Reds, New and Old

Today I'm presenting two reds, Illamasqua Scarab and Chanel Nirvana. Illamasqua



Scarab is from the new Art of Darkness collection. I got this at a local Sephora that carries Illamasqua, so even though they don't stock the LE collections online, don't give up and order directly from the company before you check out brick and mortar Sephora locations. This mani is one coat SpaRitual Resurface, two coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual Tout de Suite. This polish is honestly a one-coater, but it was a little thick and goopy for me so I used a second to smooth the application. This polish is a lovely lit from within (in the words of Scrangie) shimmering blackened burgundy red. It's not stunningly original - I found it similar to OPI Black Magic Mountain (which is more purple) and Ciate Stiletto (which has larger shimmer particles), but neither of those are necessarily readily available.





Chanel Nirvana is a bright orange-leaning red jelly with silver and red glitter. It is somewhat thin, but not unreasonably sheer for a jelly and practically applied itself. The glitter is much more subtle on the nail than in the bottle. This mani is one coat SpaRitual Resurface, two coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual Tout de Suite. Again, I don't find this terribly unique - I find it similar to NYX Heart, Nicole by OPI Extreme Jingle, and OPI Red Dazzle in my collection. NOPI Extreme Jingle, OPI Red Dazzle and Chanel Nirvana are old discontinued shades. You may run into them in the retail arena, but you are more likely to find them through swapping or eBay.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Autumn/Winter 2010 Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty

It's been awhile. I received these three Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes from the new collection in the mail today (from my pre-order). I did not order Jane. I believe these will be made available on the Rescue Beauty Lounge site this week.

Here are the descriptions from Ji:
Catherine—Henry the VIII's first wife and Europe's first female ambassador inspired this royal purple with a fine pewter sheen and hints of blue and fuschia shimmer.

Anne—Rumored to be a sorceress, Henry's second wife lends her short-lived name to this bewitching olive green with a subtle pink-gold metallic iridescence.

Jane—my (current) favorite polish, named for Henry's favorite wife, is a pale gray pearl with sheer washes of pink and gold.

Catherine H.—Like Henry's trophy wife, you'll lose your head for this shimmering Wedgewood blue hue with a hint of a gold- and pink-flecked darkening sky.

I compared them to my stash. Catherine was unique amongst my purples. Anne resembled a few greens from BB Couture, but as you can see from the comparisons below I found no dupes. I believe that Catherine H is *almost* an exact dupe of BB Couture for Men Impact Driver. There are slight differences - Catherine H has slightly more purple shimmer and I believe that Impact Driver may have a few grains of black glitter - but Impact Driver applies better and is cheaper so it would make a fine alternative.

All of these swatches are two coats and photographs were taken indoors using an artificial light source.