Hello, and happy December 31! 2021 was an absolute wild ride of a year for me – I started the year off in Korea, did two internships, graduated college, moved back to the west coast and started a new job, and most of all, grew this blog to what it is today.
Before this year I’d never received PR polishes, but over the last 9 months I’ve had the incredible fortune to work with 25 (!!!!) different indie brands. I started off this year with my blogspot blog, and in the spring moved over to this new (and much better) platform. I’ve made countless friends and had amazing work relationships with so many people in the indie nail community, and I am so so thankful for all of the opportunities this year provided me.
I wanted to give a special shoutout to Jenny of Jen & Berries for being the first brand to reach out to me about swatching, and for taking a chance on me. She helped me kickstart my swatching career, and it’s been a joyful ride ever since. Thank you!❤️
I also want to give a special shoutout to all of my friends and family members that have lived with me over the past year – thank you for enduring the never ending smell of nail polish coming from my room, and for enduring all of the extra trash that comes with a constant influx of packages. I appreciate your patience with me❤️
With that, I wanted to highlight 21 of my favorite polishes that were released in 2021! These polishes are in no particular order, grouped by brand. I didn’t reswatch any polishes for this post so you’ll be seeing some OG llaurenails swatches (aka swatches from 9 months ago). Some polishes I don’t have swatches, but were polishes I featured in nail art – those polishes will include images of the nail art look(s) I did.
Disclaimer: Most of the polishes listed below were received in PR, but I included them in this list because I genuinely adore them.
Let’s go!
1. Wildflower Lacquer – Beauty is Everywhere
2. Wildflower Lacquer – What in Carnation
3. Wildflower Lacquer – Butterbean
4. Nailed It – Kitsune
5. Nailed It – Industrial Icon
6. Jen & Berries – She’s a Great Bloomer
7. Jen & Berries – Jack & Dianthus
8. Jen & Berries – Khanyisa’s Courage
9. Ethereal Lacquer – Sunset Ophidia
10. KBShimmer – I Just Wanna Fly
11. KBShimmer – RV There Yet?
12. Cirque Colors – Voile
My favorite light sheer nude base!
13. Dreamland Lacquer – Regular Human Bartender
14. Cuticula – Snowfall
15. Kathleen & Co – Hygge Lights
16. Rogue Lacquer – Country Capital & Best Friends
17. Rogue Lacquer – Comfy & Snowy
18. BCB Lacquers – Destructive Little Brother
19. Bees Knees Lacquer – Haetae 2021
20. Glam Polish – The Weather Outside is Frightful
21. Zoya – Celestia
*the only mainstream polish !!
For anyone that is reading this, thank you so much for your support this past year. Every read on this blog, every link that is opened, and every photo that is viewed is one that I treasure, and I thank you for taking the time to read what I put out. Thank you, thank you, thank you❤️ I hope 2022 brings the best for you, and offers you lots of growth and happiness!
Here’s to more polishes in 2022! I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Happy new year❤️
XOXO,
Lauren
P.S. yes, I have a type and it’s light pink/purple/white/grey shifty shimmers🥰🥰🥰