Top 10 Polishes of 2012

Just like last year, I decided to summarise 2012 with a rating of best nail polishes. And because I have so many to choose from, I decided to set the following to criteria: a polish must be acquired in 2012 and swatched/posted in 2012 too. That made my choice easier : ) Ok, to the rating starting from 10:

10: Pupa #715 (full post here)

9: Deborah Milano Pret A Porter #13 Love At First Sight (full post here)

8: W.I.C. by Herome Bogota (full post here)

7: China Glaze Frosty (full post here)

6: China Glazy Flying Gragon (full post here)

5: Deborah Milano #60 (full post here)

4: Manhattan 07S Green Chai (full post here)

3: OPI Sparkle-icious (full post here)

2: China Glaze 2NITE (full post here)

Aaand number 1 goes toooo... Dance Legend Thermo #170! (full post here)

What is YOUR polish of the year? : )

And some more generalisations:

My stash: around 260 polishes. I try to keep modesty and not to haul everything I see. Besides, I became really picky.

Discovery of the year: Miss Cop polishes. You will see more of them soon!

Top 3 nail treatments:

- Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover (blue) has put an end to my struggle for a nice pedicure; 

- Essie Protein Base Coat has put an end to my attempts to layer capricious and sheer polishes; 

- Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer has put an end to my searching for a cheap alternative of Seche Vite.

And finally: 

Sparkle-icious

Well.. it's such a pity than I only have ONE (and not the best one) photo of OPI Sparkle-icious, because this beauty deserves many more.. but I'm also glad that I randomly took this pic, because in the turmoil of the Xmas days I had zero time for proper swatching. Next year I'll reswatch it properly, I promise : )

At least this photo shows the real essence of the polish: OPI Sparkle-icious consists of blue, purple and gold glitter particles. The glitter is not so dense as in other Burlesque Collection glitters, so on average 3 coats are needed for full opacity. Sometimes two. Sometimes four : ) Removal process with blood and swords you can imagine yourselves... Otherwise it's a very cool festive glitter! It looked weird when I was wearing it in early autumn, but now in holiday time it suited just perfectly.

Christmas Nails

Since some years I celebrate Christmas twice per year - it was weird in the beginning, but then I realised that two times more wishes and Xmas dinners and pleasant moments is just better than one : ) So I'm publishing a Christmas post today too : ) 

For me the main Christmas colours are red, gold and a bit of green. A bit of green will follow later and today I'll stick to traditional red+gold. As a base I painted Milani Red Sparkle, a gorgeous red glitter. Very opaque - you can get away with 1 coat already (I applied 2 just for longevity). 

Milani Red Sparkle dries with satin-matte effect, which I rather like. I usually wear it for a day as it is, and then add a layer of top coat. Compare the finish below... 

                                without top coat..                                              and with top coat.

I assume you see the difference : ) Covered with a top coat, this polish transforms into a completely different story: the glitter particles look as if they are lit form within - very beautiful effect. 

And then I decided to turn red sparkles to wrapped gifts nails by stamping them with CG 2030 and plates m59 and BM-317. Not the best result ever, but looks ok from far away : )

And finally, to all those who celebrate it today:

Holo Glitter by Flormar

Another bling-blingy polish to show you : ) It might not be visible from the first sight, but it's a glitter, too. Nice wintery shiny glitter. Well, I warned you.. : )

Meet the surprising Flormar #392: silver holographic glitter. The formula is quite thick, but you still need 3 coats to hide the VNL. I used this polish twice, and look, the bottle is already half-empty.. : { The bright side is that you can wear it long without chipping. The dark side is the removal. 

The shade is very calm and decent in the day light... 

...but going crazy under the lamps!!

As much as I hate taking pictures in the artificial light, I couldn't stop shooting : ) And couldn't stop staring at my nails too..! Generally, I very much recommend having it. Just for some bling.

Craving For Alice

The glitterisation of my brain is in its prime phase, and the Christmas stuff and decorations all around are only reinforcing it : ) Today I'll shift a bit from traditional red-green-white Xmas scheme to the blue side of the colour range. I decided to do a glitter layering - gold over electric blue. I wanted to try this combination long ago, mostly because I'm still craving for OPI Absolutely Alice, which is unreal to find for reasonable money :{

As a base I was using Amour Blue Glitter, a lovely dense electric blue glitter, which I always dig out of my stash in winter time. I already showed it here, but I decided to do a bit of reswatching : ) Two coats and top coat on the photos below.

As much as I like this polish by itself, I layered it with one thin coat of Andreia #93 (you can see it alone here), and I was very satisfied with the combination : ) Blue glitter with the sparkles of gold, how cool is that..

Although it may not be a dupe of Absolutely Alice - Alice has a darker blue base, now that I did this layering  I want Alice much less. Why bother, if I can mix up or layer something similar.. But to mix up Mad As A Hatter (which I also crave) - now THAT is the challenge : )

Show It And Glow It!

How about A LOT of glitter? : ) Sorry glitter-haters (hm, are there any?), but Christmas time is glitter time for me, so be ready to see it in my following posts too. In this one I'm showing one of the prettiest glitter polishes of my stash - OPI Show It And Glow It! from Burlesque Collection. Generally, I find Burlesque glitters very cool, but unfortunately very hard to find, too : {

As I said, the polish is enchanting: it consists of a plenty glitter particles. Predominantly purple, a lot of silver too, but also gold, green and other colours. The glitter is dense, 2 coats is enough for opacity. Removal.. ugh, let's skip this part : )

Although the polish is very festive, I was wearing it in early autumn, that's why my hands are tanned and the swatches are sunny. Oh, about the sun - it shines and sparkles like crazy under the sun light!

And here are some close-ups so that you see the texture better: