All Time Nail Polish Favourites!

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few days! Unfortunately i am a chronic migraine sufferer and as of late they have been very regular and very bad. I've had them since i was a child but I'll tell you, as an adult they are much worse. Hopefully some preventive medication will help! Anyone else a chronic migraine sufferer? Anyway... on with the post!

I own a lot of nail polish. It's an obsession that i am a-okay with and it will only get worse! Today's post is my favourite nail polishes and i was inspired by the fact that OPI is on sale on Brands Exclusive (Referral Link/Non-Referral Link) at the moment  for $10.99 AUD each plus shipping ($9.95 flat rate).

Because i do have a large collection it's easier to see which polishes i tend to grab for the most - which are my favourites. So today I'm going to share with you some of my all time favourite nail polish shades. Also you'll see that my favourite brands are pretty much OPI and Revlon...

Note - I'm not big on blue polish so i only have one in that category.

Light Shades - Pinks/Peaches/Beige

OPI - Coney Island Cotton Candy - This was a recent purchase for me and i love it! It is a sheer pink which requires a few coats to be opaque. If you don't like being able to see the white tips of your own nails, then this is not the polish for you. After 3-4 coats i can still see my nail tips. It has a cream finish.





Revlon - Bare Bones - Bare Bones is a light beige polish which is very opaque. Two coats of this will do it. The Revlon Colorstay polishes are pretty decent quality and last a decent amount of time on my nails before chipping. Plus... Bare Bones - i can't help myself! It has a cream finish.

Pinks/Corals

OPI - Kiss Me On My Tulips - This hot pink creme polish has got to be the brightest pink i own! It looks beautiful on both fingers and toes. It has the staying power of most OPI polishes - pretty damn good!

OPI - Tickle My France-y - I wear this colour A LOT! So much that i had to shake the bottle before taking the photo so it coated the entire thing :) It is the perfect muted nude pink cream for everyday wear. Not too dark and not too bright. It gives the look of nice manicured hands but doesn't make you look dead. At least for my medium skin tone anyway. Most people probably wouldn't look twice at it, but you should!

Sephora by OPI - Let's Do Lunch - This is another colour that i wear a ton. I've used a good 1cm of the bottle. Let's Do Lunch is a cream with subtle gold shimmer running through it. On me i find it tends to show a little more pink than coral but it is described as a coral. I could see how it would look coral on other skin tones.

Reds

OPI - I'm Not Really a Waitress and OPI - An Affair in Red Square - If you buy one red polish ever make it either one of the these! I'm Not Really a Waitress is a gorgeous shimmery red that's a little on the darker side where as An Affair in Red Square is a little brighter. Both look great on most skin tones and wear really really well. I get a lot of use out of these two. They both dry fairly quickly, apply evenly and apply opaque in 2 or more coats. Do you need both? Probably not... but hey, who am i to tell you not to buy two fantastic nail polishes! Check out my Nail of the Moment on An Affair in Red Square.

OPI - Big Apple Red - I discovered this polish when i was in New York and i got my first gel manicure. I fell in love! I had to buy it as soon as i got that gel shellac taken off. So began my love affair with the bright red cream finish that is Big Apple Red. It is a classic red, not too pink, not too blue - although it does look pink in my photo (taken at midnight in artificial light unfortunately!).

Purples

Zoya - Lotus - This was one of the first Zoya polishes I've ever tried. I bought it and two others in Hawaii in 2012. Lotus is by far my favourite of the three! Lotus is a mid tone cream purple with a very fine pink glitter through out that sometimes looks more red or gold. The glitter isn't too obvious but it does definitely show up on the nail. It's a very beautiful polish and something i hadn't seen before or since.

OPI - Do You Lilac It - If it's a brighter light purple with a cream finish you are after Do You Lilac It is your best bet! For some reason it took me a while to buy this polish even though it's a) purple (my favourite colour if you can't already tell...) and b) raved about. Again, like with most OPI, opaque in two coats and lasts really well :)

OPI - Planks a Lot - Another cream purple, though on the more mid tone and blue based side, is OPI Planks A Lot from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection. Love!! This was one of the first purples in my collection and I adore it. I will say.. probably not unique though.

Blue

OPI - Into The Night - Now I'm not crazy about blue nail polish and this is one of two i think that i actually own but Into The Night is beautiful. It is a mid to dark metallic blue which can have a little bit of a purple tint to it in the right light (which admittedly is probably why i bought it). Why do i say mid to dark and what kind of description is that you ask? Well, in different light it can look like a brighter midnight blue or a very very dark blue. Good thing is that it doesn't suffer from streakiness like a lot of metallic polishes.

Grey

OPI - Skull & Glossbones - This is another polish from the OPI Pirates Collection and again, the name sucked me in. Now before this polish grey was absolutely not my thing but this changed my mind. Skull & Glossbones is a very pale grey/beige cream. I think depending on your skin tone it will look more blue-grey or more green-grey. On me it definitely tends toward the green-grey.

Essie - Cocktail Bling - I've done a Nail of the Moment on this polish so i won't rave too much more about it here but this is a really pretty darker grey cream polish. This grey is on more of the cool lavender and blue based end of the scale than Skull & Glossbones.






Greens

OPI - Stranger Tides - Ok i promise this is the last of the Pirates collection polishes in this post! :) What can i say, it was a decent collection in my book! Stranger Tides, the title polish of the collection, is a cream muted green. On some people i can see this polish looking kind of muddy. On me, i love it and it suits my more olive skin tone.

Revlon - Minted - Boy have i had this baby a long time. It's writing is even wearing off! I went through a phase where i wore this on my toes and nothing else. Minted is your typical mint green with a cream finish. It wears well in terms of chipping but i will say that after time it gets that white chalky look around the edges. Not enough to make me dislike it though!

Sally Hansen - Intsa-Dri - Jumpin Jade - This is not a polish that i picked out for myself. I don't know why i didn't own this or something like it before but I'm sure glad i do now. (My best friends gave it to me for Christmas 2012 - true friends help not hinder an addiction like nail polish!). These polishes definitely hold up to their claim of drying fast and are very opaque (i also have the blue from this line).

Brown

OPI - Wooden Shoe Like To Know - Brown is one of those colours i normally look at and just keep on walking but when i was in Hawaii last year and had a decent tan this colour actually looked pretty good! I think it's the gold shimmer running through it that makes it look really great on darker skin tones. It's a chocolate brown and not too red toned.



Duo chrome

OPI - Significant Other Color - We are now moving on to my favourite type of polish - duo chrome. Significant Other Color is a metallic pink-green duo chrome. The pink is a blue based pink and the green is a nice vibrant lime green. This polish, like a lot of duo chromes is sheer but 3 coats normally does it for me.

OPI - Just Spotted The Lizard - I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when OPI released Just Spotted The Lizard with the Bond Collection. How gorgeous is this colour?! Depending on the light this is a gold-green-blue duo chrome. I have quite curved nails so on me i see the full spectrum of shades. I read reviews from others that say it tends to only stay the one colour but they appeared to have flatter nails. Just something to be aware of!

Nails Inc. - Special Effects - Stratford - My first duochrome! The polish that started the obsession :) Stratford by Nails Inc is a gold-green-pink-red duo chrome and the duo chrome is definitely noticeable on the nails. It's a beautiful, more subtle, duo chrome.

Deborah Lippmann - Wicked Game - The last of my favourite duo chromes (so far..) is Wicked Game. This is a grey-purple-green-blue duo chrome which unfortunately does come off a little streaky but.. the colour is really beautiful. It also wears really well. With a top coat it usually last about a week on my nails.

Okay, I'm done with the duo chromes now i promise.

Glitter

 Sephora by OPI - 212-Sephora - 212-Sephora is a black based fine glitter polish which comes off a little green due to the gold, copper, holographic and green glitter that is suspended in the base. The glitter ranges from micro to larger flecks which gives the polish an interesting dimension. It's a bit of a hassle to remove as with most glitters. The polish is opaque in 2-3 thin coats and is really easy to apply.

OPI - DS Mystery - In the pictures, the Mystery polish from OPI's Designer Series looks a little similar to 212-Sephora but it's not. Mystery is a dark blue/purple base with lots of gold glitter (same size flecks) through out. This polish is very opaque and was pretty good with just one coat but as i always do, i apply two for maximum effect.

Sally Hansen - X-Treme Wear - Disco Ball - If you are after more of a glitter than can be used to top any polish than Disco Ball is your thing. I love this polish as a top coat for a french manicure just for something different. This polish, considering it's base is clear, is reasonably well packed with glitter and can be worn on it's own. It looks really great over lighter (like white) bases too.

OPI - Liquid Sand - Stay The Night - I've done a Nail of the Moment on this polish, which was the first liquid sand that i have bought. It's a really interesting texture and finish. Although the whole idea is that you forgo the top coat, i find this polish looks phenomenal with a top coat and of course lasts longer. For more detail on this polish check out my NOTM and the update i did a few days later.

Top/Base Coats

OPI Base Coat and Top Coat - The OPI Top Coat and Base Coat are my go to. I've been using them for years and really only switched up my top coat recently just for the hell of it. I highly recommend them.

Sephora by OPI Base Coat and Top Coat - I find the Sephora by OPI Top Coat and Base Coat are much the same as the straight up OPI. They perform equally as well in my experience.

INM Out the Door Top Coat - I recently switched to this top coat when I'd hear people raving about it on YouTube as a Seche Vite alternative. (I did try Seche Vite, it's horrible - don't go there.) It's a shiny but not high gel-like shine top coat that does dry pretty damn fast. Great for someone impatient like me!

 

Also, my favourite brand of nail polish remover is the Priceline Beauty Essentials Conditioning nail polish remover.

 

 

What are your favourite nail polishes? Any recommendations? (I'm always up for more nail polish!!)