Year in Review Part 1: Glitter Mosaics

Since my super sparkly glitter nails are still holding up and they took so long I can't bear to take them off, I'm going to do what I've been putting off for a while, and that's to do my 2012 year in review post!  Yes, I realise it's the 30th of January but I've done 390 posts on this blog and I want to reflect a little.

There's too much here to fit in one post so let's start with the first part of my three part reflection.  Gotta start with glitter, right?

Top Glitter Mosaics of 2012

 5.  Most Complex Glitter Mosaic

My most recent and most complex glitter mosaic comes in at number five.  It's sparkly and took forever but the holo glitter I usually use is even more sparkly and is a better colour combination.  I can still see where there glitter surface is uneven, which annoys me, but as a whole, it's still awesome.  

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4. Harlequin Glitter Nails

Another recent post, I was really happy with how my red and blue harlequin nails came out.  This also, unsurprisingly, took a long time to do and nearly sent me cross-eyed.  It's at number four because I love a good rainbow but makes it on the list because while the colours are clearly separate up close, from a distance it looks purple, with pretty red flashes.  I love that I got the glitter to line up so neatly, it makes me happy.  

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3. True Rainbow Fish Nails

I usually stick to using small glitter because I HATE it when pieces of glitter don't sit completely flat on my nails. That's when I cave half a day in and end up picking it off.  Anyway, I have a large collection of little pots of glitter and decided to give the larger pieces a go, because they work so well together, colour wise.  I even had the time to trim the glitter so it sits properly at the cuticle and nail tip.  Yay rainbow fishies!

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2. 3D Geometric Glitter Nails

Diamond shaped glitter is always tricky to work with because it so easily sticks up and catches on things.  I was playing around with it one night when I realised that I could make cubes out of it!  I wasn't sure about making a full coverage mani with it so I let the cubes meander around my thumb and ring finger.  Turns out, that works pretty well!

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1. Stained Glass Glitter Nails

I've done a ton of different manis with this holo glitter but the one that started it off were my stained glass glitter nails I did for my friend's birthday.  All night people commented on my nails, asked if they were stickers, basically showered me with attention which is pretty much all I ask for in life.  I can see things I want to fix here, but it's sparkly so it's ok. 

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Yay glitter!

Year In Review: My Sixteen Favourite Nails of 2013

I know it's now 2014 but I've never been the biggest fan of doing things because the date says so.  I do, however, want to reflect on 2013 as a year.  I'm just so grateful to all of you for being so supportive.  I'd probably keep my nails sparkly even if no one came here but having such wonderful people constantly show their support through comments and views on all the various platforms....it's just great.  So thank you!  I love all of you.  You let me be myself and it's wonderful.

Enough with the gushing, fancy seeing my favourite nails for 2013?  I was going to do this whole thing where I just swatched all my favourite polishes but I lost interest and made it too complicated, so let's just look at sparklies, shall we?  Here are my sixteen favourites, in no particular order....

16. Essie After School Boy Blazer with Red, Gold and Silver 3D Glitter Cubes!

Let me tell you, it was quite the revelation when I realised you could put three diamond-shaped pieces of glitter together and to make a 3-D cube.  I don't do it often because I don't have that many colours because the glitter is otherwise a PINA.  I do have red, gold and silver though, so hence this:

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15. Blue and Red Harlequin Nails

This may be near the less favourite end of the list but I actually really like these nails.  Close up, you see the distinct red and blue pattern but from a distance it just melded into this purple look but with bright red flashes in the light.  It looked super awesome, despite that description. 

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14. Checkered Fancy French Nails and Not a Rainbow in Sight!

I love everything rainbowy and sparkly but sometimes I like to do the complete opposite.  I'd just received some black square glitter in the mail and I had to make the most of it.  Turns out, at the time that was to do a modified french tip over a white and grey gradient.  It kept catching my eye when I was wearing it because it's so very different to what I normally have on.  That!

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13. Sunset Mermaid Nails for My Instagram Meetup!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might have noticed that when I go to something that has people at it (good job wording, Laura) I like to show off with doing super fancy nails.  I can't help it, I love the attention, especially in person.  So when I organised an Instagram shopping trip, of course I had to do something with big glitter.  This isn't higher on the list because it was a rush job, and it was during my "grunge" photo period, so over a bit eh.  Was sparkly though!

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12. Teeny Tiny Glitter Quilted Nails

My mum makes a lot of quilts. That might just seem like a statement but it's relevant because as it turns out, that's where I get pretty much all my inspiration from.  I didn't realise it for ages but so much of the glitter work I've been doing looks exactly like quilts.  This is one of the times I decided to be more literal in my interpretation and make Bargello nails.  I really should have done all my nails - especially since I've lost two of these glitter colours - but it's awesome as it is.   

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11. This is What 640 Pieces of Glitter Looks Like On One Hand

Oh man, I wanted to like this mani so much more than I did.  I got full rainbow set of square glitter from Glitties.com - fantastic, because look how smooth that colour run is!  It was at this point I ran out of clear top coat and decided to use the glue from nail foils instead.  This just meant my glitter came out wonky and it just isn't as good as it could have been.  It makes the list here because it took so long :)

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10. I Can Be Subtle Sometimes

I love this mani so much.  Not because it's the most technically proficient, or that it took the most time, but that it feels like a secret.  From even a slight distance it just looks like textured white nails but close up, you can see how much work was involved.   I almost want to put it higher on the list but ten is good.   

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9. Rainbow Holo Mermaid Nails

Now we come down the manis that I'm always drawn to - the gaudy rainbow holo ones.  There's something about this one is particular that's a bit off.  Maybe it's the not-quite-perfect colour transitions, the spacing, I don't know.  It is sparkly!  I swear this list isn't just to pick apart my work, these are just the things that come to mind when I have to write a short paragraph about each mani.  WHY DID I PICK SIXTEEN, SORRY EVERYONE.  

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8. Real Mermaid Scale Nails with Overlapping Lime Green Glitter

I love the texture in this mani.  It makes me really happy how well I was able to realistically reproduce sparkly scales.  I think it's not higher up because I don't really like green.... yep.

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7. Real Mermaid Nails

You know what, I really really don't like green.  This mani took me ages to do, it was super sparkly - I have a million videos in the link to prove it - but it's still only my seventh favourite because it's mostly green.  If it was purples and blues, totes number one.  Hmmm... Sparkly?

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6. I Think This is it: My Sparkliest Nails Ever (So Far)

I love these nails, despite the complex emotions that come up when I have to face that I might not be able to produce sparklier nails than this.  Before this, there was always room for more sparkly.  When dealing with dazzle glitter - which is what I'm calling this - it's really sparkly and hard to know where to go next.  It's only not higher on the list as I feel I have to deduct points cos it's scratchy.  No one likes living in Scratchytown. 

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5. Ocean Mermaid Nails

Alrighty, number five!  This is the mani that landed me on Tumblr's Top Nail Art Posts of 2013.  I'm quite proud of that, I have to say.  That's why I'm putting it at number five, mostly so I can feel smug to myself.  I just wish I could go back in time and clean off some of the black that leaked out onto the glitter.  Then it would be better.  Orrrr I could do it again...hmmm. 

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4. Rainbow Circus Mermaid Nails! Cos naming is hard...

It's interesting how a good execution of an idea can make for a better mani.  This isn't the most stunning or original mani but the photos came out really well, I cleaned up properly and all the glitter is nice and even.  While I like the colours in #5 a lot better, this one is higher up in the list because it's nicer for me to look at.  I'm quite hard on my work and this is a good one.  Yay!  At least it doesn't have "mermaid" in the title - I'm not good at naming things :)

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3. New Year's Eve Nails!

Number three: my new year's eve nails! I love these because again, I'm really happy with how evenly I placed the glitter.  And, it really was incredibly sparkly.  Like, I-must-take-4,532-videos sparkly.  And sparkly makes me so so happy. 

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2. Rainbow Nails - Mixing Matte and Metallic Glitter

What I find interesting is comparing these nails to number nine.  It's basically the same thing, but this one works so much better because the colours are so much more harmonious.  Admittedly the metallic and the matte glitter can in rainbow pots from Etsy but who knew alternating the two finishes would look so cool.  And the spacing is even.  This is a classic example though why I get so upset when I break a nail :(

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1. Thirty Different Shades and Finishes in This Mani. So Sparkly!

Finally, finally, finally, we reach number one.  A large part of why I like glitter placements so much is that it takes patience rather than artistic skill.  You just have to sit there and nudge all the glitter into place.  It's relaxing to me, like knitting.  I feel like this mani is my crowning achievement because there almost a thousand pieces of glitter, all placed individually, on my right hand.  That may seem a bit cray to some of you, but to me it feels like victory.  Sparkly, sparkly, victory. 

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While I have you, I just want to say thank you to all those that have supported me and not just dismissed my glitter with a "ain't nobody got time for that" gif.  You're all wonderful and I love you all.  

xoxoxox <3 Laura