rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - the runner ups!

Hi everyone! I told you I'd post the polishes that didn't quite make the cut for my top ten, and here they are!
You might be able to spot some of them in the image I made for the series! Haha.

When deciding my final ten, I went through all my drawers and pulled out the ones that were possibly in the running. Then I took that photo. And then I narrowed it down!
Let's see what else I loved this year.

This year, I liked a lot of glitter.
Top:
Color Club - Very Merry Berry. Such an interesting combination! And smells good to boot!
Color Club - Jingle Jangle. A unique shade of glitter, looks great on.
China Glaze - Skyscraper. Just plain pretty.
Deborah Lippmann - Glitter In The Air. Although this is difficult to work with, I love it and I'm really glad my mom got it for me in Vegas.
Essence - Edward. It's teal, it's glitter, there are squares... It's just cool.
Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia. Perfect dupe for Lippmann's Bad Romance! So happy I didn't have to splurge on the Lippmann.
Bottom:
China Glaze - Marry A Millionaire. Another unique glitter! With bar glitter! Love it.
China Glaze - Twinkle Lights. Christmas glitter. Big fan.
OPI - Crown Me Already! Super blingy silver glitter. If you're looking for a silver glitter, this is it.
OPI - Excuse Moi! Another unique glitter - this one has a slightly tinted base.
OPI - Divine Swine. Fuchsia glitter, not highly original, but great with the added silver.
OPI - Last Friday Night. Another from the Katy Perry collection! Blue and pretty. Love!

Also on the glitter front, I made two awesome frankens this year. You know Rebecca Likes Cupcakes but the other is unseen and unnamed (for now.) I adore them both!

Here are some non-glitters that were in the running:

Revlon - Royal Cloak. A nice shade of purple with tiny flakies in it!
BB Couture - Junk In The Trunk. Awesome shimmery blue.
Color Club - Hot Like Lava. Hot hot hot pink foil.
Glitter Gal - Frappe. Cute light pink holo.
China Glaze - First Mate. I have a soft spot for this navy creme.
China Glaze - Sea Spray. Perfect gray-blue shimmer!

Lastly, I'm gonna show you the 5 polishes that were seriously hard to not include. I almost did a top 15...

Sephora by OPI - Hell To The No. Amazing purple with great gold shimmer. Looked for this one for so long! Finally came to me by way of a great friend named Rhonni.
Essie - Smooth Sailing. Cornflower blue shimmer with a great formula. First Essie I actually felt I needed.
Nails Inc. - Bloomsbury Square. Best purple glitter ever, seriously.
Ozotic - 528. Multi-chromatic glitter. Need I say more?
Orly - Sweet Peacock. Bright blue foil, great formula, amazing color. (Looks great on toes, too!)

Sheesh! See how hard it was to decide?

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #1

Hi polish lovers! I'm more excited than I should be to show you my favorite polish of 2011.
As I said before, I really enjoyed putting together this series and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it.
(And I hope some of you found some polishes to love!)

My number one polish was a no-brainer. I struggled choosing the positions of the last nine but this one was always number one.
I won't keep you waiting any longer!

Drum roll...

OPI - Teenage Dream is my number one favorite polish of 2011!
This pretty baby came out at the very beginning of 2011 and it has been my favorite from this year ever since.
As you likely know, this is from the Katy Perry collection.
You may also know that I have a thing for Katy, but my thing for this polish actually started a few months before my thing for Katy! Haha. So I don't just like this polish because I like Katy. It's special all on its own.

When this came out I was basically stalking every salon and beauty supply because I was dying to get my hands on it. I was so excited when I finally got it! It was one of the first polishes I blogged about because I got it shortly after beginning my blog! We've been together since the beginning.
See the original (and awful) post here.

Teenage Dream is everything you could want in a girly polish. Pink and glittery.
Pink is not my favorite polish color - as you know I am a purple girl - but this one just owns my heart.
It is too pretty and sparkly and looks so cute all the time.
If I had to wear one polish every day for the rest of my life it would be this one. Really! I don't know why but it just is. It makes me happy.

The base of Teenage Dream is a light pink, very subtle, but where I am so pale it stands out against my skin more than it would on others.
The base is jelly and it is packed with small microglitter and small silver holographic hex glitter. The holo glitter makes this sparkle so much in the light. Just check out all the rainbow pieces in the bottle in the above picture!

Here is my pretty polish along with my pretty perfume! This is Purr, Katy's first perfume.
(I'm planning a non-polish favorite things of 2011 post... I'll talk more about Purr in that one!)

Well guys, there you have it! That was my top ten polishes of 2011! Do you think I picked some winners or is my taste totally different than yours?

I'll recap the posts for you:
#1 OPI - Teenage Dream
#2 Zoya - Caitlin
#3 Orly - Frolic
#4 Zoya - Dannii
#5 OPI - Skull & Glossbones
#6 Zoya - Neeka
#7 Color Club - Space Case
#8 Butter London - No More Waity. Katie
#9 Lynnderella - Gotta Love Brains
#10 Cult Nails - Unicorn Puke

Here's a picture of them all together! (But excuse the fact that I mixed up the order of 4 and 5 and I am way too lazy to retake the photo!)

Pretty easy to see what colors I like... But I am shocked there is no teal or turquoise in the bunch! I guess not a lot of good teals came out this year. (I wonder what my top ten of 2012 will look like?!)

Later I will make a little post about some of the polishes that almost made my top ten. Gotta show the other ones some attention, too.

That's all for today. Go buy yourself Teenage Dream if you don't already have it. Because I said so!
Be sure to check out Kayla's #1 polish, too!

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #2

Hey everyone! Here we are again - ready for my #2 favorite polish of 2011?

I don't have anything clever to say before I show the photos so here we go!

Zoya - Caitlin is number two on my list of favorite polishes for 2011.
Yes, three Zoya polishes in my top 10. That's pretty crazy, considering:
1) Zoya isn't even sold here.
2) I have actively disliked them most of this year for their ignorance when it comes to shipping to Canada or other international countries.
3) Their customer service was awful when Kayla was trying to be added to their PR list, because she was Canadian.
4) I only own 7 bottles of Zoya. 7 bottles and 3 of them are in the top ten? That's pretty crazy.

So yes, I have my share of complaints about Zoya as a company but all complaints aside, they are making some awesome polish lately.
The Intimate collection (which had Caitlin and my other favorite, Dannii) was beautiful. The Feel collection is currently on the way to me and if I had received them in time, I have a feeling some of them could be favorites as well because the promo photos were gorgeous. The new True collection that just began popping up on blogs looks equally gorgeous. Zoya is killing my polish budget.
I bought 14 of them recently (not through Zoya, obviously, but through friends) and they are on the way now!

Rambling done. Here is Caitlin in her gray-purple glory.

When I stumbled upon the Intimate collection display at Ulta in Buffalo this summer I was totally excited because I really wanted Dannii but didn't expect they would still have the spring collection for sale in August.
I said to myself, "I should get another color from this collection because they're all pretty nice." So I decided on Caitlin and went on my way.
Little did I know, we would fall in love and Caitlin would become my go-to polish for the next few months.

I wore this polish about 6 times in 2 months. I haven't worn any other polish that frequently, ever. When you have as much polish as I do and one keeps calling your name, it's gotta be special. I like wearing it with and without art. It is just satisfying.

Sometimes photos may make you think this is a true gray but when you hold your nails up to something actually gray (like this hat I crocheted) you can see how purple/blue it really is.

As with the other Zoya's in my top 10, not only is this color great but the formula is a dream. 2 easy coats.

Do you have Caitlin? Do you love her as much as I do?
Or, do you have any favorite Zoya's I should know about?

#1 polish of 2011 coming tomorrow! Any pre-post guesses?

Don't forget to check out Kayla's #2!

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #3

Hey everyone! Before I get started with this post, I have a question for other bloggers. Is the Blogger image system giving you guys as much hell as it is giving me?

The posts I have made all week have taken forever to write because my photos do not stay in the uploader and I have to upload each one indiviually when I want to use it! Not to mention sometimes when they paste into the post it does not allow me to write under them and I have to delete it and do it again. 

This post is being especially difficult and I have uploaded my first picture 5 times already...

Ahh! Let me know if this is happening to you too!

That being said, let's get to #3 on my top ten list of 2011.

Orly - Frolic is my #3 favorite polish of 2011. You might have had this one figured out already because when this polish came out, I gushed over it! It is just the most perfect shade of purple. I still stand by that!

This came out in the Happy Go Lucky collection which was their back-to-school collection.

I never did get my hands on the other 3 colors in the collection but I am glad that the one I did find was this one.

It is really bright but not neon, so it doesn't make my skin look awful like true neons do. I have a lot of purple in my stash and I don't have any other that comes close to this color. Nor have I seen a polish from any other line that is this shade. So unique!

In certain lights it can look more pink toned but I would call this a true purple.

It almost covers in one coat, and it dries to a slightly matte finish so I recommend using topcoat with this one.

I used this polish as the base for what was probably my favorite mani in 2011:

If you love purple, and you don't have this already, get it. I mean it!

Just 2 more polishes to go! Can you guess what they will be?

And don't forget to check out Kayla's #3!

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #4

Good afternoon everyone! As this post publishes I will probably be out trying to get some Boxing Day shopping deals. (The stores don't open until the 27th here whereas most places have the crazy sales the day before.)
I hope all your Christmas's or other holidays went well!

Today I'm going to be showing you my #4 favorite polish.
This is the first brand to have appeared twice on my top ten list! It must be special. (And as a hint - this isn't the last polish you'll see from them on my list.)

Zoya - Dannii is my #4 favorite polish of 2011. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good purple.

I pretty much think I could just show you that one photo and you would understand why Dannii is on the list... But I'll show you more anyway.

Convinced? I thought so.
I think I'm going to let the pictures do the talking in this one, so that's all for me!
Be sure to check out Kayla's #4!

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #5

Hey everyone! I hope you guys are having as much fun reading this series as I am having writing it.
Today we get into the best of the best - the top five.
I knew from the beginning what the top 5 polishes would be, but I wasn't certain on the order. It was super difficult to decide which positions the polishes would fall in!
I think I got it right.

Without further ado, here is number 5.

OPI - Skull & Glossbones is my #5 favorite polish of 2011.
This one is from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection which came out back in May.

Originally I only had the mini of this one but I recently had to buy a full size because I use it so much!

Skull & Glossbones is a beige. Plain and simple, a beige. Maybe a gray-beige. Greige.
But the most flattering beige ever.
There has been a trend this year with nude polishes and I think that this shade is the best out of all of them. Some people like go to for more skin-toned nudes, but this one is just stark enough that yes, you're clearly wearing nail polish, but it is neutral and subtle and clean looking.

I'm practically as pale as pale gets (translucent, if you will) and this looks great on me so it might not look quite the same if your skin is darker (or, you know, if your skin has any pigment at all.)

And for some foolish reason I think this color looks great with my hair.

I took that picture back in May and my hair is not exactly that color anymore but I still dig it.
Am I crazy to think that a polish goes good with my hair? No? Didn't think so.

As I began to say earlier, when it comes to the polishes I have used most frequently in the last year, this one is probably the frontrunner. I have used this in so many manicures and it always looks great.

I used it for these paisley nails.

I used it for these book-inspired nails. (I got this book for Christmas! Yay!)

I used it for my popular snake skin nails. (Ew, don't let me grow my nails that long again...)


There were more manis involving this polish but I won't link them all.

I know this one will be in Kayla's favorites too - I wonder if it is her #5! Go check out her blog and see.

You need this polish.
End of story.
End of post.

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #6

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas. Perhaps I'll post some of my goodies later! Christmas haul, anyone? Haha!

Today we reach the halfway point in the top 10 polishes countdown! Let's see what polish is in my #6 position.

Zoya - Neeka is the #6 polish on my list. This one is so unique and pretty, I'm glad I bought it!
I picked this up at Trade Secrets in Toronto when I was there in August. I didn't want to spend $10 on it after having bought some in Buffalo for only $6, but it was too pretty to leave behind.

Neeka is a dusty, dark, smoky gray-purple. Enough Adjectives? No. It also has a shimmery purple flash and gold flecks.

Check out the bottle in that picture!

Not only is it beautiful but the formula is amazing. 2 easy coats!
Love!
Is this one on your top 10 list for 2011?

Don't forget to check out Kayla's #6 polish! We've had all different choices so far!

rebecca's favorite polishes of 2011 - #7

Hey guys! Happy Christmas Eve to those of you who celebrate Christmas like I do! I can't wait for tomorrow.
I know there are some polishes under my tree!

It's time for #7 on my top 10 list of polishes for 2011!

I spent a lot of money to get the Color Club Starry Temptress Collection. Normally their collections are $7.99 (at Ross,) $13.99 (at Winners,) or $21 (on some websites.)
However, I didn't think these would show up at my Winners. And I don't have access to Ross. And the other websites don't ship to Canada for a reasonable price.
So I bought this set on Nail Polish Canada for around $31.
(Let's not talk about the fact that the collection did show up at Winners a few months later.)

Despite the price I paid for the collection, I adore it. And this baby is my favorite:

Color Club - Space Case.
This one might come as a bit of a surprise because I don't think many people would consider this one super memorable. But I love it!

I didn't have the time to reswatch this one so you're getting old photos that are a bit messy. Sorry! It still looks cute.

Space case is a pink polish with some holo glitter in it that stands out more than it does in any of the other Starry Temprtress polishes. As well I have noticed recently that this one has a bit of a bluish-hued shimmer running through it, the way many Color Club neons do. Covers in 2 easy coats!
I really liked wearing this in the summer. It was on my toes for a few weeks too!

Looks even cuter with a coat of Starry Temptress.
A lot of people don't feel the love for pink polish but I do!

This polish holds a special place in my heart because I wore it (along with Glitter Envy, also from Starry Temptress) to the Katy Perry concert I saw this summer!

You know what I think, but what do you think? Top 10 worthy or just a cute summer polish?

Don't forget to see what Kayla's #7 is! We haven't had any matching polishes yet! I wonder if/when we will. :)