Top 12 of 2012 - my favourtie commercial polishes

Last post for the year everyone!  I have to say I'm very proud of myself.  I've done a huge 314 blog post this year, and for the last three months I've posted every single day.  I cracked 1.5 million page views and I collaborated with Picture Polish to create my very own shade.  Whoo hoo what a year!

What better way to finish the year that to share my top 12 commercial polishes from this year. Like I explained yesterday, a commercial polish for me is one that is made in a lab, rather than hand mixed.  I also have to say that I think I've been very self controlled with regards to big commercial brands.  

I didn't purchase a single whole collection from any of the big brands like OPI or China Glaze, rather I just bought one or two polishes that really stood out to me.  The growth in my collection was mostly indie polishes and just about all of commercial brands I purchased were smaller brands like aEngland, Layla and Pretty Serious.

Magnetic polishes were huge earlier this year.  I remember when I got my very first magnetic polish a couple of years ago and I was amazed.  Now they are so common that we are all a bit blasé about them.  

2012 was also the year of the holo!  So many brands did amazing holo polishes, Layla, HITS, Ludurana, Jade, Color Club, FNUG to mention just a few - now we are just waiting to get the new China Glaze holos in 2013.  I don't think I'll ever got blasé about holos.

The crackle finish died but the 'spotted' finish became quite a stir.  And of course I have to mention the Fantasy Fire craze sparked by it's Clarins 230esque red to green colour shift.  This same red to green colour shifting pigment was also widely used in many indie brands to create 230 dupes.  

We've also seen the commercial brands starting to notice of the indies and coming out with polishes that look much more like indies. eg Nails Inc with the sprinkles, Models Own with the Mirrorball and even China Glaze with some of the Cirque du Soleil polishes.

Nail polish really came a long way this year.  I can't wait to see what 2013 brings us (although I hope it's not more of those liquid sand polishes, they make me want to vomit).

Anyway, lets get on with it.  This first polish in my top 12 should be no surprise to anyone!

Picture Polish - Kryptonite (or as I like to call it 'my polish').  I'm not even going to say why this one is here!

Picture Polish - Cosmos.  Late this year Picture Polish created this new shade in the same formula as Kryptonite, but a rich dark blue.  Completely stunning and instantly into my top polishes.

Pretty Serious - Santas Sunburn.  I never really thought I would have a red polish in my top list, but this polish really amazed me.  It's basically a one coater and is the most stunning metallic red polish I own.  The funny thing is I wasn't even going to get this one, but because you get 10% off when you purchase a full collection, it means the last polish is only about $3, so at that price I thought I may as well.

Pretty Serious - BSOD.  There were so many amazing polishes from Pretty Serious this year.  Congrats Kaz you really did a spectacular job.  I nearly added Poltergeist Puddle to this list too! But I had already included three Pretty Serious shades.

Gold Glass Fleck - Pretty Serious Mummy Mush, Zoya Ziv and OPI Golden Eye.  Yep I'm completely cheating here and included three shades in one.  I just couldn't pick between these three polishes.  I created this gradient using all three polishes.  OPI Golden Eye at the top, Zoya Ziv in the middle and Pretty Serious Mummy Mush at the bottom.  It was absolutely stunning and combined all three of my favourite gold glass fleck polishes from this year (but it was a bitch to clean up cause those glass fleck stick everywhere)

Layla - Metal Chrome. The Layla Mirror Effect Polishes are hands down the smoothest and most reflective chrome polishes available.  This whole collection was gorgeous, although I would have liked to see a larger variety of colours (I wanted a gold chrome and green chrome too).  Yes, they do show every single imperfection on your nail, so you either need to buff your nails or wear a very high gloss base coat (I highly recommend soak off gels beneath these mirrors, they look amazing and last so much better.

OPI - Don't Pretzel my Buttons.  Can you believe this was the only OPI shade I purchased this year (although I was gifted the James Bond minis for my birthday).  This polish from the Germany collection has become my go to nude shade.  The formula is perfect and the colour great on me.

Nude holographic - I'm about to cheat on this one too.  I'm completely in love with neutral holographic polishes.  I couldn't split these three:

Color Club - Cherubic.

JOSS - Tanstasic Glow

Layla - Coral Glam

Jade -Fasicinio Violeta.  There were some amazing colours in these Jade holos, The red, the gold, the black - oh who am I kidding they were all awesome.  I ended up choosing the purple one to add to my top polishes this year.  This collection is a must have for any holo lover.

Layla - Flash Black. Are you sensing a theme here yet? The Layla holographic polihses hit the market with a huge flare with eight colours, but then, just a few months later they came out with eight more shades to make a full collection of 16 stunning linear holos.  I just love this charcoal holo.

Ulta3 - Over the rainbow.  Each year Ulta3 manages to bring out at least one polish that makes it into my top polishes.  Over the rainbow is such an awesome glitter with all the different colours and sizes, and it's still only $2.  Thats the best glitter bomb buy of the year.

Finally, for my last polish in the top 12 - I'm cheating for the third time.

China Glaze - Running in Circles. So I don't actually have this polish in my hands just yet, it's still in the post.  But I know it's going to be in my top 12 for this year.  And if I don't add it now then I can't include it next year because it was released in 2012.  I will add a swatch here as soon as it arrives.

I also have one last special mention - aEngland Dragon and the other polishes from the Legends collection.  Stunning polishes, but they were pipped at the post by the Layla Holos for me.

Well that's all for this year.  

Happy New Year to you all!

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Write by: Unknown - Monday, December 31, 2012