Sunday, September 6, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Rescue Beauty Lounge Matte Top Coat Review
Sometime last week I decided to order some Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes, 5 to be exact and a few days ago they arrived. I haven't been so excited to receive a package in quite some time. I immediately tore open the envelope, ripped through the tissue paper and began to open all the boxes. I picked up four colors (Film Noir, Drifter, Recycle, and Stormy) and while all the colors were gorgeous, I was most interested in the Matte Top Coat initially. With the trend leaning towards Matte this year I didn't want to purchase all new polishes especially when this may be a complete faux-pas next year. While I have invested in a few OPI Mattes and some Zoya Mattes, RBL does not offer any Matte polishes except this top coat which promises to turn your favorite polishes to Matte with just a few swipes. A similar product is offered by Orly and Essie if you are looking for a less expensive alternative. This one was $18 just like all the polishes RBL offers. So onto the review!
The RBL Matte Top Coat is a great addition to any collection, the problem comes when you expect too much out of the product. First I applied RBL Recycle, 2 coats over my Nail Tek II Base Coat. Recycle is a beautiful green, lighter than the Zoya Envy but slightly jelly like and super opaque. Next, I applied 1 coat of the RBL Matte Top Coat. This top coat dries very quickly but, unlike the OPI Matte polishes you do not have the problem of the "brush stroke" look that I mentioned in my previous post. Besides giving you a definite Matte finish there is also that barrier to the polish that you get from using a top coat which you can't get using other Matte color formulations (because a regular top coat will make your Matte finish become shiny). At first the Matte finish is absolutely beautiful and exactly what you would expect but after a day, two at the most, you end up with a satin finish. Now, I know that after a few days your Matte finish will turn Satin with any Matte polish but this one seems a lot quicker. From just hand washing I had two days of Matte perfection but once you throw in using hand cream/lotion (which I can't avoid using here in my dry climate) it was down to one solid day. This is the only problem that I have found with the RBL Matte Top Coat and while it is a pain to reapply top coat it isn't nearly as bad as having to remove all your polish and start fresh. Keep that in mind if you purchase this product.
Overall I give this a 4.5/5 based on price, ease of use and the possibility of repurchasing.
Here's some pics of my Matte RBL Recyle Mani (excuse the pinky--it's finally growing back)...
The RBL Matte Top Coat is a great addition to any collection, the problem comes when you expect too much out of the product. First I applied RBL Recycle, 2 coats over my Nail Tek II Base Coat. Recycle is a beautiful green, lighter than the Zoya Envy but slightly jelly like and super opaque. Next, I applied 1 coat of the RBL Matte Top Coat. This top coat dries very quickly but, unlike the OPI Matte polishes you do not have the problem of the "brush stroke" look that I mentioned in my previous post. Besides giving you a definite Matte finish there is also that barrier to the polish that you get from using a top coat which you can't get using other Matte color formulations (because a regular top coat will make your Matte finish become shiny). At first the Matte finish is absolutely beautiful and exactly what you would expect but after a day, two at the most, you end up with a satin finish. Now, I know that after a few days your Matte finish will turn Satin with any Matte polish but this one seems a lot quicker. From just hand washing I had two days of Matte perfection but once you throw in using hand cream/lotion (which I can't avoid using here in my dry climate) it was down to one solid day. This is the only problem that I have found with the RBL Matte Top Coat and while it is a pain to reapply top coat it isn't nearly as bad as having to remove all your polish and start fresh. Keep that in mind if you purchase this product.
Overall I give this a 4.5/5 based on price, ease of use and the possibility of repurchasing.
Here's some pics of my Matte RBL Recyle Mani (excuse the pinky--it's finally growing back)...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
What I was and am wearing currently
Autumn is my absolute favorite season for nail polish. All the beautiful vampy shades come out along with the golds, oranges and reds that are tried and true favorites. This season has also brought a fairly new texture as well; matte. Now in all honesty I wasn't all too excited to look at mattes let alone wear them so I probably shouldn't have started with the color I did. You Don't Know Jacques? Matte by OPI is an ugly color in the bottle but thank goodness it looks better once it is against a skin tone. Like some other bloggers have mentioned OPI really made a mistake in naming their matte shades the same as their other polishes--adding "matte" to the end of the name implies that the colors are similar to their shiny counterparts--do not be fooled!
Instead of telling you all how annoying I find this naming concept I'd rather talk about wear, application and overall ease of use.
It is recommended that you do not use a base coat with this product although I gave it a try with a base coat. I used Nail Tek II (not foundation) and let it dry thoroughly and then I began applying the Matte polish. Be fore warned this formula starts to dry very quickly so be ready to move fast!
My first coat was nearly opaque and a little streaky to be honest but part of that may have been just getting used to how quickly it dried. My second coat was easier. I applied the second coat a bit thicker than the first. Once the formula was fully dry it was a bit streaky--maybe that's not the right word, it was more like you could seen the brush strokes. While that wasn't all too annoying it was a bit unexpected so keep that in mind. Here's some pictures of what 2 coats look like (in two different lights):
You don't know Jacques? Matte was a bit brown, a bit gray, and a tiny bit plum. Over all the color was surprisingly nice against my skin tone. In terms of wear I really did not have a issue with chipping instead the color just wore away a bit on the tips which always happens. I had two days of perfect wear followed by two days wear the texture changed from Matte to Satin which occurs when you apply lotion, do dishes or any other activity involving a lot of water or cream. Anyways, I will be purchasing a few more OPI Mattes based on this one.
Today I applied one of my new Zoya colors from them "Dare" collection called Envy. Envy is an amazing vampy deep green cream color that in some lights look black and some a jungle camo green. I have always been a fan of the green polishes. This truly made it feel like fall even though it still over 100 degrees outside. Two coats gave an opaque finish and wow! I can't wait to see what this looks like in direct sunlight! Here's some pics of Envy (keep in mind the color looks different in different lights):
In the sunlight...
Don't you just love it! What are you favorite fall nail colors?
Instead of telling you all how annoying I find this naming concept I'd rather talk about wear, application and overall ease of use.
It is recommended that you do not use a base coat with this product although I gave it a try with a base coat. I used Nail Tek II (not foundation) and let it dry thoroughly and then I began applying the Matte polish. Be fore warned this formula starts to dry very quickly so be ready to move fast!
My first coat was nearly opaque and a little streaky to be honest but part of that may have been just getting used to how quickly it dried. My second coat was easier. I applied the second coat a bit thicker than the first. Once the formula was fully dry it was a bit streaky--maybe that's not the right word, it was more like you could seen the brush strokes. While that wasn't all too annoying it was a bit unexpected so keep that in mind. Here's some pictures of what 2 coats look like (in two different lights):
You don't know Jacques? Matte was a bit brown, a bit gray, and a tiny bit plum. Over all the color was surprisingly nice against my skin tone. In terms of wear I really did not have a issue with chipping instead the color just wore away a bit on the tips which always happens. I had two days of perfect wear followed by two days wear the texture changed from Matte to Satin which occurs when you apply lotion, do dishes or any other activity involving a lot of water or cream. Anyways, I will be purchasing a few more OPI Mattes based on this one.
Today I applied one of my new Zoya colors from them "Dare" collection called Envy. Envy is an amazing vampy deep green cream color that in some lights look black and some a jungle camo green. I have always been a fan of the green polishes. This truly made it feel like fall even though it still over 100 degrees outside. Two coats gave an opaque finish and wow! I can't wait to see what this looks like in direct sunlight! Here's some pics of Envy (keep in mind the color looks different in different lights):
In the sunlight...
Don't you just love it! What are you favorite fall nail colors?
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Checkered Nails--No Nail Art Tools required!
Checkered nails has been frequently requested on my channel since I first started in with nail videos. Much like the animals prints that I have done in the past I was not all too enthusiastic for this one but I thought, "If someone wants to see it, I'm happy to do it!" so then came the research. I had no idea how to even begin. My initial thought was to draw a tic-tac-toe board then alternate filling them in...not such a great idea. It is extremely dificult to draw so many straight lines and then fill every other block in without venturing outside of the lines. So then I stumbled on the message that I use in my video--no nail art equipment required!
Here's what the finished product looked like:
If you haven't already checked out the video then click below:
Here's what the finished product looked like:
If you haven't already checked out the video then click below:
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Purple Plaid Nals
Hi Everybody!
It's been a while since I've done a new post--life gets crazy around here. The design I did for this tutorial included a new color that I recently picked up at Ulta. The color Pamplona Purple is part of the OPI Espana Collection and to be honest I had to stop myself from bringing them all home. Each color was gorgeous and unique but, I refuse to pay $8.50 a piece at Ulta so I will be ordering my fav's online via transdesign.com.
Onto the design--
While this pattern looks very easy to do, I find that drawing straight lines is both crucial and extremely difficult. I picked up a couple of tips to drawing straight lines in making this specific design.
If you'd like to see a live tutorial on the above design, click below:
It's been a while since I've done a new post--life gets crazy around here. The design I did for this tutorial included a new color that I recently picked up at Ulta. The color Pamplona Purple is part of the OPI Espana Collection and to be honest I had to stop myself from bringing them all home. Each color was gorgeous and unique but, I refuse to pay $8.50 a piece at Ulta so I will be ordering my fav's online via transdesign.com.
Onto the design--
While this pattern looks very easy to do, I find that drawing straight lines is both crucial and extremely difficult. I picked up a couple of tips to drawing straight lines in making this specific design.
- Balance your hand--just like applying liquid eyeliner find something to balance your drawing hand on to help you
- Move your finger and not the brush- sometimes rolling your hand is the absolute easiest way to draw the line
- Be patient
- Don't be afraid to re-try a nail--no one's perfect
If you'd like to see a live tutorial on the above design, click below:
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