Butter London Lippy Bloody Brilliant Lip Crayon in Ladybird and Ruby Murray

Each season, it seems like more brands are diversifying into makeup. First, it was luxe fashion brands like Burberry and Gucci, with H&M about to jump on the wagon in a major way. Nail polish brands like Butter London and Ciate are also getting into the game. I chanced across the Butter London makeup display at Ulta and these Lippy Bloody Brilliant Lip Crayons caught my eye.

Priced at US$20, these aren't exactly cheap but they swatched very nicely with a slick finish. As usual, I went for the darkest berry shade and the most vibrant one, namely Ruby Murray and Ladybird.

These are made in Germany and come with an sharpener built into the cap as well as a pick for cleaning the sharpener. While the sharpener and pick do come in handy and help to justify the higher price point compared to the average twist-up lip crayon, they also make the crayon longer and clunkier than those by other brands. It would have been good if the sharpener could be stored separately.

Butter London describes these as having the intense shine of a gloss plus highly pigmented colour with the full coverage of a lipstick, boosted with mango seed oil and marula oil for moisturising benefits, plus niacinamide to help maintain the skin barrier.

I was happy with both the shades I picked. They glided onto the lips without dragging, while providing enough control for precise application. They were superbly comfortably to wear and did not feel drying even after a few hours. They do come off at the slightest touch though, so they are not smear-proof but this is to be expected of glossy shades. The colour payoff was impressive, with Ladybird being slightly more opaque than Ruby Murray. The wear time was excellent, and it was easy to wipe these off after a meal without the need for the frantic rubbing required by Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick.

Pic below shows Ruby Murray.


Pic below shows Ladybird, a bright tomato orange.

Ingredients list below.

With my purchase, I received a deluxe sample of their Iconoclast Mega Volume Lacquer Mascara, which promises a 300% increase in volume. The brush design reminded me of Givenchy's Phenomen'Eyes Mascara. This turned out to be pretty average with nothing much to justify the price premium over drugstore options so I will not be investing in a full size.

Butter London No More Waity, Katie

Released in 2011, Butter London No More Waity, Katie is a polish that I've been desiring for a long time, not because of the Kate Middleton connection but more for the gorgeously murky lavender shade jazzed up with lilac glitter.

Although Butter London describes it as a "soft, elegant greige shade with a splash of lilac glitter for the perfect marriage to combine fashion and fun", it does not look greige to me, but more of a greyed, dusky purple.

Like Dior lacquers, the outer cap pulls off to reveal a more user-friendly round inner cap with the Butter London signature bird. The brush is quite standard.


No More Waity, Katie is a three-coater as it applies sheer. On the first coat, it gives the nails a greyish translucent tint with flecks of the lilac glitter. Only on the third coat does it show the promise of how it looks in the bottle. Layering it over a darker shade is probably necessary to achieve full opacity.

I used OPI Ridge Filler as the base. Due to the glitter bits, the surface feels slightly bumpy, but this can be smoothened out with a top coat. It dried down quite nicely in about ten minutes without any top coat.

While the sheerness was disappointing, I still love the shade as I don't have anything like it in my collection. I purchased this from Zuneta.com. See more swatches on Lipglossiping and All Lacquered Up.