Morgan Taylor Beauty and the Beast

If the condition of the displays I came across is any indication, I was not the only one excited to see the Beauty and the Beast collection from Morgan Taylor in Ulta stores; I never found a completely stocked display and all of them were sold out of at least some of the shades. Because I am trying to be more restrained in my spending, I indulged in only the mini set, which has three of the six colors plus the "specialty coat" shimmery layering topcoat. Left to right: The Last Petal, Plumette with Excitement, Potts of Tea, Enchanted Patina.



I started my swatching with Potts of Tea, an almost white with very shy shimmer. I say "almost white" because there's the slightest hint of grey in this. I used three coats, and it needed every one of those.



I could only get the shimmer to show in direct light, and then only slightly.



Enchanted Patina is touted on the Morgan Taylor website to "transform any lacquer to an enchanting antique finish with just one coat". In the bottle, it looks like a shifty gold shimmer.



I added one coat of Enchanted Patina to Potts of Tea my middle to pinky fingers, leaving the index alone to show the transformation. Antique is a good term for what this does; the white turned to a soft gold that did look a bit weathered.



Plumette with Excitement is a warm light pink creme. This was more opaque than Potts of Tea; I only needed two coats for my swatch.



I again added one coat of Enchanted Patina to three nails. The gold definitely took on a pinkish hue from the base color, looking quite different than it had over the white.



The Last Petal is a berry red shimmer. This was the most opaque of the three base color in the set; I used two coats but could have stopped at one except I was busy being entranced by the richness of this shade. It's super pretty.





Loved the glow it had in direct light:



Over The Last Petal, Enchanted Patina showed its shifty-ness. At some angles, the combination looked rose gold; at others, it looked much more yellow gold.





I wanted to try Enchanted Patina on its own, too, so I did, putting three coats on my index finger white putting the three base colors on my other digits for comparison's sake. Top to bottom below: Enchanted Patina alone, over Potts of Tea, over Plumette with Excitement, over The Last Petal. I think it works on its own, not just as a topper.



Enchanted Patina definitely has a shift to it; tilting my fingers made the gold really come out.



I really like these, and am now wishing I'd picked up the other three shades: Gaston and On and On (turquoise blue creme), Days in the Sun (yellow shimmer), and Be Our Guest (warm medium pink creme). Well, maybe I could skip the pink creme; I am very aware how many of those I have since I just recently unpacked the box with the ones waiting to go on wheels, which isn't even all of my pinks.