January 2021 Favourites

Welcome to my first favourites post of 2021!  January has definitely gone way too quickly.  I really still feel like we have only just started 2021.  It's been quite an interesting start but hoping things start to settle down again.  I definitely would like more of a regular routine.  It has been great getting back into blogging again.  I have managed to be quite active (well definitely not as active as I was in 2017 - that was basically daily blogging) but definitely a lot more than in 2020.  Anyway, with more blogging means more favourites!  So let's take a look at all the things I have loved in January.

Nail Art

This month I took on the first nail art challenge that I have done since.... September 2018!  I had to look that up.  Wow!  I didn't realise it had been that long.  Anyway, I have failed my way through this one but I did manage to do four out of the five prompts so it's a good start.  These are the two manis that I have loved this month.

Nail Polish

Last year while I was taking a little time off blogging I was having fun re wearing some of my older polishes which partly inspired me to start a new series - Swatch My Stash.  I also took it as a bit of an opportunity to post some of the really old swatches I have had sitting on my computer for ages.  Because I have posted them this month I will include them in today's post but I will probably skip over them for the end of year favourites.

Mainstream Polishes

These mainstream polishes are all older polishes and have been in my collection for many years now.  But they were posted this month (and I haven't played with any new mainstream brands) so it's nice to include them in my favourites - especially seems these are polishes that I have worn quite a few times over the years.

A England Merlin

I'm not entirely sure if A England sit as a mainstream or as an indie.  They sit in that grey area like Picture Polish and Dance Legend.  Anyway, Merlin is such a simple yet stunning polish that I have worn a lot since I got it.  Mainly as an accent nail but I have worn it a couple of times as a full mani.

Color Club East Austin

This is by far one of my all time favourite polishes from Color Club.  I have both the regular formula and the "one coat" formula and have gone through multiple bottles over the years.  I want to say that this is one of my most worn polishes on my toes.  I love it!

Indie Polishes

Oh my indies - how I love them.  I love them so much that I have had to go and buy yet another Alex drawer unit to fit them in.  A little crazy - maybe but there are just so many good polishes and we all know that there will be more coming!

Emily de Molly Black Friday Polishes

This was a massive polish to write (and to swatch) and I love the polishes.  Could I narrow down the favourites a little?  Probably but I'm not going to do that today.  That can be Future Tracy's job.

Emily de Molly Insipid

I have no clue when this polish was actually released but I know that it was a few years ago now.  I also know that I have already used about a quarter of the bottle and kinda wished that I purchased a back up bottle.

Emily de Molly Valentine's Trio

Moving into some more recent polishes - LOVE this year's Valentine's trio.  They are all so pretty and sparkly!  Everyone needs sparkly nails!

Grace-full Nail Polish Crystal Shifts (Polish Pick Up January 2021)

I think this was the first purchase of mine for 2021 (and definitely not the last) and OMG!  I am obsessed!  This polish is seriously magical and so much better in person than in pictures.  

Powder Perfect Fog Is Rolling In

Powder Perfect is definitely the greatest loss to the polish world.  Their polish was amazing!  And still is.  I still love my drawer full of the pretties.  I mean look at how gorgeous Fog Is Rolling In is?  So in love.

That brings us to the end of my January favourites.  Next month there is quite a few new goodies coming out from the indie girls - so there will be some new posts coming.  I also plan on continuing on with the Hit The Bottle nail art challenge and I am kinda debating whether or not to do another nail art challenge.  I guess we will see what happens.

Let me know some of the things you have been loving this month.  I'm curious to know.

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?

January 2019 Favourites

It's my first monthly favourites of 2019!  Woohoo!  Now I have set myself a little challenge (well kind of) to narrow down my favourites each month.  I noticed last year when I was trying to work out my end of year favourites that I had some massive monthly favourites which I then struggled to narrow down.  This year I'm hoping that by making my monthly favourites smaller it will make deciding my end of year favourites easier.  Does that make sense?  Anyway, January is usually a quieter month for new products so today's post is going to be pretty small.  

Nail Art

Kicking off my favourites with some nail art.  I am trying to be good and do some more nail art (I say that as I am wearing a plain mani oops).  I have definitely done some more nail art than what I have shared so far but as a rule I will only include things that I have shared on my blog (and Instagram).

Stamping Plates
I have been playing with a few different stamping plates this month.  I'v even dusted off some of the plates that I have had for years.  That definitely has been fun.  But ultimately there are two plates that made my heart sing.

Uberchic Beauty 28-01 Stamping Plate
I really like Collection 28, however I am not sure if I can call the full collection my favourite.  The first plate in this collection is easily a favourite.  I even did some of my favourite nail art using this plate so this is a definite must have in my favourites post.

Image from Uberchic Beauty

Uberchic Art Deco Elegance Stamping Plate
I think I have added all of the Art Deco plates into my favourites posts, but that said these plates are awesome!  They have so many amazing images on these plates and Art Deco Elegance is no exception.  I love it!

Image from Uberchic Beauty

Indie Polishes
I haven't really played with any new mainstream polishes this month (although I am about to swatch the new OPI Tokyo Collection so stay tuned for that) but once again I have some favourites from two of my favourite indie brands - Emily de Molly and Grace-full Nail Polish.

Emily de Molly Boxing Day Limited Edition Polishes
While technically these polishes were released last year I didn't get them until this year so I am counting them as this year.  It's safe to say that I fell head over heels for one of these polishes in particular - LE130.  This polish is hands down my favourite Emily de Molly polish from this month.  I also love LE135 and LE140.

Emily de Molly January Releases
Emily de Molly have kicked started the year in the most beautiful way - with gorgeous polishes of course!  I have quite a random mix of favourites from this year - Birthday Project, Leave It To Me and Opposite Order.  All are such great polishes!

Grace-full Nail Polish Polish Pick Up January 2019
Winds And Rainbows was this month's Polish Pick Up shade from Grace-full Nail Polish and I love it!  It's so pretty and shifts well between the shades.   It was really fun to wear.  My swatch shows this polish in it's cold state.

Grace-full Nail Polish Polish Pick Up February 2019
It seems a little odd to be including a February polish into my January favourites but it has been shared in January so it counts for this month's favourites.  There is great colours in this thermal.

I'm pretty that is everything that I have loved this month.  I'm pretty impressed that I have managed to narrow down my favourites.  I have been swatching some new things for February already and I know that it is going to be soooooo hard to narrow down.  But I can be tough.... can't I?  Guess we will find out at the end of  February.  Between now and there all I can say is prepare your wallets guys!  There is some amazing things coming.


   

January 2018 Favourites

This is my second (and hopefully last) attempt at writing my monthly favourites.  I completed the entire post and sadly it didn't save at all and has now gone.  So now this is my January favourites 2.0....  I really enjoyed doing my monthly favourites last year (and I think you guys enjoyed reading them) so they are coming back in 2018!  Last year I used each of my monthly favourites to help me decide my overall favourites for the year.  Sadly for me, picking my end of year favourites was extremely hard because I had way too many favourites throughout the year.  This year I have decided that I need to be tougher with my choices each month.  It's definitely going to be a challenge for me, but luckily this month has been a quiet month with new releases so I am off to a good start.  Let's have a look at the things I have been loving this month.

Nail Art
If you see this collage on Instagram then it may look as though I have pretty much chosen all of the manis that I posted.   This is definitely not the case.  I don't post everything on Instagram these (IG and I aren't really friends) so it's really only my favourite manis that make their way over there.  If you want to see all of my manis that I do then following my blog is the best way.

I know there are still quite a lot of nail art favourites this month but I really tried to narrow them down.  There were some others that I could have added but I was tough (ish).  One thing that I have found interesting is the amount of grey manis that I have fallen in love with this month.  Certainly different from my usual neon or pastel manis (although they do make an appearance still).

Stamping Plates
As I mentioned earlier, this month has been pretty quiet in terms of new releases.  I did play with a mixture of some new plates as well as plates that I purchased last year but never got around to swatching.

Uberchic Collection Twenty Three
There is a fantastic mix of images among these plates.  I am definitely a huge fan and will be getting a lot of use out of them.  You can see the manis I did with these plates along with pictures of each of the individual plates here.

Image from Uberchic

Uberchic Love & Marriage 04 
I love girly manis, they are among some of my favourite manis to do and wear.  With that being said, it should come as no surprise that I love this plate.  It is full of girly images and lots of potential for girly manis.  You can see the manis I have done with this plate in this post here.

Image from Uberchic

Indie Polishes
Sadly, I really haven't had too many indie polishes on my blog this month (like I said it has been a quiet month).  In fact, I have only shared polishes from one brand - Emily de Molly.  Not that that is a bad thing because I love Emily de Molly polishes!  But it is nice to share the love around.

Emily de Molly Perfect Formation
Ahh the polish that I some how managed to get my hands on at 3am whilst in hospital and heavily medicated (in case you didn't know I had an operation earlier this month).  This polish was from the Polish Pick Up and was limited edition - only 100 bottles were available!  I fell in love with the swatches and I fell in love even more when I saw it in person.  It's so beautiful.  You can see more of my swatches here.

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Emily de Molly Limited Edition polishes 2017
There were six polishes that I purchased late last year that I was meant to swatch but never got the chance to until recently.  They are all great shades and I am happy to have them in my collection.  I was tough and managed to narrow my favourites down to three polishes - LE64 (top picture), LE61 (bottom left) and LE63 (bottom right).  You can see more swatches of these polishes and the other limited edition polishes in this post here.

This is probably my shortest favourites post ever - or at least I think it is.  January is definitely a quiet month when it comes to new releases but I imagine there will be a lot of new things coming our way in the coming months.  February will definitely be a month full of favourites - I have quite a few things already to play with and there is some amazing stuff!  I also have my eye on a few things that I want to buy.  I am excited!

Let me know what you have been loving this month or what you have your eye on to try.

January 2017 Favourites

I can not believe that today is the last day of January.  Seriously this year is going to fly by so quickly.  My daughter is already talking about turning six (her birthday isn't until November so she may be getting excited a little too early lol).  How has everyone's January been so far?  Apart from it going by quickly mine has been good.  I've managed to catch up with lots of people and do some fun things with Olivia before school starts in a couple days.  Eeek!  I can't believe my baby is big enough to be going to school.

Today I have my monthly favorites for January.  I haven't fully decided what sort of format or things I am planning on putting in these monthly favorites at this point, so if I have missed anything that you would like me to include you can let me know.  Now this month has been a bit "quiet" in terms of new products.  I did order Orly's La La Land Collection back in December but for whatever reason they still haven't arrived.  I've now re-ordered them from another company so they should be here soon - plus I have some other goodies that I have purchased so February should have some new things for me to share with you so yay!  I love new things.

Nail Art
This month has been full of nail art!  There has been a total of twenty four nail art related posts, how crazy is that?  I really didn't realize that there was that many.  I always have trouble narrowing down my favorites to four (I don't think it helps that I do so many manis in a month) so here are my favorite eight manis.  The warmer weather certainly has made me break out a lot of bright colours!

Nail Art Products
Seems we are talking about nail art I thought I should throw in some of my favorite nail art products I have been loving this month.

Lina Nail Art Supplies Dress Your Nails 01 Stamping Plate
I have a whole review on this plate which you can find here but long story short - there are a whole bunch of full sized images on this plate that I just love!  It's definitely a very me plate.  I do have a bunch of other new Lina plates that I want to use so I have had to stop myself from just grabbing this plate constantly.

Image from Lina Nail Art Supplies

Bundle Monster BM-S188
This plate is from Bundle Monster's Mystic Woods Set Two Stamping Plate Collection.  There is actually  few plates from this collection that I really like but the butterfly wings really make my heart sing.  I can't wait to use this plate again!

Image from Bundle Monster

Nail Polish
As I mentioned earlier, this month has definitely been very quiet when it comes to new polishes for me.  I have however had a chance to swatch some more of the polishes that I purchased last year (yay for staying on track with my New Years Resolution!).  I have also had a chance to rediscover some older polishes that I have worn before.


Essie Neon 2016 Collection
This collection isn't a favorite of mine when it comes to wearing each polish as a full mani, however I do love the colours for nail art (as you can probably tell from my nail art collage above).  You can see my full review of these here in case you want more of my thoughts.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Can't Take The Sky
This is such a stunning colour and the formula is great.  I think this one would have made it into my favorites of last year if I had actually gotten around to wearing it in time.

Emily de Molly Hybrid Theory
This is another one of the polishes that would have made it into my favorites from last year.  Seriously I need to stay on top of my purchased better this year!  You can see more pictures of this polish here.

This month I have also rediscovered my love for Matte Top Coats.  I don't know why I don't use them more often.  Brace yourselves - there will probably be a lot of matte manis coming!

Your Favorites
I thought it would be fun to include some of the things that you guys have been liking.  These are my nine most liked pictures on Instagram for this month.  It's great to know that some of my favorite manis are yours as well.

As for blog posts, my top three most viewed post for this month are:

2016 Reflection & New Years Resolutions

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Does Winter: Snowflakes

26 Great Nail Art Ideas: New Year, New Me 

I think that about covers everything that I have been loving this month.  I am so excited for February.  I should have a few new things to play with and of course lots more nail art to share with you guys.

What are some of the things that you have been loving this month?