Butter London + Pantone Refresh collection: Swatch & Review

I will be honest, I do not usually give a flying fudgesicle about the Pantone color of the year. In fact, I did not know it was even a thing until I entered the nail polish world. Though I’m pretty sure it actually has little to do with nail polish and more to do with home decor?  Anyhoo, when Butter London decides to team up with Pantone and Pantone decides that bright green is going to be their color of the year, suddenly I’m their biggest fan, some of my money disappears, and this cute little collection is sitting pretty in my greedy little hands. I have to say, it looks simple but this is a fantastic set of polishes. The colors may not be the most creative or wildly unique, but the formulas. Oh. My. I always enjoy swatching and painting my nails, but working with this particular collection was a pure joy and put me in a very happy place. Please do yourself a favor and check these out!

All of today’s swatches are over Zoya Get Even. My top coat of choice is Seche Vite.

Butter London Nimbus Cloud, 2 coats plus top coat

The first color in this set is the aptly named Nimbus Cloud, which Butter London describes as a “white grey crème.” This is one of those polishes that could call OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and I Cannoli Wear OPI family. It is a white base with the teeniest hint of grey. I have neither of the OPIs and am so happy to finally have a polish like them in my arsenal. It looks crisp and clean without being too bright and stark. Plus, you know I love my greys!

Butter London Nimbus Cloud, 1 coat

The formula on this one was absolutely phenomenal. It has a perfect creaminess that makes it easy to apply and gives fantastic opacity. For such a white-based color, I am super impressed! There were just a few lighter streaks that required a second coat. But I will be honest: I am in love.

Butter London Nimbus Cloud, 2 coats

Nimbus Cloud is one of the most perfect polishes I have ever used. It was clearly opaque in two coats and that formula! My goodness, it is creamy without being thick at all and just goes on like a dream. If I had to choose something to complain about, it would be that the formula does not self-level the best. But honestly, who cares, I always use a top coat and this is a lighter color. Why can’t all lighter colors have formulas like this???

Butter London Pink Icing, 2 coats plus top coat

Next up is Pink Icing, a “soft petal pink crème.” I would call this a light pastel rose with a touch of peach. I am not a huge fan of pink, but this polish. WOW. It looks pretty much perfect with my skin tone and again, the formula. Butter London is killing it with these lighter shades!

Butter London Pink Icing, 1 coat

Just look at that. How many bottles of light pink polishes have opacity like that on the first coat? Not enough, in my experience. The formula again is lovely and creamy, not thick and not runny. It goes right where you paint it and stays there.

Butter London Pink Icing, 2 coats

Once again, this is a polish that is easily opaque in two coats! Pink Icing just glides on effortlessly and dries with a lot of shine. I am starting to feel like I’m repeating myself a lot here. But my goodness, these polishes are perfect.

Butter London Greenery, 2 coats plus top coat

Greenery is the color of the year, a “yellow green crème” (they really outdid themselves with these descriptions [heavy sarcasm]). Although they call it a yellow-green, it is no where near chartreuse. It is barely even a granny apple green, the blue and yellow tones are more balanced than you might expect. It makes this shade really wearable, in my opinion.

Butter London Greenery, 1 coat

The formula is different than the other cream polishes, it is more crelly-like than thick and creamy. It still felt fantastic to apply, but it was also more sheer. It will not need more than two coats though, it is not a sheer and streaky mess.

Butter London Greenery, 2 coats

Greenery builds up really well on itself for a lovely, shiny, creamy finish. The formula, as far as how the application felt, was on par with the other creams in this collection; it was effortless and lovely. In the picture here it looks a bit uneven on some fingers, but I honestly did not notice that in person. Perhaps I was too distracted by soccer (Real Madrid/Valencia… ugh… sometimes Real Madrid kills me) or perhaps the camera picked up more than the eye can see. It happens!

Butter London Greenery, 2 coats (index and pinky); Zoya Tilda, 2 coats (middle); OPI I’m Sooo Swamped!, 2 coats (ring); all with top coat

Greenery was the only polish in the collection that I felt I had some meaningful comparisons for. Next to Zoya’s Tilda, it is more blue toned. I always think of Tilda as being a granny smith apple green. OPI I’m Sooo Swamped! is similar in that it has tones of blue and yellow in it, but it is noticeably darker than Greenery. I think you can easily have all three in your collection without worrying about dupes (but maybe I’m just saying that to justify owning them).

Butter London Periscope, 2 coats plus top coat

Periscope, a “shimmering gunmetal,” wraps up this little collection. I think Periscope leans a bit lighter than what I think of as gunmetal grey, but maybe it fits your definition! Most of the other colors in the set seem decidedly spring-y, so this was a nice mix-up in terms of both color and finish, it being the only non-cream.

Butter London Periscope, 1 coat

Broken record here; Periscope has a really easy formula. It is thin like a lot of foils and metallics, but not a runny thin. It is a bit sheer on the first coat, but it is harder to tell in the picture because it is really shiny and metallic-y. It looked a tad more bare in person.

Butter London Periscope, 2 coats

Periscope is opaque in two coats! Since it is a foil finish, you do not have to worry about those pesky brush strokes, it will look perfect no matter which way you drag the brush over your nail. I am struggling to find another way of saying that the formula is super easy, I feel like I have said that about 800 times today, but it is true. All of these polishes were just a delight to use!

Do I really need to do a summary? Do you really want to listen to me blab on and on about how I wish every single collection ever released would have formulas this amazing and consistent? About how Butter London has perhaps set the standard a bit too high for lighter cream polishes? And how at this point I would pretty much die for Butter London and am willing to accept them as my lord and savior? Okay, shutting up… now.

What do you think? How do you feel about Greenery? Do you wish every lighter cream polish in your collection was this good?

xx, Ashley

You can visit Butter London on their website here, which is where I bought this set (free US ground shipping, woo!). Butter London is cruelty-free.

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