2020 Reflections And New Years Resolutions

 

Happy New Year everyone!  I am sure I am not the only one who is happy to be done with 2020.  Hopefully 2021 will be a much better year.  I thought to kick start this year I would continue what seems to be a yearly tradition of reflecting on the previous years and setting some blog/nail goals for the upcoming year.  Like previous years, this post is usually quite wordy (with only one picture - my top 9 pictures on Instagram for 2020) so if that's not your thing then feel free to skip over this post.  But if you have anything in particular you would like to see then let me know!  You can comment below, comment or message me on Instagram or email me.  I would love to know what you would like to see more of.

 

2020

It's funny looking back on 2019's Reflections and New Years Resolutions post (you can find that here if you are interested) because I talk about how crazy the year was and how busy it was which then resulted in a smaller amount of blog posts from me.  Little did I know that 2020 was going to be a year that would kick mine and everyone else's butts like never before.  It's safe to say that it is a year that no one will forget.  

 

In terms of my blog for 2020 I only managed 82 posts which is the quietest year I have ever had on my blog.  I made a comment about how little nail time I had previously had and that I was going back and forth on the whole blogging thing.  2020 took that into it's own hands and my blog did basically stop.  I did continue to paint my nails but not as regular as I once upon a time did.  I have to admit that wearing polishes and nail art and not photographing and edit has been great I have kinda missed the blogging side of things.  It's a nice little outlet so in 2021 I do plan on blogging more.

 

Last year I did set four goals for myself.  My first goal was to complete swatching everything that I had purchased in 2019.  Happy to report that I definitely did that.  Yay!  From memory there was only a few polishes let and I managed to get them done before the whole Covid thing so that was a nice and easy goal.

 

My second goal was to swatch everything I purchased in 2020.  Well given how little I purchased last year you would think that I would manage this goal.  Nope.  Completely failed.  I have basically all of the Emily de Molly Black Friday Limited Editions to swatch, I have their Halloween polishes still and I think there are also a couple of random other limited editions.  I really can't remember what I have left.  Guess I will have to work that out.

 

Goal number three was to start doing more nail art.  While I am happy with the nail art I did in 2020 there really wasn't a great deal of it.

 

My last goal was to continue working my way through some more of my untried polishes.  I didn't really do that either.  I did however, go back and re wear some of the polishes that I have loved over the years which was awesome.  One of the things with blogging is that I am always grabbing for new things which doesn't leave time for anything else that I have previously swatched. 

 

So that was 2020 - not a great year for anyone and definitely not for my blog.  But it is what it is.  Before looking at some goals for 2021 here is a look at my top nine most liked pictures on Instagram.  These are always a fun little round up.

 

2021

What is to come for 2021?  Honestly, it will depend on a few things.  I am hoping for no lockdowns next year and some what of normal routine.  My daughter is going into grade 4 (which is exciting and scary all at the same time) which means that we have to start looking for high schools as it may result in having to move house etc.  So there is that.  Also my daughter has set herself to goal of moving into a much higher level of gymnastics (again this is super exciting and as a parent very scary - the skills are crazy!).  At this stage I am not sure if there will be an increase in her training hours etc so I guess I will have to see what happens.

 

Given I am not 100% sure what 2021 will look like for me I am going to try and keep my goals minimal (hopefully I can achieve them this year).

 

• To write more blog posts that I did in 2020.
  
• To  complete swatching everything I purchased in 2020.
• To swatch everything I purchase in 2021.
• To do some more nail art.
• To swatch polishes that I have in my collection that aren't on my blog.  One day I would love to have all the polishes on my blog because it's usually where I go if I need information about a polish.  It will also allow me to revisit some of the older polishes that I have worn before and wear some more untrieds. 

 

I think that is all I have for my New Years Resolutions.  It's not a huge list but it's a starting point to get me going again.  Please let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see on my blog.

 

 

2019 Reflections And New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone!  I can't believe how quickly 2019 came and went.  I have a feeling that 2020 will go just as fast - or maybe even faster.  If you are new to my blog then you may not know that I write a bit of a reflection of the previous year and then usually set myself some goals for to current year.  These posts are usually quite wordy so if that isn't your thing then feel free to skip over this post.  I won't take offense.  I kinda like writing these posts because it's good for me to think about what I have done (or not done) on my blog and work out some blogging goals for the new year.  Anyway, before I start really rambling lets just get started.

2019

What a crazy busy year 2019 was.  Not so much for my blog.  It was actually the quietest year on my blog to date.  I only managed to do 171 blog posts which is less than what I did in my first year of blogging and I started later in the year.  Oops.  I did say in my 2018 Reflections post that I wasn't going to set any sort of blogging schedule (which I have previously done) and that I didn't know what the year would bring and I guess all of that came true.  I did manage to stay relatively active on my blog so I guess that is a plus but let's take a look at the goals I had set out for myself.

My first goal was to swatch everything that I purchased.  Yep.  I failed at this goal but only a little.  I did purchase the new Emily de Molly toppers and some Limited Edition cremes but I haven't swatched those yet.  I'll be doing that soon so they will be up on my blog this month sometime.

My second goal was to try and make my monthly favourites posts shorter.  I think I did ok with that (maybe because I had less time to play with things) but there is definitely room for improvement.  I really struggled looking back at my monthly posts to help with my decision making for the end of year favourites.

Untrieds are an ongoing thing with me.  I once upon a time was buying ALL the polish and buying so much that I didn't really get the chance to wear it.  I was of the belief that it was better to be purchased and live in my drawers untouched than to go to wear a polish and not own it.  While I think there is still some truth to that I have definitely slowed right down with my purchases.  I also make a conscious effort to wear what I buy.  But a lot of my original polishes I haven't worn or I haven't swatched for my blog or Instagram.  I did attempt to do 101 Untrieds to help get through some of them but I failed at my task.  Well maybe not failed.  I just didn't get it done in the time frame I had set.  Maybe a new goal for 2020?

My last goal for 2019 as to do more nail art.  That was a big fat fail!  I had a few months where I did zero nail art.  Yep.  Zero.  It's crazy that that happened especially when I think back a couple of years and I was doing multiple nail art manis a day (I use to post twice a day on Instagram).  I also use to do multiple nail art challenges a month but again that was something I didn't do this year.  In fact, I stopped all forms of nail art challenges.  I left the Digit-al Dozen because I wasn't liking the themes and my motivation for nail art had disappeared.  For the first time in years I didn't participate in the 31 Day Challenge but that was because we moved house so the timing was off.

It's not really a positive reflection on 2019 but I don't look back on 2019 as being a bad year at all.  I just didn't reach the goals that I had set out at the beginning of the year and that's ok.  I'm sure I am not the only one.  Anyway, before discussing what is to come for 2020 I thought I would share my top nine liked pictures on Instagram.  It's definitely quite the mix.

2020

What is to come for 2020?  That is a great question.  I honestly have no idea.  Given how much I have struggled with nail time in 2020 I have gone back and forth on stopping blogging altogether.  But stopping at this point just doesn't seem right to me.  I still love painting my nails and I love blogging so I'm going to stick with it as best as I can.  With that said, I'm not going into the new year with any plans on how often I'll be blogging etc.  It will just be a see how I go type of year because as busy as 2019 was - 2020 is going to be busier again.

I'm going to keep my goals to a minimum this year:

• To complete swatching all 2019 polishes (should be a nice easy one).
• To swatch everything I purchase in 2020.
• To start doing some more nail art!  I don't know what form this will take whether it will be posted here on just on Instagram but I definitely need to do some more nail art.
• Continue working my way through some of my untrieds.   

      
I think that is all I have for this post.  Thanks for sticking around!  I'll be back on Friday with this month's Polish Pick Up shade from Grace-full Nail Polish.

2018 Reflections And New Years Resolutions

Welcome to 2019!  It feels so crazy to be writing 2019.  Does anyone else take quite some time getting use to a new year?  I'm pretty sure I will be writing 2018 for a little while still.  Anyway, for the last couple of years here on my blog I have done a post which reflects on things that have happened that in the previous year and some "New Years Resolutions".  I'm really not one for New Years Resolutions usually (I believe that if you are going to make a change then you really should wait for a new year to do it).  But I do like them for my blog.  They kinda set me up with some goals that I want to achieve for the coming year.  Now if you are new to these types of blog post of mine - these are quite wordy posts with minimal pictures.  If these aren't your type of posts then feel free to skip over this post.  I will be back to my usual swatch and review posts (among other things) later this week.

2018

What a year it was.  I had my very first collaboration polish released (Royal by piCture pOlish), I completed yet another 31 Day Nail Art Challenge and continued working with some of my favourite brands!  I also stopped doing a lot of nail art challenges, which I think was a little bit disappointing.  I was doing so well with them in 2017 and at the beginning of 2018.  I guess you could say that 2018 was quite up and down for me blog/nail wise.  I went from being highly motivated, too having not much time and then not being as motivated and honestly considered giving up blogging/nails.  Never fear, I'm not quitting just yet.  But I will get into that a little more in a sec.  Let's talk about the goals I set last year and how I went with them.

Last year I set out four goals.  I am happy to report that I did reasonably well achieving these.  My first goal was to complete swatching all of the polishes and stamping plates that I purchased in 2017 which I managed to tick off quite early in the year.  Woohoo! 

My second goal was to swatch everything that I purchased in 2018.  This was a goal that I went back and forth on but I can say that this goal gets a big tick as well.  I do have a few things that I have been sent to swatch that I haven't used yet - most of these things are being released this month so I'm not going to count those as things from 2018.   I also may or may not have purchased a few things on Boxing Day but at the time of writing this post I haven't received them so I don't think they count either.

Monthly favourites are something that I started doing a couple of years back and I continued doing them every month again in 2018.  One of the main reasons I started doing these was to help me narrow down my favourites at the end of each year.  I realized at the end of 2017 my monthly favourites were too big and it didn't really help me as much as I would have liked at the end of the year.  With that said, my third goal last year was to make smaller (more cut throat) monthly favourites.  I feel like I started doing this at the start of the year but then stopped being as cut throat as the year went on.  Oops.  That may need to be something I work on this year.

My final goal for 2018 was to start swatching some more of my untrieds from previous years.  This would mean anything that I purchased in 2015 and earlier.  I didn't even touch of this goal at all.  Well maybe I pulled out a stamping plate or something, but for the most part my untrieds still remain untried.

I guess I need to address the whole social media thing don't I?  To begin with, I continued to post on social media, but as the year went on and my level of interest fluctuated social media kinda got pushed to the side.  Honestly, I found that my Facebook page wasn't really reaching the people that followed it (unless I pay money), my Pinterest followers started to go down and Instagram took the biggest hit of them all.  Like with 2017, my followers have disappeared (usually the more I post the more followers that go), I am now under 50,000 followers.  Likes were also even harder to get and according to my Instagram insights basically no one sees my posts.  I questioned in my last years reflections/resolutions post if I should continue on with Instagram and this year I honestly don't think I will be posting much.  It nearly seems like a pointless task.

Last year I included my 'best nine' manis from Instagram and I thought I would include my best nine from 2018 as well.  I love that pretty much all of the nail art manis made it into my favourite nail art for the year.  I especially love that my collaboration shade with piCture pOlish also made it into the best nine.  Royal was definitely a highlight for me.  Thank you to everyone who picked it up so far and have shared your swatches and nail art.  It has been so awesome to see them all.

2019
I had originally thought about skipping over doing some goals for this year, mainly because I still haven't really decided what my blogging future is, but then it seemed wrong to not set some goals.  For the most part I still love doing my nails (and I definitely don't see myself having naked nails ever), I am not sure I will be doing my nails as often as I have in previous years.  With that being said, I am not going to be setting myself any sort of blogging schedule.

My goals for 2019 are going to be similar to last years.  Hopefully I can tick them all off at the end of the year.

* Swatch everything that I purchase in 2019.

* Make monthly favourites post smaller - I definitely need to be more cut throat throughout the year.

* Start swatching some of my untrieds from previous years (both polishes and stamping plates).

* More nail art!  This may just be part of playing with some more stamping plates, doing some nail

   art just for me or participating in some more nail art challenges (such as the Digit-al Dozen). 

I think that is all of my ramblings for now.  Thank you for reading this post.  Let me know if there is anything in particular you may want to see on my blog this year.

2017 Reflections And New Years Resolutions

Happy 2018 everyone!  I hope you had some fun bring in the new year.  Today I have another reflections and resolutions post for you.  I did one of these last year (you can that post here) and I quite enjoyed writing it.  It really got me thinking about what I had done in the previous year (both things that I liked and things that I didn't like) and most importantly what I would like to do for the new year.  You guys seemed to like the post so I thought why not kick the new year off with another post.  Like last year, this will probably be quite a wordy post without mani pictures so if that's not your thing then feel free to skip over this post.

2017
Last year I set out with no set goals in terms of how many posts to do each week because I didn't really know exactly what my plans were outside of nails.  Well, I ended up pretty much daily blogging for most of the year.  I ended up missing a few days in June because I needed time to play catch up with...well everything.  And December was sadly a bit of a write off for me due to being unwell.  All that being said I did manage to do 363 blog posts last year so I am happy with that.

At the beginning of the year I set myself some goals in which to achieve throughout the year.  Things definitely didn't go as I had planned but sometimes these things can't be helped.  I was definitely on track but let's break it all down...

One of my initial goals was to try and do some more comparison posts.  Well, I managed to do no comparison posts.  Oops.  I kinda forgot about them and over planned myself that time didn't really allow for such posts.  I don't know about other bloggers but I find that comparison posts always take a lot longer than any other posts.  Perhaps this year I should set this as another goal?

Another goal was to complete swatching all of the polishes that I purchased in 2016.  I can happily report that I achieved this goal.  I even managed to swatch all of the stamping plates that I purchased in 2016... well at least I think it was all of the plates.  It was definitely the bulk of them.

Probably the biggest goal that I set for myself was to swatch everything I purchased in 2017.  If I continued blogging throughout December I would have easily completed this goal.  I only have two polish collections to swatch and a few stamping plates.  Guess what one of my goals will be for this year?

Aside from my usual swatching and reviewing (which I did a lot of this year) adding in more nail art was another goal I set.  I definitely increased the amount of nail art on my blog in 2017.  I managed to complete a few different challenges - 26 Great Nail Art Challenge, Nail Crazies Unite, the Digit-al Dozen, 30 Days Of Colour.....and there were a couple of others that only ran for a month.  This year I also brought the 31DC2017 nail art challenge to my blog.  This is a challenge that I have done on Instagram for two years (or is it three? - it's definitely been a while) but this was the very first time having it on my blog.

Monthly favourites posts were something that I introduced to my blog in 2017 and I really enjoyed doing them.  It was quite fun looking back over the month and trying to narrow down my favourites.  Some months were definitely easier than others, but they did make doing my end of year favourites a little easier.

Social media....what to say about social media?  Previously I kinda ignored (or forgot about) some of my other social media accounts.  Last year I focused on keeping my Facebook and Pinterest accounts up to date and overall I did ok with it.  There were a few days were I forgot or didn't get a chance to do them but they got done at some point.  Instagram was a whole other story.  2017 was a horrible year for Instagram for me.  Literally everything went backwards.  I lost thousands of followers, likes were hard to get and my insights provided by Instagram were also shocking.  I honestly still can't work out if it's best to keep posting on Instagram or give up on it entirely.  I really do miss the good old Instagram.

Speaking of Instagram, last year I included my best nine so I thought it would be fun to add them in again.  Some of these were manis that made it into my favourite nail art post yesterday and others were ones that I would consider my favourites but cut them out at the last minute.

2018
Like last year I am not going to set myself any number of blog posts per week.  I can tell you that I will not be daily blogging for the entire you.  In fact, January probably will be a quite blogging month for me.  I am scheduled to have an operation on the 5th so I'm guessing that I won't be feeling like doing any nails for quite some time.  I might try and find some tags or something that I can prepare so that there are at least some posts going up but no promises there.

I am going to be keeping my goals quite simple and similar to last year:
* Complete swatching all polishes and stamping plates that were purchased in 2017.
* Swatch everything that I purchase in 2018.
* Make smaller monthly favourites - I definitely need to be a little more cut throat with my favourites
* Start swatching more of my untrieds from previous years.

I am sure that as the year goes on I will add some more goals to my list.  Depending on how I go for time throughout the year I will try and add in some comparison posts.  I know these posts are usually helpful so if there is any polishes (or collections) that you would like me to compare then let me know.  Also if there are any other posts or anything you would like me to do then definitely let me know.  

Bring on 2018!

Mid Year Reflections

Happy Monday everyone!  And Happy July!  I can't believe that we are now officially in the second half of the year.  I am really not sure where the first half has disappeared to but I usually find that the second half of the year goes by even quicker.  Eeek!  Anyway, at the beginning of this year I did a post with my "New Years Resolutions".  If you missed that post you can find it here.  I thought given that we are at the half way mark I should revisit these resolutions and see how I am tracking.  To keep myself more accountable I thought I would share it with you guys too.  This post really will just be full of me rambling.  I will try and break in down into some sort of sections so you can find what bits you are interested in or just skip over this post completely. 

Blogging Schedule

I went into blogging this year with no intentions of committing myself to do x amount of blog posts a week, instead I was just playing it by ear.  For those of you who don't know, I like to plan ahead for my posts.  It was something I started doing on Instagram with all the nail art challenges (which is how I managed to fit so many in each month) and I've carried it over to my blog.  Not only does it allow me to know what to do next (I can get overwhelmed and then can't work out what I should do next - planning my blog posts ahead of time fixes that) but it also makes it easier for me to see if I have time to take on any new swatching commitments.  I aim to have a quick turn around time and hate having people waiting on me.  Anyway, for the first five months of this year I did daily blogging, but took a bit of step back last month.  I still managed to do 24 posts (that works out on average as 6 posts a week) which really isn't much of a step back when you break it down.  Oops.  

Comparison Posts

I had planned on doing some more comparison posts this year.  So far I have managed no comparisons.  With daily blogging, you think that I would have managed some wouldn't you?  Nope.  None.  I have been concentrating on another two goals instead - swatching all of the polishes that I purchased in 2016 and swatching everything I have purchased this year.  If there is anything that you want to see me swatch you can always let me know and I will do them.

My 'To Swatch' List

I have managed to get through a fair portion of the polishes that I purchased last year.  I only have the following left to swatch:

Grace-full Nail Polish Once Upon A Dream Collection

Zoya Ultra Brites Collection

Femme Fatale Cosmetics Dope Nails Exclusive

Femme Fatale Cosmetics There & Back (Part) Collection

As for the things that I have purchased this year, well that list is definitely much longer!  I blame Aussie Indie Con completely....ok maybe not completely, but it definitely makes up a huge part of my 'to swatch list'.  The list currently looks like this:

China Glaze My Little Pony Collection

Color Club Pop Play Collection

Color Club Coated Collection

Aussie Indie Con VIP polishes

Grace-full Nail Polish Fruit Salad Collection

Grace-full Nail Polish In Omnia Paratus Collection 

Grace-full Nail Polish Easter 2016 Duo

Hit The Bottle Holo Stamping Collection

A few random Hit The Bottle Stamping Polishes

Emily de Molly purchases from Aussie Indie Con

Celestial Cosmetics purchases from Aussie Indie Con

piCture pOlish new collabs and neon polishes

9 Lina Nail Art Supplies stamping plates (with some more on the way)

I also have a couple of new Emily de Molly's and a Femme Fatale Cosmetics polish that are on their way.  I think that is everything.  It's save to say I won't run out of things to blog about anytime soon.  The question still remains will I be able to swatch everything I have purchased this year plus last year.  I guess we'll find out in the next six months.

Nail Art

Nail art was something that I have been slowly increasing on my blog for quite some time now and it definitely makes up a big part of my blog now.  For the first couple of months I did participate in a couple of different nail art challenges such as Nail Challenge Collaborative, 30 Days Of Colour and Challenge Your Nail Art.  I am currently only doing three nail art challenges: The Digit-al Dozen, 26 Great Nail Art Ideas and Nail Crazies Unite.  I am most likely going to be tackling the 31DC2017 when that comes up in September.  I am just a little unsure how I am going to go about it is a daily challenge, plus I will still have other challenges and swatching stuff to do.  There is going to have to be some seriously planning done for September.  Any suggestions?

Random Posts

I have done a few random posts here and there but not a lot.  I mentioned that I was going to be doing maybe some tags (which I believe I had scheduled earlier in the year but pushed them out in favour of new things instead lol).  I have shared my nail art collection and how I store everything (you can find that post here if you missed it), I have done my first ever haul post (the Aussie Indie Con post here) and I have done a 'now and then' post here.

Are there any particular random posts you want to see?  I am open to any and all suggestions.  I am planning on doing a destash soon so maybe I could do some before and after posts?  Let me know if that is something you would be interested in seeing.

Favourites Posts

This is one thing that I said I was going to do and I have managed to do it all year so far.  Woohoo!  On the last day of the month I do a favourites post for all of my nail art, stamping plates and polishes for the month.  I always have been included manis that have been the most liked on Instagram and my most view blog posts for the month.  I will definitely be continuing these for the remainder of the year and then will be wrapping up the year with some yearly favourites posts like I did at the end of 2016.  Are there any other favourites posts you would like to see?  I have seen a few YouTubers doing favourites for colours, seasons and brands which I quite like watching sometimes.

New Brands

I set out to try out some new brands this year and I have managed to try a few.  I have tried out Opallac Gel Polish (my first ever gel polishes), L'oreal nail polishes, Kiara Sky Nails and HeHe stamping plates.  There are definitely some other brands out there that I want to try but sadly my wallet doesn't agree.

Social Media

Last year I was really bad at keeping up with all forms of social media.  Instagram was fine because I was already on a roll with posting daily.  This year I have definitely stepped up my game on both Facebook and Pinterest.   I not only post on my Facebook page but also in various groups now.  I have also been pinning all of my blog pots to Pinterest and pinning other people's work.  There is so much inspiration out there!

Who managed to read this whole post?  Well done and thank you if you did.  I know it is a lot of rambling by me.  But I feel good having looked back at my original post and looked at where I am at now.  Yes I still have a few boxes that I need to tick off by the end of the year but I will get them done....I hope.  Definitely let me know if there is anything you want to see on my blog too.  I always love feedback and suggestions.  Right, back to swatching I go.....

2016 Reflection and New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had a good night celebrating and aren't too hung over today.  We had a low key night - the kind that I like.  I think going out on New Years Eve is overrated personally.  Anyway, a new year means it time for reflections and resolutions, right?  Well I have been thinking over the last few days and thought why not share?  I think it's always good to reflect back on things and then set yourself some new goals (or resolutions - whatever you really want to call it).  Now this probably going to be a bit of a wordy post (sorry!) and it also may not be of any interest to you and that's ok.  This is probably one of those posts that are more for me than anything else, so feel free to skip over this post (unless you want to leave me some suggestions on what you would like to see me do over the next year.  I am always open to suggestions!).

2016 

Last year was a little up and down for me (especially when it came to nails) and it definitely reflects that in the gaps in blog posts.  My year started off with me being so sick that I couldn't paint my nails for basically the month of January, I had a few mini breaks in the middle of the year, and then did a complete turn around and basically blogged daily throughout October, November and December.  Can I just say that daily blogging is a lot of work!  I don't recommend it when you also have a very busy personal schedule, but overall I really enjoyed daily blogging.

When I originally started my blog back in 2015 I planned to only post swatches and reviews and keep all nail art posts for Instagram.  I started this year with that same thought, however you may have noticed that they has changed.  I added some more reviews of stamping products, water decals and then decided to completely up my nail art game and joined in with some nail art challenges.  Since October, I have joined in with the Digit-al Dozen, and I am also working my way through the 26 Great Nail Art Ideas Challenge.  There have also been a few other challenges that I started and never finished for one reason or another but let's not talk about those.

This year I also did a few "random" posts like tags, where I buy my polishes from and my end of year favourites.  I have loved doing these types of posts as they are something a little different from swatches and reviews. 

Instagram - oh the elephant in the room.  I have a bit of a love/hate with Instagram this year.  Since Facebook took it over, it has just been a downward spiral.  It's definitely not the place that it use to be.  When I first joined there was a lot more interactions between people, it was easy to find and see things in your newsfeed so you really wouldn't miss much.  Now, I miss so much!  Speaking of which, I totally missed that everyone has been posting their best nine pics of 2016 so I have thought I would include mine here.

2017

Now I am not usually one for New Years Resolutions.  Why?  Purely because I think if you are wanting to make a change then you shouldn't wait for a new year to roll around.  As I mentioned earlier, I have already started making some changes to my blog.  Nothing crazy, but minor changes like adding more nail art for example.  But I wanted to give myself some little goals/direction for the New Year.

So what will 2017 bring for Olivia Jade Nails?  Well more nails of course!  I am not going into 2017 with the plan of daily blogging or doing x amount of posts per week.  That is going to be a see how we go thing.  My baby girl starts Primary School this year and I will be returning to work at some point so I may not have as much nail time as I currently do.  That being sad, I have zero intentions of giving up polishing so I will definitely still be around.

 

I will be continuing with my usual swatches and reviews of both mainstream and indie polishes.  I am hoping (and hopefully time will allow) more comparison posts, because who doesn't love comparison posts?  I am also going to be mixing in new collections with some old collections.  What?  You may remember that in late 2016, I set myself a little goal to swatch everything I had purchased throughout the year.  Sadly, it didn't happen but I am bring that goal into the new year.  That's right, everything I purchase in 2017 I will be swatching and reviewing on my blog.  I am also going be swatching all of the polishes I purchased in 2016, and then I will start swatching my way through my entire collection.  That's right, my collection!  I'm talking polishes, stamping plates etc.  I have quite a large collection of bits and pieces that I haven't touched yet and I really need to change that.

I am also going to be doing a lot more nail art on my blog.  There will still be my usual swatches and reviews of various nail art products (mainly stamping polishes and plates because that is my go to form of nail art) and I will still be doing nail art challenges such  as the Digit-al Dozen (and boy oh boy 2017 is going to be a challenge for me with some of the themes - I'm very nervous and excited at the same time) and completing the 26 Great Nail Art Ideas Challenge.  I am also considering doing the 31 Day Challenge in September on my blog instead of Instagram but I haven't decided completely on that one.  I will also be joining in on some other challenges that I find along the way.  If there are any you find that you think I should do definitely let me know!

For something different, I have decided that I am going to be doing monthly favorite posts. I really enjoy seeing other people's favorites plus it should also help me decide my overall favorites at the end of the year.  I can also include any other favorites posts you would like me to do as well.  I am also thinking of doing some other different posts such as my polish collection, storage, tags etc.  If there is anything in particular you would like to see then definitely let me know.

In 2016 I had the privilege of working with a number of brands.  Some of these brands I have been a customer of years, some brands I have worked with previously, and then there were some brand new brands to me.  I am hoping to continue working with these brands and am hoping to work with and discover some new brands.  I'm going to have to make myself a little list of brands I have been meaning to try and haven't yet.  Any recommendations?

I've always struggled keeping up with all the various forms of social media (with the exception of Instagram) and 2017 I am definitely going to try and keep up with myself.  That may be easier said than done but it's worth a shot.

Right, well I think that pretty much covers everything.  I am sure as the new year goes along I will come up with some new thoughts etc but that is ok.  I look forward to looking at this post again in the future and see how my thoughts have changed, and more importantly, if I have met my goals that I have set.

If there is anything you want to see on my blog then definitely let me know.  It can be a blog topic, a brand or particular collection etc.  I am always open to new suggestions.