Battle of Nail Polish 2012: Top Three!

So we've had all of the battles and now it is time to whittle the best of each round down to the top three nail polishes of 2012!

3) Eyeko - Vampira ~ This is another blackened polish, this time it is a deep dark red glitter. It is quite delicate which is odd coming from such a dark polish. Unfortunately since Eyeko's revamp they have stopped doing nail polish, although I think China Glaze does a similar polish, that is called Lubu Heels.

2) A England - Lady of the Lake ~ Quite surprised that this was the only holographic polish making it in to the top three polishes. This is a dusky purple polish with a really beautiful holograph running through it. Admittedly living in the north of England limits the amount of day light I have and that means less sunlight which makes the polish 70% as amazing as it always is in direct sunlight.



1) Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia  ~ I adore this polish, wore it for my wedding and it is after all a blackened purple. Lot's of depth to the polish, chunky hex shaped glitter too. What more could I want from a polish.

  

Nail Polish: Battle of the Alternative Glitters

This category is mainly Indie Polishes with a couple of other glitters thrown in for good measure.

 Coverband - Sticks and Stones, W7 - Salt n' Pepper, W7 - Mosaic, A England - Lady of the Lake, A England - Tristam, A England - St George, A England - Bridal Veil, Hare - Midsummer's Midnight, Kleancolor - Blue Satin, Orly - Sunglasses at Night

Getting these polishes down to only three was quite difficult. In the end I settled on Coverbands Sticks and Stones as it is different and works over any base colour. I adore Midsummer's Midnight but only really works over a darker base.

 

The winner of this battle is A England's Lady of the Lake, because well it is purple and looks stunning in all of its holographic glory twinkling in the sunlight.

Nail Polish: Battle of the Beiges

This is a battle of the beige polishes;

 

Leighton Denny - Leading Lady, ELF - Innocent, ELF - N*de, ELF - Pink, Leighton Denny - Take a Bow, ELF - Blush, ELF - Copper, ELF - Smokey Brown, George - Molton Metal, Ebalay - Rose Gold, ELF - Chocolate

Not my favourite battle but I do use a lot of them for nail art bases.

The winner is ELF's Smokey Brown, I have used up two of these and have this one plus a back up. It just works really well with my skin tone as a base for something more snazzy. Something I cannot be without.

Nail Polish: Battle of the Chunky Glitter

Another glitter round, this time it is the special hex glitter.

Barry M - Holograms, Barry M - Jewel Britania, Claire's - Slice of Shine, Kleancolor - Silver Star, Kleancolor - Blind Date, Need Me - 52, Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Black, Kleancolor - Afternoon Picnic, NYX - Dorothy, Essence - Blue Addicted, Kleancolor - Blue Eyed Girl, Revlon - Facets of Fuschia

This type of glitter is my favourite, which made this round particularly difficult to whittle down. Making it though is Barry M's Hex as it is so simple and versatile, Essence is really good too it is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe which is amazing.

Once I had chosen the top three it was quite easy to pick the winner... Revlon because it is what I wore for my wedding and it is purple. It is also a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance. Facets of Fuschia also is now a permanent polish in the Revlon line, renamed Scandalous.

Nail Polish: Battle of the Polishes - Glitters

Just a quick battle tonight, we have standard glitters and a out right winner

 ELF - Glitter Glam, ELF - Golden Goddess, Models Own - Magenta, W7 - Red Dazzle, W7 - Green Dazzle, W7 - Blue Dazzle, Models Own - Purple Haze, Saffron - 9 

The winner is Models Own - Purple Haze, purely because it is purple!

Nail Polish: Battle of the Duochrome

Lots of W7 making this round along with Fantasy Fire

W7 - Metallic Saturn , Accesorize - Aztec, Essence - Chic Reloaded, W7 - Metallic Mars , W7 - Metallic Venus , Max Factor - Fantasy Fire, W7 - Metallic Mercury , W7 - Metallic Jupiter 

I had a damaged bottle of Fantasy Fire and ended up putting that along with a back up in a empty bottle. That made the cut along with W7's Metallic Jupiter which is a nice dark petrol on water tone and Essence's Chic Reloaded which is a subtle, more wearable duochome.

And the winner is, surprisingly not Fantasy Fire! W7 has mastered the 'petrol on water' polish and I really like this and when I wear it I am always looking at my nails and wiggling my fingers to see the duochrome change.

Nail Polish: Battle of the Pastels

Collection 2000 - French Tip White, W7 - Polar White, Barry M - Matte White, Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud, Revlon - Cloud, W7 - Sheer Lemon, Angels Delight, Sally Hansen - First Kiss, ELF - Innocent, Eyeko - Rain, Eyeko - Vintage, ELF - Mint, ELF - Lilac, Sally Hansen - Delphinium 

So first round we have to get 14 polishes down to just four. Me being me I don't particularly have a preference for light polishes! I adore Sally Hansen's Lavender Cloud, it is opaque in two coats and is perfect for those winter nail designs.

However I seem over the past year to have used an awful lot of ELF's Innocent and that is why it is making it through to the next round.

The winner of the battle is Barry M's Matte White, and while I have used a lot of Innocent Matte White wins (just) because it is good for stamping as well as a base for nail designs!

Nail Polish: Battle of the Polishes - Neons

Not being too much of a fan of neons this round was quick and the winner easily decided on.

ELF - Yellow, Collection 2000 - Sherbert Lemon, Color Club - Almost Famous, Miss Sporty - 306, ELF -  Mango Madness, ELF - Fire Coral, Color Club - Wham Pow, Color Club - Poptastic, Color Club - Warhol, Color Club - Mrs Robinson, Color Club -  Twiggie, W7 - Fluroescent Green

I had to choose three and so easily ended up with the following:

Not being a fan of the neon, I didn't have much of an opinion. In the end Wham Pow won because Mrs Robinson needs multiple coats to reach the right opacity  Wham Pow is neon, can be a one coater and is incredible vibrant.

 

Nail Polish: Battle of the Pinks

For someone who isn't a fan of pink I sure seem to have a lot of them!

ELF - Gum Pink, ELF - Fluorescent Pink, ELF - Hot Pink,  Barry M - Buzz, ELF - Punk Purple, Kleancolor - Metallic Pink, ELF -  Mod Mauve, ELF - Fuschia, ELF - Purple Pleaser, Kleancolor - Metallic Fuschia, Max Factor - Plum, ELF - Rosy Raisin, Sally Hansen - Royal Romance

First round was easy, whittling down to three polishes. Hot pink is vibrant and out there, Mod Mauve is understated and bland but works as a good base polish.

And the winner is... Max Factor's Plum. While the other two are great base polishes, Plum you can wear alone. Gorgeous cream polish.