Imagination In Colour UK Nail Polish Blog
Hello! So now that 2014 is over – and I know I am late… – I wanted to make a brief (okay not brief – wishful thinking!) list of my favourite 15 nail polishes released in 2014. I would love it if any of you would like to tell me what your favourites of this year have been and whether I’ve missed anything spectacular in the comments! 🙂
Where I have photos and blogposts on the products I mention I will include a picture and a link to the post (so that this one doesn’t just turn into a huge wall of text!).
I always love ‘year in review’ or ‘best of’ – type posts, and this time I was particularly inspired by the way that one of my favourite bloggers, Allie of Brit Nails, did hers.
Top 15 Nail Polishes for 2014
Since there have been a lot of nail polishes released in 2014 that I really really wanted but couldn’t afford, I have narrowed these top 15 down to nail polishes I actually purchased and own.
From the day I received this nail polish I loved it. It’s the most flattering off-white I think I’ve ever used, and I wore it constantly throughout the summer (and some of autumn too!).
14. Picture Polish Fools Gold
This beautiful turquoise with gold glitter was one of the Picture Polish collaboration shades – this time with a UK nail blogger – The Nailasaurus. This was a particular favourite for me in the late summer – I kept it on for days!
13. Colors by Llarowe Young Turks
Another summery shade. I didn’t take Young Turks off for quite a few days either. This is one of the few linear holos I have truly truly loved – normally I don’t really ‘get it’.
Please excuse the rough swatch – I never took ‘big camera’ photos of Young Turks so this is just an Instagram photo!
12. China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You
This was a gorgeous autumn release. I so pleasantly surprised by this nail polish – I wasn’t all that keen on the China Glaze polishes coming out earlier in the year, and this one is just so ‘me’!
11. Picture Polish Escapades
This lovely blackened-teal holo-flecked nail polish is another Picture Polish collaboration shade. This one was with Nail Escapades (one of my favourite nail bloggers ever!). I have been craving dark colours lately and this one is perfectly flattering, while not being a straight stark black. (P.S. Sorry for the mega-short nails – I had a break or 5 over Christmas!).
10. Hare Polish For the Love of Lisa
This was a late summer release – it’s SO bright! I absolutely fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I’d totally wear this in wintertime too though.
Poppy Silk (and the other Autumn/Winter Silks) took me for a pleasant surprise when they were released. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the pastel silks released earlier in the year, and these just blew the spring releases out of the water. My favourite was Poppy, but Forest is a strong contender too. They are just SO shimmery – best with topcoat though I feel.
8. Barry M Rockstar Glitterati
The Glitterati nail paints were another happy release for me – I always enjoy when Barry M pushes the boat out a little and this time they really pulled it off. I can’t stop looking at this one when it’s on my nails.
7. Smitten Polish Not Your Mama’s Easter Grass
This lime green is super super bright!! When I wore it to work (back when I worked around actual human beings!) everyone loved it – you literally cannot miss it. And it looks like gel nails when applied with a nice thick topcoat. And the glitter is just so glittery!
6. F.U.N. Lacquer Anna
This was from the FUN Lacquer Princess 2.0 collection, which was based around Disney princesses. This was the one that really stood out to me – it’s incredibly flattering, and has a subtle holo and a lilac shimmer in the bluebell base colour. It’s honestly beautiful.
5. Femme Fatale Grove of Shards
This isn’t the best photo of this glitter – my favourite way to wear it is at one coat over Barry M Poppy Silk – but this glitter combination in the raspberry jelly base is just gorgeous. A definite standout for me.
4. Dance Legend Strutter
I don’t think any photo ever will accurately show how this polish glows – in daylight, artificial light and even in the dark near a street lamp – it’s incredible! It has a slight smoky glaze but the flaky holo stuff makes it incredible. The perfect green.
One word. GLITTER! I’m not a massive fan of red nails, but when I love a red polish I really love it. This is one of those. It’s stunning. It’s pretty much the red version of the next one:
This is sheer glitter perfection for me. Perfect Cadbury-wrapper purple glitter in a lovely dense base. *sigh*.
1. Indigo Bananas Hole In The Sky
Again, sorry for the short nails, but this nail polish was definitely the top stand-out for me this year. It’s an indescribable blend of purple and blue, with red/orange/green shift flakies and holo shimmer. It’s too perfect. Impossible to photograph too 😛 but look how much of the bottle I’ve used already – eek!
Collections:
My favourite collections of the year tended towards the autumn/winter releases, such as Barry M Autumn/Winter Silks, and the Glitterati collection, and the China Glaze Apocalypse of Color collection. I ogled a lot of Halloween and Christmas collections but haven’t been able to afford any in a while so I’ll leave it at those!
Nail Art:
Again with the Halloween – this was my first free-hand nail art in a good few months and I was quite chuffed with how it turned out!
Red-Bellied Short-Necked Turtle Nail Art
I had mixed reception with this one but I personally loved it so…! 🙂
Blogging
In terms of blogging I was a bit flaky this year – I had a couple of months of posting nearly every day during a particularly stressy patch of unemployment, and then when I got a job I dropped off the face of the earth – oops! However, on a more positive note, I had more interest from brands for reviews than ever, and was even invited to a few events (which I can never afford to go to but it’s still really nice to be asked!). I also feel like my swatch photos have improved a lot in the latter half of the year, which makes me feel a lot better about the whole thing. (Not meaning to sound arrogant – I am aware my photos/nails are pretty average compared to some bloggers and swatchers any progress is good progress!).
Blogging Goals for 2015
- Blog consistently and regularly (at least once a week).
- Do 20 nail art posts by 31st December 2015
- Aim to make my swatch photos more consistent – hand poses, lighting, nail shape etc.
So, what were your favourite nail polishes released in 2014? Or even, which ones released before 2014 did you come back to and re-love? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading and for your loyalty as readers, and thanks for yet another great year together! – I so appreciate your support 🙂
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