Argh. I know that's not a very enthusiastic or engaging way to start of a review but I just don't know how to feel about this polish. It normally costs $14 ($16+ including tax from Ricky's because everything is more expensive for me in NY) putting it above the first tier of Wet n' Wild, Milani, and Revlon polishes, above the second tier of Essie and OPI, about on par with Deborah Lippmann, and below the terribly expensive designer polishes from YSL and Chanel. Given that sort of hierarchy, I guess I was expecting more from this polish.
Maybe it'll help to break down my feelings.
Color: This isn't a new polish so there are plenty of swatches online. At times, it is a very pretty color. To me, it comes across as a dusty sort of robin's egg blue or a dark aqua blue. There's something fun and playful but still a little mature in the way the brightness of the color has been muted. But then at other times, it picks up a LOT of green. I did not sign up for this shade of jade green nail polish in dim lighting. This color should 100% go well with my coloring. In fact, it should look good on most skintones. However, there's some undertone to it, some element that just feels a little bit off. I can't explain it. It just doesn't look like it suits my skin tone perfectly. It might be the green.
Formula: Here is where I'm really conflicted. On the one hand, it is a very watery formula. It took me 3 coats to get it opaque and it was a little streaky. I'm not in love with the brush right now. However, it smoothed itself out for the most part as it dried and then a topcoat of Seche Vite cleared up most of the problems. I have one teensy, tiny popped bubble on the thumb of my other hand (not in the picture) and some slight ridges from the streaky, uneven formula on another finger on my other hand (not in the picture). I guess I'm trying to say that you can get it to look alright but it's not a great formula to work with. It's watery and finicky. I really expected better from a polish that cost this much. It has a sort of jelly finish which is different for me, since most of the nail polishes in my collection have a creamy finish, shimmer, or glitter.
Conclusion: I'm not ready to give up on Butter London but I'm not impressed either. I like the color of this polish but I probably won't repurchase it anytime soon and I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending this polish unless you really, really love the color as I think it's unique enough to make finding an exact dupe somewhat of a challenge.
Swatches:
Can you see what I mean about the jelly finish? It goes on it odd milky layers and ends up looking a little squishy and still milky even though its opaque.
Muted Robin's egg blue
So green!
Muted aqua blue
So green!
No comments:
Post a Comment