butter LONDON Lillibet's Jubilee

Today marks the last day of the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, a celebration of her 60 years on the throne of Great Britain. In honor of that I have a special polish to share with you, butter LONDON Lillibet's Jubilee.

History lesson! Queen Elizabeth II took the throne in 1952 after her father King George VI died, although her official coronation didn't take place until June 2, 1963. Aside from Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth is the only other monarch in the UK to reign for 60 years, making this a pretty special occasion.

Lillibet's Jubilee is a special limited edition polish for this once in a lifetime celebration. butter LONDON describes Lillibet's Jubliee like this: "This commemorative colour honours the international celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne. Lillibet’s Jubilee is a silvery, lavender metallic foil that boasts the perfect amount of sparkle that is fit for a queen!" According to a little card they had on their facebook, they chose purple because it is the color of royalty and the foil finish to be reminiscent of diamonds.

The formula on Lillibet's Jubilee was amazing. One coat is basically enough, but I used two coats in my pictures below. It's easy to use and goes on super smoothly and dries quickly. The only caution I have is not to use too much polish on each nail because it could show brushstrokes. But this seriously looks like foil on your nails-- it's so shiny and reflective! I love this.

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Blinding, isn't it?

Does anyone else think it's awesome that Princess Eugenia was wearing a patriotic manicure at the Epsom Derby on Saturday? I love it. Royals generally seem to have pretty strict protocols about what they can and can't wear, so it's cool to see one of the younger generation stepping out with some nail art on her hands. Apparently she wore this throughout the Jubilee weekend, including the Thanksgiving Service today.

The Daily Mail

Personally I'm a huge Anglophile so I'm loving all the Jubilee stuff. It's awesome to see a whole nation of people (mostly) so united in celebration. Next up... the Olympics!

Zoya Kendal

Today's polish is Zoya Kendal, yet another polish from Zoya's Feel Collection. Zoya describes Kendal as a "lavender, beige cream nail polish shade. An ideal winter neutral nail polish color that covers fully in 2 coats." While I can't call this beige (except it's also a neutral... so it's also beige? I'm confused) it's definitely lavender, and even perhaps slightly grey-- though definitely mostly lavender.

 Kendal had a decent formula, though not entirely without problems. I found the first coat to be a little streaky, but a second coat evened everything out and fixed all the problems with streaks-- I have used two coats in my pictures below. Like the two other polishes I've already shown from the Feel Collection, I'm not wearing a top coat over Kendal here.
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I wore Kendal to a work conference recently and it was perfectly appropriate-- it didn't call any undue attention to my nails but they looked nice and professional. Hard to go wrong there! It also wore very well-- I didn't have any issues with chipping until the morning we left, but I had worn the manicure a full five days at that point. I really like Kendal and I like the idea of a neutral that's not pink or beige.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Now I am finally going to get around to showing you the most recent Rescue Beauty Lounge collection - L'Oiseau de Feu - or more commonly known as The Firebird, by Stravinsky. This collection was inspired by RBL owner Ji Baek experiencing a hurricane firsthand while on vacation. Originally I only purchased two of the four polishes (and the swatches have been languishing for a couple months) but with the most recent Bring it Back presale, I decided to buy the last two polishes in the collection. This collection of polishes tell a story, so I'm starting with the first one: Pizzicato!

Ji describes Pizzicato thusly: "inspired by the gentle tiny taps of rain droplets as they hit the tin roof, reminiscent of plucked strings. A misty white with the faintest hint of lavender, Pizzicato has a shimmer that acts like prisms of light in a sun shower." 

 Pizzicato is a white based polish with a hint of purple to make it the palest lavender color. I initially feared that this polish would be super sheer, but surprisingly, it's not! The polish had a thicker formula (but not so thick as to be goopy and unmanageable) and pretty nicely pigmented. The first coat was a little streaky, but three coats was plenty to get good coverage and even everything out. I would definitely make sure to wait between layers to make sure they are completely dry and to use a very light touch when applying this polish to avoid dragging and streaking. But considering my fears, three coats is excellent for building up this polish to opacity. There is still a hint of visible nail line, but not enough to bother me. Plus, it's honestly not that noticeable in person-- the camera picks it up.

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I can't believe that originally I passed Pizzicato over. What a mistake! Pizzicato is a lovely delicate polish-- I surprised that I feel in love with it the minute I applied it to my nails.

Pizzicato may actually be my favorite polish out of the whole collection-- though I still have three other polishes to show you!

Zoya Marley

Going backwards in time... I'm actually going to spend a little reviewing Zoya's Intimate Collection from this past spring. I know I'm way way behind, but I see a lot of the fall colors in this collection as well and for the most part, I think some of these polishes would also be perfectly appropriate for fall. You've already seen Zoya Dannii as part of my Football Friday series, so now I'll review the rest of the Intimate Collection!

First up is Marley, a beautiful delicate polish. Zoya describes Marley as the "lightest baby lavender touched with a hint of gray-silver and a subtle pearl finish. A versatile, easy to apply and wear pastel shade that's never chalky or harsh." Marley applied pretty well for a pastel-- I needed three coats to get good, even coverage. The shimmer is subtle, but not so subtle that you don't notice it.

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Marley is really pretty. Quite honestly, I wasn't totally convinced I would like this polish at all when I got it, but swatching it was enough to make me change my mind. This is a really pretty pastel that's not too stark and I think, despite being a little "purple" due to the lavender tones, could make a good work neutral just because it's so soft and unassuming. Definitely not a bold, in your face color, but still really pretty.

Just a note: At this point, I have stopped using Zoya's Color Lock System with my Zoya polishes, mostly because of bubbling issues. I think the Anchor base coat may be ok using a different top coat, but I have to test this theory out. I was using Essie's First Base base coat and Good to Go top coat here, and with all the other polishes in this collection.