus in the upcoming weeks is working many of these great shades into my fall beauty looks and then buying new products to work with them.

photo courtesy of Sephora

Butter London Fall 2013 Collection - The Colour Clash Collection

Butter London has just released their fall nail polish collection and I couldn't be more ready to add more nail polish colors to my collection.  The last time I bought several bottles at once was at Sally Beauty Supply last June and they were all bright China Glaze colors.  I am ready for something new and we all know that I love Butter London's formula and all of the shades that they have brought out so far (and all the English names!) and this is exactly where I wanted to start my fall nail polish shopping.  I can't really say that there are any shades that I need except a black hue to do an accent manicure with.  I won't really be looking for black in many of the seasonal collections when I know that I can get it any time from China Glaze or Chanel.

The fall collection from Butter London is called The Colour Collection and actually reminds me more of a summer collection than the tradition jewel tones for the fall.  This is a company that would break the mold on the traditional fall shades and I am interested to see what they have brought out.  I see six new shades with this collection release and I am sure that I will want at least two or three of them.  I want to see how these shades will play out with some of the fall fashion trends that we have been seeing going down the runway since last Fashion Week.

There are six new shades to this collection and now it is time to start looking at them  I see a bright pink, a pretty periwinkle, and then bright yellow and orange hues.  I know that I will rule out the orange and yellow hues right away and I am just not sure how I will work some of these shades into my fall look, these might be best for the very end of summer and the very beginning of fall.  I think I could use the periwinkle shade into the fall but I am not sure about any of the others.

Here is the Colour Collection!

- Cotton Buds - An opaque, pure white crème. Wear under your lacquer to make colours pop!
- Cake Hole - An opaque, nearly neon pink crème nail lacquer. A pink so bright, it can’t be wrong!
- Giddy Kipper - Opaque, indigo shimmer.
- Pimms - Opaque, sunflower yellow crème.
- Silly Billy - Opaque, fire orange crème.
- Wellies - Soft lime crème.

I want two shades in this collection, Cake Hole and Giddy Kipper.  Cake Hole would be a shade that I wear right now but then put away about half way through September.  I would try matching it with a bright pink lipstick to extend the wear further into fall but I need to play around with this look before I would make the decision to extend the wear time longer than usual for summer shades.  I love the Giddy Kipper polish and would wear this now and I am pretty sure that I could take it all the way into fall.  This would be my first choice for the collection and is the one that I will order first.  Butter London is hard enough to order at Sephora and Ulta and I have to focus mostly on shades that I love when dealing with the painful ordering of these polishes.

I will be interested to see if the other large polish collections are made up of more traditional fall hues or they follow the bright trend that Butter London used on some of the runway collections.

photo courtesy of Butter London

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

Butter London Nail Foundation Flawless Base Coat

Yesterday we looked at a brand new (to me at least) nail polish brand called SpaRitual and today we are going to continue to trend of nail polish and products.  My latest Sephora package arrived last week and I ordered two new products from Butter London that I was very excited to try.  I ordered both the base and top coats from Butter London and have been using both of them to see how well they enhanced the performance of my polish and its wear.

I go through top and base coats like water, I use one or both of them with nearly every single manicure and pedicure and am always looking for new formulas to try.  Today we are going to look at the base coat from Butter London and we will then follow with the matching top coat in the next few days.  I started with wanting to ordered the base coat alone but then decided to throw the top coat in my online cart at the last moment to see how they work when used together.

My obsession with this base coat, Nail Foundation Flawless Base Coat, started a few weeks ago wen I was reading an issue of Vogue.  The article that I was reading focused on the models' backstage beauty habits before they go out on the runway.  This was the base coat that many of the manicure artists used on the models but then the article went on to say how many of the ladies then bought this product for themselves to use alone for simple matte manicure.  Sine you all know how much I love to wear pale cream polishes on my nails, this polish appealed to me right away and ended up in my Sephora shopping cart within a few hours.

"A basecoat that hides and smooths tiny ridges and imperfections in the nail giving a wonderful result to the look of your lacquer.  This silk-finish, stain-resistant basecoat provides the perfect foundation on which to paint butter LONDON™ nail lacquer. The non-toxic formula has a matte effect that’s so beautiful, you can also wear it alone.  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. For brilliant results, use butter LONDON lacquers with the corresponding butter LONDON base and topcoats. When used together, the products last significantly longer than a typical manicure."

I have this product both of the ways that were suggested and this is one of the best (if not the best) base coats that I have ever used, I love that I can use it alone or with other polishes.  When used as a traditional base coat, it helps to create a smooth finish for polish and I love using it to smooth out the ridges in my nails.  My nails are awful with ridges and this helps to improve the wear of my polish and improves the overall texture.  When worn alone, it creates a nude hue on the nail with a sheer matte finish and lasts for about three days without any type of wear issues.

What way do I prefer this base coat?  I really don't know which way it works the best, it is a very nice base coat formula but I am just tickled pink that I can use it in multiple ways and brush two coats on when I need a quick low maintenance manicure.  I think this is officially my new favorite base coat and based on the fact that it was out of stock on the Sephora website for two weeks after I read the Vogue article, I will order another bottle of this polish for a back up when mine starts to get low.

photo courtesy of Sephora

Current Favorites!

This is one of the best beauty times of the year for me...the spring shades are all able to be worn easily and I get to start mixing in some of the summer products that I have been so excited to pick up.  I am going to start self tanning soon and my favorite sundresses are ready to come out of the closet, I just love the end of the spring semester and all the promise that it holds for the upcoming months.  I have picked up a few items for summer already and am beginning to dig through all the items that I bought for spring and am deciding what pieces will work as well in the warm weather months. 

I still have a bunch of current favorites from earlier in the spring, I have made a bunch of really good purchases over the past few months and have found some new products and shades that I will use for years.  I think that this has been one of the best seasons for finding great products and I believe that I have made that comment more than once over the past few months but it is just so true in this case!

So what are my favorites now?  More and more I find myself reaching for my bottle of Stella McCartney's L.I.L.Y. and the level of the bottle has been going down more rapidly than almost any other fragrance that I have used in a long time.  I still love one of my lipsticks from MAC that I have been using for almost two months now and I plan to keep using all the way into the summer months.  I also have a new favorite in a cream blush from Stila and a bright aqua polish from Butter London.  My beauty loves are being used at least two or three times a week for me right now and I do not see this trend ending any time soon.

My Favorite Five right now!

Stella McCartney L.I.L.Y - "Lily is like nature—vivid and sensual. The contact with nature awakes her sensations and emotions. “It makes me think of my mum. Her nickname from my Dad was Lily. From Linda I love you.” —Stella McCartney".  The notes are: "Black Truffles, Black Pepper, Lily of the Valley, Pink Pepper, White Musk, Oak Moss, Patchouli."  I bought a bottle of this fragrance during the first round of my shopping from the Sephora Friends and Family Sale and I have been using it all the time ever since I first opened it up.  I have received more compliments on this fragrance than most of my others (exception is the original Stella from the same designer).  People actually will stop their sentences to ask me what I am wearing that smells so amazing and it is quickly becoming a favorite warm weather fragrance of mine.  The Lily of the Valley note and the Bluebell note (not listed but I found it in another description in a magazine) create a light, pretty floral on me that I can wear in any circumstance and whether I am dressed up or down.  I have a feeling that I will run out of this perfume faster than normal and will need a new bottle by next spring.

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Behave Yourself - "Combining the colour impact of a Lipstick with the shine sheen of a Lipglass, Sheen Supreme creates the perfect hybrid - with no compromise. Lightweight, non-sticky, slick to apply and comfortable to wear. This is a must-have for all those who have craved this kind of fusion."  Behave Yourself is a "light blue pink".  This lipstick formula is very hydrating and reminds me of a lip gloss in that respect yet the pigmentation is completely that of a full coverage lipstick.  My lips are always dry and I can easily wear this lipstick without worrying about dryness breaking through and having to always use a separate lip balm.  Behave Yourself is a perfect cool pink shade for me and compliments my cool-toned skin and I fully plan to use this shade all throughout the year.  Friends and co-workers always compliment me on this shade and I plan to get more shades from this formula for the fall and winter months.  I have a new favorite MAC Lipstick formula!

Butter London 3-Free Nail Lacquer in Slapper - "A heavily pigmented, high-fashion nail lacquer. Created backstage at fashion week for the world’s top fashion designers, butter LONDON’s lacquers are rich in color, giving your nails a look that is more vibrant.   Butter LONDON is a new-era design house, creating extraordinary moments in color by living on the inside edge of fashion. It is a “three-free” company, meaning products are free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP. For brilliant results, one should always use butter LONDON™ lacquers with the corresponding butter LONDON base and topcoats. When used together, the products last significantly longer than a typical manicure."  Slapper is a "truly teal" and is the best teal shade that I have ever seen.  I use this shade at least twice a week and have been using it in both manicures and pedicures for the past three weeks.  Butter London polishes are long lasting and I can go about four days with only minor tip wear, I reapply top coat every other day to keep them perfectly shiny but this is one of the lowest maintenance nail polish formulas that I have ever used.  I always want new colors from this company and this will continue to remain one of my absolute favorites!

Stila Convertible Color in Peony - "A lipstick that doubles as a blush. Stila's ingenious lipstick and blush-in-one proves irresistible. Non-greasy, this creamy, sheer tint adds an natural glow to the cheeks while lips bloom with fresh, radiant color. A mini mirrored-compact makes touch ups on the go a snap."  Peony is a "neutral rose cream" that I would imagine works with almost any skin color or undertone, this is truly a universal shade.  I use this formula mostly as blush, it works well to give me a natural flush that stays on through work, class, and then the gym yet too.  This formula spreads easily and is best when patted onto the apples of the cheeks and then blended with a clean finger, this is one of the few cream blush formulas that easily blends right into the skin.  I will use this formula in the summer since it has proven to not budge at all under pressure and I can use it in winter since it blends so easily and won't create an issue with my dry skin.  I want to try and purchase more shades from this product the next time that I go to Sephora.

Carol's Daughter Monoi Repairing Hair Mask - "A deeply nourishing hair treatment to undo and prevent damage by up to 96%.  Strengthening your hair is the only way to lengthen it so you can do whatever you want with it. To really fortify fine, fragile, or chemically-treated hair requires major nourishment found in the Monoi Repairing Hair Mask. Added to the rejuvenating Monoi Oil – a repairing Tahitian blend of the Tiare Gardenia Flower and Coprah Coconut Oil – is rebuilding Bamboo Water and protective Hydrolyzed Silk.  This product is free of alcohol, petroleum, mineral oil, and artificial colors. For over 2,000 years, Tahitians have used Monoi Oil for its natural reparative properties that undo and prevent damage from the sun, sea and surf. Using ingredients that only grow in Tahiti, Monoi Oil is made by taking 15 freshly picked Tiare Gardenia Flower blossoms and combining them with 15 ounces of Coprah Coconut Oil over a 15 day sacred ritual, passed down only through an oral tradition."  This hydrating mask was another key purchase during the Sephora Friends and Family Sale and will lead to more purchases from Carol's Daughter.  This tropical floral-scented mask hydrates and smooths my hair and the results of the first usage lasted for an entire week.  My hair is much more manageable after use of this product and styles much easier than before I tried it out.  I am excited to see that Sephora carries an entire line of Monoi Hair products from Carol's Daughter and I will be ordering more very soon.  I am seeing this being a key product when my hair needs a bit of extra help after a summer of running outside and then into the cold weather months.

This Sephora Friends and Family Sale was great for me, four of these five products were from my first order and they all turned out to be true winners.  I am really excited that I have found some key additions to my product line up and have more colors to order in many of these products.  I look forward to adding more to my beauty product collection over the next few months while retaining all my current loves!

photo courtesy of MAC

Butter London Summer 2013 Nail Lacquer Collection

One of the collections that I have been the most excited about for the summer months is the new nail lacquer shades from Butter London.  I just ordered the Slapper shade from the Sephora Friends and Family sale and this is my early favorite purchase from the sale.  That shade is actually from last summer's collection however it was sold out all last summer on every website and store that I could find Butter London at.  I was so excited when I saw it available for the Sephora sale and I had it sitting in my cart for a week before the sale started and I held my breath until I placed my order.  It is now sold out yet again and for a good reason...it is one of the best teal shades that I have EVER used and I have used it twice already since it came in late last week.  I don't think that I have been so excited about a nail polish color in the past few years...

That excitement is growing even more now that the Butter London summer shades are available on the Nordstrom website (haven't checked Ulta yet but both of the locations near me can never keep their display looking even halfway stocked) and this is mostly likely where I will order from.  We have six lovely new shades to pick from and I know that I will want at least two or three polishes after looking at this collection!

The Nordstrom website provides all the information that I need to check out this collection, it gives details about the background of the collection and then the shades themselves.  "This season is about being inspired by raw, cultural elements and gilded textures. Mix and match prints and revel in fabrics that are foiled, embossed and authentic. Sultry metallics in platinum, gold and rust evoke luxury, while crushed glitter in rich shades of copper and umber are offset by an accent of African turquoise."  I love metallic silver nail polish shades and I am craving a new copper shade to wear on the hot summer nights...

The unique formula of this polish is described as follows, "What is 3 Free? butter LONDON is a 3 Free company: no formaldehyde, no toluene, no DBP (dibutyl phthalate). This luxury nail lacquer is high-fashion, heavily pigmented and safe. butter LONDON believes in rock 'n' roll. Great Britain. And Fashion."

Here are the newest shades for summer from Butter London!

- Bit Faker - dense copper glitter suspended in a clear base
- Bobby Dazzler - platinum silver
- Champers - deep coppery rose with warm shimmer
- Marbs - bright yellow gold with gold shimmer
- Poole - medium robin's egg blue cream
- Sun Baker - deep coppery orange with copper shimmer

My favorite shade is the bright blue, I have been adding blues and aquas to my collection this whole spring and now I have found another one that I want to purchase.  This isn't the most unique shade since I own a similar shade from China Glaze (For Audrey) and therefore I will not be very disappointed if I do not get a bottle of it.  Champers is a really lovely shade and the one that is the stand out from this collection, I have never seen a shade quite like this before.  This is a unique shade of rose copper and it will work with all the rose gold looks that I have been doing over the past few weeks and will look even better against a tan this summer.  This is the one shade that I must own from this collection.  The last shade that I really like is Bobby Dazzler, I wear silvers very often and I would like to own this shade in the high quality formula from Butter London. 

My nail polish collection is just going to get larger and larger with this season and I still have to deal with the issue of how I will be storing all of these new shades.  My current shades are already over flowing and this will only get worse over the next few weeks...  And we are only through about a quarter of the summer collections yet!

photo courtesy of Nordstrom

Butter London Spring 2013 Collection - Sweetie Shop

One of the spring collections that I have been stalking for the past few weeks is now up on the company's website and I could not be more excited to start looking at the new Butter London nail polish shades!  I have been in love with Butter London polishes for about a year now and I want to add some more to my collection, I see that some shades are now available on the Sephora website but I have never seen any of them at the stores.  It is nice that I now have another place to find shades because both of the Ultas that are in driving distance to me tend to sell out of these shades very quickly.  Case in point - it took me seven months of visits for the stars to align and for All Hail the Queen to finally be available when I was at the store.  I don't know if the demand is just that high or if the shipments are very spotty but it often takes me more than one try to get the shades that I want from this line and the website for Ulta is often no better at having what I want in stock.  All this tells me is that I will have to hunt for the shades that I want the most from the spring collection and to not give up when I can't find them until May...

This collection for spring consists of six new shades of polish, one that is neutral and the others are colorful hues.  I had seen pictures of Fiver and Molly Coddled in magazines for this month and these are my two favorite shades so far from the collection.  I am ready for pastels on my hands and toes and it appears that there will be some great choices in this collection.  And the name Sweetie Shop just makes me think of an ice cream shop and all the pretty shades that are in the counter.

The Nordstrom website provides the best description of the polish formula and background that I can find (even better than the company's website) so I have included this to help anyone who is not familiar with this brand.  "What is 3 Free? butter LONDON is a 3 Free company: no formaldehyde, no toluene, no DBP (dibutyl phthalate). This luxury nail lacquer is high-fashion, heavily pigmented and safe. butter LONDON believes in rock 'n' roll. Great Britain. And Fashion."  And so do their legions of fans...

The new shades in the Sweetie Shop collection are...

- Cuppa - toasted opaque tan creme
- Fiver - opaque icy mint creme
- Fruit Machine - opaque punchy carnation creme
- Jasper - opaque bright pastel yellow creme
- Kerfuffle - opaque coral pink creme
- Molly Coddled - opaque orchid creme

Molly Coddled is my favorite shade and it is the picture that I have included here so that everyone can see how pretty this shade is and how perfect it will be for spring!  I will be adding this shade to my Most Wanted list for next month and I will begin the search for it.  In fact, I want flats in this hue and a cardigan too.  This might just be one of the prettiest lavender shades that I have seen lately.

Fiver is also very high on my shopping list, I don't have a mint green shade and I have been wanting one ever since I started seeing spring nail polishes in magazines, this one will be coming home with me from Ulta the next time that I can find it.  Fruit Machine is a great shade for spring and summer also and I would like to take this bubble gum pink home with me too.  I have been talking recently about my issues with storing nail polishes and this collection is only going to make the problem worse but I love these three hues and I will be adding to my polish collection this spring!

photo courtesy of Nordstrom

Butter London Holiday 2012 Collection

The Butter London fall polish collection was one of my favorites of the whole last season, I am still in love with many of the shades in it and it made my very excited for the holiday polish collection.  I am confident that this is not going to be a collection of only reds, silvers, and golds; I am really excited to see how Butter London treats the holidays!  I am excited for lots of shimmer and glitter and some interesting shades from this line...also I am very excited to see what names this company comes up with for the holiday shades.  Some of my favorite Christmas-themed books are the Agatha Raisin series from M.C. Beaton and I love the British traditions that are in place around the holidays so I am even more excited for this collection of shades from England!

This collection does not appear to be on the Butter London website so I have found the shades and the descriptions on the Nordstrom website.  I am surprised that I could not find them on the company's website but perhaps I was looking in the wrong place...not sure what is going on here.  Anyway, the Nordstrom website shows five new shades to dress up your nails this holiday season and I am hoping that I can find several new shades to add to my polish collection.

The Nordstrom website states the following as a description of the polish formula, "What is 3 Free? butter LONDON is a 3 Free company: no formaldehyde, no toluene, no DBP (dibutyl phthalate). This luxury nail lacquer is high-fashion, heavily pigmented and safe. butter LONDON believes in rock 'n' roll. Great Britain. And Fashion."  This company promotes their "3 Free" formula, this company does not include three of the worse chemicals in their formula.  Does this make the formula superior?  In theory, it should but I haven't seen a giant difference between this formula and many other companies.

Here are the shades in the holiday collection!

- Fairy Cake - a mixture of small silver shimmer and large holographic glitter
- Fiddlesticks - deep cool berry base with deep pink glitter
- Jack the Lad - deep forest green base with gold shimmer
- Scallywag - bright dense sky blue glitter
- Scuppered - metallic bronze with red and gold glitter

Fiddlesticks is the shade that I have pictured with this post, I love this deep magenta shade.  I will wear it on my nails throughout the fall and winter months but it will still work very well in the spring and summer months when used in pedicures.  This might be my favorite shade of the collection so far! 

I think that the only shade that I don't like in this collection is Scuppered, this bronze has a metallic finish already and the gold and red glitter just overpowers the base shade and makes the whole finish just look ugly.  I will be skipping over this shade without a question.  I still consider this collection to be top notch, liking four of the five shades is pretty good for any polish line.  Jack the Lad is my second favorite shade, I love this deep green and it will work well with both my holiday party outfits and all of my Eagles gear...a total keeper!  Scallywag and Fairy Cake are both nice shades but I don't really need them the way that I do the other two shades that I talked about in this collection.

This is the most unique holiday polish collection that I have looked at so far...it might be tied for my favorite with the Skyfall collection from OPI.  I will have to head to Ulta and see what is left yet from this collection!

photo courtesy of Nordstrom

Butter London Fall 2012 Collection

With the exception of Chanel and Illamasqua, one of the new collections that I am most excited for is from the British nail polish line Butter London.  I bought my first two Butters at the very end of March and I fell in love with formula after the first try.  The Butter London display at the two Ultas closest to me are almost always empty and I have to really track down the shades that I want the most.  It took my almost a year until the timing was right for me to be at Ulta when All Hail The Queen was finally in stock and I was at the store.  I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have order the shades that I want the most online, however I do believe that I saw that this line will now be available on the Sephora website.  I know that I have not seen it at the store but I am hopeful that it will soon be added to the famous Nail Bar in certain stores. 

This collection for fall was just released on both the Butter London facebook page and the company's website, I have not seen it anywhere else yet.  Fans of this company now have five new shades to choose from this fall, all of which will sell out very quickly and will be great additions to my polish collection.  This polish formula does not contain three of the biggest chemicals that are used in modern nail polish formulas, making it a higher quality formula.  Even without all the chemical additions, this formula nail polish still looks fantastic on the nail and wears almost a full week with very minor chipping.  It often makes me wonder how necessary some of the chemicals that are in many formulas actually are necessary...
These five shades are a range of textures and finishes, three of the shades are deeper-toned and the rest are pale cool tones.  I can't decide which of the groups are my favorite, the darker shades are lovely and unique but I can easily make any of the pale shades one of my everyday neutral looks. 

The lighter of the five shades is where I plan to begin.  The first of the shades is named Trustafarian, "a golden holographic finish gives this delightful sage green a surprising and sophisticated edge".  This shade is a pale sage green with a heavy golden shimmer.  I am on the fence about this polish, I love the pale sage shade and this shade would work very well on my skintone but I really wish that it had a silver shimmer instead of the gold.  It would be more flattering on me if it had a silver shimmer but I still want to see it in person and then I will make my final decision.  As of the pictures on the website, I don't think that I will be buying this polish shade.  The second of the lighter shades is one of my early favorites from the collection, Dodgy Barnett.  "A highly holographic lacquer in a classic shade that blurs the line between gray and silver."  This shade is a light shade of silver/gray with lots of shimmer in the finish.  I love this shade and I know that I would use it all the time, I use silvers all the time during the fall and winter so this one would work very well with the rest of my collection.

Now onto the deeper shades from this new collection.  Lovely Jubbly is my favorite shade of the whole collection and every photo of it that is posted on facebook only makes me want it more and more.  The picture included in this post is this color, it is beautiful and so very unique that I will be hard-pressed to find another shade like it.  "A vibrant magenta flecked with red, blue, and micro-particles.  This sultry glitter channels a distinctly retro, 70's feel.  High impact sparkle for Disco Divas."  This shade is a bright magenta with lots of shimmer in the finish, I have never seen a polish like this before and I am confident in stating that this one will be a top selling shade for the company.  The second of the deeper shades is Gobsmacked, a shade that might be tied with Lovely Jubbly as my favorite of the collection.  This shade is a deep charcoal that I would use as a neutral in the fall and winter months.  "A heavily pigmented charcoal gray glitter with a slightly textured finish.  This shade is unlike anything we've seen before -  a legend in the making!"  The texture looks as though it has a heavy glitter finish, I love this shade so much that I must buy this one as soon as I can find it.  The last of the polishes is my least favorite, it is the warmest of the shades and is designed to resembles that leaves that fall on the ground during this season.  I have always wanted to visit the English countryside during the fall months, I have heard that it is a breath-taking sight to behold.  "A high-shine metallic lacquer in a warm orange-burgundy hue.  Reminiscent of fallen Autumn leaves.  Sigh."  This shade is much too warm for me to pull off so I will be skipping over this one however this company got the shade exactly right, this one looks exactly like falling leaves and will look amazing on someone with a warmer skintone.  I predict another sellout with this shade.

Actually I predict that all three of the deeper-toned shades will be instant sell-outs and then become part of the cult favorites from this company.  If I could only pick one shade to purchase, I think that I would have to go with Gobsmacked, I love the deep charcoal and I will wear it all the time.  Lovely Jubbly would be my second choice even though I would only wear it when going out, it is too much for work or for use in the daytime.  Lastly, Dodgy Barnett will be another great choice for me, silvers are my version of a neutral int eh cold weather months and I love collecting Butter polishes.

photo courtesy of Butter London

Butter London Summer 2012 Collection

Several months ago, I finally bought my first Butter London nail polish at my local Ulta.  All Hail the Queen was finally back in stock after being out of stock since last fall.  Now that I have been playing with this polish, I can finally see what all the hype around this brand is about, the formula is perfection and the color range is beyond stunning, now it makes sense to me that the stand is nearly always empty and certain shades are almost impossible to track down.  After purchasing my first two shades of this polish formula, I have been making a list of all the shades that I want and now I see the new seasonal collection up on the company's website.  I bet that I will be adding some of the new shades to my shopping list and perhaps it might just be easier for me to just buy the entire polish display next time I go to Ulta...

This new collection contains five new polish shades, ranging from pales to brights.  I did see some new lip glosses from this company the last time that I was at Ulta but this collection only consists of polishes, hopefully the fall collection will be a mixture of both products.  I can already see a new neutral for the season and two great brights to spice my hands and feet up in warm weather.  We will start with the pales and neutrals and then go into the two bright shades and then finish up with the deepest shade of the new polish range.

The pales are the easiest of the collection to wear, they will match multiple skin tones and fashion looks.  Butter London polishes stay chip-free for days and I am really looking forward to buying more neutral, professional shades in this line.  This is one of the few polish formulas that allow me to keep the same shade on for four to five days, I love the low maintence aspect of this formula.  The first new of the new pales is named Bossy Boots, a "light, opaque pistachio green".  "A beautiful take on neutral for this season."  This shade is a very cool, pale green that looks pale gray in some lights, this one will be easy to pull off at the office and will work well many different outfits.  This is one of those great shades that are a twist on the traditional neutral nail and I really want to buy this shade next time that I go to Ulta.  The second of the pales is Trout Pout, a warmer pale that will work well on tanned skin this summer.  This shade is "an opaque shade of cantaloupe, pale and retro."  this shade is a warm peach that won't work well on my skintone, it is too warm and this will be one that I will need to skip over this summer but I can see it working well on someone with a warmer skintone.

Now we will look at the brights, the two best shades of this collection.  Butter London brights get me excited since I will be able to get full wear from the brights, making this a great polish to use on vacation and weekends away.  Disco Biscuit is my favorite shade of the whole collection, it is the shade that I have pictured here.  This shade is "a tropical hot pink with an undercurrent of tiny iridescent particles".  I love this bright shade with the small, iridescent shimmer particles.  The shimmer is fine enough to set this shade apart from the rest of the bright pinks available today but isn't huge glitter particles that can make bright shades garish and unwearable.  My second favorite shade of the collection is the other bright shade, Slapper.  This shade is "a truly teal lacquer, bold and very bright".  This shade is an opaque cream with no shimmer or glitter in at all, this one is a great choice for anyone who loves blue shades like me.

The last shade of the collection is the deepest of the hues.  This shade is called Knackered, a pretty shimmering blue.  "A sheer, twinkling oyster shade flecked lacquer with micro glitter particles."  This shade is a medium periwinkle blue with lots of silver shimmer in it, normally this type shimmering shade is a much deeper blue.  Knackered is a very unique shade and I don't think that I have ever seen one quite like this before.

I think that Butter London is going to be another one of my nail polish line obsessions, I am becoming as obsessed with this line as I am with China Glaze and Deborah Lippman.  My favorite shade from this collection is Disco Biscuit, a shade that I am willing to bet will be an almost instant sell out at the counters.  I also love Knackered, Slapper, and Bossy Boots.  Trout Pout is the only shade that I will be skipping over from this collection, this is only because it is too warm for me.  I love this new collection, both the shades and the names are great and I can't wait to purchase these polishes!

photo courtesy of Butter London

Butter London All Hail The Queen Nail Polish - Must Have!

Butter London has a nail polish that is named All Hail The Queen!  This polish is just perfect for me and I must have it because of the name however it also helps that I actually like the shade.  "Rock it like royalty in this opaque, holographic beige.  If you love our best selling lacquer Yummy Mummy, this winter version will delight!"  This polish is currently sold out so I will updating everyone once the company gets it back in stock or I can find it from another source.

photo courtesy of Butter London