The Quick Take
Brand/Name: Butter London No More Waity Katie
Color: Smoky purple with lilac colored glitter
Formula: Grey/purple jelly base with uniformly shaped and sized lilac glitter
Finish: Glitter
Price: $17 CDN for 11mL
Seen at: Butterlondon.ca, Ebeauty.ca, Holt Renfrew and other retailers
Note(s): You might be wondering why frugal me got a trio of $17 polish. Well, I purchased my bottle from Ulta when they had a buy 2, get 1 free sale, which only ended up costing me about $9 per bottle and well under my self-imposed $10 per bottle limit.
The Fun Facts
While I was intent on being the proud owner of Wallis (a gorgeous metallic olive gold), I knew No More Waity Katie (NMWK) was a definite must have. Surprising really, considering the die hard blue fanatic that I am passed on Bluey to get it. Named for the engagement of Prince William and long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton, the purple color does bring royalty and patience to mind. The Butter London website describes it as a "soft, elegant greige shade with a splash of lilac glitter for the perfect marriage to combine fashion and fun". I'm a little confused as "griege" usually denotes a grey/beige hybrid and NMWK isn't quite that. I'd say it's a smoky purple or grey/purple hybrid with lilac glitter of the same shape and size. The jelly base is just enough of a muted smoky purple to provide a pretty and subtle contrast to the lilac glitter. It's fun and sparkly without being in your face or potentially blinding anyone. It balances chic and fashionable without looking like you went all bedazzled-crazy on your nails. If full on glitter is to haute couture, NMWK is designer retail. I'd even go so far as to say that this is a great polish to initiate any glitterphobics. But as with any glitter polish, the finish can be gritty. Not really a big deal as top coat easily fixes the problem.
***All nail swatches were done with Nail Tek II Foundation Base Coat and four coats of Butter London No More Waity Katie unless stated.
The jelly base actually worked really well!
You can see that there looks to be some "bald spots"...
The "bald spots" aren't as apparent in the sunlight but you can still see them.
I love the packaging of this polish! It really felt substantial and well worth the retail price (lucky that I didn't have to pay retail though!). I think the fact that the rectangular cap comes off to reveal a nice rounded brush cap is a great touch to add to the luxe feel of the bottle, as well as a comfort to know that I won't have to fight to apply the polish with an awkward cap. Even better is the grooved brush cap that makes it easy to unscrew even with hands slick from hand lotion and cuticle oil. The longer brush bristles make it a tad tricky for application. It's thin and floppy, and while that may be a good thing with any other formula, glitters don't really apply well with thin brushes. I had to go over spots repeatedly to ensure an even coverage. Luckily, the formula was easy to work with and not at all the goopy mess that some glitter polishes are infamous for. Being a jelly base, I expected to do at least 4 coats to achieve full opacity. Thin coats worked best as it kept the glitter from moving too much. It dried longer because of the additional coats with a gritty surface from the glitter. Now, as with any glitter polish, removal is a pain. But just as patience with waiting Kate paid off, so to will patience with NMWK's removal.
Hammie says: Oooh. Smooth and shiny, just how I like it!
Hammie says: Not quite bottle color but pretty all the same.
L-R: No More Waity Katie, over Color Clob Shabby Drab, over Nina Ultra Pro Ink-ling, over Color Club Rad Nomad
Top coat smoothed out the surface and made NMWK shine like crazy. As for the layering experiment, I honestly thought that Color Club Shabby Drab would be the best match. Instead, it drowned out the glitter that you can barely see unless the light hits it at the right angle. If you're after a subtle contrast, this works best of the three although to get a closer match to bottle color, a few shades darker would've done the trick. Zoya Caitlin looks to be the best layering combination to achieve bottle color, which unfortunately don't own. Of the three I did though, I think it worked best with Nina Ultra Pro Ink-ling. Color Club Rad Nomad was just too dark while Ink-ling looked like an opaque creme version of the jelly base on the nail. It does lose some subtletly but it's a great looking contrast, making the glitter really pop.
The Lowdown
I haven't heard of any duplicates of this color. I'd say it would be tough as the base dries at least a couple shades lighter on the nail because of its jelly nature and bottle color can only be achieved through layering. Maybe if you can find a similar glitter top coat that has the same color, shape and size as the glitter in NMWK and layer it over a smoky purple jelly (of which I can't think of any offhand) then you'd get a dupe. Otherwise, I doubt any exists. Butter London as a line isn't hard to find. I have seen though that this particular shade is currently out of stock on the US version of the website. There are a lot of other retailers and shops that carry the brand so even with that, availability shouldn't be an issue. Value for price is amazing, especially since I got it for almost half off. Even at full price, I still think you get your money's worth. It was easy to work with and while four coats would be excessive for any other type of finish, I love the squishiness of jellies that I don't mind as much. The glitter is just icing on the cake. Needless to say that for my first experience with a Butter London polish, I'm a happy camper.
Hammie is a glitter fiend. Anything bright and shiny makes him a happy hamster. But as much as he loves his glitz, he's not the most patient of hamsters and always dreads the process of taking glitter polish off. The "bald spots" weren't the best either. His final score for No More Waity Katie?
Would you pass up your go-to shade for a glitter? What's your favorite Butter London color? Any other color suggestions that I should add to my "must have" list (thinking of Bluey and Knees Up)?
The bottle color is very pretty, but I find it a bit of a letdown on the nail to be honest! I don't like the look of the bald spots, it would look so much better if it was more even.
ReplyDeleteI wish it did translate on the nail exactly like the bottle color, Anthea! I might get Zoya Caitlin and revisit this post down the road. It's actually not so bad in person. I mean, the spots aren't as noticeable although I can definitely see how layering can make it better. :)
ReplyDeleteThe only Butter London polish I own is Wallis (haven't worn it yet), and NMWK was the other colour that I was thinking about picking up. I kept grabbing it and then putting it back in the display.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that it'd be more opaque, but because I saw other people's swatches of it, I pretty much expected that it would have to be a layering polish. I think it looks amazing when layered. By itself, it's pretty, but I don't like bald spots.
As much as I liked Wallis, I actually prefer NMWK. ;) You should totally get it, Mary, especially if you already have Zoya Caitlin. (I saw a swatch of the combo and it looks amazing!)
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty opaque at 4 coats but getting the glitter even WAS tricky. I guess if you work carefully enough you could get it to apply more evenly but I don't have much patience (or time) for it. :P
Okay... I must get my hands on this baby! Your photos are good and I'm glad the larger bottle cap comes with a pointing-up-finger... the Chanel ones don't and I initially thought I had broken the cap off ! phew
ReplyDeleteI would probably layer this over China Glaze Below Deck to add a little bit of sparkle to my cream... oh sigh... this shade is sooo in my comfort zone it almost built it with its own Butter London hands ;)
Stunning :D
Oh, I'd definitely freak out if I didn't see that sticker either! It was very thoughtful, for sure. :)
ReplyDeleteBelow Deck sounds like a plan, Marta! I think they'd look great together even if it leans more purple. I'm a little surprised you haven't jumped on any Butter London polishes yet. I'd have thought your Helmer will have housed at least a few already! I'll be on the look out for this if you don't see it anywhere. :)