R29 + Rescue Beauty Lounge

Monday, November 10, 2014

Hello!

Today I'm very happy to be unveiling the newest collection of Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes; a collaboration between Ji Baek and Refinery29. I think Ji says it best:

Introducing our first ever collaboration outside of the ReBeL community bubble. We paired up with the ever-clever, witty folks behind my daily obsession –Refinery29. I like to think I’ve earned a doctorate on making people’s dream colors come true. My dissertation was the past two The Bloggers’ collections as well as The Fan Collection . I even had a slightly mean-girlish thought: For real, I mean, what do you non-lacquer heads know (except maybe the beauty department) about nail polish? I thought I was going to sail away with this collaboration. But of course, I should’ve known, that dark shadow “karma” took a huge bite out of my *ss because I jinxed myself with my smugness and judgments. The moment our union commenced, the seven Refinery29 teams submitted their dream color inspirational boards. My head spun! I’ve never mixed so many colors IN MY LIFE!

R29 News Team: Bubblegum Punk

They had me at the iridescent-rainbow-hued cellophane on their inspiration board and a photo of Natalie Portman wearing the pink wig from the movie “Closer.” This color appears innocent from afar, but as you get closer, nothing is ever what it seems—mirroring the changes that may occur chasing down a breaking news story. The first coat goes on sheer, with an innocent silver white shimmer base that glints with a sparkling of blues, pinks, greens and a dash of gold. Although fitting for any mayor’s press conference, you can add some punk attitude by layering it with a different base color. Apply two to three coats? I see the colorcast changing like a prism. This is when that cellophane effect magically appears, covering this color in a fairy-like sheen.

Three coats. It photographed shiny white for me, but in reality it is a multitude of hues. Fairy-like, indeed.

R29 Shopping Team: Better Than Boyfriend Jeans
I had to agree; there is nothing more comforting than your favorite faded jeans. That soft, over-washed fabric reminds you of carefree, relaxed, and lazy Sunday afternoons. This cream jelly applies smoothly, a perfect open marriage of a faded blue that turns a tad gray at the end. If Concrete Jungle (hyperlink) and Bikini Bottom (hyperlink) had a baby—this would be IT. So easy, so everyday, and boyfriend who?

Three coats. This was so soft and cozy, I want to wear it all the time for the comfort factor alone.

R29 Health and Wellness: Sunny Skies
A perfect balance of blue (often associated with depth and stability), green (it symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility) and a dash of yellow (The color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy). Remember finding sea glass this color on a beach, holding the translucent objectup to the sunlight as the sky peeks through? Here comes this super-shiny opaque, a highly pigmented one-coater with its sorcery-like application. Vivid and vibrant, this seafoam green is witty, yet unexpectedly neutral—it reflects that tranquil feeling after a major workout as you sit, soaking in your well-earned sweat.

Two coats. A very calming color, it pulls a bit more blue on my hands than it looks in the bottle.

R29 Fashion: All About Yves
In the fashion milieu, people rarely wear polish on their nails. I was dreading that this team might want something like a clear-buff-no-polish nail polish. To my surprise, they wanted the exact same color as that elusive Céline oversized coat that got way from me (still obsessing over it). This is a slightly darker kissing cousin to our wildly popular (and sold out) IKB: 2012, a cream jelly, pigments on steroids. The team was right; this color is universally flattering, a bold neutral. All About Yves is definitely a statement nail polish color.

Two coats. I love this cobalt blue. It's one of my favorite shades and happens to have a fantastic formula; smooth and glossy.

R29 Beauty: Pretty Gritty

The request was “various shades of purple roughed up.” As a frequent color pigment tormentor, I’ve roughed up my fair share of colors, and this one gave me a fight right back. The result is a dusty, mauve-esque medium purple with various sizes of gold shimmers. This color has a composed glow and radiance that’s very flattering, making it work and life appropriate. Pretty Gritty complements every skin tone with an edgy twist.

Two generous coats. I love that the various gold shimmers are very visible.

R29 Technology: Elvis In The Cloud
To my astonishment, the colors I came up with were rejected many times by this team. This copper required the most rounds of color mixing in the history of RBL (and we’re talking depuis 2000). There were batches and batches of colors made, I dreamt of copper, I saw copper everywhere, and I even stripped a wire to study the copper inside. I pictured Elvis wearing copper aviators furiously pinging back and forth from Earth to the clouds. When the team approved this color on my birthday—it was the best gift ever (yeah, I even shed a perfect single tear). It was all worth it because this is the PERFECT copper, not too yellow, not too gold, not too pink, and not too red—simply meticulous, like their coding!

Three thin coats. This is very bright and shiny, I love that it is more than a flat metallic silver, the tinge of duochrome really brightens this shade up.

R29: Galaxy Glue

I promise, it’s nothing like actual glue, but you can see the galaxy in here. There is a depth of sage and blue and you can catch the micas that shimmer and twirl in the light. In bright light, you can see the turquoise-bright apex, which becomes darker with a brown tinge as you move your hands. This mesmerizing galaxy of colors will no doubt keep everyone’s eyes glued to your fingertips!

Two coats. This shade surprised me with minimal brush strokes. The color is like bright turquoise veiled with smoke.

In general, the formula of each shade was quite good, especially the duochrome-like shades. I expected a lot of brush strokes but they leveled well and didn't emphasize my ridges. All About Yves and Better Than Boyfriend Jeans are my favorite shades of the two, I think they'll get the most wear.

This collection is eclectic almost, with hues from all over the spectrum. Yet they make a cohesive collection. Surely this must be an accurate reflection of the teams behind Refinery29!

This collaboration is available exclusively through the Rescue Beauty Lounge website (here). Click here to read more about the inspiration behind the colors.