My Guest Post on Polished to Precision

Hi there! I wanted to tell you about an awesome blog that I'm guest posting on today! Tiffany from Polished to Precision asked me to do a post for her blog while she's on vacation and I happily accepted. I reviewed a polish from Pretty Serious Cosmetics called Viscous Vampire for the post be sure to check it out!

This black and white photo is just a teaser, please visit the post HERE to see it in full glory :)  Her blog is really great and if you aren't subscribed to her posts you totally should be! Thanks for stopping by today and we'll see you again soon!

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Rescue Beauty Lounge Italian Summer Collection Swatches & Review

Hey folks, today I have another collection from Rescue Beauty Lounge! It's exciting to have another one so quickly, her releases are usually further apart but I don't mind at all because you know how I adore my RBLs! This collection is called Italian Summer.

Press Sample

The whiff of cool ocean breezes tickling your hair and the gleaming sun kissing and embracing your skin as you deeply breathe in the fragrances of flowers in full bloom, this, to me, had always symbolized summer. - Ji Baek, Italian Summer Press Release

First up is Gelato Al Cioccolato, of course inspired by chocolate gelato, a delicious Italian treat. I love taupe and I actually really enjoy brown polishes so this color is just perfect for me. In the sun it almost looks like it has a hint of purple which is cool. It was nice and buttery and was perfectly opaque in two coats. Mmm I can almost taste the chocolate just looking at this one!

Bicicletta is inspired by a young girl's pale pink sparkly bike Ji saw while in Italy. This is a gorgeous soft pale pink with lavender undertones. It's filled with the tiniest micro glitters ever, in silver and pink. This went on very smooth, great opacity in two coats. Reminds me of sugar, yum!

This is sexy. Gondoliere is a hot little number. It's named for the men who steer the gondolas floating in the canals around Venice. It's an orange based red, more so than previous RBL Bangin (which I sadly don't own). Almost a perfect one coat wonder, but I used two. It has that great thin but crazy pigmented and smooth crème formula that I love. If I was more of a red kinda girl, this would be on my digits on the reg. It's that good.

Now this color is more my normal style, Oliveto is an olive green that "reflects the flash of rainbow and purple and periwinkle shimmers". This is inspired by olive groves and the rustling olive branches in the sun. This was way more shimmery than I first expected looking at the bottle and I love it. Was a little thicker than the others. This is two coats.

When I first saw Motorini, I was like, Aqua Lily? Is that you? Nope, it's not, but that's alright, it really stands on its own. Inspired by Ji's perfect scooter color, this is a darker and more blue version of Aqua Lily. I think it's a cross between it and Faraway. The shimmer is a purple toned pink which flashes in the light. It just glides on your nails, ahhh. Perfect in two thin coats.

A shade inspired by cats? I'm in heaven ;) Meow Meow comes from seeing the bright green eyes of cats flash in the dark during late night strolls in Italy. This glitter is really something, the bright springy hunter green is mixed with black which really makes the color pop. In the sun it almost has a navy look, but it's definitely black. This was harder to apply but not too difficult. I spread it like normal polish on the first coat, then kind of dabbed and pushed the glitter around on the second coat and it's pretty much totally opaque. It dries matte so top coat is necessary for a smooth look.

Melanzane is the last shade of the collection, inspired by eggplants. I have actually never tasted an eggplant, but they are pretty to look at. This is the same formula as Meow Meow, but with different sizes of glitter. The bigger pieces are in two shades of purple, a bluer one and a straight violet. The micro glitters are green which gives a ton of depth to the shade. This was easier to make look completely opaque. Two coats with top coat, as this also dries matte. Fabulous!

Please take a look at Ji's inspiration video and her press release to learn more about this collection. Also, please check out the other RBL reviewers: Scrangie, NailsandNoms, Polish Police, Fashion Polish, Peachy Polish, Makeup Withdrawal, Manicurator and Warm Vanilla Sugar. Refined and Polished will have hers up at a later date.

These will go on pre-order for 48 hours on Monday, August 11, 2014. You can only get the link to the pre-sale emailed to you if you sign up for the RBL email list on their website beforehand. They will be available for purchase like normal at a later date if you cannot participate in the pre-sale. Each bottle is $20.

I really enjoyed this collection. The formulas of the non-glitters were so on point and easy to use. The glitters were just so lovely and unexpected, and their formulas were workable, so I'm not complaining at all. My favorites are probably Motorini and Meow Meow but I really like them all :) What do you think of these Italian beauties?

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Product samples were provided for consideration.

Pretty Serious Stop! Collaborate and Listen Collection Swatches & Review

The collection I have to show you today is from Australian brand Pretty Serious called Stop! Collaborate and Listen!, three polishes they created with three awesome bloggers! I am an avid follower of all three of these ladies in the blog-o-sphere so it's exciting to see what awesome shades they came up with.

Press Sample

image via Pretty Serious Cosmetics

First in the collection is Swatch and Learn, a collaboration with Mary from the blog Swatch and Learn. It is a swampy green jelly with iridescent shifting rainbow glass fleck and copper & gold flakes. It's crazy awesome to see all the flakes shifting, you definitely need to see it in real life! It's a bit thick but not unworkable. This is three coats.

Next is Undercover Mermaid, a collaboration with Michelle from Lab Muffin. She wanted to create a work appropriate color with a secret bit of flash. This is a lilac taupe jelly with iridescent green flakies and subtle glass fleck shimmer that bounces out at you when you look up close. A tad sheer but it reached opacity for me with two coats.

And finally we have Stuck In the Middle, a collaboration with Kristy from The Polish Haven. It is a a bright fuchsia jelly with tons of iridescent glass fleck sparkle. This is really beautiful, a fabulous color with a great formula. Two coats here.

I was also able to try out one of Pretty Serious' new treatments, Crystal Coat quick dry top coat. I'm pretty picky when it comes to my top coats so this got a thorough testing. It dried pretty quickly to the touch but I was still able to scrunch up my polish if I pushed on it softly after 10 minutes. Also the brush made drag marks in my polish if I put it on while the polish was still very wet. I liked that it didn't shrink my polish at all, it dried very shiny, and it didn't have an offensive scent. I would use this when I have a little longer to wait for my polish to dry.

You can buy these from Pretty Serious for $9.95 each, or if you buy all three of the blogger colors at the same time you can get a 10% discount. The top coat is $8.95. What do you think of these blogger created shades? I think they're all super fun, and as a blogger who got to see my dream color come true, I totally relate to the awesomeness they must be feeling to see their shade come to life!

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Product samples were provided for consideration.