Almost a year ago, Claire @ Aucuparia Brumalis tagged me to show the lippies I wore over the course of a week. The post was called My Week In Lips. Thought it was a fun way to keep track of what I wore, and lately I've been thinking I'd like to continue that idea into other beauty categories! This time 'round I'll show you what polish I've been wearing over the past week...ok you got me...maybe it's more like 2 weeks because I'm not sure I could force myself to wear enough different polishes over the course of a week - at least not enough to warrant a post?? But you get the idea ha ha :-) Also thought I'd include what other mani/pedi things I've been using. I don't always paint my nails this often, but I'm trying to practice so that I can get faster and have a less shaky hand for cleaner lines!

***All items purchased by me.***

L-R: Color Club Wild Cactus, Guerlain A La Parisienne, Deborah Lippmann Blue Orchid, YSL Bleu Celadon, Chanel Sweet Lilac, Butter London Trout Pout, Burberry Metallic Khaki

L-R:

Color Club Wild Cactus - Received this in a Birchbox last year? Or maybe the year before I forget! Loooove the color but the brush is terrible and it chipped within a day. Will try it again though with a different base/top coat pairing to see if that helps. I used it with the Burberry Base/Top coat (of which I don't recommend).

Guerlain 263 A La Parisienne - Absolutely love this color and the Guerlain brush is one of my favorites. EDIT: ok looked back in IG and this was worn 3 weeks ago...hey it's the thought! Ha ha :-)

Deborah Lippmann Blue Orchid - Instantly fell in love with this color when Bronzer Bunny and I spotted it on a shopping outing in Chicago!

YSL Bleu Celadon - Oooooh boy. For some reason this didn't catch my eye when I skimmed pics of the accompanying YSL collection. But somewhere I read it was Liminted Edition and saw pics of someone wearing it and the hunt was ON. No one online seemed to have it in stock, not even the YSL Beauty site. I checked the Nordstrom and Neiman counters at my local mall and they didn't have them either. Nordstrom did a search and 0 stores came up. Neiman did a search and a few stores came up, but only 1 store actually had it so they sent it :-) I don't know if I love it more because it took some effort to acquire it or because it really is that beautiful... ha ha! Anyway...this stuff wore like iron!

Chanel Sweet Lilac - Swatched this on the same shopping outing with Bronzer Bunny when I spied the Deborah Lippmann Blue Orchid, but for some reason didn't get it. Couldn't get it out of my mind so I finally took the plunge and don't remotely regret it! Very Summery and pretty and I don't have anything like it in my collection.

Butter London Trout Pout - I was really excited to wear this because it looked so pretty in the bottle. Bought it as part of this set that was on sale on the ULTA site that included a couple of nail tools that I really wanted (unfortunately I don't see it on there anymore). I polished my toes with this color, but for some reason it just didn't look good. Was gonna let it ride, but it started to bug me so I took it off that same day and redid the pedicure with Burberry Metallic Khaki :-)

Burberry Metallic Khaki - I'm quite enamored with this color and its chameleon-like qualities! Surprisingly it looks really good paired with a variety of nail colors (used this on my toes this time!) - a definite win for my collection!

I've been experimenting with base/top coat combinations and have found one that seems to work really well with a variety of polish brands. For the moment, it's my combo of choice! It consists of:

* Formula X Base Coat (formally knows as Sephora X, but renamed and repackaged)

* Deborah Lippmann Ridge Filler

* 2 coats of polish of choice, let dry at least 5-10 min between coats

* Deborah Lippmann Addicted To Speed Top Coat, let dry at least a few minutes

* OPI Drip Dry drops

As a pre-manicure step I like to clean the cuticle area with the Deborah Lippmann Cuticle Remover. I really like this product a lot and am 1/2 way through the bottle. It does the job well, but I might try a different cuticle remover when this is done since this is the first one I've ever tried. *On my toes I skip the Ridge Filler.

...and for the not-so-sexy tool things? I really like the ULTA cuticle pusher - it fits my nail beds well regardless if I'm doing my hands or toes. Buuut in all fairness this is actually the first cuticle pusher shaped like that I have ever purchased, so I'm not sure it's particular one or if they are all that size? I also use the Tweezerman straight edge cuticle pusher if I have a cuticle that's being extra stubborn. Right below it is a rubber cuticle pusher (pack of 3 from ULTA) that I like to use as a polish clean up tool, along with a tiny Butter London brush that's slightly stiffer for clean up. Forgot to include a cuticle trimmer...I know it's not good to trim my cuticles but sometimes I have to because they get so ragged (& long - sorry TMI but it's true!) if I go too long between 'maintenance' sessions...I try not to get too close to the bed.

Little better view of the rubber cuticle pusher and Butter Londer brush I use for polish clean up.

I didn't get pictures of each color, but here are a few (one was posted on FB and another on IG)...

Deborah Lippman Blue Orchid + ooops forgot to include the little accent nail sparkle color - it's Julep Yumi :-) Btw, not sure I'll make sparkles a habit - they are a pain to remove LOL!