Essie Sand Tropez

I liked this.

Serena Williams' Polish

She partnered with OPI and made these shades, each sold in a duo with a corresponding crackle.

I didn't mean to buy any. No, I swear, I didn't want the crackle and I didn't want her nail polish.

The crackle was separate at Ulta and on sale. I had lots of coupons, and it totaled somewhere around $4 a bottle, so I bought several colors (black, silver, white, and gold are now all of my OPI crackles. I think. Uh oh, I might be missing a few)

And then the polishes were on sale, 30% off at Trade Secret. I bought these three. The names are silly (aren't they always?!) but the colors are complex and pretty. Please enlarge all pictures. Really, do it. And just in case you won't, I provided an enlarged bottle photo for each. Unique colors with complexity like we don't see very often from OPI, I'm sold!

I really should photograph Simply Smashing, the other SW for OPI color I have. I might just do that now. If so, I'll edit this post with it. I don't have Rally Pretty Pink because someone (achem, Valarie) talked me out of buying it 30% off. She's mean. I also don't have, or really desire, any of the Wimbledon polishes.

Love is a Racket-
This is going to be my V-Day mani. It'll be my own personal inside joke and I will enjoy it (and maybe do a crackled heart on it, that went well last year). It's this incredibly complex pinkish red. Or reddish pink, I don't know.
It has these itty bitty flakies (or, as I call them, microflakies! Let's make that catch on, yeah?) and pretty shimmer. I liked this one the best, actually.

Spark De Triomphe-
A clear based silver glitter with large circular gold glitters. I think. Honestly, this one's so odd I don't even know. I've seen it described by bloggers as gold, champagne, silver, greenish, yellowish.... Just look at the close-up, okay?

Pros and Bronze-
I see what you did there, OPI. Clever name.
This one was pretty sheer. A rose gold-y, bronze-y color. I can't decide if I like this on me, but it's interesting. Please note, immediately after taking this photo I filed my nails so they don't look so silly. I promise they're better now.

Grrrrr

Google took away my ads because they suspected fraud. I made $60 in no time flat, and I swear I didn't cheat. I never once clicked my own ads, and I have nowhere near the expertise to make some kind of auto-clicky thingy-majig. So I lost the $60 and the ability to have ads. It is really awful that I can't contest this because I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG.

Anyway, I just got a new baby, a Canon Rebel T3. Yup, finally I'm upgrading. I still need a macro lens before I can take nail pics with it, but look at the lovely pictures I took. (I'm proud of myself, I don't consider myself any kind of photographer, but I took these AND edited them all by my self :D)

I obviously have a thing for high-contrast, darkened, saturated images. And broken buildings. And doors, but no wonderful pics came from that small obsession.

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.

Things I am thankful for....

Well Chanel, of course! But also my wonderful family, one member (my lovely aunt) gave me this nail polish (<3 you Aunt Pam!). It's beautiful, no? The perfect holiday red. It has some pretty pink sparkle, too! And it may or may not have been perfect with a Starbucks cup once I added some white snowflakes... :)

Look what the cat dragged in...

I have no excuse for being so absent lately. None. I'm so sorry, y'all, I'll definitely try to do better.
So, here's a bunch of pretty pictures of pretty polishes for you. It's the Dr.'s Remedy Winter collection. Dr.'s Remedy polish is supposed to be all special and good for your nails, which is pretty awesome, I think. But, more importantly (at least to me) they have good, non-boring colors. Actually, fantastic, unique colors. Your going to love this...
Revive Ruby Red-
This is a re-promo, it came out last year or so, I believe. It's a darker, glowy red. Takes two coats to perfect, and it'll be adorable come Christmas time, though it's lovely now.

Essential Emerald-
Yeah, it's essential. Really, get it. A unique green with slight silver shimmer. Just adore this one. Two and a half coats.

Passion Purple-
Didn't want to by photographed. I gave it my best, though, and I think I captured it okay. It's a pretty purple, the shimmer isn't as prominent as other, similar colors. Of the collection, this one was one of the less unique.

Now, the glitters. A quick note on these, they chipped like I've never experienced before. I can honestly say that I've never painted my nails, let them dry, top coated, went to bed, and woken up with severely chipped nails. I did give each polish a shot, and they both chipped so quickly. Maybe they just don't like my nails. A shame, as they're both super gorgeous and unique at two coats.
Resolution Red Glitter-


Serene Silver Glitter-


The names are pretty bad. They just don't make sense aside form the alliteration. Really, though, a complex silver glitter labeled as 'serene'. No. Just no. Still, Dr.'s Remedy made some of my new favorite polishes, and I'll be reaching for some, like Essential Emerald, all the time. So pretty.

These were sent to me for review, that did not affect my opinion of them in the slightest.

And because I'm quickly becoming obsessed with this guy, one of the best songs I've heard in a while:

Uber belated Halloween mani (China Glaze Let's Groove and Milani nail art in White), Sinful Colors Show Me the Way, and Sally Hansen Coco a-go-go.
All very pretty.
Again, I'm sorry for being gone so much. And these aren't watermarked. That's because my computer now hates Photoshop and it was either this or no post at all. Please don't steal my pictures.

Would y'all mind if I put some ads up? I'm trying to save up for a trip to Israel this summer, so I need to earn $500 in not much time, and I thought this would be a good way to get some cash.

Sorry for disappearing!

Orly Space Cadet is pretty.
There's two reasons why I've been slow posting:
1) My computer doesn't like Photoshop anymore, which means I can't watermark and thus can't post.
2) School.
So, yeah, I'm really sorry. I'm going to try to fight through the aggravating slow-ness and get a half-dozen pictures watermarked.

Not Nail Polish

Don't say I didn't warn you. This post is not about nail polish. This post is about my passion pre-polish- make up. I went to Walgreen's yesterday to pick up some chapstick and what I came away with was INCREDIBLE. A lipstain, two lipsticks, foundation, three nail polishes (two for me, one for my sister), foundation, eye shadow, and lipgloss. All for under $25 total. All Revlon. How? Wally's had 40% off of Revlon, and then the woman helping us gave us coupons for $2 off EACH ITEM. The foundation alone was $13, the lipsticks were $9 a piece. And my total was so low I felt like I was stealing. I swatched my haul for you, just for kicks and giggles. Lemme know if you like me swatching make-up products, or if I should just stick to nails. Also, tell me if you'd rather I show the products on my lips.
In order from left to right: Celestial Silver eye shadow, Crave lipstain, Lilac Pastelle lipgloss, Siren lipstick, Baby Pink lipstick.


Revlon Diamond Lust Eye Shadow in Celestial Silver-
My mother and I each bought one of these, and I just sent her out on a mission to buy me the other three colors on display. A sheer silver eye shadow with iridescent glitter. SO PRETTY.

Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain in Crave-
A red based purple. Not usually my cup of tea, but something about this screamed out to me. And I'm glad, it's perfect! It gives me perfectly stained lips that still look natural. A note about the lipstains- my mother, sister, and I now have acquired a total of around ten of these in the past two days. They're usually somewhere around $10, but we got them for $2 a piece and they're just so awesome that now we combined own almost the whole collection (with Passion x2, as that pink is incredible).

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Lilac Pastelle-
Pretty purple. I like that this can be sheer, if you apply with a light hand, or more opaque. It's also pretty trendy, and rather out there, but the sheerness makes it wearable. And oh, how wearable it is. I could see myself rocking this over Baby Pink all winter!

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Siren-
A pretty red-leaning orange. Very bold. It's on trend for those orange lips that have been everywhere since Spring Fashion Week, but it still has some red to make it not too dated. I just want to wear this with a bodycon turquoise dress and minimal other make up. Wouldn't that be SO pretty?

Revlon Lipstick in Baby Pink-
There's a little bit of shimmer to this, which disappoints me. I think it's a pearl (?) in make up terms. It's semi-opaque, so it doesn't quite cover my naturally pigmented lips. Still, pretty and rather natural.

After swatching all of these, I figured that I might as well swatch one more makeup product- Dr.'s Remedy Enriched Instant Cover.

It's a concealer, I have it in medium. It comes in this GIANT tube, 3.5 oz, and is made to conceal on the body, not the face. It has a sponge type applicator, which is effective at distributing the product, but there's still some blending required for a natural finish.




Here is is over my entire arm, still stained with the Revlon lipstain. As you can see, the lines where it is on my skin is very evident. This is not my shade. Th
is is nowhere near my shade. This is too yellow and far too dark to be my shade. Funny, as I've always been a medium. That's my main beef with this product, there are only three shades available and, apparently, it's not as easy to choose one as it seems. It's $40, a steep price to pay, especially if the concealer isn't your shade. It did cover the lipstain, though, and had I taken the picture after a few minutes, the shine wouldn't have been there at all.
I do like this product, but I'm disappointed as I think that a variety of skin tones should be covered, and this is certainly very limited in that aspect. If you can find your match, though, it would work to cover birth marks, tattoos, and spider veins- all with natural, good for you ingredients.
Some products in this post were sent to me for review. That did not effect my opinion of them.

Seeing spots

So, I saw Color Club's scented polishes, turned up my nose, and then forgot about them. They all like like CC neons I already own, and the gimmick of scent is actually a turn off for me (what if it makes me smell noxious?). But then, then Yum Gum happened. And it's so darn pretty. I wore it alone for 3 days, added the leopard print tonight, and will wear it until tomorrow night. It's walks that fine line between a true neon and a polish that's wearable for non-polish freaks. It's BRIGHT, but not retina-searing. It's actually perfect. Though, it's rather photo-shy, only reveling that pretty pepto-color in the worst of lighting. Please forgive me and my awful pictures (at least they're color accurate!).

3 coats.

Shiny pretty

I could write poetry about my love for Color Club polishes, specifically their neons and glitters- but I won't. You can thank me later.
Anywho, Color Club makes some wicked polish, and for practically nothing. I bought this set of glitters at Ross for somewhere around $8 for six? seven? of them. Good deal, but they came nameless and I'm too lazy to find the names now. Comment if you want to know any of them specifically and I'll go a'looking. Oh, and Black Shatter is awesome.