Rescue Beauty Lounge Square Pants

It's always fun when you love a polish that you knew you were going to love.  It's even more fun when you love a polish you thought you'd probably hate!  :-)

A few months ago - after reeeeally getting into my nail polish hobby - I discovered that Rescue Beauty Lounge released a Spongebob themed collection back in Spring 2008.  The three polishes released with the collection were Bikini Bottom (a pale blue), Square Pants (a pale yellow), and Starfish-Patrick (a pale coral).  1)  I LOVE that creator Ji Baek can find inspiration in the most unlikely places!  2)  A SPONGEBOB collection?!  Count me IN!!  I knew I had to have Bikini Bottom, but I just wasn't sold on a yellow or coral polish.  The completionist (and Spongebob fan) in me couldn't bare to leave the other two behind, so I had my friend Jessie pick up Square Pants and Starfish-Patrick for me when she visited the RBL salon in New York City. 

As much as I've been dying to try out Bikini Bottom, I NEVER wear yellow nail polish, and I kind of had the hankering to wear something unusual for the weekend.  Square Pants it was!  It's not your typical obnoxious yellow.  Instead, it's a soft,  buttery sunshine yellow.  However, it's not the color, but the consistency that makes this stand out for me.  What you see below is four coats, but you can see how sheer it is, as I still have pretty noticeable VNL (visible nail line).  It has a milkiness to it that gives it kind of a squishy appearance.  I've heard horror stories of how awful some yellow polishes can be to work with (I'm looking at you, Chanel Mimosa!), but this formula was a dream to work with - hardly any streaks and it actually dried quicker than I expected!

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

I looooooooooooove this!  Adore it!  Typically sheer polishes (and yellow polishes for that matter) aren't my cup of tea, but there's something about the sheerness of this one that makes me love it more.  Everything about Square Pants is unique - from its color to its texture.  Even at its $18 price tag, this a MUST-HAVE polish in my book!

I know what you're thinking, because I thought it too.  But you CAN wear yellow nail polish!  I promise!  Yellow is super hot this summer in nail polish trends, so they're popping up everywhere.  Save your money on Chanel Mimosa and try Square Pants instead.  RBL polishes are worth every penny, and you never know when they might be sold out for good (aside from the occasional Bring It Back vote - which is how I landed Bikini Bottom in the first place).  Currently Bikini Bottom and Square Pants are both in stock, so RUN to www.rescuebeauty.com and pick them up while you still can!

I'll *definitely* be showing you guys Bikini Bottom and Starfish-Patrick later on, and I'm super excited for them after my love affair with Square Pants!  Woo-hoo!  :-)

OPI Affair in Times Square

Cue Rebecca Black - IT'S FRIDAY!!  And boy, I sure am looking forward to the weekend - it's been one hell of a four-day week at work!  On to the good stuff!  :-)

My friend (and soon to be guest blogger) Jessie and I met up on Sunday for some shopping and of course couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some dusty hunting while we were at it.  She took me to a place where she previously found two (TWO!!!) La Bohemes.  No sight of a third, but they did have some great old black-labels.  I was lucky enough to find a lemming of mine - Affair in Times Square.  Woo-hoo!

Affair in Times Square is a taupe-y mushroom creme.  In some lights it's more brown and in some lights it's more grey.  Totally an edgy-neutral, so you know I was all over this one.  It's a black label, so it's got the skinny brush, which is so strange to use once you've been accustomed to those darn pro-wides.  It was super easy to apply, and I only used two coats, but I probably should've added a third.  Oh well, I think it turned out just fine.  :-)

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

See the color difference in all three pictures?  A morphing polish, this one is!  It was released back in Fall of 2000 with the New York City Collection, which I believe makes this the oldest polish I own!  I think it's funny that these colors are so popular right now, but OPI was ahead of the curve on it - and then discontinued it.  Silly OPI.

But I have a confession to make...and you guys are gonna think I've lost my mind....I think I'm edgy-neutral-ed out.  Affair in Times Square is pretty, but nothing special.  My huge binge on edgy neutrals means I've got like five other colors that are similar enough to this for me to be slightly disappointed.

For a comparison, I pulled out Milani Teddy Bare (dupe of Chanel Particulere) and Sephora by OPI Metro Chic.  I REALLY wanted to compare this to Essie Mink Muffs, but I had literally just packaged it up for a swap before I did my manicure.

(L) to (R) Milani Teddy Bare, OPI Affair in Times Square, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

Clearly not a total dupe of these, but it is pretty similar to Metro Chic - just a bit warmer and less purple.  You definitely don't need both, although Affair in Times Square is nice to have if you're more of a collector.  I'm still glad to have found it, but I'm sad it wasn't a bit more unique for my collection.  Still, it was a great dusty find, especially considering it's going for around $17 on eBay right now.  Score!!  :-)

And of course, the cherry on top is....It's Fridayyyyyy, Fridayyyyyyyyy!!  

Zoya "French Twist" Manicure with Caitlin and Dove

I'm not huge into nail art, but I do love to save my "fun" manicures for the weekends.  Unfortunately my complete lack of creativity typically means my "fun" manicures are just my "not-quite-work-appropriate" colors like brights and glitters.  Thankfully my dearly beloved polish brand Zoya gave us this little piece of genius last weekend:

You can find much more information about the story behind this style here at All Lacquered Up, but basically this was a look created by Zoya for Fashion Week.  Zoya did a quickie promo for a free bottle of each polish, Caitlin and Dove (and I'm a terrible blogger for not letting you guys know about it while it was still relavent - forgive me!!), and since I already had both, the French Twist was a done deal for me.

For this look, the base color is Zoya Caitlin - a medium dusty periwinkle purpley-blue creme.  This color is right up my alley.  It's gorgeous and applies beautifully in two coats.  

(click to enlarge)

Swoon.  I love these colors.  If I had to identify my weakness in terms of polishes, dusty blues would be it.  I wore Caitlin as a full manicure for a day, just to admire beauty all by itself (it also helps once you get to the next step).  :-)  

The next day, I added the tips.  I used Scotch tape to block off everything but the tips (You can find a tutorial from here from Erika at Chloe's Nails - she's a pro at the Scotch tape thing!), and then did one layer of Dove across the tips.  Scotch tape is a little difficult for me to use, because my nails are so curvy that it doesn't really lay completely flat, but my cleanup brush and a little non-acetone remover fixed any wiggly lines.  I added one coat of Barielle Manicure Extender top coat to finish it all up!

(click to enlarge)

Ok, so not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well!  I love how these two colors look together.  They make for a kind of subtle "funky french."  Unexpected and lovely!  I got several compliments on this manicure!  :-)

These two colors are total winners for me.  I already raved about Caitlin, but even Dove gets a thumbs-up from me.  It's a standard dove grey, but it seems to flatter most skin tones, and it applies just as nicely as Caitlin.  The two colors compliment each other well, but are both nice enough for a stand-alone manicure.  Well done, Zoya!

_______________________________________________________________________________

On a completely different note, I finally convinced my swapper-turned-real-life-friend-and-dusty-hunting-partner-in-crime Jessie to do some guest posts for my blog!  I'm so excited to see what she has in store!  Give her a warm welcome for her first post, which should arrive soon!  I know you'll all love her! :-)

Courtney

Zoya Gemma

Work has been a total beast for me this week.  Ya know when you just have one of those days where nothing goes right and you can't get anything done?  Yeah, I had three of those in a row this week.  Not cool, life!  Not cool...

So, being late to the party as usual, finally got around to trying out Zoya Gemma.  It was released with the Intimate collection in January of this year, but I waffled on getting it for about three months after that.  I really need to stop doing that.  It's how I end up with the dreaded reverse buyer's remorse.  But anywho, I finally brought home Gemma in a swap, and here she is!

Gemma is a medium-toned, almost army green polish with subtle blue and pink shimmer.  I'm SO glad I was able to capture the shimmer for you in my photos!  It's not a super noticeable shimmer, but it's not one of those "secret shimmers" like Essie Sew Psyched where the pretty shimmer in the bottle disappears on the nail.  Most of the time it looks like a creme, but when the light hits it, you can see this pretty blue flash (unfortunately the pink shimmer just goes MIA on the nail).  Application was pretty smooth - no real complaints.  I used two medium coats, but I probably could've used a third, as I had a few patches I noticed after I finished.  Click to enlarge these photos to get a better look at the shimmer!

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

That blue flash is so pretty!  It certainly sets it apart from other muted greens.  I've got nothing like it in my collection.  Hubby liked this one, and I did too, but I wasn't really wowed by it.  I'm gonna blame it on my really crappy work week, because it looks killer in these photos (if I do say so myself)!  :-P

I LOVE that with Zoya you don't have to worry about if a polish is limited edition.  Every polish collection becomes part of Zoya's huge core collection, so Gemma and her friends Caitlin, Dove, Marley, Jules, and Dannii aren't going anywhere anytime soon.  As always, you can buy Zoya polishes at www.zoya.com.

Are you guys as ready for the weekend as I am?!  I think I'm gonna have one (or two or three...) stiff drinks with my name on it after this week!  :-)

OPI Tease-y Does It

Hola, friends!  Hope your weekend was a fabulous one!  Given that the world, indeed, did not end, I'm gonna say that mine was definitely good.  After my Pirates of the Caribbean swatch-a-thon on Thursday, I needed a palate-cleanser.  Typically this is a nude/pale color and it comes after wearing something glittery/shimmery/bright, etc.  After six pastels and numerous comparisons of other random pastels, I needed something deep and sultry.  I dove head first into my stash for OPI Tease-y Does It.

Tease-y Does It (yes, another stupid name from OPI) was released with the Burlesque collection from this past holiday season.  Burlesque was a collection full of glitter bombs and duochromes, so Tease-y Does It almost seemed out of place.  I never thought twice about buying it until I started to see the swatch photos on MUA.  There's more to this polish than meets the eye.

Its deep plum-brown base is almost cloudy and murky-looking in the bottle.  I assure you that all goes away on the nail to reveal the best feature of this polish - its gold/fuchsia duochrome shimmer.  The duochrome isn't super noticeable, but you do certainly get the flash of both colors.  Application was fabulous in just two coats.  It practically applied itself!  Definitely click to enlarge these photos so you can see this baby up close!

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

How sexy is that?!  When I first put this on last December, I was shocked by how much I loved it.  It's not too dark - doesn't even come close to "almost black" - and was just what I needed after those Pirates pastels.  Just as pretty the second time around.  Ahhhh....

Unfortunately the Burlesque collection was limited edition, which means you may have a hard time tracking this one down.  Though it could still be lurking in your Ulta's clearance section, so check that out for sure!  The good news is that Nubar's Raspberry Truffle is said to be a dead-on dupe!  You can get it for $7.49 at www.bynubar.com.  Double good news is that both of these are also almost dupes of Chanel's Feu de Russie.  Anytime I can get something close to a Chanel for less than half the price, I consider that a VICTORY!

A perfectly unexpected palate-cleanser.  :-)

OPI Pirates of the Caribbean plus Silver Shatter

Ahoy, mates!  I've got goodies for you today!!  I've been waiting FOR-EV-ER for this order to be shipped to me, as I pre-ordered from a wholesaler back in March.  Still no word on my order, so I decided to check my local beauty supply store to see if they had them in.  Lo and behold, an entire set waiting just for me!  (Okay, not really just for me, but I really did luck out!)  I canceled my online order so fast it would make your head spin, and it's been a swatch-a-thon all afternoon!  Just in time for the movie release today, I am SOOOO excited to bring you the entire OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection!  YAY!

When I first heard OPI was doing a Pirates of the Caribbean collection I was like:

Then I found out they were all cremes and pastels, and I was like:

Then I realized the error of my ways.  Just because pastels don't really say "pirates" or "swashbuckling" to me, doesn't mean they don't need love too!  The promo photos looked gorgeous, and I knew I wanted every last one of them!  When I finally got my hands on the collection, I was like this:

(A quick thank you to Jessie for introducing me to http://www.jamesvandermemes.com/, and also a thank you to James Van Der Beek unknowingly starring in this blog post and for being awesomely hilarious!)  ON TO THE POLISHES!

Mermaid's Tears - A muted, kind of dusty creme that falls somewhere between turquoise and sea green.  I love this!!  A color with my name written all over it!  It's dupey to Orly Ancient Jade.  I don't own it, but I did a bottle comparison at Ulta, and while they're very similar, Mermaid's Tears is a bit lighter.  But I'd say if you own Ancient Jade, you can probably pass on Mermaid's Tears and vice versa.

I did a comparison of Mermaid's Tears with OPI Damone Roberts 1968.  You can see how much bluer Mermaid's Tears is.  It's not a mint green at all.

(L) OPI Mermaid's Tears, (R) OPI Damone Roberts 1968

Stranger Tides - Strange is right!  What color is this??  A dusty, greyed green, murky...celery?  I don't know but I LOVE it!  Surprise favorite of the collection!  It's soft but completely different from anything else I own.  It seems similar to Essie Da Bush, but I don't own it to compare.  I chalk this one up as an edgy neutral - I totally wore this to work and it played well in an office setting, and with multiple outfits.  

You've heard me mention "greyed green" before in reference to Essie Sew Psyched, but I did a comparison to show you how different these two are.  Look how yellow Stranger Tides is!  It makes Sew Psyched just look straight up grey!

(L) OPI Stranger Tides, (R) Essie Sew Psyched

Skull and Glossbones - Cute name!!  This is a pale grey creme.  Nothing too special going on here, but I like it.  I'm a sucker for greys.

I compared this to Zoya Dove, which I thought was going to be a really close match.  Wrong!  Skull and Glossbones is warmer, and Dove is darker.  Go figure!  I'd love to see Skull and Glossbones compared to Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas, but sadly I don't own that one to compare.

(L) OPI Skull and Glossbones, (R) Zoya Dove

Steady as She Rose - Another cute name!  :-)  This one's a dusty pinkish lavender.  Sometimes it looks more pink and sometimes it looks more lavender.  It's nice, but I dunno - I'm just not feeling it.  To its defense, I don't own anything like it, so it's clearly unique!  

Sparrow Me the Drama - Aaaaaand THIS is why I don't do many pink manicures.  As soon as I pulled this one out of the box, I knew we weren't meant to be.  Light pinks don't like to play nicely with my skin tone, and this one was no exception.  Bleh.  I'm sure it would look fab on pretty much anyone but me.  Sigh.

I pulled out Essie Splash of Grenadine, another pink I could never get to work for me.  They're similar, but Sparrow Me the Drama is warmer.  I actually never realized just how blue Splash of Grenadine really was until now!

(L) OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, (R) Essie Splash of Grenadine

Planks a Lot - Dusty medium-toned purple.  Again, nothing too special here, but I do really like it.  It's not nearly as blue as this photo shows, but isn't that just the story of my life?  ;-)

I have a plethora of "dusty purple cremes" in my collection, so I brought them all out for this comparison.  I think Planks a Lot is much truer to color in this photo.  I thought this would be pretty close to OPI Done Out in Deco, but it's clearly darker.  Definitely in the same vein though.  Parlez-Vous, OPI? is much more red-toned - not even close.  It's closest relative seems to be Do You Lilac It?  Planks a Lot is a bit cooler-toned and not quite as bright, but they were pretty similar in real life.  Cool tones work better with my skin tone, so Planks a Lot is the keeper for me of the two.

(L) to (R) - Parlez-Vous, OPI?, Planks a Lot, Do You Lilac It?, Planks a Lot, Done Out in Deco

I was lucky enough to snag a bottle of Silver Shatter at Ulta on Mother's Day when the display was fully stocked, and I definitely wanted to swatch it for you!  As with Black Shatter, Silver Shatter needs to be applied over completely dry polish in order to crackle properly.  Polish takes forever to dry on my hands, so good on-the-nail swatches just weren't going to happen.  Boo!  More nail wheel swatches!  This is Silver Shatter over each Pirates of the Caribbean polish:

(L) to (R) Mermaid's Tears, Stranger Tides, Skull and Glossbones, Steady as She Rose, Sparrow Me the Drama, and Planks a Lot

I was never sold on getting Silver Shatter until someone on MUA said it was like jewelry for your nails! What a great description!  I think it looks nice over the Pirates polishes but I like a little more contrast with the shatter polishes.  So here's Silver Shatter over a couple other colors (click to enlarge for better detail):

(L) to (R) - Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Milani White, OPI Russian Navy, OPI Ski Teal We Drop, China Glaze Jolly Holly, and Essie Limited Addiction

Overall, I think OPI put out a great collection.  They're not necessarily the most unique colors, but they work nicely, and they're great for spring/summer.  My only complaint is the application.  With the exception of Mermaid's Tears and Planks a Lot (which applied perfectly), the application on the rest of the Pirates polishes was AWFUL.  Terrible.  Turrible.  I don't even know how to describe it.  Almost...chalky?  And streaky.  And patchy.  Kind of like a neon.  It was really strange, and not even close to what I normally expect from OPI.  The only thing that saved those polishes from looking like crap was a good ole coat of Seche Vite.  I would say for those polishes, it's best to wait until each coat is completely dry before starting the next.  

That being said, of my four problem children, I'd say Stranger Tides and Skull and Glossbones are worth the hassle for me.  The other two just don't jive with my skin tone, and I just don't want to deal with awful application if I don't love the colors.  Silver Shatter gets the thumbs-up from me as well.  It doesn't shatter quite as nicely as Black Shatter, but it's still pretty cool, and the overall effect is nice.  I'd say the collection gets 3 out of 5 stars from me.  :-)

And just because it's fun to talk like a pirate - AAARRRRGHHH!  YO HO!  :-P

Butter London MacBeth

You guys.  I realized the other day that I've been seriously neglecting an ENTIRE color - pink.  In fact, I've only ever shown one pink polish on here, that being China Glaze Ahoy!, and that was all the way back in February!  The funny thing is that it's not that I don't like pink.  I LOVE pink!  I just tend to wear all my pinks on my toes.  I guess it just makes me feel girly and summery (even when it's not so summery).  Well, no more!  I henceforth pledge to bring you more pink!!  I'd sign up to participate in Chloe's Nails' Pink Wednesdays, but to be honest I just don't own that many pinks.  So for today, I grabbed the first pink that's been nagging me to be tried - Butter London MacBeth.

As it turns out I did a really crappy job of picking a pink polish.  MacBeth is really more of a pink-leaning coral.  *womp womp*  Can we pretend this is more pink? In reality, it really is.  The photo is picking up way more orange/red tones than are present in real life.  It floats between pink and coral.  The formula on this one is fantastic, as usual.  The interesting thing is that this is definitely a creme, but the finish is almost jelly-looking, as I still had VNL (visible nail line) after two coats.  It's not really sheer, but it's clearly not really opaque, but definitely not a jelly.  Maybe if a creme and a jelly had a baby?  Yeah, that's it.

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

First of all, I love the name!  MacBeth is hands-down my favorite Shakespeare play, and I'm not gonna lie - the name was probably at least half the reason I was interested in this polish in the first place.  Second, I LOVE the color!!  It's bright, but not in-your-face, and perfect for summer!  I got a ton of compliments on MacBeth, and even hubby loved it!  I loved this polish so much, I also made it my pedi color!  That's saying a lot - I can't even remember the last time I did a matching mani/pedi.  

S-M-I-T-T-E-N!!  ♥♥♥

Best news?  I know for a FACT that this sucker is in Butter London's core line!  Woo-hoo!  Next time you're in Ulta, peruse the Butter London display and give MacBeth a try!  It's the most perfect pinky-coral-summery-awesome color!  :-D

(And I promise I'll have a REAL pink for you soon!)