So, remember in the last post where I said you could have first dibs on which Butter London I swatched first? I, er, lied, apparently. This parcel turned up two days later and as I was unwrapping it, my mum (who took delivery for me) was looking over my shoulder as I admired Thames and said 'Oooh! That's amazing! You must wear that!'. I decided it would be rude to disappoint my mother. Plus, I really liked the colour. However, it did look a bit familiar: I was wondering if it would be a dupe for Illamasqua Viridian. And they do look very similar in the bottle. There's a bit of extra navy swirly-ness in the Illamasqua, but it's very close.
On the nail, though? Definitely not dupes. Below is one coat of each. Yes, that's ONE coat of Viridian, no top coat, no voodoo...it just is that awesome.
Three coats of Thames, one of Viridian. Thames is lighter, and feels like tonnes of shimmer packed in a sheer grey base. Viridian's base is darker, bluer, and much more intense. There's also more duochrome swirly shinyness (not sure what's happened to my command of English...).
Three coats. (Sorry it's a bit rough and ready - I had to dash and forgot to do clean-up). Dry time is average and wear seems good. It is a really nice colour, and I can't find a ready dupe in my collection, so I can happily justify owning both this and Viridian (especially given my sick problem concerning shiny blue-greens). But if I only had $14? I'd get the Illamasqua. Like this? Click below to let us know!
12 comments:
One coat?! Wow.
That one coat is soo thick. They are both pretty colors though.
@Adriana - I know, crazy right?
@Toyomi - It definitely is thick, but I didn't apply it thick intentionally to avoid doing extra coats, if that makes sense? It's just a very opaque, flowing polish, you can't really do thin coats even if you wanted to. It's quite easy to work with, though, despite being more viscous than some, and fortunately it dries quite quick. :)
Lovely colour! x
Do these polishes stain at all? Very pretty!
Illamasqua is one of my favorite nail polish ranges. I have an addiction to Rampage (Poor Rampage is empty so I need a new one). Illamasqua has their formula down (except for the last release I've heard, the Toxic one). I love that you get near perfect coverage on the first coat, even on the jellies. :)
@Natalie -- With my experience, Illamasqua's and butter LONDON's don't stain on me. Staining occurs when you don't use a base coat or you use the wrong one. Everyone's nails are different so you have to experiment to find your perfect base coat. It's the same with top coats. A lot of people have success with Seche Vite; I'm allergic to it!
I yearn for Viridian now.
Thank you for the comparison!
Goodness, this is like mind-reading to me. I already own Viridian (and Scarab and Rampage and Baptiste -- I love Illamasqua) and was in the store checking out butter LONDON; and led me to wonder if there was a difference between Thames and Viridian.
Thank goodness for these swatches!
I love BL Thames! I got it from a friend as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and I wore it for days just loving the way it shifts from teal o green to petrol depending on the light. It is awsome!
I can't even see where there's any bit of mess on your nails! Love both shades. I only own 3 Butter London. I expected them to look very close according to the bottles. On the nail slightly different. Such a pretty shade.
Gah, I typed all this out and firefox ate it, so try again.
@ Natalie - I agree with Katie that I've not found much staining. Admittedly I haven't taken Thames off yet (I extended the mani with some glitter, which means my polish is now about an inch thick, but it does look pretty!). Viridian I haven't had a problem with when I've worn it before. I usually use some Orly Cutique after dark/green polishes just to be on the safe side.
@ Katie - have you tried Elope? It's Rampage's brighter cousin. I'll be posting a review of one of the Toxic Nature polishes in a few days (Purity) and you're right, the formula was less dreamy than most of their other polishes. (Although Load and I don't get on, either).
@ChaosButterly - no problem. And get Viridian! You won't regret it.
@ Di - yay! So glad I could help. Great minds, and all that. ;)
@ Sminkan - isn't it pretty? Petrol green is a perfect descriptor.
@ Lucy - heh, thanks :) I'm so paranoid with macro shots! Which ones do you have?
@ilexica- No, I haven't tried Elope. I always look at it and say, "That looks a wee warm for me." I have this weird skintone actually --I'm very cool-toned but I have this dash of olive (from my Native American heritage) that's annoying. I can pull off a little warmth, but not a lot! I find I can pull off Essie Pretty Edgy, but I keep going back and forth on Elope!
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