Nail Polish Organisation: Nail Wheels

I love organising. I really do. And lists. I love making lists.  I like to keep track of things. So to me, it's only natural that I keep track of my nail polish, especially with the rate it is expanding at.

When I found out about nail wheels, I knew it was exactly what I needed. I got my first lot of them last September or so and the initial process of painting the wheels with my entire collection was quite a daunting task. I did it over a few days (the fumes!!) and since then I've tried to keep up to date with them, not letting too many build up. I had to order some more nail wheels and when they arrived last week, I decided that it was about time that I did a post on them.

So why go to the effort of nail wheels? My purpose behind them is to be able to see exactly what the colour looks like when applied and how opaque it is. It is also invaluable when trying to pick a colour to suit an outfit. You can hold up a bunch of colours against the item at once and it really assists in picking the most appropriate shade.

So this is what a typical nail wheel of mine looks like. This one is my 2nd Purple wheel. I number the nails 1-20. This all co-ordinates with an excel sheet.

This is how the excel sheet looks. The numbers on the left co-ordinate with the actual nail wheel. Then I include information such as what brand it is, the name of the polish, how many coats is on the nail wheel and whether or not I have a photo of the polish on my nails.

The number of coats is a great thing to keep track of. It means if I'm in a rush and I want to put on green nail polish, I can just go to the green wheels section of the excel sheet and scan the list for polishes that are opaque in 1 coat.

From this picture you can see that in the excel document there is another sheet which I have called the database. 

In the database tab, I keep track of my nail polish by brand. In this I include information such as the name of the polish, the collection it's from (if any), the colour of the polish, whether I have tried it (this also doubles as whether I have swatch photos of it) and whether or not it has been included in a blog post.

 Finally this is where I keep my nail wheels. Nothing fancy, just in a little basket in a drawer.

Is all this necessary? Probably not. But it makes me happy. It's not like I have loads of time on my hands to do all this excessive orgainsing but once the initial work is done, it really isn't that much effort. 

Wait until you see my make-up inventory post in a week or so, then you'll think I'm really crazy, ha.

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 13

13 weeks later and here we are at the very last post of this Saturday Series. At long last some of you might say haha. I can't believe that this is the last day of March and that April beckons us in the morning. I always feel that once we hit April, winter is well and truly over. (But of course this being Ireland who knows what could happen weather wise).

This is OPI Part 3

L-R Fiercely Fiona, Simply Smashing, Electric Eel, Gargantuan Green Grape, Mermaid's Tears, Jade is the New Black, Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window, Cuckoo For This Colour, Not Like The Movies.

L-R Go On Green!, Catch Me In Your Net, Absolutely Alice, Last Friday Night, Suzi Says Feng Shui, Roadhouse Blues, Russian Navy, Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, Black Shatter.

I hope you have enjoyed my little mini-series (that turned out to last for over 3 months!) of a more detailed view of my nail polish collection. 

Have a great weekend everybody!

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 12

The colours in today's OPI post are mainly pretty purples and pinks:)

L-R Sweetheart, Sweet Memories, A Dozen Rosas, Strawberry Margarita, Come to Poppy, Teenage Dream, Senorita Rose-Alita, Meep Meep Meep, The One That Got Away, Diva of Geneva.

L-R Do You Lilac It?, Pamplona Purple, The Colour To Watch, Funky Dunky, It's My Year, Lincoln Park After Dark, Sparkle-icious.

And it's the very last post next Saturday!

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 11

Happy Saturday! And of course Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So we are at the beginning of the end. The last nail polish brand I have to show you is of course OPI. I fell head over heels for OPI and I now have more OPI than any other brand. I've divided them up into 3 separate posts, so we still have 2 weeks to go:)

L-R Alpine Snow, I Juggle Men, Happy Anniversary, Spark de Triomphe, Coney Island Cotton Candy, Melon of Troy, Are We There Yet?, Wing It, Big Hair...Big Nails, Chop-Sticking to my Story.

L-R Over the Taupe, Ginger Bells!, Decades of Shades, Rising Star, Warm & Fozzie, Skull & Glossbones, Suzi Takes the Wheel, My Private Jet, Smitten with Mittens, Rainbow Connection.

OPI Part 2 will be next week:)

Nail Polich Collection: Breakdown Part 10

This is my China Glaze part 2 post, and the final China Glaze one. China Glaze is definitely one of my favourite brands. It has an expansive colour range, regular new collections and is affordable even if you manage to find it here in Ireland (€6.99ish in a Sally's Beauty Supply).

L-R Snow Globe, Fairy Dust (My 1st CG polish!), Pelican Gray, Icicle, Concrete Catwalk, Tinsel Town.

L-R Sea Spray, Towel Boy Toy, Frostbite, Blue Iguana, First Mate, Skyscraper.

L-R Re-fresh Mint, Tree Hugger, Cha Cha Cha, Peace on Earth, Glittering Garland, It's Alive. 

And that's it for China Glaze. The end of this series is nigh. We begin the last brand next week!

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 9

Happy first Saturday in March! (I really have no idea why I get so excited about a new month, maybe because it's getting nearer to summer!)

I'm on my second to last nail varnish brand. This is China Glaze Part 1. 

L-R Sunset Sail, Golden Meringue, Electric Pineapple, Champagne Bubbles, Papaya Punch, Orange Marmalade, Heli-yum, 108 Degrees, Poinsettia. 

L-R Ring in the Red, Velvet Bow, Senorita Bonita, Urban Night, CG in the City, Twinkle Lights, Midtown Magic, Ghoulish Glow.

Next week is China Glaze Part 2:)

Nail Polish Collection Breakdown: Part 8

This Saturday is the last one in February, I can't believe that we are nearly in March! Going to post my Spring nail varnish picks soon.

Today's post is all about Essie. When I got my first Essie nail polish I wasn't that keen on them but I definitely changed my mind!

L-R Topless and Barefoot, Chinchilly, Cocktail Bling, Sew Psyched, School of Hard Rocks, Fair Game, Mint Candy Apple, Turquoise & Caicos.

L-R Tart Deco, Braziliant, Your Hut or Mine, Angora Cardi, Sexy Divide.

So many of these Essie polishes are firm favourites of mine, in particular Your Hut or Mine and Fair Game. Adore them.

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 7

In today's breakdown post we have a random collection of brands.

Chanel and Illamasqua

L-R Chanel Péridot, Graphite, Black Pearl. Illamasqua Load and Raindrops.

butter London, Orly, Nubar and Deborah Lippmann

L-R butter London The Black Knight, Orly Terracotta, Nubar Violet Sparkle and Reclaim, Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle.

Zoya

L-R Jules, Dove, Caitlin, Marley, Dannii, Gemma.

Have a Super Saturday everyone!

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 6

Today's breakdown includes my polishes from Rimmel and Gosh. 

Rimmel

L-R Icing Sugar, Shocker, Nude Silhouette, Pop Rose, Oyster Pink, Posh Trash,  Hot Gossip, Desire, Blue Vogue, Black Pearl.

GOSH

L-R Yellow Doll, Peachy, Purple Heart, Metallic Green, Holographic, Rainbow.

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 5

I hope this first weekend in February is going well for everyone:)

It's showtime for Catrice today. I've really grown to love their nail varnishes. Fantastic colours, fantastic formulas and fantastic prices - what's not to love?!

L-R My Milkyway, Mona Lisa is Staring Back, Sand Francisco, Amazonian Gold, Sweets for my Sweet, Caught on the Red Carpet, Dirty Berry. 

L-R Forget Me not, Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans!, It Blue my Mind!, London's Weather Forecast, I Sea You!, Beam Me Scotty, Moonlight Express, I Wear My Sunglasses.

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 4

I can't believe it's the last Saturday in January already! We can start looking forward to Spring soon!:D

In today's breakdown I will be showing you my Essence and Revlon nail polishes.

Essence

L-R Shocking Blue, Shining Star, Blue Addicted, Cherry Kiss, Pool Party, Grand-Plié in Black, Blue Ray, Gagalectric, Matte Topcoat, Make Me Holo, My Sparkling Acrobat.  

Revlon

L-R No Name Gold, Grey Suede, Minted, Plum Night, Beach, Passion Fruit, Ocean Breeze, Blue Lagoon, Facets of Fuschia, Star, Galaxy.  

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 3

We're on to post 3 of this Saturday Series! Today's collection breakdown features what I will call the Best of Boots - namely No7 and Barry M. 

No7

L-R Grey Skies, Beanie, Spun Sugar, Cheeky Chops, Very Petal, Rose Truffle, Salsa, Blackberry, Vivid Violet.

Barry M

L-R Grey, Mushroom, Peach Melba, Berry Ice-Cream, Dusky Mauve, Navy, Raspberry, Spring Green. 

And that's No7 and Barry M accounted for:)

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 2

It's the weekend already! This means it's time for another breakdown collection post. The post today is featuring some American drugstore brands, a UK brand and a European brand:) 

L-R Model's Own Golden Green, Purple Blue, Aqua Violet, Emerald Green,Pinky Brown. Kiko 167,112,157.

L-R Wet n Wild No Name Purple, Party of 5, Red Red, Caribbean Frost, Night Prowl. Sally Hansen HD Lite, Wavelength, DVD.

Next week will feature some of Boot's finest brands!

Nail Polish Collection: Breakdown Part 1

Happy Saturday! I hope everybody is enjoying the weekend so far, I'm just back from eating out for lunch, was yummy and a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Today marks the first in a series of new posts - a more detailed look at my nail varnish collection. Every Saturday for the next few weeks I will put up a post of my nail varnish collection. Some weeks it will be an entire brand, other weeks like today, it is just going to be a collection of random polishes, that I might only have one or two from the same brand. 

If you are interested it my collection overview, you can see it here and if you click the tab at the top of the page entitled 'Nail Polish Collection', you will find a list of all the nail polish and links to any that I already have individual posts on.

The first line-up

The ones I'm showing you today are all singles and duos from any given brand.

Duos: L-R Kiss No Name Pink and No Name White, 17 Miami and Nightshade, Ciaté Wait Until Dark and Mistress, Bourjois Bleu Délave and Violet Laqué.

Singles: L-R W7 Marine Crackle, Nails Inc. Basil Street, Isa Dora Subway Green, Barbara Daly Panache, Claires No Name Purple, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic and Sephora Wanna be a Star.

That's it for this Saturday's nail polish collection breakdown, next one will be posted next Saturday:)

Current Nail Polish Collection - December 2011

And here it is. My complete nail varnish collection. To some people it might seem like an insane amount, to others it might only be a tiny blip compared to other nail varnish collections out there.

The pictures today are just general photos, with a few close up shots. I intend to do a series of posts in the new year on each individual brands and what polishes I have from them.

My collection has grown considerably since November 2010, when I bought my first OPI nail varnish online and I descended down the slippery slope of nail polish addiction. You can check out this post, if you are interested at looking at what my original nail polish collection was like.

The gang.

 

Just for comparison to my original nail polish collection!!

Divided into groups by brand

I store my nail varnish in a 4-drawer cabinet/locker thing. 

Currently I use 2 of the drawers for nail varnish. The 3rd drawer is used for nail related tools/items. The 4th drawer is non-nail related, but I think I'm going to have to empty it and reassign it to nail stuff!

Drawer 1 holds China Glaze, Revlon, Rimmel,No7, Gosh, Models Own, Wet n Wild, Sally Hansen, Essence, Bourjois and possibly a few singles I may have missed.

Drawer 2 contains OPI, Essie, Zoya, Catrice, Barry M, Kiko, Illamasqua and Orly. Again there may be individuals I have missed.

Here are my Chanels, Ciates, Kiss and 17 nail polishes. These don't fit in the drawers and so are currently homeless and just sitting on my desk!

The 3rd drawer has my nail wheels, nail polish strips, nail polish remover, konad stamping stuff, nail files and my nail tool bag.

Inside the nail tool bag. This holds all the nail stuff I use most frequently when I go to do my nails. Cuticle oil, cuticle remover, buffer, top and base coats, leftover tinfoil for glitter removal etc. It's great to have everything like that held together in one bag.

A complete list of what nail polish I have can be found under the tab entitled 'Nail Polish Collection' at the top of the page. 

Don't forget to keep an eye out for the individual brand posts starting early in the new year!