Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tag Team Thursday: Butter London Yummy Mummy

Hello Lab Partners! Both of us here at The Polish Lab rarely wear nude colors, but we agreed that we needed to add a few conservative colors to our stash, so we each decided to try Butter London's Yummy Mummy for the first time. Here's what we  found:

Allison: 

Butter London's Yummy Mummy is a beige polish, with subtle cool undertones. I usually avoid nude polishes because it makes me look washed out. My skin is light, but not porcelain. I typically wear bright, funky colors, and I receive the most compliments when I'm wearing vivid orange polish and lipstick. In other words, bold pops of warm colors work well with my skin tone. Needless to say, I was skeptical of  Butter London's claim that Yummy Mummy is "simply stunning on every skin tone," so I put it to the test.

Application of Yummy Mummy was nearly streak free, and the brush provided good control. This is a cream polish, with which I achieved opacity in two coats, but I added a third coat in an attempt to gain a bit more color. Did I find the color stunning on my skin tone? Unless by stunning you mean when wearing this polish, my nails--and by extension, my hands--seemed to disappear into some great void, then the answer is a resounding no. The color itself is a lovely neutral, appearing more of a neutral beige in some light, silver-pink beige in others. But it did nothing whatsoever for my hands other than give them a bland appearance. In other words, the polish is not blech! It's just blah. And in my book, blah is as bad as it gets. Usually, after painting my nails, my husband asks what color I'm wearing and compliments me.  I'm never certain he's complimenting the color because he genuinely likes it or because he feels some obligation to pay homage to the nails. In any case, when wearing Yummy Mummy, he didn't even notice I'd painted my nails. I'm not sure he even noticed I still had hands. I think Yummy Mummy would flatter darker skin tones much more than mine. For what it's worth, Yummy Mummy seems to look better on me in photos than it does in person.

Butter London Yummy Mummy. Inside, with flash.
Butter London Yummy Mummy. Outside, natural light.

A final thought (more of a quirky complaint, actually): although I like the appearance of Butter London's bottles, their rectangular shape makes it nearly impossible to roll in your hands, which is my preferred way to mix polish so that bubbles are less likely to occur.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go take Yummy Mummy off my nails. If I can find them. I think I'll put on something bright. Really bright. With glitter. Oh, and if anyone is looking for a cool beige polish, it looks like I now have one available for trade.


Ace:

Now I will have little to add to Allison's review because the lab partners are pretty much in agreement! I tried Yummy Mummy before Allison and I did not tell her my opinion so we could reduce experimenter bias from the study (don't you love it when I get all sciencey?). So we each tried the polish independently and then see each others' comments. This is going to be continued in all Tag Team Thursdays.

OK, lets return to Yummy Mummy. Butter London is really confident about this color, putting "if you only get one, get this" in its description. It is supposed to be universally flattering. The nude to end all nudes. In this context, it is very natural to have high expectations.

I'll preface this by noting that I had just taken off the loveliness that is China Glaze Turned Up Turqoise when I put on Yummy Mummy. This may have "colored" my judgment about Yummy.

My first thought was, "This?" (<--- uttered in the same way Michael Bluth says "her?" about Egg, I mean Ann in Arrested Development for those of you who know this show).

My second thought was that the color sure isn't universally flattering. I thought it did not look that great with my skin tone. It looks too brown. I am your standard variety Caucasian with dark hair, fair skin, but currently with a tan. I think it looks better on Allison than on me.

I went on google and read reviews and most were very positive, echoing the Butter London blurb. So it seemed I was in the minority in not being to impressed with Yummy Mummy.

Pictures were taken on my phone so apologies, the quality is not great.

Yummy Mummy, indoors.



It did not take that long for me to get bored with Yummy Mummy so I added Northern Lights Silver Holographic Topcoat to it. In my view, this elevated the boring to kinda interesting in that ethereal sort of way.


Yummy Mummy with Northern Lights Holographic Top Coat.


Application was smooth and easy, no problems there. Can't comment on lasting power as I wore it for about 2 days.

I also have a complaint about the bottle. I actually thought they were really cute - I still do, visually speaking. But I had the same problem as Allison when I tried to roll them! Also when the polish is used up, you won't be able to eke out the last remaining bits because when you tilt the bottle to pool the polish up to use the last bit, the brush won't reach the corner. Tapered bottles like OPI and Zoya are the best in that sense. They're also not fitting sideways in my polish rack and thus take up a lot of space. It was overall a lesson in how design is not just about looks but also function.

Not that I will have to eke out the last drops from Yummy Mummy. My bottle is already on its way to an e-bay buyer. Overall, I thought Yummy Mummy was overrated. But it may please those looking for work-appropriate, subtle colors and those on whom the color works better. In my view it benefited greatly from the addition of Northern Lights.


Conclusion:

The Polish Lab partners agree. We found Butter London Yummy Mummy underwhelming. It may have a place in your collection if you need a nude with a slight bit of a twist, but we did not find the polish suited to our tastes. We are also skeptical that the color is flattering on all skin tones.

Let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments.



9 comments:

  1. Yeah... nudes. Whatchagonnado. Generally pretty underwhelming across the board. It does look nice on the both of you, but, you guys nailed it, why wouldn't someone just go for a color instead?

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  2. It looks nice with Northern lights on top, nice touch :) I'm very picky with my nudes, there are a select few that actually compliment my skin tone

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  3. Jess, I actually want a nice nude for those days I want my outfit to be the focus. What do you recommend?

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  4. There have been many times when Northern Lights has saved polishes from being immediately stripped off of my fingers. What would we do without it?! Good luck on finding a good nude color to suit your skin tone!

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  5. Thumbs down from me also. Don't like nudes, don't want to like them. I'd rather wear clear.

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  6. Lizahole and denisefh--yeah, good luck, right?! Nudes. Blah. We were really hoping this one would have enough color to appease us, but no such luck!

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  7. Hi guys! Ace, how about a pinky nude like Zoyas Avril? It's not nude like this polish, which btw, I give 2 thumbs down on the butter LONDON.
    And with all the great colors we have available now, it's much more fun!!
    I'm about to put on Juleps Taylor!!

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  8. bleetch--okay, you've given Ace a suggestion. Now how 'bout 1 for me?! LOL. JK. I'm with you--there are so many colors out there to choose from; I'm glad I can go with something fun most of the time.

    Nail-venturous--really? you like it on us? Because we don't! LOL

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