Holiday Hands from butter LONDON

I wanted to try some festive nail lacquers from butter LONDON, so I ordered two: British Racing Green and The Black Knight ($14 each). Online, both appeared to be perfect shades for Christmas. I love one of them.

British Racing Green is a dark, “hunter green” that has become a classic. Given that it wasn't sparkly, I also ordered the limited-edition The Black Knight, pictured at right from the butter LONDON site, and described as a glitter fusion containing black, pink, blue, and silver suspended in a black base. The description was a bit strange, but I used the photo to guide me. I anticipated a vibrant, glittery purple.

When I applied them, I was surprised by The Black Knight. I had to apply three coats to get even color. That might be due to my inept application techniques. I also found that the glitter wanted to extend beyond the tip of my nail (and I have no idea how to fix that). The same thing happened when I swatched on a color wheel, as you may see in my swatch photo below, which was taken in full sun. I tried to clean up the tip with my finger, and I did pretty well for some reason.

I adore the glossy British Racing Green. I love all things this color, so I'm not surprised. The Black Knight? Not so much. It's a little too black (for my taste) and a little too glittery/chunky. I'll know next time. Read the description; don't just look at the photo.

What do you think of these butter LONDON shades? What do you think of glittery glosses in general? I could use some help with this one. Which one would you wear for Christmas? You can find them at the butter LONDON Web site, Nordstrom, Beauty.com, and other online sites.

Photos at top courtesy of butter LONDON; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

butter LONDON's New ReVamp Collection

ReVamp is a great name for this new nail lacquer collection from butter LONDON. Vamp, of course, is Chanel's iconic red-black polish. The Vamp-inspired ReVamp Collection, priced at $40, offers four of the latest deep, dark, "in" nail colors.

Just a few words about butter LONDON...The salon's founder, Sasha Muir, felt there was a bridge market between high-end and low-end nail care salons and products. Once she mapped out her business strategy, Creative Director Nonie Creme joined the team to design the signature non-toxic products that are the hallmark of the butter LONDON brand.

The Company stormed the fashion scene this season with the introduction of British Racing Green ($14) nail lacquer at the New York shows. British Racing Green is one of my all-time favorite colors: for cars, clothing, insignias - you name it, I love the color. The beautiful dark green butter LONDON shade has already been heralded by Vogue, W, Lucky, and other magazines.

Back to ReVamp. Here are the descriptions of ReVamp from butter LONDON's Web site.

• Princes Plums: The perfect bluey-purple, royal purple. Rich and deep, just like a prince.
• Union Jack Black: Jet black and uber-glossy, this goes on like liquid patent leather. Be warned, you may have the sudden urge to wear six-inch stilettos and carry a riding crop.
• Big Smoke: London’s finest. Mildly metallic navy blue that’s as naughty as a night in a smoky pub.
• La Moss: Vampy and full of red wine, just like its inspiration.

The shades look cool and sound cool. What's also cool is the 30% discount you can get through November 30 by using Lucky's special discount code for butter LONDON: LUCKYBREAKS11. My thanks to Best Things in Beauty reader, Chloe, for reminding us!

So, check out butter LONDON, and don't forget to use that fabulous discount code!

Photo courtesy of butter LONDON