My Favourite Nail Polishes

 I have tried and accumulated many different polishes in a variety of colours and finishes. For a while I have been thinking about writing a post about my favourite ones, but it was so difficult to choose. After giving it more thought I have settled on a Top 10 and 13 honorable mentions. And yes, the backdrop is my sketch book and I did draw those varnish bottles myself.

This is my nail polish and stamping plate collection. I tried to count today and I don't know how accurate this is but I think I have 258 nail polishes in total. This includes top coats, base coats, glitters, nail-art paints, stamping polish, cremes, foils, shimmers, colours I have not yet used and older polishes that are only really good for sponging on to create a gradient. I don't have any polishes that cost over $20 and the majority of these are between $2 and $5 in price or come from a gift set. I know this is probably a ridiculous amount of polish, but I'm still probably going to pick up a few more next time one of my favourite brands goes on sale...

My Top Ten:

I have decided to split the top ten into 5 polishes per photo and to include either 2 or 3 links to examples of me wearing each polish. In some cases there are polishes that I have worn a whole bunch of times and sharing every link to a picture of me wearing it would be kind of ridiculous. These polishes are ones that I constantly reach for and will probably repurchase when these ones run out (if you can still buy them then).

1. 'LOLLYPOP LILAC' -ULTA3

How cute is this polish?! It's a light purply-pink foil polish that I bought for $2 at my local chemist. Best bargain ever. I've had it for a couple of years and it hasn't evaporated yet. I've worn it alone, I've stamped over it and I've used it as an accent nail colour. If you see this at your local chemist and you've got a $2 coin floating around in your purse, I highly recommend giving it a go. 

Manicures featuring 'Lollypop Pink':

~Breakfast at Tiffany's nails

~Prada SS2012 Inspired

2. 'WHIRLWIND WHITE' -SALLY HANSEN INSTA-DRI
I  use this polish as a white stamping polish. It's not meant for stamping and therefore it's probably not as intense as an actual stamping polish, but it's pretty good for the price. It's really actually kind of a boring polish, but I do use it a lot, so I guess it really is a favourite.
Manicures featuring 'Whirlwind White':
~Blue nails with white lace pattern
~Glittery Christmas Nails

3. 'LIQUID LEATHER' -CHINA GLAZE
I have been using this polish as a black stamping polish since I started nail stamping. It works really well and it hasn't gone too gluggy on me which is surprising considering how much I use it and how long I've had it for. I would be lost without this nail polish and I'd suggest it as a cheaper alternative to proper stamping polish.
Manicures featuring 'Liquid Leather':
~Gradient Dandelion and Butterfly nails
~Roman Holiday Nails
~1950's Rock 'n' Roll Nails

4. 'JUNGLE GOLD' -MOYOU STAMPING POLISH
I was so happy when Moyou finally came out with some metallic stamping polishes. I've always wanted an intense gold stamping polish, but I could never find anything for a decent price (including shipping to Aus). 'Jungle gold' is everything I hoped it would be which probably explains why I have worn it three times already. It has a slight green duo-chrome effect to it, but it's only real subtle.
Manicures featuring 'Jungle Gold':
~Dark green butterfly nails
~Cinderella nails

5. 'THE NEXT CEO'- NICOLE BY O.P.I
This is the perfect gold colour. It's not too yellow or orange like some gold polishes are. It's a foil polish that really stands out. It looks so great that I use it every chance I get. I have used this one as an accent nail quite a few times. I usually end up putting glitter on top of it because it looks great with glitter...
Manicures featuring 'The Next CEO':
~ Blue and Gold Beach Nails
~Brown Tribal Print with Gold Accent

6. 'PINK QUARTZ' -REVLON CHROMA CHAMELEON
This is another gold polish. It's a duo-chrome polish that has a bit of a pink flash to it. It makes me think of rose gold. I have worn this alone and also worn it over other colours. I don't know if you can still buy it anymore, but the shop I got it from doesn't sell it anymore.
Manicures featuring 'Pink Quartz':
~Frosty Gold Christmas Nails
~Duochrome Bird print nails

7. 'SPACE QUEEN' -ESSENCE COLOUR &GO
This is a sheer top coat with a very fine glitter that shows up as all different colours. This glitter is so fine that I have worn it over stamped designs without covering the design too much.
Manicures featuring 'Space Queen':
~Green Dragonfly nails
~Valentines Nails

8. 'SOUL MATE' -SINFUL COLORS
This is a really nice coral/pink colour. Sinful Colors has a few nice pink shades in their collection that are really wearable and this one is my favourite of those. It applies really smooth and is a flattering colour.
Manicures featuring 'Soul Mate':
~Valentines Nails
~Glittery Christmas Nails

9. 'FOR AUDREY' - CHINA GLAZE
This is the perfect aqua/mint Tiffany Blue kind of colour. It looks a little separated in the bottle, but if I shake it up, it's good as new. It lasts pretty well and goes on nice and smooth.
Manicures featuring 'For Audrey':
~Flapper nails
~Flower and Star pattern nails

10. 'CINDERELLA' -SINFUL COLORS
This light blue polish with faint pink shimmers/glitter in it is stunning. I haven't worn it as much as I would like, but I do really love this polish.
Manicures featuring 'Cinderella':
~Blue and Gold Beach Nails
~Underwater theme nails

Honorable Mentions:
Obviously I couldn't just mention a top ten. I have a lot of nail polish and there are a few more good ones I would like to include in the list. These aren't my absolute favourites, but they are still pretty darn good. I have decided to only include one example of what each colour looks like on my nails.

SALLY HANSEN INSTA-DRI:

I have a whole rainbow of the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes, but these three are really useful shades. I use these polishes for stamping only.

1. 'BLAZING BLUE' 

This shade falls somewhere between Cobalt and Navy. It's great for Nautical Designs. 

Manicures featuring 'Blazing Blue':

~Blue and Gold Beach Nails

2. 'COCO AGO-GO'

This is a shimmery coffee/chocolate brown colour. 

Manicures featuring 'Coco Ago-go'

~Frosty Christmas Nails

3. 'SPEEDY SUNBURST'

This is a bright warm-toned pink. It's really cute and girly.

Manicures featuring 'Speedy Sunburst':

~ 'Fangirl' inspired Nails

FOIL NAIL POLISH OBSESSION:

Foil nail polishes are my favourite. They really stand out the way that a glitter polish does, but they are not horrible to remove. I am trying to get a lot of different colours, but this is what I've got so far. (apart from the two in my top ten)

4. 'YOUR MAJESTY' -RIMMEL LONDON LASTING FINISH

I have had this polish for ages. I originally purchased it for a dance concert. Our contemporary class decided to wear silver toe nail polish and this was all I could find to buy. At the time I didn't know this type of polish was "foil". This polish has not yet evaporated which is pretty awesome considering how old the polish is.

Manicures featuring 'Your Majesty':

~'National Anthem' inspired Nails 

5. 'SUPERNOVA' -SINFUL COLORS

This is a really nice bronze/pewter looking colour. This is a very recent purchase, however, because I like foil polishes so much I had to include it in this list.

Manicures featuring 'Supernova':

~Ballerina Nails

6. 'RICH IN SPIRIT' -NICOLE BY O.P.I

This looks like a very pale green/blue in the bottle, but it's almost silver on the nails. It's a very intense stormy coloured foil polish.

Manicures featuring 'Rich in Spirit':

~ Stormy Nails

7. 'YOU BLUE ME AWAY' -FACE OF AUSTRALIA (BARBADOS RANGE)

This is a really pretty mid tone blue colour. I have worn this a few times alone, but it also looks really nice with black stamped over the top.

Manicures featuring 'You Blue Me Away':

~'National Anthem' Inspired Nails

GLITTER TOPPERS:
Glitter toppers are really great for accent nails. I have a fair few toppers in my collection, but these are two of the best ones I own.

8. 'PAPARAZZI' - MUD
This polish was a $2  Woolworths purchase. It's a really pretty gold glitter that really adds some "Wow" to an accent nail. I have a lot of MUD glitters, but I think the Gold one is Extra-special. I like how affordable this polish is for the effect it has.
Manicures featuring 'Paparazzi':
~Blue and Gold Beach Nails

9. 'ARIEL'S TALE' -PICTURE POLISH
I really like the colour of this glitter polish and that when you apply it heaps of sparkles come out at once (compared to those glitters that you have to apply in layers to get the required look).
Manicures featuring 'Ariel's Tale':
~Diana Camera inspired Nails

SPARKLY NAIL POLISH:
I have quite a few opaque nail polishes with glitter in them. I really like applying these as accent nail colours.

10. 'MAJESTY' -PICTURE POLISH
This isn't quite a "foil" polish (the glitter isn't that fine) and it isn't quite holographic. It's a gold colour with a bit of light green shimmer to it.
Manicures featuring 'Majesty':
~ Random Nail design

11. 'KNITTED GOLD' - MAYBELLINE NEW YORK SHOW (BROCADE RANGE)
This is a really pretty gold sequin polish with a few light pink glitters in it.
Manicures featuring 'Knitted Gold':
~ Girly Nail Design

12. 'HERE'S MY NUMBER' -ESSENCE COLOUR &GO
This is a really pretty silver and black glitter polish.
Manicures featuring 'Here's My Number':
~Diana Camera inspired Nails

AVON NAILWEAR PRO:

13. 'REAL RED'
I really like how bright this colour is. It doesn't apply the neatest, but it's worth the extra effort.
Manicures featuring 'Real Red':
~Betty Boop Nails

I hope you all enjoyed my 'My Favourite Nail Polishes' post. If you are ever looking for a new polish to try these are some inexpensive options. Please note some of the "examples" are repeated for different polishes. What are some of your favourite nail polishes?

Your Favourite Blogger,

Natalie