Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Year in Review

Accomplishments! During 2015, I:
-Got better at application, especially for cremes
-Tried a lot of new things I wouldn't normally try (stepping out of my comfort zone ftw!)
-Purged a lot (decided I didn't ACTUALLY need all those similars)

My New Year's Resolution for 2015 was to use up some minis and play with frankens more. I gave it a good go but abandoned it by mid year. I wound up purging a lot, which is probably better because it's not making myself use stuff I don't actually want to use.

My five best NOTD pictures from 2015 (click for higher res):

5. Color Club - Pucci-licious - A creme! Whaaat? How is that possible? I'm shocked at how much my application skills have improved this year. I still can't get it perfect every time, but just the fact that one of my five best NOTDs is creme says a lot.

4. Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star over Fair Maiden Polish - Sleigh Bells in the Snow - A glitter? With shapes? That's also crazy! My glitter placement skills could still use a little work, but I must be improving in that area, too. I took this picture using the new Ottlight my husband bought me for Christmas. I don't like the light better than sun, obviously, but apparently it's still rather good! I have a difficult time capturing glitters, so maybe Ottlight will help in that aspect. I'll have to play around with it more.

3. Color Club - Cosmic Fates - I didn't wind up keeping this one, but the sun was just right to catch ALL the rainbow.

2. Color Club - Beyond - Woah! Holy cow! The contrast between the polish and my skin here is just crazy! The sun was in a good position to show off that strong linear holo, my application skills were pretty good, and I even had nice moisturizing going on. Everything just aligned to give a great picture.

1. Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer - prototype - This color is just so perfectly me. It's a soft, gentle blue holo that matched my shirt nicely. Again, application skills and moisturized skin. I liked the addition of the sleeve in the corner, so even though I wasn't holding the bottle like I enjoy, this still made its way to my favorite picture of the year. I liked it so much, I even started using it as my profile picture on MUA.

Takeaways from NOTD countdown?
-Obviously it's best to take pictures from morning to midday, but now with my Ottlight, I'm not sure it's completely necessary anymore. Regardless, I have to find some way to make the polish shine. Holos are easy winners, but they aren't the only ones that can shine.
-Moisturized skin and smooth lines for application are an absolute must.
-I prefer pictures where I'm holding the bottle of polish, but it's also not necessary, as long as there's something else in the picture. I passed over a ton of pictures of my nails surrounded by a sea of my fat hand flesh. That just doesn't cut it.

~*~

My five favorite manis of 2015:
(This was an incredibly difficult list to write. To make it easier on myself, I only included manis in which I wore two or more polishes. I sorted individual polishes into their own list.)

5. Sephora X - Boom over Klean Color - Vanilla Villa - I loved that perfect grey creme, and the bright matte blue glitters worked REALLY well over it.

4. Silly Bee's Chikadees - Azucar over Sinful Colors - Rain Storm - Azucar has always been one of my favorite polishes. I've described it before as a better Pirouette My Whistle. Rain Storm made the PERFECT night sky background for the snowy look of Azucar.

3. Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star over Fair Maiden Polish - Sleigh Bells in the Snow - Yes, this one again. I just loved the the silvery haze the microglitter gave the white, plus all the holo-y glitter of various sizes! I'm not the most fond of Sleigh Bells in the Snow because it has a brush I don't like, but I applied it very well here, and it works wonderfully under the glitter. It's just perfect for NYE!

2. Milani - HD over Sally Hansen - Air - Oh, so delicate! I don't wear the Smooth&Perfect polishes much anymore (in fact, I purged all but three of them) because they're a bit pearly and I have better things now. But Air made fabulous, sheer undies for the silver holo of HD. Together they're delicate and graceful, and I love it.

1. Indecisive Lacquer - Sugar over Revlon - Calla Lily - More delicate, shimmery holo silver glitter! This one is a little less holo but finer grade than HD. Over the sheer white of Calla Lily, it was the most delicate mani of the year, and I was completely in love with it. <3

Takeaways from favorites manis countdown?
-If I can get awesome at applying cremes, I have many delicate glitters that would be adorable over them.
-Tightly packed microglitter gives a silvery haze that I enjoy, but loosely packed glitter is not my thing. For instance, I tried to wear Fairy Dust multiple times this year because I hear such good things about it, but finally wound up purging it. It's just not my thing.
-Looove those greys and blues, still.

~*~

My five favorite all-time favorite polishes, as of December 30, 2015:
(This list was even MORE difficult for me! Number 1 is probably where it needs to go, but the others are just scattered around in a various order.)

Honorable Mention: Glitter Gal - Light as a Feather - My favorite delicate silver holo. So incredibly soft, just like its namesake!
5. SuperChic Lacquers - Mammoth - Love those glitters, iridescent and silver and gold! In a crelly such a beautiful light grey shade.

4. Ellagee - Trenzalore - This is a perfect shade of blue, shimmery and holo-y!

3. Glam Polish - Spellbound - Another great shade of blue with sooooo many glitters and shimmers!

2. Maya Cosmetics - Special Snowflake - A soft, delicate blue with iridescent glitters and shimmers.

1. Girly Bits - Food Fight! - It's funny, when I wore this first, I didn't care much for it. I thought it was too thick and not the best color. But ever since then, I've been admiring it fondly. Those iridescent glitters are just perfect in it. <3

Takeaways from top five all-time favorites?
-Iridescent glitters still have my heart, as do blues and greys with soft, delicate shimmers.
-Holos are great, but they can't beat my iridescent glitters!

~*~

Looking forward to 2016, do I have any goals? I want to:
-Maintain a decent stash size, which to me means under about 140, preferably lower. If I can't fit everything in my two racks, that means I have too much.
-Continue purging where I can. If I don't wear it, don't reach for it, or don't love it, I don't need to keep it. Remember that I want to have a small stash of only the things I enjoy most.
-Keep trying new things, especially when I can do so for free. My local group of girls has a ton of things I wouldn't buy myself, so I need to try things in their stashes.
-Remember that I don't need to buy all of the things, especially when I have similars. They'll just end up in the purge box eventually, anyway.
-But at the same time, if there's something I really want, don't feel guilty about buying it. I enjoy polish, so it's okay to spend a little money on it now and then.
-And of course, keep experimenting with application and photography to improve my skills!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Shooting Stars in the Snow

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Fair Maiden Polish - Sleigh Bells in the Snow, two coats
Glitter: Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star, two coats
TC: Seche Vite


I don't normally wear a glitter just on top like this, especially on every nail, but New Year's calls for it. I knew everyone else would be going all out with glitzy, sparkly, gold and silver nails, and I wanted to participate, too.


Sleigh Bells in the Snow provided the perfect freshly-fallen-snow backdrop for my chosen holo glitter. Shooting Star was my first indie polish, so it holds a special place in my heart. Bam! Glitter!


And look how festive it is in the shade!


Wear: Some of those stars and large hex glitters got picked off before Day 1 was over. I'm horrible about keeping those pokey-up ones on. But it still lasted a while after that. Removed on Day 4, minor lifting beginning on Day 3

Monday, December 28, 2015

Mammoth Kismet

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Color Club - Kismet, three coats
Accent: SuperChic Lacquer - Mammoth, three coats
TC: Seche Vite


I'm a bit backed up on NOTDs, so even though I'm posting this on the 28th, these are my Christmas nails for this year! Gold holo and grey, snowy glitter!


Mammoth is sooo underrated. It's an absolutely gorgeous mix of silver, gold, and iridescent glitters in a grey crelly base. I love it so much!


Wear: Slight lifting at the end of Day 3, but I managed to make it to Day 5 without pulling off

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Stone Table

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Love, Angeline - Stone Table, three coats
TC: Seche Vite


Sometimes I forget how awesome things are between wears. I knew I loved Stone Table, but putting it on again, I remembered just how much. Stone Table shines like a mystical unicorn on my nails. That sheer white like soft fur, that green shimmer and iridescent glitter..! Just perfect. Still couldn't capture it as well as I did in the macros I took the first time I wore it, but trust me--it's amazing.


Sometime I should really try it over a creme, maybe a nice, soft blue? But I just love it on its own so much!

Wear: Removed on Day 4 with minimal wear

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Celestial Sea

The Polish:
BC: Nail-Aid - Extreme Steel Hardener
Color: Sally Hansen - Social Sea-n, two coats
Glitter: Revlon - Celestial FX, two-ish fished and dabbled coats
TC: Seche Vite


I've had Celestial FX in my stash for a few years now and only worn it once or twice. I just hate fussing with it. It looks so pretty in the bottle, but it's so difficult to apply. And it doesn't even look that great once it's on!


Social Sea-n is alright. It's a fine sheer, shimmery silvery-blue. I just never reach for it. I have things I like way better, so there's no reason to keep it.

Purge both.

Wear: Removed immediately

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Coal in My Stocking

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Lumina Lacquer - Coal in My Stocking, two coats
TC: Seche Vite


Coal in My Stocking is a dark grey linear holo with holo hex glitter. It wasn't quite as amazing on my nails as I wanted it to be, but it's still pretty lovely.


I had a difficult time getting the glitters on the brush, so I don't have many on. The formula in general gave me more of a struggle than expected, actually, but now I'm wondering if it has more to do with the weather than the polish itself.


Wear: Removed on Day 3 with slight lifting

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Soccer Mom

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Colors By Llarowe - Soccer Mom, three coats
TC: Seche Vite


Uhm.. No.. No, this isn't what I want in my life, thank you. *Immediate purge*


Soccer Mom seemed to be a nice color online, but in person, maybe it's just not right for my skin tone? I knew it was a purple-leaning blue scattered holo, but... I don't know.. it's just not working for me. The fact that it needs three coats and is STILL streaky isn't doing it any favors, either. Maybe someone who likes the color more than me can make it work for them.


Wear: Removed on Day 2 with no noticeable wear

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Azucar Storm

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Sinful Colors - Rain Storm, two coats
Glitter: Silly Bee's Chickadees - Azúcar, one coat
TC: Seche Vite


Eeek, I loooove it! <3 This might even be my favorite mani of 2015. Azucar is the perfect snowy glitter, and Rain Storm is the perfect evening sky blue.


Rain Storm is very nearly a one coater. I only used two coats on the left hand to make sure the pictures would turn out well. It's suuuch a nice dusty color. I'm so glad I held onto it, even through my I-hate-all-cremes phase.


And Azucar is still one of my very favorite indies. It applies so smoothly, tons of silver-white glitter in just one coat. I want to put it over all the things!


Wear: Some tip wear on Day 4, slight lifting on Day 5, but I was patient enough to keep it on until Day 6

Monday, December 14, 2015

Black and White Nail Art

Another guest nail art mani! I gave a friend free range of my nails, after only answering what colors I preferred, and this is what happened. Beautiful! Though the 3D parts were quite bothersome, as it turns out. Next time I'll know better and remember to say, "Nothing glued on, please!"


It might be a little hard to see, so that's loose iridescent flake glitter on the pinkie, striping tape stripes on the ring finger, tentacle-like freehand lines with rhinestones on the middle finger, dots on the index finger, and a penguin plus rhinestone snowflake on the thumb.


But that penguin, tho... *-* Much cute!

Monday, December 7, 2015

City Lights

The Polish:
BC: Nail-Aid - Extreme Steel Hardener
Color: Cirque - City Lights, three coats
TC: Seche Vite


Well, I've given up on having acceptable wear time, so I thought I might as well use up some other stuff I have, rather than using my good base coats. We'll see how this strengthener works for me. (That bubble on my pinkie is from the strengthener, though, so that's strike one against it.)


City Lights is a linear holo white, one of the types of polishes I just can't pass up. I knew from my recent comparison, though, that it wasn't my favorite. I had yet to do a full mani with it, so I decided to give it another shot.


Didn't quite live up to it. Part of it may be the brush. The other part may be the formula. It was acceptable, but seriously, I have other white holos that I love better. Purge.

Wear: Removed on Day 3 with minimal chips. Could have kept it on a day longer, but a friend wanted to do my nails.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Rock Candy

The Polish:
BC: None
Color: Julie G - Rock Candy, two coats
TC: None


I thought I took good pictures of this one, but none of them are entirely color accurate! So.. here are three different colors. It's actually a bit more blue-leaning in reality. In most lightings, I can't tell if it's blue or green (but it never looks teal).


I think I've decided that it's because of winter that I'm getting such reduced wear. Never more than four days. Thus, textures are a nice go-to for the middle of the week. I can slap on two coats during my lunch break and call it good! Plus, I even got FIVE days wear out of this one! Gasp!


Wear: Removed on Day 5, some chips appearing on Day 4

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Summer Seas

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: The Polish Bar - Summer Seas, three coats
TC: Seche Vite


Alright, enough stuff I know I want to purge. Let's just get something I know I like but haven't worn much. This'll do.


I still have difficulties applying cremes. This one is super pretty. Dusty grey-ish blue with shimmery (almost non-existent holo).. just my style! I can't ever get the holo to show, so I just pretend that it's not there. Still gorgeous. <3


Wear: Slight lifting on Day 3, major lifting on Day 4.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Guided By Starlight

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - Guided by Starlight, three coats
TC: Seche Vite


Hmm.. I had been avoiding wearing this one because it's finicky. I'd managed to wear it successfully as an accent once, but mostly I just didn't want to deal with it. Since I've been trying to purge lately, I thought I'd make a final decision about it.


It IS pretty cute. Last time I tried laying it on thick, so this time I thought I'd try going the thin route. That didn't work, either, though, because it's a streaky white. Meh.


But the glitters! So many glitters! Allllll of the glitters. Stars and moons and diamonds and circles and squares and hexes and micros.. holo gold and holo silver and iridescent.. oh my goodness! I wish it was easier to deal with, but I just don't care enough. Someone who cares more can deal with it. Not me. Purge.


Wear: Removed on Day 3 with slight lifting. Hmm.. I'm not getting nearly as good wear as I normally do.. I wonder what's going on. It's not just needing to use cuticle remover because I used it just before this mani. There must be something else messing with me.