Butter London No More Waity Kaitie redux

Well, I swatched this once before, but thought it could use a better picture. It's such a pretty polish, a murky base and bright lavender glitter.

Anyway, if you haven't entered my giveaway yet, do that. And if you haven't checked out my Etsy yet, do that. I'll have some new polishes in stock soon enough, included some GLITTER :D

Painted Tips Polish is a GO!

HEY EVERYONE, I have exciting news!

You know how I gave away some of my frankens and told you people I'd be selling them soon? Well, guess what?!

(You probably guessed it, but they're now for sale).

You can buy the Jane Eyre collection and many more at my Etsy shop, Painted Tips Polish. The price is $7.50 a bottle, which is the lowest I could make it while still turning a modest profit.

Here's some pictures of my pretties:

GIVEAWAY :D

Hey everyone! Lani from a lovely hair salon in Pittsburgh has generously offered to send ONE reader two polishes from Zoya's spring collection, Skylar and Lotus. I don't own either, but one of you could.

If you're in the continental US and are interested in winning some polish, follow me and comment on this post! Make sure to include your email address so that we can contact the winner. Yes, it's really that easy. For a bonus entry, tell me your favorite Zoya polish ever.

So, get commenting. I know these are GORGEOUS polishes (I'm tempted to run out and buy them myself) and I wouldn't want you to miss out. Giveaway ends April 28th at 10:00pm Pacific time.

Pale Pink Comparison

Confession: I love pale pinks. Maybe that makes me a bad nail blogger, but I rather adore that perfect look that seems fake but isn't. Glossy, near opaque, and that pink-white that is just a bit 'off' from the nail bed but still seems rather natural.

I do, though, hate those pinks that turn clear on the nail. For the purposes of distinguishing such pinks and helping out my fellow pink-lovers, I've made this comparison. I chose four pinks in close shades from different brands and price-points to show y'all. Here you go!

Now, a quick bit on each of the pinks in order from index to pinkie:

Wet n' Wild Sugar Coat-
This one is either the best or the worst for me, depending wholly on how the bottle feels like applying on any given day. I've seen some people wear it PERFECTLY but it can often just be a streaky mess. Honestly, it's all that brush's fault. The polish itself is quite nice, a white-pink with some warm tones that is more opaque than translucent. Four coats.

China Glaze Go Go Pink-
Maybe a mistake to have included in this comparison. It's very opaque and kind of jelly-ish. This is the least natural of all the included pinks and boasts a pretty intense pink color in comparison. I like it a lot, though. It's pretty cool toned. Three/four coats.

Lippmann My Romance-
Very melon colored. A deeper pink that isn't, again, quite natural. It's very jellyish and can be built to opacity but also looks good transparent/lucent.

Essie Better Together-
As of now, this is my holy grail pale pink. Less white than Sugar Coat, lighter than My Romance, less opaque and saturated than Go Go Pink, it somehow manages to look natural and flawless. It's what my nails would look like if I got gel manicures regularly and somehow managed to have more attractive nail beds (mine are currently stained and gross). It's not perfect, I'll still by buying pale pinks to see if I can do one better than this polish, but it's pretty darn close to what I really want. I might wear it for prom on Friday :)

I bought this one for the name.....

I really like fish puns. REALLY.
And then OPI made a fish-punny name (OPI I Have a Herring Problem)for one of their new polishes so.... I bought it. Yup, new all time low.

A bit more daring and wearing

Yes, I found the pictures of those two Dare to Wear polishes that I had lost. And some nail art using said polishes. I liked this mani, but, then again, I like most floral manis.
Anyway, here's Our Secret Eden (not the name I would've guessed for this polish but that's okay, it's crazy gorgeous) and Moon River, which is more subdued in real life than in this photo.

Lightning Strikes

I like these colors. I like them a lot. The green has so much depth, a bit of blue and a hearty dose of shimmer. The crackle, Lightning Strike, is nice, but a bit sheer for my tastes. I don't see a name on the green one, maybe I'm just blind.

Edit: Somebody called the green "Not Now" on their blog. I think that's the name, my tag just fell off.





Some of the products in this post were sent to me for review. That did not change my opinion, written or otherwise, of them at all.

Mermaids cried for this polish

Haha. I'm funny. Get it, Mermaid Tears?
I am not appreciated anywhere near enough.

Anyway, it's a pretty green OPI that everyone's seen and such. Yup.

The Ultamate Polish

China Glaze Ultamate Holidays

Well, kind of. I liked it a lot, though it didn't hurt that it totaled something like $2 after being on clearance. I like Ulta collaborations for the most part, and I know a lot of people agree with me. Hey, a holo green/yellow/gold glitter is all good by me :)

China Glaze- Moulin Rouge

Such a pretty color! Gifted to me by a friend after I gave her Nars Orgasm (pics to come. It was pretty, but I knew she would go ga-ga for it, so it found a new home). Anyway, this is a red jelly with iridescent glitter. YUM.

I Dare to Wear!

Mmmm, these are pretty polishes. I have to say, Dare to Wear is quickly becoming one of my favorite polish brands. I had not anticipated liking these so much and have in fact worn some of them post-swatching *GASP*. Currently, actually, I have a quite pretty rose manicure with a base of Always and Forever and flowers done in Angel From Above with itty-bitty Moon River (not pictured, I lost my swatch of that. I'll do another soon for you all) leaves. Please note, I also lost the swatch of Our Sweet Eden, but I'll post it when I locate/re-swatch it.

Any way, these are all so unique, but I'll do the talking after the pictures.

Shangri-La- Okay, this one has a story. Basically, I'm not a turquoise polish fan. I'm a teenager and I just find SO many of my peers to wear that same turquoise frost that seems so abundant at Rite-Aid. Not to be a snob, but really, it always looks rather off-putting to me. So, I try to avoid that look. I have nothing at all against bright polish (clearly), turquoise just doesn't do it for me usually.
So, when I opened the package and saw Shangri-La, I figured I'd swatch it and give it to a friend (Helene) who would wear it more than I. Well, sorry Helene, but I LOVE THIS POLISH. It's so pretty, a blue base with no frost at all, just pretty green shimmer. I am so sorry, Shangri-La for expecting so little of you when you are so absolutely gorgeous. So, yeah, it's a keeper.

My Sweet Dreams- Looks so pink with one coat, gradually growing redder and then oranger with two and three coats. It's pretty, but not as mindblowing as the other colors.

Always and Forever- Mauve. I know mauve isn't loved by many of the polish crowd, but this is that special mauve. That dirty, greyed out, trendy mauve. Just a bit more mauve that the mauves of last year, a little more classic. I actually love this polish the most. It's work-appropriate and so pretty and classic. ADORE.

Angel From Above- A pretty light lavender. I think there might be some slight shimmer in there, but it's practically invisible on the nail. Opaque in three coats.

The items in the post were sent to me for review. This did not impact my opinion of them or comments on them.

Cath Kidston Nails

Aren't they pretty? I really liked them. Mix and match floral nails will NEVER get old. And the base color for the middle finger really was the same color as the medium pink of the roses. I think my camera hates me.

A salon franken

Yup. I went into a dusty planning on looking for some cheap but rare polishes but didn't find anything that looked interesting until I saw this. I have NO idea how they made it/acquired it, but it's obviously not *actually* OPI. Anyway, it's pretty.

EDIT: Apparently I stumbled into OPI Paris Couture For Sure. Lucky me!

In which I am very much not dead

SO SORRY!

Life just gets in the way of blogging. Things, like school, happen and then there's no time in the day to post. And, to make matters more stressful, I'm in a play right now. We opened last week and close this Saturday. At the conclusion of all that, I'll actually be allowed to paint my nails. It remains unknown if I'll actually have time to post. The winner of the giveaway was Becca O.
Fun facts: most of y'all like To the Stars and Daddy's Girl. Some of y'all are awful at reading instructions, much to my amusement.
Anywho, here's nail polish.

I was sent this Bon Bons polish for review. Isn't it AHDORABLE?!
These are ittsy-bittsy cheap polishes intended for, as far as I know, use as party favors and such. I know I had quite a collection of Bon Bons polishes when I was little. This color's a frosty white. Here's the amazing thing, though: that was two coats. Two. Coats. Of cheap polish. That's WHITE.
A two coat white, y'all. Color me amazed.


Some items shown in this post were sent to me for review. That did not, in any way, change my opinion or representation of the product.

You have me in stitches

Bows and stitching and navy blue (China Glaze First Mate), oh my!
Love this, so cute and fun. I had some issues with the bows on my right hand, but that was to be expected.
Idea is stolen from this tumblr

Here's your last warning- ENTER MY GIVEAWAY NOW! Go here.

Sally Hansen Polished Pearl

LOVE this one. It's super pretty and clean and got a ton of compliments.

My giveaway ends TONIGHT, so enter here (click the word 'here' to be taken to the right entry)

Painting the roses red

I love me some floral nail art. This isn't my usual floral+rhinestones+glitter, but it's still super pretty. Super-duper pretty. Base color was OPI A Grape Fit and the swirling colors were ChG Ruby Deer and Milani White Canvas nail art.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here! Three more days left on it!


Some items in this post were sent to me for review.

A pretty (rare) polish

Found a bottle of OPI What's Dune? in an old nail salon. It's a duochrome holo polish from ages ago. Make my hands look red as lobsters, but it's mesmerizing in the sun.

lovely layering

OPI I Pink I Love You was an Ulta Valentine's Day exclusive two years ago (I think. Don't quote me on that, maybe it was three?). It's so pretty and jelly and filled with itsy-bitsy gold glitter and I LOVE IT. But, it's rather hard to get ahold of nowadays, so I have to conserve.
I wore it over Lippmann Pop Life, a pretty creme pink. Honestly, you don't *need* Pop Life, tt's a pretty standard color. I got it for cheap, I certainly wouldn't have dropped $16 on it.

If you haven't entered my giveaway, do so now!

Modern Animal

I loved this. The pictures just don't do it justice, it was so shiny and SO pretty. All freehanded, obviously I need more practice. Still, love it!