My Highlights Of 2013

Greetings All!

A slightly different kind of post today. I don't have any New Years nails for you (I have to go to work in the morning, so I haven't bothered), but I've seen quite a few posts where people look back over the last year, and I thought that might be fun. For me, anyway!



This time last year, I didn't even have a blog. Tomorrow is my first blogiversary, and I think it's the first New Years Resolution I've ever kept! I wasn't sure if I would keep it up, or whether I'd get bored after a few weeks. I wasn't even sure if nail art was going to be a fad for me! However one year on, and I'm even more obsessed than I was a year ago, which I guess is a good thing. I still get a lot of joy from polish!



Untrieds have been a big theme for me in 2013. I just buy so much polish, I don't have enough time or fingers to wear them all! When I first started to get obsessed with polish and nail art, I would buy it willy-nilly. I have gotten better (for the most part), and I've even been known to not buy a polish because I have similar shades (not the same, similar). However, if you put me in front of a sale or some bargains, I will still go a little crazy from time to time.

Because I keep polishes in my Helmers, my untrieds are sitting out visible until they have been tried, and this is why they've been a bit of a cloud over my head this year. They're constantly there, looking at me, sad because they don't get used, and taking up valuable room! Fortunately I worked really hard in December, and I finished swatching all my mainstream polishes! I'm hoping that next year this will free me to polish what I like, rather than feeling obligated to try something new.




As wonderful and beautiful mainstream polishes are, for me 2013 has very much been the year of the indie polish. This time last year I didn't own any, and I remember thinking people were a bit ridiculous for getting so obsessed over the things, and that they were all nail hipsters! I've built up a nice little collection since then, including several 'lemmings', and I can confirm that yes, they are very addictive, beautiful, and necessary!

Dwarfing my indie collection is my UK indie collection, which is something I've definitely become a major fanatic over! I remember in April when Tara launched her first collection, and since then the scene  has exploded into something that easily rivals their international counterparts. You can get all the fancy finishes - thermals, holos, multichromes, as well as all those charming glitter toppers and sandwiches that I can never resist. I'm constantly amazed by their creativity and the polishes that they are able to produce! Plus they have this wonderful little community of polish makers and fans, who were kind/daft enough to vote me UK Indie Polish Blogger Of The Year 2013 a couple of weeks ago. This my chance to again thank everyone who voted, and to pledge my intentions to live up to the title! I'm predicting that next year UK indie polish is going to get even bigger, and I hope to be there, bringing you swatches of them and convincing you that you need them!



The UK indie polish community is a really lovely group of women, but I was a little bit surprised to learn that everyone in the nail polish community is lovely! OK, that sounds a bit...odd, but I honestly wasn't expecting everyone in the nail polish/ blogging community to be SO nice, kind, supportive, patient and generous, even when I was a total newbie and had no idea what I was doing! Everyone is happy to help each other, and there is very little evidence of cliques or bitchiness (I don't want to offend anyone, but speaking as a woman, sometimes we can be bitches! I am most of the time). I was expecting a small percentage to be a little snobby, or trolly, but I haven't located them yet! They're a wonderful group of people, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of them!




So those were my highlights/main points that I've taken away from blogging in 2013. I really hope I can write another post like this at the end of 2014! I wanted to end with a brief list of some of my favourite things from this year.

• Shaped glitter - some love it, some hate it. I absolutely love it! It's the child in me that squeals with delight at the thought of having stars and moons on my nails. If they take some extra topcoat...worth it! Fingers crossed the shapes get even more exciting in 2014 (I'm still hoping for bat glitter!).
• Gelous - my favourite basecoat, discovered this year. I started my 5th bottle just before Christmas - I really go through the stuff! I love it for work because it makes me nails feel super strong after 2 coats. It's also great as a thick topcoat over shaped glitter.
• Thermal polish - what an idea! Polish that can produce a gradient on your nails all by itself?! Genius. I only have a few, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the next must have!
• My XL Squishy Stamper - my best stamping discovery of the year, more so than any plate or polish. It's definitely taken my stamping up a level, and I never want to go back to the old style stampers!
• Glitter-in-a-white-base polishes - I LOVE glitter in a white/pale base, especially if it's matte glitter. There's just something so...clean, and pure about it.

There are many other things I've loved in the last year, but I have to end it soon or this will end up being a VERY long post. It probably would have been easier if I listed the things I didn't like this year!

If you stayed with me through all that text, thank you, and well done! I hope you all have a lovely New Year, and I'll be back in 2014!