Top 10 Nail Polishes

I was looking through my hot mess of a nail polish drawer this morning, and had an idea to do a post on my favourite ten polishes. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of glitter featured. Glitter just holds my attention. There's more detail, more interest, more festivity in a glitter polish. But a good creme can't be overlooked (mainly pastel in persuasion, and from the green, blue or purple family), as well as intensely vibrant golds and reds.

l-r: Essie Absolutely Shore, Revlon Whimsical, Revlon Popular, Essie A Cut Above

l-r: China Glaze Snow Globe, Sportsgirl Storm, OPI Teenage Dream, OPI GoldenEye,
OPI The One That Got Away, Revlon Scandalous

l-r: Essie Absolutely Shore, Sportsgirl Storm

Essie Absolutely Shore 
The perfect pale seafoam green, which is one of my favourite colours. What I love about this polish is that the colour on your nails is exactly how it appears in the bottle.  That's always been a pet peeve of mine when it comes to pastel polishes, as I find they often apply darker and flatter on the nails. Even though I need 3 coats for completely streak-free application, the formula itself is very smooth and easy to work with.

Sportsgirl Storm
I'd go so far as to say this is my favourite polish, ever. It was discontinued ages ago and I barely can use it now because I've already gone through 50% of the bottle and it's seriously gloopy, but something about the colour is just so perfect to me. There are probably similar shades out there (Essie Cocktail Bling, maybe), but nothing will match the exact lightness/darkness and mix of grey and purple of Storm. It's simply foolproof.

l-r: OPI GoldenEye, OPI The One That Got Away, Essie Absolutely Shore, Sportsgirl Storm

OPI GoldenEye
Already raved about here, but there's been no loss of enthusiasm. All other gold polishes can just go home, because GoldenEye can't be trumped.

OPI The One That Got Away
I really fell in love with this polish the last time I decided to wear it. There's a beautiful brilliance and depth to this slightly vampy raspberry with a glass fleck finish. Has to be seen in real life to be fully appreciated.

l-r: China Glaze Snow Globe over Sportsgirl Storm, Revlon Whimsical over Essie Absolutely Shore

China Glaze Snow Globe 
So, so pretty. My glitter dreams in a bottle. The iridescence of the different glitter particles is incredible (see more here and here). It's basically crushed opals on the nail, and I absolutely love the colours that it reflects.

Revlon Whimsical
I was ecstatic when I finally tracked this down in the US. It still hasn't made its way to Australia, and I'm not exactly holding my breath. I'm now berating myself for not buying a backup bottle when I had the chance. The composition is simple enough, with a sheer greenish blue base and pink and blue hexagonal glitter with smaller bits and blobs. But it's just so childlike and delicate. When this runs out, I may have to fork out for the Deborah Lippmann option because I can't be without it.

Essie A Cut Above over OPI Teenage Dream

OPI Teenage Dream
One day I will probably grow out of liking pink and sparkly things. In the meantime, I'll continue to exalt Teenage Dream. The circular holographic glitter in this is everything.

Essie A Cut Above
See above. I love the generosity of glitter and how relatively easy it is to spread uniformly around the nail. I usually wear A Cut Above on its own, though it's perfect for layering and gradient effects.

l-r (pinky and ring finger): Revlon Scandalous, Revlon Popular

Revlon Scandalous
To be honest, I haven't worn this polish in a while, but I remember the first time I painted this on my nails and how it exceeded all my expectations. The base colour is opaque in 2 coats and the glitter is plentiful. The blackish purple and magenta glitter combination is darkly alluring for autumn and winter.

Revlon Popular
An ethereal and super girly polish. Very pale pink base with packed silver microglitter and silver hexagonal glitter that appears almost white when layered. Another polish ideal for layering, though the base isn't as sheer as Revlon Whimsical. Because of the lack of contrast between the pink and the silver glitter, and the overall lightness of Popular, there's an understated quality to it that's in direct contrast to the exuberant bling of OPI Teenage Dream and Essie A Cut Above.