Brand: Leighton Denny
Leighton Denny is a brand which I, being in North America, only vaguely recognized. When I recently spotted some of the brand’s polishes at Winners, I somehow recollected that it was a British brand, although I suppose with a name like Leighton Denny, that’s not much of a leap to make!
According to his website, he’s a nail tech to the stars who has worked with celebrities like Kate Moss, Penélope Cruz, and Adele. He’s also an MBE, which is pretty impressive considering he started his career as a humble forklift operator! (OMG, maybe he knows what the Queen wears?!)
Now, the colors available at Winners were not many, and I ended up selecting a taupe shimmer, which seemed to be one of the more unique colors available. I’m guessing that it’s named Message In a Bottle for the Police song, though I suppose that is a common enough phrase that it might not be! (The other shades aren’t all named for songs, à la Deborah Lippmann.)
Message In a Bottle is a warm taupe shimmer that goes on semi-sheer. Against my warm skintone, it reads more light beige-taupe than medium taupe-grey, partly due to the polish’s fine, peachy-pink-gold shimmer. I am actually surprised at how much I like this one, even though I don’t think it’s the most flattering shade on me. The shimmer’s more lively and accentuated in the sunlight, too. I think the polish is named quite well, as it does bring to mind an aged glass bottle nestled in wet sand.
Application was nice and smooth: no complaints about the formula. Two coats gives semi-sheer coverage, with just a hint of VNL (visible nail line). I feel that the polish is even enough that I could try using one coat as a topper, as well.
The bottle is quite nice, with a good heft and solid construction. The brush is slender, similar to an Essie brush. Overall, this seems like a nice product line, and I’m tempted to head back to Winners to pick up an opaque shade!
Leighton Denny High Performance Nail Colour is 12 mL and retails for £11 (I found mine for CA$4.99). It is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The label states, perhaps a bit vaguely, that it is made in the EU. The brand is cruelty-free.
fivezero 
The colour looks darker in the bottle than to the nails. I think you should have more coats onto the nails though and the colour is so gorgeous by the way.https://lifestylebites3.wordpress.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
The formula’s pretty sheer, so I think you’d need about 4 coats to get it fully opaque and closer to the bottle color! It’d probably look really good that way, but I kind of liked it semi-sheer 🙂 Maybe I’ll do a 4-coat swatch, later!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, I saw these at Winners and thought, hmm I wonder if fivezero bought any of these? 😉
I like the bottle design a lot – very modern and nice attention to detail with the cap.
I REALLY like this colour applied, although it looks NOTHING like what it looks in the bottle!
Did you pick up any other colours?
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL I am predictable! I haven’t gotten any more yet (I don’t think my nearest Winners has them, so I have to venture farther) but I am kind of keen to. The other color options weren’t phenomenal, though. I guess there was one purple shimmer that might have been interesting.
Yeah, the bottle and its cap are nice!
I actually think it looks pretty close to the bottle color, just a lot lighter since it’s sheer. As I mentioned above to Lifestylebites3, I should probably do a second, 4-coat swatch with this at full opacity. 🙂 See if it gets to the bottle shade at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally just got this polish during lunch – it was the last bottle left. And my friend bought it for me so it’s all good, right? 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha, awright! 😀 Let me know how you like it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s an interesting colour, don’t think I have seen anything like it before!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s pretty cool, I like it! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Where is Winners? I’ve never heard of it but these are avail in N America? I’ve never seen them and yours looks beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Winners is the Canadian version of TJ Maxx – it’s owned by the same company! So if we have it at Winners, chances are you can find it at TJ Maxx/Marshalls in the US, or TK Maxx in the UK/Ireland. 😀 Good luck if you do look for these! I think Leighton Denny is sold at several online stores, too, but they might be UK only.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll check – I never thought of looking for makeup deals in those stores!! Good idea!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I love them for stuff like nail polish, perfume, and bath & body products! Not so much lipsticks or similar products that will expire sooner, though. There are some great deals if you’re willing to look 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really love this shade!! It looks so pretty! 🙂 xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now that song is stuck in my head! Ugh! Only hope can keep me togeether…
This is a gorgeous colour though, although I certainly wasn’t expecting it to look like that! Seems like an excellent line. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! But I dig the song 🙂
I’m glad I picked this color – it’s turned out to be pretty nifty!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love Leighton’s polishes, I have many of them. Great colours and great quality. His treatments are amazing too xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds fantastic! I hope I can pick up another one or two polishes 🙂 Do you have any particular faves from Leighton Denny? Thanks for commenting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lots!! Embellish Me is a beautiful eggplant colour, I love Juicy a coral red and Supermodel (I’m wearing it at the moment!) which is a lovely taupe, it’s Leighton’s most popular colour xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was just looking through the colors on his website a couple of days ago – thank you! I remember those particular shades. They sound wonderful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wait. All deborah lippmann polishes are song names?!?!?! Mind blown.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not sure if every single one is, but many/most of them are! 🙂
LikeLike
Interesting!
LikeLike