MY Favorite Polishes from 2012

I've already shown you YOUR favorite polishes from the past year, based on the views each post received, but now I'm showing you MY Top 12  personal favorite polishes of 2012. I'm only including polishes that I have actually shown on the blog- there are a few that may have been included otherwise, but we'll just have to wait and see if they stand up next year :) Click on the name of each polish to be taken to the original post, which will include buying info. 

12. Love Always Shines by Trelly's MISC Polish. The love for this one may be more for the layering combo- I LOVE the yellow and white over steel grey!

11. Central by U-Neek Polish. This one, again, may be the combo- SOO gorgeous over dark colors!

10. An Honest Puck by Literary Lacquers. I've never been a fan of brown anything, I always prefered black and grey as my go-to neutrals. But this brown is an absolute stunner, and actually gave my a favorite brown polish!

9. Frog Prince by Varnish Vixen. I was at a loss with this color, until I layered it over a neutral grey. Wow!

8. Private School by Pretty & Polished. It's no secret that I love grey polish, and the pops of red in this beauty make it really special.

7. Lady of the Lake by A England. EVERYONE reviewed this polish this year, and EVERYONE loved it. I'm no exception :)

6. Celestial by The Polish Bar. I'm a huge fan of the "galaxy nails" look, without all the extra work, and this is THE polish to achieve that effect.

5. Vanessa by Shimmer Polish. One of the first polishes I reviewed, and still one of my favorites! The almost monochromatic blend of glitter with slight pops of red and aqua is just mind blowing. And talk about versatile!

4. Chandelle by Darling Diva Polish. I'm pretty vocal about my love for Darling Diva, and for nudes, and this glitter just hit it out of the park! An English Rose Garden turned into polish.

3. Crotch Rocket by Wonder Beauty Products. I'm just entranced by this grey creme, and the myriad glitters that speckle it. For everyone who jumped on the white based glitter bandwagon this year, this is my preferred version of it.

2. Master Shake by Daring Digits. I have no idea what it is about this polish that obsesses me, but it does! I stalked it for nearly a month before I was able to get a hold of it, and to date, it is the only indie polish that I own a backup of! This was your number three pick, and one of only two polishes that made both lists. 

1. Space Beetle by Darling Diva. Is anyone surprised by this one? It's the absolutely perfect silvery linear holo, PLUS a pinky-green-y duochrome shift. Stunning! This was your top pick of the year as well, and I can't agree more! 

So how does your favorites list compare? Any overlaps? Anything you really feel I should have included? Until next year, dolls!

12 Days of Christmas: Gifts!

Sorry this post is going up so late, especially as I had it done way early today, but I had the day off and spent nearly the whole thing on nails! Swatching, and nail art, and planning, and even working on some new colors :) Without further ado . . . here are my Gift nails!

I chose the wrapping paper that I'm using this year as my inspiration. As you can see, it is mostly red and white. There is a red with white snowflakes paper as well, but it's on a different shelf :)

Here is my interpretation. I started with bases of Maybelline Color Show Porcelain Party and Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby. Then, using the opposite color I stamped on designs from my Salon Express Stamper kit (peppermint and dots), QA 15 (the sweater design) and QA 5 (bows). The bows were stamped on with A England King Arthur, and unfortunately, I think they kind of ruined the whole thing. It wasn't quite top notch to begin with, but King Arthur is waay too sheer for stamping. So it kind of looks a mess. 

Be sure to check out all the other challengers in the links below! And come back Sunday for some snowflakes!

Scandalous!: Scandle Shimmer by Glitz in a Bottle

There are some amazingly complex and off-the-wall creative polishes out there, but every now and then I want a clean, simple glitter. Something a little less off the wall, a little less crazy. But still pretty and still glitter. That's not too much to ask, right?

Apparently not, because: Meet Scandle Shimmer by Glitz in a Bottle! Carolina from GIAB says this about Scandle Shimmer: "Sometimes a girl needs a good scandal in her life! Whether you're looking for Mr. Wrong to make you feel right or you're looking for a night you won't remember." I love a good story with my polish :) Scandle Shimmer is a clear based polish filled with tiny black glitters and larger pink metallic hexes. 

It almost looks like lace in the bottle- easily one of the prettiest "in-the-bottle" polishes on my shelf :)

This is two coats of Scandle Shimmer over A-England's King Arthur (which can be seen by itself here), topped with a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite. Photos taken in full sunlight. 

There was some curling in the large pink hexes. Most of what you see on the nail is reflective curling, but there were a few pieces that stuck up a little bit. A thick coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite smoothed the whole thing over. No big, and totally worth it :)

This polish is best applied with the dabbing method. I painted on the first coat, and there was a bit of dragging, so I dabbed on the second coat, and it came out wonderfully. Due to the dragging, make sure your first coat is completely dry before adding another. I love how delicate this polish looks, but it would also look pretty Bad Ass over darker, vampier colors. This will DEFINITELY get a revisit, as I have my eye on layering it over Rimmel Deliciously Dark- a super dark, almost-black purple.

Glitz in a Bottle polishes can be found on Etsy. Full sized bottles run $7.50. I heartily recommend stopping by for a peek- her Halloween colors are amazing! I definitely have my eyes on Zombie Punch, Fang and Vampire Dust! Be sure to like on Facebook as well for TONS of swatches and color previews! All Glitz in a Bottle colors are made with 3 Free Suspension base.

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

An Underrated Beauty: King Arthur by A England

I'm sure you're all aware by now that grey is my absolute favorite polish color, so today I have a grey to show off that I feel is VERY overlooked and completely underrated.

   

A England's Mythicals collection is highly coveted, and contains some of the most gorgeous and widely blogged-about colors in existence: Lady of the Lake, Tristam, Perceval, et cetera. But King Arthur, sadly, doesn't get much love. It's not a vibrant color, and it doesn't have the holo sparkle of some of the others, but it truly is a gorgeous color nonetheless. And I've worn this, both alone and as undies, a good half dozen times in the few months that I've owned it.

Two coats of King Arthur topped with Out the Door. Photos taken in natural sunlight. The A England site describes this color as "tungsten, steel gray with subtle diamond shimmer." It is a lovely, charcoal color with a very subtle sparkle to it. 

I absolutely love how sophisticated this color it. It's dark without being vampy, shimmery without being blingy. 

What can I really say about A England, application wise? There were zero problems- perfect in two coats. Smooth, supple, thickish but not too thick. I seriously can't think of any bad things to say about this polish. 

A England polishes are available all over the place: the A England website (£9, free international shipping to most countries), Llarowe ($12), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore, S$16), 

Ninja Polish ($10.50) and Overall Beauty ($12). Be sure to like A England on Facebook for sale announcements,

blogger swatches (including TONS of the yet-to-be-released Gothic Beauties collection, which I want SO badly)

and other goodies! 

Support your indies, ladies!
Cheers,

-Liz-

An Appropriate Pairing: Delightful Mermaid by Lacey Lou's Stockpile

I love purples, and I don't tend to wear a lot of them, because if they become too blue-toned, I feel like my skin gets washed out. Rationalization aside, I LOVE purple.  

Meet Delightful Mermaid, but Lacey Lou's Stockpile. It is a sheer purple jelly base with such a huge array of glitters that my camera was freaking out a bit. I barely got any decent pictures of this lovely polish :( I used two coats of Delightful Mermaid in this mani, over A England's Lady of the Lake. Hence the appropriate pairing :) To be sure, mermaids are more commonly found in the sea, but I allowed myself a bit of artistic license.

This polish was a bit thick, but went on very easily. In the bottle you can see the array of shatter glitter that this polish is full of: it reminds me of all the beautiful flotsam and jetsam floating in the sea, collected by a mermaid with a hoarding disorder.

Lacey says that this polish was inspired by a solid perfume that she got from Unbound Eden Cosmetics on Etsy, also called Delightful Mermaid. (Unbound Eden has since moved to Storenvy.com)

This is the truest-to-color picture I captured (we all know how cameras hate purple). It is more violet than blue. And again with the lovely flakes of colored glitter! There are traditional hexes in here as well, but I think the irregular shapes are really what makes this polish, and what makes it fit its name! 

I'd like to layer this over a lighter polish next, to see the purple really stand on its own two . . . on its own merit!

Lacey Lou's Polishes can be purchased on Etsy. Full sized bottles run $9, and minis are $4.75. Be sure to Like on Facebook, and check out my reviews of Summer Nights and Sugared Cherries as well! I cannot say enough good things about this brand- have you tried it out yet? Which colors are you crushing on?

Cheers, dears!

-Liz-

*This product was provided to me for an honest review.

Fata Morgana: Featuring A England's Lady of the Lake

A few weeks ago, A England had an enormous sale on their Mythicals collection. It was the perfect opportunity to pick up my first ever A England polishes! I got King Arthur (of course) and Lady of the Lake.  Then I waited, not so patiently, for them to arrive. Of course, they shipped from England, and the turnaround time was only something like 10 days (which really is amazing), but it felt like forever! I wore Lady of the Lake immediately!

Two coats, Out the Door topper, full sunlight.

What can I say about this polish that hasn't already been said? A England is still an indie brand, but they're kind of THE indie brand- this polish has been reviewed a million times by people far better at this than I am! Will you settle for nail porn? I think you will :)

Again, in full sun. Such a gorgeous, dusty purple!

And here comes that beautiful holo shimmer!

And in the shade. It truly is an amazing feat when a holo polish looks just as lovely in the shade as it does in full sunlight. Lady of the Lake definitely does. In the shade it's a lovely, dark dusty violet with silver shimmer. Then you step into the sun and BAM! Holo.

I didn't get any good label shots of this- the metallic logo kept reflecting the green of my camera, and it looked very odd. But I'm sure everyone is familiar with the A England logo anyway! 

I kind of regret not snagging Perceval as well, but I was supposed to be on a no buy anyway :( Next time! Along with Dragon!

A England runs 9 pounds per polish, and worldwide shipping is available! Like them on Facebook as well: that's how I discovered the amazing sale!

ETA: On reading through this review, I don't feel like I really hyped up this polish enough. Both of the A Englands that I purchased are amazing: super smooth, fluid application. I probably could have gotten away with one coat of Lady of the Lake if I were a more careful painter. And it just shines! Absolutely a gorgeous polish, and I can't seem to find the words to describe it. Try it, and you'll know :)

Cheers, dears!

-Liz-