Two quick photos

Attached to the SinfulColors holiday collections (see it here) were these two nail art polishes. A silver glitter in a clear base, Fashionista, which I found sparse, and a gold shimmer, Flower Girl, which I adore. The latter is a very, very yellow gold. A bit gaudy, and entirely perfect. They're shown here over AA Imperial Purple in a variety of designs (otherwise known as me goofing off). I have animal print and scroll-work in Flower Girl and a full coat of Fashionista as well as some stripes.


Now this is a fun one. American Apparel Neon Green with Dare to Wear Celestial Blue on top. Isn't it lovely?! So fun and summery. Celestial Blue is from DtW's Crack-m-Up line. It cracks nicely and is shockingly pigminted. I have one last Dare to Wear to show off (another crackle :D), but that can wait.



Some of these polishes were sent to me for review. I still gave an honest and fair opinion of them

On the technicalities of blogging....

I have been thinking about things recently, puzzling over a few small changes I'm thinking of making to the blog. I thought I should let y'all chime in, after all, you are the reason I'm blogging.

So, you might have noticed that there are a lot more posts with items given to me recently. Firstly, please understand that my review is entirely honest. I'll tell you if I hate the product, I'm not going to compromise my integrity and the integrity of this blog just for the sake of free stuff.

Now, you also may have noticed (thought I wouldn't blame you if you didn't) that I never post about upcoming launches. I don't like that usually when other blogs do it as the colors are SO different from the promos generally. Here's question one: Would you like it if I posted the launch info I get emailed to me from various companies?

Question two is also about advertising, more specifically if I should put up paid ads on the blog. I'm trying to save up some cash for travel (hence the no-buy) and monetizing the blog would help. But I don't want to degrade Painted Tips with those icky ads Google puts up. I'm thinking about selling some ad space independently, but I'm not even sure how to go about that or if I really want to. Would you mind if there were ads on this blog? If you blog, do you have ads? Why or why not?

It'd be AWESOME if you'd answer a few of these questions for me. And it might possibly help you out in the next giveaway (but don't hold me to that. There won't be one, likely, until I hit 500 followers, and even then, I AM trying to save some money! But, any giveaway I have will have little extras for my long-suffering readers like yourself).

Edit: I put ads up. If they aren't making enough money to be worth it, I'll take them down. Still, any extra cash for my trip will be helpful. I do promise that ads won't be so blended into my blog that my content and paid content are indistinguishable. Let me know if you have any strong feelings about this!

THESE ARE SO PURDY

I've ranted and raved about how awesome Valerie is (find her here) before. Here's her polish. No, it's not polish I got from her, it's literally her polish. She mixed it and is, last I heard, planning to sell it. I got it for my birthday from the lady herself.
IT'S SO PRETTY. It Came in the Night is this uber complex jelly purple with iridescent pieces. I LOVE IT. Fluffed Dove is pretty, reminiscent of Glitter in the Air (a polish Valarie loves, I know), but not super my taste. Yes, I do enjoy it, but not like I do ICitN. ICitN will be on my tips for the rest of eternity. Or maybe just 2011 (don't worry, I have some stored pics for y'all if that ends up being the case).

I think I'm getting a new camera soon, so keep with me and my awful pictures for a bit, please! The lamp I used to use to light photos broke and the new one and my camera do NOT get along. Nothing I shoot is fully lit AND color-accurate, only one or the other. Ugh.

Dare to Wear a Dollhouse

Hehehe, I'm clever. And funny. No really, I am.

or not.

Anyway, Dare to Wear sent me their lovely Dollhouse collection. This was one of the most exciting moment of my month as the colors are GORGEOUS. A hint of pastel, holographic glitter, and a jelly base. YUM.

I wanted this collection for its yellow glitter, Fashion Fever. Sadly that yellow glitter is actually a green-yellow, emphasis on the green. So my quest for a bright yellow glitter continues....

They all have small specks of silver glitter, medium sized holographic circles, and holographic bar glitter. I repeat: yum.

I like Pop Artist, a bubblegum pink, the best, I think. Though Rock Star is awfully pretty, as is Social Butterfly. Lady Luck would be PERFECT for St. Patty's Day, and Dream Princess is a unique and rather odd shade of pale orange, I've never seen a glitter quite like it. All in all, they're gorgeous.







The products in this post were sent to me for review. This did not, in any way, affect my opinion.

SinfulColors' Holiday Collection!

They're all re-promos, I believe, meaning that we've seen these exact colors before and the only thing that's changed is the display. I did own Midnight Blue and Daddy's Girl before receiving these, and, as far as I can tell, there's not one thing that's changed. However, these are (for the most part) PERFECT for the holidays. I'm thinking of doing a Hannukah manicure (I've previously moaned and groaned about holiday collections falling flat due to CHRISTMAS themes. I like me some red and green, but bring on Gelt-Gold and that shade of blue that matches Israel's flag! But I digress) with Midnight Blue and Out of This World. Daddy's Girl is rather 'odd man out' for me, as I don't traditionally associate purple with any hoiday. Whatever, it's so pretty.

The shimmer in all these is INCREDIBLE. Super complex and pretty. Enlarge the photos if you dare, but I must warn you that my nails are awful right now. Awful. I swatched Last Chance right before one tore and I had to cut them all. I miss my long nails :/
Last Chance- A green creme/jelly. Pretty. I wonder how it compares to Illamasqua Rampage... A bit less jelly, I think.

Out of This World- Possibly my favorite from this collection. A pretty, delicate white shimmer. So complex and very, very dainty. I wore this one with white shatter.

Midnight Blue- An electric navy. The shimmer looks almost alive.

Daddy's Girl- So much more purple in real life. SUPER purple. A purple jelly. I promise, this is purple. It's not blue. It's purple. Pink shimmer.

Sugar Sugar- Some gold flecks, pink shimmer, and a red base. Pretty standard but the gold makes it interesting. Very pretty.


The products in this post were provided for review. This did not, in any way, affect my opinion or my review.

Easy Galaxy Nails

Wet 'n' Wild Morbid coupled with this pretty flakie make for nails that could be otherworldly- no? Significantly less of a hassle than either galaxy nails method (see one here) and stunning in its own right.

Barielle Sailors' Delight

LOVE this pink. It's so universally flattering, I brought it to a slumber party and it looked incredible on everyone. It's also $4 at Ulta right now, so go snatch it up. And, to top it all off, it looks incredible with OPI's Gold Shatter. Yup.