Rainbow Honey : December Mystery Bag!

Happy Sunday, darlings!  Another month, another mystery bag!  This is a special month for the mini mysteries, because Rainbow Honey has new mini bottles and they are AWESOME!  The mini polishes used to be 5mL, but they have now upgraded to 7.5mL, though the price is set to remain the same!  I mean, when was the last time that your favorite product experienced a relative price DECREASE?  Fabulous.  Another thing I love about these minis is that the long-handled, regular-sized brush does not compromise polishing comfort or efficacy like many tiny polish bottles out there, cute and fairy-like as they are.

This month's mystery bag was inspired by "fictional characters of Russian literature", which is just brilliant for a holiday set.  It makes me think of the Russian lacquerware you see in Alaska, so deep and intense and fantastical, hand-painted with folkloric scenes of legendary figures riding swans and reindeer-drawn sleighs through gold gilt forests.  I think this mystery bag definitely captures that storytelling spirit of grand, mythological splendor!

❄ * ❄ * ❄

The Master

"The Master" is described as "a gorgeous scarlet red, packed with micro gold and platinum flakes".  I don't care for reds generally, but this isn't just any red; it's a luminous cerise jelly sparkling with iridescent ice and golden mica flakie shimmers, really more of a very rosy pink as opposed to a true red.  It is opulent, breathtaking, decadent, but also very whimsical, precisely like the brilliant gingerbread domes of Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Rainbow Honey is THE MASTER (teehee!) of flakie shimmers!  They are unbelievable!  I think "The Master" might have one of my favorite formulas yet: translucent, fast-drying, thin and hard.  I used three coats for full intensity, though two is quite functional.

❄ * ❄ * ❄

Woland

"Woland" is described as "a glitter topper like no other, packed with a mix of black opal and silver holo glitters... the perfect accent for a luxurious New Year's mani!"  The black opal glitters- love love love that description- range from teensy tiny to medium sized hexes.  They, along with holographic silver and translucent hologram square and hex glitters, twinkle in a dazzling abyss of iridescent and silvery micro-flake shimmer that cumulatively evoke a frosted lilac hue.  The iridescent shimmers have an interference effect that flashes ultramarine to ultraviolet, accented with prismatic ice hues.  Unbelievable, like a winter night sky.

"Woland" << ♥ >> "Tessie"

I layered two coats of "Woland" over two coats of Rainbow Honey "Tessie" from the Summer of 199X collection, and I'm convinced that they were made for each other.  "Woland" exaggerates the blue shimmers in "Tessie", while "Tessie" celebrates the lavender hues perpetuated entirely by the shimmers in the sheer-based "Woland".  "Woland" is very nicely behaved, with a quick dry time and flat-lying glitters that allow for a completely smooth surface and hardly needs a topcoat.  The character Woland in the classic novel The Master and Margarita «Ма́стер и Маргари́та» by Mikhail Bulgakov technically represents the devil (haha whomp whomp...), but you'd never know it based upon this divine glitter!!

❄ * ❄ * ❄ 

Muscovite: scented topcoat, cuticle balm, lotion, solid perfume

"Muscovite" is, in fact, Christmas in a bottle.  Rainbow Honey describes it as "a blend of winter fragrances and holidays sweets capturing the crisp and chilly Moscow air, blended with sweet and fruity holiday aromas".  I know for sure that I've had a Bath & Body Works hand soap that came close, "Mistletoe Kiss" something or other from the 2011 Black Friday VIP bag, but I've definitely also encountered holiday candles and home sprays with this same scent.  As best as I can describe it, "Muscovite" is a festive distillation of sweet cinnamon, cranberry, balsam, mulling spice, and maybe even the syrup of a sugar plum.  It is both sticky sweet and richly spiced; a heady, nostalgic scent.  There are Christmas trees and plum puddings and champagne toasts and just all kinds of stuff in here.

"Muscovite" : solid perfume, scented top coat, cuticle balm, body lotion

My guess is that this is going to be a polarizing scent- either you'll really love it, or really not so much.  Myself, I think it's a bit odd as a body care fragrance, but then I've always encountered it as a home fragrance.  I find it to be a trifle too strong, both in intensity and character, to play nice with my usual fragrance preferences (light and bright, floral + sweet + fruit nectar).  Also, and this is a personal neurosis of mine, but the spices and plummy fruits together do stir a vague reminiscence of certain medicinal flavors and scents.  That said, it really is a brilliant scent sketch of traditional holiday festivities, and in that aspect it is definitely intriguing to me, and from what I've seen of mystery bag comments so far, greatly appealing to many people.  They're in love!!  And if deep, spicy, woodsy scents glazed with syrupy sweetness are what get your holiday spirit glowing bright, then I think you will be too!

Solid perfume is a new addition to the Rainbow Honey body care repertoire; it's a great, compact, non-explosive way to take your favorite fragrance with you anywhere you might wish, and you might have seen similar offerings from Pacifica or L'Occitane en Provence in the past if you've already experienced this kind of product.  Like newer fragrances & releases of RH scented topcoat, this one dries very quickly for me; older scent such as "Vanilla Dreams" or "Sakura Matsuri" have a normal dry time.

❄ * ❄ * ❄ 

The new mini bottles are an amazing surprise, but that's not the end of the good news: Rainbow Honey has also announced today that come January there will be a new section in the shop: The Rainbow Honey Vault!!  Based on requests and suggestions, Rainbow Honey will be bringing back discontinued colors for a limited time for those of us who missed them the first time around!  I am so very excited about this, because though I mooned over "The Worst Possible Thing", "20% Cooler", and "Element of Magic", I never quite went for it...  Which was very, very silly of me, but now I have the chance to make up for my indecision two years ago!!  Which colors would you like to see return?

5mL mini "Best Friend" vs 7.5mL mini "Woland"

There will also be a second section which has already appeared: "Last Call", for polishes that will be going into hibernation soon (30-60 days, or as supplies last).  I think this will be very helpful for people trying to decide when to spring for what, and also will relieve anxiety over whether your favorite "sold out" color will be so for long.  Hopefully it will also give the lovely Carolyn a break from fielding inquiries from polish hoarders like me, needing to know the restock status of literally everything haha :)

Don't forget to check out nail & skin care items, many of which are 25% off this month!!

❄ * ❄ * ❄

The December mystery bag has been restocked today, and may be found at the Rainbow Honey website.  We've been looking at the mini bag today, which is free with a $65 purchase, or for $10 plus $2.95 shipping as a subscription service, or for $10 plus $3.95 shipping individually.  I always recommend the large mystery bag because it is such an amazing deal- all these full-size, never-before-seen products for $25!- and you can see previous examples of the mysteries here.

Did you get this mystery bag already?  What did you think of "Muscovite"??  Do tell!!

XOXO

Marisa + Sprinklepuff