R29 + Rescue Beauty Lounge: Better Than Boyfriend Jeans

I'm a sucker for baby blues, so when Rescue Beauty Lounge unveiled its latest collaboration with Refinery29, I ordered Better Than Boyfriend Jeans without skipping a beat. It is such a pretty icy blue – it reminds me of Dior Glacier (less blue and more silver, shimmery) which I missed out on years ago. BTBJ is a different polish under varying light. It picks up more blue when indoors, and takes on a glacial quality when under sunlight. I needed three layers to get it to full opacity (apply with a light hand to avoid streaks). I think it'll be beautiful peeking out of gloves when the snow hits.

The only other color I purchased from the collection was another in-between shade, the green/blue called Sunny Skies.

It's a pity that my mind was an auto-mode when I ordered the two shades, because now I'm regretting not getting Pretty Gritty, a purple with fine gold shimmer. I own the original IKB, which is why I didn't spring for All About Yves, though I've heard that the latter has a superior formula. You can enjoy swatches of the rest of the collection at Makeup Withdrawal.

The R29 + Rescue Beauty Lounge collection is exclusively available on rescuebeauty.com. Each polish retails for $20.

Beauty PSA: Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection 2.0

Just a short one to let you know that voting is now open for the Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection 2.0. As always, I wish Ji could make all of them, but since time and resources are always in lack, we only get to pick two. I've narrowed my list down to five:

Finalist 1, "The color of grass kissed in dew."

Finalist 4, Red Rocks during sunset.

Finalist 6 (the picture of the fruit!!)

Finalist 7, whose inspiration board was too long to screen capture. Pink with hints of seafoam and gold shimmer.

and Finalist 12, because I cannot resist a good gray.

Voting is open internationally and ends September 19, 2012 at 12pm EST. Who will you be voting for?

All screenshots taken from the Rescue Beauty blog.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poppy

Every Rescue Beauty Lounge post I write begins with a quick visit to rescuebeauty.com to make sure the polish in question hasn't already sold out. In this case, you're still in luck, but not for long.

Some time ago, Ji blogged about a devastating letter she received in regards to her GOMM collection. Among its stipulations were a name change to all the polishes and a ban from them being brought back in the future (for those new to RBL, Ji holds Bring it Back votes from time to time so newcomers will have a chance to acquire older colors). This collection in particular was a result of her admiration for a certain artist's work and seeking to channel it through another medium that she loved. Undoubtedly, in turn she introduced the artist and her work to thousands of other women. To hear that her work was attacked and disrespected by the very people who should embrace it... As a longtime RBL fan, I know the hard work and effort Ji puts into each of her polishes, so I can only imagine her heartbreak.

Back to the polish: I purchased the entire collection during pre-order and showed Abiquiu and Santa Fe Road earlier. The picture above features Poppy, a shimmering red that befits the name. I applied two coats out of habit. Texture is smooth and lovely, as only expected from the brand.

At the time of her blog post, she was told she had six months to sell the GOMM polishes. I personally don't believe it will remain in stock that long. Poppy retails for $20 and is exclusively available at Rescue Beauty, which offers free shipping for US orders over $100 and international orders over $200.

An Update (and ooh nail wheels!)

(all pictures can be clicked to enlarge)

I spent the last weekend in Vermont and experienced firsthand a sort of modern rustic American lifestyle. I hiked, I ate eggs straight from the chicken, we sat around a campfire with a guitar at night, we had waffles with oodles of local butter, fruit, and maple syrup. Then, I came back to the city and it became a little tough to get back to the swing of things, largely because the phoneless, Internet-less trip was perfect to ignore a few brewing problems (such as having to get a job within the next 51 days or I'll have to leave the States). It's been three days and I'm still finding new insect bites. Those are uncomfortable.

Most bloggers will tell you nail polish posts are the easiest to write, so what better to make myself get back into blogging again than a plethora of polishes? These (shamefully) aren't all of my nail lacquers. There's another shoe-box-full that I haven't managed to swatch. The reason I nail wheeled it (read this ala Barney Stinson. I chuckled) is so I know what polishes I actually own and what to avoid buying more of. It's been as helpful as I thought it would be and I've started wearing long forgotten colors again.

Butter London

Dior

Chanel

Le Métier de Beauté

Rescue Beauty Lounge

Rescue Beauty Lounge

I didn't intend to label them, since this is really just an "ooh colors!" kind of post, but if you want to know the name of a specific color, I'll try my best to reply you in the comments.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Georgia On My Mind Collection: Santa Fe Road and Abiquiu

Just as I was about to throw down the towel and declare a beauty rut, a package arrives on my doorstep to remind me that not every company is bound by "colors of the season." Many of the varied counters in department stores are owned by the same parent company, and the products of the season tend to have the same vibe, so trips to the beauty floor quickly become stale. Ji from Rescue Beauty Lounge works on her own, (dare I say) unpolluted by outside influences. She picks an inspiration and charges on with it, and I absolutely love her for doing so. Her most recent collection is inspired by the artist Georgia O'Keeffe (Ji describes the entire creation process in this blog post). 

Ram's Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills, 1935

There are seven luxurious shades to choose from in the collection, and I purchased all of them (I've gotten into the habit of acquiring full RBL collections during pre-orders). For today, however, I'll show you my two favorites: Abiquiu and Santa Fe Road. Abiquiu is lime green with silver microshimmer, while Santa Fe Road is an apricot orange that sports a denser microshimmer.

direct sunlight

cloudy

A close-up of the microshimmer in Santa Fe Road:

Both polishes apply flawlessly and could very easily be one-coaters. They are $20 each.

Ji just finished shipping out pre-orders and will release the collection to the public soon. The best way to get latest updates on Rescue Beauty Lounge is to follow the brand on their Facebook or Twitter.

My Nail Routine

Inspired by Dain of Ars Aromatica's meticulous explanation of her manicure, and the fact that this is way overdue anyway, here's a post detailing my nail care routine. Most of what I learned was from Rescue Your Nails by Ji Baek of Rescue Beauty Lounge and observations from my few visits to nail salons.

The Routine

L-R: Zoya Remove+, cotton, cuticle stick, Deborah Lippmann Cuticle Remover, Buffing Block, Rescue Beauty Lounge Nail File

I file my nails using the Rescue Beauty Lounge Nail File ($65), my preferred shape being the squared oval (squoval?). I try to stay away from nail clippers since it usually chips my nails. 

Pardon the yellowness – as you might expect, I paint my nails too often and leave the polish on for too long at a time. Occupational hazards, I say.

Then, I buff my nails to ensure a smooth surface for the polish. Any buffing tool will do. I currently use the (discontinued) 4-Step Buffer from Sephora. 

I realized cuticle work is the second most important aspect of the manicure after polish application, and arguably the hardest to master. First, I apply a drop of Deborah Lippmann Cuticle Remover on each cuticle, then I use a disposable cuticle stick wrapped with loose cotton (with a smidgen of polish remover to help adherence) to push the cuticles in. 

I use the leftover bit of cotton with Zoya Remove+ to wipe off the excess product on the nail.

The Base

I use the Rescue Beauty Lounge Treatment System (Base Coat Prep, Base Coat, Top Coat) with all my nail polishes. The Base Coat Prep ensures the nail is completely dry (no oil residue) before I begin painting my nails. This makes the polish last longer. The Base and Top Coat are pretty self-explanatory.  So far, I've gone through two Base Coats and three Top Coats, and I foresee many more in the future.

The Result

Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge

An example from yore. I'm still very proud of this manicure

Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge

The Removal

I remove my nail polish with Zoya Remove+. Teen Vogue Beauty Director Eva Chen (whom I adore) suggested in a recent tumblr post to fold a piece of square cotton into quarters and only wipe on the nail during removal to avoid drying out cuticles, which I will begin to practice from now on.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily

Lips: Chanel Calypso

I always wondered how "the color of the season" happens. Is it the color of the season because magazines proclaim it? Or beauty companies bombard us with it? How does virtually every company come out with the same colors at the same time? And how do we really feel about Pantone and the yearlong Tangerine Tango plug? I personally wish they weren't so blatant about it. 

Anyway, I happened to notice I had two of the "colors of the season" on yesterday (in more ways than one, apparently - see iPhone cover below!). They make a fabulous combination.

On my fingers is Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily from the recently released fan collection. You would think by now I should be sick of blue polishes, but I swear Ji can make even clear polish interesting, much less a color that has the potential for so much nuance. Aqua Lily is a teal blue that reflects violet shimmer in the light. My pictures don't do this color justice - I can't seem to capture reflected shimmer! This color requires two coats to achieve opacity, and is consistent to the RBL formula, which is to say smooth, pigmented, and an absolute pleasure to apply. 

Indoor Lighting

Shade

Sunlight

At the moment, Aqua Lily (along with the fabulous International Klein Blue-inspired shade IKB: 2012) is sold out on the website, but Ji just posted an inventory update on her Facebook page saying they're both still available in extremely limited quantities. If you're interested in the colors, do follow her on Facebook for an update on when they will be available once again, or keep checking the website! Be warned: once it's sold out, it won't be available again unless voted back in the future.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily retails for $20 and is exclusively available at rescuebeauty.com. Good luck to anyone who's jonesing to snag one!

Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like and Rescue Beauty Lounge Moxie

As soon as I am unable to easily describe a color, I know I have to have it. 

One such hue is Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like. I want to say it's a purple-blue creme, but that is such a lackluster description compared what it actually is. All I know is I might wear it to my graduation in May because it bears a startling resemblance to my school colors. 

On the other hand (or shall we say, finger), Rescue Beauty Lounge Moxie is a pearlescent white gold that adds a touch of class to fingernails. This type of color is usually a nightmare in application because of the obvious brushstrokes that remain after drying. Moxie is among the good ones: you'll see the faintest traces of a brush after it dries, but I think that's as good as it can get with such colors.

Both polishes feature beautiful formulas. I did two coats each though I believe I Know What Boys Like could be a one-coater.

Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like retails for $16 and is available at neimanmarcus.com, whereas Rescue Beauty Lounge Moxie retails for $18 and is exclusively available at rescuebeauty.com.

Rescue Beauty Lounge: An Introduction, 360 and Anne

I consider this super time-sensitive information so I'm taking a not-so-quick break off my reading to post this!

I haven't blogged about Rescue Beauty Lounge before, but let it officially be known that it is my favorite nail polish brand. Within my modest nail polish collection Rescue Beauty Lounge trumps all other brands in terms of the sheer number that I own. I've also had the pleasure to visit the physical salon before it closed down and it is where I received the best and cleanest mani/pedi of my life. The experience set such a high standard in me for how nail salons should be that since then I haven't been tempted to visit any other. I'm afraid I've become something of a nail salon snob.

I've also had the pleasure to meet RBL founder Ji Baek, who is so incredibly stylish (she looked like an elegant phoenix the day I met her) and nice in person. It was great to put a face to the name and stellar personalized customer service I receive from the company. I also stalk the Rescue Beauty Facebook page quite frequently and actually remember the conversation where RBL fans first coined the term "ReBeL" to describe the most ardent of followers. 

So why is this time-sensitive? For those who aren't familiar with the brand, the Rescue Beauty Lounge color collection only consists of about four to five "core" colors, while everything else is limited edition. Once it sells out, it will be gone forever unless voted back during Bring it Back events. RBL has one of the best and most consistent nail polish formulas in the industry and many of the colors Ji doles out are truly unique (unfortunately, currently many of "the best" are already sold out). 

Now, Ji just released a new batch of BiBs, consisting of some of the most coveted shades in recent RBL history. Mismas, Scrangie, and Orbis Non Sufficit were created in collaboration with three premier nail bloggers and was brought back in one go due to overwhelming support. There's Locavore, which I didn't get because I'm not too huge on multi-colored glitter, and then there's 360 and Anne, which I voted for and was so grateful they came back because they were sold out by the time I joined the party.

360

I don't know the back story for 360, but I used this shade for my manicure when I visited the Lounge and thus an instant love and longing for this dusty blue-green shade was born. It's a total one-coater (though of course I did two) and like all RBL shades was a dream to apply. They last like you wouldn't believe as well. When I did my nails at the Lounge it took two weeks before they even started to chip. While I don't have the same skills of their technicians, I've done my dishes thrice since application and I barely spot a chip in my manicure. This definitely does not happen with most of my other polishes. 

Anne

The dusky olive-green Anne was part of the Tudor collection inspired by four of Henry the VIII's wives. This collection has been in such high demand that Ji has promised to Bring it Back before the end of the year. I already own Catherine H and Jane, and I'm excited to be able to complete my collection of the four queens soon.

My photos don't do Anne justice. In this two-dimensional view I can't seem to capture the warm brassy undertones you'll see when it reflects light. This polish is a delight for the eyes, as it will look different in every lighting situation. Even just looking at the color in the bottle provided me with an inordinate amount of fascination and fun.

The great thing about Ji is she makes sure she has ample quantities of limited edition goods so they won't sell out before the collection reaches the public (email subscribers get first dibs on new releases). That said, some of her products are in such high demand that I heard a couple of these BiBs are already at less than 50 percent inventory.

I recommend a good amount of anxiety at the thought of missing out on RBL's limited edition shades. I've learned from previous mistakes that it is better to trust Ji and order every single piece in her new collections rather than wait, because it's easier to swap or sell the unwanted shade (if any!) than to procure it on a later date (a quick eBay search will show that some of her older colors go up to $50 or higher).

Rescue Beauty Lounge 360 and Anne retail for $18, as do all of her other polishes, and are exclusively available at rescuebeauty.com. The company provides free shipping to U.S. orders over $100 and international orders over $200.

Butter London Toff

Aaaaaand we have a winner! Just in the nick of time too. Rola gets the virtual monthlong supply of Emergen-C with the correct guess of Butter London Toff. May you never have to reach for a real packet.

I love that the answers from yesterday's Guess What were so varied. Out of all the answers I only had Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised on hand, so I whipped it out for a little comparison.

Top-bottom: RBL Bruised, BL Toff

L-R: BL Toff, RBL Bruised

Very close, but not quite. Bruised is just a smidge of a tone darker. 

Now for the goodness of Toff. I mentioned some months ago that I will own it - now I do, and it's brilliant. Toff is Butter London at its best. Smooth application, opacity (I did two coats just because, but you could easily get away with one), insert all adjectives for a good polish and it's right here in this dusty rose bottle. 

Toff retails for $14 and is available at butterlondon.com and various other e-tailers. I purchased mine at ulta.com, and they still have the nifty buy two get one free offer going on. I say take full advantage of it!