Butter London Bluey

Bluey was released by Butter London as part of its fall/winter collection for 2011. Butter London describes it as a "slightly metallic dark peacock blue," and I agree. It's got a translucent dark teal blue jelly base carrying finely-milled metallic blue-green shimmers for a beautiful rich dark blue-green color, kind of like a cross between dark cerulean blue and pine green, deep but bright, with cerulean highlights and a scintillating sparkle. 

Application was great. The consistency is sheer but fluid and easily controlled and applies in an even self-leveling manner. Because of it's translucent formula, coverage is buildable. I was a little apprehensive after a first thin coat, which looked like a transparent wash of teal with a sparse smattering of blue-green shimmers, that the shimmers weren't abundant enough to provide sufficient coverage in a reasonable number of coats. But I was wrong. After two more medium coats, I got 100% opacity. Cleanup was easy, although I managed to miss a cuticle swipe on the middle finger of my left hand, and left no staining. Bluey dries naturally in average time to a smooth shiny finish.

Photos show three coats Bluey over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat with a topcoat of HK girl to pop the awesome color and ensure drying of all the layers.

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey, with bonus topcoat bubble!

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Butter London Bluey

Gorgeous, no? The highly reflective shimmers in this one give it an almost glass fleck look, I love the way the light from them refracts through the translucent base. It's an energetic, decorative and showy polish, making the peacock blue description quite apt. Who can resist this kind of color? Not me, that's for sure. Not Fuzzy either! When I offered up this polish for inspection she let out a little squeal, whipped off her glasses and grabbed my hand for a closer look.

I got pretty close to bottle color with my application but I think if I'd applied thinner coats for layers two and three the cerulean blue overtones, which are simply stunning in my opinion (LOVE cerulean blue), would have been more of a factor. To see what I'm talking about, I recommend taking a gander at the review of this polish by Eugenia of the excellent blog Ommorphia Beauty Bar. I adore her polish reviews, they are beautifully written and her photos are to die for. 

love,
Liz



ps Bluey is super easy to remove with no staining whatsoever!

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Dodgy Barnett was released by Butter London as part of its collection for autumn/winter 2012. It's a pale silvery grey holo composed with relatively large holographic particles that produce a loose linear prismatic flair in bright direct light and imbue the polish with pale lavender, blue, pink and gold nuances in indirect light. It's fairly sheer and looks delicate and mysterious when worn that way, with a touch of translucence. Built to opacity it has a creamy fine-grained silvery gray appearance, also lovely.

Application was great. Dodgy Barnett has a fluid, creamy consistency and is easy to manipulate. It is very sheer on the first coat. Two coats will net translucent coverage with a hint of visible nail line. Three coats builds the coverage to complete opacity. Dodgy Barnett dries in good time to a smooth shiny finish and takes well to topcoat, which does not affect its holographic qualities.

Photos were taken in bright indirect natural light and show three coats of Dodgy Barnett over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl.

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

Butter London Dodgy Barnett

This is a lovely delicate silvery grey polish with subtle holographic properties that work beautifully with its subdued coloring to produce a diaphanous bloom of various soft prismatic colors. Very nice!

love,
Liz

Zoya Vespa

Like Nyx, Vespa was released by Zoya as part of it debut PixieDust collection for spring 2013. Zoya describes it as a mint, but I'd say it's more of a soft sagey grey green. It dries to the sugared matte finish that the PixieDusts are known for, and is beaucoup sparkly thanks to a prodigious amount of silvery microglitters. Michelle Mismas of the blog All Lacquered Up described it best when she wrote in her review that it reminded her of "the underside of a leaf kissed by silvery moonlight."

Application was great. The consistency of Vespa is similar to Nyx in that they are both sheer, and it applies similarly as well. The polish is fluid but easily controlled and flows smoothly onto the nail without running, although it will pool at the tip if you have too much polish on your brush when you wrap your tips (as I often do). Being sheer, coverage must be built in multiple coats. I used three for Vespa, the same as I did for Nyx. Cleanup was quick and easy as I had only a little to do but those silver microglitters tend to stick to the skin if polish is allowed to dry there so I recommend doing PixieDust cleanup as you go along instead of waiting til the end. Vespa surface dries fairly quickly with the bulk of the polish drying in slightly longer than average time to a twinkling sandy textured matte finish.

Photos show three coats of Vespa over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat. 

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

Zoya Vespa

I can see the case for this being a muted spring green and I think it's a great color for spring. It reminds me of when the deciduous trees first start leafing out, giving the landscape a faint mist of green. So pretty!

love,
Liz

Zoya Nyx

Nyx was released by Zoya as part of its premier PixieDust collection early last year. Zoya describes it as "a perfect periwinkle with a sugared sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula." In person, I'd say it's more of a pale grey blue, and it tends to pull very grey on me unless I'm wearing something blue. It definitely does have a sugared sparkle thanks to the texture particles and a superabundance of silver microglitters. This is one of my favorite PixieDusts for its cool, subtle color and beautiful twinkling finish.

Application was great but long. The PixieDusts in general take a longer time to dry completely than regular polish and Nyx is no exception. The consistency is fluid and sheer but applies easily and evenly over the nail. Because this is a somewhat sheer polish, it takes several coats to build up to opacity. I used three and even then in the sun I could see it wasn't quite as opaque as I thought it was.

Photos show three coats of Nyx over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat.

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Zoya Nyx

Like other PixieDust polishes from Zoya, Nyx is at its best in motion with the light catching it's tiny glitters, producing a wave of soft sparkle across the nail as it does so. I've received more compliments on this polish than any other I've worn, so that tells you that despite it's pale subtle coloring it gets noticed. It looks great with other soft colors, especially blue.

love,
Liz

a perfect periwinkle with a sugared sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Nyx-ZP660.html#sthash.fVVFUj6H.dpuf

Color Club Berry and Bright

Berry and Bright was released by Color Club as part of its six-polish Winter Affair collection for holiday 2012. The collection was really great, beautiful unusual polishes with nice formulas, probably my favorite holiday collection ever. There were two versions of it, one that sold at Sally's and included two re-promoted colors, and one with six new polishes that sold everywhere else. Berry and Bright was part of both. It has a scented blue-based medium red jelly base packed with metallic flaky shimmers, dimensional, luminous and bold. It's the kind of polish that's guaranteed to make your nails look like a million bucks!

Application was great. The consistency of my bottle was fluid and smooth and laid down evenly over the nail. Pigmentation was also great -- Berry and Bright is for all practical purposes a one coater. The scent is very light, sweet and fruity with a touch of bayberry to it, and is just barely perceptible on the nail as a whiff of sweetness once the polish has dried. I did a less than stellar job with cleanup, but it was easy to do and left no staining. Berry and Bright dries in average time to a smooth satiny finish that wants a good topcoat to look its best.

Photos show two coats of Berry and Bright over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Color Club Berry and Bright

Berry and Bright is what I call a gift wrap ribbon polish, a bright near metallic with a high shine. It also has that lovely, prized lit from within quality. The shimmers interact with the pinkish red base and give the polish subtle color shifts in sunlight, with the red giving way to flashes of blood orange or purple. Very unusual and really beautiful. The finish is very much like a glass fleck with fiery speckles of red and orange glowing from within the layers of base.

I can see this being fabulous for the holidays but it is pretty enough to wear anytime you want a manicure that will stand out. It's got a gregarious quality that can't help but attract attention!

love,
Liz