My Nail Polish Declutter.

Considering I rarely paint my own nails, over the years I have amassed a fair few bottles of nail polish. (In my defense most of them have come as part of a GWP or from beauty boxes.) However, considering how little I use them, it is silly to keep hanging onto them especially as I don't have a permanent spot to keep them. I have been meaning to declutter them for some time but didn't know where to start until I saw this simple method of streamlining online, which works for just about any make up product not only nail polishes:

Step one: sort them into like groups of colours.

 Step two: decide what to keep and what to throw from each group. 

Easy right? Let's go!

The Glitters:

Julep Heartleigh, Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Tweedy, Deborah Lippman Pink Princess, Nails Inc Chelsea Square.

I did buy the Tweedy Fuzzy Coat and I did use it a fair amount as it was so easy to apply but I feel as if the days of differently textured nail polishes have come and gone and can't see myself using this again. The others all came from gift bags/boxes. I'm not sure that I will use Heartleigh but I will keep it as it is the newest and prettiest of the remaining polishes.

Remaining:1/4

The Blues

Station Rock-a-guy Blues, Essie Mesmerized, Deborah Lippman Money Now, Sleep Later, Deborah Lippman Magic Man.

I didn't buy any of these they were all in bags/boxes. As I never wear shimmery polishes the two Deborah Lippman ones get decluttered instantly. I love dark blues but the Station polish isn't quite dark enough so I will get rid of it. I do like Essie Periwinkle for a springtime pedicure so I will keep it.

Remaining 1/4

Purple and Green.

Station Happy Wine-y People, Deborah Lippman Virtual Insanity, Sally Hansen Jungle Gem, Covergirl After Dark.

All of these were from bags/ boxes. I don't like any of these and won't wear them so I'm keeping none from this group!

Remaining 0/4

Grey-ish.

OPI Cement the Deal, OPI My Silk Tie, Rimmel Punk Rock, Deborah Lippman Hard Rock Life. 

The only one that I purchased myself is the Kate Moss Rimmel Punk Rock, I like the name, the shade and it's by Mossy so this one is a keeper. Of the others, Cement the Deal is not flattering for my skin tone and the other two are shimmery so they are all going.

Remaining 1/4.

Nudes and Browns.

Deborah Lippman Fashion, Dior Beige Too Much, Nails Inc Porchester Square, Deborah Lippman Physical Attraction.

Ah beige and nudes are my favourite shades for fingers! If ever I do do my own nails I will most likely paint my fingernails with Fashion so that's definitely a keeper. Beige Too Much was my go to polish many years ago. I bought numerous bottles of this when I was living in France (at a time when nail bars were non existent there) and although this is old (check the old school Dior packaging) and probably not usable I want to keep it for nostalgic reasons. 

Do you remember when Nails Inc were the polishes to have? Well I was firmly on the Porchester Square bandwagon, this mini is pretty much dried up so I will get rid of it along with another shimmery Deborah Lippman.

Remaining 2/4.

Light Pinks and Peaches.

Station Off the Record Pink, Rococo Flower Town, Nars Orgasm, Essie Cantaloupe, Clinique (not named).

Five polishes here all from bags/boxes. The ones by Station and Rococo are both similar colours but the Rococo one is a little warmer and I like the formula better so that stays while the Station goes. The other three are all similar peachy tones but the Nars is shimmery and the unnamed Clinique polish isn't a great formula so I won't keep either. I occasionally use Essie Cantaloupe on my fingers if I have a coral on my feet so I will keep that.

Remaining 2/5.

Pinks.

Deborah Lippman Delovely, Orly Coquette Cute, Deborah Lippman Sweet Dreams, Essie Forget Me Nots, Essie Bermuda Shorts, Leighton Denny PillowTalk.

These are all quite different pinks and all are from bags/boxes. I've never used either Delovely or Coquette and Sweet Dreams is very shimmery so I'm going to get rid of all of those. I will keep the three on the right - I'm particularly fond of Essie Bermuda Shorts as a toe nail colour in the summer.

Remaining 3/5.

Reds.

Station Front Row Flasher, Julep Lee, Rococo VIP, Rococo Make Love, Not War, Deborah Lippman My Funny Valentine, Deborah Lippman I Want Candy.

Another six all from bags/boxes! Front Row Flasher from Station is red with a lot of grey undertones, it's an odd shade, if I'm wearing red I want it to be vibrant rather than dull so I'm not keeping this one. I will also get rid of the two Deborah Lippman reds. Colour wise My Funny Valentine falls in the middle of two of the reds I want to keep and I want Candy has a transparent jelly type finish that is difficult to apply

I will keep Lee by Julep which leans a little on the pink/coral side as I think that it is a good shade of red for spring. I'm also keeping both of the reds I have by Rococo. I love their formula and they are both quite different, VIP is a bright cerise that I like as a winter red and Make Love, Not War a little orange-y, almost a tomato red which is nice for summer.

Remaining: 3/6  

Vamps.

Chanel Vamp, Rococo Brocade, Deborah Lippman Brown Eyed Girl, Deborah Lippman Maneater.

I love a good vampy red black nail be it on short fingernails or toe nails, it is so versatile and always looks good no matter what your skin tone or what season it is. It's a bit of a modern classic isn't it?

I bought the Chanel Vamp and I'm going to be keeping it, although at some point soon I should probably replace it with a bottle of the newer, harder wearing formula. The other three bottles all came from bags/ boxes. I will keep Rococo Brocade, it looks very similar to Vamp in the photo but actually is quite a bit darker and browner in tone. I will discard the two Deborah Lippman colours as they are both shimmery.

Remaining: 2//4.  

The Final Cut.

And here's what I have left! 

I threw away twenty six bottles which left me with a collection of fifteen nail varnishes all of which are shades that I like and find flattering. I think that I have a pretty good range of colours here that cover most of my needs. 

If I were going to add anything to these I would add a dark navy blue (Smith & Cult Kings and Thieves?), a bright coral (Essie Clambake?), a greige (Dior Palais Royal?) and a turquoise for summer toes (Leighton Denny Morning Dew?). I would also replace Chanel Vamp with the newer formula. Realistically though I most likely won't get any of these as my nail bar has a great range of colours that I can choose from.