Rescue Beauty Lounge - IKB:2012 and Comparison

Can you believe it's nearly October!? I know I say that every single time the month changes, but I'm still gobsmacked.

Today I have a lot of preparation to do! Craig and I are taking a long weekend to Portland, Oregon for a wedding, and I am super excited! I love the west coast and cannot wait to go back, and we leave tomorrow!
ahhh....it's now 3PM and I haven't gotten anything done :/ Oh Pinterest, I blame you.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have nothing on my nails right now. Zilch. The pictures below of Rescue Beauty Lounge's IKB:2012 were taken a few days ago:





How GORGEOUS.
I swatched these without a top coat because I wanted to show you the texture of the polish itself. It does not dry shiny but has an odd, suede finish. The formula is workable, but not what I've come to expect from RBL unfortunately. I think this has something to do with the fact that the polish is almost pure pigment.

This post is really painful to write. IKB:2012 is unfortunately no longer available from Rescue Beauty, and I feel horrible for posting about a polish you can no longer get (unless you were to succumb to Ebay scalpers).
I not only regret that, but also because this color brings up evocative memories of a certain special mad man and his little blue box. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Because yes, IKB:2012 is TARDIS blue perfection.

HOWEVER I have an alternative!

Revlon's Royal is not (in my books) remotely close to IKB:2012, but I think for the price, the differences can be negated. ($6 vs $20? I think so)


Royal on index and ring, IKB:2012 on middle and pinkie

At any rate, Royal is much more jelly-like, darker and deeper, and more purple to my eye. I almost regretted buying IKB:2012 when I purchased Royal because the formula is miles better, and the color is so much richer. I think that for some, Royal might be an acceptable alternative.

Dupe? I would say not a chance in hell, but an alternative certainly.

See you guys on Friday! I'll be trying to update while in Portland, but I can't make any promises. I'm notoriously bad at blogging while away from my desktop!

Essie - Blood Curdling

I hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was lovely, we went to a brewery (Jester King Brewery to be exact) with some of Craig's coworkers and we had quite a good time, but I was very sleepy on the drive home!



For nail polish I was in a bit of a vampy mood, so I've chosen Essie's Blood Curdling for today. Blood Curdling is a deep red and burgundy color which is very near to being a jelly. It flattens out to a creme with each additional coat; this is shown at 2 coats.



How perfect is this for that whole oxblood color trend for fall!?

Essie - Bone Chilling

I'm feeling a bit poorly today and am finding it difficult to get anything done, although my to-do list is continually growing. And while I would much rather prefer to let myself wallow, that's only going to create more problems for myself.
SO, it's time to pick myself up by my bootstraps and push myself into action today!

Essie's Bone Chilling from the Morticia's Nails Collection. Not so stark white that it looks like white-out on the nail, but not a jelly either. Crisp, cool, and a little unusual. Can you tell I'm loving neutrals lately?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Zoya - Dove

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I think it's safe to say that I've started to really enjoy Texas. I'm extremely resistant to change; I get grouchy if we rearrange the living room. So being able to say that I am settling in nicely (dare I say, enjoying?) my new home is really exciting.

That being said, there are a few things that I'm missing. Back in Colorado, the aspen leaves have started to change for fall and there are patches of gold all over the landscape. As much as I'd like the tree outside my window to change as well, it remains stubbornly green.

On a more beauty-related note, here is Dove, a beautiful, light grey from Zoya.

Dove is your perfect light grey. Not as blue toned as RBL's Concrete Jungle, but isn't too yellow either (as I've found some grey shades to be).

Very elegant and very simple, and perfect for fall.

See you Friday!

A Small Vacation

Hey everyone! I apologize for the unannounced blogging break. I recently took a trip to Ohio to see my extended family and wasn't able to blog the entire time I was there! I had originally intended to post while I was there but things got away from me :)

Here are some (many) photos from my trip:



Denver International Airport, where I joined my parents for our connecting flight to Ohio



This mojito, which was delicious



These flowers in my grandmother's garden



And last but not least, the rain. Driving through it was terrifying, but the thunder was exciting!

I'll be back on Wednesday with a more nail-related post!