Never Without Polish turns One!

Hello!

Well, I've gone and hit a milestone! The blog is one today!

Exactly a year ago, I posted this tiny hello!

I'm glad to say that at least my photography skills have improved!

Here's to another year!

Thanks for looking, following, commenting, and hanging out here. It amazes me that people want to see what I do here! *warm fuzzies*

More soon! ^_^

Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Just a quick update! I started using Bloglovin' for my personal use, since Google Reader is going away, and I just wanted you all to know that you can follow me there as well.

More soon! ^_^

Well, that was unexpected...

Why hello there! Been awhile... my apologies for that. Life got in the way. On the day of my last post, my heart decided to go crazy and landed me in the hospital for a few days. Good news is: I'm really quite healthy, and there is no apparent cause for the rapid heartbeat. Medication regulates it, but I'm also seeing a cardiologist to see if we can get it to resolve completely and go back to normal. That, and with the holidays coming up, hasn't left me much time to paint my nails, which is a bummer because I had a month's worth of new and holiday polishes to swatch and a few fun holiday inspired mani's in the works. At any rate, I'll be back to post as often as I can in the next few weeks and am planning to resume our regularly scheduled program here by January 1st at the latest. Thanks for your patience!

More soon-ish!! ^_^

Bonus Post: Catch-up Time!

Hello again!!

My last month and a half has been busy, busy! I've got a totally random post today with some things I wanted to share, but didn't have time to post until now. Blog catch-up time, if you will.

First up, a few vacation pictures! Northwest Montana is an incredibly beautiful place. We were fortunate for some lovely weather while we were there and got out on the trails for some hiking. Here are a couple pictures from our day in Glacier National Park.

Me in a very large rock. Hidden Lake Overlook Trail, Logan Pass.

Here's the gorgeous view from the overlook. This is Hidden Lake.

Lake MacDonald shore.

And here is our favorite coffee shop in all the world:

Copper Mountain Coffee. Best. Coffee. Ever.

That's Copper Mountain Coffee. One bonus to the northwest is all that fantastic coffee they have there. These little roadside, drive-up espresso joints are everywhere. This one makes the best coffee I have ever had. We stopped here almost everyday of our vacation (sometimes twice!). I'm pretty sure I brought home an extra five pounds of latte weight!

Nail Mail is the best kind of mail!

Next up, I snagged a few deals and got all this nail mail in one day! Orders from Coterie, Zoya, and llarowe. What's in these lovely packages, you say? Well, I snagged the Butter London deal from Coterie while it was still available (it was amazing--three polishes plus the matte topcoat for $11!). I justified this purchase for myself because All Hail the Queen was one of the six polishes to choose from, and it had been on my Wish List for... since I had a nail polish wish list, I think! I figured, if I was intending to buy this one polish anyway, I might as well take advantage of this sale since that one polish would've have cost me just as much! I also picked up Knackered (already swatched over here!) and West End Wonderland.

Butter London from Coterie Haul, plus CrowsToes Absolum.

My sister's birthday is coming up soon, and she's just starting the transition from acrylics to natural nails. So, I thought I'd spread some polish love. I thought she'd like Zoya Carly, Kimber, and Breezi. I also snagged  Sea Lore Ariel from llarowe since The Little Mermaid was her favorite movie as a child, and it's glitter. And, of course, I couldn't just order one polish from llarowe while I was at it, could I? I was quite proud in my show of self-control--I only included one extra polish for myself in the order. CrowsToes Absolum was in stock, and I couldn't pass that by! As far as I know, my sister does not read my blog, so this shouldn't ruin her birthday surprise, but if she does, she should stop lurking and let me know! Teehee!

Zoya and Sea Lore for my sistah!

I'm still trying to be good and stay on a "low-buy". I'm planning on using my two remaining Zoya Share the Love reward offers for "3 Zoyas for $10" before they expire at the end of December, but nothing else after that until my birthday in March! That might be hard.....

Finally, a few "nails of the week" I haven't made time to post separately. While on vacation, I wore my black lace french tips since I ran out of time before we left to do anything else. After those started to chip, I cut them down and just painted them a simple coral color. It's Wet n' Wild's Poppy Dream. I have to get a swatch up of this soon because I absolutely love it! I topped it with Zoya Chloe and the only topcoat I had, which was a new bottle of New York Color's In a New York Minute Fast Dry Topcoat. Did they change this stuff? I remember it drying pretty quickly before, but this new bottle never dried. I was pretty ginger with them for a few hours, and still smudged/dented/ruined them later in the day. No pictures of that--they didn't last long enough! So I redid the coral and went for this zebra striped look (and, yes, I brought a stamping plate and all needed accessories on vacation with me).

Once that Coterie package came, I couldn't resist putting on All Hail the Queen. I added an accent nail of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink sponged on from the tip up. I quite loved this look.

Butter London All Hail the Queen plus Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Butter London All Hail the Queen plus Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink close-up! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

And to round out this post, we come to what I wore this week! This is a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two brushed on coats of Zoya Penny, another sponged on coat of Penny to alleviate the brushstrokes, a coat of Seche Vite, stamped with Rimmel Tequila Sunset, Orly Luxe, and Zoya Elisa with image plate BM04 , and, finally, a coat of NYC's In a New York Minute (my bottle seems to be fine on dry time as long as the rest of the mani is dry... that might have been my problem in Montana--I think I slathered it on there like you would with Seche while everything was still wet. Lesson learned!). I was quite pleased at how well Elisa worked for stamping. I have yet to test it on a full or bigger image, but I think it has promise!

Zoya Penny stamped with autumn! Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

Detail of the accent finger. Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

If only the trees here matched! Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Happy weekend! And if all that wasn't enough, more Monday!! ^_^

Liebster Award!!!

Hello again!!
 

 I was nominated/tagged for the Liebster Award by Micki over at Lacquer Nirvana!! Thank you, Micki! I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to 'accept' this award and play the game. I received her email two days before we left on vacation, and life has been crazy since we returned. I finally did get some time to put this post together, so here goes:

From what I can gather from the Internets, the Liebster Award is for up-and-coming blogs/bloggers. It provides a chance to get to know the blogger behind the blog, and the tag 'game' is a fun way to discover new blogs and to get your own out there some more. I think it's a great idea. Let the fun begin~!

The rules as put forth for me for this award are:

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.

2. They must also answer the 11 questions the 'tagger' has set for them.

3. They're no tag backs.

Here are eleven random things about me:

1. I am fiercely proud of where I come from. I'm from a small town in Southeast Minnesota. Minnesota rocks! And so does my family! My parents are awesome, as were/are there parents before them.

2. I have an awesome fiance and we're getting married one year from today!!

3. I have used vacation time to just stay home and play video games (no skipping out on work--it was planned).

4. I like rocks. I have a B.S. in Geology.

5. I always thought I was a dog person. I currently have a cat. She adopted me. Her name is Grace.

Isn't she a cutie?

 6. Together, my fiance and I have three cats. He adopted brothers, Oscar and Oliver. Aren't they adorable?
 

 

 7. I love snow! I can't wait to move back to somewhere that has a real winter.

8. Even though, I love snow, autumn is my favorite season.

9. I can't ever make a decision without looking at ALL the options, and then picking what seems 'best'. This is why I need to compile a list of Indie polish sellers with ALL of their polishes, so I can pick my very favorites! I wish Etsy's format let the sold out items still be shown so I could see what I may have missed.

10. I have a desk job. The job itself, I like. I just hate being stuck behind a desk for 9 hours a day.

11. I must not be that interesting, this part of the post has taken me the longest, and I've run out of things to say. So onto the questions!

Here are the eleven questions Micki asked:

1. What is your guilty pleasure?
 
Nail polish! The definition of 'guilty pleasure' according to Wikipedia is as follows: "A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. The "guilt" involved is sometimes simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes. Fashion, video games, music,[1] movies[2], and junk food can be examples of guilty pleasures.[3]" {source} This certainly applies for me because nail polish is not something I need, I certainly have more than a reasonable amount of it (and still want more!), and I spend more money on it than I care to admit (seriously, ladies, how do some of you do it?! I see your hauls and know that was some major $$!!). It is a luxury I choose to continue purchasing and spend my time using. Sometimes I do feel guilty for buying when I should be saving money for other things *cough*wedding*cough*. Not to mention, I spend at least a full weekend day swatching or organizing blog stuff or doing nail art rather than spend that time with my family or doing something more 'productive'. So to sum it up, I love nail polish but feel guilty for enjoying it as much as I do.

2. When do you usually blog, morning, noon, or night?

I'd like to have my posts scheduled ahead of time, sometimes that happens, but weekends are usually dedicated to swatching. So, I end up writing posts from my notes during my lunch break.

3. How did you choose the name of your blog?

I wanted something that wouldn't necessarily limit me to one topic. I chose NeverWithoutPolish because, while yes it very definitely can be related to nail polish, I wanted it to also be able take on the idea that each day is an opportunity for good--to add a little extra effort or thoughtfulness somewhere to 'polish' an aspect of each day into something greater than it otherwise would have been. The 'paying it forward' idea, if you will. For now, I'm quite happy for my little slice of the internet to revolve around nail polish, but who knows what possibilities await in the idea?

4. Whats your favorite store to shop at?

Brick and mortar store? Ulta!
Online? llarowe! with Head2Toe Beauty a close second for prices and access to older collections.

5. Are you on Pinterest?

I am SO on Pinterest! I love it... follow me here!

6. Are you frugal?

I am not really (see answer #1)... it depends on the purchase... I save money where I can, but will splurge on certain things (there are definitely things in this world that the saying "you get what you pay for" applies to and others that the generic or store brand will do just as well).

7. What other hobbies do you have other than blogging?

Video games! I have boxes of old console games ranging from the NES on up through current games to play, but World of Warcraft is currently taking up my free time outside of this blog.

8. What is your favorite restaurant?

Famous Dave's!!

9. What is your favorite article of clothing?

I have a North Face TKA 100 Masonic hoody in white that I love. I'm quite impressed with it after all these years. It's survived three years of camping, cross-country travel, and normal every day wear. It gets rather filthy camping and traveling, so I bleach the heck out of it and it's stood up over time with no visible wear or tear. It's also incredibly warm for how light it is. So, all things considered, I don't leave home for extended trips without it!

10. What is your favorite social media?

Pinterest! I LOVE it--so many fun and interesting discoveries!

11. What do you never leave the house without?
My phone. And mascara.. I ALWAYS wear mascara.

And here are my questions:

1. What is your favorite blog to read/follow (doesn't have to be nail polish related)? And is there a blog that inspired you to start your own?

2. Who is your go-to swatcher? You, know, that one blog you always look for when looking up reviews for potential polish purchases...

3. Name your top five favorite nail polishes of all time (so far).

4. What is it about nail polish that made you a polish addict?

5. Let's pretend you are being gifted 1 million dollars. The catch: You have to spend it in 24 hours in order to keep it. How do you do it?

6. Coffee or tea?

7. Is there a nail art technique you find difficult or always fail at and wish it wasn't so hard to accomplish?

8. If you could be anywhere else that where you are right now, where would it be?

9. Got any nail polish or blogging tips to share?

10. What book are you currently reading? (I need suggestions!!)

11. This was asked of me, but I thought it was interesting. I'm curious to see other responses: What is your favorite article of clothing?

I'll edit this post to add the bloggers I nominate once I get my final list of tag-ees together this weekend!

Have fun!!

More soon!! ^_^

Bonus Post: NOTD and a Haul!

Good evening!

I wasn't planning on posting anything more until tomorrow, but I had some fun yesterday that I wanted to share. Mr. NeverWithoutPolish and I went on a shopping trip, and I scored some exciting things.


But before we get to that, I wanted to show you what I wore on my nails for this adventure. You see, by Friday night, my current mani (which you can see here) was in less than great shape, and I was tired of it anyway. I knew I'd be doing some swatching Sunday, so I needed a quick, fresh coat of paint to wear while out and about the next day. I told Mr. NeverWithoutPolish to pick a bottle, any bottle. He dug around a bit and surfaced with Zoya Maisie. Plan failed--this is a topcoat, I tell him, pick something to go under it. He searched some more and handed me my bottle of China Glaze Riveting. Here is the end result, excuse the tipwear, the pictures came after a long day of shopping.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I thought this ended up rather nicely, and Mr. NeverWithoutPolish thought he did a good job. The green-blue flakies show up in nice contrast to the orange sparkle of Riveting. For extra fun, I mattified my ring fingers. 

Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

 
Onto the good stuff!

Sally's Loot!

I had a ton of coupons to use up yesterday, and the first stop was Sally Beauty. The lady at Sally's yesterday was kind enough to get the new China Glaze Bohemian Luster Chrome collection out of the back for me to look at and take my pick from. I was really grateful for this since the ladies in my local Sally's don't do that kind of thing (even though, I'd heard of this happening to many people throughout the Interwebs, I hadn't been privileged enough to experience it firsthand until now). The display she brought out had all the polishes except for Unpredictable, which was one of the two I wanted, so the lady was even more kind to go dig through the extra inventory to get one for me. While she was gone, I hit up the clearance rack and scored Glam-more, which was one of those polishes I wasn't planning on picking up unless it was a deal. Score! I've seen a few jelly sandwiches that use this and now I can't wait to give it a try. I also had my 15% off to use this month, so I walked out of there with Swanky Silk, Unpredictable, and Glam-more for less than fifteen bucks!

Ulta Loot!

After that, it was time for Ulta. /rant on Now, I love Ulta stores--I like how they're set up. I like how friendly and helpful the staff are, and I like how everything is sectioned off and samples are out for me to play with. What I don't like is that nearly all of the good stuff is excluded from coupons--if you send me a 20% off my purchase coupon, I get bummed when less than half of what I buy is eligible. I know, I should be thankful for any savings but still, it's like their baiting me. /rant off  I picked up a few things I use everyday that I was running low on--the Urban Decay Primer Potion (totally awesome stuff--eye makeup stays on all day. Love. It.) and some more mascara from Tarte (I also love Tarte--I experimentally switched form drug store brands to cruelty free, higher end brands a few months ago and Tarte was my brand of choice. I snagged a few value sets to try a range of their products all at once, and I'm hooked. I have never been this happy with my skin before--it's finally clear! Rejoice!). And since I was already there, I of course had to look through the polish displays. Sadly, everything was very picked over and only a few lonely bottles were left anywhere. I had wanted to try some Essence polishes but they were completely gone. They have a buy 2 get 1 free deal going so I grabbed some Zoyas from my wishlist and Orly Androgynie at random (I fell victim to the gorgeous gold holo glitter peeking out through the black base). The Zoyas are Robyn, Mimi, and Charisma.

Fresh Sugar minis and a big ol' purse for traveling.

After that, it was on to the mall where I got my birthday gift offer from Sephora, free underwear from Victoria's Secret (not pictured), and a new purse! Mr. NeverWithoutPolish snagged some clearanced golf shirts, and we perused new luggage options from several stores in anticipation of our Montana vacation next month. It was a fun day--we ate some bad for us food (waaaay cheating on our diets--Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, Famous Dave's for lunch, and Coldstone Creamery for dinner. Nom!). We ended the day watching the Dark Knight Rises.

Such fun! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I spent most of today swatching in front of the television with the Olympics on. Go USA!! Check back tomorrow--I'll have swatches of the two China Glaze Bohemian duochromes for you!

More soon! ^_^