If you've read my bio, you'll know that I got in to nail art in December of 2013. It actually all started with a snowman.
As I was browsing reddit one day last December, I stumbled upon the nail polish community, which is called Reddit Laqueristas ("the C was sold to pay for polish"). There, I saw all sorts of adorable winter and Christmas themed manicures: penguins, presents, Santas, Christmas trees... and snowmen. Lots of snowmen. I decided to try my hand at one little snowman, though I didn't have any orange nail polish for the carrot nose. And I was so not going to buy an orange polish just for one tiny detail in one manicure!
I also didn't have any nail art tools, except for some trusty orangewood sticks. So that's what I used for the snowman's smaller features! The body itself I painted on by wiping off most of the polish from the brush.
He's wibbly, but I was (and still am) very proud of him! At this point in time, my nails were breaking like crazy from simple tasks like zipping my pants and carrying groceries inside. So I had to keep them short. (Though this was still fairly long for my nails, because I played the viola for 11 years and had to keep my nails SUPER short for that.)
Now, one year later, I decided to recreate the snowman in order to show off my progession!
The polishes that I used are all the same - Essie Bikini So Teeny with a coat of Maybelline Blue Marks The Spot on top - but the differences in white balance make them look very different. And okay, my snowman is still a little bit wibbly, but I don't care! Last year's snowmani (:D) took me close to two hours, and this year it was only about 45 minutes from basecoat to topcoat. Now THAT'S an improvement!
This year, I had an orange polish - ORLY Ablaze - for a carrot nose (and in the past few months, I have bought plenty of polishes with only one design in mind). I also nixed one polish - Nicole by OPI Heavenly Angel - because I thought that looked a little bit too busy. (But don't worry, you'll see those flakes used in a winter mani very soon!)
A little bit closer up on the snowman.
I'm very proud of my improvement - in nail art, in the length of my nails, in shaping my nails, and in the size of my nail polish collection. In one year, I've jumped from owning 15 to 137 bottles of nail polish. WOW.
Have you ever recreated your own nail art to see how your skills had increased? How did it go? Let me know in the comments!
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