Alicia

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Zoya - Alicia, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Still unsure what I think about this. It's cute, but I definitely have similar ones that I prefer more. There is an actual scattered holo effect that just refused to be photographed, but I still can't help but say, "Meh," to it. Nor can I let myself put it into the purge box. >_< So back into the contemplation box yet again with you!

Wear: Removed on Day 7 with a few chips

Blue-Eyed Prototype

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers - PDTS 3.7 (prototype), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Meh. No picture of this polish will ever be better than this one. I don't know why I try.

Because we keep learning and growing, and sometimes you gotta take some steps backwards before you can move forward again. That's why. <3

Wear: Some chips on Day 6, removed on Day 7 because busy

Josephine

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Julep - Josephine, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Well this is a cute color, a dark, dusty teal that looks black in most lighting. I seem to be collecting a lot of looks-black-in-most-lighting polishes lately. Must be a phase I'm going through. Regardless, I'm keeping this one around in the general stash for now.

Wear: Removed on Day 5 when I couldn't stand the growth gap. Possibly stained a little? Need to wear again to determine for sure.

Teal on Fire

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Covergirl - Teal on Fire, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Aha! Finally a blue-to-purple duochrome I can get behind. This one applied so much nicer and looks a lot stronger and less greyed out than previous ones I've tried.

In actuality, the purple is hardly ever noticeable on the nail. It's nearly always this glowy greenish-teal, but I'm not complaining! I still really enjoy it. <3

Wear: Removed on Day 5 when I couldn't stand the gap growth anomore

Let's Dew It, Debbie

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Color: Julep - Debbie, two coats
Accent Glitter: China Glaze - Let's Dew It, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Two untrieds from the swap! I really enjoy this color. It reminds me of what Sinful Colors's Beau Khaki used to look like before it faded and got all sad. Think I might purge that one and keep this.

Let's Dew It is... I keep going back and forth on it. To be determined later, I think.

Wear: Removed on Day 2 for a palate cleanser

Shipload of Seamen

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Color: Glitter Daze - Shipload of Seamen, one coat
TC: Seche Vite
Glitter Food TC: American Classics - Gelous, one coat, added on Day 2

Woah, check out this blue shiny! I got it from a girl at the local swap and put it on right away. I can't tell if I like it or not, though. I mean, I definitely like it... but I don't know if I like-like it. :P It sure is a hungry glitter, but it was almost perfect at one coat. Think I'm gonna put it in the box and wear it again to make sure I actually like it.

Wear: Removed on Day 4 with just a couple small chips

Moon Glow

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Color: Lilypad Lacquer - Moon Glow, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Not my best work, as I put this on while chatting with a friend, but still cute. Speaking of cute, I need to get on with moisturizing those winter cuticles!

Wear: Removed on Day 5

Most Mirrored

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: Sinful Shine - Most Sinful, two coats
Accent: Orly - Mirrorball, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Aaaah, much better. Something I know I love. <3 I think I may enjoy Mirrorball way better on its own than as a topper, and this may be proof.

Wear: Removed on Day 6 with a couple of chips. (Meant to take it off on Day 4, but super busy, and I loved it, anyway, so no worries on that account)

Cool Mirror

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: Sinful Colors - Cool Grey, two coats
Topper: Orly - Mirrorball, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Hmm... is this a mediocre mani? I know I definitely like it more than the previous one.. but I guess it's another one I'm gonna have to think about. It doesn't help that my photography skills are currently at a low point.

Wear: Removed on Day 5 even though I was tired of it a lot earlier. It's been a busy week. I decided not to purge because it's just a grey, you know? Back into the box-of-everything. I DID convince myself to purge the previous two I was considering, though!

In Bare Form

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Color: KBShimmer - In Bare Form, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Ugh.. I had a rough day, and I'm all grumpy.. I wanted a neutral, but I should have gone with something silver. Meh. I can't purge because I'm in a bad mood. I'll have to give it another chance when I'm feeling better.

Wear: Removed on Day 5 and decided to purge after all. It's a fine color, but there are many things I'd rather wear instead.

Opals and Sea Lace

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: E.L.F. - Sea Escape, two coats
Glitter: Colors by Llarowe - Opals and Lace, two coats
TC: Seche Vite
Added a few hours later: Orly - Green Flakie Top Coat (Matte FX)

Hmm... this glitter... it has those pretty iridescent glitters, micro, hexes, and even cute squares.. and it has those delicate matte silver glitters (hex and square) like in Pirouette My Whistle. I recently purged PMW. This is definitely better, but is it better enough to keep? That remains to be seen. It certainly looks nice and galaxy-esque photographed here. We'll see where my mood leads me as I wear it.

Edit: I was all ready to purge it when I realized, "Hey, I should add a matte top coat!" And... well, that made it better. So.. I can't purge yet. Back to Purgatory Box.

Wear: Removed on Day 2

HD Surfer

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: Essie - Pret-a-Surfer, two coats
Glitter: Milani - HD, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Pret-a-Surfer is a nice blurple creme that was almost the color I wanted today... but not quite. I considered layering Sparkling Garbage over it but switched at the last moment to HD. I'm super happy with the result. <3 It greys the shade just a little, and you can't go wrong with a little added holo. Know what else? I was watching some videos on my swatch account this morning, and noticed a similar color on Holly Berry's favorites of 2016. Hehehe. :3

Wear: Removed on Day 5 with a little lifting

Sing You Like a Bee

The Polish
BC: None
Color: Nicole by OPI - Sing You Like a Bee, two coats
TC: American Classics - Gelous followed by one coat of Seche Vite

Mmm... this one again... :/ Why would I ever wear this instead of White Cap? It's still a bit textured, even with two top coats, so the only answer I can come up with is, "If I'm out of White Cap." I DO only have a smaller bottle of White Cap, but I don't wear it a ton. Is that one reason enough to keep this? *sigh* I can't make myself get rid of it yet. Back into the purgatory box to be decided upon later.

Wear: Removed on Day 6 with just a couple chips (Man, I forgot how much textures wear like armor!)

The Worst Possible Escape

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: E.L.F. - Sea Escape, two coats
Glitter: Rainbow Honey - The Worst Possible Thing, one and a half coats
TC: one coat of American Classics - Gelous followed by one coat of Seche Vite

Oh my goodness, you guys, THIS GLITTER! I bought it used when I first started collecting, back when I only wore light colors. I knew it would look best over black, but I could never bear to purge it. Apparently I was saving it for THIS DAY when I could finally, lovingly wear it! <3

It's a bit goopy because of its age (a Google search tells me this collection came out in 2012), but I'll put in a few drops of thinner to clean that right up because I am looking forward to wearing this combo a lot! Apparently Sea Escape has become my go-to black for now, hah.

Wear: Removed on Day 4 with a couple of small chips

Moonlit Waves

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Color: Rain City Lacquer - Moonlit Waves, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

It took me forever to decide what to wear today for the first mani of 2017. Nothing seemed right. I went through a number of different combination ideas and actually put one on, top coat and all, before taking it off and purging one of the polishes.

Anyway, Moonlit Waves! Only two coats today, so you can see how sheer it is, but it's also squishy, so it's fine. I may try to layer it over a similar blue creme (maybe Bikini So Teeny?) at some point, but it's fine like this for today.

Wear: Removed on Day 4 after picking at a few of the glitters

2016 Year in Review

Accomplishments! During 2016, I:
-Continued to improve my application game, specifically creating an even line by the cuticle
-Started using a light box and got significantly greater results for pictures, especially during the winter
-Started being way more selective in polishes I keep in my stash

My five best NOTD pictures from 2016 (click for higher res):

5. Picture Polish - Winter - Using the light box, of course. My finger placement here is a little odd, but the lines are so clean that it makes up for it.

4. Revlon - Mystic - It took me forever to get a good shot of this one. I could never quite capture its beauty. This one was taken outside before I had the light box, so my skin looks blotchy, but I was finally able to take a good picture of Mystic!

3. Girly Bits - Food Fight! - Not perfect line work, and my skin is a little blotchy, but somehow the overall effect just works.

2. Essie - Strut Your Stuff - Again, not the greatest line work, but wow, this color! What a glowy, neon blue! It's hard to take a bad picture of this.

1. Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star over E.L.F. - Sea Escape - My NYE mani made it to the top spot this year! I've got a couple sloppy lines going on, especially on that ring finger, but the sparkle of this holo glitter completely distracts from it. Thank you, again, light box!

Takeaways from NOTD countdown?
-Man, that light box is totally working for me. I was skeptical at first, especially with how much I love the natural light in my pictures, but you can't fight these results.
-Clean line work is good, but not as essential as I expected, apparently?
-I need to wear that Rainbow Polish glitter more often, even when it's not a holiday!
-Keep watching that hand placement.

~*~

My favorite manis of 2016:

Honorable Mention: Revlon - Beguile - Surprise! A vampy creme! I started wearing these more in 2016, and Beguile gets the honorable mention this year for really selling them on me.

10. Silly Bee's Chickadees - Azucar over Model City - Wrapped in Wool - Ugh, I love Azucar so much! >_< This would have been way better over Feeling Gloomy (I did decide to purge Wrapped in Wool because I didn't like it as much as Feeling Gloomy), but that didn't keep me from enjoying it.

9. Milani - HD over Nail Fantasies - Celestial - A rich creme, what? I still haven't decided whether to keep Celestial or not, but I DID quite enjoy wearing it under HD, at least!

8. Ellagee - Trenzalore with Orly - Mirrorball accent - Wearing all of these richer cremes, however, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my fair share of light shimmeries, either, especially earlier in the year. Mirrorball was a general go-to, and Trenzalore is still a favorite.

7. Zoya - Merida - Bought on a whim during the 70% off sale, I was super pleased with this polish. It looks fantastic with my skin color, and I never wanted to take it off.

6. Zoya - Olivera - This was almost magical to put on. Even though it mostly just appeared black in regular lighting, I knew it was there with its delicious green shimmer over that gorgeous navy blue. And only one coat, too!

5. Mentality Polish - Altruism - I had to keep myself from just wearing Altruism over and over again this year. Again, I don't care about the drama that brought about the demise of this polish. What matters more is that this is a beautiful silver-lavender shade with a gentle holo that makes me keep reaching for it.

4. Lilypad Lacquer - Moon Glow - This was a new one I've still only worn once, but I just ADORED that ethereal glow. I wanted to keep it on forever!

3. Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star over E.L.F. - Sea Escape - Thank you to SO for helping me pick out this mani! I literally squeed when I put it on, and I spent the three days of wear I got with it just admiring my nails constantly. <3

2. Fancy Gloss - Feeling Gloomy - Aaaah, my ultimate grey. So delicately subtle and quietly gorgeous. <3 I need to wear it again so I can get better pictures!

1. Revlon - Mystic - Still pure magic on the nail. I kept reaching for this because I knew I could count on it for being amazing with each and every wear. <3

Takeaways from favorites?
-I can now rock both the worlds of vampy cremes and the light shimmeries pretty well!
-I still have my favorite colors, though, and I don't venture out into warm colors much.
-Even when a color has a subtle quality that others don't notice, like a barely-there shimmer, it still makes a difference to me.

~*~

Looking forward to 2017, do I have any goals? I want to:
-Keep trying new things from the swap group
-Keep purging and get my stash to a smaller selection that I can be proud of

Pearl Storm

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Undies: Sinful Colors - Rain Storm, one coat
Topper: Maybelline - Precious Pearl, one and a half coats
TC: Seche Vite

I always forget how much I love Rain Storm. It's such a lovely, dusty blue shade, and it goes on in one, easy coat. I don't think I mixed Precious Pearl enough before opening it because I had to do a little fishing to get enough of the glitter and dabbing to get enough of it on the nail. Love the result, though. Snowy nails! <3

Wear: Removed on Day 6 with some chips

Shooting Stars in the Sea

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Undies: E.L.F. - Sea Escape, two coats
Topper: Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

New Years nails!! I know they won't last until NYE, but I just got too excited about the idea of this mani to put on anything else. I wanted something like last year's NYE mani, and when I talked to SO about it, he suggested the same topper over black. Worked out perfectly, and I love it! <3

Wear: Removed on Day 3 with some lifting exacerbated by anxiety picking

Merida

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Zoya - Merida, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Oh my goodness! Christmas polish this year is another one from the Zoya 70% off sale that I picked up simply because others were raving about it, and surprise! I LOVE it on me!

I suppose the scattered holo can kind of be seen in the sun, but mostly it's just a lovely, sparkly forest green.

And I just adore it in indoor lighting! Eek! <3 I should have gotten the blue one, Dream, too. Next time! :)

Wear: Removed on Day 6 with chipping on Day 5

Alicia

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Zoya - Alicia, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

I was so excited about Alicia when it first came out in the Grunge collection. I kept going back to Zoya at least once a week looking for it until I realized they weren't getting the collection. Luckily, though, Zoya had that 70% off Black Friday sale, and I put it into my cart immediately.

My picture doesn't do it justice, but.. it's not actually as wonderful as I was expecting, anyway. It's not really all that disimilar to my other silver scattered holos, Milani HD and Orly Mirrorball. I was hoping there would be a more prominent gold shimmer or something.. Anyway, it's cute. I probably didn't need three coats, but I wanted to make sure it was opaque for the pictures.

Wear: Removed on Day 7 with minor tip wear and a peelie, ugh