I’ve been meaning to swatch my Rococo Nail Polishes but usually feel you can get a better idea of the color on a full mani or pedi. I realized it would take me forever to get a manicure of every single Rococo nail polish I have. I have been meaning to do my RBLs but still haven’t been able to get through many due to a few other distractions along the way from MAC Abalone Shell, Lancome Pop Petrol and Chanel Rose Paradise. So I’ve decided to swatch each shade on each finger.
You can see my Rococo Nail Apparel line up here at this post Rococo Nail Apparel from Space.NK.apothecary and a full manicure of Reissue here. Rococo Nail Apparel can be purchased in the US at various SpaceNK locations. I got mine from the NY store and Bloomingdales SpaceNK. Each color retails for $16.50.
I highly recommend these other amazing resources I’ve found for additional swatches, reviews, photos (these are the ones I know of):
Swatches Part 1 (two coats each, no top coat) No Shrinking Violet, Tokyo Nites, Organza, R2T2, Andromeda
No Shrinking Violet – vibrant rich shimmery purple
Tokyo Nites – pretty fuschia red iridescent
Organza – pretty nude with pink iridescence
R2T2 – note in my previous photo, I thought it was called Molten Lava, someone kindly corrected me, the shade is actually R2T2, the formula is Molten Lava, this has a non-glossy foiled finish
Andromeda – complex black/grey base with holographic sparkles
In natural sunlight:
The formulas are excellent and easy to apply and last a decent amount of time without chipping or peeling. The price is decent in my opinion for the size of the product. Check out my previous Rococo posts for additional info/reviews.
I’m in desperate need of a real mani ASAP, so I’ll probably be swatching the second round of Rococo’s in a week or so.
I discovered Rococo Nail Apparel on 2 of my favorite NY-based bloggers Beauty Moogle Zone and New York City Pretty (both possess fashionably great taste and are always in-the-know) and knew I had to check out this brand.
I ordered a few colors from SpaceNK online and this past weekend I had a girls-day-out to Orange County and stopped by the SpaceNK in Bloomingdales at South Coast Plaza to check out the rest of the line.
I first need to RAVE about their customer service. For my online order, one of the colors I received was the wrong shade and SpaceNK online was really great in trying to correct the mishap. Since I was going to be near a SpaceNK that next weekend, she called all the California stores near me to make sure they had the right color in stock and that they were aware I’d be coming for a possible exchange.
My experience at the South Coast Plaza location was also incredible. I’ve been to SCP on several occasions but never even noticed the SpaceNK corner as it was a bit hidden. Those not familiar with Bloomingdales, next time you go, I highly recommend you check it out. If you have trouble finding it, just ask. My friend and I met the most knowledgeable associate we have ever encountered there. We spent about 3o minutes smelling the perfumes and looking at the skincare and we were both amazed at all the information he had about each item. Anything we pointed at, he was able to give us the FULL 411 on. He described each fragrance topnotes and undertones and gave us recommendations based on our likes. For skincare, he was able to tell us the ingredients of any skincare product, explained in detail how to best use it, he even explained how to use that muslin cloth in the Eve Lom Cleanser set. We were both thrilled.
For my Rococo experience, I have slightly mixed feelings. The nail polishes come in a stunning range of colors with great pigment – but there seems to be some inconsistency with some of the batches in the actual color you get. We pulled out 3 different colors: R2T2, Gothic Lolita, and Organza and there were clear differences between the tester and product being sold. For example, the Gothic Lolita tester was a gorgeous blueberry jelly shimmer while the product sold was a shimmery gunmetal. The Organza tester (can see it on the SpaceNK website) was a straight beige with iridescent gold shimmer, while the one I bought has a slight pinkish shimmers and undertone.
There are 2 types of labels which I will picture below. I think the type of label on your bottle will indicate what variation of color you get. Unfortunately you don’t really know which type of label you will get.
So – my frustration with this line is the lack of consistency in colors with the same name. I did however appreciate the honesty from the associates at SpaceNK at Bloomingdales. They mentioned up front that I should know there is a slight difference from some of the colors that they believe was due to a difference in manufacturer or batch production. The sales associates were kind enough to open up several boxes of their stock so I could compare them the testers to make my purchasing decisions.
My descriptions of the colors: (note that Molten Lava, Pop Culture & No Shrinking Violet were part of a 3-piece holiday set)
Boutique – sheer nude glossy cream
Molten Lava – sparkling pale silver (this looked like an exact dupe to R2T2)
Organza – pale cream with pink-opal flashes
Andromeda – holographic silver-grey (this is my favorite)
Vayder – pure black with silver glitter
Pop Culture – iridescent bright coral with silver pearl
Re-Issue – gorgeous plum-grape with reddish tinge and pearl
Baby Punk – bright peachy-pink (brighter version of MAC Coconut Ice)
No Shriking Violet – iridescent violet (I have a feeling this might be similar to the new Nars spring nail polish)
Tokyo Nights – iridescent bright coral-red (similar to Pop Culture minus the silvery pearl, but on the nails, looks almost identical)
The swatches on paper look different from what goes on the nails, but I’m conducting a few nail-related projects so it’s going to take a while for me to swatch them all, so please bear with me. I will get around to swatching them all on my fingers. I just got a mani with Re-Issue (which I am totally in love with) – see that in a post coming soon.
I’ve since seen a few more posts on London Makeup Girl featuring Blu Skywalker & Visionary Beauty featuring Metal Jacket. Have you seen this line in person? What are your thoughts?
My personal rants aside about consistency, I was very pleased with the whole SpaceNK shopping experience. I think this line has great colors with lovely pigment and formulas. There’s nothing like great customer service that makes your shopping experience all the more better and enjoyable – especially for the 2 of us who went completely giddy smelling the unique perfumes and blabbering about the high-end skincare lines. It was nice to find a sales associate who didn’t make us feel awkward about our beauty obsession (which I have to say would have been totally understandable as we were probably acting to the equivalent of teenage girls screeching at a Twilight or New Moon premiere). These nail polishes retail for $16.50 each and the line also carries a gold-flecked nail polish for $32.50 with real gold flakes (which I did not purchase).
I was invited to my first blogger event hosted by South Coast Plaza for an afternoon filled with fashion, beauty, travel-packing tips, good food and great shopping. It was a great event and I was able to meet bloggers Stef and Tyna from We Heart This, Diane from Orange2LA, Alex from Blab Communications and many other wonderful women from the South Coast Plaza marketing team.
SCP is over an hour drive from where I live, and since I don’t go often, I’m always up for any excuse to go. When I received the invite, I knew I had to attend. While I’m lucky enough to have access to most of my favorite brands, South Coast Plaza does have a number of unique stores that I don’t get to shop at frequently. Among my favorites to check out are MAC Pro, Shu Uemura, Miu Miu, the Bloomingdales Chanel Studio (which carries select imported Asian/European exclusives), and the corner where they have Space NK. In addition they have a gigantic Sephora and large J.Crew store which are always fun. The mall also carries a wide variety of designer boutiques including Tod’s, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Dior, Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, Ted Baker to name a few. One can definitely say that there’s something there for everyone.
The event was focused around a travel/bon voyage/jet setters theme and they gave us a tour featuring a few select stores with product demonstrations at Tumi, Spa Nordstrom, Henri Bendel, and a new lingerie boutique called Intimacy. While I don’t normally shop at the stores that were featured, I found the product demonstrations helpful, interesting and educational. I know that I will definitely go back to Tumi in the near future with my husband to shop for travel gear. There are so many different options to make packing easy and efficient. So many fun accessories. In my excitement, I wasn’t able to get as many photos as I wanted, but here are a few that I was able to capture.
Tumi Demonstration:
Henri Bendel (smaller version of the one in NY, but still chic and cute):
Rows of my most favorite candles in the world (but I purchase mine at Bath & Body Works):
Loved the design of the cute scent cards:
Found this note pad amusing (want vs. need):
The new Intimacy Boutique:
We were given about 1 hour to shop on our own time before cocktails (hardly enough time) so Diane and I rushed to Bloomingdales to see if Chanel Fall had arrived (no luck yet), then to Molton Brown to check out their shower gels and hair care line. I’ve been a huge fan of Molton Brown’s Coco De Mer Shower Gel – but unfortunately the stores near me no longer carry the line which makes it a bit difficult for me to replace these days. I wanted to try something new, so I picked up several shower gels in their travel size (6 for $49) in Heavenly Ginger, Inspiring Indigo and Cool Buchu (for the husband). For visiting, they gave us a complimentary goody bag filled with some minis to try out.
My Molton Brown purchases (left) + gift (right):
I went back to SpaceNK at Bloomingdales to check out more Rococo nail polish shades. My readers know I am a fan of Rococo Nail Apparel for their color selection and quality. Those not familiar with the line, check out my previous articles, swatches and reviews (linked here) of the nail polishes. I have forever been trying to purchase Fashion Victim Day and Fashion Victim Night but it seems as though they are always out of stock. There was a lovely dusty purple cream shade that I was enamored with, but they were sold out of that color too. I settled for a raspberry red shade called Trash (shocking for me, I know, but the color is really lovely).
One hour later, we were treated to appetizers, cocktails, dinner and a fashion show featuring Jimmy Choo and La Perla at AnQi by Crustacean. I sat with Stef, Tyna and Diane (all beauty bloggers) and we had chatted non-stop about our beauty favorites, compared cameras, discussed our favorite brands, shared skincare tips. Stef & Tyna have a wealth of knowledge from testing a wide variety of products. Both had flawless skin so I need to find out their secret. I am reading through their blog right now to see what new lines I should try out based on their recommendations (I hear Kate Somerville is good). Diane and I hit it off from the start – we both love the same brands (among our top two picks include Chanel and Paul & Joe). Her eyeshadow look was incredibly gorgeous and she has lovely hair (I immediately took note of her favorite hair care brands and am determined to try them out in the next month).
The customized Anqi menu for the bloggers:
The La Perla Fashion Show:
It was an eventful afternoon and it was great to meet other bloggers and marketing professionals. Even though the event lasted from 2 pm to past 8 pm, there was still a lot more I wanted to visit but didn’t have the time. I definitely have more to explore at South Coast Plaza. I’m already planning my next trip – hopefully in the next few months or so.
Diane has also written an article on the event. Check out her fabulous blog and article here at Orange2LA.com.
