February 2020 Favourites

At the start of the week I sat down with my planner (it's something I always do so that I stay on top of everything).  Anyway, I sat down and saw that the page was open to Monday 24th and ends March 1st.  My brain couldn't comprehend that it was going to be March at the end of the week so turned the page back.  Yep - that week had already flown by.  So here we are again saying good bye to another month and preparing for yet another crazy month ahead.  I need a nap!

Nail Art

After having a look on my blog for what I have posted this month it appears that I really haven't had many blog posts at all this month - even though I haven't stopped swatching.  Given I tend to swatch things in advance that probably makes sense.  Anyway, in March I will be posting my swatches and review of the new Just For Claws stamping plates from Uberchic Beauty but given I have posted some of the manis I have done so far on my Instagram account I figured I can include them in my nail art favourites for the month.

Stamping Plates

I haven't actually done any reviews of stamping plates on my blog this month so I am going to skip this section but know that the Uberchic Just For Claws plates will be in my favourites for next month. 

Mainstream Polishes
This month I got to play with Jessica Cosmetics California Girls Collection and I am a big fan.  The colours are really pretty and the formulas are good (even though some are a little patchy). 

Indie Polishes 
Aside from swatching the Jessica Cosmetics polishes I have only swatched Grace-full Nail Polish shades this month.  No complaints from me.  I love my Grace-full polishes.

Grace-full Nail Polish Mystery Girl (Hella Handmade Creations February 2020)
If you saw this post then it is no surprise that this polish landed in my favourites.  I love, love, love this polish.  Hopefully you guys managed to grab this polish for yourself.

Grace-full Nail Polish Retro Bros Collection
This is Grace-full's first full collection for the year and it was a great collection.  My favourites from the collection are Warui, Super Bros 2, A Peach For A Princess and Evil Twin.

That brings us to the end of my February Favourites.  It definitely has been a really quiet month here on my blog.  March will definitely have some more blog posts from me.  There is some really good things coming (or have just been released). 
  

January 2020 Favourites

If January is anything to go by then this year is going to fly by!  I feel like I only just sat down to write my New Years Resolutions post and now I'm having to think about my favourites for the month.  Eek!  Luckily for me I didn't play with too much this month (which will probably be a bit of a theme for the year because it is going to be exceptionally busy).  I also said in my resolutions that I was going to be tougher with my monthly favourites so let's see how well I can do this month.

Nail Art

The Hit The Bottle To Love Or Not To Love 01 stamping plate has been my obsession this month.  So much so I haven't even put the plate away.  It's still sitting on my nail table.  With that said it's really the only nail art I have done this month.
     

Stamping Plates

I've already mentioned this so it will come as no surprise to see the To Love Or Not To Love 01 Stamping Plate by Hit The Bottle in my stamping plate favourites.

Image from Hit The Bottle

Indie Polishes

Oh my indie girls have really stolen my heart this month....well again.  I don't think there has been a month where there has been no indie polishes in my favourites.  This month we have also seen the indie girls come together to create a polish each to help raise money for the Australian Bushfire Relief.

Emily de Molly Breath Of Fresh Air
This polish was one of the few polishes made for the Australian Bushfire Relief and OMG it is a stunner!

Emily de Molly Toppers (December 2019)
These toppers are amazing and I know that I am going to get a lot of use out of them.  I probably should check to see if these a still available because I may need some back up bottles.

Emily de Molly January 2020 Releases
I probably could have added in this full release (I also could have added in the cremes that were released back in December) but I am being tough and narrowing down my favourites.  Six out of eight polishes is a great start to narrowing them down isn't it?  I think so.  Polishes shown are Concentric Circles, Edge Of Your Seat, Elevate You, Romancer, Silver & Cold and The Devils Side.

Grace-full Nail Polish Balance & Harmony (Polish Pick Up January)
I love the all the colours in this polish - in the warm state, in the cold state, and the pink flash and gold flakes.  It’s a gorgeous polish and transitions well.

Grace-full Nail Polish Special Gift
I can't go past the four stunners that Theresa gave me for Christmas.  I love each and ever one of them.

Hit The Bottle Holding Back The Tears
This is another polish from the Bushfire Relief auctions that I fell in love this.  I love the colours in the polish plus it has a great formula.

Mckfresh Nail Attire Stand Together & Sparkle
Apparently I am loving glitter toppers this month.  I'm totally ok with that.  This topper is amazing.  The formula is great and I love colours within this polish.  I definitely want to try it over some other base colours but I honestly think black will always be the winner.

I'm super happy that I managed to cut back on my favourites this month.  Hopefully I can continue throughout the rest of the year too.  But time will tell I guess.  What have you been loving this month?

Favourite Stamping Plates & Polishes 2019

I can't get over how quickly this year has gone.  But as we are nearing the end of the year, we are also nearing the end of my favourites posts for 2019.  This is both a good thing (mainly because I don't have to narrow down any more favourites - but they are great to look back on) and a bad thing (I kinda like doing favourite posts.  They are a little fun to do).  Anyway, today I have rounded up my favourite stamping plates and polishes from 2019.

STAMPING PLATES

This year has seen a limited amount of nail art (mainly due to a lack of time) but I still did get to play with quite a few new (or perhaps new to me) stamping plates which is always fun.  Like with all of my other posts these really aren't in any particular order.

Moyra Nail Stamping

This is a new to me brand for 2019 and I am so impressed with the quality of the plates and the designs.  When I placed my order I really struggled to narrow down which plates to grab.  I ended up grabbing three plates and they are all definite favourites of mine.

Moyra Colour Book Stamping Plate

There are so many different was to use this plate.  It's really like an adult colouring book or you can just leave the designs simple.

Image from Moyra

Moyra Nature Stamping Plate

This plate has some seriously awesome designs.  I love that it does have the nature aspect to it but it's not your traditional leaves and flowers etc.

Image from Moyra

Moyra Stained Glass Stamping Plate

Now I know there are a few stamping plates that have taken on the whole stained glass idea (I don't know who actually started it) but Moyra was the first one I saw and I love it!  I think the designs are gorgeous and they make for some awesome lead lighting manis.

Image from Moyra

Uberchic Beauty

Hands down Uberchic are my favourite stamping plate brand.  They bring out new plates (and other products on a regular basis) that are full of great designs and they are are great quality.  I mean, what more can you ask for?

Uberchic 28.01 Stamping Plate

While the entire plate itself isn't necessarily a favourite there are a few images that I love, love, LOVE!  Like the zig zag with the floral image.  It's so good!  I actually want it back on my nails now.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Art Deco Elegance

Last year I had the other two Art Deco plates in my end of year favourites and I couldn't not have the latest edition in this years favourite.  I love the designs on this plate and it makes for some awesome manis.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Cold Blooded Stamping Plate

I've been really liking animal print this year.  I don't know why but I am and this plate speaks to me.  The designs are fantastic and it makes from some great manis.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Cultural Harmony Stamping Plate

This is another plate that comes as part of a series and I love them all.  I think the images are so cool.  It's one of those plates that I mani ideas just jump out to me.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Lovely Leaves 04 Stamping Plate

There are some really stunning images on this plate!  It's a plate that as soon as I saw it I was excited to start playing.  I have also seen a lot of amazing manis done using this plate.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Nice & Negative Stamping Plate

Negative space images are definitely one of my favourite types of images to use so if you put them all on the same plate it's instant love for me.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Warm Blooded Stamping Plate

I love that Uberchic provided us with both a cold blooded and warm blooded stamping plate options.  I can't decide which of the plates that I like better so both are going into my favourites.

Image from Uberchic

STAMPING POLISHES

Hands down my favourite stamping polish brand is Hit The Bottle.  Not only does she have a HUGE range of colours and finishes but they stamp beautifully each and every time.  I also discovered Moyra Foil Stamping Polish which I still need some practice with but one day I will master foils.

Hit The Bottle I Like To Mauve It, Mauve It

Hit The Bottle Magenta At Your Own Risk 

Hit The Bottle Start The Day With Bubbly

Moyra Silver Foil Stamping Polish

As I mentioned early, I am far from perfect with using foils but the stamping polish itself is awesome.  I definitely need to play with these and foils some more.  It's something that I would love to master.  If you have any magic tricks to help me then let me know.  I need all the help I can get.
      

That brings me to the end of today's post.  You now know what I have been loving this year in terms of polish collections, indie and mainstream polishes, and now all things stamping.  Tomorrow brings my final blog post for 2019 - my favourite nail art.  This is another tough lot of favourites to narrow down.  Wish me luck!

 

Favourite Indie Polishes 2019

Today's post is easily the hardest blog post for me to write every year.  Well actually, writing the post itself isn't hard, it's the narrowing down all the polishes to a respectable number.  While I try my hardest to narrow these polishes down to twenty I simple just couldn't do it.  It took me two days and lots of going back and forth between polishes to get narrow it down to twenty five polishes.  I did start with seventy five so I think I have done exceptionally well.  Now keep in mind when looking at this post that any of the polishes in my Favourite Collections post will not be found in here.  If I included those I would seriously never get this post done this year.  As usual these polishes aren't in any particular order.  So without further ado - here are my top twenty five indie polishes from 2019.

EMILY DE MOLLY
If I absolutely had to pick only one brand favourite for the whole entire year I would have to say Emily de Molly.  This probably doesn't come as a surprise especially if you have seen my favourite collections post for this year.   It is made up of mainly Emily de Molly....and so is this post.   That and Grace-full Nail Polish which you will see in a minute.  Emily de Molly once again this year had more individual polishes than any other brand and I had the hardest time cutting them down.  It was kinda like picking your favourite children - which in this case I was forced to do.  I had to cut soooooo many amazing polishes.  Anyway, let's look at what I ended up picking.

All The Feelings 2.0.  This was one of the only polishes I knew that absolutely had to be in my favourites for the year.  I fell in love with the original version and the 2.0 version is equally amazing (and they look awesome together too).  It looks so good over soooooo many bases.   I also have a back up bottle now.   My swatch is over black.

City Of Lights.  You'll probably start to see a little trend happen in this post.  It is full of shifty polishes - like this one!  I'm obsessed with the aurora shimmer.  It looks so different in different lights and angles.  You can never get bored with it.

Crime Of Passion.  This baby was released in September and it's just one of those polishes that I fell in love with as soon as I saw it.  It also keeps catching my attention when I open up my polish drawers.

Dead Or Alive was released as part of the Halloween trio and it is hands down my favourite of the three.  I also picked this as my favourite over Cute As A Button (which is also another favourite polish of mine but it didn't make my top twenty five this year).

Late Night Blooms.  I remember receiving this polish in the mail back in August and obsessing over it before I put in on my nails.  It didn't disappoint.  In fact, I'm still obsessed with it now.

LE130 was actually released on Boxing Day in 2018 but I didn't swatch it until January this year which is why I am including in here.  I would have to say that LE130 is probably one of my all time favourite polishes that Hayley has ever released!

Lines We Cross is one of the new release polishes but that doesn't stop it from being a favourite of mine.  I love the colours when its hot and cold - or when it's in between the two states.  It's just so pretty!

Out Cold is another polish from the May release (which like the September releases could have made it into my Favourite Collections post).  The formula is amazing and OMG!  Look at that colour!

Riot Of Shadows was another polish released in September.  I could nearly put the whole September release in my favourite collections post but I didn't so here we are.  Riot Of Shadows is such a pretty and unique shade.  Love it!

Speculation was released back in May and I fell in love.  The formula is amazing, and so is the colour.  It even makes for great mermaid nails.

The Morning Light is a stunning colour and super sparkly!  Plus it has aurora shimmer in it.  Love, love, love it!

The Outsider is nothing short of amazing!  This is another one of those polishes that I drooled over when I first laid eyes on it.  It's amazing in the bottle and on the nails, and it's a standout in my polish drawers as well.

Well Suited is the last (and certainly not least) of my favourite Emily de Molly's for this year.  I love the base colour and the shimmer in this one is stunning!

GRACE-FULL NAIL POLISH
My beloved Grace-full.  They release favourites of mine time and time again but man they make it so hard for my to narrow down favourites!  But I did it (again!) I have managed to narrow it down to my top twelve polishes.  Theresa did suggest that I do a top twenty favourites for both Emily de Molly and Grace-full (because I really was struggling to narrow my picks down) but I thought it was cheating too much so top twelve Grace-full's it is.

Christmas At Hogwarts.  It's funny how I mentioned that I love shifty polishes earlier and then kick of with a ultra chameleon flakie.  Theresa makes some of the best flakie polishes and Christmas At Hogwarts is amazing!  It's sooooo shifty and beautiful.

Magic Of Hogwarts.  Another amazing (and coincidentally another Hogwarts based polish) that I love!

Mount Wellington was released as part of the Polish Pick Up back in June (June was a great month!).  Again, this is another one of those shifty polishes that I am head over heels for.  It's so good!

Mrs Arrow was made for the Hella Handmade Creations back in June and OMG!  So much love for this polish.  The colour, the flakes - so much love!

O Dumbledore, My Dumbledore is such a magical polish!  First coat it goes on purple and then it changes to blue on the second coat.  How cool is that?  Not only is it a great base colour but the shimmer is also amazing.

Silver Sparkler is super sparkly and just start amazing!  I don't think I need to say anything else about this one.

Stan's Wheels is yet another Harry Potter related polish that I love.  I am a huge purple fan and this one is stunning!

Starfire is another polish that was released as part of the Hella Handmade Creations but this one was released back in May.  While this one is described as being a red/pink I say it's pink and absolutely gorgeous.  It's such a rich colour that looks great both in and out of direct sunlight.

Toil & Trouble.  If you saw the post for this then you will know that I fell completely in love with the original version of this polish but Theresa wasn't happy with the formula so scrapped it.  I was shattered when she first told me that but then I saw this version and I love it just as much as the original.

Yuletide Ball.  Have I mentioned that Theresa does great flakie polishes?  I love the colour of this one.  It does also have a shift to it that I couldn't quite capture on camera but if you own this polish then you will know what I am talking about.

Pinkmas was a polish that wasn't actually released.  This polish was a stunning gift for me and I love it so much that there was no way it was not going to be included in my top picks for 2019.

True Joy is perfectly named because this polish really is true joy.  Like with Pinkmas this polish wasn't actually released and was in fact a gift from Theresa to me and it needed to be in this favourites post.

It was actually really interesting to me grabbing out ALL of my indie favourites this year.  I feel like previously there was a mixed bag of stuff where this year there is a bit more of a theme.  I definitely seem to gravitate towards polishes that have a shift to them whether its with a chameleon flake or an aurora shimmer I just love it.

Only two more favourites posts to go.  Woohoo!  Tomorrow it's a bit of a double post (it's stamping plates and stamping polishes) and then my final post for 2019 will be my favourite nail art from the year.

What indie polishes and brands have you loved this year?