Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Inky Six

Last month, Butter London had a promotion for free shipping when you spent over $50, and you'd also get a free bottle of their Powder Room nail polish remover plus a bonus nail file. I used to order from Butter London all the time before it was carried everywhere (I think it was exclusive to Holt Renfrew for the longest time), but more recently, I'd order my Butter London from Nail Polish Canada if I didn't want to find it in-store because it's always free shipping within Canada for orders over $25. But there were a few shades that are exclusive to the Butter London website that I really wanted, so I took the opportunity to grab them, including Inky Six. However, this one is now available everywhere, so you don't have to grab it from their web store.

Inky Six is a medium-dark cerulean blue jelly base with cerulean blue, indigo blue, purple, and emerald green micro-glitter, shimmer, and micro-shimmer. It has a slightly thicker consistency that is common with glitter polishes, but it doesn't hinder the application. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has high pigmentation and will go opaque in two medium coats. The only dupe I can think of is China Glaze's Water You Waiting For, though this one has smaller glitter pieces and a much bluer, more pigmented base, so it appears deeper and more blue. However, Water You Waiting For was a limited edition shade from China Glaze's Cirque du Soleil collection in January and is no longer available, so if you missed out on that and you want something very similar, Inky Six is a great option. Either way, it's a serious stunner and a must-have for fans of blues and glitters.

Pick-Ups & Deliveries: October 2013

As it's the end of the month, I thought it was time to do my monthly haul post. October proved to be a very splurge-y month, perhaps more so than others (and I shop a lot, so this month was especially intense), what with new stores opening and a little cross-border shopping. Of course, this all started with — what else? — nail polish. A Sephora opened up about ten minutes from my house, which is extremely dangerous if you're me. Naturally, I needed to check it out and dropped by on their opening day, 'cause I'm a keener like that. I ended up picking up three Deborah Lippmann glitters plus a couple of the new Marc Jacobs polishes (oh, and yeah, I am a VIB Rouge member now, to absolutely no one's surprise). Then a few days later, I received an e-mail from Butter London regarding their latest promotion: free shipping when you spend over $50 and also get a free bottle of their Powder Room nail polish remover plus a bonus nail file. I figured I'd use the opportunity to get a few of their online exclusive shades.
Deborah Lippmann Glitter Nail Lacquers in Shake Your Money Maker, Stronger, and Glitter & Be Gay
Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer in Blue Velvet and Petra
Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in The 444, Fishwife, and Inky Six
And then I found myself passing by the Dior counter one day and saw a whole display of their new Diorblush Vibrant Colour Powder Blushes. I absolutely do not need any new blushes, but blush fiends will be blush fiends, and I found myself swatching them, anyway. At $43 a pop, though, I decided to skip them at the time even though I was extremely tempted. A few days later, my friend who works at Dior offered me a 30% discount on everything, and then I could no longer say no to them blushes. So I bought my two favourites. And then on top of that, she gave me brand new tubes of my favourite Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara as well as Diorshow Blackout (my old favourite) because she received them as gratis but doesn't use mascara. Free Dior mascara? Yes, please!
Dior Diorblush Vibrant Colour Powder Blush in 986 Star Fuchsia and 676 Coral Cruise
Dior Diorshow Blackout and Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascaras
MAC Lipstick in Craving, Captive, and Media
I went to the mall with my friend and stopped by MAC to recycle some containers for some new lipsticks, and then discovered that The Face Shop had opened up there! Now, I'd never tried anything from The Face Shop before but I've always been intrigued by the brand. (I know they have a store at Pacific Mall, but I refuse to go there because the parking lot is absolutely horrendous.) They were having a grand opening promotion, where you get $15 off when you spend $35. Obviously, I took the opportunity to try a variety of products from the brand. I ended up going in at two different occasions to buy things because a 40% discount was just too good to pass up.
The Face Shop Herb Day 365 Peach Cleansing Foam, Green Tea Phyto Powder Cleansing Foam, Black Sugar Phyto Powder Cleansing Cream, and Real Nature Sheet Masks in Kelp, Lemon, Bamboo, and Rice
The Face Shop Green Tea Hand Gel Cream, Honey Citron Tea Moisture Hand Cream, Honey Citron Tea Moisture Body Wash, Honey Citron Moisture Body Lotion, and Lip Care Cream in Mango Butter and Shea Butter
As I had mentioned a couple weeks ago, Edward and I took a mini road trip to Pennsylvania to get out of the city for a bit and, you know, shop. We stopped by a few places, the first being Erie, which is about four hours from Toronto. A client of mine told me that the selection at the Burlington Coat Factory there is fantastic and the prices are often better than outlets, hence the detour ('cause, honestly, there's nothing much else to do in Erie). Though I saw some nice coats, I personally didn't get anything there because the styles I liked didn't come in my size or they ended up fitting funny on me. But Edward ended up getting quite a few things there so at least that made the stop worth it. The shopping for me didn't really start until we got to Grove City Premium Outlets, and I only bought things from two stores there. The first one was Old Navy, where I got a few pairs of The Flirt black skinny jeans (for $17.70 each from $36, and tax-free!). The second was at the Crabtree & Evelyn outlet store, where I made like a bandit. I love a lot of Crabtree & Evelyn products but I rarely buy anything there because it's so expensive. But at the outlet store, everything was at least 50% off, so I had to take advantage:
Pomegranate, Argan & Grapeseed Tote Gift Set (on sale for $35 from $75!): Skin Conditioning Hand Recovery, Ultra-Moisturizing Hand Therapy, Skin Quenching Body Lotion, Skin Cleansing Bath & Shower Gel, and Tote Bag (not shown)
Avocado, Olive & Basil Body Set with Skin Revitalizing Body Lotion and Revitalizing Bath & Shower Gel (for $15 from $40); Avocado, Olive & Basil Conditioning Shampoo and Pomegranate, Argan & Grapeseed Revitalizing Shampoo (for $12 each from $18)
I would've bought more at the outlets, but I had to save some money for shopping the next day. We decided to stay overnight in Pittsburgh because I wanted to check out Ross Park Mall. As many of you know, American retail prices are always lower and the sales tax rate in Pennsylvania is 6% (for luxury items; it's tax-free on necessities like clothes and shoes), so I wanted to take advantage of that since we were going to be in the state, anyway. The next morning, before we went to the mall, we decided to make a pit stop at Target (of course). Aside from a pair of black Merona wedge ankle booties, a couple of novels, and some snacks (hello, Oreo Coconut Delight Fudge Cremes!), I picked up a bunch of random goodies that I felt were significantly cheaper over there than here:
Up & Up Acetone Nail Polish Remover, EOS Pomegranate Raspberry Shave Cream, Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake Band-Aids, Essie Nail Polish in For the Twill of It and Cashmere Bathrobe, Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat, Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balms (in Peach Kiss, Pink Punch, Grape Vine, Quenched, and Cherry Me), and EOS Lip Balms (in Blueberry Açai and Strawberry Sorbet)
And then we drove up to the mall, where we stopped by The Cheesecake Factory for a delightful lunch of fish tacos and pumpkin pecan cheesecake for dessert. Completely stuffed and totally satisfied (as I always am after eating at The Cheesecake Factory), we waddled inside the mall and I made a beeline for — what else? — Sephora. I put myself on a budget for this trip and wanted to make sure that I got things that I really needed before splurging on anything else, and thought I did pretty well. I had to buy my perfume (which is $12 cheaper in the US), my holy grail make-up removing cleanser and eyeshadow primer, and then decided to get my first ever Caudalie skincare product, which I will incorporate into my winter routine. The only item I bought that I felt was an unnecessary splurge was the YSL Rouge Volupté Shine Lipstick in 19 Fuchsia in Rage... but I had been coveting it since June so I took the plunge. For some reason, Sephora doesn't carry that particular shade in Canada, and it was sold out when I initially saw it in Buffalo this summer, so when I saw that they had two of them in stock at this particular Sephora, I had to snatch it up.

Fresh Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum (100 ml), Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S. Thirst Quenching Serum, and Philosophy Purity Made Simple Facial Cleansing Gel & Eye Makeup Remover
NARS Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and YSL Rouge Volupté Shine in 19 Fuchsia in Rage
I would say that I'm now on a shopping ban from this month's excessiveness... but November is birthday month and also IMATS Toronto, so it's actually very possible that I will have an even bigger haul next month than this one... 

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Fiver

After yesterday's -22ºC (with windchill) temperature, it feels like Spring is never going to arrive, but at least cosmetics companies are keeping us entertained with their Spring collections (by "keeping us entertained," I really mean "mocking us"). A few weeks ago, Butter London released their Spring collection, aptly named Sweetie Shop. There are a total of six new shades, all of them pastel shades in cream finishes (I told you I'd go back to creams, didn't I?). This is not a new trend for Spring, as pastels (or "Easter colours") are pretty common to be released this time of year, but I picked up a few shades because they were just too damn cute to resist. I was seriously debating whether or not I should pick up Fiver, but we all know mint greens are my weakness.


Fiver is a pale mint green-aqua with blue undertones in a cream finish. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on fairly smoothly without any pulling or bubbling, but I did experience some streaking. It has high pigmentation and goes opaque in two medium coats, though a third coat may be needed to help with covering any streaks. It is more blue than Essie's Mint Candy Apple, less greyed than China Glaze's Re-Fresh Mint, and more green than Illamasqua's Nudge. There are a lot of good dupes for this shade, but if you're on the lookout for a mint green polish, this is a great option as it does have a better formula than most mint shades I've tried (which tend to be more streaky, uneven, and sheer). For whatever reason, the only thing I can think of to compare this shade to right now is Baskin-Robbins' Daiquiri Ice ice cream. I am seriously ready for warmer weather, guys.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Jasper

Spring is in the air! Well, no, it really isn't, it's pretty damn cold outside, but Spring collections are coming out in full swing right now to give us the illusion that it's not grey, miserable, and -15ºC outside. (It's not working. But Spring colours sure are pretty.) A few weeks ago, Butter London released their Spring collection, aptly named Sweetie Shop. There are a total of six new shades, all of them pastel shades in cream finishes (I told you I'd go back to creams, didn't I?). This is not a new trend for Spring, as pastels (or "Easter colours") are pretty common to be released this time of year, but I picked up a few shades because they were just too damn cute to resist. I picked up Jasper because it looked like just the perfect shade to contrast the gloomy winter weather.


Jasper is a light brightened butter yellow in a cream finish. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has high pigmentation and goes opaque in two medium coats. It is similar to China Glaze's Lemon Fizz, much more pigmented than Rescue Beauty Lounge's Square Pants, and lighter and less bright than SpaRitual's Enlightened Soul. There are surprisingly quite a few dupes of this type of colour, so check your stash to see if you already have a similar shade. If you're on the lookout for a nice pastel yellow polish, this is a great option as it does have a better formula than most yellows I've tried. I'm typically not a huge fan of yellow nail polishes because it can make chapped hands look even more red (especially in the winter), but I can seeing it working well with a tan. This shade reminds me of lemon macarons, banana cream pie, and lemon cupcakes, so warning, it may make you inexplicably hungry and/or crave desserts.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Molly Coddled

Spring is in the air! Well, no, it really isn't, it's pretty damn cold outside, but Spring collections are coming out in full swing right now to give us the illusion that it's not grey, miserable, and -15ºC outside. (It's not working. But Spring colours sure are pretty.) A few weeks ago, Butter London released their Spring collection, aptly named Sweetie Shop. There are a total of six new shades, all of them pastel shades in cream finishes (I told you I'd go back to creams, didn't I?). This is not a new trend for Spring, as pastels (or "Easter colours") are pretty common to be released this time of year, but I picked up a few shades because they were just too damn cute to resist. The first one I tried, Molly Coddled, is definitely the girliest of the ones I bought, but it's also probably my favourite.


Molly Coddled is a medium pinked lilac in a cream finish. Depending on the lighting, it can pull warmer to look more lilac (indoors) or cooler to look more lavender (outdoors). It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has high pigmentation and goes opaque in two medium coats. It is more vibrant than Essie's Nice Is Nice, more pink than Essie's Lilacism, slightly lighter and less purple than OPI's Lucky Lucky Lavender, and lighter and more pink than OPI's Do You Lilac It?. As I mentioned before, pastels are nothing really new for Spring and there are plenty of dupes out there, but this colour makes me really inexplicably happy. And apparently a lot of other people, too, because I constantly got asked what colour I was wearing. It just reminds me of all things girly, like buttercream frosting, tea parties, and My Little Pony.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Fairy Cake

For New Year's, I obviously wanted sparkly nails, but I also wanted it to represent the time of year without being too Christmassy. And I also didn't want to create a complicated look with different polishes because I was much too lazy and much too busy. So, in came Butter London's Fairy Cake, which also gave me the opportunity to use another one of the shades I bought from their Holiday collection.


Fairy Cake is a clear light grey base with silver shimmer and silver and prismatic micro-glitter. It has a fluid consistency, without being too thick or runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. Because of both the finer shimmer and larger micro-glitter particles, it will go opaque in three medium coats. It is similar though slightly more champagne-looking compared to Models Own's Juicy Jules. This isn't the most unique shade from Butter London's Holiday collection, but it is by far the most flattering and the most sparkly of the set. And it reminds me of snow and champagne bubbles. What more could I ask for in a New Year's polish?

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Scuppered

Okay, I know the Butter London Holiday 2012 collection came out ages ago (and I bought them over a month ago), but I only got around to trying them out now. As we all know, I have an obsession with glitter/shimmer polishes, so you can imagine how excited I was about this collection, in which all of the shades have some sort of sparkle element to it. They all have a Christmas-y or winter theme to them, but not predictably so. I thought I would try the most unique of the five shades first.


Scuppered is a medium-dark metallic bronze-copper base with fuchsia, gold, and bronze micro-glitter, and green hexagonal glitter. It has a fluid consistency, without being too thick or runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has high pigmentation, and will go opaque in two medium coats. I cannot think of any dupes at this time. This is kind of a weird shade, not just because it's so unique to Butter London, but because it has such an unexpected combination of components. It's not a striking shade, but there is a strange beauty to it, reminding me of hot apple cider and hot chocolate, putting up ornaments on Christmas trees, and shiny gift wrap paper. Festive without being obnoxiously so.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Gobsmacked

Every season, I always anticipate what Butter London will come out with for their new nail polish collection. There have been some disappointments in the past, but there is usually a couple of stand-out shades from each season. For their Autumn/Winter collection, Butter London released five new shades of nail lacquer, all of which incorporate shimmer or sparkle in one way or another, so I was clearly a sucker for this collection.


Gobsmacked is a dark charcoal grey in a satin finish with dark silvered grey micro-glitter. I've never encountered a finish quite like this; it's not completely matte nor shiny and it has a grainy, almost sugary texture to it. It has a fairly thick, goopy consistency that makes it harder to control, and it applies a bit patchy and unevenly. Due to the thicker consistency, it can be prone to pulling and bald spots. It has medium-high pigmentation, and will go opaque in two thick coats. This isn't a very unique shade, but it has a very unique finish, which is what makes this stand out; I can't think of any dupes for it. I found that it's way easier to use one coat of black nail polish before applying a thick coat of Gobsmacked to avoid pulling.

It is slightly gritty when it dries down, so if you like the textured look, you can absolutely leave it that way. I personally like a smooth, shiny finish to my nails, so I put on two coats of top coat (this shade tends to eat top coat, so I needed a second coat to keep them shiny). This shade reminds me of freshly applied asphalt; when the sunlight hits the particles and it looks like millions of crushed diamonds in a sea of black molasses.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Dodgy Barnett

Every season, I always anticipate what Butter London will come out with for their new nail polish collection. There have been some disappointments in the past, but there is usually one or two stand-out shades from each season. For their Autumn/Winter collection, Butter London released five new shades of nail lacquer, all of which incorporate shimmer or sparkle in one way or another, so I was clearly a sucker for this collection.

Dodgy Barnett (natural lighting)

Dodgy Barnett (under flash)

Dodgy Barnett is a pale silvered grey with holographic shimmer. The holographic shimmer is obvious in all lighting, but its dazzling, in-your-face, rainbow-sparkling abilities really show in direct sunlight. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has medium pigmentation, and will go opaque in three medium coats. I cannot think of any dupes at this time. I love that it can be worn all year 'round and that it'll match any outfit and accessory. Holographic polishes can be obnoxious, but there is a quiet beauty about this shade.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Trustafarian

Every season, I always anticipate what Butter London will come out with for their new nail polish collection. There have been some disappointments in the past, but there is usually one or two exceptional shades from each season. For their Autumn/Winter (can you believe we're already talking about winter?!) collection, Butter London released five new shades of nail lacquer, of which I picked up three (though I may be tempted to pick up one more). Of those, this one is by far the most unique and in that regard, I see it as the "star" of the collection.

Trustafarian (natural lighting)

Trustafarian (under direct sunlight)

Trustafarian is a light warm-toned sage green with holographic shimmer. The holographic shimmer is obvious in all lighting, but its dazzling, in-your-face, rainbow-sparkling abilities really show in direct sunlight. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has medium pigmentation, and will go opaque in three medium coats. I cannot think of any dupes at this time. I do think that this shade is a bit of an odd choice for this time of year as it really seems more appropriate for Spring, but it is a truly gorgeous shade and fans of holographic polishes need to snatch this one up.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in All Hail the Queen

After all these colourful nail polishes I've been wearing this summer, I decided it was time to switch it up with a neutral. I know, I know, me wearing a neutral? The thought is rather ridiculous, but I got to keep edgy, you know? On that note, I bought Butter London's All Hail the Queen (previously called All Hail McQueen in honour of Alexander McQueen) sometime last year, but never ended up wearing it, so I thought it was about time to bust it out.

All Hail the Queen is a medium greyed beige-brown with pale nude micro-shimmer. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has medium pigmentation, and will go opaque in three medium coats. It is lighter and has less of a silvered shimmer than Orly's Nite Owl, darker and more shimmered than Chanel's Frenzy, and lighter and warmer than Essie's Mochacino. Not gonna lie, when I first put this on, I thought it looked pretty boring. It was just a typical "greige" with some shimmer. But then I went to the sunlight and bam! — the shimmer is holographic. So, by default, it's the most awesome nude nail polish I own.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Rosie Lee

After wearing all these cream finish nail polishes in the past month, I was in the mood for some sparkly, bling-y glitter. I went through a pretty hardcore glitter phase several months ago, and then sort of stopped when summer started. I also went through a pretty hardcore Butter London phase (holy crap, I now have 27 of them), and never ended up wearing this one. I don't know how this is possible given the aforementioned glitter phase, but I must've forgotten about this one. This is how you know you have too many nail polishes.

Rosie Lee is a medium salmon pink glitter suspended in a clear base. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has a surprisingly high pigmentation for a glitter polish and will reach opacity in two coats, though you might want to do three if you like a denser look in your glitter polishes. The colour of the glitter is very similar to Deborah Lippmann's Some Enchanted Evening, but Rosie Lee contains much more glitter and can therefore achieve opacity on its own without layering on top of another colour — Some Enchanted Evening can't reach opacity even after five coats (I stop trying after that). Moreover, Rosie Lee has uniform glitter particles, whereas Some Enchanted Evening has both small and larger hexagonal glitter. This is honestly one of the "classier" glitter polishes I've come across — the glitter particles are on the finer side and are a uniform colour, so it's not as "funky" or "garish" as some other glitter polishes.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Slapper

Yes, I've changed my nail polish again this week because I obviously have nail OCD. Anyway, my nails had been getting a little too long for my liking, so I cut them all short and what better length to show off a ridiculously bright colour? Yes, this is the third colour I have tried from Butter London's Spring/Summer 2012 collection (apparently, I have Butter London fever!). Slapper is a bright medium teal in a cream finish. It has the classic formula that Butter London is known for: smooth application, even flow, and great pigmentation — it was nearly opaque in one coat. I thought this would be almost exactly the same as OPI's Fly, but it looks more like Fly mixed in with China Glaze's Four Leaf Clover. If you love your teals, then this is a great option, but I do think that there are a lot of dupes out there of similar quality for cheaper. That aside, I'm sort of getting bored of the bright turquoise shades. Don't get me wrong, I love my blue and green polishes, but it seems every single brand has released a bright teal recently, no?

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in Bossy Boots

The second colour I decided to try from Butter London's Spring/Summer 2012 collection was Bossy Boots. It's a pale pistachio green (more like pistachio gelato, really) in a cream finish. It has a slightly thicker texture than Butter London's usual cream formula, so it can be prone to pulling and applying more streaky, but it does go opaque in two coats. I personally love colours like this for Spring, since you know I have a thing for greens. I like that Butter London decided not to go the mint green route (which has been really overdone) and made this distinctly more pistachio (e.g. yellow-based). I initially thought there'd be more dupes, but the closest I have found is Essie's Da Bush, which is darker and much more grey, and Illamasqua's Milf, which is more blue-based (closer to mint green). Bossy Boots is surprisingly neutral and will work well on all skintones and undertones, so if you like green shades or want to try the green nail polish trend but want to keep it more subtle, this is fantastic.