There are some polishes you must own even if the price makes you cringe. For a nail-polish addict like myself, Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie was one.

I’ve always been into nail lacquer, but it wasn’t until I found an OPI nail polish that precisely matched one of my Coach purses that I really dove off the high board and into the deep end.

Soon after, I did lots of research online for nail-polish swatches. Of course I came across Scrangie’s blog, which I consider the first of its kind.

Her blog is a nail resource I turned to often, and even to this day, I’m a frequent visitor because of her great photography and reviews that always have personality.

So, you see, while Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie turned out to be a great color, I also wanted it in my collection for sentimental reasons. But there was one thing about it that didn’t impress me. Want to know what it is?

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie Pictures

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie Swatches

(All swatches are with no base coat, 2 coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie & 1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat)

Claims: TRUSTED

√ Long-wearing
~ High shine (it was shiny, but I wouldn’t say it was super shiny)

Key Notes

• Name: Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie
• Collection: Rescue Beauty Lounge Fall 2009 Blogger Created Collection
• Amount: 12 mL
• What I Paid: $18 USD
• Colors Available in Rescue Beauty Lounge Fall 2009 Blogger Created Collection: Scrangie, Mismas & Orbis Non Sufficit
• Where to Buy: Rescue Beauty Lounge website

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie Review

When Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie nail polish was first released, I spent too much time debating whether or not I should get it. Sure, I really wanted it, but at $18 USD for 12 mL, I felt really guilty. Ended up that I missed the boat. When I was ready to purchase it, it was sold out – a tragedy because it was a limited-edition color.

Well, brands like Rescue Beauty Lounge are cool because they want to please their customers. Turns out lots of fellow nailphiles also wanted this color, but didn’t order it in time. Ji Baek (the founder of Rescue Beauty Lounge) brought the awesome color back for its second run so that more people could enjoy it.

This time, I didn’t hesitate. And perhaps I even overcompensated for my inaction last time because I placed an order for not 1, but 2 bottles of Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie!

The nail lacquer comes in a mostly minty robin’s egg blue box. The bottle is really petite and rectangular.

The brush leaves something to be desired. It’s short and thin. Maybe I’m just used to using wide brushes, but I found that the thin brush didn’t pick up enough product, and I had to re-dip my brush in the bottle to get more. And I don’t have very large nailbeds. It isn’t a terrible brush, but it could definitely be improved.

As for the color, it’s a red-based purple (along the lines of OPI Can You Dig It). But what sets it apart is the very tiny glitter that gives the overall color a shimmery appearance. In the light, you can see blue and teal shimmer, which is a striking contrast on top of the purple.

In artificial light, you can see the rich shimmer as you move your fingers. It looks lively and magical. There’s a fairy quality to it.

But in low light, it looks like your run-of-the-mill purple polish. Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie shows us its true colors when the spotlight’s on it, apparently!

Here’s where I point out the one (important) flaw. The formula! The first time I tried it was just this past summer. Scrangie by Rescue Beauty Lounge went on runny yet thick at the same time, bubbled like crazy, had terrible cuticle drag, and looked streaky. I attributed the poor performance to it being an exceptionally humid summer day and also that maybe it didn’t play well with the base coat I used (Nail Tek Foundation III).

So this time when I wore it again, I skipped the base coat (and no, the polish didn’t stain my nails when I removed it, by the way). And because it was a cold, dry winter’s day, humidity was no longer a factor.

I was disappointed that RBL Scrangie still bubbled (although this time it was much less). However, there wasn’t any major cuticle drag or streakiness. It dried relatively fast (but it wasn’t ridiculously fast), and it didn’t dry perfectly smooth – wasn’t gritty, but didn’t feel glassy. When I slicked on a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, the bubbling problem was eradicated completely to my relief.

Turns out that RBL Scrangie nail polish is a little finicky and isn’t buttery smooth to apply as expected. For an $18 polish, I expect perfection!

Now, I’ve heard other people say that their bottle had a top-notch formula, but maybe theirs was the first batch and the second batch (which I got) wasn’t the same. Not sure…Just putting it out there.

If your bottle has the same formula as mine, I suggest that to reduce the bubbling, you wait until your first coat is dry. Then, gently sweep on your second coat, but do so by barely pressing the brush on your nail. I found that when I painted my nails like usual and pressed down, those were the nails that bubbled the worst. Then, let that coat dry for a good 10-15 minutes before applying your quick-dry top coat.

And just in case you were wondering about Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie dupes – nope! The closest thing I’ve come up with is to layer OPI DS Royal over OPI Can You Dig It. You get a similar effect, but it’s not a dead-on dupe. (In a future post, I may swatch this combination for you.)

I’ve also tried Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Going Grape, but while it’s a similar color as well, the shimmer doesn’t have nearly as much depth as RBL Scrangie. Also worth noting is that Going Grape by Sally Hansen has a formula that’s so horrendous, I won’t be using it again for a manicure.

Pros  No DBP, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin & Toluene Not tested on animals Gorgeous purple with blue-teal shimmer

Cons  Expensive Limited-edition color (Get it while you still can!) Formula bubbled (Minimized by using a thick top coat)

Final Verdict: 8/10

Had RBL Scrangie’s formula been up to snuff, I would’ve given it a perfect 10 out of 10. But formula plays a huge role in whether or not I’ll wear a polish again and again. It’s far from perfect, but because it’s such a special color and because I figured out a way to wear it and reduce bubbling, that’s why I’m still giving it a high score. (I’m also a little biased because there’s a soft spot in my heart for Scrangie!)

Have you tried this or any other Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish? Are you a fan of Scrangie, too?

(And don’t forget to check out Scrangie’s blog!)