My 20 Favorite Nail Art Manis of 2015

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Hello for the 3rd time today and the last time for 2015! I just couldn't let this year end without revisiting one of my favorite aspects of this year - nail art! And since I am sitting at home with my pups, in my PJs (such a party animal!), I figured now was a great time to do it!

I feel like my nail art abilities have grown this year and since joining the Digit-al Dozen in January I have pushed myself and come up with ideas I never would have otherwise. I can't wait to see what this year has in store for me on the nail art front! 

My Favorite 15 Polishes of 2015!

Press Sample Purchased By Me

Hello again! I absolutely love seeing all of the "Favorites of 2015" posts at this time of year, so I decided to make one of my own! Originally I wasn't going to because I haven't been blogging/swatching as much I used to and I didn't have photos of a lot of my favorites. But I decided I wanted to show you my favorites anyway, so I asked some of my blogger friends if I could use some of their photos and they all agreed.  So, here are my favorite polishes in 2015!

Happy New Year!

Nothing to Disclose

Good morning, everyone! It's so hard to believe it's the last day of 2015 already! This year, like all years, has had its ups and downs. My blog had to be pushed to the side the last few months but I am really hoping to pick it back up in 2016. I am hoping to get a couple of "favorites" posts up today or tomorrow, but I am working and have a headache that's going on its 3rd or 4th day, so we'll see if it happens. But, for now, I wanted to share my New Year's Eve mani! I have actually been wearing this all week and it's still chip-free!

Guest Post: Courtney from Polished Lifting

Hello everyone! I hope all of you who celebrate had a wonderful Christmas!  I am still having computer issues so my posting will still be sparse for a bit, but I am hoping now that the year is coming to a close I can get back to posting on a more consistent basis again. However, today I have a guest post from the super sweet and talented Courtney from Polished Lifting. I love Courtney's blog! She has beautiful nails and photos and does fun nail art! I will list her social media links at the end of this post so make sure you check her out and give her a follow if you don't already! 

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Hey there! I'm Courtney from Polished Lifting. I obviously do not run Ashley Is PolishAddicted, but I adore her and her blog. I feel absolutely privileged to have the opportunity to share some nail art with you guys today.

Over the last few months I've been challenging myself to do more nail art. Part of the challenge is picking out color palettes that are interesting. No matter how many combinations I try, I always end up paring something light with something dark. Here's the result this time:

I started with a base of Zoya Noot, and applied a glitter gradient to my index and pinkie fingers. I worked the gradient in three coats so that I could have more control over the glitter placement. Once I was happy with the gradient, I stamped over the remaining fingers with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Cherry Fast. The whole mani was then topped with Bohemian Polish Flash Dry. 

Products used

• UberChic UC 4-03 
• UberChic Uber Mat
• ILNP- Road to Awe 
• Zoya- Noot 
• Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Cherry Fast
• Bohemian Polish- Flash Dry

I would love to hear what you think of this mani, and what kind of nail art you would like to see in the future. Leave us a comment below with your thoughts.

Thank you Ashley for letting me takeover you blog for the day! You are welcome to "hang out" on mine anytime.

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Thank you so much for the beautiful nail art, Courtney! I love your mani and it really makes me miss my nails being this length and shape since I suffered a bad break on Christmas Eve.

If you don't already follow Courtney, please make sure to check her out at the links below!

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Merry Christmas Eve - My Mom's Christmas Mani

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Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate! I just have a quick post to show you the Christmas nail art I did on my mom last night. I haven't done my Christmas mani yet, I'm hoping to do something later tonight though! In the meantime, I thought I'd share this one with you. I think it turned out really fun!

I wanted to make a fun Christmas skittle so I included Santa, Rudolph, a candy cane, a Christmas tree and a wreath! All of the designs were created using acrylic paint.

There were a few details I still needed to add but it was very late so I left them to finish the next day. I still think they turned out pretty cute!

I hope all of you who celebrate have a wonderful Christmas filled with love!

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Salon Perfect Holiday Giveaway Limited Editions - Swatches and Review

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Happy Friday! I have swatches of the Salon Perfect polishes that are in the Season's Greetings Giveaway! (If you missed my post for the giveaway, you can click here or find it on the right sidebar of my blog.) These polishes were created solely for the purpose of holiday giveaways and will not be available for purchase! In addition to these 4 LEs, each winner (there will be 14 of them!) will also receive a bottle of Salon Perfect Sugar Cube and a bottle of their top coat!

Digit-al Dozen Does: Traditions - Gift Wrapping

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Happy Thursday! I have sadly missed the first part of Digit-al Dozen this week due to migraines and life being hectic, but I am back for the last part of the week! When I first started thinking of manicures I could do for this week's prompt of Traditions, I'll be honest, I was pretty stumped at first. However, after much brainstorming, I had come up with some pretty good ideas. I'm bummed I won't be able to attempt them all this week, but I've chosen two of my favorites to show you! Today's is wrapping presents!

Season's Greetings Giveaway from Salon Perfect!

Giveaway

Hi everyone! I have a very fun giveaway to share with you today - just in time for the holidays! Salon Perfect has created four limited edition polishes exclusively for giveaways this holiday season! They will not be available for purchase so the only chance you have to own them is to win them! I have 14 sets (yes, fourteen!) to giveaway to my readers!

Photo of the polishes provided by Salon Perfect PR 

Salon Perfect is pairing the four limited edition glitters with Sugar Cube (white creme) and a bottle of their top coat! Sugar Cube is my personal go-to white (I'm on my 2nd bottle!) and I have been really loving their top coat lately, these are great staples to win with the gorgeous glitters! This set is currently on its way to me so I will have them to show you soon, but in the meantime you can enter below for your chance to win! This is a quick giveaway, so don't delay! Salon Perfect wants to make sure you have them in time for the holidays so they will be shipping these directly to the winners starting Monday, December 21st!

Shipping for this giveaway is restricted to the US only.

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Thanks for reading and happy polishing!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Winter

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Hello! I'm late with this week's challenge, but I figured it was better late than never! I would have been on time but I've been ill this weekend. This is the first freehand nail art I've done (using my nail art brushes) in nearly 2 months! I could definitely tell I was out of practice but it felt good to get back at it and I can't wait to do more! This week's theme is winter, and I wanted to do something different than snowflakes. Let's see what I came up with!

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Glitter or Flake Topper

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Happy Saturday! My nephews are here today and we are going to decorate for Christmas so I am super excited! But first I wanted to get a quick post up for my nail art challenge this week. The color theme this week is "glitter or flakie topper" and my pattern was "half and half." I knew I wanted to make it Christmas-themed, but with a twist. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Darling Diva Polish: Redelicious (Exclusive to December's A Box, Indied) - Swatches and Review

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Hello again! I am back with another Darling Diva Polish! This one will be exclusive to December's A Box, Indied. A Box, Indied is Reloaded with a lot of new and exciting changes. The theme for this month's box is Re-Vamped - I'm all in for anything with the word vamp! ;)

A Box, Indied is no longer subscription-based. Instead, there will be an open pre-order on the 1st and 2nd of each month. All of the makers will then work to fulfill orders as soon as possible and all boxes should be on their way to their new homes by the 15th of the month. I think sounds like a great layout, and I'm excited about the new makers involved. It should be a fun year ahead! For now, let's get to the reason you're here - photos!

Darling Diva Polish Rekt and Trend Bomber for Cyber Monday - Swatches and Review

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Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and relaxing weekend. There have been some wonderful sales and exclusive polishes this weekend in the indie world. Darling Diva Polish is offering 30% off all orders using the code "THANKS" and also has two polishes that are free with certain purchase amounts. I have those to share with you today! These polishes have been available all weekend, but I just received them in the mail on Saturday ('tis the season for slow shipping!) and I was sick this weekend so I am just now managing to get them posted. Better late than never, right?

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Grey + Color

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Happy Friday! I have missed two weeks of the 40 Great Nail Art Ideas, which I am sad about, but I am back this week! This week's color prompt is "Grey + Color" and my pattern prompt was gradient. I decided to go with a vertical gradient instead of the more common horizontal version and I love how it turned out!

Guest Post: Michaela from The Mani Café

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I've been so absent lately. I've been out of town, as you may already know, and then when I got home I was covered up in work and had a lovely visit from a friend on my birthday. To top it all off, while I was out of town, my laptop faceplanted on the pavement in a random parking lot, so it's basically out of commission permanently. So, for now, I'm at the mercy of friends and family for computer access and photo editing programs are totally out of reach. So for now, my blogging will be sporadic, but I am itching to get back to it so I'll be back as soon as possible. In the meantime, I would love to keep in touch with you on Instagram so give me a follow over there if you don't already! Now that you know why I've been MIA, I have a fantastic guest post to share with you today from the lovely Michaela over at The Mani Café! 

She has some fun and wintery nail art, which fits the weather pretty perfectly right now. Michaela has beautiful swatches and nail art, she is absolutely amazing at creating one stroke flowers. If you don't already follow her I will list all of her links at the bottom!

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Hi everyone! I'm Michaela from The Mani Café and I'm excited to be guest posting for Ashley today! She's an awesome friend and blogger! Hope you'll enjoy my post! 

I decided to do some simple nail art and try out the nail vinyls I got from the Pshiiit Boutique a little while ago. I love the simple triangles! They are so quick and easy to use and I love a good geometric mani!  

Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club & A England Excalibur

For this design, I started out with one coat of A England Excalibur. This is a really nice one-coat silver foil. The formula, like all A Englands in my experience, was fantastic. 

I then used the triangular vinyls and one coat of Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club. Polar Bear Club was part of the Christmas in July box put together by Ellagee and is therefore a box exclusive polish. 

Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club & A England Excalibur

It is described as a 'squishy blue packed with blue, purple and fuchsia micro glitters and holographic pigment'. The formula is fantastic. Bear in mind this is just one coat over a light base colour. It is more intense and squishy when worn alone. The shade of blue and the sparkles are just so pretty! I finished things off with a coat of topcoat. 

Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club & A England Excalibur

I really enjoyed this simple mani and I'm totally in love with this Paint Box Polish! What do you think of it? 

There are still a few Christmas in July boxes available here if you want to snag this beautiful Paint Box Polish! 
A England polishes can be purchased from A England (UK shipping only) and Various retailers (see list here).

Thank you to Ashley for having me today! I hope that you enjoyed my post! If you did, feel free to come see more at The Mani Café or on my Facebook or Instagram! 

Michaela 
xoxo 

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Thank you so much for the fabulous post, Michaela! Make sure to give her a follow at the links below!

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Guest Post: Jacki from Adventures in Acetone

Hello everyone! I am visiting my family in Oklahoma this week so some lovely bloggers have stepped in with fabulous guest posts for you while I'm away!  Stay tuned all week and show them some love! I also have a brand new collection post scheduled for Thursday, you won't want to miss it!

Guest posting for me today is the super sweet and talented Jacki from Adventures in Acetone. She does some of the most amazing nail art I've ever seen and is also a mom of 2 adorable kiddos! I will link all of her social media info at the bottom in case you don't already give her a follow!

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Hey, everyone! I'm Jacki from Adventures In Acetone and am so happy to be here! I just adore Ashley and was excited to be able to write a guest post for her. I know that we are getting deep into Autumn and most everyone is grabbing their darker polishes, but I don't conform. That's why I was so excited to see that OPI included some unconventional "fall" colors into their Venice Collection this year. OPI Gelato on My Mind and Purple Palazzo Pants paired beautifully together and I really enjoyed wearing this mani.

   

For this mani, I followed The Lacquerologist's Splash Floral tutorial in her nail art book: Idiot's Guides Nail Art. There are a ton of easy to follow nail art tutorials and I highly recommend it. You can see my review of her book HERE.

• I started out with two coats of OPI Purple Palazzo Pants and let that dry.
• Next, I wiped most of the polish off of the brush and dry brushed OPI Gelato on My Mind from the cuticle corner outward.
• Salon Perfect Nail Art Striper White Out was used for the easy florals and a small dotting tool for the dot details.
• I used a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top to seal the design and add shine.

  

 Are you a typical "fall color" polish wearer, or do you wear whatever you like? Thank you so much for reading and to Ashley for having me! You can follow Adventures In Acetone on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Adventuresinacetone.com.

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I am a typical fall color kind of gal, but I also wear whatever I want no matter what the calendar says so I love Jacki's mani for any time of year! Make sure to visit her at the links below!

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Paint Box Polish: The Knight Bus Collection - Swatches and Review

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Hello, lovelies! I am still in Oklahoma but scheduled this post ahead of time so I could share this awesome new collection with you! Pam, the super sweet lady behind Paint Box Polish, is a huge Harry Potter fan (and has done other Harry Potter themed collections in the past) and decided to do a collection inspired by The Knight Bus scene in the third book/movie, Prisoners of Azkaban.  It's one of my favorite stories out of the entire series so I was super excited to see what she came up with!

Stay tuned until the end of my post for a 15% off discount code!

Guest Post: Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession

Hello everyone! I am visiting my family in Oklahoma this week so some lovely bloggers have stepped in with fabulous guest posts for you while I'm away!  Stay tuned all week and show them some love! I also have a brand new collection post scheduled for Thursday, you won't want to miss it!

Today Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession has a fabulous nail art mani perfect for fall to share with you! Jen is one of my go-to swatchers and I also love to follow her on Instagram. She has some of the cutest kids ever and she's an amazing athlete. I always tell her I want to be like her when I grow up! ;) I will link her blog and social media accounts at the bottom of the post in case you don't already follow!

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Hello dears!  I am Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession and I am excited to be guest posting for Ashley today.  I enjoy doing guest posts because it forces me to step up my game and get out of my comfort zone.  I love to paint.  That's it, just paint.  But now and then (especially for a guest post) I will give a college try at some nail art.  So that's just what you'll get today!  I am very pleased with how this turned out and it was easy enough that even the non-artist like myself can manage it.  So lets jump in and check out my mani!  Oh and before I go...a big thanks to Ashley for featuring me on her awesome blog.  Hope you're having a fabulous vacation!

*nothing to disclose*

Different Dimension: Shop, Mei Mei's Signatures, Rainbow Connection, Facebook, Instagram

Sinful Colors: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

When I sat down and thought about what kind of mani I wanted to do all that came to mind was something very Fall, possibly Thanksgiving-ish.  So I saw browns and golds and those rich earthy tones.  I dug through my helmer drawer and found these beauties...I knew they'd be a perfect match!  I started out with Sinful Colors Leather Loose, a matte brown full of gold and red shimmer.  This color is gorgeous both matte and with topcoat!  I left it matte because that was the look I wanted.  I used 3 coats of Leather Loose.  

I then used some gold nail art tape to create "V" shapes on all my nails.  I usually pull the tape off but I decided to leave it as part of the mani this time.  Next I used Different Dimension Pilgrimatic from the Shooting Star series.  This glitter bomb is gorgeous!  It's full of gold, red, copper orange and holo glitters.  I dabbed one coat of Pilgrimatic inside each "V".  I finished it off with a layer of matte topcoat. 

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Thank you so much, Jen! I love this mani! Check her out at the links below if you don't already follow her!

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Guest Post: Kim from The Ides of Polish

Hello everyone! I am visiting my family in Oklahoma this week so some lovely bloggers have stepped in with fabulous guest posts for you while I'm away!  Stay tuned all week and show them some love! I also have a brand new collection post scheduled for Thursday, you won't want to miss it!

Today I have a guest who lives in one of the best places ever - England! She is from New York and visits her family in the states often, so she has the best of both worlds! Kim posts often on her Facebook page. She posts manis often and also shares some beautiful scenery photos. I highly suggest giving her a follow if you don't already!

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Hello! I'm Kim from The Ides of Polish. I'm really excited to help out Ashley with a guest post while she's helping out her family. I've know Ashley for several years and I know she LOVES Autumn colors, so I thought that this dotticure would be right up her alley. Instead of going through all my polish, I decided to just stick with one brand and since I have a lot of Illamasqua in many different colors, I thought that would be my best bet! I've used all these colors: Alarm, Aorta, bacterium, Charisma, Faithful, Insanity, Melange, Radium, Self, Stagnate (base color) and Whack. Base coat is Pure Ice Bottom Line and top coat is Pure Ice Girl On The Run (2 coats and in second and third pictures). Hope you like this dotticure!

I don't tend to post very often on my blog any more but I do post a few times a week on my Facebook page, so go check me out over there! 

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Kim is right, I love me some Autumn colors! This was such a fun mani! Thanks, Kim! Make sure you check out her Facebook page below!

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Guest Post: Sheila from Pointless Cafe

Hello everyone! I am visiting my family in Oklahoma this week so some lovely bloggers have stepped in with fabulous guest posts for you while I'm away!  Stay tuned all week and show them some love! I also have a brand new collection post scheduled for Thursday, you won't want to miss it!

To kick off the week the amazing Sheila from Pointless Cafe is here to share some nail art! Her blog features a little bit of everything - fabulous swatches, gorgeous nail art and sometimes a rambling or two. She likes to keep it fun and fresh and has a great writing style. I will link her blog and social media accounts at the bottom in case you don't already follow her - but I'm sure most of you already do. ;)

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Hi everyone! *waves frantically* I'm very honored to be guest posting for Ashley today on her lovely blog. I have some random nail art for you that I did one day a week or so ago because it was chilly and gloomy outside - a floral seemed just the right juxtaposition of happy and gloomy.

With Girly Bits What a Rush top coat...

With Girly Bits Polish Matte'rs...

For this one, I started with a gradient using 2 green Zoyas. Unfortunately, I've put them up and I forgot to write down which ones they were. The rest was done with cheap acrylic paints just in a random way.

So how about you? Do you restrict your nail art to seasonal things? Or do you just do whatever makes you happy on any given day?

I hope Ashley is having a great break...stay tuned for more guest posts from some great bloggers!

...polish and puppy kisses,

Sheila

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Thank you so much, Sheila! I love this fun look! Check her out at the links below if you don't already follow her!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Halloween

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Hello and Happy Friday! I am on the road as we speak heading to Oklahoma for a week to visit my family. I have some guest posts lined up, as well as a couple scheduled posts from me. I am hoping to squeeze in one more Halloween mani, but it is not looking promising so I'm glad I have this one to share with you today!

This week's prompt for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas is, of course, Halloween! I had a few ideas in mind for today but no time to execute something detailed so I went with a quick but fun favorite - a dry brush mani!

Darling Diva Polish: Hug My Face Collection (AKA Alien Collection) - Swatches and Review

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Hello everyone! I feel like it's been forever since I posted a collection review. Life has been slapping me upside the head lately and I feel like I've been a pretty crappy blogger. I'm hoping to be able to get back on a more regular schedule soon. I am going to be out of town next week but I have some guest posts lined up for you, as well as some posts scheduled from me. Hopefully I will be able to get caught up very soon!

Today I have a collection that launched a few weeks ago and is currently available! This is my favorite type of collection - a wide variety of colors and finishes so there is something to please everyone! I have a lot of photos so keep on scrolling for the Darlin Diva Hug My Face Collection!

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Orange, Purple and Green

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Hello! I am late with this week's 40 Great Nail Art Ideas challenge, but better late than never, right? I had grand plans this weekend that went down the drain due to being sick. But I did this mani on Friday and couldn't wait to share it with you! The color prompt this week was orange, purple and green and my pattern prompt was fluid lines. I just had to break out my Girly Bits neons again for this mani!