Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Blowing Raspberries was released by Butter London as part of the Fashionista Favourites collection in 2009 and is part of Butter London's core line. It's an interesting fusion of dark pink and red, a medium-dark toned well-pigmented ever-so-slightly muted berried red with a changeable appearance according to the type and strength of light in which it's viewed. In some lights, it's a deep rosy raspberry, in others it looks like more of a slightly plummy cranberry, and in still others, a vivid cherry red. It has a creamy quality to it that is soft and feminine and keeps the color at a moderate intensity. Blowing Raspberries is one of those shades that is perfect for just about any occasion at any time of the year. I'm a fan of Butter London's darker pinks and reds and this one fills the niche for a softer, gentler red in their line up.

Application was a pleasure. The consistency of Blowing Raspberries is fluid and thin but not runny, light and very smooth. It is easily manipulated with Butter London's short-wanded, round, flexible brush and has an easy, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is excellent, with near-opacity on the first coat. Two coats deliver more completely even coverage and fuller, richer color. Cleanup can be a little tricky only because acetone will make the pigment run and pinken the sidewalls and cuticles if used too liberally, and the brush will pull pinkish red tendrils of color onto the skin that must be reswiped to remove. I expect to take some care with removal to avoid staining my nail surrounds. Blowing Raspberries dries in very good time to shade slightly deeper and more red than bottle color and a smooth glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Blowing Raspberries over treatment and basecoat with a slightly bubbly topcoat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

Butter London Blowing Raspberries

As you can see, on me it pulls very red with hints of rosiness. Under florescent light it is much pinker, sort of a creamy maraschino cherry color. I enjoy chameleon shades like this that change with circumstance -- you're always noticing a new facet.

I've never ordered from the Butter London website or paid full retail price for one of their lacquers. I've always managed to find whatever polish I was looking for on ebay for less, but it just wasn't happening with this polish. I ended up coming across it by chance while going through the results of a StoreEnvy.com search for nail polish destash. There are quite a few destashers who list on StoreEnvy, but the many "sold out" listings are tedious to go through and you can't always tell what your shipping charges will be until you have to pay. But you never know what you could find!

love,
Liz