Rescue Beauty Lounge: Ghost & Catherine

Hello lovelies! Today is part two of my recent Rescue Beauty Lounge mini haul. Previously, I posted the gorgeous stormy Piu Mosso, that is now available for everyone to get on the Rescue Beauty Lounge website! Along with that, I got Ghost and Catherine.

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Ghost

 

Ghost is a metallic antique bronze from the GOMM collection. It is flawless, perfect and omg I in love. When I first saw swatches of the GOMM collection, I knew I had to have at least one. I have a special love for the artist and inspiration behind the polishes and all of the colors speak to my artist heart (fun fact: I majored in fine arts in college and have had my fill of art history). Formula was simply perfection, one smooth and flowy coat. It does leave brush strokes as you apply, but they fade as the polish dries to a soft satin finish. I actually prefer it satin, and didn't use a top coat.

 

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Catherine

 

Catherine is a smokey eggplant purple with a gunmetal shimmer and sparse flecks of fuchsia, blue, green and gold glitter, inspired by Henry VIII first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Despite it being very dark, it didn't wash my skin out! I think it looks very chic and refined, definitely fit for a queen. Formula was a bit thinner than I was expecting, but still applied wonderfully. I did need two coats for full coverage on this one. My favorite thing about Catherine is the pink and blue flash at different angles.

Rescue Beauty Lounge is available on line.

Rescue Beauty Lounge: Piu Mosso

Happy Monday! I have something very very special to share today - Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso. I had one request for my Christmas gift from my husband, Rescue Beauty nail polish. Spending $20 on one bottle of polish is a bit much for me, unless it's a special occasion. He happily obliged & I bought 3 polishes during the "Bring it Back" pre-order event.

 

 

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Piu Mosso

 

Piu Mosso is a deep, dusty navy blue cream with a subtle "hidden" fiery copper shimmer. The shimmer is barely there in low or indoor lighting, giving off a soft glow like embers in a dying fire. In direct sunlight, it very much comes alive and there you see the beauty and magic of Piu Mosso. The formula was absolutely flawless (which is what RBL is known for & why it is pricey). I have never experienced polish like this. One coat. One perfect flowy coat of polish bliss. The only thing I has an issue with (& it's a small one) is that it dried a bit dull, so I needed a top coat. But that's it. I can't put in to words how different the formula "felt" when I applied it, but it is, and it's wonderful.

 

 

 

Alternative lighting

 

 

I totally get the fervor behind the RBL fans, now. And I do not feel bad, one bit, about spending a little extra on a polish of this quality and beauty, even if it is only once in a while.

 

Piu Mosso will be available again at Rescue Beauty Lounge very soon, along with Aqua Lily, Insouciant, Opaque Nude and Recycle, so be sure to sign up for the RBL newsletter so you don't miss out!

Pretty Serious: They Came from Beyond Space (Pic Heavy)

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches from the newest (mini) collection from the awesome Aussie brand, Pretty Serious. A couple of weeks ago, I posted the press release for this collection & have been waiting for the bottles to arrive in my mail box since then. When they were delivered yesterday, I swatched them as soon as I got them, and all three are as gorgeous and as multichrome as the bottle shots.

Formula was identical on all three, so I'll go over that after all the pretty pictures.

 

Atomic Brain, Galaxy Invader, Phantom Planet

 

 

Pretty Serious - Atomic Brain

 

Atomic Brain is a vivid purple foil with a strong bronze/rose color shift. This was the first one I swatched (with some help of some twitter friends) & I instantly fell in love. Foils are my absolute fav finish & to have such a strong multichrome foil makes me weak in the knees.

 

 

 

 

Pretty Serious - Galaxy Invader

 

Galaxy Invader is a bright royal blue with a serious pink/purple/aqua color shift. This one was the strongest shift out of the three with the most color range and it was the hardest to capture on camera. It is so much more incredible in person.

 

 

 

 

Pretty Serious - Phantom Planet

 

Phantom Planet is a lime green foil with a more subdued blue/gold color shift. It is the weakest one out of the three, but still visible. It's actually my favorite!

 

 

This is my first experience with Pretty Serious, and I was incredibly pleased. Multichromes are very much sought after and this collection is a must for anyone who loves the color shifting polishes. Formula was perfect, smooth and flowy, not too thick and not too thin. I used two coats for all swatches, and had great coverage all on their own, no need for black undercoat with these lovelies. Dry time was a little longer, but they are foils, and foils tend to be slower than other finishes. Overall, they are great polishes and I can now add Pretty Serious to my list of favorite brands!

 

Pretty Serious polishes can be purchased on line, here. 10% off when you order all three!

China Glaze Cirque du Soliel Collection

Hey all! Hope all you American readers had a great Thanksgiving & everyone else had a great Thursday! Today I have three polishes from the new China Glaze collection inspired by the Cirque du Soliel movie "Worlds Away. "

 

China Glaze - It's a Trap-eaze

 

It's a Trap-eaze is a fabulous milky white polish loaded with multi sized rainbow glitter. I am such a sucker for milky glitters, and this one is my absolute fav, hands down. Looking at the swatch pictures actually makes want to go put it on again! Formula was a little tricky mainly because of the amount of glitter packed in the bottle. 2 coats and a nice thick top coat evened everything out perfectly though.

 

 

 

 

 

China Glaze - Surreal Appeal

 

 Surreal Appeal is a "nearly" neon pink coral cream. I say "nearly" because it doesn't dry matte, but very glossy. It was much more bright and pigmented than the bottle. I have been looking for a good coral, and at first I was let down because this is very pink, but ended up really liking it after I wore it for a little while. Formula was a bit on the thin side, so make sure you go easy with your application to avoid pooling. Despite the thin formula, it only took 2 coats for full coverage.

 

 

 

 

China Glaze - Water You Waiting For over Julep Hoch

 

 Water You Waiting For is a sheer blue base with blue, green and purple multi sized glitters. It is a pretty dense polish and could be built up on it's own with out undies, but I was already wearing Hoch & was too lazy to take it off! >_<  I think they look really well together! Yay teal! Since WYWF is a total glitter bomb, I expected to have a much more difficult time applying, but it wasn't as bad. It does tend to get a tiny bit clumpy, if you are slower with it, but nothing too major.

 

 

I really dig the glitters from this collection & some of the other brights are definitely on my to buy list!

Essie Holiday 2012 - Beyond Cozy

Good morning! Today I have one little polish to share & I have actually had it for a few weeks now, but never got a chance to swatch it. Out of all the Essie holiday colors, the only one that caught my eye was Beyond Cozy!

 

Essie - Beyond Cozy

 

Beyond Cozy is a seriously shiny mix of fine gold and silver glitter in a clear base. I am so in love with this glitter! In some lighting it looks like a pale gold, in other lighting, it looks like a bright silver. Totally reminds me of white gold. Gorgeous! Formula was a total breeze, especially for a glitter. 2 easy coats, no drag, or anything. It is a top coat eater, tho.

 

 

Because this polish is a total glitter bomb, I wanted to try out the "glue" base coat which helps with pesky glitter polish removal. Basically, you use a white craft glue as a base coat, let it dry and apply your polish as normal. I used Ailene's craft glue & it works wonderfully!

 

 

Glue base coat

 

 

 

When you are ready to remove the polish, it's as simple as peeling it off. I have found that running my hands under warm water and using an orange stick works the best. It's definitely my go-to for glitters now!

 

 

Here's a great tutorial/how-to on making your own glue coat. Like I said, any white craft glue should work!

International Transgender Day of Remembrance

Good morning! Today, I am posting something a bit more serious and a bit more personal. First off, let me say, that this will be a lengthy post, and a teeny bit on the ranty side. If you would rather not take part, then feel free to hit that little X in the top right corner of your screen. Otherwise, welcome to the International Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Before I get all heavy on you guys, I want to share the mani I did for the memorial. I tried to keep it simple, and do a dotted abstract flame.

I used Essie Play Date for the base and layered Takko Lacquer Kiss the Sky on top. After that, I used my new dotting tools to create a "flame."

Now you may be wondering why I chose to take part in this. For me, it is a bit personal. I briefly mentioned in my Pride Nails post that I hold the LGBT community very close to my heart, as I am a part of it. I have never fit into that box labeled "GIRL." I also have not fit into that box labeled "STRAIGHT." I spent most of my life struggling with those boxes, and eventually came to a point where I stopped trying to fit into them and started being myself. Which may sound silly, but for someone who is in that grey area between gender identity, it's a lot harder than you think. I am a girl (and generally speaking, identify with being one), but during my life, I have identified with both genders. I have dressed as a boy, had only male friends, dated girls, dated boys, and wondered where did I fit in? I'll spare you the gory details, but I finally found my place when I was 28 yrs old & am finally happy and content.

For some, it's a hard road to go down. For some, they don't live to see that day. Which, in the end, is what this is all about. If you are different, and don't conveniently fit into these boxes, society has a way of sticking you in a different sort of box, and either views you as dangerous or a freak. This is how hate crimes happen. This is how suicides happen. And it needs to stop. Every single person has value and every life is important. Labels and boxes do nothing but create division and hatred.

 

I encourage everyone to read this article in the NY Times. It can express more than I ever could, and maybe open the eyes of those who are so fond of boxes and labels.

Now, go check out all the other wonderful, beautiful people participating!

Blog Lovin

Just a quick little heads up that you can now find my blog on Bloglovin. If you use that site, be sure to follow me there! Thanks!

Pomegranate Lacquer Curator & Blue Screen of Death

Happy Sunday, everyone! I will be in downtown Austin today celebrating the F1 race and hanging out at Fan Fest with my hubby & little girl (who loves race cars!).

Today's post is more Pomegranate Lacquer! I decided to get a couple more polishes since the first two were so great.

 

Pomegranate Lacquer - Curator

 

Curator is another polish from Pomegranate's Fall collection, along with Midnight Satellite & Autumnesque that I recently reviewed here. It is a black cream/jelly hybrid with small yellow gold glitter & medium silver glitter. There have been several black/silver glitter polishes that came out for fall, but this is the most unique one & definitely worth getting. I love how the glitter floats in the black base. Soooo pretty! Formula was great, especially for a jelly hybrid. I had the tiniest bit of drag from the glitter on the first coat, but no problems with the second. Good dry time as well.



 

 

 

Pomegranate Lacquer - Blue Screen of Death

 

Blue Screen of Death is an amazing bright blue cream/jelly hybrid with a chunky turquoise shimmer. I DIE. This was the polish that made me interested in the brand. And now it is mine, aaaalllllllll miiiiiine!!!! UGH. I cannot get over how mindblowing this polish is. Probably the best blue I have gotten this year. Formula was thinner than Curator, along the lines of Autumnesque, but still great. I needed 3 coats for full coverage, as it is a little bit on the sheer side. the VNL in the swatch photos were not apparent in real life. So pretty. Sigh...

Again, I am extremely happy with this brand! And if you don't have Blue Screen of Death in your stash, go order it now. Seriously.

 

Pomegranate Lacquer is available on line.

Julep Maven Add Ons

Hey all! Yesterday, I posted a review about the Julep Maven program I recently signed up for. Today, I wanted to show you the two add ons I chose.

 

 

 

Julep (American Beauty) - Hoch, Trina Turk Fall 2012

 

Hoch is a a green leaning teal cream from the Julep/Trina Turk Fall 2012 line. If you read my blog, you know I love teal polish! It's probably the color I have the most of in my collection. 2 coats for full coverage, tho Julep creams tend to be heavily pigmented, that one coat could work, if you apply it carefully. I noticed that this bottle and the next one are a 4-free formula (as opposed to the 3-free as the two in my intro box). Formula was again the same, thin and flowy with a long dry time.

 

 

 Julep (Classic with a Twist) - Gayle

Gayle is a deep purple eggplant cream. Great color, though not unique. I will say, that I have been looking for a good eggplant purple & have had a hard time this fall! Same formula as Hoch (and the other two). At least it's consistent!

 

Next month should be a good one, saw a sneek on Julep's FB page & it had glitter!

Julep Maven Intro Box & Program Review

Good morning lovelies! Today I have my first Julep Maven box to show you all. Now there has been a lot of drama behind the Julep brand, but before we get in to that & my thoughts on the whole situation, let's check out the polish!

If you aren't familiar with the Julep Maven program, it is a monthly subscription based program started by a salon located in Washington state. When you first sign up, you take a "style" quiz that will determine what colors will be selected for your box. Every month, you get an email with your color choices, which you can opt out of if you don't like them. You also get a few extra goodies, like skin care or manicure essentials, or glitter! Along with your box picks, you can selected add-ons at a greatly reduced price.

 

My introductory box packaged all pretty.

 

 

Julep (Boho Glam) - Toni

 

Toni is a purple leaning dusty taupe cream. At first I didn' think I would like this color, but after I put it on, I changed my mind. It ended up being very flattering. It is a very pigmented polish and I needed just barely 2 coats. I could have gone with just one, but I can't help myself. Formula was excellent, thin, and flowy. The only issue I had, was the dry time was on the longer side. The bottle design has been a big complaint & I can see why. While they are pretty to look at, the long skinny design isn't very practical. It can pose a problem with tipping over (tho I haven't done that) & the brush is a bit longer, which can cause random drips, if you aren't careful.

 

 

Julep (Boho Glam) - Michelle

 

Michelle is a dark, muted navy cream. I am such a sucker for blue polish & this one is not an exception! Exact same formula as Toni, and even a bit more pigmented. I had some staining around my cuticles when I removed it.

 

 

Julep Cuticle Oil

 

The cuticle oil was the nail care item in the box & I can say, that I am so happy that it was! Love this stuff! It works really well, and smells like fruity pebbles! Also, a little goes a long way. I use it every day after I shower, and wash the dishes or give my daughter a bath. It also has a roller ball! I can't believe more oils don't come packaged this way. I never get oil all over my hands anymore.

 

 

 

 

Here's a break down of the pros & cons of the Maven program:

 

Pros:

 

- Nice selections of colors

- Fun packaging & extras

- Good price ($20 a month, plus add on polishes are $5. First box is $.01 cent with code PENNY)

- Flexible program

 

Cons:

 

- Previous drama with customer service

- Pricey w/o subscription ($14 for 8ml)

- Bottle design flaw

 

A lot of people are anti-Julep as they had a pretty big scandal involving Maven rewards (you can read more about it on The PolishAholic. From what I have found, it seems that Julep has since made up for that mistake and work very hard to keep current Mavens happy. I can honestly say that I did a lot of research before making the decision to sign up & I am very glad that I did. Thank goodness for the polish community! For me, it's always fun to get Nail Mail, and that's a big part of the reason I signed up. Also, I honestly wanted to try out the brand for myself, & for now, I am pretty happy!

Color Club Winter Affair Collection Swatches

Hey all! I have a few polishes from the Color Club Winter Affair holiday collection. Apparently, there are two versions of this collection out, one exclusive at Sally's Beauty Supply that is scented, and another unscented available everywhere else that Color Club is sold. I actually ordered these three polishes from Haute Look, so I got one scented and two unscented. Weird, huh.

 

Color CLub - Ho Ho Holly

 

Ho Ho Holly is a warm green and gold foil similar to Zoya's Logan. I haven't done a swatch comparison yet, but bottle comparisons, Ho Ho Holly is a warmer green with a bit more gold. Formula was excellent. 2 coats for coverage. No dragging or clumping either. I love foils & I love green polish, so this one was instant like, for me.

 

I got the scented version of Ho Ho Holly, and it smells a bit like pine scented Men's aftershave. I felt the smell was a bit strong, especially at first. I am rather sensitive to powerful scents, so I would have preferred an unscented color.

 

 

 

Color Club - Winter Affair

 

Winter Affair is a gorgeous shimmery red wine polish, perfect for the holidays. Same great formula as before, though I did need a top coat for this one as it dried a bit dull.

 

This polish is the unscented version, also, the Sally's version is a different color - a gold foil with a vanilla scent. Not sure why there are different colors, but I'm glad I have this one.

 

 

 

Color Club - Snow Flakes over Winter Affair

 

Snow Flakes is a red/green flakie polish, a la Essie Shine of the Times and such. Not too original, but it's nice to have a back up, love me some flakies!

 

This one seems to be unscented, but I can't tell & I haven't found any other info saying otherwise.

 

 

If you're a fan of scented polish, check out the collection exclusive to Sally's, if not Color Club is available at a variety of places on line!

Nail of the Day: Glitz & Glamour

Hey all! Hope everyone had a great weekend& happybelated Veteran's Day! Today, I have a NOTD from last week (before I broke two nails on my swatch hand T_T ).

 

Zoya has recently put out quite a few promo pics featuring some great nail art and layering ideas to go along with the Ornate collection. I wanted to try a "funky" french mani with Blaze and Storm.

 

 

I think the red/black combo is glamorous and edgy, great for a night out. Once my nails grow a bit more & even out, I really want to try out some other combos!

Pretty Serious "They Came From Beyond Space"

Good Morning! Just a little press release from Pretty Serious Cosmetics to share with you guys!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Just kidding.

Zooming in from the furthest reaches of the darkest corners of the cosmos, Pretty Serious Cosmetics is proud to unveil our newest mini collection: THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE!

This out of this world mini collection consists of a trio of fabulous multichrome foils that are guaranteed to put stars in your eyes.
 

ATOMIC BRAIN is a brain melting purple multichrome foil with extraordinary colour shifts from rich purple through to pink, plum, gold and olive bronze.

 

GALAXY INVADER is a mind blowing blue multichrome foil with spectacular flashes of royal blue through to aqua and purple.

 

PHANTOM PLANET is a startling pale green multichrome foil with a stunning aqua and blue shift.

I know what you're thinking. When? Where? How? Why?

The when is November 10th, 9am AEST. The where is pretty-serious.com. The how is our secret. The why is because we love you!

RRP is $9.95, with a 10% discount for buying all three shades! Pretty Serious Cosmetics also ships worldwide. Check out our site for more details.

Bottle volume is 11ml/0.37 fl.oz. Pretty Serious Cosmetics is 100% Vegan and Cruelty Free

Pomegranate Lacquer Fall Collection - Midnight Satelite & Autumnesque

Hey all! I have a couple of polishes from a newer brand called Pomegranate Lacquer. Their newest collection is a gorgeous line of fall trend colors.

 

Pomegranate Lacquer - Autumnesque

 

Autumnesque is warm pink/orange/brown with golden shimmer. It is a very hard color to describe, definitely a chameleon & so pretty! Formula was great, thin but not a pain to work with. 2 easy coats for perfect shimmery coverage.

 

Pomegranate Lacquer - Midnight Satellite

 

Midnight Satellite is a gorgeous green leaning teal (more green in person than my swatch pics) with blue shimmer and tiny little silver flecks. I love this polish! I have also worn it twice since swatching it, because it is so pretty. Again, wonderful formula, a bit thicker than Autumnesque, but no dragging or any application issues. 2 coats, perfect. Sigh...

I am thoroughly impressed with Pomegranate Lacquer, not only because of their fresh trendy colors (have you seen blue screen of death?!? Lemming that one hard!), but because they have a quality product as well. They are also 4-free, as well as cruelty free and made in the USA. Polishes run $9 each.

Pomegranate Lacquer is available on line