Butter London Black Knight

Butter London Black Knight

This is one of the holiday offerings from Butter London. It really shines and sparkles in the sun. Surprisingly, the black base doesn't hide the glitter - it comes through clearly. Is it unique? I think so. I don't think you could get the same look with layering because there is a number of different glitters in Black Knight. You could franken a cousin. Chalkboard Nails has a great post on that here. I think Franken B is a really great version!

Now, I do love the color but the formula. Oh, the formula. It's thick and a bit gummy but thinner fixed things a bit but I dislike having to tweak a new polish. It dries very dull and very rough feeling. This is a thirsty glitter and it needed two coats of my GlitterAde along with quick dry topcoat. That doesn't stop me from loving it because it really is a stunner. I bought this at B-Glowing.

GlitterAde: Quenching Thirsty Glitter

GlitterAde: Quenching Thirsty Glitter

I like wearing glitter. I don't mind the removal too much but what really annoys me is when I put on three layers of topcoat and it's still a bit dull looking. You know what I mean! The thirsty glitter or the topcoat eater that stays shiny for a few hours or maybe a day but needs another layer of topcoat at some point to bring back the shine. I usually wind up wearing what feels like 100 layers of polish on my nails. Of course sometimes the polish just pops off because it's so thick. It's just annoying. Plus, it's really rude of the glitter to be so greedy.

Well, I was playing around and discovered a solution that has been working for me. I have a bottle of TBK Trading's Glamour Polish Base (the one for glitter) and filled an empty bottle until it was about 60% full and filled the remainder with my own topcoat mixture. Wow. It works wonderfully. It's on the thick side but applies evenly and it also smooths, fills and levels the glitter. I apply a quick dry topcoat over that and it is like glass. The best part - that glassy look lasts until I take it off. I have named it GlitterAde - get it? A play on words - glitter + Gatorade = GlitterAde the Glitter Thirst Quencher. Ha!

I wanted to show photos but it's hard to show shine versus no-shine but I tried. I used OPI Designer Series Temptation because it is a huge, huge topcoat eater no matter what I did. Brat.

Without topcoat.





With Glamour Base 24 hours and many hand washings later. I didn't apply quick dry topcoat for this because I wanted to test the dry time and wear. Dry time was about 10/15 minutes and it wore really well. It works even better with a quick dry over it. I'm still playing and tweaking but so far so good.





If you happen to have a bottle of the Glamour Base try it over a thirsty glitter. It may work for you.

Brucci Sparkling Bordeaux

Brucci Sparkling Bordeaux

Did you ever have a craving for something that was so strong you could smell it? I had that craving for marshmallows the other day. I had to have some even though the last time I had a marshmallow I was nine which would be over twenty years ago. So I headed to Rite Aid and bought a bag. They are so gross and yet so good. I think I may make myself sick on them. I did discover that Thom likes them. Odd since I read that cats don't taste sweet but he seems to taste something that he likes. I had to hide them.

I also discovered a newly stocked Brucci display with some new colors. Sparkling Bordeaux was one of them. I can't resist a sparkly red and this one is lovely. A deep wine red with glitter that is on the small scale so it looks like little lights on the nail. This looks like something BB Couture would create. It's very festive and a great formula.

Personi Cosmic Purple

Personi Cosmic Purple

I do like these Personi glitter polishes even if they are string/bar glitter. They do have a strong chemical smell that reminds me of grape flavored items. I like it. This is one coat over a purple creme.

Nails Inc The Donmar Overglaze

Nails Inc The Donmar Overglaze

I thought The Donmar would be a dupe for the typical flake polish like Nubar 2010 and GOSH Rainbow. It's not. It's less intense on the red/gold scale and has a strong green flash. I read a post about this polish that described it as being holographic and it's not. It's a duochrome flake polish.

It's subtle without being a wallflower. I wore The Donmar over Misa Moody Model which is a clay brown creme. Some tipwear but we are all friends here and that means you will ignore it.