Polished Marvels Review of 2013 Part III: favorite nail polishes

This was at the same time my favorite and the hardest review to compose. Part I favorite brands can be viewed here and Part II covering my favorite Indie Brands here. How could I possibly limit the polishes to a number that simply didn't hold the majority of them? This year I jumbled them all together, no sorting color or brand wise, some brands appear more than once, some colors give repeated appearance. What they have in common on top of it? They stayed at the front of my nail polish memory to the day.

I start with what I would call my probably favorite polish of the year - the honor goes to Colors by Llarowe All Bidness. Its incredible complexity got me staring at my nails day in and out (grateful I never hit any lamp post or running into people while having this on my nails). I never got tired turning and twisting my hands to detect yet another color or shine:

Colors by Llarowe All Bidness original post

As striking and mesmerizing to my eyes is Elevation Polish Pic de Sotllo - a simple straight forward cream, what a contradiction to the above but this blue? It must come from out of this world…….

Elevation Polish Pic de Sotllo original post

Vampy is definitely my most worn look on my nails and Elevation Polish Toubkal is to me an epitome of vampy and subtly sparkly (and one of the very few polishes I own a back-up bottle of):

Elevation Polish Toubkal original post

and yet another Elevation Polish - Jengish Chokusu was in my eyes the most beautiful soft turquoise of 2013

Elevation Polish Jengish Chokusu original post

Now let's stay on turquoise territory for a while - I was into ALL sort of turquoise this spring and summer and one of the most captivating, saturated and vibrant turquoise I came across was Bondi Teal  Magnolia

Bondi Teal Magnolia original post

… and turquoise in glitter…. Emily de Molly's Monet's Garden original post

The most delicate neutral polish I added to my collection this year was Picture Polish Majesty, another Collaboration Shade, this gem was created by Sahrish Adeel

Picture Polish Majesty original post

I have swooned over Crows Toes already in my yesterday's post so here are two more stunners released this year - the first one is One Trick Pony, a purple charcoal holo

Crows Toes One Trick Pony original post

And of course, naturellement, naturalmente, natürlich Indian Summer, the most awesome duo chrome out there original post

Textured polishes hit big this year, I remember the mixed feelings of the first reviews. To be honest I was swept from my feet by my first textured polish and eagerly ventured into gritty territory exploring all available brands - that was until I received some Isadora Sugar Crush polishes. To the day, they are my favorites

Isadora Sugar Crush Pool original post

If push comes to shove holo polishes are my favorites this year. Most of my purchases were probably holos (now guess how many untrieds/unshown there still are in my drawers). Girly Bits Bachelor Button remains one of my favorites: vivid yet delicate, the holo visible yet a pigmented base - in short this polish looks beautiful in any lighting

Girly Bits Bachelor's Button original post

Last year I still was all over glitter (any form except bar glitters which continue to remind me of paper snippets) this year only few really got me drooling but the most outstanding, spectacular one clearly is Fish by Nail Junkie Polish.

Nail Junkie Polish Fish original post

You didn't expect to see no further holo polishes in my review of 2013 I hope! Pahlish Olea Eurpaea is such a complex and multi faceted polish that has another finish or look depending on the light, you never get tired to ogle your nails - I promise ;-)

I finish with a BANG! A England Excalibur reborn had me close to fainting the second I applied the first brush stroke of the first coat. Original post

Formula wise all of the above were wonderful to apply, while this sounds like a über-boring advert in the case of this review it is certainly true (as all the adverts state too) since not necessarily visible, the formula plays a major role in my rankings. Polishes that are tricky and challenging to apply are hardly ever in for another round on my nails. And however nice the end result might look, I would never consider them in a list of favorites.

And while all of the above have the one or the other "special effect" I do need a classic red once in a while - here are my two most used reds of 2013, both by La Couleur Couture

LaCC 1945 original post

LaCC 1940 original post

Of course I am more than eager to learn from you if any of the above grace your collection and what your personal favorites were in 2013!

Thanks for stopping by - have a wonderful day!!!
Christine