I need to be stopped, guys. Thank goodness I’ve been doing all this tutoring for extra money, because the start of the holiday seasons means buying gifts…for myself!

Image courtesy of butter LONDON

Most of the butter LONDON 2013 Illusionists set doesn’t thrill me. Union Jack Black and Come to Bed Red have long been available, and while I love the gold and silver glitter topcoats, I have similar effects in much cheaper brands. For as rarely as I go glitter, I’m okay with the less expensive version, although I’m sure the bL glitter coats are divine. Not pictured above are two sets called Double Take — a red version and a blue version that each contain a shimmery polish and an iridescent flakie topcoat. Now these, I had to have, and I also purchased Petrol (pictured above).

First up is Petrol, what bL describes as a “tornate overcoat,” whatever that means. Tornado-like? Petrol does have a stormy look to it, with the iridescent shimmer of an oil slick. I swatched three coats on my bare nails, one coat over black, and one and a half coats (because I smudged) over off-white in the below picture.

Petrol over bare nails (2 left), over black (middle), and over off-white (furthest right)

Over the bare nail, it’s nearly opaque at three coats; I would have done one more to wear out, because I hate seeing my nail line. It has a purple undertone that gets lost over black, but the black allows it to shimmer more strongly blue. The off-white seems to mute it a bit, but not as much as over the black. I should try it over an opaque nude or even sheer nude to build up coverage without needing a ton of layers. I really love this color. I want to experiment with it over different shades to see how it changes hues, but it’s also lovely to wear alone. It makes me think of ice caves or frozen lakes.

Next is the Fire set of Rebel Fox and Brass Monkey. Rebel Fox is a crimson with red and gold shimmer which seems to show up on the bottle more than on the nail, at least in indoor light. I wore this for a few days (which is why you see a little tip wear in the photo), but to me it’s more of a holiday red than an autumn red. I don’t know why it strikes me that way — maybe because the gold shimmer gives it a snazzy, Christmassy look rather than a multidimensional autumn leaves look, at least in my opinion. The first coat was much brighter red; three thin coats deepened it to a gorgeous, glowy crimson.

Rebel Fox

The companion to Rebel Fox is Brass Monkey, flakies suspended in clear coat that flash warm shades of red, yellow, and orange. I swatched it over Rebel Fox, black, and off-white below. Over Rebel Fox, Brass Monkey looks like shards of flame, showing up quite strongly. Over the black, the flakes also flash colorfully, even in indoor light. Over the off-white, the flakes were mostly hidden, flashing unexpectedly when I moved my hand — a nice colorful surprise.

Rebel Fox (left), Brass Monkey over Rebel Fox, Brass Monkey over black, Brass Monkey over off-white (right)

The Ice set contains cool-toned versions of the finishes in the Fire set. Bluecoats is a shimmery cobalt that comes alive with silver shimmer in direct sunlight. Like Rebel Fox, I see this as a winter holiday color more than anything; that jewel-toned blue makes me think of holiday gifts and Hanukkah wrapping (even though Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving this year — my sister cooks both feasts for our religiously combined family, but she can’t tell if this’ll be easier or harder this year). I love cobalt; I put this on and told my dog, “Yep, wearing this one allllll winter long.”

Bluecoats

The companion flakie is Leccy, which is exactly like Brass Monkey, but with cool-toned flashes of blue and green. It also has some warm flashes of pink, which helps bring out the blue. As before, I swatched it over its companion color, black, and off-white, with pretty much the same results as in the Fire set.

Bluecoats (left), Leccy over Bluecoats, Leccy over black, Leccy over off-white (right)

I really love all these colors and how they work together. Did I need two sets of iridescent flakies? No, but I love iridescence, so I’m happy to own both. The sets retail for $24 each, which is a bit of a discount over the price of two polishes, and both bottles are full sized, not the half-sized “fashion” bottles. Petrol was $15. These and the rest of the collection, including a set of fashion-sized (half-sized) 12-piece of standard line colors (plus two new ones) and a 6-piece fashion-sized (one new color, others standard line) are all available for purchase at butter LONDON’s website, Ulta, Macy’s or Nordstrom’s.

So will these sets be on your holiday gift list?