Rescue Beauty Lounge Diddy Mow

Wow, how long has it been since I posted?  Seriously?!?!  I can't even begin to tell you how crazy the last 3 weeks has been.  So I'll just skip that part.  It's not over unfortunately, so I'm probably going to be missing for a bit longer.  But tonight I wanted to make sure I at least posted this 3 week old mani I wore in NYC.  I wanted to wear an RBL in NYC because it seemed fitting, I hadn't swatched Diddy Mow yet (although I have worn this puppy quite a bit) and it matched my super cute top from Anthropolgie.

Here is Diddy Mow, a gorgeous dusty pale army green with secret shimmer.  You can't really see it on the nail but it just gives the polish depth.  Please do not enlarge this one.  My cuticles and nails are a mess at this point, between packing and cleaning and doing this mani, it's not my best.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Diddy Mow

Now here is a much more fun shot!  Diddy Mow atop the Empire State Building!!!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Diddy Mow, over lower Manhattan

Diddy Mow was released as part of RBL's Spring 2010 Surf inspired collection.  It was unfortunately limited edition and now sold out, so this would be pretty hard to find.  However Essie Sew Psyched is supposed to be a pretty good dupe.  I don't have it so I can't do a comparison, but you can see one here from GildedNails.  My next post will be what I did to spice up my Diddy Mow manicure when I came back from NYC!!!

Butter London Wallis

Sometime around Thursday(ish) of last week, I heard a buzz on MUA that Nordstrom was having a giant Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale on Deborah Lippmann and Butter London polishes last weekend.  I easily could've gotten at least six from each brand, but I decided to spare my wallet the pain, and just go for one set of three.  I'd been lemming Butter London Wallis, so picking out another two to go with it was a breeze!  I couldn't wait to try out Wallis, so that's what I've got for you today!  :-)

Wondering about the name?  ME TOO.  I immediately rushed to my handy dandy Butter London Dictionary and found that it's named "in honour of the Saucy Yank who ran away with the king's heart."  Being a silly American, I still had NO idea what that meant.  Wikipedia to the rescue!!  I learned that Wallis Simpson was an American socialite from Pennsylvania who apparently struck the fancy of Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII).  Their relationship was a controversial one, but Edward was so smitten with her, he abdicated his throne to marry her.  She became the Duchess of Windsor.  WOW!  Read that article!  She had quite a lot of gossip and controversy surrounding her!  I imagine that to be the equivalent of Prince William abandoning his throne to marry Paris Hilton.  

WELL.  That Wallis sure does have a lovely namesake!  It's a foil polish that has a color that's kind of hard to describe accurately.  It's kind of a deep greenish antique gold?  Sometimes it appears more gold, sometimes more green.   I love that it's darkened around the edges!  It gives it such a gorgeous glowy look.  I had no problems with application, and in true Butter London fashion, it's almost a one-coater!  Two coats was perfect for opacity and evening out any imperfections.  :-)  I couldn't take enough pictures of this!  Definitely click to enlarge these babies!

Under my Ott-Lite:

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 Sunlight:

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Hubba, hubba!  Guys.  I don't know what's up with me, but this is SO not typically my kind of color, but  for some reason I am, like, obsessed with these weird greeny-goldy colors lately!  It's so...sophisticated?  Magnificent?  Beautiful!  I can't get enough!  I LOVE Wallis!  So unusual for me.  *throws confetti*  YAY!

I was curious to see how Wallis compared to China Glaze Zombie Zest (dupey to Orly It's Not Rocket Science).  It took me a good 10 minutes to get this pictures because all the sparklies were freaking out my camera.  Cameras no likey sparklies.  Anywho.  This is two coats of Wallis and three coats of Zombie Zest:

(L) Butter London Wallis, (R) China Glaze Zombie Zest

Initial impression:  NOT dupes!  Yay!  On closer inspection, they're certainly similar, but there's a lot of differences between the two.  Color:  Wallis is much deeper and more complex in color.  Cilucia described Zombie Zest in her comparison with Wallis to be "snotty" in color, and she couldn't have hit the nail on the head any better.  Formula:  Zombie Zest is much sheerer than Wallis.  It would take at least three coats to be opaque on its own.  Finish:  Wallis is a foil, while Zombie Zest is a jelly with glass-fleck style particles.  I suppose we could call these two...kissing cousins?

Wallis available now as part of Butter London's Fall/Winter collection.  You can find it at Norstrom, Ulta, or http://www.butterlondon.com/.  I can see where it may not jive with everyone's skin tone (I was heartbroken when Cilucia didn't love it on her!), but I think if you're thinking about getting it at all, it's worth the $14 to bring it home and try it.  I think it'll be perfect for fall!

Also, in case you were wondering, I also picked up Jaffa and Bluey during my Nordie's sale adventure, so stay tuned for those!  :-)

Awards! And a Little Bit About Us...

We're a little behind on this (Forgive us - we're still new at this!), but some really fabulous bloggers tagged us for some awards, so we wanted to  say the biggest THANK YOU!!  We're still a baby blog, but we appreciate all the love from everyone!

AccroPolish tagged us for the Kreativ Blogger Award:

This award comes with 10 fun facts about us:

1.  Courtney - I'm a huge sci-fi nerd.  Live long and prosper!

     Jessie - I played the tuba and sousaphone in high school and college.

2.  Courtney - I have three tattoos, and I'm planning on a fourth (and maybe fifth).

     Jessie - I stood behind Danny Masterson in line at the Catacombs in Paris, France.

3.  Courtney - I live in Maryland, but I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

     Jessie - I've lived in the Greater Baltimore/Washington area my entire life but never been to Canada.

4.  Courtney - Because of #3, I'm a New Orleans Saints fan!  WHO DAT!  ;-)

     Jessie - I'm a huge So You Think You Can Dance fan, but I never call/text to vote.

5.  Courtney - I have an unnatural obsession with Chipotle.  Mmmmm...

     Jessie - I've had my car destroyed my a tornado; I was not it.

6.  Courtney - If I could meet anyone, living or dead, it would be Carl Sagan.

     Jessie - I'm a horrible speller.

7.  Courtney - I've never been out of the U.S.  :-(  (But I'd LOVE to!!)

     Jessie - My dog, 2 cats and I just moved in with my amazingly patient boyfriend.

8.  Courtney - When I was a kid, I did Shotokan Karate.  I received my black belt when I was 12.

     Jessie -  When I was in middle school, I did Tae Kwon Do and recieved my black belt in 8th grade.

9.  Courtney - I'm the biggest klutz on the planet.

     Jessie - I LOVE pilates!!!

10.  Courtney - I could go my entire life without eating ice cream again, but I loooove CAKE!

       Jessie - If I could have Pinkberry (or equivalant) everyday I would.  I once did 30 continuous days of yogurt at Baltimore's Mr.Yogato (a Pinkberry like place) to get a flavor named after me!

And Liquid Jelly tagged us for a string of awards:

There were several questionnaires that go with these, so we just picked one (hope that's ok!):

1.  Favorite color:

Courtney - Purple

Jessie - Depends on what the color is used for... :) so I'll go with pink.

2. Favorite animal:

Courtney - Baby ducks!  I'd probably just melt if I ever got to hold one!

Jessie - River otters.

3.  Favorite number:

Courtney - 72.  No particular reason.

Jessie - 17

4.  What perfume am I using right now?

Courtney - L'Occitane Thé Bergamote.  Earl Grey Perfume?!  Yes, please!

Jessie - DKNY Pure

5.  Something you always wear with you and identifies you:

Courtney - My wedding rings.  :-)

Jessie - Nail polish :) haha

6.  What's your passion:

Courtney - Autism research and treatment.  I used to work with those kiddos.  They taught me more.  :-)

Jessie - Food!  I think I should've been a food critic or chef or something.  :)

7.  Getting or giving presents?

Courtney - Both!  I love receiving gifts, but at Christmas, I don't get truly excited unless I feel confident about the gifts I'm giving.

Jessie - Giving.

8.  What was the last eye shadow you used?

Courtney - Milani Antique Gold.  I love how it looks gold and green in different lighting.

Jessie -  MAC Satin Taupe and MAC Prance.

9.  Favorite day of the week:

Courtney - Saturday

Jessie - Saturday

10.  Are your nails painted right now?

Courtney - Of course!

Jessie - Yup!

Aaaaand lastly, the best part - we get to tag some of our favorite blogs to receive these awards too!  They're all awesome, and deserve it!  :-)

Noelie's Nails

The Polished Perfectionist

Gotham Polish

stuff i (s)watched

Rachel Marie's Nails

Great work, ladies!! 

Revlon Carbonite

A few weeks ago when I showed you guys Chanel Peridot, I mentioned that Revlon duped its sister, Graphite.  I finally managed to track that sucker down, and I have it for you today!

Carbonite (EPIC name!) is a warm pewter-ish silver foil.  I use the terms "pewter-ish" and "foil" loosely, because the particles are kind of multi-toned - some are brighter, some are darker - which gives it an overall color that's kind of hard to nail down (It's actually a lot like the graphite in a standard pencil.)  Similarly, those same particles apply like a regular foil, but they don't have that same sparkle that most foils do.  Think Zoya Crystal - similar finish.  Anywho, it's super pigmented, and hardly required a second coat.  It dried lightning fast, which was almost a fault, because I wasn't able to spread around the polish quick enough, so I got some unevenness in application.  No biggie though.  ;-) 

I tried a couple different lightings for you guys, to help nail down the warmth in tone.  These are under my Ott-Lite:

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 These are in indirect sunlight, by a window (Sorry for catching the sun as it was almost setting...)

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See what I mean?  Lighting makes all the difference with this one.  It's really pretty!  I don't have Grahite to compare it to, but from swatches I've seen, Carbonite is similar in color, but Graphite is sparklier and has a bit more depth to it.  However, I don't really think extra sparkles and a slight difference in finish are worth an extra $20 (Unless you just want to treat yourself, and then, hey!  High five!), so we can break this down another way:

"Graphite":

Image from Idea Lab

"Carbonite":

Image from Blastr

I'll take the cheaper alternative that comes with Han Solo inside.  ;-)

Carbonite is still in its early stages of distribution, so you may have trouble tracking it down to begin with.  Some girls on MUA are starting to find it at CVS, but it seems like across the board the best place to find it right now are at the select Bed Bath & Beyonds that have the drugstore area in them (that's where I found mine).  Bonus if you find it there, because you can use a 20% off coupon!  It cost me just a little over 4 bucks.  YAY for cheap Chanel knock-offs!!!

Essie St. Barth's Blue

Well, folks, it's a hat trick for Essie this week!  After Sexy Divide (a vampy) and Vermillionaire (a summery bright), I went in one last direction and grabbed something a little more light and airy - St. Barth's Blue.

St. Barth's is super pale, slightly greyed, pastel blue with fine silvery white shimmer.  It's totally a "secret shimmer," as it's much more apparent in the bottle than on the nail.  Essie sure has a thing for these secret shimmers, but I'm not complaining!  :-)  It gives it soft, delicate look.  This is one of those old black label Essies, so it's jam-packed with chemically goodness.  Chemicals + pastel + Essie = 4 coats and a less than admirable application.  It's a bit streaky and doesn't self-level, even with a thick coat of Seche Vite on top.  That being said, with a little bit of work, I think the end result is stunning.

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Another win!  I love this!  Soft, summery, and doesn't even remotely give me lobster hands (That's saying a lot for a pale blue!).  As soon as I saw the early promos for Chanel Riva, I was dying to have it, but the steep price and application horror stories kept me at bay.  I tried to find a suitable dupe in $OPI Havana Dreams.  The application on that one was a complete nightmare and almost brought me to tears. On top of that it was just a bit too vibrant for me.  St. Barth's Blue fills all the gaps for me.  True, it doesn't have stellar application either, but it's workable, and the color is exactly what I wanted.  Take THAT, Riva!  ;-)

A "pale greyed blue with subtle shimmer" may have you thinking of China Glaze Sea Spray.  I did too, so I did a quick comparison of the two:

(L) Essie St. Barth's Blue, (R) China Glaze Sea Spray

Sea Spray is much more saturated, and St. Barth's Blue almost looks white when compared to it.  They're definitely different enough to own both, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do.  :-)

Unfortunately St. Barth's Blue is long gone (HUGE sad!  I'd buy a backup of this!), but you can still find some up for swaps on MUA and probably the occasional eBay listing.  Despite the formula and application problems, I still give it my seal of approval just for being the most completely perfect pastel blue.  ♥ ♥ ♥

Can you tell I'm smitten??  :-D

Essie Vermillionaire

If there's a color I've neglected even worse than pink, it's ORANGE.  I don't know why, but for some reason I've just always passed over orange polishes as "something I wouldn't wear" or something that's "not my style."  Famous last words, right?  ;-)

I was done for as soon as I saw Piff's swatch of Deborah Lippmann Lara's Theme on Polish or Perish.  I don't think any polish could look bad on her!  The lemming monster got me, and I was just about to shell out the $16 for it, when she posted a follow-up post identifying Essie Vermillionaire as a pretty darn close dupe.  Close enough!  I ran to my local beauty supply store and brought it home.

Vermillionaire is bright orange creme.  It's not a neon, so don't worry about it being too obnoxious.  It dries a smidge darker than the bottle color, and leans to the red side of orange (Just for funsies:  Vermilion is a red-orange pigment, hence the goofy name).  I'd say the last photo is the most color-accurate.  Application was perfect in two coats, and as expected from Essie, it's got that kind of squishy look to it.  After the fiasco that was Essie Sexy Divide, I was a little worried about the wear on this one.  No worries - I wore this for five days and had only minimal tip wear.  Woo-hoo!

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I'm not usually an orange fan, but holy cow - I LOVE this!  Love love love love LOVE!  It's a perfect summery orange.  Makes me wanna go eat a tangerine or something.  Bright enough for a good pedi (which is how I wore this the first time and was sad to take it off), but muted enough for me to wear it to work and not feel weird.  I wore it over the weekend when the hubby and I went to go see a play this weekend with my parents.  I paired it with this dress, and it was a match made in heaven!

Vermillionaire was released with Essie's Summer 2010 collection, but I'm pretty sure it's made its way to the core lineup.  I highly recommend it (especially if you're even remotely interested in Lara's Theme), even if you're not typically into orange.  I think this one may sway you!  It sure stole my heart!  :-)

Essie Sexy Divide

Don't tell Illamasqua Baptiste (my one true love), but I decided to try out a new shimmery purple.  Essie Sexy Divide had been on my wish list for quite some time, so when I finally brought it home in a swap, I was itching to try it!  Plus, let's be honest - I really like the name.

Sexy Divide is a deep red-leaning purple with fine red and purple shimmer.  The red shimmer seems to be a smidge larger than the purple shimmer and stands out more in the sunlight.  The color is gorgeous, but the shimmer is almost a "secret shimmer," as it gets a little lost on the nail.  It shows up nicely here in the photos, but in most lighting it just looks like a creme.  No complaints on application - just two easy coats!  As with any purple, it was impossible to photograph, so I had to color correct these photos (Hence the orange skin.  Sorry guys, I promise one day I'll figure out how to take more color-accurate photos!!)  I think this is pretty close to actual color.  :-)

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And here it is compared to Baptiste herself (Swoon!).  You can see the difference here.  Sexy Divide's base is almost...cloudier?  Murkier?  Either way, I think it's the reason that gorgeous shimmer doesn't really show through.  Show her how it's done, Baptiste!

(L) Essie Sexy Divide, (R) Illamasqua Baptiste

Sexy Divide is a lovely polish, and even though it's a close cousin to Baptiste, the shimmer doesn't show quite as much, so I was ready to keep this one in my stash as my Perfect Deep Purple Creme...until I saw the wear.

I don't comment much on wear in my posts, because for the most part, I don't have huge issues with chipping from any polishes in particular.  Sure, there's always your standard tip wear, but usually if I get chips, it's because I did something stupid that caused the chip.  Sexy Divide on the other hand, was a complete nightmare in terms of wear.  I applied it Tuesday night.  By Wednesday morning I had some pretty significant tip wear.  I thought it was strange since all I had really been doing was sleeping, but I shrugged it off.  By early Thursday morning, I had four GIANT chips.  Really unusual for me.  I'm not quick to point fingers, but since I used the exact same base coat/top coat combo and wasn't doing anything stupid to cause chips, I gotta blame this one on Sexy Divide.  Sigh.  Baptiste, you really are my one true love!

If you want to give it a whirl, Sexy Divide is part of Essie's core collection, so you can find it at Ulta, Wal-mart, etc.  Due to my less than stellar experience, I can't whole-heartedly recommend it, but the color is nice.  :-)

What do you guys think?  If you've tried Sexy Divide, how was the wear?  Maybe I just got a dud?