Rescue Beauty Lounge “The Real Housewives Of The Tudor Dynasty” Swatches & Review
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE TUDOR DYNASTY INSPIRE A BROCADE-HUED NAIL POLISH COLLECTION FROM RESCUE BEAUTY.
The opulent fabrics, quiet luxury and return of ladylike fashions brought to mind the British Royal family to Rescue Beauty Lounge’s Ji Baek. No, not the current resident of Buckingham Palace but the colorful (and often short-lived) wives of Henry the VIII. Known for her flawless, full-coverage cremes, for Fall 2010 Ji Baek infused opulent multi-dimensional shimmer with rich, heavily pigmented hues. The result, a collection worthy of even the most royal of fingertips. I’m personally not well schooled on the history of The House of Tudor, outside of my love for the Showtime series. Though given the popularity of The Tudors and recent series finale, this collection, with its strong fashion driven edge, is very timely. |
“I fell in love with the Tudor dynasty in the novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel,” says Baek. “The more I learned of the queens’ wardrobes—the layers of embroidery, embellishments of pearls and fur and rich jewel toned fabrics—the more I saw a parallel with what’s going on in fashion this fall.”
Formula and Application: RBL is a 4-Free brand. 3-Free used to be the thing but now with so many people asking about Formaldehyde Resin as well, 4-Free really is the new 3-Free. The brush is round, of average length and on the thicker side. It’s a bit more flexible than most which makes application a breeze for me.
As one would expect from a Rescue polish, this collection is heavily pigmented. With the exception of Jane, the polishes all applied perfectly in two coats. I used three coats of Jane though I apply my polish thin so you may be able to get away with two. Even though it took three coats, I was pleased to find that it applied smooth with no streaks in spite of being such a light color.
FYI: I typically don’t wear top coat in my swatch pics but at Ji’s suggestion I did with these. All swatches are shown with a coat of CND Super Shiney.
Anne, named for Anne Boleyn, is a grayed olive green packed with old gold and bright pink shimmer. The pink adds an unusual twist and in person it’s even more prominent. As you can see in the bottle pic above, the gold shimmer really captures the light but indoors it just adds a glow allowing the green come through.
Sunlight
Catherine, named for Catherine of Aragon, is a smokey royal purple infused with pewter, bright blue and fuchsia shimmer. On me, the shimmer isn’t as prominent in Catherine as it is in Anne. It could be that my skin picks up the gold shimmer more than the pewter.
Sunlight
Catherine H, named for Catherine Howard, is described by Ji as a Wedgewood blue. To me, it’s that sky before a storm type of blue that I love. The shimmer in this one is a combination of the old gold from Anne with the bright blue and fuchsia from Catherine. Though what’s odd is that I don’t really see the colors unless I’m in bright sunlight. Indoors it’s almost like the polish has water spots which is very interesting and unique.
Sunlight
Jane, named for Jane Seymour, is an oyster hued creme with an injection of yellow gold, pale pink and light green shimmer. The color is described as having lavender shimmer but I don’t see it. Though part of the reason for that could be that the shimmer is less apparent in Jane than the other three polishes. It’s really subtle, almost unnoticeable to the casual observer.
Sunlight
Bottom Line: My hands down favorite is Anne but not just because it’s a green. The shimmer is really unique and stands out the best in this polish. The Catherines are a close second though. Green, purple and blue are my favorite nail colors (in that order) so it’s no surprise that I’m totally enamored with all three of them. If I had to choose between those two… who am I kidding, I wouldn’t!
Now I’m not a huge neutrals fan though they are pretty prominent for Fall so I see Jane selling well. Finding a light colored creme with a bit of uniqueness that applies well is hard combo to come across so if that’s what you’re looking for, try Jane.
The Real Housewives of The Tudor Dynasty Fall collection from Rescue Beauty Lounge will go on pre-sale soon. I don’t have exact dates yet as Ji is still figuring that out herself. I will be sure to update you once they go on sale. Rescue polishes retail for $18/ea for a .4oz bottle. Shipping is free on order over $100 ($200 for international).
Thoughts on these Tudor inspired colors? Which is your favorite? Will you be splurging on the whole line? Don’t forget to give me your comparison requests!
See my comps: RBL Fall 2010 Comparisons
Disclosure: Product samples were furnished to me by Rescue Beauty Lounge. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
I’ve been wanting the ChG Vintage Vixen collection… But I wished really hard that the colors would be a bit more muted or dusty. Seems that Ji has read my mind. Gosh she’s talented!
I’m diggin’ Anne. I love the unique color and sparkle combo. This one I can’t resist and will have to pick up during the pre-sale!
Do you know how or where I could get this brand in the UK? They’re our queens after all!!!
I believe the only option is to order from the Rescue site. As far as I know, RBL is only carried in Ji’s salon and the website.
They are gorgeous! I’m going to try and resist until RBL has a sale. I just bought two Chanel’s and I’m still in sticker shock.
could you do a comparison of anne with zoya edyta and nubar verde? i’ve heard the last two are very close dupes but there weren’t any pictures to show for it :/ anne is really gorgeous, but i can’t see myself splurging $18 for a nail polish!
i second this. i would love to see anna side by side w. zoya edyta….they look exactly the same to me and i already have the zoya so im really curious to see how close they actually are!
I am loving Anne – just gorgeous! thanks for sharing!!
I was so ready to pass on these until I saw your swatch of Catherine. I love the legacy of the Aragon family, too, so that might make this one hard to pass up…
dang. I like all of them. ANd I can’t afford 1 Rescue Beauty Lounge Polish, let alone FOUR.
I’m wondering how Anne compares to Diamond Cosmetics Never So Evergreen? This is a gorgeous collection; I think I like Catherine best but if I could splurge I’d get Catherine and Jane.
Be still my little Tudor-loving heart! I won’t be able to resist these, I just know it. I love Anne, Catherine, and Catherine H. Bring on the royal colors for fall!
I’m thinking the exact same thing! 18$ is rather steep though so maybe there’ll be a sale before these sell out?
Ji has recently stated on her Facebook page that she won’t be holding any more 50% off sales.
I was wondering how Catherine (of Aragon) compares to Chanel’s Paradoxal.
They’re all lovely. Jane is the only color I can see looking washed out on me. I have RBL’s Grunge and the color never stood out on me.
I love them ALL …..EXCEPT for Jane!
But Jane is very different! Great collection! RBL does it again
Can I offer some dorky historical context? There seems to have been real thought put behind these.
–Catherine of Aragon was Henry’s 1st wife and the only one who was his royal equal: she was a royal princess of Spain. (4th was a lesser princess, ignored in this collection.) so the royal purple is most appropriate with her and bright additional tones capture a sense of Spain.
–As many people have learned from all the films and tv shows, Anne Boleyn, #2, was the most complex and distinctive, so the combo here is a good fit.
–By all accounts, Jane Seymour, #3, was downright bland, quiet, discreet. She followed fiery Anne and, days after giving birth to Henry’s only son (who died as a teenager), she died. Stands to reason that the quiet-toned polish is hers.
–Poor Catherine Howard was a teenager when she got forced into marriage with an old, fat, diseased king. She made up for it by having affairs – lots of them. And she got busted. When he found out, Henry had her arrested in the palace and beheaded; a good person to have a stormy blue dedicated to her. Rumor has it that her ghost can be seen screaming down the halls of Hampton Court.
And the other 2 wives left out of this collection? Anne of Cleves, #4, was the lesser European princess stuck marrying Henry. Either he found her too unattractive or he was embarrassed at his inability to perform sexually with her…both reasons have been given…but he wanted out of the marriage. She was clever enough to get him to agree to divorce (and keep her head) and until his death, he referred to her as his “sister.”
The final wife, Katherine Parr, was a smart, well-off middle-aged widow who agreed to marry Henry in his final years. She kept things calm, successfully fought off Henry’s idea to behead her as well, stayed with him to the bitter end and then married the man she’d loved for years. She deserves her own polish too, huh?
Great post, Lynnie! I also adore Tudor history. Anne and Carherine ate the two I’ll preordering, and I’ll get the other two at the half off sale.
Hi!
These are fabulous….I will be purchasing Catherine H and I also love Jane….do you have Barielle belly dance? I’d love to see comparison of this one and RBL Jane
Hi! Could you please compare side by side Catherine and Chanel Paradoxal? Thank you
*SQUEEE* Goddamn, they’re cute T^T
These are so lovely! Really gorgeous! How similar is Catherine of Aragon to Chanel Paradoxal?
Anne reminds me of SOPI Absinthe Makes The heart, except for the pink flash in Anne. Absinthe was a pain-in-the-neck 3-4 coater, but digging out a year-old bottle was worth my while. It is now a slightly difficult two-coater! Yea! A bit of acetone and it should be aged to perfection.
Could you please compare Anne to Zoya Edyta? I’d love to see how close they are. (And any other dupes for this collection! I want these but can’t afford $20 a bottle plus shipping!)
I already did. Here’s the link
http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2010/08/rescue-beauty-lounge-fall-2010-comparisons.html
I received my first (and last) RBL haul yesterday – what a huge disappointment! Their formula is one of the worst I’ve ever tried, and believe me I’ve tried a lot – I’m filling up my forth Helmer. I don’t understand how come all the nail polish bloggers are singing the RBL formula praises in every review – “heavily pigmented, applies itself, BUTTER, application is a breeze, etc.” I tried the whole Fall 2010 collection and some of the older colors including their highly acclaimed Grunge, and my only question was – What good do they all see in this polish? Besides, it’s so expensive – $18 for a 12 ml bottle! And 8 hours later there was visible tip wear – without doing dishes or scrubbing or anything. What a waste of $18! CG, Essie, OPI, Nubar, SOPI, Nfu-Oh or even Lippmann are cheaper and they wear MUCH better. Yes, the colors are beautiful but because of the formula I’ll never buy RBL again.
Oh, thank goodness… and here I thought I was the only one who was having major issues with RBL formulas! I own well over a dozen RBL polishes because I keep getting drawn in by the colors, but their formulas are incredibly frustrating! They have either been super thin and streaky and leave bald spots even after 3 coats, or they are so thick and uneven that I’ve had to thin them out (brand new bottles!) with polish thinner. They also seem to take forever to dry, even if I use OPI drip dry. Glad I’m not the only one who is completely baffled as to why everybody thinks they are the cat’s meow…
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Catherine!!
Catherine H!!
Frugalista!!