They're back! Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral, Grunge and Moulin Rouge Swatches and Review

Three of Rescue Beauty Lounge's classic but sold out shades have just made their return!  Welcome back Coral, Grunge, and Moulin Rouge!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral 2012

Mediun pink-toned coral creme.

 

Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge 2012 

Dirty pink-tinged taupe/putty/grey with hidden silver shimmer.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Moulin Rouge 2012

Dark chocolate-covered cherry creme.

The formula on these was slightly different than the originals, but still very good.  The main difference is that they're thinner, which also means that they dry faster.  The opacity on all three is excellent, only two coats are needed for complete coverage.

Grunge seems a little different than I remember it- darker, less pink and with added shimmer, but the other two seem to be spot on.  Good to see these classic Rescue shades return!

All three colors are available now on rescuebeauty.com.

(This was sent for review.)

Jessica Awakening Collection Spring 2012 Swatches and Review

What's this? A second spring collection from Jessica? And it's a complete 180 from the flashy, sparkly colors in the previous one. The Awakening collection is all about soft, muted earth tones.


Jessica Flutter. Soft, light taupe creme. It's a mixture of light neutral brown and grey without purple tones. The color of dried clay mud.


Jessica Monarch. A light grey creme. No blue tones. As much as I like blue-toned greys, I have to say that I do actually prefer these more neutral ones. They're easier for me to wear and don't make my hands look as red as some of the blue ones do. But.... why is this drab grey called Monarch? Monarch and Wing It should switch names!


Jessica Sky High. Light blue. Very muted looking, like there's a little grey in here to keep it from looking too bright. I really like this, especially the name.

Jessica Soar. Beige/khaki creme. Maybe a little touch of green to it, but it's subtle.


Jessica Sunrise. Light pink putty creme. Like the others, this one has a muddy/dirty/muted look that keeps it soft and subtle, not white-based bright or chalky. A little bit of a boring color, but I kinda like how it looks on my hands. Feels elegant somehow.



Jessica Wing It. A coral orange frost. It's more colorful and bright than the other colors in the collection, but it is still soft and muted. This is not a bright summer orange. It's very toned-down, not too saturated, and looks even softer and more subtle from the addition of silver frost shimmer.

The formula on these was so-so. It felt a little globby and strange going on and didn't apply in smooth, thin layers. Instead, it applied as thick (yet slightly runny, like early 3-free formulas), uneven layers that stayed wet for a long time and self-leveled after a minute or so. I needed to wait at least 5 minutes between coats because of how long they took to set. Applying a new coat too soon made lumps and bulges in the polish. The brushes in these were also slightly off; they looked frayed and felt unusually loose. Jessica normally has really nice, tight, precise brushes, so that was a surprise. It was difficult to get a smooth application due to the weird texture of the formula and the odd brushes. The opacity of all of these was good so I only needed to do two coats on all. Drying time was long.

Not a terribly exciting or even unique collection, but I did like how creamy and soft they looked on my nails. I wasn't a fan of the formula or application, though. I like Sky High, Monarch and Sunrise the best out of the set. Some of the colors remind me of the Zoya Feel collection.

The Jessica Awakening collection is available now on jessicacosmetics.com.

(This was sent for review.)

Finger Paints Fall Fashionista Collection Fall 2011

Finger Paints' Fall Fashionista collection is all creme. No shimmer at all! I'm really surprised to not see a single shimmer or glitter, but also relieved that there aren't any frosts.


Catwalk Queen. NICE! A murky, dirty dijon mustard color! This is much more yellow than China Glaze Trendsetter (and it's a creme), Street Wear Dijon or China Glaze Classic Camel. It has a tan/cafe tone to balance the yellow and a very dirty/cloudy element that keeps it from looking stark or chalky.



Cordur-Orange. Hands down, my favorite polish in the collection. This may even become my top favorite orange, and that's saying something. This is the most perfect autumn orange. It's warm and cozy, not bright but not too muddy and has this most autumnal 'spiced pumpkin' look to it that's hard to describe. It's muted, yes, but also bold. Saturated. Very, very orange. But not neon, not pure pumpkin, not candy corn... I can only describe it as fall in a bottle. Love this SO much.


Haute Taupe. Light taupe creme, muddy finish, hint of purple but mostly grey and brown. I like it, but I'm still completely taupe'd out.



Military Green. Ooh, interesting. A light and very greyed-out green. Blue toned green, not yellow. Sorta reminds me of Essie Da Bush, but darker and bluer. It bubbled a little on me, but that's probably my fault for doing such a thick coat on the first coat.



Purple Pinstripe. Sort of a... berry purple? A medium red-toned purple with a dusty finish. Nice color, but not unique.



Raspberry Taffeta. (Spelled Raspberry Tafetta on the label, not sure which is the actual name) And this one's a true berry, strong red-purple look to it. DO NOT WANT.



Stunning Stilettos. Very light cloudy grey creme with a pale blue undertone. Again, pretty but not unique.



To-Teally Chic. This looks way more bright blue in my picture, but it's really a medium teal. More green tone. Think Barielle A Bouquet For Ava.



Vintage Velvet. A really dusty/smoky/faded light teal. Makes me think of Misa Dirty Sexy Money, but this is darker and bluer. Same dusty finish on a teal creme.


The formula on these was beautiful. They were very thick, but completely smooth and even. One coat opacity on all the shades except Stunning Stilettos. One coat! I love that. I did two anyway because I was curious. Long dry time, but all shades dry to a super glossy finish even without topcoat.

Overall... I feel indifferent toward the collection as a whole, but I am in LOVE with Cordur-Orange and quite fond of Catwalk Queen. Most of these are colors we've seen before, but the advantage these have is a one-coat opaque formula. That, and they're inexpensive. I do wish this collection wasn't so somber looking, but I see the theme they were going for. Maybe they'll do something more cheerful for winter.

I think these fall collections are starting to look depressing to me... Anyone else? Such faded, drab colors... And I do like drab colors but there's so many of them this year with no sparkle to balance them! Really have my fingers crossed that all the holiday collections will be sparkly and happy this year.

(These were sent to me for review.)

OPI Touring America Collection Fall 2011 Swatches and Review

OPI's fall collection is a different take on their usual theme. Instead of focusing on one specific location (Russia, Spain, Chicago, et cetera), they're going on a coast-to-coast road trip across the States (well, I guess America is a specific place, now that I think about it). This is also a really different collection color-wise than their usual fall collections. I have mixed feelings about it, to tell you the truth... But let me post the swatches before I start rambling.


Are We There Yet? This is a really dusty light salmony-coral orange with a hint of shiny pink/gold duochrome shimmer. It reminds me of of a much lighter, less saturated Essie Brazilliant, but with less shimmer. The shimmer is extremely subtle and only comes out in bright light.


A-Taupe The Space Needle. This looks much more green toned on my skin than it does in the bottle. In the bottle it's a warm light brown, taupe really, and doesn't really look green. On my skintone (cool/pink undertones) it seems olive-based and the color does dry at least a whole shade darker than it appears in the bottle. I like this one, it's very camouflagey!


Color To Diner For. This is a murky-looking medium warm cranberry with some really cool shimmer in it. The shimmer seems almost holographic- it shifts colors a lot and it is very shiny. However, the shimmer is very fine and subtle and only really comes out in bright sunlight.

French Quarter For Your Thoughts. This is another one that seems to dry a whole shade darker than it looks in the bottle. In fact, almost every shade in the collection is like that. The color of this is a light smoky grey. In the bottle it seems to have a yellow tone to it, but on my nail it seems more neutral. Very cement looking.


Get In The Expresso Lane. 'Expresso'... I know it's supposed to be a pun (express lane, espresso brown polish), but that word bothers me! I know... irrelevant. The color is a nice one- a dark vampy neutral espresso brown with a distinct muddy/dusty/smoky look to it. Lighter than Zoya Codie.


Honk If You Love OPI. Another nice vampy fall shade- this one is a red purple creme. Too warm to be eggplant, too cool to be wine... I'm going to go with grape. Dark grape. It looks a little darker here than it does in real life; it looks distinctly purple and not black on my nails.


I Brake For Manicures. I'd certainly hope so... Because it's really tragic when you don't brake for manicures. In fact, I'd say don't mix vehicles and manicures at all! Anyway... This is not as similar to Honk If You Love OPI as it seems in my picture. It's a very dirty smoky purple. Very greyed out, dusty and faded looking. Reminds me a bit of Rescue Beauty Lounge Recherche.



I Eat Mainely Lobster. I have great memories of eating lobster in Maine, so perhaps I'm a little biased, but... This is the best of the shimmer shades. I'm really not particularly crazy about any of them, but this one is at least pretty. It's a bright coral (makes me think of My Chihuahua Bites) with duochrome pink/gold shimmer. Like the other shimmers shades, the shimmer in this one is super subtle and only comes out in sunlight. When it does, it's pretty, but otherwise it's nearly unnoticeable.



My Address Is "Hollywood". Ack. What is this? Dusty rose? Mauve-salmon? I can't even... It's just... Dare I say it? Ugly. Sorry guys. Please don't take that personally if this is a color you like. It's just not my thing. It's that sort of dated dusty rose matronly granny color that I thought we had abandoned for good in the 80s. In its defense, it does have a really pretty duochrome shimmer in it, but it's so subtle you don't really notice it. Next...



Road House Blues. Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel... This color is so hard to photograph but it's so pretty. It's a dark dusty indigo creme. It appears pure blue in my pictures, but it's actually in between blue and purple. Perhaps what one might call "blurple"? It reminds me a whole lot of OPI Sapphire In The Snow and from pictures I've seen, perhaps even the super-rare OPI Madewell To Order.


Suzi Takes The Wheel. The name of this one cracks me up. The color is interesting as well. It's a very, very grey light green... Or is it actually a green light grey? It's blue toned and closer to Rescue Beauty Lounge Diddy Mow than it is to Essie Da Bush.



Uh Oh, Roll Down The Window. Haaahahahaha! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my juvenile sense of humor can't get past this one. Seriously. Excellent name. Good color, too. Murky, smoky olive green. Darker and more blue toned than Zoya Dree.


The formula on these was good but not perfect. Some shades were pretty streaky (the shimmers), some were a little thinner than I'd like. Otherwise, they were fairly easy to apply but not as thick and opaque as I expected. I used three coats of each shade; each one needed it. A couple had defective brushes with uneven bristles, but not as severe as they were back when India was released. Drying time was excellent, lightning fast. Another formula-related note: Lots of unmixed pigment in the camouflage creme shades. I had some streaks of pigment during application because I didn't shake them well enough.


Weird collection, right? I really don't like the shimmers- I think the pink and coral shades are boring and don't feel like fall to me. If they had more of that delicious duochrome shimmer, I might feel differently. But, they don't. Snore.

I do like the camouflage colors and the vampy purples. Smoky, murky, dirty, nasty muddy shades are some of my favorites and these are all excellent ones. They're edgy without being bright and obnoxious. Grunge colors. And vampy purple is always one of my go-to manicure shades. The only problem with them is that they're not unique. We've been seeing these colors all over lately and I'm sure there's probably a dupe for each one somewhere out there.

I like the names, I like the color selection on the creme finish shades and I like the theme... I'm disappointed by the choice of colors for the shimmer portion of the collection and I'm also a little bummed that there's nothing glittery or un-dupable here. Great names, though. Nothing too cheesy and I got a chuckle out of a few of them.

So, that's why I have mixed feelings on this collection. I like (most of) the colors and the names, but I think I expected something... different? But if you asked me, I couldn't tell you what I would have done differently! Maybe not chosen mauve-salmon-coral-cranberry shimmers, but that's a given. Oh well. Camouflage colors are cool.

(These were sent to me for review.)

Essie Spring 2011 Collection

Essie's spring collection is pretty nice this year. Take look:


Essie Coat Azure. This is closer to bottle color in real life; my camera makes it look more vibrant than it really is. It's a soft, dusty looking sky blue with some subtle silvery shimmer. It's in the same vein as Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine H finish-wise, with the light blue dustiness and subtle shimmer, but the colors are quite different.


Essie French Affair. You've seen this one on me a few times now! A pink that I actually like. This one is different because it has a bit of lavender in it, it's not too warm like a lot of pinks, but it's also not so cool that it just looks purple. Pretty close to my idea of a perfect pastel pink creme.


Essie Kisses And Bisses. This one is hard to capture because it's so sheer, but I can describe it. It's a sheer ivory tinted base with a duochrome pearl shimmer. The shimmer flashes between red and pink at one angle to gold, orange and even a tiny bit of green at an extreme angle. It is sheer, I'm wearing four coats here, but it's amazing for layering:

Left to right (pinkie to index):
Essie Kisses and Bisses, two coats, over Essie French Affair
Essie Kisses and Bisses, two coats, over Essie Sand Tropez
Essie Kisses and Bisses, two coats, over Essie Nice is Nice
Essie Kisses and Bisses, two coats, over Essie Coat Azure

It looks awesome over all the colors in this collection. It turns the cremes into red-pearl duochromes! I think it looks especially incredible over Sand Tropez. This is my new favorite layering polish. Love this color.


Essie Nice is Nice. This one was a little hard to capture, it's not as blue as it looks here. It's closer to the sunlight picture. It's a pastel lavender creme. Very soft and flattering.


Essie Sand Tropez. This shade is a beige sandy nude creme. It has a little bit of grey, a little bit of taupe, very much a 'mushroom' type of shade. It's lighter than a lot of the taupey putty mushroom shades in my collection and I'm very fond of it. Especially layered with Kisses and Bisses!

Essie Topless and Barefoot. This one is similar in feel to Sand Tropez, but it's a pink, fleshy nude instead of beige. It's putty colored. Like someone said about Borghese Almondine, this totally reminds me of Silly Putty! Now I have the urge to play with Silly Putty. Especially since it looks so nice on my nails!

The formula on these was nice and even. I didn't have any issues with the formula itself, but the opacity isn't what I was expecting. They're not sheer, but lately when you see colors like this, they're one-coaters. These needed two at the very least, but I did three just because. They do look best with three. Drying time is quick and these wear pretty well, too.

Overall, strong spring collection. Are the colors totally unique? No, we've all seen these before. Despite not being completely unique, the colors are all perfect. They're just really great pastels. They all look good on and they're all even better layered with Kisses and Bisses. I would wear every single one of these (and I have worn them all but Topless and Barefoot!), they go perfectly with my skintone, none of the dreaded lobster hands. They all have a soft, creamy look instead of a chalky white-out look. I don't mind the chalky look at all, but the creamier finish of these is easier to pull off for most people.

I like 'em. Do you?

(These were sent to me for review.)