2013 Favorites! (Mainstream, Indies, and Nail Art)-HUGE Post Alert!

Hi everyone, welcome to a new week.  Thankfully I'm still off work until Thursday so I'm still lazing about the house.  Normally I would feel bad about this but they worked me so hard this year at work that I thought I deserved a nice long break :)  Since this is my first year blogging, I've recently seen so many end of the year favorites posts and I couldn't help but throw in my two cents haha! 

I ended up having so many favorites that I just decided to do my top 5 of everything all in one giant post.  I'll show you my favorite mainstreams, indies, and nail art of the year.  I'll keep the words short and get right down to business :)

Top 5 Mainstream Polishes

When I first starting blogging, mainstream polishes were the only polishes I knew that existed.  I owned a handful of OPI polishes, some drugstore polishes, but that's about it.  That has definitely changed over the course of this year!

Number 5-OPI Alcatraz Rocks

While I'm still on the fence with textures, this polish really stole my heart.  It was so hard to pick a favorite textured polish because I think Zoya rocked it this year (Destiny, Chita, Carter), but there was something about this sparkly blue that trumped them all.

Number 4-Zoya Blu

Zoya Blu was my very first Zoya polish and it introduced me to Zoya's fantastic formula.  I love a stunning cream polish and Zoya Blu is just that. 

 
Number 3-China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle

This polish, for me, was neon aqua perfection.  Every time I wore this color is just made me happy and I ended up staring at my nails. 

Number 2-Julep Cleopatra

This polish was the dark horse for me.  Julep has had its ups and downs for me since I started my subscription at the beginning of the year.  I ended up skipping a bunch of months but this polish just killed it for me.  I had never seen a polish with a rubber finish and with this being black, I'm gonna be honest and say that I just feel like a badass when I wear it ;)

Number 1-OPI My Vampire is Buff

Never would I have thought a plain cream nude polish could end up being my absolute favorite polish of the year.  I have loved this polish since first brush stroke and have worn it so many times this year.  It's the perfect light base color, is great in nail art, and just has such a perfect tone to it.  It makes no sense and yet I find myself slightly panicked because I don't have a back-up bottle (...or two).

Top 5 Indie Polishes

At the beginning of the year, I had no idea what an indie was or that people made and sold their own polishes.  I have been very fortunate and have had the pleasure of reviewing some fantastic Indie brands.  To sum it up for me, Indies are cool, funky, and unique and they definitely deserve their time in the spotlight.

Number 5-Shimmer Polish Jasmine

Shimmer Polish was one of the first Indies I bought on my own and I have never been disappointed.  The glitter combinations are spot on and the formulas are always perfection.

 
Number 4-Paint Shop Polish Cupid

I just reviewed this polish and it stole the show.  It is like liquid Opal in the bottle and it's just so pretty.  I've never seen anything even close to it.  I can't wait to wear it as a full mani and just stare at it.  I think it would look cool over pretty much anything.

Number 3-Candy Lacquer Licorice Allsorts

I have a weird love of desserts, let's just start with that.  I can't eat them with my food allergies anymore, but it doesn't stop me from still loving home decorations, etc.  My Christmas tree and holiday decorations were cupcake themed this year.  Yes, I had enough cupcake ornaments to fill an entire full-sized tree.  This is where my obsession with Candy Lacquer comes in.  I just have this thing where I love and want to buy every Candy Lacquer I see (good thing I have some sort of willpower)!  Licorice Allsorts is just a perfect representation in a bottle and this was the first and so far, the only Indie that I stalked waiting for a restock :)

Number 2-Northern Star Phantasmagoric

This polish....just look at how pretty it is.  

Number 1-Daphine Polish Rosina Violet

This was another recent Indie brand that I reviewed for and I was blown away by all three polishes that I swatched.  This polish really stood out though.  I think this polish could pretty much look good over any dark polish, pink, purple, nude polish....you get the picture.  I've only tried it over dark blue, but this was my result...

Top 5 Nail Art Looks  

Last up are my favorite nail art looks of the year.  I feel a little weird posting these because it feels a little narcissistic, but I'll admit that I'm proud of how far I've come.  Below is one of my worst nail art....and this was only back in May!  I think I've come a long way.

Horrible Sunflowers from May-

I still got lovely comments on these nails.  I was a beginner, I used a bobby pin because it was the only "tool" I had, and the support that came from the nail community was amazing.  We all have to start somewhere.

Now for my 5 favorite designs.  I won't really say anything about these, I'll just link the post in case you want more info.

Number 5-Cookie Monster Mani

These nails were simple but I loved them.  I was so proud I did both hands until I went to leave for work one morning and realized it was my yearly evaluation at work.  I didn't figure they were appropriate so I had to remove them :(

Number 4-Mint and Coral Floral

Number 3-Shark Week Nails

Number 2-Abstract Mani 

Number 1-Passionfruit Ruffian

Well, there you have it.  If you made it through the entire post, congratulations, that was a long one!  I feel very blessed to have discovered blogging this year and it has gotten me through a tough year.  I have experienced nothing but kindness from the people I've met and I can't express how grateful I am for that.  Thank you for a great year and I look forward to seeing what 2014 has to offer!