Best of 2012

So I have seen many bloggers do re-caps and "best of" posts for 2012 and by golly, that got my gears working. What were my favorite polishes from the year that started my addiction? So I went through my drawers of polish and picked out some highlights. My nails were too busy wearing the #1 polish so I couldn't swatch there, here are all of my highlights on a swatch wheel. Enjoy!

The Great Ones

Polishes that were bottom-line just all around great. 

 The first one in this category is Essie's Shine Of The Times. This is the polish that sparked my addiction to nail polish and involvement in the nail blogging community. Later I came to find that (in my opinion) it's the best flakie top coat out there. ;)

Up next is Sally Hansen's Jewel Overcoat in Multi-Faceted. This one just really impressed me as far as glitter combos go, especially for mainstream polish. It reminds me of fishy scales which for some reason, I love.

Third is Lime Crime's Peaches<3Cream. The perfect circus peanut color and a no-fuss, 2-coat (maximum) formula. Can't argue with that, am I right ladies? Click here for a full post about this polish.

Sally Hansen's Ruby Ring. I don't even really like this color typically, but when I was putting together the display at work I knew I had to have this polish. It's so vibrant. So brilliant. It's honestly mesmerizing. Again. This is coming from a girl that DOESN'T LIKE this color (typically). You won't be able to stop staring at your digits when you wear this one.

On to Essie's Navigate Her. Some people hate on this color and call it "pea green", but in my eyes it's seriously beautiful. Simple but impactful. Also, it's a 1-coater. So all the haters can kindly send me their bottles. Thanks in advance!

Revlon's Starry Pink/Popular. I got this polish in an amazing situation: the Rite Aid a couple towns over was going out of business and EVERYTHING in the store was half off. Everything!! So I got a lot of good things. It was already pretty picked over but I found a few gems, including this one. This was before I knew that it was kind of a big deal in the polish world. I love that it is just so pretty and girly, it reminds me of a ballerina, and who doesn't want to feel like they've got tiny ballerinas on their phalanges? Right? I now have my 1st bottle of Starry Pink, 1 extra, and 3 extra Popular's. (The color is the same, Revlon re-released it with a new name)

Lastly in this category is Above The Curve's Fallen Angel. Holy hell. Color-shifting as well as linear holographic. Do I need to say any more?

Best Holos

My holo collection grew from 1 to about 25 this year. I love them all, but here are my favorites!

1: First is China Glaze's 2NITE. The holo particles in this polish must be so damn small because the linear-ness of this polish is seamless. It doesn't look like TV static like most holos do, broken up a bit. Nope, this one is like a tiny zen koi pond in heaven. 

2: Next is Color Club's Blue Heaven. It's from the Halo Hues collection. Honestly they all deserve to be in this count down but I chose this one to represent the whole collection. They're just.... so.... pretty....*sigh*.

3: Urban Outfitters Silver Holo. I have the trio of UO holo's, and they're just devine! the most brilliant of all of my holos. Plus I love the big square bottles. They're still the standard .5 oz but it feels like it's 1 million oz and that makes me so so happy.

4: Lastly but not leastly is Color Club's Wild At Heart. This one isn't a typical holo. I can't really describe it. Maybe it's because it's darker in color than most? I don't know. But It's gorgeous. Instead of a full rainbow, you mostly see a redness shine through as the holo. It's just really beautiful.

Best Cheap-o's

The best of the cheapest.

On the left is Sinful Color's Hottie. It's just kind of magical and fairy-like. Rather dreamy.

And on the right is a Sally Girl's unnamed pink. Another fairy-like dreamy one. I just really like fairies I guess.

Tried And True

These are the ones that actually got the most wear out of them.

Sally Hansen's Lacey Lilac. The perfect purple for me and my skin tone. Easy 1-2 coat formula, and quite glossy too. Here it is as undies.

1. China Glaze's He's Going In Circles. This and the next are really one in the same but they are frickin' drop-dead lovely!!!! Technically probably a scattered holo but they border on linear. Yep, I'm going to need this whole collection. It will cost me more than a baby on the black market, but it will be worth it.

2. China Glaze's Visit Me In Prism. A slightly more work-appropriate version of the preceding. A little more lady-like and delicate. 

China Glaze's Nova. This one was mostly used on my toes. The formula is borderline goopy but that actually works in my favor for my toes, as I like THICK and SPARKLY toe-y goodness. I love looking at my little pigs and seeing disco balls.

Seche Vite. Need I say more?

Most Hyped-Up Disappointments

Okay so disappointment might be too harsh of a word, but these are the ones that I was either hyping up in my mind, or the ones that were hyped by the nail community. The ones that didn't really impress me as much as I thought they would.

First is Revlon's Whimsical. I don't want to have to wear 20 coats of ANY polish for it to look nice. People have suggested a light blue base, but even then there's not enough of the cute pink and blue glitter. This one had so much potential but let me down pretty hard.

Next: Nubar's White Polka Dots. I hyped this one myself. I was hoping for white glitter, when in reality it's kind of a semi-sheer satin glitter with a slight orange cast in the right lighting. It's not the stark white I thought it would be. Also the glitter is sparse.

Last in this category is HK Girl topcoat. It's good, yes, but in my opinion it's no better or worse than the standard Seche Vite. 

Most Treasured

These are the ones I love so much that I'm afraid to wear them and waste them. I want those bottles to last my whole life. Swatches shown here as: 1 coat over black, 2 coats on its own, and 1 coat over white. One with flash and one without flash.

Elevation Polish's Avalanche. My first indie! Of course I treasure it. Plus it's gorgeous.

I Love Nail Polish's Matthew Peri. I saw this polish and fell in love. It took me a while to order because it was rather pricey but I finally did and I'm so happy about it. Blue and black and iridescent and holo glitters!

Next is Elevation Polish's Daisen. My first circle glitter polish! And it's pink! The people over at Elevation helped me out to get this polish and I'm very thankful for that. Cute over anything!

Next is my custom Lacquistry, Celestial Web. Check out this post for a more in-depth read.

I had one more to show you in this category but upon swatching it, I realized it had curled (more than before) and begun to bleed. Needless to say, it no longer belongs in this category :'( 

Most Promising Untrieds
Haven't tried these ones out yet but I know I will love them when and if I do.

1: Picture Polish's Mask-a-rade. At first glance it looks like a multicolored glitter, but then upon further investigation, you realize that each of the glitters actually are color shifters. Holy god yes.

2: Ulta Purplexed. I got this as a gift and it's so perfect for me. Excited about this one.

3: Ozotic 529. I'm too clumsy to hold this polish. I'm afraid I would break it or trip and smash it or spill it, or something equally terrible. I don't know if I will ever use it because it's so precious and I wouldn't want to waste it. For now I will watch it from the other side of the room. MMMM it's so pretty!!!

4: Icing's Sugar Coat. A sandy nude holo glitter. Looks like fairies!! :D 

Best "Other"s

Tools and other nail-related things.

This polish thinner from Sally's. It has saved so many of my old Insta-Dri's that would have otherwise gone in the trash.

This style of nail files. I just really like them :)

Kiss Nail Dresses. Great for a no-fuss mani or an easy pedi. Instant nail art. Boom.

Cuticle balm. And if we're being honest here, lip balm too. On my cuticles. Sometimes it's closer than my cuticle balm, and it's practically the same thing. I'd go as far as to say it works BETTER. And I can't have my cuticles being raggedy.

Best Non Nail-Related

Not nail related but still awesome.

Kat Von D Adora perfume. It just smells so lovely! I got this as a gift from my friend Andrea. Thanks lady! :)

Lime Crime's Palette D'Antoinette. Pastels are perfect for me and these pastels are perfect for everyone, every day, special occasion, whatever.

The Starbucks Rodarte collection. I bought myself this $5 gift card just so I could have the card itself. I love Rodarte so much! All of the Rodarte mugs, bags, and cup sleeves are on clearance right now, too. You can get a little dose of designer in your life without paying designer prices with this collection. I conned a friend into buying me the travel mug for my birthday! I can't wait! I'm working on my surprised face right now.

This bag. It's huge, it's posh, it's kinda edgy, and it's just perfect for me. I want this design on my nails! I scored it at a thrift/consignment store that I consign at. It didn't cost me anything because of my store credit.

Number One Best!  

 
Ninja Polish's Color Changing Garnet.

My birth stone is Garnet so of course I had to have this polish. Little did I know at the time how much this polish would blow my mind. I actually just ordered 2 back-ups just in case they every stop making this, I want enough in reserve to never worry about running out. Try not to drive with this on your nails, or at least wear gloves because you will NOT be looking at the road if your nails are exposed. I kept shoving my hands in people's faces and telling them to appreciate my nails. And then I tried it over black. Hoooooly hell. Tears of joy.