Two Year Blogiversary - Nail Art Collection & Storage

Today marks my two year blogiversary!  It's crazy to think that I have been been blogging for that long, but 470 blog posts later here I am.  If you would have asked me how long I had been blogging for I would have told you it's been a year.  Seriously time goes so quickly!  I asked you guys to give me some suggestions on what to do for this blog post and there was a couple of common themes - a now and then type of post and a collection post.  I know most people were probably thinking of mani now and then, but I thought it would be fun to do a now and then nail art collection post.  It kinda covers the now and then topic but it gives a bit of a look into my nail art collection.  Now this is not a complete detailed look at my nail art collection and storage, it's more just an overview.  If you want to more detailed post I can definitely do one.

Before I get into this post I just want to point out that I am not in anyway shape or form bragging about what I have.  I have been collecting nail art supplies for at least five years (probably closer to six years now).  The bulk of it I have purchased myself, but I have also been very fortunate to receive samples to swatch and review from companies, as well as been given things as gifts (whether it's from friends or family or gift with purchases).  Oh I should also point out that this is going to be quite a big post.  Right, let's get into it.

Ok so let's take a step back in time for a second here.  I was asked on 25th April 2014 to share on Instagram my collection of studs, glitters, and pigments etc.  This is the picture that I shared:

Back then I use to store all of my bits and pieces in my Alex drawer.  Yes my collection use to fit into one drawer!  Seems a little crazy to me now (you will see what I mean in a minute).  Back then I use to have three Alex drawers which held nail art supplies plus all of my polishes.  I believe my stamping plates use to live on top of the drawers.  This was a time well before I had a light box and my polish drawers lived in my wardrobe.

Now we fast forward to today and my nail art bits and pieces have their own special storage and I know have my own "polish room" (in our current house I don't have an actual room - it's an open space upstairs).  Seems we are doing a now and then post I figure I'll start with the items in the picture above.  All of my small nail art items now live in these stationary drawers (there is two units stacked on top of each other).  You can even get a little glimpse of my swatch racks that I mention every now and again.

On the very top of these drawers I have a couple of things that I have been given by my daughter.  There is a little nail polish Shopkin (her name is Polly Polish and she is adorable!), Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony and Smidge from Trolls.  Behind Smidge you can see a pink basket.  This is where I keep all of my swatch sticks that I need to put away properly (I'm very behind in sorting out my swatch sticks oops).  The Hello Kitty Bag was from an OPI set I purchased.  You can see the post about it here if you are interested.  Behind the bag is a little pink tin.  It's really just a mix bag of randomness.

Also on top of my drawers is this beautiful key ring and necklace that Theresa from Grace-full Nail Polish made for me for Christmas. 

Right now let's dive in top the drawers.  In the very top drawer I keep all of my studs.  The nail art wheels are stacked because it would take up way too much room to have them as a single layer.  The bulk of these studs have come from Born Pretty Store, with a few from Emily de Molly and Celestial Cosmetics.

The second drawer is similar to the first.  There are some studs, but there is also some 3D charms and bows.  Some of these are from Born Pretty Store, some are from Simply Spoiled Beauty and there are a few things that I won in a giveaway.

Drawers three and four have all my glitters in them.  The glitters are from Born Pretty Story, Sportsgirl (which is a clothing retail store here in Australia) and Cherry Poppin' Nails.  There may be a few other random places as well but I can't remember.

In the fifth drawer is a bit of a mixed bag really.  It mainly has pigments/loose eyeshadows (there are some from Pretty Serious Cosmetics, Femme Fatale Cosmetics and Essence).  There is also some glitter packs from Sportsgirl, some iridescent nail foils (which I think are from Born Pretty Store) and some LED light nail stickers.  I want to say these are from Bundle Monster but I honestly can't remember.  I also have never used them lol.

Moving into the second set of stationary drawers we have three drawers of nail foils.  All of these foils are from Dollar Nail Art.  In the first of the three foil drawers I have all of the mixed patterned foils.

The second foil drawer has all the foils which are that have more of a subtle pattern (a lot of these have a holographic design to them - super pretty).

And the last drawer is all the solid colour foils.  I think these are my most used foils...well the foils that I have managed to do some nail art with lol.

Now these last two drawers are actually really boring and aren't really "nail art" related.  These drawers have things like my swatch wheels, swatch sticks, the screws for the swatch sticks and contact ready for when I stick my labels on my swatch sticks.  Boring right?  Oh and there is some random magnets from Dance Legend for their magnetic polishes.

Next to the stationary drawers is where I keep all of my water decals, well the ones that I haven't used yet.  You may notice that there is on that has been used in the front there.  I actually stuffed up the mani I did using them and planned on re doing it.  Apparently I haven't done it yet.  These decals are predominantly Milv decals but there are also some random ones from places like Born Pretty Store.

The rest of nail art goodies live in this little cube bookcase.  The pink folders that sit on top hold all my larger plates (think Cheeky Jumbo plates) and some of my rectangle plates (Pueen, MoYou London etc).  In the top two cubes are the bulk of my stamping plates.  In the left middle cube there is quite a mix of things - there are some OPI mini polishes/gift sets, some Sally Hansen Miracle Gels, some more stamping blacks that don't fit in any folders and I am still trying to work out how I am going to store them (any suggestions on how to store the large square plates or the rectangle plates with the extra large backings?).  The pink glitter cosmetics bag has things like new nail files, clean up brushes etc.  The other cube in the middle section has things like cotton pads and sponges, spare nail art wheels and containers and how really knows what other random stuff is there.  The bottom left cube has all my back up polishes, gel polishes and nail care products and in the bottom right are things like non acetone remover, my gel remover, PVA glue, isopropyl spray and my mini uber mats.  In the two little folders (they are actually photo albums) I have my used water decals and all of my nail vinyls.

So there you have it - that is my nail art collection and how I store everything.  Hopefully you found this post interesting (and not too long! Sorry).

If you are interested in checking out some of my other anniversary posts I'll link them below.

One Year Blogiversary & Femme Fatale Cosmetics Collection

Two Year Instagram Anniversary - Favourite Nail Art Posts

 Three Year Instagram Anniversary- My Most Used Polishes

I also have a post about where I buy all my things from.  I did try to include those details in this post, however if you want direct links you can find them here in this post.  It also includes where I buy my polishes from.

Thank you so much for all of your support over the last two years on my blog, and of course for all of your support on Instagram and everywhere else.  It means the world to me.  I love sharing with you guys and meeting you all.  There are so many amazing nail girls (and guys) that are amazing friends and are so inspirational.  I can't wait to see where the next year takes me.