Butter London Steampunk Ball

purchased by me

This fall, Butter London has an entire steampunk-themed collection.  Of course I had to get something, so I chose the Steampunk Ball set because 5 of the 6 polishes are only available in this set.  The polishes are all minis, which works for me because I can't remember the last time I used up a whole bottle, and with the exception of the glitter, all polishes were opaque in two effortless, perfectly-behaved coats.

Bric-A-Brac is red glitter in a warm red base.  It's more brick-colored in low light, and it's the only polish that is not exclusive to this set.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Barkers is a dark grey with multi-colored micro glitter, very pretty and steampunk-y.

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Indoors without flash:

Baroness is a rosy bronze shimmer and very prone to brush strokes, which means you can see how careless my application was on this one. *blush*

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Brass Goggles is a clear glitter base with black and gold glitter.  It's not quite opaque at two coats, but could easy be opaque with three.

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Indoors without flash:

Full Steam Ahead is a dark grey crème which leans green in low light.

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Indoors without flash:

Pinkies Up is a peach shimmer with a frost finish and visible brush strokes.

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Indoors without flash:

If you're interested in the Steampunk Ball collection, you can find it at Butter London and at Ulta for $39.00 + any applicable tax and shipping.

Steampunk-inspired nails

Since the Cold of Doom has taken over my body, my weekend schedule was pretty much sleep 90 minutes, be awake four hours, repeat. I had zero energy and just barely managed to get the sheets changed and the laundry done. I re-read some of my "comfort books" like Heidi and Hans Brinker, and read every single entry on Epbot. I wasn't really up for any of Jen's amazing projects, but I figured I could manage some steampunk-inspired fingernails.

To get this look, I used:

1 coat Orly Ridgefiller
1 coat Sally Hansen Wet Cement
1 coat Deborah Lippmann Marqee Moon
1 coat Kleancolor Chunky Holo Copper
1 coat CND Copper Shimmer
2 coats Nubar Diamont
1 coat China Glaze Matte Magic

I'm reasonably satisfied by how it turned out, but if my nails were a bit longer, I'd add French tips in China Glaze Unplugged for a wood strip effect.

Here's the finished manicure, inside with flash:



Inside without flash:



And a close-up: