Current Nails

Today I am sharing two more of the polishes in the Butter London Invite Only set for the holidays. I have on Lock In, which is a dark navy blue and Peep Hole, which is a metallic aqua shade. Peep Hole could definitely have been layered over Lock In. I think the next time I wear these polishes, I am going to try that because I think the two would make a very interesting and pretty combination.

  
The formula on Lock In is wonderful. It is opaque in one coat, but if you do two coats, the shade deepens up quite a bit to match the shade in the bottle. It is not super thick, but it is more on the thick side to give it that opacity. I personally prefer this consistency of polish. Peep Hole has a more sheer, thin formula. That is why it would be great to layer over other polishes. I have on three coats for total opacity and totally hide my nail line. It is thin, but not runny, so it is easy to work with. One thing I did not mention when I reviewed Pash was that even though these are mini polishes, the brush is not mini. I personally do not buy mini OPI polishes because of how tiny the brush is, but these brushes appear to be the same size as a normal Butter London polish. That makes these polishes easy to work with.

  
I have a thing for navy blue polishes and Lock In is no exception. It is a super dark, midnight navy but it never quite looks black. It is really a gorgeous polish with a gorgeous formula. I like Peep Hole, but it is not a favorite polish of mine. Like I previously mentioned, I am very interested in seeing how this polish layers, but I do like the way these two polishes look together in this manicure. So far after testing half of the polishes in this set, I am really happy with it and am really excited to try the other three polishes in the set,

Current Nails

Butter London came out with a nail polish set for the holidays called Invite Only. It has six mini nail polishes in it that can be mixed and matched to create different looks but you obviously can also wear them on their own as well. Butter London is definitely not my favorite nail polish brand, but there were quite a few shades in here that I really like and I kept going back and looking at the set, so I decided to just go ahead and buy it. The first polish that I wanted to try out was Pash. Pash is described as a berry shimmer.

  
The formula on this polish is actually pretty good. With these metallic, shimmer polishes they are almost always sheer on the first coat and that is true with this polish. It builds up to full opacity in two coats. It is a little thin for my liking, but I tend to like a thick formula. It isn’t really runny though, which makes it easy to work with. This polish doesn’t really show brush strokes but it will show ridges in the nail.

  
I like this shade on the nail more than I even thought I would. The shade reminds of raspberry jam and I think it looks so pretty on the nail. Normally I have issues with the way Butter London polishes wear on me but I have worn this one or 3 days so far with no issues, which is doing pretty well for a Butter polish for me. I will show the rest of the shades in this set as I wear them, so keep an eye out for that.

Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat Review

As many of you may know, I am trying to use up all of my other top coats before I repurchase the OPI Infinite Shine Top Coat that I love so much. Essie’s Good to Go was bothering me too much, so I decided to switch to another one of my top coats and work on using that one up. I bought the Butter London base and top coat in a set not too long ago. Why I thought that was a good idea is beyond me, Butter London polishes rarely work well for me and they usually chip within the first day of wear. Sadly, this topcoat is not an exception.

This is the Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat. Fun fact. P.D. stands for pretty darn (quick) according to the Butter London website. This is not the worst top coat that I have tried, but I do not find it to be worth the hype. I don’t feel like it is actually that quick of a quick drying top coat. It has a pretty average drying time that greatly benefits from drying drops. The one really good thing about this top coat is that it is super shiny. I like for my top coats to add a ton of shine to my polish and this one does the trick. Now the main reason that we all wear a top coat is to extend the wear of the polish, but sadly, like almost all other Butter London products, this chips on me within a day or two. It doesn’t matter what polishes I pair this with,it still chips insanely quickly one me.

Sadly, this top coat just does not work for me. I need to try and push through and use this up because it was not cheap. It is $19!!! And it does not live up to the hype for me. The OPI Infinite Shine top coat is $12.50 and it works wonders for me. I will definitely not be repurchasing the Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat.

April Favorites

April has been a very good month for me as far as favorites go. I have tried and discovered quite a few products that I will continue to reach for. I have also included some non-beauty favorites at the end as well.

  
The first thing I am going to talk about is my Colourpop Lippie Stix. They really are phenomenal and definitely worth spending your money on. Tootsi is the one I have been reaching for because it is such a pretty and unique color.

Another lip product that I have been reaching for a lot is NARS Turkish Delight. I never bought this gloss in the older NARS formula because it was just too streaky and hard to get even on the lips. Milky pinks are hard enough to get right as it is but that formula was definitely not a favorite for me. In the new formula however, Turkish Delight is much easier to wear and is very pretty on the lips. I like wearing it alone or over other nudes to lighten them up.

Let’s just throw one more lip product in the mix because its not obvious enough yet that I am obsessed with lip products. The formula on the Clinique Lip Pop’s is wonderful-pigmented, creamy, long wearing, doesn’t dry your lips out, good shade selection. I currently only own Beige, but it is a perfect nude for me. It has just enough pink in it to work for me and it isn’t super light that it washes me out. It also is not too brown or too dark. Definitely check out the Clinique Lip Pop’s if you haven’t already.

I have mentioned before that Too Faced Better Than Sex is my holy grail mascara. But recently, I have been reaching for another mascara instead and for a different look than Better Than Sex. Benefit’s Roller Lash gives me a more natural look to my lashes. It does not give me as much volume or thickness than Better Than Sex, but Roller Lash really lengthens and separates my lashes. The little bristles on the brush really get into your lashes and allow you to get close to your lash line. My lashes have a natural curl, so I don’t notice dramatic results in that department, but I really like the look I get. And if I really want to kick my lashes up a notch, I do a coat of Roller Lash and then a coat of Better Than Sex. My lashes look like a strip of false lashes and I love it.

My current base and top coat of choice has been the OPI Infinite Shine. My nails really do have a shine comparable to gel nails and I have been getting a longer wear time with this duo as well. I have mentioned that I am on the hunt to replace the Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab System, and while I am not prepared to say that I think this replaces it, I do really, really like and recommend that you check it out.

Another nail polish favorite that I have featured on the blog already is Butter London Fiver. This polish is a gorgeous pastel, pistachio green. I had wanted this color for a really long time and when Ulta had a sale during the 21 Days of Beauty, I finally caved. And I am so happy I did.

One last nail favorite for the month is the Up&Up Nail Polish Remover Advanced Formula. I won’t say more here because the review was just on here a few days ago, but I have been so happy with it that I could not leave it out.

A skincare item that has really been working me is the Perricone Blue Plasma Cleansing Treatment. I use this as a toner step and my skin has been in great shape since I started using it. My skin has been smoother and brighter but this product is not stripping my dry skin either. It’s giving my skin the deeper cleanse where I need it and not overly cleansing the areas that don’t need it. Expect a more in depth review on this soon.

One last beauty favorite for the month is the Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse. I am in the process of growing out my pixie cut and am just starting to get out of the awkward and annoying phase and am getting quite close to a bob again. I recently just got a wonderful haircut from a friend of mine to get it shaped towards a bob and have needed to switch up my styling products just a little bit. This mousse gives great volume and hold, but be forewarned, a little bit goes a long way! If you overdo this mousse, you will know. Once you learn how much you need, it gives a great look to the hair with little effort and little product.

Moving onto the non-beauty favorites……I have been OBSESSED with the Netflix Daredevil Series. I am quite a Marvel fan and I never saw the movie with Ben Affleck that came out years ago, so I was really intrigued by the series. I just don’t have words for how good it is. The acting is great, the suspense is great, they are doing a great job with the storyline…I really have nothing bad to say except that my stomach is very sensitive to blood and violence, so I can get a little queasy while watching sometimes.

Speaking of Marvel, obviously Age of Ultron was going to be in my favorites. I have been counting down to this movie for what feels like forever and I am so happy it is finally out. Without spoiling, I can see where the criticisms are coming from but I loved it. It sets up the future well while still telling it’s own story. 

Current Nails

Today I have one of the Butter London nail polishes that I recently hauled to share with you. This is Molly Coddled; a very pretty orchid shade.

This little beauty is a fantastic polish. Formula is super smooth and easy to work with. It is opaque in 2 coats and it dried pretty quickly as well. I used the OPI Infinite Shine base and top coat.

These Butter London creams are starting to change my mind on the brand. As I have previously mentioned, Butter London was one of the worst nail polish brands for me. I would get chipping within hours no matter what base and top coat I used. But none of the polishes that I had from them in the past were creams. I have been getting awesome wear time out of these creams and they are opaque as well. I definitely recommend checking this shade out.

Current Nails/Mini Haul

Hello everyone! Today I thought I would share my current nails and do a mini haul and review for you guys! Recently, Ulta had Butter London polishes on sale for $9.  Butter London has never been one of my favorite nail polish brands. I have owned a handful of their polishes over the years and they have been nothing but a pain for me. They have been sheer and have had a tendency to chip very, very quickly on me. You must be asking yourself why I thought it was a good idea to buy more of them then. Well, there have been a few colors that I have been eyeing for years and have not been able to find dupes for but refused to pay $15 for a polish I knew there was a good chance I would not like. Therefore, with the sale, I caved and picked up the ones I had been eyeing. I picked up Fiver (which is the one I was really dying to have), Molly Coddled, Cake Hole, Fruit Machine, and Sprog.

(top-Sprog, Fruit Machine. Bottom-Cake Hole, Fiver, Molly Coddled)

Since Fiver is the one that I have been lusting after since it came out, you know that when on my nails the night that I bought them.

It most certainly was love at first swipe. This color is a pistachio mint green that does not have a lot of blue in it like most other mint greens tend to have. I tried for years to find a good dupe for it and was unsuccessful. It is a very unique and gorgeous shade. I am also happy to report that this opaque in 2 coats and I wore it for 2 days on its own without any chipping-a record for me and a Butter London nail polish. On the third day, I wanted to do something different with my nails but was not ready to take Fiver off. So I decided it was the perfect time to add Essie’s Rock at the Top to the mani. It is a gold and slightly silver glitter topper.

I absolutely love how this turned out. These two polishes go gorgeously together. Two days later and I am still rocking this polish combo with minimal tip wear and no large chips. I am very impressed with how Fiver has worn and am thinking that perhaps the key to wearing Butter London is to only wear their cream polishes. But I will make that determination after testing out the others that I have picked up. Of course, the other key is that I have been wearing this with the Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab base and top coat which is freaking amazing. I love it and even though it is expensive, it is definitely worth the money!