Nubar Gem

Collection: Prism (2010 Spring)

Grey base with pink iridescence and holographic glitter. This is quite the tricky thing to capture on camera. The photo above shows the greyish base clearly but it doesn’t look like that on my nails at all. The pink flash is very strong in real life and consistently appears in all lightings. I wish the pictures had turned out better because Gem is such a beautiful and unique polish.

Gem is on the sheer side and required three coats for full coverage. The formula was pretty easy to work with, very thin and easy to control. The glitter gives it a gritty feel so be sure to use a top coat for a smooth finish and extra shine.

And here's a blurred picture to show the holo glitter! Feel free to click on the pictures if they’re too small. Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Nubar Gem (3 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

Collection: Blogger (2009)

A medium purple with green iridescence and microshimmer. I did a comparison on Scrangie previously, but I realized that I hadn't done a proper swatch of it yet. Besides, the comparison had horrible pictures and I wanted to get better ones of this beautiful polish.

I think two coats should be enough but I did three so see if it would provide better depth. Be sure to give it enough time to dry between coats or there'll be cuticle drag. Here's a slightly blur picture for a better look at that green iridescence. Feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them!

Thanks for looking!

Polish sandwich:
• Poshe Fast Drying Base Coat (1 coat)
• Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie (3 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

RBL Scrangie & Sally Hansen Grape Going!

Sally Hansen Grape Going!: index and ring fingers (three coats)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie: middle and little fingers (two coats)

As stated in my earlier post, the main difference between the polishes is the shimmer, Scrangie has green shimmer and Grape Going!, blue shimmer. On photo, the blue shimmer is shows up clearly while the green shimmer is more difficult to capture. However, in real life it's pretty clear that they're two different polishes.

From a different angle, Grape Going!'s blue shimmer is less visible but it's still quite obvious they're different polishes. Grape Going! has a slightly lighter purple base. Both are beautiful colors to own but I love the green shimmer in Scrangie. I understand that Scrangie was created to look like a beetle's wing and I think that it does! In terms of application, Scrangie is better as Grape Going! has some visible brushstrokes. Scrangie applied like a dream for me but I'm sure I could have done Grape Going! in two coats if I had been more careful. Both colors were applied without base coat or top coat.

RBL Scrangie & Sally Hansen Grape Going! Swatches

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie (left)
Sally Hansen Grape Going! (right)

Both polishes are similar but not dupes. Grape Going! a medium purple with blue shimmer and a slight blue duochrome. Scrangie is also a medium purple but with green iridescence and shimmer. Scrangie also has a slightly darker pureple base. The most telling difference is the color of the shimmer. I guess they could be called cousins. I'll do a comparison nail swatch to show the differences soon. I've done the comparison swatch here.