Butter London Fall Duo 2017: Swatch & Review

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and, no, it’s not Christmas, it’s FALL!!! This summer has been way too gosh dang hot and smoky, due to all the forest fires raging about the state. I think I was over it in August. The weather has noticeably cooled and my hands have started drying out, and yet I am walking on cloud nine. The crisp mornings. The changing leaves. The fall nail colors, which is why y’all are here. Butter London has been fairly consistently releasing a duo-pack of Patent Shine lacquers since at least last fall when I reviewed a set. It’s (more) reasonably priced at $25 for the duo (considering that the Patent Shines are normally $18 individually) and if you wait until there’s coupon code, even more savings! This fall they have supplied us with a purple and a grey, much like last year, but in much darker shades. Mmmm, delicious!

All swatches today are over Butter London Nail Foundation. My top coat of choice is Seche Vite.

Butter London Toodles!, 2 coats plus top coat

First up we have Toodles!, which Butter London describes as “a deep violet crème.” For whatever reason, before I swatched this I was not expecting it to be so red-toned! Toodles! has more red in it than your typical shade of violet, but it is still definitely in the purple camp. It’s a berry/wine colored purple. These kinds of shades are classic for fall.

Butter London Toodles!, 1 coat

Toodles! has a crelly formula, like most of the Patent Shine formulas I have tried, which means it is way lighter on the first coat than it is in the bottle. I highly recommend that you “float” the polish on with little pressure and use as few strokes as possible. That should prevent egregious light spots. I still got some on coat one, but my application is never perfect.

Butter London Toodles!, 2 coats

Toodles! completely darkens and becomes opaque with the second coat. Again, mind your application and do not over-manipulate. Use three strokes with a good blob of polish (no need to go in super thick, but do not skimp) and all your nails will turn out great! See my index finger? I did not follow my own advice and there is clearly still a lighter spot. Some day I will learn from my own wisdom…

Butter London Toodles!, 2 coats plus top coat in indirect natural light

Butter London Toodles!, 2 coats plus top coat under lamps

Toodles! is no where as deep on the nail as I thought it would be based on the bottle. It definitely looks purple and is not one of those almost-black shades.

Butter London Toodles! vs. OPI Viking In a Vinter Vonderland

This is probably the worst and most unhelpful comparison ever made. For some reason, at a quick glance I thought OPI Viking in a Vinter Vonderland  would be more similar to Toodles! because in the bottle both look so dark, but they are night and day! Toodles! is very obviously red-based while Viking is blue-based. Viking is much closer to looking like black than Toodles! Both are shown at two coats with top coat.

Butter London Earl Grey, 1 coat plus top coat

The other half of this fall duo is Earl Grey, which Butter London calls “an almost black crème.” I prefer the term “charcoal” but “almost black” works too. This is my favorite type of almost black shade; I will admit that I do not always love blues and purples and greens that pretty much look black on your nails. Since grey is already in the black color family, I do not mind so much. And oh my heart, this color is just beautiful. I could wear it all day, every day. Nothing gets me going like a good grey. Nothing!

Butter London Earl Grey, 1 coat

Folks, we’ve got a one-coater here (and I was not even trying… you know how I feel about doing less than two coats! It just doesn’t happen, except when it does). Earl Grey definitely has a cream formula, it has none of the jelly, squishy-ness of the other Patent Shines I have tried, though it is still shiny. I did still do as little manipulation as possible just in case, but that kind of caution seems unnecessary. Just for fun, I did my pinky finger in a single swipe.

Butter London Earl Grey, 1 coat plus top coat in indirect natural light

Butter London Earl Grey, 1 coat plus top coat under lamps

In different lightings, Earl Grey takes on varying degrees of almost-blackness. I do think that it is easy to tell it is not black, it is not as intense as a straight-up black would be.

Butter London Earl Grey vs. OPI “Liv” In the Gray

I hope this is a much more useful comparison than the one for Toodles! OPI’s dark grey from last year’s fall collection is a lot lighter than Earl Grey and perhaps a tad more greenish. Maybe that’s just me… It too can get opaque in one coat (that’s what I did here), which is awesome. You definitely need BOTH of these if you love the color grey!

I am super happy with the fall duo this year! Obviously, Earl Grey has stolen my heart, but I liked Toodles! much more than expected since it actually looks purple. Plus, it has such a fun name to say, how can you hate something called Toodles!? If you want to try Butter London’s Patent Shine line, I do not think you will find a better deal than these seasonal duos (especially if you wait for a coupon code). I am going to keep looking out for the duos and hopefully they have one I like the looks of sooner than next fall! :]

What are your favorite Butter London shades for fall? Any of their fall colors catching your eye? I have four polishes from their fall edit/collection and the Cashmere Cremes set (I love their minis), so perhaps there might be some more Butter London in this blog’s future…

xx, Ashley

 

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