First, the way Butter London describes this color: “A textured twinkling vintage blue pale and slightly smoky. Things reminiscent of the Victorian era, such as corsets, top hats and Syphilis.”

I laughed pretty hard at that last descriptor!

I’d describe it as a dusty teal base with very fine silver specks of glitter.

The formula was fantastically smooth. I only did 2 coats out of habit, but it was opaque in one. Really perfect application. The bottle is pretty too! If Butter London polishes weren’t so expensive, I’d have the ENTIRE collection by now.

Bought in-store at ULTA. $14 for 11ml/.4 fl oz. Big 3 Free.

Here we have a 2 glitters, 2 creams, and one very awesome glow in the dark top coat! Check out swatches below! :)

Haunting: black base with bright silver round micro-glitter
It’s Alive: sheer olive green base loaded with chunky round glitter and small round micro-glitter
Crimson: deep eggplant-purple cream (looks mostly black)
Near Dark: murky deep olive green cream (looks mostly black)
Ghoulish Glow: transparent glow-in-the-dark top coat (!!)

edit: Scrangie just posted swatches of the Nars Fall 2011 collection, and Haunting looks pretty similar to Night Breed. The only thing, it seems, is that Haunting was comprised of all the same sized round glitter, and Scrangie says that Night Breed has irregular sizes/shapes. Will wait for comparison shots of the two!

I love Forever21. It’s a cheap, trendy company that I’ve been familiar with for years, but for the first time in my life, I live near one! Actually, the new city I live in has several in and around it. AND THEY SELL NAIL POLISH! CHEAP NAIL POLISH! It seems that the only brand they carry is one I haven’t heard of before called Love & Beauty. I saw a huge bin of them on display in the store yesterday, so of course I had to check it out.

This is Indigo:

The name of this polish describes its color: it’s an opaque indigo jelly polish, could definitely be a one-coater if you’re careful. I don’t have any other polishes in my collection like this (MAC Blue India is much more dusty, and greener) so I was excited to get this–especially for $2.80!! It also applies as smooth as a dream, with a thin, long brush, and has good drying time. This is only two coats, too!

A few things about the polishes.. if you check out the Love & Beauty line in store or online, you may notice that there are several different polish bottle styles. I’m still not completely sure what that’s about. Though it appears that some of the styles are for unique finishes, it seems to be more of a novelty thing than a rule of thumb for identifying like polishes–does that make sense at all? I just mean that I thought that one bottle style was for all glitters, but then there are some in that bottle style that aren’t glitters, and some that are. So maybe they just like their items to not all look the same? Maybe they’ve transitioned a few times and can’t decide which one they like? Not sure.

The only unimpressive thing I’ve found about the polishes so far are that the names really suck, haha. I think their creative marketing team has only just been started up, with super unique and descriptive color names like “Blue,” “Gold,” and “Pink.” :P

One last note about the thumb decal I used, that is a purchase I made a few months ago, one that I’ve been meaning to use in manicures. They are the Ornament Nail Art Stickers by Essence, which I got at ULTA. I was super excited to use them, and I’ve found that they’ve been really easy to use! They last as long as my manicure, and are thin enough so they easily stay flat along the curvature of my nails. They’re cheap ($1.50) and come with 10 or 11 different designs. I was so happy I actually jumped back in shock when I saw the Essence end-cap at ULTA that day. I grabbed a couple of their Colour & Go nail polishes, too, so look for those coming up soon!

Yay, I’m so excited for this, guys!! I am hosting a giveaway, provided by Flirt! Cosmetics, to win a 40 eyeshadow limited edition palette!! If you’ve never heard of Flirt!, they are sold exclusively at Kohl’s, and I am seriously impressed by the quality of the shadows.. especially for the price! See more of my review of this product and a look done using the shadows in the video below:

I am not being compensated in any way to host this giveaway by the company or their PR firm. I was provided the palette free of charge prior to the announcement so that I could test it for myself. All the opinions stated here are 100% true and only mine.

I will close comments on this post on December 21st at midnight, and announce the winner later that day!

Base: Gelous
First layer: Orly Iron Butterfly (matte)
Second layer: China Glaze Millennium with plate M62
Topcoat: Sally Hansen Mega-shine Topcoat (only over the tips)

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

multicolor microglitter in direct sunlight

Bogie is a deep plum with multicolored microglitter. Of the three I swatched, this is the least sheer in one coat. I used two and it was perfectly opaque. Formula was perfect. This polish definitely is the biggest hit in the sunlight. The silver/multi-color sparkles are unreal.

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

copper sparkles in direct sunlight

Foxy is surprisingly red–in the bottle it looks much more coppery brown, but on the nail it is definitely a burgundy red base with copper microglitter. The copper sparkles are no where near as intense in Foxy as they are in Bogie or Midnight Mission.. definitely more of a traditional frost. Formula is pretty good–I found mine a bit thin, but not impossible to work with. One coat was patchy and sheer, but two coats turned out to be smooth and totally opaque. I was expecting this to look more brown on the nail, but it’s still not a true red, so this is definitely unique to my collection!

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

silver microglitter indoors with no flash

Midnight Mission is a gorgeous navy with silver glitter that really shines through the dark base. This has been on my wishlist since, oh, the moment I saw a swatch of it. The navy base was surprisingly sheer, so two coats was a must. Again, this color really is amazing in the sunlight, but even in low light settings it’s a gorgeous night-sky blue. I love love love this color.

This a huge collection with 13 different colors. Here are ones that I haven’t yet been able to see and swatch:

Riveter Rouge – Deep red shimmer
Goin’ My Way – Deep copper shimmer
Classic Camel – Khaki creme with gold micro glitter
Swing Baby – Taupe with silver micro glitter
Ingrid – “Greige” creme with copper micro glitter
Hey Doll – Deep rose shimmer
First Class Ticket – Deep purple shimmer
Emerald Fitzgerald – Turquoise shimmer
Jitterbug – Grey chrome with silver micro glitter

I also think I must have Classic Camel, Ingrid, and Emerald Fitzgerald… and maybe Jitterbug too. Darn it.

Per FTC regulations I must disclose that product(s) in this post were sent to me by a brand or PR firm for consideration for review on my website. I guarantee honesty above all. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The polish itself is clear but it is packed with true blue glitter and is complimented by gold glitter. As with most glitters, several coats is the key. It applies nicely I didn’t find it difficult to get an even application. Despite its very glittery appearance, the finish is surprisingly smooth, especially with a nice shiny top coat.

These pictures were taken without and with flash respectively, indoors at nighttime. In resizing and uploading the photo to the web, some of the vibrancy of the blue was sacrificed.

USED:
Studio Fix Fluid
Mineralize/Loose SPF 15
Alpha Girl Beauty Powder
Light Flush MSF
UDPP
Heatherette Trio 1: Hoppin, Mood Ring
Fab Orchid/Dash Lily dual edge eye pencil
DUO Adhesive
3D Silver Glitter
Plushlash mascara