Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

Time to finally catch up on some of those old manicures I skipped over in my excitement over Saint George and Very Pretty Vampire!  RBL Scrangie is one of those polishes that I HAD to have.  I couldn't even stand to wait for it to come back after making the cut in the Bring it Back vote, so I swapped to bring it home ASAP.  And then it sat in my Helmer for about six months.  I know.  I'm getting better, I promise.

Scrangie, designed by and named after the One and Only, is an amazingly lovely sheer purple with aqua shimmer.  The purple base leans heavily on the red side, but the blue shimmer is dense enough that it gives it an overall grape tone.  Cool-toned girls can definitely pull this off.  It's a little more sheer than you typically find from RBL, but it has to be in order for all that shimmer to show off properly.  It's buildable to opacity, and this is three coats I'm showing you here.  Flawless application, of course.

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

Hrmmm...I don't know what happened here, but I think I may have overhyped this polish to myself.  As lovely as it is, I feel like it just falls flat on me.  It shimmers beautifully, but maybe I was expecting it to be...sparklier?  I don't know.  I wanted to love it.  It looks BEAUTIFUL on other girls, but something about it just wasn't right for me.  I had a huge sad.  Re-homed this one.  :-(

The good news is that while Scrangie was sold out for quite a while on RBL's website, it's now back, and you bring it home for the standard $18.  If you want a similar look without the huge splurge, you can try Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Grape Going.  Definitely not dupes, but for a fraction of the cost you can definitely see if the overall look will work for you.

Well, I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  I know I'm already looking forward to the next one, lol!  :-)

Another look: Zoya Edyta

So one of the other polished I recieved from my polish fairy-godmother was Zoya Edyta. Courtney showed us this back in April. I'm generally not a fan of Zoya polished only because their formula doesn't seem to be too compatible with my nails. It always chips, and chips early. I do have few polished I keep though because their color alone make it worth dealing with the chips. Edyta is one of these amazing colors so I am SO happy to have it. Funny, I would have never expected liking this polish's color. It's a very dark warm toned green with tons of gold shimmer. We all know I'm not into gold, and that cool tones tend to look better. Given all that I still LOVE Edyta. She is stunning an beautiful and totally reminds me of RBL Anne. They aren't dupes, but they are cousins for sure. Edyta is a one coated to boot! She's so a keeper :). Check her out.

Here are the comparisons of Edyta and Anne. Edyta is in the middle. Anne is to the left and right. Anne looks so light next to Edyta. What do you think? Cousins?

Edyta was released as part of the Wicked collection released in Fall of 2010. All of Zoya's polishes are permanent collection so this will be easy to find if you don't have it. And for $8 each they won't kill your wallet!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

So I thought Courtney and I had seen the best of Rescue Beauty Lounge's Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty with Catherine and Catherine H..  Then, I got my pretty little hands on Anne.  I'd have to say that the pictures you seen of Anne online (and Jane that matter) do not do them justice.  This whole collection is impossible to accurately capture.  This is definitely due to the secret shimmer in these polishes.  I think the thing about Anne is, there is shimmer that is not secret at all, but there is still secret shimmer!  So Anne is this beautiful dirty dark olive-y green packed full of gold shimmer that is obviously in almost any light.  Then if you capture Anne is just the right light, you see this amazing purple/pink shimmer.  It's just SO beautiful. I dare to say my favorite of the four.  If you were going to splurge on just one Tudor Wife, it should be Anne.

This polish went on easy in 2 coats.  I really do think you need 2 here; 1 coat, even a thick one, would be inconsistent.  However, from a polish thickness and flow perspective, it is absolutely flawless.  No top coat is show here either.  This polish is just perfection - I don't even CARE that is has gold shimmer in it!  How about that?!?!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne in Low Indirect Sunlight

Anne is currently available at Rescue Beauty's website for $18.  If you were planning on getting this - do it now!  Don't wait!!!!  This polish will disappear forever when it's out of stock and it is a MUST have.  Honestly.  You need it.  I swear.  I'm not lying!  Go buy it :). Seriously!  Maybe we should give away a bottle of it?  That's how much I love this.  What do you think?

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

So remember when I brought you Deborah Lippmann's Girls Just Want to Have Fun?  Well I decided I might as well show you Coral by Rescue Beauty Lounge and get this comparison out of the way before I forgot about it forever.  This is another beautiful, fun, bright coral with an excellent formula.  These new swatches are just getting better and better.  This is another fantastic formula from RBL, and super shiny too. This is no top coat!  Coral is a more orange leaning coral than Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  Which I would have never know without wearing them next to each other on the nail.  This is 2 coats.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

Time for the comparison.  The middle finger is Coral, the left and right are Girls Just Want to Have Fun (GJWTHF).

GJWTHF, Coral, GJWTHF

GJWTHF, Coral, GJWTHF

I have to say, formula wise I like RBL Coral better.  It's more opaque and is thinner.  Even though GJWTHF is a little squishy, its more sheer so I need more coats.  From a color perspective, the Lippmann wins all the way with me!  I'll take pink leaning over orange leaning any day :).

RBL Coral is still available on their website for $18 a bottle.  If that's a little steep for you, go with Girls Just Want to Have Fun to save a few dollars.  While they certainly aren't dupes, you likely don't need both in you life.

Red Obsession: Butter London Pillar Box Red (and Comparisons)

Finally.  FINALLY!  We've made it to the last of the "Red Obsession" reds!  If you've been sticking with me, we've been through Essie Limited Addiction, Rescue Beauty Lounge Chinoise, Butter London Come to Bed Red, and OPI Keys to My Karma.  I now present to you the final installment in the series - Butter London Pillar Box Red.

Can't describe this one too much better than what you see here in the photos.  It's a bright, fire engine (or for you British girls - Pillar Box!) red.  Similar to RBL Chinoise, but we'll get to that later.  It's got a great formula, and applies perfectly in two coats.  I wouldn't say it applies like as much of a dream as its sister Come to Bed Red, but it's pretty darn close.

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

A lovely red.  It looks almost identical to RBL Chinoise in the bottle (and suuuuuper close on the nail), but I promise you it really is a smidge cooler-toned than Chinoise.  For that reason, most folks may find it to be a bit easier to wear.  My skin tone (as wacky as it is) seems to lean a bit warm, so I actually prefer Chinoise, which I fell IN LOVE with.  Pillar Box Red falls a little flat for me.

Now, time for comparisons!  I apologize for two things here:

1) I had to use a "claw" pose.  It's just the only way I could get all five colors in one photo.

2) It's really MUCH easier to tell these colors apart in real life.  I just could NOT get the camera to differentiate any better.  Huge sad.

Thumb to Pinky:  Essie Limited Addiction, BL Come to Bed Red, OPI Keys to My Karma, BL Pillar Box Red, RBL Chinoise

 And, up close of the four closest alike (I swear, there IS a difference between Pillar Box Red and Chinoise!):

(L) to (R):  BL Come to Bed Red, OPI Keys to My Karma, BL Pillar Box Red, RBL Chinoise

So, now that I've hit you with all five at once, here are my overall thoughts:

• Limited Addiction:  Great deep "va-va-voom" red.  A little on the streaky side, but a MUST have in my book.
• Come to Bed Red:  In one word:  AMAZING.  The formula on this one straight up knocked my socks off.  I think it's the best formula polish I've ever used.  Seriously.  Totally worth the $14.  You need this one.
• Keys to My Karma:  I love red jellies, but this one almost leans a little too pink for me.  You can also tell by my cuticles that it doesn't clean up super nicely.  If you're a red jelly hoor (like me), snag it, but otherwise I think you can pass.
• Pillar Box Red:  I think I'm gonna have to say pass on this one.  It's lovely, but for just the color, I prefer Chinoise (even at the higher price tag), and for Butter London, I'd suggest Come to Bed Red over this one any day.
• Chinoise:  If you haven't guessed by now, I LOVE this one.  Great formula, super pigmented.  Totally worth it for me.  I'd buy this one 100 times over.

Well, there ya have it, folks!  Red Obsessions comes to a close, just in time for the imminent release of Spring collections (OMG.OPI.HOLLAND.I.DIE!).  So what do you guys think?  Do you own any of these reds?  What are your favorites?  I'd love to hear your opinions on these!

Christmas Mani 2: OPI Silver Shatter over RBL Recycle

Happy 2012 guys!  While I should be kicking off the new year with my NYE mani, I'm a bit behind on posting from my 3 week hiatus, so I'm going to get caught up on those manicures first.

My 2nd Christmas themed manicure was the one I actually worse for Christmas Eve/Day.  In an effort to get through some more untrieds, I picked Rescue Beauty Lounge's Recycle and OPI Silver Shatter.  (I have Recycle thanks to the lovely Pam of Polish Police - Thanks Pam!) I think it turned out pretty good.  Recycle is a deep forest green creme, although I do feel like it's a little squishy.  Like a jelly/creme hybrid - barely.  This puppy went on nice and smooth and needed 2 coats.  Since I was topping it with Silver Shatter, I could have probably left it at one.  There is no sparkle or nothing to Recycle. Just straight up green.  I actually had been toying with the idea of adding Recycle to the blog sale, but decided against it.  I own about 6 green cremes that all seem to look the same, and Recycle is one of the darker ones.  Maybe sometime in January I'll show you it all by itself with some comparison swathes.  One thing to note about the pictures below, Recycle does not look black at all in real life.  It is VERY dark green, but it's obviously green.  I had a hard time getting the light to pick it up through the shatter.  It is darker than the bottle shot below though.

Silver Shatter on the other hand is AWESOME. :)  I really love these metallic shatters.  So much better than the other ones.  Silver Shatter went on super easy and shattered great.  You've got both hands in this picture below.  And be warned, I did tell you earlier my cuticles are a mess, so I photoshopped these so you guys didn't have to see the sad.

OPI Silver Shatter over RBL Recycle

OPI Silver Shatter over RBL Recycle

Close up of OPI Silver Shatter over RBL Recycle

I liked this combo a lot.  Recycle still isn't my favorite of the RBLs, but Silver Shatter is definitely a new love.  Recycle is discontinued, but there are plenty of other good green cremes out there.  I wouldn't bother tracking this one down unless you are a hard core RBL collector.  Silver Shatter is still very readily available online and in salons.  RBLs retail for $18 a bottle and OPI's will set you back $8.50.

See you all tomorrow!!!!! :)

Layering Fun: Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm

So I've been in a pretty blue mood lately.  Not to say I'm sad or depressed, but I've been wearing only blue polishes.  I haven't worn this layering combo in forever (last I wore it was in January when I threw my hubby-to-be a surprise 30th birthday party) so I had to break it out!  I received Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening and RBL Dead Calm (as well as RBL Teal) from a blogsale over at Jessica v. Polish back at the beginning of January.  I was so excited about them I decided to wear the two together and a perfect match was made.  Something about the particular shade of pink glitter over that deep rich blue just screams match-made-in-heaven.

Putting Rescue Beauty Lounge's Dead Calm on again was so refreshing.  I think maybe I wore it once since  the first time I layered it and it's just wonderful.  It's a simple DARK navy blue creme, but it's a true one-coater and super super glossy.  This may have not been Courtney's perfect navy, but it is mine.  The thing I love the most about it is that while it is very dark, it always looks blue and never looks black.  

Deborah Lippman's Some Enchanted Evening is large hexagon pink glitter and small round pink glitter suspended in a clear base.  It is so feminine and pretty.  It's a great way to feel girly without being over top.  This is one coat below.  Please note it is a thicker coat and after the initial "painting" part I usually use a dotting motion to add more large glitter or move it around for a more distributed look.  You can also see where I've brought this to you before for my Hurricane Mani.  Some Enchanted Evening looks great over any dark creme.

Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm

Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm

Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm

Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm
One more time with the DL bottle!

Deborah Lippmann polishes are available at Nordstrom and Deborah Lippmann's site, or other online retailers like BeautyBar.com and Zappos.com. Some Enchanted Evening retails for $18 and was originally released in the All That Jazz trio for Nordstrom in 2010, but is now individually. Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm is only available form the RescueBeauty.com website and it is also $18.  Man - this is one EXPENSIVE mani.  Anyway!!!!  If you are looking for a splurge, I'd get Dead Calm, cause it's perfect.  Luckily Essie just came out with a dupe of Some Enchanted Evening called A Cut Above which is only $8!  So if I were you I'd probably get the Essie over the DL.

Another Look: Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H.

So I think you all know by now I have completely turned into a nail polish snob.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some OPI, but my RBL nail polish collection is getting out of hand.  I also wear them way more than my OPIs.  Probably because I spent so much on them if I don't wear them I feel like I just burned a bunch of cash.  Plus, I've been eagerly awaiting Anne's arrival from the BIB2 Pre-sale and this seemed like a good warm up.

Catherine H. is beautiful.  There is no secret shimmer here.  Just like Courtney said, its a wedgewood blue with pink, fuchsia and aqua shimmer.  Unlike Courtney, I think the shimmer just dances all the time, no matter what the light.  It's not sparkly, but that doesn't mean it's not shimmery.  Maybe it's because the sparkle is VERY pronounced in the bottle.  While it's a little subtler on the nail, there is no missing it.  Very typical of a polish from Rescue Beauty Lounge's "Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty" collection.  And typical to all RBL polishes, application is a breeze.  The polish flows perfectly making the need to cleanup pretty much non-existent.  I'm also a sucker for dusty polishes, blue polishes, and soft shimmers - so this puppy is everything that is right in the world.  Although if you ask me to pick between this and Catherine, I will always pick Catherine.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H.

Check out this sparkle/shimmer!  To die for :)!!!!!!

Close up of  Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H.

Catherine H. is currently sold out - but it's coming back along with the rest of the Tudors in December.  Please be warned though, that Anne just came back in stock and it's stock my not last long enough to get us through the rest of the Tudor re-release.  Courtney and I just got our Anne's, so one of us will bring her to you soon.  As always RBLs can be purchased for $18 from the RBL website.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Firebird Collection

I'm so happy to finally posting my Rescue Beauty Lounge (RBL) Firebirds!  The L'Oiseau de Feu" Pre-Fall 2011 Collection (now nicknames the Firebirds) brought us 4 new shades.  I picked 3 of them up in the pre-sale a long time ago and finally got around to wearing all three: Pizzicato, Poco a Poco, and Piu Mosso.  I didn't get Fortissimo because I didn't think I would ever wear it and cause it's a green/brown creme for $18!    Anyway, the whole collection was based off of Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de Feu and Hurricane Earl, hence the musical themed names. Each polish is a different stage of the storm.  You can read more about the inspiration for each polish here.

First up is Pizzicato, which is actually the last one I tried.  This is a soft pink on me, but it does lean purple.  RBL describes it as a misty white with a hint of lavender, but this is pink for me.  Its packed full of small silver flakes.  At first I didn't like this one, I thought it was too pale, but after a day of wearing it I was smitten.  This was two coats, and I needed it.  It was a bit streaky on the first coat.  It's also a bit thicker than I'm used to with RBL.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Next up is Poco a Poco, a standard muted pink polish jazzed up with pink shimmer which flashes this warm sunset color for me.  It's not quite gold or red, but it's not straight up pink either.  This is a beautiful polish.  I could see me wearing this to important meetings or interviews.  Might be not neutral enough for some of you, but I think it's just right!

Again 2 coats, and I needed it.  This isn't as thick as Pizzicato, but still not the perfect consistency I expect from RBL.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco

Finally we have Piu Mosso, which is the one I was most excited about.  An inky dark blue creme base with this AMAZING gold shimmer in it.  But it's also secret shimmer.  And while I am usually a fan of the secret shimmer, unless you are in the right light, this polish just falls flat for me.  I wish I had taken a picture of this in the bad light for you.  What's interesting is I noticed that as soon as you start to take this off, the shimmer is like HELLO!!!!!  I think the shimmer just sinks in the polish.  Well a few of the girls on MUA use a bit of acetone after their mani, brought the shimmer out and THEN used top coat and was able to get their desired effect.  Too much work for an $18 bottle of polish - probably.  Am I still glad I have this one? Yes!

Two coats here, I could have done one thick one though.  Consistency on this one is perfect.  It went on like BUTTAH - as Courtney would say :).

Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso

Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pio Mosso

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pio Mosso

So overall, this isn't my favorite RBL collection, but I wont' be swapping any of these away.  If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably only have gotten Poco a Pococ and Pio Mosso.  I think you just have to decide which ones are for you AND which ones will you wear.  These 3, plus Fortissimo are still available for purchase, but don't wait long.  Like most RBL polishes, once they are gone they are gone... that is until they hold a "Bring It Back" vote.  You can get the Firebirds only from RBL, directly through their website for $18 a bottle.

Red Obsession: Rescue Beauty Lounge Chinoise

Weird olive greeny-goldy colors aren't my only obsession this fall.  For some reason I'm on a red kick all of a sudden.  There's just something so classic glam about a fierce red nail.  I recently showed you guys another look at my "Holy Grail" red, Essie Limited Addiction, but to be honest, it's really the only red creme I have.  I just loved it so much, I never felt the need to add anymore.  Somehow, that's changed, because I've brought home four different reds over the past month in an effort to spice up my red wardrobe.  First up - Rescue Beauty Lounge Chinoise.

Chinoise (French for "Chinese"; Pronounced "sheen-wah" or "sheen-wahz") is a bright red creme that leans on the orange side.  Warm-toned girls, this is your red!  I've steered clear of warm-toned reds for some reason, but I have no idea why.  I think it works with my skin tone pretty well!  I've heard tales of Chinoise being a super duper pigmented "one-coater" red polish, but I didn't find that to be true for me.  I did get my bottle in a swap, so there's no telling if it was thinned at all, but I found it to be a bit on the thin side.  I'm showing two coats below, but you can definitely still see some VNL.  I think three coats would've taken care of that, but VNL doesn't bother me, so I just left it at two.  Application was a dream, and thankfully I didn't have any trouble with bleeding or staining while cleaning up.  Win!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Me likey!!  So glad I tried this one out!  Totally the opposite of my cool-toned Limited Addiction.  The hubby also loved it, but he's a guy and guys love red, so that's not surprising, right?  LOL

Ji dedicated Chinoise to the late Diana Vreeland, a famous fashion editor, but if you read her blog and/or her Facebook posts, you'll notice she often refers to her husband as "Mr. Chinoise," which I think is really cute.  :-)

I hope I did her proud, because Chinoise definitely gets the thumbs up from me!  There are probably cheaper alternatives (one of which I'll show you later), but I can definitely say that I wouldn't feel bad about spending the $18 on this one.  The formula was standard RBL perfection, and the color is beautiful.  Chinoise is one of the five core RBL colors, but it does go out of stock from time to time.  Luckily, it just restocked at the beginning of the summer, so I think there should be plenty to go around for now.  Perfect timing for the Bring It Back pre-order this Friday!  *\o/*

Nfu-Oh #50 over Rescue Beauty Lounge Purple Haze

Flakies!!!!!!!  Do you know what a flakie is?  Chances are if you are a nail polish junkie like me you do, but if you are just getting into polish, or read our blog just cause you love us, you don't.  A "Flakie" is a nail polish that is usually sheer or has a jelly consistency, which jam packed full of "flakies."  They are literaly flakes of very think sheets of some kind of iridescent material.  One place I read on the web says opals, but I'm not sure I believe that.  They give the polish a great texture and look and often create a duochrome (two color) look.  Long and short they are awesome.  Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure is one.  So when I did a little Nfu-Oh haul (my first one), I picked up 5!

So as promised, here is Nfu-Oh #50 over Rescue Beauty Lounge Purple Haze.  Nfu-Oh #50 is a pale purple sheer jelly base packed (and i mean packed, this is one coat) with blue iridescent flakies.  I totally loved this manicure.  I snapped these pictures after the second day or so when the sun was shining, so there is a bit of tip wear.  I really need to learn to be better to my nails!

Nfu-Oh #50 over Rescue Beauty Lounge Purple Haze

Nfu-Oh #50 over Rescue Beauty Lounge Purple Haze

I'm so happy I got these flakies.  I can't wait to try the others.  I highly recommend these polishes if you like the look.  You can get them for $12.50 each on FabulousStreet.com.  Shipping is a little steep though, so pick this one up one you are planning a large order.

Another Look: Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine

Are you guys tired of RBLs yet?!  I hope not, 'cause there's plenty more a-comin'!  :-D

Today I'm finally showing you my other Tudor queen - Catherine.  You don't even want to know the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that went into getting this one (and Catherine H for Jessie).  Ok, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but it felt like it.  It took some seriously hard work to bring this beauty home, and I owe Jessie BIG time!  Her thoughtfulness is the only reason I was able to get this.  Now we each just need Anne and Jane to complete our collections.  :-)

You can see Jessie's original photos and glowing review of Catherine here.  Named after Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife, she's a smokey purple with gold, pink, and aqua shimmer.  The formula was perfect, but I was surprised it was significantly thinner than my other RBLs.  It took two coats for opacity, but they glided on like butter.  Here she is!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

As disappointed as I was with Catherine H, I looooove this one!  The pink and aqua shimmer get a little lost on the nail, but the gold shimmer is just stunning.  It adds texture and sparkle to an already gorgeous base color.  I'm a huge fan of the Tudors series on Showtime, and I think this polish is a perfect representation of its namesake - regal and sophisticated.  Plus, Maria Doyle Kennedy is an amazing actress.  I whole-heartedly recommend watching the show, if you're into Tudor history or period dramas and haven't seen it already.  It's streaming on Netflix!  :-)

Jessie is the Queen of RBLs (as coronated by me, lol), and she nailed this one on the head - it's a MUST have!  Catherine sold out several months ago, but thankfully Ji is bringing back all the Tudor queens.  Last I heard, the rumor on the street is they should be available for order early next year.  Worth every penny!