My Top 10 Mainstream Brand Polishes of 2013!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great time ringing in 2014 last night. I know my Top 10 is a day late, but I just decided to do this yesterday. I normally don't do these Top whatever lists because I have a really hard time choosing my favorites. However, when I looked back through my posts this year, I did find some real stand outs. These are 10 polishes that I wore over and over again this year. Although there were many others that I fell in love with in 2013, these 10 are the ones that I actually wore more than once and will wear many more times in the future (and in one case, I even bought a back-up bottle!). These are my own personal favorites (no need to agree with me!) and I do realize that more than half of this list are texture polishes. I wore textures probably 60% of the time this year, so that is why there are so many textures on this list!

Zoya Carter was the first polish that popped into my head when I sat down to make this list. It still makes me drool looking at that picture! 

Immediately after I thought of Carter, Zoya Liberty popped into my mind! Still a STUNNING polish, with or without topcoat.

I'd be remiss if I didn't include OPI Alactraz Rocks! This was a go to for me, but also really popular even with texture haters!

I went through a phase this summer when OPI Can't Find My Czechbook was constantly either on my toes or my nails in some form. It is the epitome of cheery spring/summer blue.

OPI Jinx (shown here with top coat) was another favorite. I love being able to slap this on with no base or top coat and have a gorgeous mani in minutes. Lazy girl win!

Zoya Giovanna is my favorite green of the year. It's the most perfect emerald shimmer I've ever seen! It is definitely a stainer, so double/triple up on base coat, but man it is worth it!

 This is kind of unexpected, but OPI Honey Ryder was my most worn polish of 2013. Every single time I had someplace to go with almost no time to get ready, I slapped one coat of Honey Ryder on, sometimes even in the car (with someone else driving, of course)! I used this so often, I actually bought a back up bottle! I am a huge fan of gold, and this really is a great fast-drying gold.

Color Club Cosmic Fate might be my second most worn polish of 2013. Cosmic Fate is an incredible blush nude holo. It reminds me, I want to order a couple more Color Club holos! I don't know if this technically came out in 2013 or late 2012, but I wore the crap out of it in 2013.

Ahhhh, the lovely SinfulColors Leather Loose, matte chocolate brown goodness with golden flecks. I hunted for this polish in I believe 6 drugstores and it was so worth all the effort! I am really glad mattes are coming back, I have always loved them.

And finally, Nicole by OPI Cinna-man of My Dreams. I think this polish really convinced me that textures were awesome. It has so much dimension, and so many different colors within it. I could stare at it for hours!

I can't wait to see what 2014 brings. I hope it's an amazing nail polish year!

Lynnderella Spam!!

I have a ton of Lynnderellas I haven't posted, so I think I'm going to start posting a bunch at a time. I usually post a Lynnderella after wearing it as a full mani for a couple of days, but that is not fast enough anymore! I'm getting the new collection shortly, so I'm trying to post some of the lovelies in my untrieds drawer. There will be mostly pictures, not too much chatter, in these posts. Just let me know in the comments if you have a question! All descriptions are from Lynnderella's blog.

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

Color: two coats Zoya Pepper, two coats Lynnderella Chocolove Cherry

Top: one coat Gelous

Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)

Zoya Pepper was sent for review. Lynnderella Chocolove Cherry was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

From the Groundhog Day collection, January 2013. "Chocolove Cherry contains brown, red and opaque bubblegum pink glitter (stars, hearts, squares) in a clear base. Originally conceived as chocolate cherries, but by a happy accident, colour combination may sometimes resemble Bing cherries, too."

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

Color: two coats Illamasqua Load, two coats Lynnderella Egging On You

Top: one coat Gelous

Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)

Illamasqua Load and Lynnderella Egging On You were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Limited Edition polish, spring 2013.

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

Color: two coats Zoya Hunter, two coats Lynnderella Emerald Hope

Top: one coat Gelous

Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)

Zoya Hunter was sent for review. Lynnderella Emerald Hope was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

From the Talismans and Birthstones collection, June 2013. "Emerald Hope (May) is a green multiglitter in a clear base. Very complex."

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

Color: two coats Zoya Sailor, two coats Lynnderella Sapphire Starfire

Top: one coat Gelous

Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)

Zoya Sailor was sent for review. Lynnderella Sapphire Starfire was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Also from Talismans and Birthstones. "Sapphire Starfire (September) is a dense blue multiglitter in a strong blue-shimmered clear base."

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

Color: two coats Zoya Neve, two coats Lynnderella Tanzanite Truth

Top: one coat Gelous

Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)

Zoya Neve was sent for review. Lynnderella Tanzanite Truth was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Talismans and Birthstones. "Tanzanite Truth (December) has blue violet, purple and blue glitters in a multi-shimmered clear base."

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

Color: two coats OPI Solitaire, two coats Lynnderella Back In Watermelon Sugar

Top: one coat Gelous

Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)

OPI Solitaire was sent for review. Lynnderella Back In Watermelon Sugar was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Limited Edition polish, summer 2013.

Lynnderella polishes are available at lynnderella.com, Glitter Connect and Norway Nails.

Untried: China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots

Base: none
Color: three coats China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots
Top: none
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I never thought a holo polish would sit in my untrieds drawer for months, but I guess I thought wrong. China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots is a pretty blue-gray holo from the Hologlam collection. Strap On Your Moonboots is lovely and decently holo in sunshine. It's not too holo indoors, but that's the case with a lot of holos really. Most of the time, it looks like the first picture in this post.  Quite honestly though, the whole Hologlam collection was a bit of a letdown. It's not that they're bad, they just aren't the buckets of rainbows we all wanted.

I almost never wear base coat with holos, so I can't comment on how this would apply with base coat. It applied really well without one though. No bare patches or any difficulties at all. It was opaque in two coats, but I did a third just for the camera, since my camera likes to make things look sheer.

I only ended up getting two polishes from Hologlam, this and Infra-Red. While I'm not obsessed with them, I don't plan on getting rid of them either. All of the Hologlams are still available at nailsupplies.us.

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Let's Go Back to Spring with Lynnderella!

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats China Glaze 108 Degrees, two coats Lynnderella Candy Blossom
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
China Glaze 108 Degrees and Lynnderella Candy Blossom were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Let's take a quick break from summer heatwaves and fall collections, and go back in time to spring, when the flowers were newly blooming and the air was fresh and cool. I finally wore the remaining two polishes from the Lynnderella Everything's Coming Up Neon spring collection and they're gorgeous! According to Lynnderella, Lynnderella Candy Blossom has "pastel pink satin, neon pink and green, white as well as yellow glitters in a clear pink-shimmered base". You can see the base really has a ton of gorgeous shimmer! I love the addition of green and yellow glitters with the pink, it's so fresh and springy!

This is two dabbed coats of Candy Blossom over China Glaze 108 Degrees. It was very easy to dab on and had plenty of glitter. I did not have to do any fishing around for the glitter, it came out quite readily.

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats Zoya Neely, two coats Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty!
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
Zoya Neely was sent for review. Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty! was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I actually did this mani on Friday July 19 as my mint mani for Talia. Talia Joy Castellano was an amazing YouTube make-up guru who lost her battle with cancer at the young age of 13. She was an inspiration to everyone in the make-up community and beyond.

Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty! is a mix of "scattered assorted neon, pastel satin and matte glitters in a soft, translucent lavender-white base with subtle lilac shimmer". The sheer lavender-white base means that this polish really works best over a pastel or soft white base. I really really love the purple butterflies in this polish! I didn't realize they were in the polish, and it turned out to be so perfect for a mani memorializing an uplifting person like Talia!

This is two dabbed and pushed coats of Eggstra Pretty! over three coats of Zoya Neely. I had to spread the glitter around a bit and I felt like the application on this one wasn't as easy as some other Lynns. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't super easy. The butterflies did come out all by themselves though! No fishing for them!

Overall, the spring Lynnderella collection is one of my favorite collections of hers. I bought every single polish and really love them all. I am happy she used the neon glitters, they are so pretty for spring and summer. If you missed my swatches of the rest of the Everything's Coming Up Neon collection, check them out:
Sugar Bunny
Beleaf Is Magic
Bird Brain Blue
Her Name Is Petal
Tres Chic, Duckie Dear and Crocus Pocus

Lynnderella polishes are available at Lynnderella.com, Norway Nails, and Glitter Connect.

Zoya Neely was sent for review. China Glaze 108 Degrees, Lynnderella Candy Blossom and Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty! were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Lynnderella Crocus Pocus and Tres Chic, Duckie Dear

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats China Glaze In the Lime Light, two coats Lynnderella Crocus Pocus
Top: one coat Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Top Coat
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
China Glaze In the Lime Light and Lynnderella Crocus Pocus were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I hope all of my American readers had a fun and safe 4th of July! To be honest, I usually go away for a big dance competition around the 4th, so it felt weird to be home and I totally hated it. This is only the 2nd time in 16 years that I have missed this competition! Anyway, today I have swatches of two polishes from Lynnderella's Everything's Coming Up Neon spring collection, Crocus Pocus and Tres Chic, Duckie Dear! Lynnderella Crocus Pocus is a unique and gorgeous mix of purple glitters. It's definitely a must for purple lovers. Lynnderella always has the best descriptions of her polishes, so she says this is "periwinkle, lavender, white, neon purple and blue iridescent flecks in a strong lavender-blue-shimmered base. Note the wizardry of Spring with assorted moons and stars." Love the fact that there are moons and stars in this!!

I wanted to use a bright lime as a base because I love purple and lime together. It's such a summery combination! This is two coats of China Glaze In the Lime Light as a base and two coats of Crocus Pocus dabbed on top. Crocus Pocus is really easy to apply. It has a ton of glitter, so you don't have to struggle to get the glitter on your nail, but it's not thick either. I always dab my Lynnderellas on to make my application even easier.

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats Zoya Jacqueline, two coats Lynnderella Tres Chic, Duckie Dear
Top: one coat Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Top Coat
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
Zoya Jacqueline was sent for review. Lynnderella Tres Chic, Duckie Dear was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Lynnderella Tres Chic, Duckie Dear has such a great assortment of warm summery colors- yellow, orange and pink. I had been dying for a Lynnderella polish from the regular collection (not LE) with yellow glitter and she really answered my prayers with this one! It's amazing! It's hard to see in these pictures, but the base is filled with tons of stunning pink shimmer. I wanted a base color that would show off all of the different colors, so I chose Zoya Jacqueline, the perfect creamy off white.

This is two coats of Jacqueline topped with two coats of Tres Chic, Duckie Dear. Duckie Dear applied pretty well with the dabbing method, but not quite as effortlessly as Crocus Pocus. That big yellow flower took a little bit of arranging too!

So far I have loved every polish I've tried from the Neon collection. I think it was one of Lynn's best collections yet. I have to wear Candy Blossom and Eggstra Pretty! and then I'll be ready to move on to my new Talismans and Birthstones polishes that just arrived!

Lynnderella polishes are available on lynnderella.com.

Zoya Jacqueline was sent for review. China Glaze In the Lime Light, Lynnderella Tres Chic, Duckie Dear, and Crocus Pocus were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.