Butter London Victoriana

Butter London's Victoriana was originally released as part of the company's Fall 2010 collection and is now part of their core line. It is a well-pigmented dusky stone-washed teal blue creme with green and grey undertones and superabundant silvery microshimmers. This is a beautiful dense color with qualities of both sea and sky. It appears somewhat muted and powdery in the bottle but blooms on the nail, with the microshimmers seeming to float over the robust blue green base color like a delicate silvery veil.

Application was pretty good. My bottle could have used a drop or two of thinner perhaps but Victoriana has always seemed to me to be one of Butter London's thicker lacquers. The consistency is creamy and liquid enough to spread easily across the nail and the microshimmer is well incorporated into the formula. Coverage is fantastic, this is essentially a one-coater. I used two coats to try and mute the stratigraphic effect of my nail ridges (with limited success). Victoriana dries naturally in average to above average time to a satiny somewhat pearly looking finish. Clear topcoat brightens and emphasizes both the color and the suspended speckled effect of the silver microshimmers.

Photos show two coats of Victoriana over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat plus a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

Butter London Victoriana

So beautiful! I adore this polish. The color reminds me of something you'd see in a vintage hooked wool rug or a piece of vintage embroidery. It's both soft and rich, reserved and vigorous, and very organic somehow, like the color you see in sea water around the dock. The silver microshimmers have that "in and of" quality, like a patina that has taken on a life of its own, and they add a certain ethereal aura to the look.

Lovely!

xoxo,
Aunt Liz