Time for a look back at another year of “Mani Mondays,” starting with my favorite design from the last 52 weeks, featuring the Holo Taco magnetic “Off the Grid” polish topped with “Shooting Star Taco,” the prettiest topper in my collection!
Here are the rest in chronological order…I love that my manicures are a snapshot of the things we’ve been doing over the past year, from holidays to Combo Breaker to our “Pokémon Summer!”
I already have special manicures planned for the upcoming holiday season…stay tuned!
This week’s Pokémon mani is inspired by Leafeon. I used a base of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel “Sunbrella” and added some swirls of Holo Taco “Wicked Potion” and “Espresso Your Holo.”
For Christmas, I went for a fun, freeform pattern on my nails (because I didn’t want to mess with stripes again!) in Christmas colors, using Sally Hansen Miracle Gel “Me, My Elf & I” (green) and Holo Taco “Favourite Sister” (red).
I have now shared a total of 52 “Mani Mondays”…a whole year’s worth! It has taken me more than one calendar year to complete this project, partly because I didn’t realize when I started that I was going to turn it into something this big and my nail painting was kind of sporadic, and partly because I just can’t always find time to do my nails every single week. I really love how it is a snapshot of a year in our family’s life…you can see the holidays we celebrated (Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter), the change of seasons (winter, summer, fall), special events we looked forward to (the Coronation, Combo Breaker), family heritage (flags), special family interests (Disney, Ahsoka), and even school spirit (college and high school colors).
First, here’s a look at my very favorite manicure I’ve done so far…I love the color blending and the added sparkle of the glitter!
And then all of the rest, in the order they were published. Sally Hansen Miracle Gel and Holo Taco were by far my two most-used brands, but there are some others mixed in there, too.
I’m by no means done with “Mani Mondays”…I’ve really enjoyed being creative in the colors I used and the techniques I’ve learned, and I already have some ideas for future designs I’m looking forward to attempting!
Chickadee and I have been enjoying watching Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Disney+, and that inspired me to created a giraffe-print mani. I used a base coat of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in “Game of Chromes” and created the spots with “Spice Age.” I also used the “Unicorn” topcoat instead of my usual shiny variety. I really love how it turned out!
I’m so sad that Ahsoka is over already…I liked that show almost as much as Bad Batch, and I loveBad Batch! It might be done, but I still got my inspiration for today’s mani from everyone’s favorite Togruta. I used Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in “Get Mod” on all of my nails, and layered Holo Taco “Box Office Bomb” over it on the thumb and pinky (Holo Taco recommends layering their jelly polishes over white to achieve a brighter color), and did the stripes in Holo Taco “Frost Light.”
Today’s manicure was inspired by the Disney 100 celebration. I was so excited to visit Disneyland earlier this year and be part of the festivities. It was particularly special to get to see all of the decorations and character costumes in the anniversary color scheme of silver and a lovely shade of purple. I don’t know why it took me until now to plan a mani reflecting the “100 Years of Wonder,” but once I did, I realized I had the perfect polishes for it. I used Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in “Anything is Popsicle” and “Hi Ho Silver” with a splash of glitter on the thumb thanks to “Deep Sea Diamond.” I also did my best attempt at a not-so-hidden-Mickey on my ring finger, and honestly, while it’s not perfect, I think I did a pretty great job!
Just in time for Oktoberfest season, the last of my manis inspired by the flags of my heritage…the German flag! I used Sally Hansen Miracle Gel “Stilettos and Studs,” Bésame Cosmetics “Holiday Red,” and Sally Hansen Miracle Gel “Sunbrella” for the colors representing the stripes of the flag, and Sally Hansen Miracle Gel “Hi Ho Silver” to bookend the look.
