-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.
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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.
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.
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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!
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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!
