Colors by Llarowe Rico Suave

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Continuing my apparently permanent trend to let things languish untried fo-evah in my stash, here's one from the winter 2013 Llarowe collection, Rico Suave.

bright CF lighting
The faded denim look means that Rico is in fact kinda gender-neutral as polish goes (I could totally see a guy wearing this).  The base is a dusky, slightly smoky blue that's packed with 2 kinds of very fine shimmer - both metallic gold dust, and the Clarins 230/Fantasy Fire-type red-to-green shifting pigment that I'm a permanent sucker for.  The first coat is very sheer and somewhat streaky, but it's flawlessly opaque and self-leveling by just the 2nd coat.

indirect overcast sunlight
In low lighting, the gold + smoky blue looks overall like a teal polish, but in some angled light, the subtly grey tint to the base gives it a deeper, dusky look.  Most of the time when viewed straight on, the color-shifting pigment shows up as tiny red embers sparkling out from between the gold dust.

bright CF lighting
In bright light, though, that gold shimmer flashes more strongly, making the overall look definitely more teal.

bright sunlight
And at angles, it hits that emerald that makes me swoon.

bright sunlight
In some lighting, the gold and emerald lightens things up, and it edges near Ninja Polish's best beloved Mystic Glacier (but other than these particular glimpses, they're so obviously different that it's not worth comparing them directly)

indirect sunlight.  the most Mystic Glacier-y look
What it's most close to is the lovely Ruby White Tips An Ocean Full of It.  The base colors are similar (Ocean is a hair lighter and not as dusky), and the gold shimmer is very close.

RWT An Ocean Full of It on the left, CBL Rico Suave on the right
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars.  A very good formula, a lovely color, and this wore like iron on me, all just like the RWT polish.  Some of these pics are after 3 days of wear, but I have no really obvious tipwear, and no chipping, even on my dominant hand.

Where to buy:  since this one is now discontinued, blog sales are the way to go.  Or go for the RWT, and add the 230/Fantasy Fire topcoat of your choice for a close look.

~Michelle

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