Rescue Beauty Lounge A Poem Collection Swatch and Review
press sample
It is truly my honor to show you the newest collection from Ji Baek, creator of Rescue Beauty Lounge. I've been a Rescue Beauty fan from the first moment I laid eyes (and nails of course) on one. I admire her creative journey so much and her insistence on following an artistic passion and paying no heed to what may or may not be "trending" at the moment. This holds true for A Poem collection. Her vision for this collection, in her words:
I'm wobbling on the icy sidewalks of Manhattan against the sharp, brutal wind, which is mockingly slicing my face into pieces. I feel like I’m five years old again trapped in my one-
piece zip-up snowsuit unable to raise my arms, intently concentrating with knitted brows trying not to walk sideways and fall on my derrière. There are so many layers underneath my puffy coat that I feel immobile and stuck. I grip the railing as I descend down to the subway, my boots crunching the grayed crystal snow-salt beneath me as I slide down the stairs. At the subway platform we’re all children again waiting for the school bus on a wintry morning, puffing out our breaths through our cocooned scarves with only our eyes peering through a tiny space like ninjas.
A text notification vibrates, my girlfriend (an ex-New Yorker) now living on West Coast: "Augh! Another stupid sunny day here! I miss New York, the cold, my sweaters and coats *cat face with tears* emoji."
I immediately reply with: "Three *angry red devil faces* emoji" while I mentally utter explosive curses at her—I picture her wearing flip-flops and shorts. Immaturely, at that moment, I hate her and pout like a child.
At the studio, I’m stirring the last shimmery touches on my mixing table, the almost completed color mixes for The Fan Collection 2.0 consume me. They are stunningly beautiful and simply lovely, yet, for my next round of mixing, I cannot fathom working with anything this pretty so soon. Instead, I start craving sensible soft cotton undies and my oldest sweats from college. That's the outfit I'd wear as I picture myself munching on Doritos and washing it down with beer while watching horrific “Lifetime” movies—I crave dichotomy. That's when I remember this quote from "The Age of Miracles" by Karen Thompson Walker: "Even beauty, in abundance, turns creepy." I then call my girlfriend, I understand our finicky hearts.
My thirst to seek some kind of alluring forlornness leads me to words. Wordsmithing entrances me, I can marinate myself for days with its craft. Words are a magical and ancient medium. Great writers use words to depict the cinematic or to hint at nuances of imagination. Would I? Can I humbly dare to translate that into colors?
As soon as I read “Ghost House,” by Robert Frost (published on public domain), the colors revealed themselves. It was as if I was physically walking along the patch of earth from the poem. There are many layers in those verses that illuminate one’s soul; I’ve attempted to translate this into layers of colors. This entire collection was curated by a harmony of hues that go seamlessly hand in hand, including the glitters that can be layered with the opaque colors to give depth and texture depending on one's mood.
It's rare for me to make four opaque colors in one collection, but these earthy palettes ravished me, when I read the poem, these colors seduced me. The opaques themselves are all demurely quiet, neutral and wearable, yet sophisticatedly pensive for all occasions and seasons (my own version of the perfect little black dress). I know, I know, scandalously, there is only one color with that shimmery sensation and I've crushed on glitter again. That last time you've witnessed this was circa 2009.
Unfolding the ocean full of desires has completed this puzzle and it makes my hunger complete. I hope you’ll enjoy this journey as much as I did.
piece zip-up snowsuit unable to raise my arms, intently concentrating with knitted brows trying not to walk sideways and fall on my derrière. There are so many layers underneath my puffy coat that I feel immobile and stuck. I grip the railing as I descend down to the subway, my boots crunching the grayed crystal snow-salt beneath me as I slide down the stairs. At the subway platform we’re all children again waiting for the school bus on a wintry morning, puffing out our breaths through our cocooned scarves with only our eyes peering through a tiny space like ninjas.
A text notification vibrates, my girlfriend (an ex-New Yorker) now living on West Coast: "Augh! Another stupid sunny day here! I miss New York, the cold, my sweaters and coats *cat face with tears* emoji."
I immediately reply with: "Three *angry red devil faces* emoji" while I mentally utter explosive curses at her—I picture her wearing flip-flops and shorts. Immaturely, at that moment, I hate her and pout like a child.
At the studio, I’m stirring the last shimmery touches on my mixing table, the almost completed color mixes for The Fan Collection 2.0 consume me. They are stunningly beautiful and simply lovely, yet, for my next round of mixing, I cannot fathom working with anything this pretty so soon. Instead, I start craving sensible soft cotton undies and my oldest sweats from college. That's the outfit I'd wear as I picture myself munching on Doritos and washing it down with beer while watching horrific “Lifetime” movies—I crave dichotomy. That's when I remember this quote from "The Age of Miracles" by Karen Thompson Walker: "Even beauty, in abundance, turns creepy." I then call my girlfriend, I understand our finicky hearts.
My thirst to seek some kind of alluring forlornness leads me to words. Wordsmithing entrances me, I can marinate myself for days with its craft. Words are a magical and ancient medium. Great writers use words to depict the cinematic or to hint at nuances of imagination. Would I? Can I humbly dare to translate that into colors?
As soon as I read “Ghost House,” by Robert Frost (published on public domain), the colors revealed themselves. It was as if I was physically walking along the patch of earth from the poem. There are many layers in those verses that illuminate one’s soul; I’ve attempted to translate this into layers of colors. This entire collection was curated by a harmony of hues that go seamlessly hand in hand, including the glitters that can be layered with the opaque colors to give depth and texture depending on one's mood.
It's rare for me to make four opaque colors in one collection, but these earthy palettes ravished me, when I read the poem, these colors seduced me. The opaques themselves are all demurely quiet, neutral and wearable, yet sophisticatedly pensive for all occasions and seasons (my own version of the perfect little black dress). I know, I know, scandalously, there is only one color with that shimmery sensation and I've crushed on glitter again. That last time you've witnessed this was circa 2009.
Unfolding the ocean full of desires has completed this puzzle and it makes my hunger complete. I hope you’ll enjoy this journey as much as I did.
Rescue Beauty Lounge: A Poem Collection
All swatches are done with Rescue Beauty Lounge: Base coat, matte top coat on ring finger and top coat (where noted, some have no top coat).Rescue Beauty Lounge "A Lonely House: The sleepy night sky swallows up the last of the dim sunlight. Like a black and white photograph from long ago, naked tree branches are covered in the snow that is falling on the ground and the ubiquitous snow wins with a smirk. A brown, weathered, broken wooden house remains, without any apparent light or life. Just there, content, scattered, and waiting. Out of this friendless and disparaged landscape dwells the perfect opaque brown. Like handsomely worn English saddle leather, a rich and lush one-coater."
A perfect formula for a perfect brown. I have two coats here and no top coat except for the ring finger which is matted. I will sound like a broken record but it needs to be said. Each and every shade in this collection has a dreamy good formula with one tiny exception which I will note when I get to it.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Forgotten Road: The snow has melted. A howling wind stamps, turns, and tangos with the broken brown house too many times. In the morning after they part, a charcoal road, faded over time, leads to the house yearning for companionship. In the slick asphalt road after the rain, I found a charcoal opaque gray. It is the color of a deep gray river rock that fits perfectly in your hand, the darkest shade of gray in the spectrum. A darker, moodier sister to Stormy.
Excellent formula, shown here is two coats and no top coat except for matte on ring finger.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Footpath: After the incessant rain and flood, the yellowed-clay earth slowly recovers and hardens. Unhurriedly, the path heals, baked by the sun. The earth, for a short while, forgets and forgives its muddied past. The willow branches persistently swings, whispers, and sheds its confetti of mustard-colored pollen, which blend to celebrate a marriage between two earthy-yellow opaque hues. This earthened-yellow is truly mellow, wearable, and surpassingly neutral. If you're on the fence about wearing a bright yellow, this is a perfect shade to ease into.
Amazing formula (see? repetitive but needs to be said!) I have two coats here and you could probably get away with one coat! A truly unique shade that I didn't expect to like! Once it was on the nail though, I couldn't help but like it.
Rescue Beauty Lounge The Mosses Mar: The small creek sings and chatters, conversing with the busy birds pecking away at nature’s supper. In between the brown house the wood has shed, there are sage-colored mosses bursting up for their new eager, erratic life. This is the color of the mosses in between stones or scattered deadwoods, parched and lightened by the sun, almost identical to the underside of Aspen leaves when they tremble in the wind. (This is a less yellow version of Diddy Mow 2.0)
Same story! Amazing formula, two coats! It's no secret I'm not crazy about greens, but this one won me over. I feel like it's a very wearable shade!
The Mosses Mar with one coat of Wild Raspberries Grow! Can I just say WOW! Love the depth when these are layered. Glossy or matte it's a winning combo for me.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Wild Raspberries Grow: One spring morning, a sparkling hint of brilliance appeared in the periphery where wild raspberry patches thrived. The ruby fruit twinkled. Like Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz, the raspberries find their ruby slippers—turning the grayed world of black and white into a beautiful spring day. In the light of the sun of a new day, the micro leafy green glitters and sparkling fuchsia berries float. Combine this with any of the opaque colors in this collection or use three coats to see a kaboom of glitter!
One easy coat of Wild Raspberries Grow over A Lonely House. Yes, another excellent formula and I just love this over the earthy brown. This glitter will look pretty over a ton of different shades. Looking forward to trying it over a lighter pink, or three coats just on its own!
Rescue Beauty Lounge Small, Dim, Summer Stars: Lost in the woods on a moonless, un-illuminated night, they stumble through the darkness. Looking up at the sky amid the fragrant forest, the weeping willow tree branches recite a monologue in the distance. A whippoorwill sopranos—its cadenza joins to compete. Then they appeared, countless tiny stars embedded in the dark sky, it was always there to be found in every gentle, trusting heart. This sweltering silvery black base hammered with multifaceted and spectacular green, blue, pink, shimmery, glittery twinkling stars will bring you back to that summer night long ago, full of wonder and beauty.
I'm going to make a prediction here...this one is going to fly off the shelf. An amazing formula coupled with the complex and unique shimmer that Rescue Beauty is famous for. The sparkle in the bottle translates very well onto the nail and this one is just full of WIN :D Also, 2 coats shown here.
Rescue Beauty Lounge As Sweet Companions: In the end, it was the hardship and the beauty that all flourished together. The sonatas will always have the contrasting movement that settles what the perfect ending was meant to be. The silver-lavender and matte black glitter were meant to be playmates. This is not your typical screaming glitter, it's more discreet, reserved, with muted tones. You can create a perfect polka-dot nail art overlay with any of the opaque colors from this collection as base. Or better yet, for those who want it real--layer it on for jeweled digits!
One coat As Sweet Companions layered over Forgotten Road. This one was the only one with a hint of difficulty. I found the formula to be a slight bit thick, which made it a tiny bit harder to get both a thin layer of polish and a not too thick layer. I also got a few tiny bubbles in the clear base, but you can only see them when you enlarge the photos. These issue by no means are a deal breaker. I love the simplicity of this one and the contrast between shiny and matte glitters. Would like to see this over different shades of purple and then over a contrasting color...like bright yellow!
I was pretty surprised when I opened up this box! As usual, Ji surprises with her collections. I initially wasn't struck with ooh and ahh at the color choices. It took trying them on and letting them soak in, along with the inspirations for me to appreciate them. They each have a subtle beauty and simplicity with fantastic formulas for sure!
AHHH! Tell me what you think! Which are your faves? Are there any that stand out to you? Do you like that I showed each one matte as well?
See the swatches from the other talented ladies:
kelliegonzo.com, nailsandnoms.com, fashionpolish.com, polishpolice.com, scrangie.com, makeupwithdrawal.com, refinedandpolished.com, peachypolish.com and vlogger: youtube.com
See the swatches from the other talented ladies:
kelliegonzo.com, nailsandnoms.com, fashionpolish.com, polishpolice.com, scrangie.com, makeupwithdrawal.com, refinedandpolished.com, peachypolish.com and vlogger: youtube.com
These are available for PRE-ORDER beginning Friday 2/7/14 at noon EST: rescuebeauty.com
All the best,
Victoria
*Product(s) provided for unbiased review consideration.
BEAUTIFUL swatches!!
ReplyDeleteThey all look amazing on you!
ReplyDeleteI love the mattefied glitters!
ReplyDeleteWow! They never disappoint, each collection is amazing. Wow! That is all I can say...
ReplyDeleteLove! Thanks for showing these with the matte top coat! Now I can't wait to wear these shades matte too! :)
ReplyDeleteYour swatches look great and the colors are pretty but I'm just not wowed by RBL.
ReplyDeleteLOVE seeing these matte! Stunning swatches my dear!
ReplyDeleteGood Lord, your swatches are out of this world!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I think I might like them all.. help!
ReplyDeleteAmazing swatches!! I love Small Dim Summer Stars, and the cremes look luscious too.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I swear I won't buy any new nail polishes, RBL comes out with a new collection and I break my promise! Looks like this time will be no different - I'm loving them all, especially that As Sweet Companions!
ReplyDeleteperfect swatches! I especially LOVE Small, Dim, Summer Stars on you!
ReplyDeleteYour swatches are fabulous-- and I love that you took the time to show off a matte look as well. Fun!
ReplyDeleteForgotten Road and The Mosser Mar are my favourites! :-) Beautiful swatches! :-)
ReplyDeleteO my goodness...these swatches are perfect!! Wild Raspberries Grow over The Mosses Mar with the matte topcoat is my fave!
ReplyDeleteI love The Mosses Mar! <3
ReplyDeletegreat swatches- and thanks for showing them matte as well! i need, i need!
ReplyDeleteThese are super pretty!!!! Love WIld Raspberries :)
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful! I've never tried an RBL but have heard such amazing things!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love "Forgotten Road" I love how it's a cool shade of blue!
ReplyDeletepettyair.blogspot.com