Tuesday, December 31, 2013

LLPT's Brand Crushes of 2013!!

*contains press samples

Hi everybody!!  I was thinking about all the new brands I've been introduced to this year, as well as the old standbys who've been nailing things right and left, and it was really hard to nail my personal most influential brands down to two, especially regarding mainstream brands.  OPI had a super exciting first half of the year and I loved Zoya's fall and winter collections; and then there's LVX, who blew my mind with the first two collections I've had the privilege to try.  In the end, one brand has been knocking it out of the park all year long with amazing formulas, outside the box collections, and a perfect transition into color cosmetics-- Butter London.


Butter London swatches

Butter started out with a perfect palette of sweet pastel shades with the most stunningly smooth formulas I've ever seen in a pale creme, including my top 15 of the year pick, Molly Coddled.  Summer brought a set of five natural sandy beach-inspired metallics and one beautiful aquamarine creme, an elegant, cohesive, and much welcome deviation from the typical neon brights.  Then, Butter London went all avant garde with their Colour Clash collection, taking the lights and brights that are usually associated with summer and placing them in the fall.  The bright chartreuse Wellies, the start white creme perfection that is Cotton Buds, and the cool, rubberized bright pink Cake-Hole are my favorites of that outstanding set.  
Fall also saw the debut of Butter London's color cosmetic line, Rock Your Color, a collection full of wild creme eyeshadows and mascaras, and for those of us with a more demure sensibility, luxurious and easy to apply creme blushes in an array of classic shades and highly pigmented lip balms that actually do an adequate job of moisturizing.
 I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but the holiday/winter Illusionists collection was both beautiful and brilliant, reintroducing the classic Come To Bed Red and Union Jack Black, as well as launching the superlatively stunning Bramble, a cold and rich indigo creme, and three special effects topcoats.  The Fire and Ice sets were also launched, which included red and a blue metallic bases to go with corresponding flakies.... Yes, Butter London is doing flakies and I'm dying to get them on my nails.
It's been a big and exciting year for my favorite polish company and I'm so excited to see what the new year brings for these mavericks.

My favorite indie company of the year was an even more difficult choice.  I nearly forewent indie and went with Jade because this ♥♥♥♥♥ but as far as all around awesome and worthy of their well-earned reputation go, a-England is it for me.  I don't know how long they've been around but I do know that it's been lauded as one of the premier indie makers since I began to really take care of my nails back in 2011, for the classical art and literature inspiration and elegantly wearable colors and finishes.  I received a proper introduction this year and fell in love with the formulas, colors, inspiration, and energy behind the brand.

a-england swatches

This summer's Burne-Jones dream collection, and the dusty rose metallic scattered holo Briar Rose in particular, quickly cemented my addition to the many nailistas who adore a-England polishes so much.  Briarwood, from the same collection, and the made-over and relaunched champagne gold Excalibur, were two of my favorite polishes this year-- both stunning shades with wonderful formulas and a really nice wear time.  Also shown is Saint George, the mind-blowing teal holo that topped so many best of lists last year.  I had to see what the big deal is, and it's all true.  The black creme Camelot was a gift from my dear friend Christine and indeed, it is the nicest black creme I've had the pleasure to paint these nails with, and in one coat, no less.  Can this company do no wrong?!  A-England's most recent collection is ballet inspired, full of soft, muted holo shades.  It's as much fun to see what the latest inspiration is as it is to see the actual colors.

So, last but not least, there it is, the third installment of my 2013 Best Of!  Here are links to part 1 and part 2, in case you missed either.  Thank you for reading and for being a part of la blog this year!  It's been a remarkably good one and I sincerely hope to see you all in the new year ♥Have a safe and fun night tonight, beauties!
*contains press samples

13 comments:

  1. You are going to force me to buy Briarwood, you know. And probably Briar Rose and Rose Bower too. And one of my VERY favorite colors on you this year was Cake Hole...you make it look positively lovely, and you KNOW how I hate those annoyingly indecisive pinky corals!! Moral of the story: You're a first class blogger, chick pea. And an even better friend. <3 What a pleasure it was to know you in 2013.

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    1. I JUST bought Briarwood, Ascalon, and She Walks in Beauty from a Llarowe-esque seller out of Hong Kong. They had/have a 40% off code for A-England. :D And intl shipping wasn't even that bad! It's sooo nice to know I won't have to pay attention to crazy restock purchasing frenzies to try & get them!

      Liesl, you really do deserve all the blogger awards that are out there!! You can tell you really put a TON of work into both the photos and the written content equally. That is so impressive. And this final "best of" post - couldn't agree more! You guys opened my eyes to the magic that is butter LONDON and just recently, A-England. :D Can't wait to get my mitts on those beauties! hehe

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    2. Melissa, I'm certain Briarwood would look amazing against your skintone. So many polishes, so little time, though, among other things, I understand the conundrum (I've used that word no less than three times within the last 24 hours; maybe it's time to consult the thesaurus, haha). Sleeping Palace, a dusty, dusky purple from the same collection, has been on a few lists and I'm feeling fairly forced into buying that one, but then it's like, all these new pretties.... lol.
      Cake Hole was a favorite? Cool! And your reasoning as to why ♥♥♥ You're such a sweetheart :) I thank you for your kind words and I, too, am so glad we became friends!

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    3. Emily, YAAAY!! I hope this batch fares better than La Moss did :/ No restock frenzies and 40% off, eh? If color4nails wasn't so darned awesome I might have to look into that company you found. Stocklist etailers are kinda fun :)
      You just say the nicest things ♥♥ It's great to feel inspired about your content and one of my blogging goals for 2014 is to write inspired consistently, or figure out how to fake it, more to the point. The funny thing about this particular post is how many typos I let slip before hitting publish. All fixed now!! :D I'm so glad we became friends ♥ You and Melissa are true gems.

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    4. Aw, don't keep feeling bad about La Moss! Like I said, I was just annoyed at myself for spending the $$ on it & not realizing I was right in thinking it's almost identical to Essie Wicked! I am quite excited for the AE's to get here! I'm wondering how long it'll take from Hong Kong. Hopefully not as long as meh blasted Born Pretty order! That was right around a month... Well, if you wanna check it out, it's shop-dazzled.com ;)
      Awww you're so sweet! But I only say them because they're true, you know! Hm I just thought of an idea of how to write inspired: after applying a polish, mentally flip through things & scenes from your life until you come to one that said polish reminds you of, and then throw something about that memory into your post. :) Maybe that makes more sense or sounds cooler in my mind! lol
      Meh, typos are usually not noticed by the general populace; TRUST ME! Have you SEEN the pond scum on Facebook?! People wouldn't know a typo unless it came & smacked 'em alongside the head with a 2 x 4!! My roommate & I catch them all the time at work (& subsequently joke about them) because we have to put notes in every order we "touch." Lord have MERCY! :O

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  2. This was a great post to see! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you, Lisa, I'm so glad you enjoyed it ♥

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  3. Great picks! Love BL and AE!! Happy Happy New Years love!

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  4. I save your posts to read in the morning while sipping my first coffee so my days start with beauty for the eyes and a smile on my face. I admire your talent and featherlight style of writing - I am so looking forward to continuing this little Tradition of mine. And ohhhh :-o thank you for mentionning me in this round-up!!! I am deeply touched. I could not agree more with your selection: while the Opis and Zoyas of this world did release awesome colors, BL beat them all. Same goes for A England, I am addicted to them since I ordered from their first collection and Saint George remains among my alltime favorites despite the many beautiful releases since! Happy New Year and Happy Blogging!!!

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    1. Really?!!?! That so cool! I can't believe I'm bestowed that honor! You gals are being way too nice to me, lol ♥♥♥ I thank you for gifting me with all these beautiful polishes ♥ Reading through your words about Butter London was fun because I'd already made my decision and your thoughts mirrored mine exactly... It's been a pleasure knowing you, sis, and I'm excited to start this new year blogging together!!

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  5. You are a die hard Butter London fan :) So am I. And great choice with the a-England. They make such gorgeous polishes and I can't wait to get my hands on a few of them.

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    1. I almost feel like I have no credibility when reviewing their stuff, lol, but they really are that good! You know :) And I hope you try a-England soon because I know you'll love them, too :)

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