A-Z of Polish Round-Up

Hiya lovelies!  So today, I'm doing a round up of all 26 mani's from the A-Z of Polish.  I figured that since this challenge has been running for about half a year, it would be cool to go right back to the beginning, and remind myself of what I came up with.  It'll also be interesting to see how I feel about these mani's months down the line.  (or at least I hope it will)

This will be a very picture heavy post, so be warned, you may need a beverage or 2 and a comfy chair......


Click on any of the titles to go to the original post.  (opens in a new tab)

A is for Angel Kiss

So, for A, I chose Color Club - Angel Kiss, a soft green holographic with a really intense holo bend.  I used it on all 5 fingers, and did a brushstroke double accent nail with Angel Kiss, and Miss Bliss and Eternal Beauty, also from Color Club.  I can't help but feel there's something missing in this mani.  It's like it's not quite finished.

B is for Brave

For B I chose POP Beauty - Brave, a gorgeous neon blue with green shimmer, that dries to a matte finish with out top coat.  I put it in a gradient with it's green sister - Radioactive, then used a coat of Sinful Colors - Nail Junkie for a bit of iridescent sparkle, and stamped a swirly silver design over it.  I really liked this mani at the time, and I still do.  These 2 colours look beautiful together.

C is for Carter, Caroline, Christy, and Cameo Crush

For C, I actually picked out 4 polishes from my stash.  Zoya - Carter, Shimmer Polish - Caroline, 2true - Christy, and Seventeen Cameo Crush.  I did a freehand stripe and zig-zags mani, using the textured polishes to create a 3d design.  I LOVE this mani, although I still prefer the nails with the zig zags to the ones with just stripes.

D is for Denim & Dimension X

For D I chose Barry M - Denim, and Pretty Serious - Dimension X.  I used a base of Denim, and painted some freehand leopard print with Dimension X, and left them without top coat, so the design was textured, and the denim polish stayed matte.  This mani was okay, I do like it, but it doesn't exactly bowl me over.  It's just kind of average, in my opinion at least.  

E is for Espresso, Elle, and Eva

For E I chose Barry M Espresso, and 2true Elle and Eva.  I used Espresso as a base, and painted some random triangle shapes with Eva and Elle, outlining them with the opposite colour.  I liked this mani, the concept especially, but I was annoyed that some of my triangles got a little bit too friendly with each other,  I need to work on my spacing a little in this mani.  One of the triangles on the ring finger is looking a little patchy too, but I think whilst I was painting it I was a little blinded by the sparkle of these 2true textures.  

F is for Fantasy Fire

For F I chose the much-loved, and also pretty tiny, MaxFactor - Fantasy Fire.  This is one of those polishes that people went a bit mad for when it hit the blogisphere, and I don't blame them.  I had this in my untried pile at the time, so it was an easy choice. I layered it over Color Club - Total Mystery (?? it has no label on it, as it's from a set ??)  The lovely Anna chose this polish this week too, but she layered it over a green base. (see it here)  It looked amazing, and very different to mine.  I actually liked hers more if I'm honest haha!  

G is for Gravity

For G I chose Moyra - Gravity,a gorgeous lilac holographic, with an intense rainbow.  I was still struggling with photographing holo's at this time, but you can still see that it's gorgeous!  I didn't even bother with any nail art I liked this so much :D

H is for Heddon Street

For H I chose Nails Inc - Heddon Street, a gorgeous deep burgundy-red shimmer,  I stamped a silver swirly design over it, and then mattified the whole mani.  I actually bought this polish from the lovely Charlie, because I fell in love with Anna's swatches, so it seemed right using it for the challenge we were all doing it together.  It didn't hurt that it's a real stunner either! 

I is for Imitation is the most Sincere Form of Flattery

For I, I chose Different Dimension - Imitation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery.  This a glitter topper with silver holographic glitter and blue iridescent shreds, that glows a gorgeous teal in the dark.  I used 1 coat over Barry M - Cancun.  I didn't cover it with any nail art, as it was just so dang pretty on it's own, it really didn't need anything added.  I seriously love this polish, and the formula was awesome.  My first different dimension, and I was super impressed.  I really hope I can budget well enough to get some more DD's soon.

J is for Jealous Jupiter

For J, I didn't have anything in my stash, except for a bottle of LaFemme - Jupiter that I'd frankened into a black jelly, rather than a clear based topper. So, I christened it Jealous Jupiter, since I made this as an intended dupe for a Tara's Talons polish I saw on SpecialGirl Nails.  Mine's nowhere near as packed as the TT one though, and the TT was a name-your-own polish that Cazzy named Coffin Fodder.  (hence the jealous bit haha)

K is for Key Lime & Kiwi Bikini

For K I chose Barry M Key Lime, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear  -Kiwi Bikini.  I teamed them with Barry M Malibu & Blue Grape, to create a matte gradient polka dot mani.  This was a new style of nail art for me, but I really love how it turned out.  

L is for Lincoln Square Lavender

For L I chose NYC - Lincoln Park Lavender, a gorgeous dusky pink with lilac undertones.  I kept it pretty simple this week and stamped some heart-shaped rose buds in white over them.  I quite liked this mani, I feel like the simplicity of it, and the cleanness of the white really suited a classic shade like this.  

M is for My Vampire is Buff

For M, I chose everyone's favourite nude base, OPI - My Vampire is Buff.  I had been itching to try a neon and nude mani for a while, so I decided to paint some freehand pink and orange roses.  I used neons for the first blobs, then 3 varying shades of pink and 2 oranges and a yellow to add a nice amount of depth to the roses.  I also used a little bit of one of the paler pinks to add a few dots in the open spaces between roses.  This has to be one of my favourite mani's of all time.  They're the most detailed roses I've managed, and I adore the combination of all 10 of these polishes together.  I actually want to paint this mani again soon. I might switch up the colours a bit, but it broke my heart taking this off.  It's been 3 months and I'm still a little sad about it.  

N is for Night Prowl

For N I chose Wet'n'Wild - Night Prowl, a gorgeous black with purple micro glitter.  I did a simple glitter gradient near the cuticles with Shimmer Polish - Candace.  I liked this, it's the perfect balance of vampy and sparkly for me. 

O is for Off 2 Paradise

For O, I chose Polish me Silly - Off 2 Paradise, a gorgeous shimmery duochrome that shifts from a cool toned purple to a gorgeous pink.  I did catch a tiny bit of gold at the most extreme angles, but not very often.  The pink and purple colours were the main ones I saw.  I stamped over this with an inverted roses image and an opaque black polish.  I loved this mani too.  It's not often that I impress myself with just stamping one polish over another these days, but this time was different.  (that's not to say that I don't love other peoples 2 polish stamping mani's, cos' I really do, it just feels like I'm taking the easy way out when I do it myself, as I know I could do more.  I'm a real hard-arse on myself when it comes to nail art :/)  

P is for Party Pink

For P I picked Moyra - Party Pink, a hot pink neon texture, with silver glitters.  I used black polish to freehand some zebra print, then used a neon green texture to run alongside a few stripes per nail, just to add a bit of interest.  I really love how this turned out - I love neon textures, and I love pink and green together, especially in neon shades, so it was a safe bet that I would love this mani from the word go. 

Q is for Quirk

Q is another letter I didn't have a polish for, but I did have a few Quirk's in my stash so I picked one of them.  I used Cosette over OPI - MVIB, and then double stamped some zebra print with a slightly sheer neon pink, and then black.  I quite liked this mani, although I think the matte circles got a bit lost under the art.

R is for Raspberry Rush & Red Black

For R, I chose Colour Club - Raspberry Rush, and Barry M - Red Black.  I decided to put these into a gradient with black, as I thought the Barry M would help to smooth the transition.  It did, but unfortunately this Colour Club and my camera were not fond of one another, and I ended up looking like a corpse in this photo. I added some gold stamping, and mattified this mani before taking photos. 

S is for Sound Asleep & Storm

For S I picked 2 polishes again - Zoya - Storm, and Dark Metal Lacquer - Sound Asleep.  I decided to leave it without any nail art this week, as these polishes are both equally stunning on their own.  Apologies for the over-exposed photo's today, my camera really struggled with the holo on this glitter :( 

T is for The Siren

So, for T, I chose another blue glitter from Dark Metal Lacquer.  This week it was The Siren, and I used it as a topper for my index, pinky finger, and thumb.  On the middle and ring fingers I used it alone, and then stamped an inverted pattern over them in black.

U is for Unconditional Love

For U I picked Fancy Gloss - Unconditional Love, a pink to red thermal polish, with gold iridescent flecks.  I used Revlon Cupid as undies, as the warm colour on this is pretty sheer.  I stamped a few waves over it with A-England Avalon.  Loved this mani.

V is for Vortex Remnants

For V, I picked Femme Fatale - Vortex Remnants, a gorgeous deep purple jelly, totally chock full of glitters, including, but not limited to, matte red diamonds, purple hexes in different sizes, and pink holographic stars.  This was actually sent to me by the lovely Elicia from Deliciate Nails, and boy oh boy, does she know what I like!  This polish is perfect for me; squishy, purple, sparkly, stars, and a sci-fi name <3 Obviously, I love it!

W is for Wendy

For W, I chose Shimmer Polish - Wendy, an awesome copper and purple based glitter.  There are all sorts of colours in here, but copper and purple are the colours I find easiest to pick out.  I wore this over a black base, and also included a matte version, but I'm using a glossy picture because for once, I actually liked this better shiny!   

X is for Xtreme Wear

For X, I didn't have any polishes to pick, so I chose to use a few Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's instead.  I used Raspberry Rebel as a base, then 2 coats of Pink-Grape Fruit to add some sparkle.  Then I stamped these rose outlines with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Grape Escape.

Y is for Your Choice

For Y I didn't have any polishes or brands starting with Y, so I decided to basically cheat a little, and say Y is for "Your Choice"  I was dying to try this polish anyway, so I used Dark Metal Lacquer - Flashy Sparklies.  This was one of those mani's that I just made up as I went along.  I even had to ask a few of my naily girls on Facebook for suggestions what to paint on the 2 middle fingers.  After a bit of a binge on American Horror Story Charlie yelled out"giant spider" (well, she caps locked I think, but same diff!) I actually really like spiders, so I was like YES YES YES YES! Love how this turned out SO much!

Z is for Zoya

So, finally, we had Z last Thursday.  Again, nothing in my stash starting with Z.  (I used to have a Rimmel called Zeitgeist from years back, but couldn't find it anywhere)  So, I picked Zoya instead, and used Storm and Carter, in a skittlette mani with DML - Flashy Sparklies, and some gold stamping.  I liked how this mani turned out too.  It was great to wear the DML again, and purple, black and gold is a colour combo I really love!

Phew!  That sure was a long post.  I don't know about you guys, but I needed 3 cups of tea to get through writing it all!  So, what have I learnt from looking back at the whole 6 months of this challenge?

I've learnt that I tend to obsess over things I like at first, and then kind of forget about them after that.  I did designs painted with textures for 3 weeks on the trot, 3 rose mani's in the space of 4 weeks, zebra print 2 weeks on the trot, 2 blue glitters from DML 2 weeks on the trot, and I used Flashy Sparklies for the last 2 mani's!   I think I need to get out of my comfort zone a little bit for the next A-Z series!

My favourite mani's are the textured zig zags for C, the neon roses for M, the textured zebra for P, and the spider/stained glass mani for Y.   What about you guys - what are your favourites?

So, that's all from me today, but I'll be back tomorrow with my mani for this weeks 52 Week Pick 'n' Mix Challenge, and then the all new A2Z on Thursday.  So excited!