Butter London The Illusionists Collection

Butter London have recently launched a new trio collection of top coat polishes called The Illusionists – the three polishes are all either glitters or sheer duo-chrome colours that when applied over other shades add a little something special or give a colour a new twist. So to test them out I’ve been playing with them over different shades and colour combinations…

The three shades are: Stardust (silver based fine glitter with multi coloured shimmer to it), Petrol (a duo-chrome purple/blue/green shade that, as the name implies, is like a petrol spill sheen) and Stratford Honey (fine golden glitter).

Each shade on it’s own (L-R): Stardust, Petrol, Stratford Honey

Each shade layered over Essie After School Boy Blazer (navy) L-R: Stardust, Petrol, Stratford Honey

Each shade layered over a similar base shade (L-R): Stardust (over Mavala Cool Silver – a shimmering pale grey), Petrol (over Nails Inc Gel in Bond Street – creamy purple) and Stratford Honey (over Sally Hansen Coat of Arms – a muted shimmering gold)

I do love the old lazy-girl trick of wacking a glitter coat over a fading manicure to get a couple of extra days out of it before it’s time to remove and re-do and for that these are great. Obviously the glitters will work better as Petrol is fairly sheer so wouldn’t mask any chipping but would be fine if just to refresh and mask some tip-wear.

In terms of how each of the shades work over other colours, I think all three look pretty darn amazing over the Essie After School Boy Blazer deep navy shade – it makes the glitter really stand out and the duo-chrome sheen of petrol really come alive. The combination of gold and navy looks amazing too – nice and festive, like little twinkling stars on a dark sky.

Over similar colours the effect isn’t as dramatic – the gold shimmer is almost lost on a golden base, adding more of a texture than an added sparkle. Petrol does look gorgeous over a creamy purple though – I think this sheer wash of shimmer really enhances whatever the base colour is and makes the alternative shade pop more. So on the navy blue base, the purple sheen stands out, on the purple base, the green/blue sheen stands out etc…). Over the Mavala grey the sparkle of Stardust is still pretty but more subtle.

Overall, I love how all three look over the dark shade and think this is how I’ll be using them in future – I am a sucker for a dark nail shade anyway.

Which layering way catches your eye for these three?!

Available from HQHair.com (currently on 3 for 2 offer – as of Nov 2013)

PR samples