Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer Review, Photos, Swatches
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
($14.00 for 0.4 fl. oz.) is described as a “true teal.” It reads more blue than teal on me; at best, it is a bluish teal. At some angles, I can kind of go with teal being the dominant color, but then in most lighting, it looks like a slightly dusty blue with a touch of teal. What do you think? It seems like teal is a rather subjective color. My initial reaction to this is to say blue, and I’m a gal who likes her teals! I feel like it’s similar to ORLY Bailamos but Artful Dodger is bluer. I’m taking off a point for pigmentation, because I don’t think this matches the description as well as it should.
It’s a beautiful cream finished polish that’s opaque in two coats (one is almost enough). Butter London’s formula on this one has a really even flow, smooth application, and drying time wasn’t long at all. I typically get a week of wear with Butter London’s formula with a proper base and top coat.
Artful Dodger
PPermanent. $15.00.
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
Butter London Artful Dodger Nail Lacquer
I love that color. I bought it about a month ago. BL is officially one of my favorite brands!
I love this blue..
This looks like a close relative to OPI Ogre The Top Blue.
Oh, how I wish to pull off a shade like that. *_* Butter London looks so edible!
If it’s too dramatic a color for your fingers,try it on your toenails.
Oh! I bought this one about 2 years ago because it caught my eye, Miley Cyrus was the one caught wearing it. Love this color during the summer when I’m tan!
BTW, I also own China Glaze’s Flyin’ High, VERY close! Almost a spot on dupe.
Hi Christine,
This is such a freaky coincidence because I literally JUST applied artful dodger having forgotten about it for three months! I remember when I first got it I thought the colour was a little flat, but it has really grown on me since then. I wouldn’t call it a teal either, but it shows up a tad darker on my nails than on your swatches.
Love your blog, btw.
I think it’s a pretty color for sure – but I was like, “True teal? Really? I’m not seeing it?!” and I know some find teal to be darker, some find it greener, others bluer… haha. A very complicated color after all 😉
Thanks!
your camera is so awesome. i think in the last snap you can see a fingerprint on the bottle. completely off topic i know :p
Beautuful color, but finding a true teal is really hard! I allways feel that they are a bit too green or a bit too blue… May I ask if you have got any true teal favorites?
I am waiting for Illamasqua Muse to show up in the post, keeping my fingers crossed for that one…
Here are the closest: http://www.temptalia.com/5-great-teal-nail-lacquers
It seems like a darker teal will lean bluer, while a lighter teal leans almost green…
Sorry, I don’t have Muse!
As for colors being subjective, of course. But teal the color is named for teal the duck. You can google images of the duck for reference as to what the color really is! You are right, it is much greener on the duck!
Nope, I have to agree with you Christine, it definitely looks blue to me.
Yep, definitely more of a blue.
ive gone through two bottles of this polish! i absolutely love it<3
This is such a gorgeous color! It would be perfect for summer. Although, I’ll have to get the Orly dupe because $14 is a little much to spend on one nail polish. Great review! xoxo
Im not particularly keen on this colour but I would like to try a Butter London polish one day.
Ooh, I’ve loved and wanted this color for ages! (Also, Oliver was my first big role in a musical, so the name brings back warm fuzzy 3rd-grade feelings :P). The price is a bit steep for me, though, so I’ve been hoping Magens Bay Blue by Diamond Cosmetics would be a suitable dupe. This looks great on you!
What a beautiful colour! Not one I’d normally wear but I am tempted . . . With you on it not being teal though.
I’ve only ever seen Butter London on here. I’m from the UK and never see it anywhere! One stupid little thing I noticed on the (very brief) visit I paid to their site has made me think they’re not a UK brand (I was assuming they were because of the London in their name). It mentions deep fried Mars Bars as being an English delicacy when, in fact, it’s a Scottish one! (Told you it was stupid but hey!) Anyway, I’m definitely going to look out for this brand after liking so many of your swatches 🙂
Hi Megan,
I was really confused about whether Butter London was a British brand or not because of their website which seems aimed exclusively at the American market. But Nonie Creme, their creative director, is British… maybe they’re mainly US based because it’s a bigger market?
Anyway, I get my BL polishes from Boots (they have a small selection online) and I just ordered a few from Debenhams (they have the new spring collection)… I think bathandunwind have them too.
Good luck!
Thank you so much, Khatija! I’ll definitely look into that, yay!
It is unusual that they don’t appear to be a British company and yet they are very British! Maybe you’re right and it is because of the size of the market in the US. Regardless, I’ll be ordering some! Thanks again 🙂
I believe this is more like a blue turquoise color.
Anyway, love it! It has very good pigmentation in term of opacity.
Is ‘Artful Dodger’ from ‘Oliver Twist’?
Yup, it/he is! The top kid in the gang of pickpockets 😛
Apply it and your fingers will feel lighter…
*light-fingered*
😛
Love it!
I’ve never seen this stuff anywhere in Canada, which is too bad because I LOVE this colour!! A nice cream teal shade is on the top of my wishlist for polishes right now.. thinking of trying one of the Sally Hansen ones.
Butter London is sold in Toronto! 😀 I’m not sure if Holt Renfrew still has them right at this moment, but when I went they had lots and this makeup and beauty place called Delineation by Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. has a bunch too. It’s where I first saw Butter London in person and I was literally doing a happy dance! lol
I loooove this colour, but I agree with some of the other girls, it’s more so a blue turquoise. Gorgeous though, I love blue polishes.
Hmm, I’d call it dusty turquoise. But I’m kind of notorious (hyperbole) for having opinions on colors differing from others’.
This is so pretty! sad that it won’t suit dark skin very well 🙁
Christine, I wanted to ask you, even though I don’t shake the bottle, and apply one fairly thin coat…after the nail polish dries…u can see bubbles on the nails..why is that?
It could be the base coat you’re using interacting with the polish!
But I don’t generally use a base coat. That’s why i find it so odd..coz my nails have like lines of bubbles 🙁 Do you think I should try using a base coat?
Hmm, you could try! Is it all brands or just certain ones?
I experience that with most of them. Thought it had something to do with the way i apply or maybe the weather ( tropical)..The one that I used today is Maybelline Express…
Hey it looks teal-ish to me. A light sky blue/light teal, like a light turquoise.
How odd, I just got this a few weeks ago and you did a post on it! kewl
I absolutely LOVE this color. I just ordered Slapper (and Trout Pout and Bossy Boots…) which butter London also describes as a ‘truly teal lacquer’. Should be interesting to see them side by side.
I just got Slapper today. The two look nothing alike. Slapper looks like the truer teal to me.
what camera do you use?
Nikon D3s