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Top 10 of 2012: Best Nail Lacquers
Top 10 of 2012: Best Nail Lacquers
I really don’t know how I managed to keep this list to ten, because I feel like I fall in love with a new polish every week. There were SO many more amazing polishes that aren’t on this list, though. I tried to go across brands and put together a list of ones that really struck me or were more original.
- Hare Holiday Hoopla — glittery gold and red
- NARS Night Porter — deep forest green
- Chanel Malice — rich, decadent red
- Lacquistry Wattle Over With That Stuffing — green, gold, copper
- Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light — flakies in a purple jelly
- Cult Nails Princess — Cinderella blue
- Zoya Song — intense blue
- KB Shimmer Candy Cane Crush — peppermint for your nails
- Illamasqua Creator — silver over black
- Lynnderella Undead Red — red, purple, blue
No Aqua Lily? So popular it came out twice this year! Also RBL Jack. Butter London Shag and Two Fingered Salute are another two I love from this year. Might be wearing the last as my wedding nails.
My faves of 2012 were:
1. OPI Goldeneye (I’ve never received more compliments on any other color so it gets the top spot on my list)
2. Zoya Dual (Crazy in love with this color and its dupes ever since I first saw it)
3. OPI I Don’t Give a Rotterdam!
4. Zoya Storm
6. Zoya Logan
7. Essie Butler Please
8. China Glaze Immortal
9. China Glaze Riveting
10. Essie Navigate Her
Forgot a number 5. Well I’ll give that one to OPI The Spy Who Loved Me. 🙂
You didn’t mention DL Mermaid’s Dream ? Ray of Light is pretty but I love Mermaid’s Dream, couldn’t find any dupe I guess it’s dupable but it’s an extraordinary colour I think. I also have Chanel Malice, so beautiful and so difficult to apply ( so dark in fact ). Zoya Song looks fantastic !
I still haven’t grabbed mermaid’s dream. The texture looks super gritty and I can’t get past that.
Urban Outfitters Sea Dust is a dupe of DL Mermaid’s Dream.
Enchanted Polish Hey Jude is magnificent.
As for color, and the fact they did just come out this year, I have to go with Sally Hanse CSM in Loves Me Not (which I just put on last night, and I’ve had good experiences with the brand/formula in the past) & China Glaze Jungle Queen (but I’ve never tried the brand before, so I’m not sure about the formula). Also, Revlon Naughty is absolutely stunning, and although I just picked it up this week, I’ve never had major issues with Revlon polishes in the past, so I have high hopes for this one.
L’Oreal V.I.P. Status & Stroke of Midnight were very impressive, as well. I’ve shied away from L’Oreal polish over the last several years, as I found them to be not so impressive with wear time, and not worth the price. I picked up these two, along with a few others, and while I’ve experienced a bit of tip wear, I’ve had no chipping or flaking.
I have to say, though, over the last month, or so, I’ve been wearing Sinful Colors in various shades, and the wear time has been quite impressive, overall. These seriously wear like iron for me.
I feel like this is such a perfect compilation/display of all the new, unique, innovative nail colors and polish-types that have been coming out over the last year. I forgot how beautiful the Illamasqua color is… just stunning
I really tried to go for colors that just GRABBED me when I saw them… shades I was like, “OMG CAN’T WAIT TO SHARE!” because there were also some lovely shades that were less original but still amazing.
Nice choice of top ten! I have no idea how many of these were made this year, but these were my top ten most worn in 2012!
1. Essie “Orange, It’s Obvious” – Easy to apply, creamy, glossy.
2.) Deborah Lippmann – “Mermaid’s Dream” – extremely unique
3.) OPI “The Spy Who Loved Me” – glossy, lit from within glow.
4.) gLORIous 22 K Gold Leaf Topcoat – Fantastic and HALF THE PRICE of OPI Man w/ the Golden Gun
5.)Essie “Camera” – high shine jelly finish, awesome for the beach!
6.) China Glaze “It’s a Tra-peze” – Unique glitter combo
7.) Essie “Topless & Barefoot” – Awesome nude with glossy finish.
8.) Deborah Lippmann “Private Dancer” – Love the duochrome!
9.) Deborah Lippmann “Hit Me With Your Best Shot!” – Gorgeous layered over navy blue.
10.) OPI “Crown Me Already!” All glitter, crazy chunky, diamonds on my nails glitter. Sooo pretty.
My worst nail brand of the year is RBL, I have too many application issues with them (too sheer, sent a wonky brush, etc.), although the colors are nice.
I think my best of the year is Essie, merely because I feel like they made collections this year that really appealed to me, along with great application w/ the colors I purchased. My only disappointment is they sold their company to L’Oreal (I know that happened in 2010 but still, I refuse to buy the crappy polishes at the drugstore with the sticker on the top of the bottle.) :p
I’m so surprised to hear that RBL is worst for you!
Will have to check out gLORIous – never heard of it before!
I love RBL polishes for their complexity/finish but they chip in a day on me with RBL’s expensive top and base coat and I can stretch them to 2 days with Zoya top and base coat. The wear just isn’t long enough for the price. Especially when I’m busy and would like my polish to last a 4-5 days without having to reapply.
Oh no – if it’s chipping on you that fast, definitely not worth it!!
All Hail the Queen by Butter London is my favorite purchase this year. I also love I brake for manicures by OPI and Chestnut by MAC. Not sure if they are new colors, but those are three of the many shades I purchased for the first time this year that I really loved.
I bought SO many Butter London polishes this year. I think Black Knight and Big Smoke were my favorites…
My top nail pick (out of ones I tried / bought this year) would be L’Oreal’s The Bigger the Better. It’s not a look for everyone, but I think the effect is cool and very unique and I’m glad I got it for Christmas 🙂
Two of my absolute favorites (and most-used) nail polishes in 2012 are Dior Saint-Tropez and a england Beauty Never Fails!
Woah, I didn’t know they made a Night Porter nailpolish. Night Porter is one of the most underrated eyeshadow shades from NARS.
It really is; it’s also the best performing of the Night Series shadows. From what I’ve read, the nail polish became very hard to find almost as soon as it was released!
That Lynnderella polish is amazing. Somehow I hadn’t seen it before. The polishes I wore the most this year were Illamasqua Phallic and Cult Nails Mind Control. Thinking back, I think I also went through a couple months earlier in the year when I was mostly wearing MAC Chen Man Breezy Blue.
I picked out one and it was Chanel Malice, so fun that it was one of yours too! 🙂
It is lovely! Hadn’t given it much of a look before but I might have to.
I wish you would have done more Indie brands. There are a lot better ones out there than the ones you have featured.
I do love the NARS and Zoya choices for top ten 🙂
These are my favorites – and it’s okay if mine aren’t yours and vice versa 🙂
I knew you’d have Creator in here! Such a great polish. I’m glad there’s so much glitter in this post 😀
Zoya Blaze was my fave this year, though I am drooling over the Chanel Malice. Ooooh – it is so gorgeous!
I have been lemming Creator for SO long, but I recently acquired NCLA’s Hollywood & Vine Starlet and just used it for the first time today–LOVE IT! It’s a good enough dupe and now I don’t need Creator anymore 😀
Cult Nails Princess looks EXACTLY like Sinful Color’s Cinderella. The same shimmer flecks too.
Chanel Malice, I need it!!
a-England ‘She Walks in Beauty’ was my top polish. Also really loved their ‘St George’ and Deborah Lippmann ‘Mermaid’s Dream’. My fave collection was China Glaze ‘Prismatics’ and my fave colour was Sation ‘Love at First Lavender’. Overall brand was Barry M.
Lynnderella- Shape Shifter
CND Shellac- Midnight Swim (deep dark blue with shimmer)
Claire’s Night Sky- Unexpected superstar- silver/blue scattered holo (crazy great- 5 days so far no chips- put UV top coat on top- TONS of compliments)
I think for the price, Zoya is my favorite. The intensity code on their website make it easier to find the sheer or intense scale you are looking for. They have an amazing abundance of shades, and the shades and formulas are innovative as well. I don’t have as much luck with OPI and China Glaze-they seem to chip quickly on me-I am a little rough with my hands :0. I like NARS polishes too!