rescue beauty lounge surf collection swatches: 360, bangin', and diddy mow

what better way to come back from my little blogging break than with the latest collection from my absolute favorite polish brand, rescue beauty lounge? the spring/summer surf collection is now available again for pre-order through this wednesday, april 7, so i thought i'd share my swatches for those of you who are debating whether or not to take the plunge on these.

by the way, the formula on all of these polishes is absolutely perfect. creamy, smooth, buttery, pigmented... exactly what i expect from rbl. each of these polishes was close to opaque in one coat and was perfect in two.

diddy mow is a completely unique and seriously cool blend of gray and green. i can see myself reaching for this polish again and again and again come fall:


here's a close-up of diddy mow to show its secret shimmer:


360 is a muted medium aqua that's very pretty. it's slightly darker than what i'd normally consider a summery color, but it works:


the secret shimmer in 360 is slightly stronger than the secret shimmer in diddy mow - here's a close-up:


and finally, bangin' is an amazingly bright warm red creme and my current notd. i know many are passing on this color because it seems dupey, but i consider bangin' to be the ultimate, most beautifully pigmented version of my favorite polish color. some browsers are doing funny things to this pic, so please know that this is pure red, not orange at all:


okay, basketball needs my attention again. gordon hayward is so boyishly adorable; i want to fix him a grilled cheese sandwich or something. maybe bring him a glass of chocolate milk.

swatch: bb couture poison ivy

hi everyone, sorry for my absence from the blog lately! the past couple of weeks have been crazy-busy, but hopefully i can get back into the posting groove again smoothly! so without further ado, here's a green notd from last week, bb couture poison ivy:


the formula on this is a tiny bit thick, but i found that worked to my advantage as i was in a rush to get out the door for my st. patrick's day plans and wanted something with serious coverage. and poison ivy didn't disappoint, as it was opaque in two quick coats.

by the way, i don't normally comment on any nail polish's wear time because i change my mani so frequently, but i recall being very impressed with the lasting power of this polish. i kept this mani on for four days last week, and even though i'm seriously hard on my hands, i didn't get even the tiniest chip.

the fact that i was able to keep this mani on for so long when i normally have to change my polish every day out of boredom is also a comment on the quality of the color. poison ivy is a vibrant green creme - brighter in the sunlight (for example, in the picture above) and darker indoors - and i really enjoyed having it on my nails.

and also, for those of you who are coming here from getcha nails did, welcome! thank you brooke for mentioning my little blog!

swatch: american apparel downtown la + china glaze medallion

after i got bored with my aa downtown la mani, i topped it with chg medallion (fine gold glitter and larger holographic glitter in a clear base) to give it a fresh look. please keep in mind that these photos were taken right when i woke up and in the middle of a storm… in other words, not in the best lighting conditions. i can only imagine how blingy this manicure would be in full sunlight!


and here's a blurred close-up to show how glittery and fun this look is:


love! i needed something sparkly to cheer myself up in this gross weather, and this fit the bill perfectly. for the base color, i used two coats of downtown la, and for the glitter effect i used one coat of medallion on my ring and pinky fingers and two coats on my index and middle fingers. just a warning, medallion is a pain to remove, but i'm sure the foil method would get it off quickly and painlessly!

swatch: rescue beauty lounge chinoise

i'm planning on posting today's notd (american apparel downtown la) in the next installment of my swatches/reviews of the aa line of polishes, so for now here's a picture of what in my mind is a somewhat similar red creme - rbl chinoise. please note that the color accuracy of this photo varies from browser to browser - for your reference, chinoise is a cherry red with no orange tones at all.


this polish had smooth application and was opaque in two coats, but for some reason i'm not wowed. first, i think i prefer the creamier, super-pigmented rbl colors - shades like teal, mismas, and orbis non sufficit. second, i think opi does many red cremes that are every bit as good as this polish but come with a much lower price tag. and finally, i just don't think cherry red is my preferred shade of red polish, especially for my skin tone. i like for my red polishes to really pop, and so i gravitate toward uber-bright reds with orange undertones - for example, opi monsooner or later.

bloom bianca + streetwear fx flash: swatch pictures and review

i'm lucky enough to have some gorgeous revlon streetwears in my collection, thanks to a great dusty where i live as well as some generous friends. for some reason, though, i don't break out my streetwears as much as i should, so i'm starting a new feature on my blog to encourage me to swatch and wear my sw collection, one polish at a time. so welcome to streetwear saturdays!

after i got bored with yesterday's bloom bianca mani, i decided to layer one coat of streetwear fx flash (the green/chameleon/mermaid version) on top of it. here's fx flash in the bottle:


and here are some pics of the resultant mani. unfortunately these pictures don't do the manicure justice at all - in real life most of the colors you see in these pictures (the teal, the light green, and the yellow/gold, although not the blue) are much more vivid, and there's also a very strong copper tone to the glitter in certain lights.




i'm completely in love! i described this layered effect as "totally crazy and delicious" to some friends earlier, and the more i look at my nails, the more i think that's the perfect description for this mani.

by the way, if you'd like to see sw fx flash layered over black, please check out this post.

swatch: bloom bianca

bloom polishes unfortunately aren't available in the u.s., which is a shame since i've had my eye on a few for a while! luckily, i was able to score this one through a swap:


the consistency of this polish is a bit odd - it felt like i was spreading a gel over my nails (and a fairly sheer gel at that, as bianca required three or four coats for opacity depending on the thickness of the coats i used). the color is soooo worth it though... i have mermaid nails!

bf says: "your fingernails look like the shells of ten jade turtles."

swatch: opi suzi says feng shui

from opi's recent hong kong collection. from the same collection i also got jade is the new black, panda-monium pink, and red my fortune cookie, all of which i'll hopefully be posting in the near future!


i'm not normally the biggest fan of medium blues, but i do like this one more than i like most others, probably because of its dusty/darkened quality. application on this was smooth, and the polish required two coats to reach opacity.

bf says: "IDEAL BLUE!"