Sticks 'n Stones never hurt a manicure!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope your 2013 is filled with many happy moments and things that make you smile!

Today I want to show you another polish from Ninja Polish!  This is Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones.

I've been wanting this polish foreverrrr and finally snapped it up as soon as it was restocked.  This is a mix of black and white glitters, which are immensely popular in the indie nail world.

There are various size circles, squares, bars, and hexagons!

I layered this over OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips for my NYE mani!

This is two coats and I think it built up rather nicely.  The bar glitter really makes it but I love the black squares, too!  

The nice thing about this glitter is that it isn't gritty on top.  I used just one coat of top coat and even though it isn't perfect, it's not a gritty mess.

Now, it might have been because I was applying everything in such a hurry, but I found that this shrunk my polish.  The tips especially drew back almost at once.  Next time I will go slower to try to avoid this problem.

You can purchase Sticks 'n Stones HERE for $9!

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

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All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes. 

Base and top coats I love

Makeup is an incredibly personal thing - what works for some might not work for others.  This is true even in the nail world and you'll find that opinions on base and top coats range wildly.  Some swear by one product and others hate it.  Today I want to tell you about two base coats and three top coats that I adore.

Let's start with the base coats since that's where you start on your nails!  First up is Orly Bonder ($7.99).  This is a rubberized base coat that leaves nails feeling tacky!  It dries incredibly quickly but if you touch your nails they will feel like rubber.  It's crazy.  I find that this works really nicely with glitters.  

Second is OPI Natural Nail Base Coat ($8).  This is one of my HG products because it dries so quickly and applies in a really thin layer.  Speed is the name of the game for me when it comes to nails.

Which leads to my top coats that I love.  My top two favorites are quick-dry top coats.  The first is Orly In A Snap ($7.99).  This top coat dries incredibly quickly and leaves nails with a glossy shine.  

The second is Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat ($7.99).  This is a cult favorite and I can't believe how shiny it is.  I like to do my nails before bed and the worst thing is to wake up with the dreaded fabric imprints on nails.  

The final one isn't quick dry but it is beautiful  This is INM Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat ($5.99).  Hologram?  Umm...that's a bit much.  This won't give you a holographic nails BUT ti will give them a nice smattering of super-fine iridescent glitter.  So beautiful.

So there you have it!  I've linked to the products in their names in the post.

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

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All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

It's not a secret that I adore On Her Majesty's Secret Service!

Today I wanted to show you the incredible polish named On Her Majesty's Secret Service by OPI.  Yes, this is from the new Skyfall collection and it's incredible!

(Am I the only one who is glad they just used the movie names as the polish names and didn't try to come up with anything punny or cheesy?)

This polish is difficult for me to describe.  It's a deep metallic grey with blue and grey micro-shimmer.  It seems to have a slight iridescence from some angles.

I used two coats and I've been amazed at how well this has held up.  I have to paint my nails every other day because they chip so easily but with this polish, I'm at the end of day four and only have minor tip-wear.

Sooooo beautiful!  My mom borrowed this bottle and say that she used one coat on her toenails and really liked the effect.

I wore this with a blue and grey peplum dress the other day and it was just perfect together. 

Seriously, I love this polish.  OPI really knocked this Skyfall collection out of the park.  When OPI goes on sale at Ulta I'm going to scoop up some more.

Other Skyfall posts:

- GoldenEye

- The Living Daylights

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

Find me on Facebook at Orange Lipstick Blog

All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

Sparkly nails don't last long with Lorelei's Tiara

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans!  I hope you're having as great of a day as I am.  Good times with good friends and family....oh, and good food!

Anyway, here's a sparkly, silver glitter mani to get you excited:

This is China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara.  This contains silver micro-glitter and small, light ocean blue glitter.  This is supposed to give it a 3D kind of look.

This bottle is problematic because it is thick and goopy.  A nice, thin coat is impossible.

I was able to thin out the formula some with thinner but it took A TON.  Seriously, I must have used about 30 drops.  (I feel like a normal polish takes about 3 drops while a glitter might take 10.)  Although this thinned the polish, the polish on the brush stayed thick and gloopy.

This makes a beautiful manicure with a lot of visual impact; however, it chips super easily due to the goopy nature.  I've also had this polish lift off in one clean sheet only hours after applying!  No good.

There are better formulas than this out there.  OPI Crown Me Already comes to mind, but I know there are others if you look.  I'd probably skip this one.

You can buy HERE for $5.

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

Find me on Facebook at Orange Lipstick Blog

All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

My first indie polish is a real delight!

I'm happy to report that I finally own my first indie polish!  That's right!  I've branched out into the indie polish scene with two bottles from Feenix Polish.  The first one I want to show you is Candy Corn.

The polish is beautiful!  It contains orange, yellow, and white hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base.

This is a remarkably gorgeous polish that I adore.  It looks wonderful over black polish but I'm definitely going to try it over orange, too.

Like any glitter, this requires some patience to get the glitter in place.  I think this does best with two coats, but use whatever coverage you like.

One coat over OPI Black Onyx 

Two coats over OPI Black Onyx

I used two coats of OPI Black Onyx for these swatches.  

Feenix Polish had amazing customer service!  I received my package in two days (!!!) and the bottles were wrapped up nicely in bubble wrap.  I was really pleased with the service I received.  You can find Feenix Polish HERE and her Etsy store HERE.

I bought my bottle during a BOGO sale  - woohoo!  These bottles are $8 / each and $2 for shipping.

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

Find me on Facebook at Orange Lipstick Blog

All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

Channel your inner Westside Warrior with China Glaze!

Today I'm showing you Westside Warrior from the China Glaze Metro Downtown collection!

This is the first polish that I remember really freaking out about.  Like...anxiously awaiting the release date and stalking Sally's Beauty to find it.  I remember snatching it as quickly as possible when I actually found it!

This is an "Army green" creme polish that is just too right for Fall.

I used two coats for these swatches.  This polish got thick really quickly so I had to add a few drops of polish thinner to thin it out.

This is the only polish I have like this and it looks great as a "neutral."  Love it!

You can buy it on Amazon HERE for $5!

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

Find me on Facebook at Orange Lipstick Blog

All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

Blue and silver pride on my nails!

Recently I went to my college's homecoming.  It was a lot of fun and so great to see the beautiful campus and some old friends!

In honor of my trip, I painted my nails with my college's colors:  blue and silver.

I used two coats of China Glaze Up All Night which is a wonderful deep blue cream.  It's not quite navy - just a rich, deep blue.

I used one coat of OPI Silver Shatter on top.  Top coats had a huge moment in the sun starting about 1.5 years ago but they're still going pretty strong!

Each nail crackles differently to reveal the base color underneath.  

(Excuse the big gouge in my middle finger nail!)

My silver shatter had gotten very thick, as most shatter polishes tend to do.  So, I just added some Sally's Beauty Supply brand nail polish thinner.  

Just a couple of drops of this straight into the bottle made the polish get back to normal consistency.

Love it!  This helped show my school spirit!  I'm already planning my blue and silver manicure for next year!

You can buy OPI Silver Shatter HERE ($5.75), China Glaze Up All Night HERE ($6.49), and polish thinner HERE ($4.29).

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

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All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

The most unique polish in my stash + a cheap dotting tool!

I have a pretty decent nail stash compared to the average woman.  (Compared to true polishaholics, I don't have anything.)  Anyway, I have a lot of nice shades but I think most of them are "Yep.  That looks like red," or "Yep, a purple glitter."

This, however, is my most unique polish (for the moment) and is something I just recently stumbled upon.  I have no idea how I hadn't heard of it until now!

This is Orly Ingenue and it's simply fantastic.  This is a pinkish-purplish metallic color with TONS of gold glitter!  The glitter is teeny-tiny and doesn't scream "glitter" like some super chunky glitters tend to do.

At some angles, the color is purple.  At other angles it is pink.  And at other angles the gold flares up to create a beautiful, shiny surface.  

This is one of those weird shades that is a GLITTER but is still super work-place appropriate.  I only used two coats in these pictures.  This is a nice, thin consistency which happens to be my favorite type to work with.  I know some people prefer a little thicker but this is perfect for me.

My only complaint is the Orly brush in general.  I hate how long it is because it tends to pick up waaaayyy more polish than you need for each nail.  Tread carefully!

Of course, I couldn't be satisfied with just this gorgeous color - I had to add in another favorite that I've mentioned before...

That's right!  I added dots in Milani Key West.  This really wasn't difficult at all.  I'd say it took about ten minutes to do both hands and that was because I was going nice and slowly.  And what did I use to dot?

That's right!  I'm a frugalista so I just stuck a pin in the end of a pencil eraser!  This makes a cheap and easy dotting tool!  Just put a blob of polish on a piece of paper/cardboard/wax paper/etc and then dot the end of the pin into it.  Easy!

Have you ever dotted your nails before?  What are your favorite color combos?

I bought my bottle of Orly Ingenue at Sally's Beauty Supply for about $6.50.

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

Find me on Facebook at Orange Lipstick Blog

All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.

I Just Spotted a Chanel Peridot dupe

Ahh, Chanel Peridot.  So loved, so adored, talked about everywhere.  Such a gorgeous, golden-green chrome color.  But oh-so-expensive at $26.

Image Source

I know that Chanel Peridot is "Soooooo 2011" but the dupes just keep rolling out even now.  I have been waiting for an OPI dupe since that's my favorite brand of polish and now I have one!  

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard ($7.45) is part of the 2012 Spiderman collection.  I bought my bottle on Amazon and the shipping was incredibly fast. 

This has green, blue, and aqua duochrome in it.  Gorgeous!

This looks wonderful from lots of different angles.  From some it looks very gold and others it looks quite green.  The color is just wonderful and this is a great addition to any stash!

XOXO

-Kaitlin

Email me at orangelipstickblog@gmail.com

Tweet me at OrangeLipstickK

Find me on Facebook at Orange Lipstick Blog

All items were purchased by Orange Lipstick for personal use and review purposes.