I was really really excited to try this. It's the only Butter London I have and one of the most expensive polishes in my collection.
HRH is a beautiful medium purple. The color is lovely, but that's about the only pro I have for this polish. The application on this was less than satisfactory - for a $14 polish, I expect a flawless application and this one just seemed sub-par to me. I have $4 polishes in my collection that apply better than this one did (China Glaze, I'm looking at you!).
First off, it was SUPER streaky on the first coat. The color evened out a tiny bit more on the second and third, but if I went over the same spot more than once it got streaky again.
Also, I let this polish dry for the same amount of time as any other polish that I use and it bubbled up. I rarely have problems with bubbles, but perhaps it was because I had to use such thick coats to avoid the streakiness that comes with this polish.
I also noticed a funky smell with this one? It smelled like polish... just a stronger scent than most of the polishes in my collection. Nothing I can't deal with, just unusual.
And the last thing, the dealbreaker for me on this polish is that it gave me an ALLERGIC REACTION. After I had this on for a bit, I noticed swelling and tenderness at my fingertips. It hurt to type and if I put any pressure on my nails, they hurt. That has never happened to me before! Needless to say, I took this off after about two hours. I'm not sure if it was an ingredient in this polish or a particular dye or what, but these polishes are 3-Free so I know it's not that.
I really REALLY wanted to like this brand. I've heard some good things about them. But the unsatisfactory formula, high price point and the fact that it gave me a reaction is grounds enough for me to pass on this brand in the future. I had such high hopes for it, but I probably will not be repurchasing. Luckily I got this on sale so I'm not feeling as much buyer's remorse as I would've had I paid full price for it. Maybe I will try the one I picked up for Mama and see if I have the same reaction to it.
Alright, now that I got that out of my system, I will show you some nail art I did on top of this before I realized that it was the swollen finger culprit. I thought this purple could be a nice Halloween purple, so I used white acrylic paint and drew little spiderwebs on my nails. And a little grey spider! Topped it with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust.
Aww that's unfortunate! I picked up my first two butter London's last week and have yet to use them. Eeek.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great color, though! LOVE that purple :-)
great design and very suitable for halloween!
ReplyDeleteOh Amanda, that's really crappy! I hate it when stuff like this happens, especially if it's from a polish that you expected much more. I only have 1 Butter London polish and it applies a dream! Maybe you got a bad polish. It happened to me and Essie. The first bottle of Essie I ever bought was a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteWeirdest thing ever! I have NEVER heard of that kind of reaction from a polish! I'm sorry :(
ReplyDeleteOh NOOOOO! That's so weird.. and awful! :(
ReplyDeleteIf it's any consolation, your spider and webs are really cute? I'm glad you figured out what the culprit is, though. I'd even go as far as to take it back and try to possibly exchange it for another bottle to see if you got a dud. Or another color entirely if you try Wallis and don't have a reaction to it. There could be something unwanted in the polish that is screwing up the formula AND causing your sensitivity.
I thought about getting HRH, but I figured if I was going to spend that much on a polish.. I was going to get really unusual colors that would be unique in my collection so I picked up NMWK & Lady Muck. I was SO excited about NMWK and had been lemming it for months.. but I'm just like "meh" about it on my nails. I mean, it's pretty, but not nearly as stunning as the swatches I'd seen of it. Lady Muck kind of makes me happier.. but I still haven't managed to wear either one as a full mani and probably won't get to until sometime next week (maybe).
Keep us updated on whether you have a reaction to Wallis as well! ♥
Thats so weird!! I just applied BL Toff, and it was difficultly thick. I only have 4, and haven't had any problems till now. Will be curious to know if you react to Wallis.
ReplyDeleteThe spiderwebs look great! And I agree, Butter London is pretty pricey. I usually pass up on it at ULTA because I can get two other brands for the price of one BL!
ReplyDeleteDo you know, after we talked on Twitter about your reaction... I realized several months ago I had something happen with the pinky finger on my left hand and it was similar to what you described here... with the swelling, tenderness, and if any pressure was applied on the pad of the finger OR the nail bed it was painful... I took the polish off and after a few days the problem went away... so now it is making me wonder if I was having the same issue or if mine was something else. Now I just have to remember what the polish was... :-\
ReplyDeleteOMG! So great!
ReplyDelete