After years of neglecting and ignoring my nails, 2017 was the year that I finally started getting back into doing my nails and dipping my toes into the nail art scene. Now, I still consider myself a novice, but I've really been trying things out and having a really good time doing it, and it 2018 I do hope to include more and more nail art and polish related content here on the blog. But for now... Let's talk about the stuff I've been loving over the past year to both take care of my hands and to play with nail artistry.

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JULEP Essential Cuticle Oil

It wasn't until this year that I really realized just how essential the JULEP Essential Cuticle Oil is. It's a blend of jojoba, sweet almond, castor seed, and rosewood oils with Vitamin E and a couple of essential oils that really make it smell absolutely lovely, and it's housed in a rollerball packaging that makes it really convenient to just roll on around your cuticles. And it's GOOD. In fact, I think this is the one cuticle oil that I've really seen make a different in the health and appearance of my cuticles as well as the strength and resiliency of my nails. I've been thinking about trying to make some of my own cuticle oil... but I honestly don't really see the point when I love this one as much as I do.

True Blue Spa Paraffin Super Softening Hand Lotion

I've actually been using the True Blue Spa Paraffin Super Softening Hand Lotion from Bath & Body Works for a long time and I really love it. For me, this definitely isn't a daytime lotion because it's quite thick and feels like it leaves a barrier on your hands, so I tend to use it only at night or when I'm sitting around the house not doing anything with my hands. I find that it really feels like it hydrates my hands and almost seems to create a barrier to protect against moisture loss, which is important during the colder months of the year when forced heat wants to steal my hydration. Overall, I just really like this hand cream and I use it pretty much every night before bed.

Sinful Colors Crystal Shimmers Collection

So originally the Sinful Colors Crystal Shimmers Collection wasn't available in Canada, so when I saw it in a local discount store I literally just bought every shade - and I'm SO GLAD that I did. Not only is every shade in this collection right up my alley, but I love the finished result of the cremé finish broken up by silver flakies. It's just super pretty and I really wish that drugstore polish lines would do more products like this that stand outside of your traditional cremé and metallic finishes, because they feel a little more special to me. I can't even tell you how many times I've worn these polishes - but there are a couple that I wish I had backups of.

Color Club Holographic Nail Lacquers

I feel like 2017 was the year when holo became something that I was actually aware of. I'd had a couple of really subtle holo polishes maybe 5 years ago, but after losing any attention I paid to nail polish over the years I was unfamiliar with linear holo at all... But I rectified that this year when I started using the Color Club Holographic Nail Lacquers. I, thus far, have four shades and I basically want to Pokemon them because they're just so pretty. Also, I've discovered that they stamp pretty damn well also... so I have a feeling that as I continue experimenting more with nail stamping that they'll be a big favorite in 2018 as well.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Color

Finally, this is actually a more recent favorite as I've gotten more into stamping, but as soon as I learned that the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Colors tend to work quite well for stamping - and are available at pretty much every drugstore - I went and bought one. And then another. And then another. And now I have at least 10 bottles. I don't actually like these as a base colour on my nails, but I've constantly been reaching for them for stamping and I really can't believe how well they work. While they don't quite reach the level of actual stamping polish, they're a pretty good option if you're on a budget and want something you can buy in a brick and mortar store. They also just repackaged and released a bunch of new shades... so I'm going to end up expanding the collection more, me thinks.

I also wanted to show some of my favorite nail art looks from 2017 in this post, because I've been so much into sharing them on Instagram. As you can see, I've played with gradients, nail vinyls, free handing, nail decals and stamping this year and I've really really loved it. I've also learned that I have no choice but to keep my nails short in the winter and I really like a short coffin shape to my nails. Who knew?

You guys! This is the very last of my beauty favorites of 2017! Can you believe it? (I mean, if you were here every step of the way you almost certainly can since this has been A LOT of posts covering what I loved last year....) I have one more favorites post to come tomorrow, which is my non-beauty favorites and focuses on movies, TV, food, etc. So make sure to check that out too - I think I have some pretty good recommendations!

And speaking of recommendations, let me know in the comments what your favorite hand & nail products are because I'd love to hear about them!

Thanks for reading!