Rescue Beauty Lounge Tudor Housewives collex swatches!

I didn't want any of these Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes at first but then I read Antonia Fraser's The Wives of King Henry VIII. And then I wanted all of them. Even though these are only four of his six wives. Which kind of bothers me because it feels incomplete. Where is the love for Anna of Cleves and Catherine Parr (though Catherine Parr is probably the least colorful character of the six)?

And then I wanted to review them just because I like the following rhyme; I think it's an amusing way to remember the order of Henry's wives:

Divorced, beheaded, died;

Divorced, beheaded, survived.

By my count, these were named for Divorced No #1 (Catherine of Aragon), Beheaded Nos #1 and #2 (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) and the singular one who died naturally while still married to Henry (Jane Seymour).

My first question is why did one man marry so many women by the name of Catherine (or Katheryn, or whatever permutations of the name his wives used)? If you've already divorced one Catherine and beheaded another... why marry a third? Wouldn't the name feel jinxed to you? I guess Henry was a hopeless romantic and optimist.

All of these were NOTDs so I can comment somewhat on their longevity. In chronological order by the date of their marriage to Henry...

RBL Catherine

This is the only manicure that I did with only a coat of Nubar Nu Nails as basecoat (and Diamont as topcoat) and it chipped like mad the first day. And it refused to dry so it got all squashed up. Dark eggplant purple with multicolored shimmer: I love seeing the gold, pink, blue and green shimmer all together in the sunlight. It is rather dull and depressing indoors though.

Closeup of Catherine

Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile -- and was therefore serious royalty and, in the tradition of upper-crust Castilian women of her time, was also seriously educated and deeply religious -- was actually first married to Henry's older brother, Arthur, who died. Henry married her afterwards but after she failed to produce a male heir, Henry decided that not only was the union unsatisfactory, God was also dissatisfied with it. Why? Because he had committed a form of incest by marrying his brother's wife. Yet while God supposedly agreed with Henry, the Catholic Church did not want to grant him an annulment or divorce. Henry's solution: the English Reformation. Thus, Henry, as head of his own Church, got himself an annulment and Catherine ended her days pretty much exiled from the English court.

RBL Anne

This murky green (again, with the multicolored shimmer in a base that appears quite dull indoors but is lovely in sunlight) was a pain in my neck to apply. The formula was harder to control, needed three coats to get all of the spotty patches and also refused to dry. This wouldn't be so bad in a less expensive polish but I expect better quality from RBL. This was with Gelous and Diamont, which meant that it stayed together pretty well for two days -- this photo was taken on the second day -- but the long dry time contributed to the number of dents that I acquired while asleep. :(

Closeup of Anne

Okay, guys, obviously, she wasn't a witch and didn't bewitch Henry by means of "sortilege". She was young, intelligent, charming and *ahem* wouldn't give it up until he married her. And, most importantly, she kept on swearing she'd bear a son for Henry. When she didn't, he got pissed at her (and also worried that maybe God didn't like her either because he had committed a sort of incest because he had had an affair with her sister, Mary Boleyn years before). After plenty of intrigue and a totally bullshit trial, she ended up being sentenced to death (along with her accused "lovers", one of whom was her brother). Apparently, when she was told who her executioner was, she said that she had heard he was good and besides, "I have a very small neck".

RBL Jane

I think this may be my favorite polish from the collection. I've seen swatches of this elsewhere and it appears more beige on many Caucasian people -- a perfect nude for them. On me, a tanned Asian woman, it pulls more grey and even brings out some tinges of dusty purple. Like the other polishes, it has shimmer but this is more opalescent shimmer (which still sparkles several different colors) and is more subtle. I love this color though: I guess this could be called a greige. :) Two coats, so beautifully and thickly pigmented. Very easy to apply. This stayed for two or three days without a single chip and almost no tipwear with Gelous and Diamont.

Closeup of Jane

Oh, plain Jane Seymour. This is sort of perfect for her. She supposedly was a bland, timid lady who was sweet and obedient to Henry (unlike Anne who loved to argue with him and Catherine who refused to give him his own way). She was pretty much Henry's absolute favorite because she bore him an heir... and died soon after. She was much mourned by Henry and was remembered very fondly... possibly because she didn't have enough time while alive to annoy him in one way or another. She was even painted into a family portrait during one of Henry's subsequent marriages. What the heck? I would've been pissed if I were that wife.

RBL Catherine H

Second favorite from the collection. I love this slightly greyed out medium blue. It's chock full of chunks of purple and blue shimmer. Also a great two coater that went on super easily. I may only keep this one and Jane from the collection. This was taken after about 36 hours of wear with Gelous and Diamont: as you can see, no chips and very little tipwear.

Closeup of Catherine H

Apparently, Catherine Howard was kind of a ditz. Unlike her cousin Anne Boleyn, it's probable that she cheated on Henry -- which is extremely idiotic, given this man's propensity for divorce (or rather, annulment) and beheading. She was much loved while she was in the king's good graces -- apparently, "young, pretty and vivacious" are attractive qualities to middle aged men -- but when he found out she hadn't been faithful... yeah, off with her head. It is said that she spent the night before her execution practicing how to position her head on the chopping block.

I don't mind so much that RBL left off Catherine Parr... after reading about the other five more interesting wives, I was sort of bored by the sixth. But come on... no Anna of Cleves? The ONE political marriage Henry made -- if you don't count Catherine of Aragon, whose marriage to Arthur was political but whose marriage to Henry was not quite as much -- and he couldn't *cough* get it up for her. She ended up with an annulled marriage... but got a boatload of compensation for it. Instead of returning to Cleves, she stayed in England as the King's "much beloved sister" and got a ton of property and money. Her position in society was second only to the queen and the daughters of the king. If I could choose a color for her, it'd be some very luxe shade: maybe a rich, multifaceted gold to represent how well she did for herself eventually. :)

History is so much fun to me. If I hadn't been a psychologist, I might have considered being an historian. There's nothing I like better than to hold and examine old documents, to piece together a story from many different sources. Most of my leisure reading falls under either history or sociology: mostly, trying to understand particular groups of people in particular places. I love being immersed in different worlds through reading.

October 3rd (65m cardio -- I was watching a cake challenge on Food Network and doing some reading and simply lost track of time)

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True Grey: RBL Concrete Jungle

Grey is just fantastic. Worn-to-tissue-paper grey t-shirts...buttery soft leather Lanvin bags...those grey suede pumps that make me feel sexy and cool (and tall)...all things that harbour amazing memories and feelings of comfort and home, but still evoke an alluring sense of coolness and self-confidence that I don't *quite* possess.

I've always loved grey, even to a point where my wardrobe became utterly uninteresting for a while back there in the 90s. So of course I'm totally psyched that grey nail polish has become 'a thing' sometime last year (2 years ago? I'm old..time flies). There are so many different grey hues - ranging from taupe to slate to dusky purple. But this is the truest grey I own! Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle:

Normally I wouldn't post a photo that's partially in the shade, but I think it a) looks cool, b) gives you an idea of how the colour can look in reality. I've heard some people call this a blue-grey, but on me it's just the truest grey that can be. I love it with pale pinks in the summer and navy blues in the winter...it's never loud, never overdone, but also never tame and boring. I get a lot of compliments and questions on this one - makes me feel like the rockstar trendsetter that I most certainly am not!

It shames me to say it, but I also wear this one under a lot of other polishes (OPI Brand New Skates, for example). What a waste of an RBL, you say? I know...but it's just so perfect because it applies gorgeous in one coat, so it's easy to throw on under things to make them opaque! Seriously, another RBL one coat wonder. Worth the money, in my opinion.

So now that grey has been 'hip' for a while, what's your favourite grey polish??

kittytokaren

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STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Volume 1, Part II of II

The rest of the STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Vol 1 polishes...

STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Vol 1 tyrian purple

Nice even red-leaning purple. For those who have been following this blog for awhile, you'll probably know that I'm not a fan of this color generally. I have a ton of clothing in it -- and quite a few polishes -- but I just find it a really boring color to wear (possibly because I've overdosed on it). But I really liked this polish: it applied really well and has sort of a squishy jelly feel to it. Three coats.

STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Vol 1 Dartmouth green

This looks a lot like Dartmouth College's signature green: dark forest green that's got a bit of blue in it. I don't have a pic of it but it's a bit more blue and right in between Orly Enchanted Forest and Orly Wandering Vine in terms of lightness (luminosity? Not sure what the right term is here). It's worth keeping to me because I love dark greens but those who have either Orly might not care to have this polish. Not that it matters after you buy the whole set. Three coats.

STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Vol 1 sapphire blue with Rescue Beauty Lounge Teal (ring finger)

In the bad lighting in my apartment at night, I thought these might be sort of dupey. Yeah, not even close. It's also not dupey to American Apparel Passport Blue, which is darker and dustier. I did three coats here, but it is probably passable at two coats. I really enjoy the glossiness of these polishes!

STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Vol 1 candy apple red with American Apparel Downtown LA (ring finger)

Yup, they are pretty dupey except that the AA is more opaque in three coats than the SB. (It is also slightly less glossy.) I saw on some blog (forgetting which one) that RBL Chinoise is a dupe to AA Downtown LA so we can assume that this candy apple red SB is probably a near-dupe for Chinoise. (Yeah, just get the American Apparel polish.)

I was hoping that of the three SB sets I got, I'd want to keep an entire one intact. This might be the set to keep. :) Anyway, two sets down, one left to go. Though I swear I heard something about a new one coming out soon...

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RBL Grunge + Chanel Illusion d'Or

You're going to get sick of seeing swatches of this, I just know it!

I recently acquired Chanel Illusion d'Or and ever since then I've been layering it over anything and everything whenever I get bored with my mani. I thought I'd share with you the results of one such experiment!

Initially, I was wearing RBL Grunge:

On its own, Grunge is fab. It's what I was hoping OPI Tickle My France-y would be (see my post on that business here). Grunge is another one of those, well, grunge-y taupe colours that I love so much. It is quite close to Essie Jazz, but has more of a pink undertone to it, like the dreaded TMF. However in Grunge the pink is less prominent and makes this polish much more wear-able for ladies with my particular skin tone! The formula was awesome and typical RBL - easy to control, flows nicely, and was perfect in two coats.

But then I got bored...so I reached for Chanel Illusion d'Or and these are the results:

And some shots trying to capture how cool this looks in person...you're going to want to click on these to blow them up!:

And just for kicks, Illusion d'Or on its own (my camera didn't want to focus on the glitter!):

This was 3 coats, and is too yellow for me. It will definitely remain a layering polish for me, and a fabulous layering polish at that. I am going to attempt to post swatches of Chanel Illusion d'Or and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure over several different polish this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled!!

kittytokaren

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Not-Quite Mannequin Hands: RBL Plie

I've been craving pink lately, and since my pink manicure over the weekend didn't pan out, I thought I'd go to one of my old favourites to satiate my colour craving - Rescue Beauty Lounge Plie. For me this is as close to the dreaded (beloved?) 'mannequin-hands' look as I'm going to get! (I've found my correct 'mannequin-hands' shade - but to my eyes it just looks like I got foundation on my fingers - I'm just not into the look despite my deep love of neutrals.)

Plie is my 'not-quite mannequin hands' shade - it is the same depth as my skin tone, but a pinker hue:

This is a pink that works for me - its never too bright or sugary or sweet - it's a genuine neutral that still has a feminine edge. It's calm and pretty. You'd think this colour would be everywhere, but I've never found a dupe for it. (I think the closest I've seen is Essie Not Just a Pretty Face...) I think this is due to this colours' slightly dusty quality - which you know by now I love. It's like pink and greige had a baby! I have a hard time pulling off those vivid baby pinks...I also love that this isn't white against my skin like most pale pinks are on me.

The formula is fab - two easy smooth coats. To be completely honest this is the only light-coloured RBL that I find has the same highly-pigmented-but-not-too-thick as the darker cremes. I've found some of them to be thick and goopy, but streaky at the same time - like spreading marshmallow fluff over your nails. Hate. But this one is all love!!

If I ever get close to running out of this colour, I will definitely re-buy. I have yet to find anything remotely like it! Heck, I may even get a back-up during the next sale late this year.

Do you guys rock the 'mannequin-hands' look? What do you think of Plie?

kittytokaren

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NOTD Rescue Beauty Lounge 360

Feel better, Flinty!

This is a quick post today. My presentation is tomorrow and I'm kind of freaking out. The hubby is on his way home and we're going to eat junk food tonight and watch movies while I finish up this disaster of a presentation. :) Any recommendations for a nail color that inspires confidence and calm?

It's been raining for the past few days so all I have are shady pics, I'm afraid. This is 2 coats of 360, which applied like a dream.

Outdoors:



It is not quite as blue as it appears in my pics. It has a more grey, green tone to it.

Indoors (a little more color accurate):


Thanks for looking!

P.S. Do you guys eat cookies? A colleague gave a presentation today in class and brought in cookies. I was the ONLY ONE who ate a cookie. Everyone else was eating grapes and carrot sticks and they looked at me like I was insane for eating a cookie. I think they're all into organic food and vegetarianism (nothing wrong with that of course) so I guess I'm the freak. Are all people in academia like this?

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Old NOTD: Rescue Beauty Lounge Opaque Nude

I'm going to try to post better pictures of my Minx later today!

This was one of my longest NOTDs in recent memory. Because I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and hiding my nail polish from the visiting prospective students, I ended up wearing this mani for about 3.5 days. Which is a LONG time for me.

RBL Opaque Nude

The photos are slightly off in terms of color: it looked more pink (with hints of dusty purple) on me. It's a pretty beige that's not at all the color of my skin but is still a nice color nonetheless. It took me three coats to get it even but after that, I had a pretty good run with it with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat. It chipped badly on my thumbs on the first day but remained nearly chip-free on all my fingers with very little tipwear until I took it off.

Flying back home tonight. And then, my friends, my spring break commences! Where I will go wild and crazy and be putting together an experiment to run. Because I'm such a hedonist.

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RBL polish comparisons - Square Pants & Teal

I'm finishing up all the RBLs I own today.

Square Pants

(4-5 coats - I can't quite remember)

This one actually has a very slight shimmer to it. Unfortunately, for any fans of this one out there - Square Pants got discontinued recently. I wore this as a mani quite some time ago (last summer) and, like the other RBLs from this mini-collection, it would not dry. But never mind all that, check the streakiness! 4 coats (at least) in and still?? Biissssh plz.


Kokomo

(3 coats)

I like this one more. 3 coats and it's much less streaky. And I think the yellow is a little more flattering. It's just really hard to pull off see through yellow w/out the mind going to places.


***

Teal

(2 coats)

OK. This is color win; it deserves all the praise it gets. But, ugh, I found it to be a chippy SOB. Still, I'm taken w/ this one because the color is so gorgeous. I found the coverage to be almost as good as Dead Calm but not quite. It needs two coats but you can almost get there w/ 1.


I'm surprised there aren't a ton of dark teals out there. Here are mine.

Nfu-Oh 570

(3 coats, middle finger is Teal)

Look at that bottle color! 3 coats and I'm no where near it. Plus this is a jelly, which Teal is most definitely not. Moving on.

StrangeBeautiful Vol1 and Vol3

(Index Vol 1 - 2 coats, Ring Vol 3 - 2 coats)

I think your favorite here comes down to a question of taste. All those colors are awesome. If you like a little more green to your turquoises go w/ Vol1, a little bluer go Teal, a little dusty go Vol3. And the application is universally decent w/ all three. Although, Teal is decidedly less thick. So Teal probably wins the application contest.

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't worn either of the SB teals as a NOTD yet. So I can't speak on that.

Kokomo and Teal win.

FINISHED!

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Happy Legitimate-Excuse-to-Wear-Green-Polish Day!

Most days I get the feeling that non-polish-obsessed people of the world judge green nail polish harshly. St. Patrick's Day is the one day a year where green in all it's forms is not only accepted but openly celebrated! (In fact I've had several compliments on my polish today already!) Now I only have two greens in my collection - this and OPI Jade is the New Black - and I'm usually not a big green polish-wearer, but I felt like I had to go for it this St. Patty's Day...especially seeing as I own no true green clothing (teal is as close as I get) and I don't want to be pinched by drunken revelers!

Here is Rescue Beauty Lounge - Orbis Non Sufficit:

The reason that this is one of the only greens in my collection is because it has a lot of things going for it that I really like - it's an RBL first off - from the limited edition Blogger collection, and it has that great dusty/grey-blue quality to it that just floats my boat. Being extremely cool-toned, I feel like these colours just flatter me and hey, if I'm going to go green I'm going to do it the dusty way!

I'm glad I had an 'excuse' to bring this one out honestly, because I think it's going to be making more frequent appearance in my repertoire! It doesn't even look green-green in a lot of lights - it just kind of looks like the depths of a lake - blue-green, dark and murky. It's moody and mysterious without being overwhelming and definitely isn't 'in your face'. Dare I say it, but this green is...chic?

The formula of this one puts it in the same class as RBL Dead Calm, Mismas and Teal - one coat buttery perfection. I've already raved about this enough!

(Sidebar: I've heard people complain recently about RBLs shrinking when Seche Vite is used as a topcoat. Mine did that too but my easy solution is to put regular old normal OPI topcoat over the colour, wait a few minutes, then apply SV. I got no more shrinkage and the wear is great - I even do this on other polishes that don't shrink with SV just to improve wear time.)

So my St. Patrick's Day manicure isn't as exciting or creative as some that I've seen today, but I'm quite pleased with it! I feel like I've re-discovered a real treasure in my stash! :)

Did you go green for the holiday? What did you choose? I'd love to hear about it/see pictures!

Mono demands that I nap now!

kittytokaren

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RBL polish comparisons - Bikini Bottom & Recycle

My second to last RBL comparison post features a couple colors I'm kind of eh about and one formula I'm crazy about.

Bikini Bottom

(3 coats)

I love milky sheers. Their look just works w/ my skin, what can I say. The drawback is that they tend to be very streaky. (Necessitating multiple coats, which I am unwilling to do for swatches. Sowwy :) ) Bikini Bottom is no different. While I don't mind paying upwards of $10 bucks for a streaky sheer, $18 is just too much.

Electric Avenue

(Middle & Pinky EA 3 coats, Ring BBC 3 coats)

This is not a good replacement option. The color is less pronounced and I think a little bit greener. Worse, it's even more streaky.

Anybody else have any good replacement options for Bikini Bottom? CG Moody Blue perhaps?

***

Recycle

(2 coats)

After swatching this one, I decided I needed to wear it as a NOTD again because I wasn't fair to it the first time. Initially, the color bored me to tears (it still does; I think both Illamasqua and Orly did dark green better), so I ended up putting silly rhinestones all over the pinky and then taking it off altogether w/in a few hours.

Second time around, the wear was great. I wore Recycle for almost 3 days without issue. The last day was the day I moved and my nails held up reasonably well considering the beating they were taking.

Recycle and No More War are the only 2 RBLs I own where I am satisfied w/ the lasting power and the formula. They both have similar consistencies, definitively needing at least 2 coats to get good coverage. Interesting...It wasn't the 1 coaters that impressed me most but the 2 coaters. So, folks, I only own 8 RBLs...Are there any fanatics out there that can tell me which RBLs need at least 2 coats and have that almost-a-jelly creme consistency?

Rampage

(Middle and Pinky Rampage 3 coats, Ring Recycle 2 coats)

It's a little deeper, a little richer, a little jellier, a little cheaper, and a little better.

#569

(Middle and Pinky #569 3 coats, Ring Recycle 3 coats)

Unfortunately, I don't have Orly's Enchanted Forest to do a comparison shot. I bought it right before Xmas and brought it home w/ me for the holidays. My sister saw it and squeeled. What can I say, I'm a sucker for spreading the NP love.

So in lieu of that, here's a kind of unfair comparison w/ 569. Sigh...I love almost black jellies. They are just so cool. I'll say this, Recycle certainly beats 569 in the application and longevity departments (I am not happy w/ Nfu-Oh's jelly formula). But in the color department...

So for now, Bikini Bottom wins in my sheer light blue race. Not an auspicious triumph, however. And Rampage wins in the deeply talented dark green tournament.

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NOTWeekend: Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Golden Tourmaline over Rescue Beauty Lounge Glamourpuss

I do not enjoy red manis but accidentally kept a red mani on all weekend. I put on RBL Glamourpuss on Wednesday night and then layered Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Golden Tourmaline on top Friday morning. See, I was rushing out the house to meet my SO to go to San Francisco for the weekend and I had gotten thoroughly sick of Glamourpuss. I thought I had some time to layer the Golden Tourmaline and slather Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat on top... but I actually didn't have the time and ended up having a massively messed up left hand the entire weekend in SF.

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Golden Tourmaline over RBL Glamourpuss

Golden Tourmaline on its own would probably make for a pretty great red holo but layered over Glamourpuss, it is just a stunning one. (Don't know why there are so few good red holos out there. So many of them end up looking more pink because of the way the light interacts with it.) Not the world's strongest linear holo effect -- though the photos don't show it well -- but it is a pretty nice one. I suppose this is counted as an HTF now though I've seen a few of them on eBay (where I got mine) for anywhere between $5-8 shipped. This is two layers of Golden Tourmaline over Glamourpuss. The photo is from today, which is the third day of wear. I have a lot of work to do tonight to make up for fleeing town this weekend but I really hope to have a chance to change my mani: red just never feels like my color!

Video of Golden Tourmaline over Glamourpuss:

So, why was I in San Francisco, you might ask? (Or you might not, but I'll just keep typing as if you did.) I got to see Tegan & Sara in Oakland on Friday!! :D I am a huuuuuuuuuuuuge Tegan & Sara fan, as I've pointed out before. But I had never gotten to see them live until this weekend. The crowd at the concert was terrible but they were amazing live. I just wish the crowd had been better behaved because from what I've heard (and watched on YouTube), they are often pretty talkative (and so hilarious) between songs... unless the crowd's so bad that they just play through their setlist and scurry off stage as quickly as possible. Which was the case on Friday. Boo. :(

It was highly tempting to record their entire concert on my camera (I had enough for almost a two-hour HD video) but I really wanted to actually BE at the concert. Here is the one song I recorded, from their encore... just in case there are any other Tegan & Sara fans out there. :)

Tegan & Sara, Back In Your Head (Fox Theater, March 5th, 2010)

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Half price, fully awesome.

I'm hoping to hang out with my BFF today, as well as get work, laundry, cleaning, taxes, mail, etc. done so this is gonna be quick!

I *finally* received Rescue Beauty Lounge Teal off of back-order from the 50% off sale in December!!! Yay!!

And it's luscious.....

L: Sunlight, R: Shade

Teal looks like a lake at night under a quiet, clear, starry sky - just the moment before you jump in for skinny dipping. There is something really special about this colour - yeah, it's kind of a vampy and looks pretty dark, but most people around pull the red-toned vamp look, whereas the teal hue is a bit of a subversive surprise. And it looks lovely on my Homer-Simpson-yellow skin! (Plus I have a scarf that matches it...and a wall in my apartment...and eyeliner...and...well lots of things.) For me it's an instant classic - one of my favourite colours ever.

Application is the reason I splurge on these - 1.5 coats. (i.e. Covers almost everything in 1 coat - a couple nails *cough* thumbs *cough* needed a second.) Easy to control, highly pigmented, and shiny. And I have no doubt that like my other RBLs, it will last longer than my attention span. *swoon*

You guys probably already know my insane love for RBLs. D:) posted recently about her more negative experiences and it just reminds me how crazy it is what different body chemistry does to polish! I guess I'm just lucky that it works for me? That's why I love being a part of this blog though - you get different perspectives from different ladies with different body chemistry, nail length, skin tone and taste!

What do you guys think of RBL: love/hate/indifferent/too much $$/worth it/lame?

Also, just wanted to do a quick shout-out to our followers - we just hit 400 and I think that's amazing!! Thanks to everyone who keeps reading/following our blog - you may see it as no big deal, but to us it's huge!! And as always, I love reading your comments. I hope you're all having a great weekend!

kittytokaren

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RBL polish comparisons - Dead Calm & Starfish Patrick

Continuing on w/ my RBL comparisons. In this set we have a 2 colors I love, and 2 formulas I don't.

Dead Calm

(1 coat)

Isn't this color gawwwgeous? The coverage of this polish is well documented and seriously impressive. However, my experiences with staying power left a lot to be desired. I had terrible tip wear w/in mere hours and over the course of 1 day I ran the polish brush over my tips 3 times to combat chipping and tip wear. Not happy.

Neon Sapphire

(Middle & Pinky Neon Sapphire - 3 coats; Ring Dead Calm 2 coats)

This polish is less than 1/10 the price ($1.50) of Dead Calm. The color is slightly lighter and doesn't dry well. But, at $1.50, at least you get close to the color without feeling the sting. Further, I didn't have the annoying tip wear problems.

I like how Flinty described the difference b/w (if I recall correctly) Mismas and Grape Pop. She said it was 6 times the price without being 6 times better. That's exactly what we have here: Dead Calm is 12 times the price without being 12 times better.

Inglot 710

(2 coats - Sorry fuzzy pic!!)

I couldn't help myself. I had to swatch my favorite dark blue ever. It is completely different (thus totally irrelevant) but it is just so AWESOME. Those of you who hate almost blacks, look away. I love you forever, 710!!! *hugs* Wearing this one makes me so happy. It dries to a satin finish but looks bonkers w/ a top coat. No formula complaints.

***

Starfish Patrick

(Middle and Ring 3 coats, Pink 3 coats over 1 coat Underware)

I don't actually have a color comparison for this polish. There is nothing else like it in my collection. I love this color sooo much; it leans on the orange side of peach. I recently swapped away Zoya's Maya; it was the only other jelly peach I had and it was way, way, way too pink to compare anyway.

Problems?

1. It's kinda streaky...Heh check the pinky - streaky color on top of a streaky white. All yours for 36 bucks! *rolls eyes*
2. It really does not dry well at all (much like the KleanColor). And yes, I've tried multiple top coats.
   

There are no comparison winners in this post. Until I get my hands on China Glaze's Peachy Keen, there is only 1 competitor in my orangey-peach challenge. And I do not believe in defacto winners unless the formula genuinely satisfies me (see NMW).

I cannot choose a winner in the dark blue category. 710 doesn't count (it is a navy - wrong color category). And I hate myself no matter which of the other 2 I pick. I choose Neon Sapphire and I groan about the dry time issues, the not as perfect color, and the kind of weird smell KleanColors have. I choose Dead Calm and I'm disgusted for picking anything so expensive and tipwear-y as a winner.

No winners!

read more "RBL polish comparisons - Dead Calm & Starfish Patrick"

As pristine as the newly fallen snow: some white swatches

This is probably going to be a visually boring post as it is devoted to one single color: white. But hopefully it'll be informative to somebody -- hopefully, D's whet some appetites on white nail polish with her Underware comparisons.

I'm pretty much always on a quest for a perfect opaque white creme. WnW White is often recommended. But in my experience, it isn't as fab as WnW Black. Very streaky and chalky on me.

I can't locate photos of all the opaque white polishes I've tried out and so before I forget, here are some of the ones I've tried but won't be showing photos of:

• Anna Sui 015: Soft white. As much as I love the candy rose scent of these polishes, this one was a nightmare. Three coats, totally uneven, goopy, and it never dried. (And it resembled White Out in texture.) Smelled nice... but nice-smelling nail polish is of no use to me when I can't wear it!

• Rescue Beauty Lounge Underware: Stark white. D's covered this one already. I've heard tell that this is a brilliant one-coat wonder! For me, that was simply not true. Three coats, also uneven. I tried it under the pastel jellies like Bikini Bottom for the "lit within" look... It looked pretty bad because the Underware was very streaky. So whatever power other people have over RBLs... I certainly do not possess it.

• CND Cream Washed: Beige-white. Not opaque at all. Trust me, I tried...

• OPI Alpine White: Stark white. It's been years since I've used it but have found this to be a pretty trustworthy white: two coater for me, IIRC.

OPI Tickets to Paradise

This is definitely not meant to be an opaque polish: the photo above shows five or six coats. It also leans a bit pinkish grey. It's a very nice polish with a pleasant jelly finish but not quite what I want in an opaque white creme.

Missha WH001

Soft white. Four coats, still VERY uneven. It was only a couple of dollars but totally not a worthwhile polish for me.

CND Brilliant White

Stark white. Four coats, very easy to build (please ignore the ugly chips that happened because it refused to dry for hours and hours). Certainly very close to what I want in a white (opaque, smooth and creamy in texture) but four coats was pushing my patience. Brilliant White was probably one of the better ones I've tried though!

American Apparel Cotton

Cream white. I like how soft this white is: it just has a tinge of tan in there. It does even out in three coats -- and does apply quite nicely for a white -- but man oh man, did this totally not dry at all.

Revlon Street Wear White Out

And saved the best for last: I need backups of this one. It's closer to a softer white than a super stark white. Passable at two coats but really needs three... but when you apply that third coat, it's opaque white polish perfection. So smooth (though not glossy). And so easy to apply! I hate having a discontinued polish be an HG of any sort -- and thus, the search continues -- but really, quite a jewel of a polish and one of the ones that I got for 4 for $1. :)

read more "As pristine as the newly fallen snow: some white swatches"